The horse-drawn wagon swayed on the rocky entrance of the Mistshire settlement as it passed by the wooden gate. All three of them were stretching their necks to see even a hint of a lit campfire or even a silhouette of a person.
"Wha-what's happening? Where's everyone?" exclaimed Lanzo, putting the wagon to a stop. He jumped out and hurriedly headed toward the nearest hut.
"Jacob!" Emery called out as he also got out of the second wagon and went after the old man. Lanzo followed suit, although a bit limping behind, but the two youngsters had drawn their swords, in case of any danger that might head their way.
"Hey! Is anyone there!" Jacob's muffled shouting exited the hut but only the eerie silence replied in return. Emery almost bumped into Jacob, but Jacob didn't mind him not one bit as he entered another hut.
Emery and Lanzo entered the second hut where Jacob seemed to have already turned inside upside-down but just like the first one, aside from the mess Jacob had created, everything that seemed to be of value stayed untouched.
"Did the marauders attack?" Emery asked, waving the torch around for better visibility.
"I don't think that's the case… there aren't any horse tracks or signs of fighting… this looks like—"
Lanzo didn't finish his words when Jacob suddenly shouted, "Daisy, Greg, where are you? Anyone! Can you hear me, please…"
Jacob this time pushed his way against Emery and Lanzo and proceeded to check more huts. The population of Misthire should be around thirty people but after searching about a dozen or so huts, even a single soul was nowhere to be seen. Jacob then sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath. He stutterlingly said, "W-w-we must've passed them along the way… hahaha… T-t-t-they must have gone to another village… Yeah, that's p-p-probably it…"
Emery knew these words were just words of comfort, and although he had barely known these people, he himself was starting to feel his heart pounding against his chest. His thoughts then were drowned out as Lanzo spoke.
"Let's go, there's still one place we haven't checked out yet," Lanzo said, giving a knowing look at Emery and Emery nodded in reply.
Lanzo's words had only meaning, Granny's place. Unlike the rest of the Mistshire settlers, Granny's hut was located at the farthest edge of the settlement near the trees. Emery then followed Lanzo's limping hurried steps with the torch only providing the faintest of light from the darkness that seemed to be wanting to swallow them alive.
As the two youngsters neared Granny's hut, a faint moving shadow and the sound of digging entered their perceptions. They headed toward the unknown and when they got there, the shadow of a man was scooping the earth with what appeared to be a shovel. Emery shone the burning torch on the person and saw Obed, one of the Mistshire settlers, who seemed to be out of sorts.
Emery walked over and just when about to ask Obed questions, the light of the torch illuminated the huge burial ground. His eyes widened at the sight as his gut churned and pushed up an acidic feeling inside of him wanting to get out. Only then did the foul stench of what should've been the smell of rotting corpses for weeks registered in his nose. Elderly men and women, adult men and women, both young and old, all of whom made up of the Mistshire settlement appeared to be in the hole. They all appeared to have been dried up and aged, only keeping the bones and the white hues of the eyes.
Lanzo had just caught up to Emery and when it was his turn to see, he fell to knees and vomited a greenish, foamy barf.
"W-w-what? H-h-how?" Lanzo said, heaving hard while wiping his mouth.
Jacob arrived not long after and had the same reaction.
Emery fought off the urge to cover his nose. He opened his mouth to ask Obed what had happened while they were away but decided against it and let the man continue to dig in tears.
Just when Emery turned toward the hut, the door opened and Granny stepped out. In a moment's notice, Obed had already thrown away the shovel and ran toward Granny.
"How is my wife!" Obed kneeled and grabbed Granny's robes, but the old woman kept silent and shook her head. Her eyes exhibited deep sadness as she watched Obed who was now wailing and hugging his poor, poor, wife inside her hut.
Jacob stood before Granny and asked, "W-what happened? Is e-e-everyone…"
Granny sighed heavily as she took a seat. Her shoulders slumped as she explained that when the three had left, everyone in the settlement started exhibiting coughing, which spread within just hours. Granny worked nonstop brewing potion but despite her best efforts, one by one, the residents soon became unable to move and died.
Lanzo, standing beside Emery, had a grim expression as if he had remembered something terrible. He said, "These symptoms… Granny, please don't tell me it's following us…"
Granny shook her head once more and buried her face in her hands. From that, Emery could tell it was the same disease that Lanzo's family had suffered. More on that, however, it seemed that the same thing had happened during their almost two years of travel.
Granny then stood up and rummaged through the countless bottles before finding three bottles with greenish content and asked the four men to drink the potion.
"Even though you weren't here when it happened, it's better to drink this potion as a prevention. This will help you to resist the disease," she said while handing the potions to them.
Lanzo and Jacob chugged the potion without delay but somehow for Emery, the back of his head was screaming that there seemed to be something out of place. He stared at the green potion when a wild idea flashed through his mind. He trembled and then looked at Granny whose saddened eyes earlier now seemed to have disappeared altogether.
"What's wrong, dear? Drink it, it should be good for you," urged Granny.
