82 Friend And Foe

As the night began to settle in, the travellers talked amongst themselves while Dygo sat in silence eating the grilled meats he was given. He was never much of a talker, to begin with.

The hounds in his shadow were restless from the aromatic smell, but Dygo paid them no mind. The hounds were beneath him, afraid of him. Without any direct orders from him, none of them would dare move. Loyal bastards.

Just as he was about to chew on his last piece of meat, pondering if he should ask for another, Dygo heard the shouts and raised voices. When he looked up, he realised the travellers were fighting with one another.

The kind one who had offered him a seat and food was throwing punches at another. The other was bearded, with a burning flame in his eyes. Dygo knew this look all too well. It was fear and disgust. He knew instantly who it was directed at.

Dygo finished the last of his food, only to realize how dark it had gotten. His shadow was a lot larger now.

To catch all of their attention, he tapped his staff on the ground twice, vibration signals reverberated through the ground. All the arguing and bickering stopped instantly. All eyes were on Dygo. The fear and disgust remained in the eyes of those who were fearful.

Dygo bowed and said, "My apologies, I seem to have overstayed my welcome."

He looked up at the kind man and thanked him for his hospitality.

"You have been most kind, but I think it's time for me to go."

"Damn right, leave you monster," another shouted.

As he wondered what had gone wrong, looking into the crowd of people standing before him. He realised a child, staring at him dead in the eye. The child's eyes flickered between looking at him and at the shadow he had cast.

How careless of him. That was a child with the gift of Mirror Sight. Most humans labelled it a curse.  Without much thought, he approached the child.

"I told you he's evil! Now he wants to hurt the child!" Someone shouted.

The mother of the child tightened her grip on her child, fearful and shivering. She tried to back away in the crowd, but Dygo only came closer.

"You sick bastard! Get away!" the bearded man growled.

His face was flushed, his body reeked of alcohol. The bearded man pulled out a dagger from his belt and lunged at Dygo.

Before Dygo could even react, someone blocked his view. Someone took the stab for him. Everyone gasped in shock, even the bearded man did. He released his grip on the dagger but he could not move. The kind man slumped to the ground, as he bled out.

There were screams of fear, cries of panic.

But nothing could beat the look on the bearded man's face. Dygo's has lifted his illusion spell. His hounds no longer hid in the shadows.

The bearded man looked down at the hand that held onto his neck. The bone hand was tightening its grip. When he looked up, he was staring Dygo straight in the eyes.

Before the bearded man could speak, Dygo threw him to the side. The bearded man's body was flung so hard that he hit a tree, breaking his spine. The blood-curdling screams of the man as his spine snapped sent chills down everyone's spine as people began to escape in a panic.

But the bearded man was not dead yet, Dygo made sure of that. With a tap of his staff, the hounds listened to his command.

"Feast and destroy."

The hounds bolted towards the bearded man. He could only watch on as the hounds ran up to him and tore him to shreds.

Back near the fire, everyone was running around in a panic, no one cared to even help the kind man.

-That's what you get for being nice.- Dygo thought to himself.

In the distance, the Mirror Sight child and her mother were getting away, but not very far. The chaos and panic had caused the mother to become flustered.

Dygo raised his hand and tapped his staff on the ground. A pulse of magic reverberated. As soon as it reached the mother and child, it froze them in place. Catching up to them, Dygo locked eyes with the child.

She was afraid, typical.

Tears were streaming down her eyes as she was mouthing some words.

Words of prayer perhaps? No. She was apologizing.

Dygo lifted his bone-like finger and placed it upon the forehead of the child. He closed his eyes and tapped his staff three times. A pulse of light and magic circled the child. A spell circled formed on the ground beneath them.

Within a matter of seconds, the spell was complete. Dygo walked away into the distance. He called his hounds to him with a whistle. The hounds had already finished their meal clean, not even the bones were left behind.

"Get away from me! Demon child!" the voice of the mother rang loud and clear.

The child was pushed to the ground, in tears.

"Mama! Mama," the child cried for her mother, as the woman ran away further into the distance.

Dygo spat, humans are terrible creatures.