On a winding uneven dirt road cutting though a forest there walked two men, one with quite the refined appearance and another with a little crazy appearance. They both had red eyes that seemed to glow slightly. They were both frowning and discussing something.
The one with a little crazy appearance had a one handed ax tied to his waist dangling as he walked. The one with a more refined, gentle and trustworthy appearance had nothing that could be interpreted as an actual weapon.
"We need to think smart this time, not just kill everybody as soon as we get there" the one with the gentle appearance said.
"Tsk, the lord wants souls and so he will get them" the one with the ax said.
Yes, these were the boys Thorn and Loyd.
Thorne had proposed that they go into town preaching and spread the faith while using a binding ritual they got from the lord in a dream. But Loyd just wanted to go full ax murderer like he had on the last two towns or societies on their way here.
And that was fine, but this time they were entering a bigger town, more people, higher threat, even they can be killed if there are enough people.
So Thorn proposed they use alternative methods instead.
But the brute Loyd didn't want to use his brain. And that gave Thorn the one with a brain a headache.
"We have done it your way the last two towns, let's try mine this time." Thorn said.
"Your way sounds ineffective and boring." Loyd said with a frown.
"No, it's quite the effective way, you just need to sit back and relax and watch me do the talking, ok?" Thorn proposed.
Loyd with a slight displeased frown finally yielded. "Ok, fine but if you mess up it's your soul the lord takes."
Thorn just rolled his eyes at his last comment. If this brute only understood that you need to squeeze the prey and make them bow to you not only through brute force but also from fear, fear that comes from the depths of their souls.
After ending their conversation Thorn got to planning they would arrive in town around dawn. So he had to come up with a good plan till then.
On the other side, in the dimension.
Malrik was floating in the space lightly sipping on a gray mist ball in his hands.
His two loyal subjects had gotten him quite the harvest of souls lately, that makes him quite pleased. He even made a binding magic, believing the new addition Thorn could find a use for it.
He gifted it through a dream. It's quite easy and fast to communicate this way.
He had heard a little about the plan Thorn had cooked up, and all he could say was "I am a genius" . I must say it was a good idea to let Loyd recruit Thorn.
If Thorns plan goes well he will have a whole bunch of new subjects that will give him souls.
Malrik thought while sipping his soul.
On the other end Loyd and Thorn had gotten within throwing distance of the town.
They walked in like they belonged, except they didn't. And the stares they got made that pretty clear.
They walked past a bakery stand and Thorn stopped, he walked over to the old lady standing in the stand selling bread.
"Hello, do you have any bread that's moldy or that you can't sell?" Torn said, flashing a polite smile.
The old lady raised an eyebrow and said "Maybe, why do you want it?"
Thorn flashed a smile and said "It's nothing nefarious I promise." he made a slight unnerving chuckle at the end.
The old lady seemed convinced, she didn't need them anyway so getting to sell them even for a single coin is a huge win compared to getting nothing and throwing it.
The woman turned around and then reached over and brought forth a big bag. "One coin and it's all yours" she said.
Thorn smiled and said "Deal." talking out a coin and giving it to the lady.
Then he left with the bag in tow.
Loyd asked with a frown "What are you going to use this inedible bread for?"
Thorne flashed a smile but not a polite one he had used before, but an evil grin just dripping with an evil plot.
They arrived at town square and then Thorn made a slight scene, like most eyes weren't on them from the beginning.
"Hello townsfolk, we serve the hollow lord, and we are here to perform miracles for you today." Thorn's eccentric tone and body language caught the attention of most.
The bystanders started to pool around them like they were in for a good show.
Thorne smiled and asked "How many of you have gone hungry?" Most of the people present raised a hand.
Thorne's smile widened and he said "Well, not today." he said and opened the bag.
He picked up a piece of bread that clearly looked inedible. The people looked confused. Are they supposed to believe you can eat that?
But then something happened that made their jaws drop.
The man's hand lit up with a slight light and the bread changed fast enough to see with the naked eye. The previously inedible bread was now looking fine.
Thorn grabbed the bread and tore it in half and took a bite, showing the bread was now fine to eat.
The townsfolk started to whisper and soon they said "What's the name of your lord?"
Thorn smiled and said "The hollow lord" he smiled a polite and refined smile.
The people looked at each other and in unison they said "Long live the hollow lord".
Thorne smiled and said "No need to praise, the lord is mighty and just wants your thanks, now if you want bread you can line up."
The people swarmed to line up.
The first one up was a middle aged woman.
Thorne reached out to hand the bread over and said "Take this, and may the Lord remember you."
The woman looked confused but still said "May he remember." just like they had been instructed they thought it was a weird phrase but, its free food even if it comes from weirdos.
Thorns smile grew wider.
The scene repeated itself over and over till it started to get dark and they interrupted the "charity" and the people asked if they would be here tomorrow and Thorn smiled and said "Of course." inwardly he thought ´what greedy bastards…´.
As Thorne and Loyd walked away Loyd said "You sacrificed a soul just to refresh some bread? What is this lousy plan?" Thorn rolled his eyes and said "Just wait and see…"
Soon night fell and Loyd and Thorne sneaked around the town to find susceptible people that they could make join their ranks, as fast as possible.
And after a night's work they found two victims. A poor widow with a sick child and a man with huge debts. They were going to continue observation and try to initiate contact.
The next morning Thorn and Loyd was at the town square once again, this time even more people were here and all wanted the free bread that you only needed to say a phrase to get.
Most of the people were new but a few people from yesterday were here and were ready for more bread, but the returning looked a bit tired and fatigued.
This went on for the next week, nearly everyone in this town had come and gotten bread whether they needed it or just because they wanted to experience the two weird strangers.
