"Nice to meet you, you can call me Ermmind Poloneli" he said, greeting us formally, in a firm voice, but charged with a strange distant tone.
Hircine and I kept a safe distance, watching this young man who kept hiding in the shadows. A small saber hung from his waist, hinting at danger even in his restrained posture.
"Don't pay too much attention to him, he's just a lunatic for battles" a voice cut through the silence in the distance. It was a blonde woman, dressed in leather armor that covered her entire body, except for the tight skirt made of black mail, which contrasted with the rest of the protection.
The stranger? She was identical to him.
"Morrissa!! Be adorable as a little sister should be!" I heard his voice, full of that playful arrogance that only twins can have.
"I'm five minutes younger than you, we're the same age," she retorted, without losing her pose.
"Leaders come out first," he said, firmly.
"It's more like cannon fodder" she countered with a sly smile.
"You always say that! Always say that!!" he exploded, and the noise of the two making jokes turned into a storm in the room, impossible not to pay attention.
They were twins, and this confusion between them made the environment even noisier.
"So you heard the whispers?" Morrissa seemed uncomfortable, clearly uneasy about the situation.
"Yes, I wonder which one brought us here," another voice came from the house, colder, darker.
A young man appeared, wearing black armor that covered his entire body. His face was hidden, and the only hint that he was a boy was his body shape—but even that was hard to pin down.
As soon as he appeared and approached, my eyes widened. Without thinking twice, I moved forward from my position.
The halberd spun hard in my hand, the blade cutting through the air in a precise motion toward his head.
Swooosh!
He leaned back at the last moment, dodging for a few seconds from the cut of my blade.
Swooosh! Swooosh! Swooosh! Swooosh! Swooosh!
I took quick steps forward, one behind the other, piercing and sweeping in consecutive attacks. He dodged with impressive agility, leaping backwards several times until he landed on a thin branch.
In a quick movement, he drew two knives and threw them in my direction.
I took a step back, deflecting the first knife with the handle of the halberd. Without missing a beat, I spun the gun to neutralize the second one with the sharp point.
"What is the meaning of this?!" I heard his deep voice, firm and full of defiance.
The others had already moved away, looking from afar, surprised and even a little excited by the confusion. The blond boy had a huge smile on his face, almost defiant.
"People of the black emblem are going to die," I murmured, holding the halberd rod firmly with both hands. My eyes were empty, focused only on that moment, on that tension.
He raised both hands, as if he wanted to avoid a fight.
"I don't want to fight. I don't know who attacked you, but I have nothing to do with it. I didn't choose the place where I was born"
I was silent, analyzing.
"So... Didn't you come to assassinate me?" I asked, confused.
"Of course not!" he replied quickly, and I felt a shiver down my spine. If I had let my guard down for a moment, my head would have already spun or my heart pierced.
I got my eyes right and narrowed my eyes, turning the halberd in front of my body, resting the handle on my back.
"I apologize then," he said, joining hands in a brief gesture before walking away, returning to the safety of the tree.
The others watching from afar were speechless. The man with the halberd seemed too eccentric—in an instant, he wanted to finish off the newcomer; the next, I completely trusted his words.
"Hey, this guy is kind of weird," I heard Ermmind say, grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't cause conflicts like that," someone warned.
"He doesn't look angry, I think that armor made him angry. It seems that he has been receiving unwanted visitors at night," another commented.
The man in black armor clasped his hands, processing what I had said.
"I ask for forgiveness. Some stupid branch decided to attack an apprentice. I'll send reports on this as soon as I can," he said, in a calmer voice.
I didn't answer. My eyes were fixed on the corpse of the boy hanging from the tree, and nothing else mattered at that moment.
He already seemed to have completely forgotten the subject, lost in his own thoughts.
"See? Totally out of the house" Ermmind made a gesture by twirling her fingers next to her head, mocking her sister.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Number 01, it's my first time going out on the surface" the man in black armor spoke in a neutral voice, difficult even to define the sex, something muffled by the helmet.
