Chapter 103: Far bigger threats (2)
Reidar leaned low over the wolf’s back as it went through the forest. Ahead, Lena led the way, checking every trunk and root for Lysa’s marks.
A faint scratch caught his eye. "There," he said.
Lena jerked her wolf left. They followed the traces until they reached an area where the ground grew churned, and the soil was torn in wide swaths. Reidar’s army flanked them.
The wolves slowed. Vines drooped everywhere, and the ground smelled of burnt earth and ozone. Scattered bits of sprite shells pulsed among the wreckage.
Reidar dismounted, kneeling amid the debris. There were other kinds of marks among the them: boot prints.
"Human tracks," he said, tracing the faint outline. "Mixed with monsters."
"Maybe it’s Lysa..." Torren said.
"I doubt it." Jorik had a grim look. "If this was Lysa coming here, there was no way she would have been able to leave alone if Reidar’s army was alive. Either she came later or didn’t come here at all." He paused.
"No, these must be the tracks left by whoever destroyed your army."
Reidar nodded and stood, brushing the dirt from his hands. Whoever had done this had power beyond ordinary soldiers.
A question had been whirling in his head ever since he’d arrived at Havenwood, something he had guessed but couldn’t really prove. The only ones who knew the truth were the people who lived here in Havenwood. He turned to Lena.
"Why is Havenwood like this?" he asked. "Why is the church attacking you?"
Lena’s expression darkened. She dismounted from her wolf and walked closer, stepping carefully around the debris.
"The church is full of zealots," she said in frustration. "They have their beliefs, their rigid doctrine, and they want everyone to submit to it. Martin refused; not all of Havenwood did, actually. Many people even left." She paused.
"It’s not like I can blame them. The world basically went down the drain, and they are trying to find some kind of lifeline, something that would give them hope, but in doing so they are likely following what this patriarch of the Church of Unbinding says, and they are not questioning it."
Her look turned even more serious than before, and she looked at Reidar straight in the eyes. "But the situation wasn’t this awful before you came."
Reidar stiffened at her words. "What do you mean?"
Lena sighed heavily, her gaze drifting over the scarred ground like she was searching for answers in the wreckage.
"The church attacked us regularly, yes. They sent the monsters while never fully revealing themselves and always covering their tracks well enough for us not to have proof they were behind the attacks. At the beginning, we couldn’t even fathom a situation like that. Who would be so powerful as to actually send monsters to attack a city full of humans, and why would they do that to begin with?"
Reidar nodded.
"But we defended ourselves," she said, her voice low. "We held the walls and protected our people. It was tough, but we managed." She paused, her gaze drifting over the broken ground. "Everything changed when you showed up."
She paused, as if trying to remember how things were before Reidar came.
"Most likely," Lena continued, "those working for the church inside Havenwood saw you repel the hordes they sent on the day you arrived. They saw your strength, your ability to summon creatures. Getting that power would be a way for them to turn the situation in their favor and maybe replicate this in other settlements."
<So, I was right...>
Reidar already suspected that. "They tried to turn you and Martin against each other," Jorik said.
"They managed that well," Reidar said, sarcasm dripping from his words. "I certainly don’t have a good opinion of the man anymore."
Lena shot him a sharp, disapproving look that could have frozen water. "Martin knew what he was doing," she said. "He might have done what he did, but it wasn’t like he loved it. The problem was he had no choice."
Reidar rolled his eyes.
"Spare me. He could have simply explained the situation. I might have decided to help."
"Would you have really done that?"
In truth, if Reidar had known, he would have just left on the first day, after having bought some provisions. It wasn’t like he lost that much time. Not even a week, but he had been forced to face a reality he didn’t want to face.
Humans were ready to turn on each other, not only in Havenwood but across the entire world. The thin semblance of civilization had broken down, revealing the violent, grasping nature beneath.
There was no time for solidarity anymore, no room for trust when survival meant watching your back every waking moment. He didn’t reply.
The fact he didn’t reply was answer enough for Lena.
"I guessed so. Martin wanted two things from you: to get the settlement creator token, since we could not get it, and to find out who the spies in Havenwood were."
She gestured back toward the lake. "Given who I saw with you back there, it’s clear now that it was Mara and Aaron. They played their parts perfectly, sowing discord and feeding information to the church. And Martin’s goal has been reached. We finally found out; you exposed them."
She paused.
"When they saw you having your clash with Martin, they knew it was time to act." Everyone knew in Havenwood that Reidar and Martin argued; it wasn’t something that could be kept hidden.
The puzzle clicked together. The church hadn’t just been attacking; they’d been pulling all the strings inside the settlement.
"In the end," Lena said, "all of this happened because of you."
Reidar couldn’t deny their truth. His arrival had been the catalyst that transformed a bitter stalemate into this chaos.
Lena studied his face for a moment before adding, "I wouldn’t be surprised if the leader of the church himself comes to ask you to join them. You’ve proven yourself too valuable to simply eliminate. They’ll want to convert you."
"They can try."
Torren shifted nervously beside them, glancing between the churned earth and the dark forest beyond.
There was something odd about the area. Something he couldn’t quite piece together.