Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

"A known heretic? I’m sorry Sir Saint, but I do not believe that any of our villagers have committed such heinous acts, especially not Ms Aria here. She is an upstanding member of our community, a fair young lady who has made immense contributions to the village despite her age. If I knew that you would have made such false accusations against one of our own, I am sure none of us here would have agreed to accommodate your group on your mission."

Several of the villagers seemed to agree with Walden’s statement, nodding along to what he said. The Inquisitors, particularly the red haired woman, seemed taken aback at that, and their hostility slowly shifted to uncertainty.

He knew. Aria finally broke out of her momentary stupor, realizing that Walden was trying to help her talk her way out of this. He knew all along, and now he’s helping me.

Aria was both confused and ashamed. She was confused as to why Walden would help her if he knew, and ashamed for being suspicious of him just the day before. But Aria knew that she had to take this opportunity, and slowly she took a step back, towards the group of passersby.

Unlike the Inquisitors however, Theron was unaffected by Walden’s small speech. He took a step forward when Aria stepped back, and as if his words were justice itself, spoke into the crowd.

"Mr Walden, we are grateful that you have provided us lodging to aid us in tracking down… a group of evildoers," said the Saint, nodding. "However, the lady you are defending matches the description of an even more dangerous person, wanted all across both continents known as the Fiend. She is a known practitioner of black magic, fornicates with Demons, and was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Emperor Xavier. Her name was Valeria Aimy Corinna, formerly of house Corinna, and was one of the leaders of the Shadow’s Evangelium before the organization’s destruction. I request that you please hand her over to us."

There were gasps all around. People who Aria worked with for years, and people who she barely even knew eyed her with suspicion. She knew that if she said anything, it would just antagonize the man more, so she placed all her hopes on Walden, while slowly edging further away from the Saint.

"If she is who you say she is, I believe it is only right that you provide some proof of your claims, don’t you agree?"

"Theron’s not lying!" the red haired Inquisitor growled. Suddenly embarrassed, she quickly followed up in a more subdued, but still aggressive, tone, "He’s a Saint. He literally can’t lie!"

Both Theron and Walden seemed to raise an eye at her shift in tone, but neither commented on it. Walden instead elected to respond to her statement.

"I do not doubt the Saint’s word, Madam Inquisitor, but can he be sure Aria is who he says she is? You claim that she matches the description of a wanted criminal from some heretic group over a decade ago. If that were truly the case, wouldn’t the Fiend be much older now? Surely this is simply a case of mistaken identity?"

This time, Walden’s argument left not only the Saint unconvinced, but also the Inquisitors and the crowd. Magic could very easily solve the problem posed by Walden, and a man Aria recognized as Adrian’s father seemed to realize that. All heads turned to him as he spoke.

"Walden, I get what you’re saying, I really do. But me and the missus have talked about it before, and we are not the only ones who have been creeped by Aria’s youth. She—"

Aria did not let the man finish. She would have been upset by the fact that he was so ready to betray her despite their children’s friendship, but she was grateful to him at the moment. For the moment. Everyone, including the Saint and the Inquisitors, were distracted by the man's little speech, giving the young woman the distraction she needed to run.

She spun on her heels and immediately took off, sprinting away from the crowd. She could not risk getting stopped by someone who decided to help the Inquisitors, like Adrian’s father did. This situation would never favor her, thus she needed to get out of there.

An Inquisitor was the first one to notice. Just like the rest of them, he was covered from head to toe in armor adorned with mana crystals, though he seemed to be more lightly dressed than the rest. He drew two daggers, one obsidian black and the other jade green, as he gave chase. The moment he did, the mana crystals on his legs glowed, and he was off sprinting faster than humanly possible after Aria.

The rest of them were right behind him, with the unarmored Saint in second place. Surprisingly enough, the red haired woman was not taking up the rear, but was slightly faster than a blonde woman. The blonde woman ran as she slowly withdrew her bow and arrows, aiming right at Aria.

At the same time, the rogue started to close in on Aria, throwing a dagger at her. She leaned out of the way of the first one, and as the rogue threw the second, the archer loosed multiple consecutive arrows as well.

Aria stopped, grabbing the green dagger out of the air, and using it, she deftly deflected all the enchanted arrows coming at her. The rogue rushed up at her, black dagger flickering into existence back in his hand, and slashed for her throat. She easily parried the swing, countering with sweep to his legs. The rogue barely jumped over it, but was still midair when a followup kick struck him right in his chest, sending him flying back towards the Saint.

Dodging another arrow, Aria threw the green dagger towards the archer, garnering a momentary reprieve. She turned away from the oncoming Inquisitors, and took a