The Kind of Evil

‎Rasmus rode his horse and looked at the scenery around him. It was exactly like what he saw in his dream, the monkey pod trees. He began to vaguely remember the memories of Rasmus's of this moment when his father brought him here.

‎"My father brought me here once..." Rasmus said as he looked at the trees that prevented the sunlight from seeping through.

‎"Yes, Young Master. This place was Lord Erglade's favorite place whenever he wanted to have some time alone," Erdinan answered, walking behind Rasmus's horse. "This place..." he paused, thinking if he should say it or not.

‎Rasmus looked over his shoulder at Erdinan who hesitated. He then glanced at Josh, making Josh feel pressured by the glance.

‎"This place is mystical, Young Master. The Trivula Forest isn't a place that anyone can visit freely. This forest is alive," Joshua answered.

‎Rasmus furrowed his brows, and slowly turned his head toward Aris. Since he wasn't sensitive enough to see what Aris could see. He wanted to know if she had seen what Joshua had described about the forest.

‎"It's indeed alive, more alive than the Spring Forest... perhaps even denser and more dangerous," Aris said as she stared at the distance. "Even Yur begins to feel it too, the atmosphere in this forest is nothing like any forest," she added.

‎Rasmus never thought the Trivula Forest would be a place like what Aris had described. He began to understand why both Joshua and Erdinan seemed to be anxious about the forest.

‎"And yet the others stay here?" Rasmus asked as he looked at Joshua and Erdinan.

‎"Because we were allowed to stay here, Young Master..." Joshua answered as he looked around the trees as the night became darker because of the cloudy night.

‎Before Rasmus could say anything, suddenly Yur landed on Aris's shoulder. Yur in its owl form, trembling uncontrollably as if it was deeply terrified. Even Aris kept her eyes at the front as if keeping an eye on something that could threaten the group.

‎"It's so scary..." Yur finally spoke in a human language.

‎Joshua and Erdinan were shocked when they heard the owl speak. It wasn't the first time they heard an animal speak a human language, and they knew what kind of creature that could do such a thing.

‎"Young Master, is that owl a spirit?" Erdinan asked as he looked at Rasmus with his brows raised.

‎Rasmus nodded, but his focus was on Yur's trembling body, hiding its face in Aris's hair. He had never seen Yur that scared before, except from Aris. As a great spirit to be scared like that, he wondered what lived in the deep of the forest.

‎Aris suddenly made her horse stop advancing, and Rasmus decided to stop ahead of her. She looked at the air in front of her, listening to the sound of the air, or at least that was what the other heard.

‎Rasmus looked up at the sky when he noticed something shiny. He furrowed his brows when he saw something like glitter in the air, floating and moving so slowly. He used his draconic eyes and focused on those glitters until he realized those were spirits in its light form.

‎"The spirits are warning us to not go any further," Aris said as she listened to the spirits' voices that overlapped with each other. "This is unnatural..." she said as she jumped down from her horse.

‎"How dare they to tell Lady Aristoria to go away!" Yur said, pointing its left wing at the glitter. "But Lady Aris, let's not go in there..." Yur murmured, frowning in anxiety.

‎Rasmus also thought the same as Yur that it was bizarre that spirits dared an Aristoria to go away. The spirits should know what an Aristoria was, and yet they didn't want her to go any further. That raised the question of who soverign over the forest, the one who was strong enough to make the spirits think that Aris was less of a threat than that being.

‎"You said you were allowed to stay in the forest, by whom?" Rasmus turned around and looked at Joshua and Erdinan.

‎"A spirit, in a human form," Joshua answered. "It happened when we went off the grid after the rebellion. We didn't know much, and it was the only time we saw that spirit," he added.

‎"This forest is the reason why we are safe to this day, Young Master. Lately, we saw a few adventurers or seemed to be adventurers who came here. However, they went missing, and we found their dried corpse a few days later in the forest," Erdinan said anxiously.

‎Rasmus looked at Aris, and she seemed to find that information to be interesting. When they both shared a look, they both knew what they were about to do. They both began to advance, going further into the forest.

‎"Young Master... the others are this way..." Erdinan said as he pointed at the small path on the right side.

‎"Lead the way," Rasmus nodded, and then glanced at the distance at the main road where his father had brought him to the lake where the dead tree was.

‎The journey took them more than half an hour until Rasmus and Aris saw the small village. There were only three buildings in total, and he saw a few men and women patrolling around the village. Suddenly, Josh clicked his tongue, attracting the people's attention.

‎In less than ten seconds, everyone in the buildings began to come out. Their ears were so sensitive that they could even hear that click even though from far away. Rasmus saw there were 48 people in front of him, staring at him with their eyes wide open. The numbers were exactly like what Joshua and Erdinan said, the remaining Black Hands.

"He's our Young Master," Josh pointed his hand at Rasmus as he stared at them.

All of them immediately kneeled, placing their right hand on the ground with their heads lowered. Not a single of them hesitated to bow down, accepting Rasmus as their new master. Their loyalty was admirable, even Rasmus found it interesting to still be loyal to the Blackheart family even after a decade of being nomads and outcasts.

‎"You shouldn't call him the Young Master anymore, Josh. I believe we should address him as Count Blackheart now," a man with a scar across his face, his left eye was all white, blind from the scar. His gaze was cold and his expression was stoic when he stared at Josh.

Joshua nodded with understanding as he walked toward them with Erdinan beside him. They both stared at Rasmus for a moment before they kneeled as well.

"Count, we swear our loyalty to the new head of the Blackheart family..." Erdinan said with conviction. "Please, accept our loyalty, and accept us as your Black Hands..." he continued.

Rasmus looked at them for a moment, checking each individual in front of him. Nobody moved a muscle, showing their conviction and unwavering loyalty to the Blackheart family. He wondered how the elders raised such loyal subjects like them, and it reminded him of the Sand Tower in East Neva where they raised loyal and elite assassins that only obeyed orders and didn't care about their own lives and existence.

"I have nothing to offer, and following me will lead you to nothing but death. Are you still willing to follow me and swear your loyalty?" Rasmus asked with a cold expression.

"We were raised and trained to serve the Blackheart family. That's the only purpose we have, and we can't live a normal life because we are being hunted. We live without a purpose other than serving the Blackheart family, and if we are looking a new purpose, it's already too late, Count," the man with the scar said.

"Is that an excuse?" Rsmus asked, staring down at the man with a scar.

"It's not an excuse, Count. It's the truth," the man with the scar answered. "Our future is grim, Count. We don't have the luxury to live a normal life, and we hope you can accept us into your life, Count..." he added.

Rasmus kept observing them, and none of them found the confrontation to be unnerving. They all shared the same mind and vision, which made them a solid group that could work together in harmony.

"I accept your loyalty, Rasmus nodded. "You all may raise."

All of them slowly got up, feeling the weight on their shoulders dissipating. They all looked at Rasmus and bowed to show their gratitude and respect toward the long lost master.

"It's getting late, all of you should get some rest. I have so many questions to ask, but it can wait until tomorrow," Rasmus said as he looked at the time on his wristwatch. "I have to visit the place that my father brought me," he muttered as he looked in the direction where the lake should be.

All of them bowed their heads and went back inside to the buildings where the men and women were separated, leaving only a few to patrol the area.