"sure i can he's just another outsider"

"no your wrong Mars is---"

"don't tell me he has charmed you Chloe?"

"that's..."

instantly the air around Cooper changed, it felt like the temperature fell servel degrees in a instant as he grabbed Chloe's shoulder and lean in before he asked in a low tone

"sister... have you forgotten what happened to our mother?"

"no, it's just---"

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN!?"

"no..."

'there it is again'

watching from the side Alvin gave a sigh, he of cause knew about Cooper's hate of all outsiders as well as the 2nd outer forest patrols high monthly kill count but he was helpless against him

'he's the one the elders favor... this is going to be a pain'

just as Alvin was thinking of what to do Rex stepped forwards

"that's enough Cooper"

Cooper gave a dismissive look at Rex but did let go of Chloe shoulder and stepped away before he gave a annoyed look at Alvin

"what are you still standing there for? hurry back to the village"

after having ordered Alvin he turned away and began walking towards the edge of the barrier with the other 7 members of the patrol

"let me give you one word of advise"

Copper stopped but didn't turn around when Rex called him

"what?"

"don't fight Mars"

Cooper didn't answer he just waved his hand as he walked out of the barrier, Rex gave a sigh as his advice seemed to have fallen on deaf ears and walked over to Isabel that was hugging Chloe as she tried to calm her down

"have you calmed down?"

"yes thank you Isabel... but what do we do now captain?"

Alvin closed his eyes and began to stroke his chin for sometime before he opened his eyes and spoke

"we go back to the village and report to the elders, if we tell them what exactly Mars is and that he has purposed to corporate with the village they should change their mind"

"but what about Mars?"

Alvin gave a sigh

"well... let's just hope he doesn't kill them... in any case the faster we return the better, so let's get going at once"

""yes captain""

Chloe didn't answer she just looked at the blurred edge of the barrier with tears in her eyes before she wiped her face and followed after the others as they walked towards the other side of the barrier

'please be safe...'

outside of the barrier Mars sat with his back against a tree and meditated while Victoria lay on his lap and purred lightly

'there sure is a lot of birds around'

he sat and listened to the birds sing and the other small animals move around in the forest around him

'it sure is peaceful...'

birds chipping, leather boots stepping lightly, a small rodent chewing on berries, bowstrings slowly being drawn, and a deer fleeing in the distance, all kinds of sounds entered Mars's ears as he sat and meditated

'the question now is what to do with theses guys...'

even if Mars had closed his eyes he, and Victoria for that matter was still fully aware of what happened around them, Mars even felt like if he also covered his ears he would still be able to feel the group of elvers that was silently surrounding him just from the smell of newly maintained metal and the clear killing intent they gave of, especially one of them seemed to want to kill him so bad he had trouble holding his bow still

'easy now...'

while he did his best to calm down Victoria by petting her but her mana still circulated faster and faster as she prepared for a fight

'well i guess this is as long i can draw it out...'

Mars gave a slight sigh as he had originally wanted to draw the elves a little closer, but Victoria was at her limit so he decided to speak up while still keeping his eyes closed

"don't you think it's rude to sneak up on people?"

the air froze while Mars waited patiently for someone to answer him, and before long one of the elvers spoke up

"you sure have sharp ears, no wonder Rex told us to be careful"

Mars opened his eyes and looked around at the elvers that had him surrounded before his eyes stopped on the one in the middle

'he looks a little like Chloe...'

Mars looked a little more a the elver before he asked in a calm tone

"so what do you want?"

"we have received orders form the elders to exile you form the forest, but i think we will just kill you instead"

as the elf spoke Mars noticed his eyes was cold, like he wasn't looking at a person but a ant instead, also there was something else about the way the 8 elvers looked at him

"so if you could just kill yourself right now and spear me from cleaning my sword later that would be nice"

'what is it with their eyes...'

"hey are you listening?"

"captain maybe he froze from fear"

'where have i seen those eyes before...'

"you might be right, hey Jeff didn't you say you were looking for a new carpet?"

"yeah i have been looking for some time, but you know my wife is picky about that sort of ting"

'it's almost like...'

