Chapter 29

The Traders – Part 2

With the church as their destination, they started to make their way over to it, where again they saw no one outside on their route. What they did see when they got closer, was that the large, massive wooden door was closed. They also found planks of wood baring the windows, from the inside.

Once they were near it, they leaned right against the door and listened.

“…”

It was faint but they were rewarded with the sound of voices. It was also too muffled to hear what they were saying, but it was clear that people were in there.

“Well, we found them. That’s a start.”

“Yeah, but why are they all hiding in the church? What happened to this place?”

The only way they would know is to find out, and so Olivia decided to knock on the door.

“…”

.....

As she expected, if you’re hiding in a church you’re not going to just answer the door. But, she had to let them know she was there. How else would they get to talk to them and find out what had happened.

While she waited for some form of response, it also occurred to her that there was the possibility these were not frightened villagers, but someone else, maybe the ones that had done something to the villagers. Saying this though, she highly doubted it. But to be on the safe side, she kept a hand on her spear.

“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on, but we just arrived in this village. Can you tell us what’s happening? Why are you all hiding in the church?” Olivia shouted to the masses as she knocked again hoping to get a response. Be it villagers or someone else, there wasn’t much they could do from outside the church, of Olivia needed them out in some respect.

Silence took over again, and Olivia was about to knock for the third time when a voice broke through the silence right from the other side of the door.

“You’re not with the bandits?”

“No.”

“Why are you here.”

“To talk to you about the new chief.” Lyrika piped in with.

There was the sound of shuffling and mumbles before the voice spoke again.

“I-I’ll open the door. If you try anything, know that we have weapons.”

‘I’m surprised they are just opening the door. There being bandits, wouldn’t they think that we could be bandits tricking them to open up?’

Before they opened the door, Olivia stood to the side allowing Lyrika to take centre stage. Granted this stage was a good distance from the door in case the people inside were not trustworthy. Plus Olivia was at the ready on the side with her spear out. If these people were friendly, them seeing an orc-like monster would not help anything.

The creaking of very old hinges was next to follow, and as the door opened, it gave way to a man. He was not old by any means, and if he was the years had been kind to him. He had salt and pepper hair, and hardly any wrinkles on his skin, but while he looked good for his age, the lifeless eyes told a different story. It was as if he had just given up all hope in whatever the situation with the bandits was. By his side several people held up farming tools, aiming them at the door, ready to strike if anything happened.

As he stood by the door, Olivia was hidden in a crook in the woodwork with her spear raised. Lyrika was off to the side so not in any direct angle from the man in case something happen, such as someone with a bow and arrow.

“You came to talk about the new chief. Well, there aren’t many people left to talk to, but I assure you, you will find no good words about him here.”

The giddy look on Lyrika’s face as she heard this was infectiously spreading to Olivia, but it quickly changed back to a frown as they recalled that this was not the right time to be happy about things.

“I see, well, we wanted to talk to you about what he has done and see if you had any other insights into his plans. This thought can probably wait, you mentioned bandits before what have they done and what happened here.” Lyrika decided to reply with.

“It’s been- wait you’re not the one I spoke to before. You said ‘we’, but there is only one of you.” The man said in a worried tone and slowly started to step back and close the door, afraid and not sure about this girl.

“Ah, wait.” Lyrika quickly said with her hands outstretched with her palm out. “There are two of us, it’s just me and my friend. It’s just… she doesn’t get the best response when people see her.”

He stopped closing it after hearing this. “What do you mean? Is she disfigured, as I assure you no one is going to care about that? We have honestly been through too much suffering to do the same in some way to someone else.”

“Err, no not exactly.” Lyrika looked over to where Olivia was and they had a silent conversation. From what the man said, and how he and the rest felt, this might be the perfect time to see the response Olivia got from the masses. They would have to do this someday, as Olivia could not continue hiding from everyone all the time. In order to stop being seen as the monster, she needed people to see her as a person, and this small group of people was a good starting point. Plus, with there being some problem with the bandits, they were probably going to help them out in some way, which would be hard to do if she was hiding all the time.

As they came to this understanding in the silent look, they decided to be honest with the group and, test the waters so to speak. If they couldn’t handle her, she just had to stay away from them, and they could move on. She was sure she could get away from villagers using rakes and pitchforks. As bad as that sounds there are plenty of villages that the chief went through before he reached Lyrika’s home. They probably didn’t need all of them to help deal with him.

“Ok. She’s… well she’s a half Orc half Goblin.”

“…”

The man just blinked rapidly as he heard that. It would seem that the quiet discussions that had been happening behind him also stopped and grew completely silent.

“I don’t know why you would be making jokes at a time like this.”

‘Yeah, should have expected that’

“I’m not. Look, she is a good person and has helped me a lot since we met. You have nothing to fear from her. Are you fine if she comes out?”

Silence reigned as the man and the rest were still trying to come to terms with it all. It was clear to see that many still thought it was a joke.

“I-I.” He quickly turned to the people in the church and spoke to them. There was a lot of back and forth, with some scoffs here and there, where others were fearful.

Eventually, he turned back to Lyrika. “We are in a desperate situation here. I know you came here to talk about the chief, but… would you be able to help us.”

Another quick look between the two was had, but Olivia was pretty sure she already knew the answer. Olivia not being one to just walk away from people she could help, there was only one option. As long as they didn’t try to kill her that was.

“We can try.”

“Ok…it’s still hard to believe, but.. we really need help. If you say she can be trusted, then she can come out.”

He then turned to the rest of the village behind him and spoke.

“I do not know if what this lady says is true, and I am sure some of you are fearful that it may be just that. If you are scared and do not wish to remain here, please head to the back of the church. But know that if what she says is true, you may have to come to terms with who she is.”

They all looked at each other, not sure what to do now. A few headed to the back, deciding to choose safety because of their fear. How that would actually help them if Olivia was a horrible monster and started attacking people she didn’t know. Maybe they saw the rest of the group as human shields for them or something.

A few beats after he said that and the villagers made their decision, Olivia stepped out from where she was hiding. As she moved in front of the man and the others that had gathered around the door, a round of gasps rang out. A couple ran to the back of the church, and others just mumbled that they couldn’t believe it.

The man was also conflicted about what to do. He stood there looking brave, but the slight shakiness in his legs betrayed him.

Not the best situation, but also not the worst. Now she just needed to introduce herself.

“Hello.”

*thud*

Of course...someone fainted.