Life Moves On

Tarron, Ruith, and a few other elves arrived at the scene not long after that, all on the shoulders of the giants. Haganto was immediately bombarded with questions while he received a healing spell from Ruith. The elf quickly realized that while his wound was a bite mark, he couldn’t detect any of Agron’s venom. Haganto did his best to answer all their questions, despite their growing incredulous looks and expressions of shocked disbelief. Not that Haganto blamed them.

But none of them called Haganto a liar or mistaken. Not when they realized that Haganto had indeed been cured of a previously fatal venom. Not when Tarron and the elves saw with their magic that Salith had been there. Not when they too saw the ghost lights that used to haunt the mist in front of Malnora go to the heavens.

There had been some talk about going after Salith only to get quickly shot down. Salith, while still dangerous, had rid them of a great evil. She was allowed to go back home in peace. The chances of her going after any innocent being were very low anyway, due to having caught such a prey like Agron.

And while no one mentioned it, Haganto was sure not wanting to fight Salith was also a reason.

Rather surprisingly, back at the army campsite, despite there being many volunteers who had walked miles and miles to kill Agron only to not end up fighting him at all, no one had been upset or disappointed. Instead, many of them called for a party to celebrate Agron’s death. To Haganto’s surprise, Councilor Belanor gladly agreed and before he knew it, meals and drinks were prepared and music was being played by various instruments.

It wasn’t the first party that Haganto had attended, having participated in the many festivals and holidays in Filla Aethel. But it was his first one where many species were involved, all truly joyous and friendly as they sang and ate with each other. When more people arrived, both late recruits and witnesses to seeing Salith tugging Agron’s corpse behind her, they were readily invited to join.

Haganto was pleasantly surprised to see this welcoming nature was directed at him as well, with them asking him to eat and sing with them. Many wanted him to tell them about how Agron died, knowing that he had been there. Haganto declined to sing since he couldn’t carry a tune to save his life, but he did eat and recall the tale about Agron’s death and his role in it many times.

Despite the countless times he had to retell the tale, Haganto honestly didn’t mind it. Being the recipient of such positive and friendly attention of not a few, but many people was a feeling he wasn’t ever going to forget. Haganto even had a good, friendly conversation with the two giants. While they expectedly didn’t know anything about any female half-giants who had been kidnapped by ogres, they proclaimed him an honorary giant all the same.

Eventually, the events of the past several hours caught up with him, and Haganto had to take a rest, despite the celebration still going strong. Not without a smile on his face, however.

Haganto spent the next couple of days both recuperating and helping clean up the aftermath of the celebration and the armies’ stay, who were steadily going back to their homes, eager to help spread the word. Once the clean-up was done and Haganto had no other reason to stay, he left too, with Animo on his shoulder and a new communication stone in his pouch from Tarron. With of course the stern stipulation to not drop and break it this time. Councilor Belanor and Ruith also wished him a warm farewell and safe travels.

Alberad would be happy to see that the Malnora elves and Haganto ended up having a good relationship after all. That thought alone gave Haganto peace.

On his way, Haganto passed by Malnora and smiled when he saw some of the Malnora elves, who had either stayed behind or left the army campsite early, starting to break down the walls.

As Councilor Belanor said, ‘There was no need for them or the mist anymore.’

Another two weeks passed before Haganto found himself in Hullmar again. The last time he was here, it was just a normal day of him searching for a new job while ignoring the cautious glares from most of the civilians. Now, while there were a few people who stared at him, there were many people who seemed too happy or hopeful to notice that he was even there.

It looked like news of Agron’s death had reached here as well. Perhaps they believed that if Agron could die, then there was a chance that their harsh living conditions could improve too.

Haganto just smiled to himself as he kept walking down the street. Hullmar was a very small town, so it didn’t take him long to find a store that had the smell of delicious bread coming out of it. Hoping that Alanus would still be waiting, Haganto opened the door.

Animo, sitting on Haganto's shoulder, trilled in greeting when they saw Alanus sitting on one of the few stools, tuning his lute with Grimoire sitting on his shoulder.

“Haganto! Animo!” cried Grimoire right as Alanus shot his head up. A relieved and happy smile instantly broke out on Alanus’s face.

“That took you long enough,” Alanus said with no bite to his words as Haganto walked into the bakery.

“Well, I do have human blood in me,” Haganto said as he sat down on the stool next to Alanus. “And they are notorious for being slow.”

Alanus chuckled as he looked up and down Haganto, his eyes narrowing on his arm.

“Looks like you have a story to tell,” Alanus said as he pointed to the two new scars.

“Indeed,” Haganto replied as Animo crawled down his arm and nuzzled his head against the remains of Agron’s bite. They were not ugly, just a good reminder of what he survived, of what he helped save their world from.

A basket holding many rolls and a small brown pouch was placed in his lap.

“Well, then please tell it with my best, freshly baked bread,” Tolden said proudly with a smile. “And if you are still hungry after that, just tell me. I will gladly give you more, as promised. For as long as you live, you will always have bread here, no payment needed. It is the least I can do.”

Haganto sat there in silence for a moment before smiling.

“Thank you,” he said with a nod. Then he reached into his pouch and grabbed some black hairs tied with a thick but small rope. “And as promised, evidence that Erzu is gone.”

“Hehe, you really are a monster hunter, huh, Haganto?” said Tolden as he accepted the hairs. “Now, if you excuse me, I need to figure out the best place to hang this. By the back door perhaps? No…perhaps the-”

The rest of his murmurings were lost as Tolden went into the back and Alanus started to strum his lute. A serene tune started to play from his fingers as Haganto ripped off a piece from one of the rolls and ate it. The bread was as delicious as it smelled, causing Haganto to rip off a small piece and give it to a curious Animo. Haganto then closed his eyes.

He felt content.

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