The Last Dragon's Hoard

Chapter 4

Day went almost well

'Empathy without boundaries is self-destruction,' Clavis thought as he changed into his work clothes, mind still distraught over the encounter he had earlier.

In all his twenty-three years of age, no one has ever felt so familiar and trustworthy to him, not even his three friends. Mama Rosa was trustworthy but that is because he was raised by her.

He sighed and packed his long chestnut hair in a bun to prevent it from falling all over his face and interrupting his work. So much has happened to him within the last twenty-four hours.

So many strange occurrences and feelings have stirred up and he should be scared of them, but rather he finds himself thrilled and intrigued by them.

He was scared, but not for the reason he thought, he was scared that this thrill that he had just discovered would end sooner than he wanted.

Clavis has led a pretty boring life, he grew up in the mountains with Mama Rosa, which is the reason why he is so good at hunting and fishing, it was a skill he acquired while they still lived on the mountain.

Mama Rosa made them move to the small town after he turned twenty. He has resided here for three years and since their relocation, today happens to be the most abnormal day he has had.

Was it because of the festival? It was going to be his first time participating, in the past two years, he had been disinclined to attend it.

"Good day Sebastian,"

"Good day Clavis, are you okay? You seemed a little out of it," Sebastian complained,

"Yeah, I'm fine. Bad brain day and hang-over and of course, I got lost," Clavis grumbled,

Sebastian chuckled, "That sounds like a pretty bad day, but don't worry once the festival starts tonight all your worries will be whisked away by the gods."

"I don't believe in the gods," Clavis stated,

"Me either. But the gods don't seem to care if we believe in them or not, they always answer whoever asks for their help." Sebastian revealed, "Which I find very weird though, my father says it's because of the presence of the Orenda,"

"The Orenda…?"

"Yes, that's what the townspeople call them. They are a set or a hoard since one of them is a dragon, people say the dragon is the leader. They reside in the north of the town, no one has ever seen their building though, and that land they reside in is sacred and out of bounds."

"How come I am just learning all these details now?"

"Then you have very bad friends, Clavis, this is something they should have told you since," Sebastian huffed,

"You are my friend too, how come you never told me?"

"I just assumed you knew. By the way, you said you got lost, don't get lost and venture into their land though, no one has ever tried it, so no one knows what will happen if you enter their land." Sebastian warned,

Clavis just nodded his head, he didn't know how to explain to his co-worker that he had in fact ventured into the land and he might have even met one of the Orenda.

That he had blushed in the presence of the Orenda…

Huh?? Clavis gasped with a quick realization that he had blushed in the presence of the stranger.

Nope, he wasn't going to deal with all these feelings right now.

"We should start serving. The store is already packed with more than its usual capacity," Sebastian announced, cutting him off his thoughts he nodded and moved around the counter to meet the people that were settling into the store.

"Welcome to the store," Clavis greeted a group of three strange men that had settled in the far end of the store away from the main space of the store. It wasn't a strange place for the strange men to sit, especially if they were strangers.

The store was usually buzzing with life, the townspeople loved coming to relax here from the day's woes. But today, it was exceptionally busy because of the festival and it was filled with strange faces that Clavis assumed had come to watch or partake in the festival.

"A plate of Sujebi and two plates of Miyeok Guk with wine," One of the men ignoring Clavis greeting,

"Okay, a plate of Sujebi and two plates of Miyeok Guk coming, the store will add three bowls of rice to welcome you to the town and to complement the festival," Clavis muttered still keeping the smile plastered on his face even though they had been rude to him, the town was generally very peaceful so he rarely ran into situations like this.

That also made it obvious that the men were strangers who had come to visit.

No one answered him or spared him a glance, so he just nodded, bowed, and retreated toward the counter to get their orders prepared.

He was so focused on dishing each meal according to the proportions that were allowed by the store and placing them carefully on the tray to avoid spilling that he didn't notice that one of the strange men was now standing at the counter and was watching him, or was rather glaring at him as he lifted his face to see which made him jump back a little startled.

"You have grown so well," The man chuffed with a disgusting snicker on his face as he watched him.

Clavis looked over to where the man was sitting earlier only to discover that the others were glaring at him with an expression similar to the one the man had on his face.

Clavis felt something bitter and frightening churning in the pits of his stomach.

He was scared.

The man seemed to read his emotions because he smirked and rolled his eyes at him, "Have you met your mates yet? Looking at how pretty you have grown, I'm sure they're worshipping the ground you walk on, disgusting fellows,"

The man spat, and Clavis didn't even notice that, he was more focused on the words that the man said, what mates were he talking about? Worship? Pretty? Clavis was confused.

"You haven't met them yet?" The man grinned looking both relieved and happy, Clavis was confounded, "This is going to be easier than I thought then, I'm glad I accepted this mission," The man chuckled and returned to his seat, but not before gesturing that he had his eyes on Clavis, he was watching him.

Clavis felt bile rise to his throat, and he felt stuffy, he wished he could step out of the store and get a little bit of fresh air, but he couldn't, the store was packed today, and Sebastian wouldn't be able to handle it alone…

"You can go, you have five minutes," Sebastian said from the back door,

"Huh?"

"I know you like stepping out for fresh air anytime you need to relax. Don't worry, I'll serve that table, just come back quickly," He said and Clavis thanked him before dashing out of the store.

'Hmmm mmm, he hummed happily as he felt the beautiful breeze of the town hit his face.

"You look beautiful like this little one," A familiar honeyed voice rang through his senses, and he opened his eyes immediately to look at the beautiful face of the friend he made on his way to this morning.

"It's you!" Clavis smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you and I came to cheer you up," Mateo smiled.

'Always smiling so beautifully, Clavis thought turning red as he nodded at the man standing before him.

"Thank you. Do you want to come inside?" He asked him politely,

Mateo shook his head, "Next time. I'll just stay with you outside here today, let me know when your break is over,"

"In five minutes, it should be three minutes now," Clavis said pouring, and when the man poured back, they both busted out laughing.

Unknown to Clavis but not Mateo, someone was watching them secretly.