Looking at Ryan’s back, Jalip said “Old man, He is still young. Why are you making him walk the same path we walked?”
Draenor closed his eyes and spoke slowly. “The reason I came back suddenly is Ebert’s divine prophecy. He paid 10 years of his lifespan to accurately predict what will happen in the continent in the next 5 years. The empire will be shrouded in slaughter and fear, just like it was 200 years ago. Unfortunately, Ebert must pay with his lifespan in order to know more and the details are ambiguous. Ebert tried his best but it’s still vague.”
“So you want Ryan to leave in advance?”
“Not just that.” Draenor said “ Ebert prophesied that the descendants of several “old friends” would slowly emerge. But he couldn’t determine if they would be friends or enemies. But one thing is for sure, and that is once the war breaks out, remote places like Foggy town would be affected. So instead of waiting passively, it’d be best to actively take measures. At least this way, Ryan would have some time to prepare.”
“Old friend, You seem despondent about this.” Jalip discovered the hidden worry in Draenor’s tone.
“Yes.” Draenor said : “I’m not like you who has almost endless lifespan. I have already reached the limits of humans lifespan. Even though my strength has increased over the years, our enemies had already broken through the shackles of mortality. I believe that they are already stronger than what we think. I am not sure about the future.”
After he said that, Draenor opened his eyes, as they shined with a faint light “But no matter what the outcome is, Old friend, I will keep my promise to Master.”
After saying that, Draenor’s gaze lingered on the door as he was lost in his past memories of that bloody scene from many years ago.
*************
In the evening, Ryan went to Noam’s house early. Today was Noam’s rite of passage celebration. Noam invited some of his friends. They set up a bonfire and gathered around it.
Noam replace his clothes with a new ones made of wool which came from a type of sheep that lives in the northern plains of the empire. Noam prepared these clothes especially for his rite of passage. He was also wearing a necklace made of a magical beast bones.
Seeing the beaming Noam, Ryan couldn’t help but joke with him “Noam, where is the hostess?”
Noam didn’t mind Ryan’s question and answered “She’ll be here shortly.”
A few young men whistled when they heard Noam’s answer. Noam pretended to be angry and said to Ryan “Look how I deal with you.”
Noam rushed at Ryan. But Ryan won’t allow himself to be caught easily. He nimbly moved his body and dodged Noam and made fun of him : “Noam, You are good.”
“Of course” Noam refused to admit defeat and said : “I’m the brave mountain tiger.”
The two continued chasing each other around the bonfire, when Ryan saw Maeve coming from behind Noam. So he stopped and said “You are now a brave mountain tiger but once you marry, you will be a docile edelweiss rabbit in front of your wife.”
Noam didn’t know what was waiting for him as he said : “ Absolutely not, my wife will listen to me.”
Noam heard a voice coming from behind him : “Is that so?”
“Of course.” Noam didn’t notice that it was Maeve’s voice. But after he finished speaking, he sensed that something was wrong. When he turned around and looked, he saw his lover. He became sacred and said : “ I mean, even If I am a brave mountain tiger, At home, I will listen to my wife like a docile edelweiss rabbit.”
When Maeve heard him, she caught his ear and twisted it and said : “ When I marry you, How would you treat me?”
Ryan was laughing hard as he saw Noam swearing to Maeve that he will obey her every word forever and crying every time she twisted his ear.
When Noam saw Ryan laughing he mumbled : “This guy is laughing his a** off when he is the reason for my misery.”
When Ryan heard him, he laughed even harder.
When Maeve saw Ryan laughing at Noam, she said : “ I am teaching Noam a lesson, What are you laughing at?”
Ryan said : “Instead of thanking me, You are blaming me. If it wasn’t for me, You wouldn’t hear this confession.”
“Which confession?” Noam said. Then without waiting for Ryan answer he suddenly jumped and laughed “Yes, Yes, I really want to thank you.”
At this time, Maeve blushed as she remembered that she said “When I marry you”. Noam suddenly hugged her and said : “Now you have already agreed to marry me.”
Seeing them acting lovey-dovey, Ryan felt happy for them from his heart. Then he quietly left in order not to disturb them. He found a quiet place at the back of the bonfire and sat there.
As the bonfire continued burning, Men and women became more relaxed and formed pairs as they partied and sang together. Only Ryan sat by himself eating the delicious roasted pork.
It wasn’t that Ryan was introverted and didn’t like others. He just liked silence and quiet since he was a kid. Instead of talking with others and gossiping about men and women, he liked to think calmly about his own business.
Looking at the people talking, drinking and eating, Ryan sighed to himself. “This isn’t the kind of life that I want. No matter how hard I try, I could never get used to it. I can’t imagine how boring would it be, If I have to spend my entire life like this.”
Ryan looked up to the sky. It was a clear summer night and he could see the countless stars.
“I don’t know If the Sky outside the town is also clear like this.” Ryan muttered to himself.