"tell you what how about we skin his pet, that might make a nice carpet"

'they're the same as... in my dream'

"ohh that a nice idea captain!"

while the elvers was talking about how they would skin Victoria Mars's mind went blank as he felt a ringing in his ears get louder while he felt his body get hotter

'why..? i thought i escaped it when i died'

while Mars was thinking a change started to happen in the depth of his mind that was simulated by his last few nights of torture and finely triggered by the disdain and contempt he felt from the elvers eyes

'are they the same... if they are the same are there others like them here?'

as he thought Mars unknowingly started to transform to his half dragon form, claws grew from his hands, scale spikes grew from his knees and elbows

"hey captain something's happening!"

his eyes turned crimson red and horns grew out form his forehead

'if they are the same then... what if there's more like them, will it end like last time?'

scales began to grow out around the spikes and around his eyes

'no, i don't want that to happen again...then what should i do?'

his breath began to get hotter and hotter until flames began to appear when he breathed out

'oh it's simple... i just need to kill them all'

"NOW!"

just as Mars reached a conclusion a shout woke him form his daze and before he had any time to react 8 arrows struck him, while 6 of them hit his chest and stomach that only manged to piece the layer of dense tightly packed mussel that covered his body and thus rendered them mostly harmless 2 of them hit his neck and pieced deeply in to his weak point only stopping a few centimeters away form a few major arteries, instantly sending Mars into a rage

"he's still alive give him another voll---"

*SNAP*

"--ey?"

Mars had suddenly appeared in front of one of the elvers and crushed his arm in hit a iron grip, turning all the bones where he had grabbed into tiny pieces before he swung the elver into another with lightning speed and let go of the broken arm

"you're annoying"

before the elvers had time to react Mars disappeared again and reappeared in front of another elver and sent a kick at the side of the elvers knee, easily crippling his leg as he knee shattered

*SNAP*

"AAARRRGGGHHH---"

"shut up"

*STAB"

Mars quickly silenced the elver by stabbing his Claws though his neck before he looked over at another elver

"you're next"

when Mars came back to himself he was surrounded by a strong smell of blood, severed limbs and moans of pain from the 5 elvers that were lucky to still be alive

"you... will... pay... for... this..."

when Mars heard a voice he turned his head and saw he had his hand around the neck of the captain that he had raised in the air, his right arm was missing from the elbow down and one of his legs was bent in the wrong direction

"...oh your still alive"

Mars looked up at the elf and saw a burning hatred in his bloodshot eyes and gave a sigh before he began to pull out the arrows that was still stuck in him as he loosened to grip on the elver slightly before he asked with a light smile

"you are related to Chloe right?"

the elver didn't answer him but Mars didn't care as he kept talking

"this situation really is unfortunate... oh well"

after Mars pulled out the last arrow he took another look around the carnage around him with a slight smile on his face before he activated his [energy: healing] skill on himself with 20 units of energy, swiftly closing his minor wounds

"you're... not... going... to... get... away.. with... this"

Mars gave a sigh

"you know normally when one tries to kill another person one should be prepared to be killed instead, i simply acted in self defense"

the hate in the elvers eyes grew stronger before he spat Mars in the face

"...you do realize you're only alive because i want you alive right...? oh well..."

Mars wiped the spit from his face before he momentarily let go of the elver only to quickly grab his jaw, covering his mouth with his hand

"maybe this will teach you some respect?"

*STAB*

Mars stabbed his claws into the stomach causing the elver to cough up fresh blood into his hand before he pa.s.sed out, Mars gave another sigh and activated his [energy: healing] skill with 50 units of energy on the elver before he threw his aside and glanced at the blurred barrier in the middle of the clearing as he mumbled

"...consider this a thanks for the time we had together"

"Mars... are you... done?"

Mars turned around and saw Victoria sitting in the edge of the forest and gave a smile

"yeah i just finished, let's find a river i need to wash off"

"okay..."

Mars picked up his sword and backpack before walked into the forest with Victoria at his side

"are... we not... going... to see... Chloe again?"

Mars stopped when he heard Victoria's question and kneeled down and patted her on the head with his less b.l.o.o.d.y hand

"no i don't think we are... are you sad?"

Victoria began purring and closed her eyes as her horns flashed

"no I'm... fine... as long... as we're... together"

"that's good, well then what do you say we head to Destra?"

"okay..."