12. Unforeseen Occurrence

12. Unforeseen Occurrence
The nightmares didn’t stop.

And it wasn’t until a few weeks later when we came across a village that things turned for the worse and it all started to make sense of them.

It was early morning where the fog had yet to lift from the ground. It was thick and heavy, we could barely see five feet in front of us. We walked with caution in case we ran into something and didn’t want to spook the horses.

Up ahead Taewon lifts his fist in the air to make us come to an abrupt stop, causing the horses to whine a bit. I calmly stroked Cho Cho who seemed to be a bit uncomfortable. I frown when my highly sensitive nose picked up the scent.

“We should be near Tae Sung Dong village.” One of the trainees whispers, even though his voice carried in the silence.

He was right. The landmarks we passed a few hours ago showed the signs of a nearby village. But it was all to quiet and way too eerie looking. Even with the fog, something definitely wasn’t right.

“I smell blood.” I finally decide to voice out.

With that everyone looks to me with either wide eyes or a scowl. I don’t care what they thought anymore. I was concerned that something horrible had happened to the village. “We should press on. There may be survivors.”

I start to move again, keeping my horse close to my side. I wasn’t riding him this morning deciding to walk instead. But Cho Cho wouldn’t budge. In fact, he dug his hooves into the moist ground and prevented me to go any further. I wasn’t going to force him even though I could with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever. I would never make him do what he didn’t want to do. It was our silent spoken agreement.

So, heaving a heavy sigh, I drop his reins and mind linked him not to go anywhere. He snorts at me and prances back a few steps.

“Wait a minute. You smelling blood could mean many different things. What automatically makes you think everyone is dead?” Taewon snaps at me.

I was used to his attitude towards me and it no longer bothered me as it once did. Instead, I decide to ignore him and disappear into the fog. No one followed me as I turn to see them all gone. It was so thick that I felt like I was in some sort a weird haze full of white mist. I kept going however, not caring if anyone actually did follow me. I needed to know what had happened to my people. They all saw a small worthless village. But I saw them as human beings that were just trying to survive out here all on their own.

Every now and then I see branches of the trees that I pass. I wasn’t sure how far off I was from the entrance of the place but judging by the heavy smell, that was just getting heavier and heavier with every few yards, I was getting close.

Then I stop dead in my tracks and stare at something that suddenly appeared on the ground about five yards in front of me. Even though it wasn’t far from where I stood, I still couldn’t get a good look at it with the low fog covering most of my vision. But by the shape I was afraid of being right on what it was.

“Is that what I think it is?” Pierre suddenly states lowly just behind me.

I nearly jerk at the sound of his voice. I turn just to find everyone else coming through. Guess they decided to follow after all.

Taewon’s eyes widened at the sight. “I think we should avoid this area and take a detour through the mountain pass.”

“That will take us longer to get home. Another month at least.” I press with annoyance. “Besides, we’re Imperial soldiers now. We should scope this area and find out what happened to this village. If anything, we may need to warn the king.” I grit out.

“Imperial soldiers or not. We weren’t ordered to investigate. We should avoid and send word to check the place out. We wait for the orders of the king.” Taewon nearly growls at me.

“As the Crown Prince, I order you soldiers to scope out this village and if we find any survivors we take them with us. And that’s final.” I growl dangerously, my fists tightening in rising anger.

No one gainsaid me as I look to each of them. The younger ones just looked to the ground avoiding my eyes. The nobles were back where Teawon had left them apparently and even though they were “trained” soldiers too they still didn’t lift a finger to do any of the work.

“What is taking you all so long? If there is a village nearby then I would like to actually stay in an Inn tonight and eat actual real food-what is that?” Chun-Soo’s irritating voice comes to a halt when he finally realizes the dead bloodied body lying on the ground.

“My lord, it’s best you head back to your carriage and don’t come out until we know it’s safe.” Taewon immediately comes to his side and guides him away. But not before his face paled and his eyes took forever to turn back around.

“A-Are we in a-any danger?” He whispers harshly as he’s pulled away. 

I couldn’t help but see Pierre’s eyes roll at the dramatics.

“We have been running low on supplies. We should be able to find something here.” One of the trainees barely speaks out.

“First, we find out what happened to this village. Then we find any survivors, and those who are like this one here we bury before we retrieve any supplies or rations. Is that understood?” I give out the order as if I had done it many times before.

Not once in the five years we all have traveled together have I ever took leadership of a situation. I was happy to just hurry up and get this venture over with, but there was just something about this that was rubbing me the wrong way and I didn’t have the time or the energy to deal with any of their bullshit right now.

I was feeling a lot on edge, and I didn’t like it. My nightmare wouldn’t stop coming to the forefront of my mind. Why couldn’t I shake off this fear?

I don’t wait for anyone’s response and slowly walk up to the figure that was motionless on the ground. The closer I got, the clearer I could see. It was an old man who was lying face down in the mud. He wore commoner garments and was clutching what looked like a parcel. I kneel to his side and examine his body.

Blood was everywhere and his eyes stood wide open, forever stuck in the expression of terror. His neck was gashed wide open and I could see the gruesome insides of bone and muscles.

“What the hell happened to him?” One of the men asks behind me.

I don’t answer because I didn’t know. It was like someone had completely ripped out his throat. I look further ahead past the pillars that showed the entrance of the village. Black masses were littered all over the ground and my heart beat wildly at the fate these people had faced.

“The body is still slightly warm. This happened not too long ago. Be careful, whoever did this could still be nearby.” Lumiere whispers next to me as he had bent down to touch the back of the neck of the old man.

“I’ve seen this before.” Pierre speaks up in a hoarse tone, staring straight down at the mangled body.

We all look at him, waiting for him to tell us what he thought this was. His face was in hard lines and his eyes were shot with a mixture of fear and anger. I’ve never seen his eyes like that before and it worried me. What could possibly cause him to look that way?

“There is only one thing that would do something like this. And if it is what I’m thinking then there might not be any survivors at all. This entire village is done for.” 

I slowly stand up, looking back at the others that was lying motionless on the ground further up ahead. “What is it? What caused this, Pierre?” I needed to know.

He looks right at me, his eyes not wavering. “Lycans.”