"Nice to meet you, 01. I'm Ermmind, that's my sister Morrissa, that's Hircine, and this one is my favorite, Zaatar" Ermmind puffed out his chest, all cocky.
"It has already been clear that I will be the leader, don't worry. I am someone good at heart, beautiful and kind, I can represent the interest of all. Now... first question: Zaatar, how do you know that this little guy called us? And please don't touch the bones of the corpse, that's disrespectful," he said with a confidence and narcissism that didn't go unnoticed.
"What's wrong? Why are they looking at me like I had a cockroach on my head?" I replied, feeling the discomfort my answer caused.
Before anyone could react, a new voice came along the way:
"Did I hear the sound of fighting here?" a tall, dark young man with a scar on his left eye appeared carrying a large hammer on his back, exuding authority.
Everyone turned to me and Number 01, as if I had some obligation to explain everything — after all, that guy acted like he knew everything.
He smiled and took a step towards me.
"Did you start fighting? Who did you hit?" he asked, curious.
"It was me, I hit him," I replied, bluntly.
"Why?" he insisted, crossing his arms.
"Because I wanted to" I said, directly.
He looked me up and down, then turned to Number 01.
"Did this guy really assault you?" he asked.
"We were just exchanging friendly movements, it was training" 01 replied, trying to ease the situation.
I saw his expression change, the smile became wider and he murmured:
"Well, I'll forgive you. We are a team"
At that moment, everyone there thought: this came straight from the university.
"Are you the guide?" I asked, trying to understand what was special about that guy.
"Guide? No, I just heard a voice in my ear and came here to check," he replied, smiling and pointing to himself as if it was obvious.
"Oh, okay..." I lost interest quickly.
"Stop acting like someone who knows everything then!!" Ermmind grabbed his hair, clearly annoyed.
Another one with a mental problem had arrived.
"Let's calm down, without violence" Number 01 said, in a shy, almost pacifist tone. But I realized that he was two steps closer to me, he seemed to trust me more than others.
He seemed naïve, kind... Not the kind of guy I expected to be a killer.
"Let me introduce you, I'm Orisis, nice to meet you. I've been traveling for more than half a year to get to this place. It was very difficult to find this maple forest; in the whole continent, I only found her here," he said, with a look full of pride.
Ermmind was about to introduce himself when I muttered, quietly, to myself:
"And those two hiding behind the trees? Are you with you?" I pointed left and right, making the group turn in the direction of two thick maple trees.
"Holy shit, this guy has inhuman senses" a voice came from one of the trees. A tall man, wearing a purple robe, came down from a log. There was a dagger attached to his waist, and the cloak bore a symbol: an upright eye.
His appearance was exotic. White hair, purple eyes with pupils that resembled those of a cat, and—what caught my attention the most—two feline ears appeared above his head.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Anker, from the purple-eyed tiger tribe," he said, with an almost ceremonial tone.
"A bit of a beast, huh? I've heard of you," Ermmind said, curious. I confess that my curiosity was also aroused, but my eyes were still fixed on the other tree.
From behind her, a pale white hand appeared, followed by a head full of black hair. It was a lady who looked more like a haunting, wearing a white dress, with a pale and tall body.
"Hello... Sorry for hiding, sorry, sorry..." She shook her head several times, as if she was afraid of all of us.
"I am Ermmind, the leader," the blond boy smiled confidently.
"What are you talking about? I'm the leader," Orisis pointed to himself. "Seriously, I'm amazing," he finished with a yellow smile, trying to sound convincing.
"Hasis," the girl replied, still hiding behind the tree. Clearly, he didn't want to get closer.
"What now? Does anyone know what to do?" I asked, looking around.
"No idea," someone replied, and I silently nodded.
"I don't know" came another voice, full of the same insecurity.
"I suggest we investigate the place. My subjects, bring me answers!" Ermmind spoke aloud, all full of himself.
Seriously, this guy was asking to take some beatings.