Half Elf Ranger

Chapter 440 The Ferryman of Death God

Although it was already dark, the wind was still blowing in the forest, howling and swaying.

Some animals are still singing lullabies to others with their own music.

There is no such thing as an absolutely peaceful night.

At this moment, the beasts and predators under the night have not yet rested, and are hunting around silently.

They are the night watchmen of nature, and they are an important link that closely connects the vibrant days.

Near midnight, a terrible storm suddenly blew deep in the dense forest.

The wind blew hard, and in the wind came the snapping of branches, and the ghostly howling, roaring, and wailing.

The dark clouds in the sky changed into wonderful shapes, most of which were a flock of big black birds quacking and screaming.

"Why are there so many ravens here?" Through the gaps in the dense forest, Thorne saw hundreds of ravens that were dark in color and shone with a purple-blue metallic luster in the night, circling and flying in the air.

Finally, the crows covered the last ray of bright moonlight.

At this moment, the wind died suddenly, but the silence did not come, and Thorne heard the crows of the ravens in the air and the beating of their wings.

This is a world surrounded by magic, mystery and danger.Ravens are often synonymous with death, fear and bad luck in folklore. Their crows are regarded as ominous and ominous, so they are called: ominous birds.

Although this is just a folklore, a ranger with knowledge of nature is very aware of the true meaning of ravens, especially ravens in groups.

Ordinary ravens and crows are considered ominous birds because of their keen sense of smell and the ability to sense the smell of decay and death.

But these ravens that can shine with purple-blue metallic luster in the night are called by the very few scholars who really understand them: the ferryman of death!
Because this kind of raven has a supernatural ability related to death.

This ability allows them to detect the signs of the imminent death of powerful professionals in advance, and then these mysterious black birds will gather around the dying person and sing a sad song for him.

When the professional dies, the spirit of the deceased is guided by the mournful song of the raven to the City of the Dead in the Gray Wastes.

These purple-blue metallic ravens are said to be the work of Kelemvor, Lord of the Dead.

Among the four generations of Lords of the Dead, Jergal represents the mystery of death, Melkor represents the fear of death, Cyric represents the madness of death, and the latest Kelemvor represents the justice of death.

Kelenvor believes that death is just a part of life, there is no need to fear death, no need to avoid death, and no need to regard death as evil.Fear of death will send you to those who can bring you to death.To die with dignity, there is no need to rush to death, nor to embrace the way of immortality.

The church of Kelemvor, the god of death, considers it an important duty to seek out those who are about to die.

Because the wish of this neutral god of death is that every intelligent creature that died naturally or unnaturally in the whole continent will have a sad song sung by a raven beside him to guide him to the correct position in the cycle of reincarnation.It needs to be emphasized that Kelemvor himself is the great ferryman who leads the people to the afterlife.

He believes that death is not the end of the end, but a stopover on a wonderful, never-ending journey.Let every dead person know that Kelemvor is waiting for them, welcoming a new life for them.

But this is just the wish of the god of death. To truly establish a perfect reincarnation transfer station, he needs to face not only demons and demons competing for the souls of mortals, but also gods.

Right now, this night.

In a dense forest deep in the Great Sword Scar Mountains, under Thorn's gaze, the raven's high-pitched and loud chorus resounded strangely, as if the whole world was about to die.

Thorne withdrew his gaze, looking warily at the back of the hobgoblin priest who was out of his attack range.

His back arched slightly, and his right hand involuntarily touched the hilt of the sword.

Just like that, in the chorus of the raven's sad song, the hobgoblin priest, who was covered in black robes all over his body, turned around slowly stepping on the damp dead branches and leaves.

"I'm really happy to see you coming as promised, brave half-elf ranger friend." The hobgoblin priest stared at the ranger who was holding his sword handle not far away, revealing an unconcealable joy in his weak tone .

"Friend?" Thorne's expression was still tense, and his tone was very flat:
"To be honest, in the entire Emerald Field, the race I hate the most is the hobgoblin. I feel very awkward and instinctively reject it if I make friends with a hobgoblin. However, if you want me, I can accept this title , the hobgoblin sacrifices a friend."

"Thank you for your tolerance and understanding." Under the vigilant eyes of the ranger, the hobgoblin priest slowly stretched out his right hand, stroked his chest with one hand, and bowed slightly to him, sincerely thanking him.

"Then, can you tell me why you invited me here?" Thorne bowed to the hobgoblin priest in return, and then asked straight to the point.

——"Sense Magic!"

Suddenly, he realized that something was wrong with this weak-looking priest, so he immediately activated the professional characteristics of the swordsman, his eyes were slightly lowered, and he focused on feeling the free magical energy in the air.

Seeing the ranger lost in thought, the hobgoblin priest waited silently without saying a word.