Now that most of the people of the town had received bread the real plot could begin.
After that week, people started becoming tired and haggard. Finding themselves in nightmares every night. The poor who had accepted the most bread were the worst looking, having transformed into figures like skeletons and their eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, most likely from continuous nightmares.
And all this pointed to one group, but they didn't want to condemn them without proof as they supplied bread for them, free of charge as well. What if they were wrong?
As this was going on, Thorn had met with the widow whose child was sick.
"You want your son to live, right?" Thorn asked the widow.
The widow looked with confusion and anger and said "Of course I want my son to live!" she nearly screamed out.
Thorn simply smiled and said "I can give him a new life, all you need to do is make some sacrifices."
The widows eyes widened in surprise then in confusion and suspicion "What do you mean sacrifices?" she asked.
Thorne smiled and said "If you want to know you have to agree, but just so you know once you agree it's for a lifetime, it's nothing you can just leave."
The widow bit her lower lip wondering to herself if she could trust the near stranger in front of her. She had heard and seen him perform miracles in the town square but she had also heard some rumors of people accepting bread and starting to have nightmares and fatigue.
But for many the bread they supply is all they can get for themselves and their children so they have to bet. She's now in the same position, should she bet on the stranger or not?
Finally she asked "Can you promise my child will be okay?" That was all she cared about, what happened to her was secondary.
Thorne smiled and nodded and said if she accepted to become the lord's subject her child could be saved.
He then conjured a paper with obscure text she couldn't understand then he said "Drop some blood on this part and press your finger and the deal is done."
She looked skeptical but still did as he said…
The man with the huge debts was not so willing, he had outright refused and even insulted Thorne and his lord which was unacceptable so he had an "unfortunate accident" the next day. Nobody cared, he was notorious in town, and his death might not have been celebrated but it was not far off.
But some of the smarter individuals had understood that the bread was the perpetrator for all the sick people in town, and a couple of days later when Loyd and Thorn were doing their daily charity work the people spoke up.
"You did something to the bread," one man yelled. He looked like he hadn't eaten for days. Soon the rest of the people followed, threatening to rush the duo.
But then Thorn really couldn't hold back "Hahaha you idiots." the town square went silent.
And the people looked stumped. "What do you mean?" they asked.
Thorn could barely contain his laughter "You think there are truly free things in this world? When you accepted the bread and said the phrase "you entered a contract with our lord, and now your souls get siphoned by him every time you come here for bread."
The people had a look of fear. "What… you bastards you didn't mention that."
Thorn chuckled and said "No shit, would you have taken any bread then? Of course you wouldn't, but now you can't get rid of it. If you want your lifes back you need to become the subjects of the lord and sacrifice souls to the lord. Don't worry being the lord's subjects are enviable, you get power you couldn't even dream of before. The more souls you sacrifice, the stronger you become…"
The people showed looks of horror and said "We will never become your lord's subjects."
Thorn just ignored him and said "We only have 10 places and it's first come first served."
The previous unified group became splitted in an instant. And it didn't take long for one person to raise their hands. He looked like a walking skeleton and was not far from death. The people around looked at him in horror and surprise "I sign up, I'm willing, please" he said as he made his way towards Thorn.
Thorn smiled and shook his hand and a piece of paper appeared and Throne told him to drop some blood on the paper and press his finger on the blood. The man didn't even read it, not that he could but if he could he probably still wouldn't read it.
Then they saw as the man turned around and grabbed another person by the throat and snapped his neck, and sucked out a grey mist like substance and his appearance returned to normal.
Some people backed away while others looked with fear and anticipation, and soon they raised their hands.
After 10 people were chosen the rest was fair game.
Loyd laughed and said "Your plan was slow but smart, and finally I get to kill some people."
Thorn just smiled and shook his head. He looked at the new subjects and said "Bring 20 people here." The new subjects smiled and ran off, soon returning with 20 people.
And Thorn sitting on a wooden crater said "Kill them and leave their souls for me."
The new subjects obeyed and killed them in various bloody ways, breaking their necks, cutting their throats, stabbing them through the hearth, anything went, but then Thorn stood up, walked over and started to absorb the souls. After enjoying the warmth of the souls and the happiness of serving the lord souls personally he said.
"What are you standing there for? Go and kill the villages or the lord will claim your souls as compensation, heheheh." he chuckled, finding humor in tormenting the new guys.
The new subjects got out of their daze and started their hunt. The pact with the lord had already tainted their minds and with the absorption of more souls their mind was already more and more fanatic towards the lord.
The lord in question was very confused as he got 10 more subjects and souls started to rumble in. He knew Thorn's plan had succeeded to a certain degree because he had gotten parts of souls the past week or so, but he was a bit unprepared when he saw all these new subjects and souls.
But he couldn't be happier. More souls, more food. It also means he gets closer to getting to walk the physical world.
He needs to borrow Loyd and Thorn more power so they can do more stuff like this. Now that they have shown competence.
Back to Loyd and Thorn who were looking at the scattered corpses all over the town, 12 people stood in front of them including the widow and her son they made subjects earlier.
They smiled proudly hoping their lord would give them some acknowledgement this time.
They looked upon their subjects and said "We're moving towns soon, grab your essentials and valuables."
And the new subjects nodded and hurried off.
While Loyd and Thorn discussed if they should split up to cover more towns, and since their tactics are so different it might be for the best.
They took out a map and decided on towns that were 10 and 12 days away for ordinary humans respectively.
Having decided on this new plan they waited for the rest of the subjects to get back and then they split equally except Thorn getting the widow and her son since he isn't battle oriented like Loyd.
Then they left.
CHAPTER END.