Chapter 14: Divine Daughter
The bandits stood frozen, eyes wide, weapons forgotten in their hands — every man watching the crumpled form of their fallen comrade, still twitching faintly in the dirt. Behind the gate, the villagers held their breath. No one dared speak, as though words might invite ruin.
Lila stood beside Riku, arms relaxed but poised, her half of the bread now gone. The scent of wheat and wild yeast still lingered in the air, mingling with torch smoke and rising tension.
The bandit leader's eyes narrowed into slits.
"That was a trick," he spat. "You poisoned the bread and made it look like divine magic."
"What you call a trick," Riku said, calm as still water, "is nothing more than the divine reminding you: greed always leaves a bitter aftertaste. Some stomachs just aren't meant to hold blessings."
The leader growled low in his throat, stepping closer, his blade now fully drawn. Flames from the torches reflected in his eyes like those of a cornered predator.
"I've had enough of riddles. Enough of games. You think a bit of bread and light can scare the Scorchback Kin? You brat were not even born when we made a name for ourselves."
He turned, shouting back at the villagers. "We'll take your grain, your wells, your lives — everything you tried to build. And if we have to carve it from your bones, so be it."
Gasps rose from the villagers. Barou placed a hand protectively in front of Lila. Riku, however, didn't so much as raise his voice.
"You were given one warning," he said. "And you've chosen noise over reason."
The bandit leader scoffed. "Noise? What noise?"