The gloomy north wind swayed ferocious tree shadows in the dense forest, and the squawking ravens continued to sing sad songs together, as if they were playing a symphony of death.

"Your divine power is draining." Thorn raised his eyelids, hesitated for a moment, and expressed his inner guess.

"It seems that you feel it too." The hobgoblin priest's body trembled slightly, and he replied slowly.

"I received an oracle from the Mighty One." Seeing that Thorn remained silent, he continued: "The content of the oracle is: at all costs, join forces with the wolf men and hill giants in the Great Sword Scar Mountains to clear away the emeralds. All the powers of the wilderness."

When Thorn heard this, his eyelids jumped uncontrollably, but his expression remained unchanged.

This sudden situation had already been taken into account by them, and the wizard tower in Waterfall Town, including many ranger scouts, was also closely watching every move in the Great Sword Scar Mountain Range.

Because the five small towns of the Emerald Fields are about to face off against the Hobgoblin Hruk on the outskirts of the Silent Forest.

If the Jackals and the hill giants united to launch an attack from the Falling Dragon Canyon at this time, they would be in danger of being attacked from both sides.

Even if the decisive battle with the hobgoblins is won, the rear will be breached by gnolls and hill giants, causing incalculable losses.

If they really discovered the joint action of the wolf man and the hill giant, they must allocate a part of their troops to guard the main road of the Falling Dragon Canyon.

This also means that the battle ahead will become more difficult, which is something no one wants to see.

"That's why you invited me here." Thorn pondered for a moment, looked at the obviously weak hobgoblin priest, his tense body slowly relaxed, and his vigilant expression eased a lot.

As if he understood everything, he tentatively took three steps forward, and he found that the weak hobgoblin priest was indifferent, and just nodded to himself with a smile on his face.

However, Thorne thought this kind of smile was not good-looking at all, because not only did he show two pointed yellow teeth, but he also looked like an old man in his dying years.

At this moment, Thorne finally understood for whom the raven hovering above his head was singing a sad song.

"Why did you do this?" Thorne looked at the already weak hobgoblin priest who began to bend down in puzzlement.

Faced with the ranger's question, the hobgoblin priest straightened up with difficulty, walked to a relatively open space, and then sat on a tree trunk broken by the hammer of the frost giant, raised his head to meet the group of people The raven sighed with emotion:
"Every one of us has two tragedies in our life, one is full of ambition, and the other is despair."

"So, this is your choice." Thorne was silent for a moment, and went straight to the hobgoblin priest, sat on the tree trunk with him, and looked at the ravens that filled the sky.

Their black feathers blended with the night shone with a faint purple-blue metallic luster, and their chorus was high-pitched and loud.

This chorus seems to be telling myself: death is not the opposite of life, but a part of life that has always existed forever.

"Yes." The hobgoblin priest seemed to be touched by something. He looked at the overgrown land and sighed deeply:

"People are animals with feelings, and when you are surrounded by loneliness, a certain nostalgic complex will become stronger and stronger.

When I sit in the room reading a book, when I sit alone on the bed late at night and cannot fall asleep, or even when I fall asleep soundly, some kind of memory will always be like a movie, scene by scene in my mind Flashes frequently.

At the end of life, we keep letting go, but the most distressing thing is not being able to say goodbye properly.So, I don't like this life at all. "

Thorn looked at the hobgoblin priest who was shrouded in a black robe again.

For some reason, he actually felt the loss of some kind of divine power from the other party, and also felt that his blood was constantly declining.

In this hobgoblin priest, Thorne saw the feeling of helplessness exuding from him, like a boat going out to sea at dusk, with an unfamiliar road and a long way to go.

"I am not a person who is too good at comforting others. I only know that there is nothing to do yesterday, and nothing to do tomorrow. Only by cherishing the present, the life we ​​leave here will be like the sunshine by the water, giving off warmth Ripples, like stars at night, illuminate our way forward."

Thorne looked up at the moonlight blocked by the raven, and comforted the hobgoblin priest: "Time will change everything, because it will make the problems we can't figure out less important."

He knew that the other party had already suffered due punishment for betraying his god, so that death was pressing him every step of the way, but he still couldn't help persuading the hobgoblin player in vain.

Because that's all he can do, just like the paladin he met in Winter City, he can't change anything.

"Did you bring me your things, please?" The hobgoblin priest smiled indifferently, as if he had already looked down on everything, "Actually, I never thought that you would come here in danger, after all, Heru Khobgoblin..."

"These are not important anymore." Thorne reached out to stop his next words, and then took out a small bag of flower seeds wrapped in parchment:
"You're right. Originally, I didn't plan to accept your invitation. The main reason why I came was that I was moved by this trivial request you made to me."

After speaking, he pulled out his sharp sword, dug out pits in an open space, and buried all these flower seeds in the soil.

"Thank you for granting my last wish." The hobgoblin priest wanted to stand up and salute the busy ranger, but unfortunately his body became extremely weak and it was difficult to move.

At this time, he could only try his best to suppress the power of death emerging from his body, and retain the last trace of sober consciousness.

"It's nothing more than a small effort. In fact, I should thank you for your sacrifices for our compatriots. I also thank you for not directly launching a general attack on these precarious towns when the Hobgoblin Hruk settled in the Forest of Tranquility." While sowing the seeds, Thorne sincerely thanked the hobgoblin priest.

"Only my compatriots can truly understand the hardships of their own race, because they can always find an inexplicable intimacy in each other, but I am a voter of the mighty, which means I have no choice .” The hobgoblin priest forced himself to hold on to his gradually lax consciousness, and smiled helplessly.

"Votors, that's how it is." Thorne paused for a moment, and finally understood the reason.

If the other party is just an ordinary priest, he can easily join other camps if he loses his level as a priest, but the voters are different. It is impossible for voters who betray their own beliefs to escape the wrath of the gods.

——"Three-ring magic: plant growth!"

In the night where the wind was whistling, accompanied by the murmur of divine spells, the seeds that had just been buried by Thorne immediately broke through the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye, took root and germinated, and finally bloomed into rose-colored thorn roses.

"Farewell." Thorne bowed to the hobgoblin priest who was very excited after seeing the thorn rose, and was about to turn and leave.

The other party is suffering the pain of losing divine power, and is likely to usher in the divine punishment of the mighty, so it is very dangerous for him to stay here, and he must leave as soon as possible.

"You said that after we die, can our consciousness really return to the real world?" Suddenly, the hobgoblin priest held his breath and asked abruptly.

Thorn stopped walking when he heard this, and subconsciously raised his head to look at the raven still hovering in the night sky, known as the 'Ferryman of Death'.

The high-pitched and resounding mournful cry seemed as if the whole world had died.

In a trance, he seemed to see a transparent skull wearing a hood appearing in groups of ravens. This head was wrapped in a translucent gray robe, flying with the mournful wind.

"That's right! As long as you die in this world, your consciousness will be transferred to the real world soon. Congratulations, you can go home soon." Thorne looked at the hovering raven firmly, and answered the other party's question very seriously. question.

Then without hesitation, it disappeared into the depths of the dense forest that turned into hideous tree shadows.

"That's really great..."

There was a gleam in the pale yellow eyes of the hobgoblin priest, and he raised his right hand with difficulty, using his last bit of strength to cast the simplest spell of light.

Brilliant thorn roses sway gently in the breeze as soft bright light dispels the deep darkness.

Looking at the beautiful flowers, the hobgoblin priest looked distracted for a moment.

He thought of the thorn rose in his hometown, which was everywhere in the mountains and plains in his hometown.

Every May Festival, a season when thorn roses bloom, standing alone on a high place and looking at it, it is like a sky full of red clouds falling from the sky, dyeing the field and hometown red.

At that time, he seemed to be living in a pink world.

The blooming flowers, the color is like rouge, the shape is like a fine lotus, against the round green leaves and busy flying bees and butterflies, and filled with rich fragrance, it makes people feel as comfortable as drinking fine wine.

At first glance, these newly bloomed flowers were exactly the same as he remembered.

It's like my hometown... the thorn roses all over the mountains and plains.

…………

Thorn, who returned to the tower, lay on the bed with his hands on his pillow, staring at the magic crystal lamp on the ceiling in a daze.

"What happened, I just lay there sullenly when I came back." Sitting in front of the dressing table, Andelina gently combed her long shiny black hair, and looked at the half-elf in the mirror.

"Nothing." Thorne replied casually.

"Tell me, how uncomfortable it is to be alone." Anderina put the considerable lineup of bottles and jars on the dressing table back to their original positions, and put the comb in the drawer.

Wearing a white nightgown, she walked to the bed and lay down next to Thorne.

"Do you think we can really return to the real world after we die?" Thorne sighed and hugged Andrina beside him.

"Impossible. Someone has witnessed the 'Death Ferryman' sent by Kelenvor, the Lord of the Dead, to guide the souls of the dead to the City of Death." Anderina tugged on the quilt, twisting her body so that it could fade away. He took off his nightgown and snuggled into his arms.

"Then why do some people like to ask questions knowingly before they die."

"This is a kind of psychological suggestion magic. Some people's strong beliefs before they die will allow them to successfully deceive themselves. It can be regarded as a method of self-comfort."

"I see."

"Stop thinking about it." Andelina put her head on Thorne's chest, feeling the smooth and rhythmic breathing, and said softly, "Thon, go to sleep."

…………

(End of this chapter)