Capítulo 143: Tears of the Sun
Kaga was rudely awakened when she heard loud bangings and frightened cries coming from outside the shared living quarters. She rolled off the wooden pallet and spied out the cracks of the wall panels. She saw several of the helpers that provided food to the people were holding burning torches and gathered at the main gate which someone or something was banging loudly at.
"What's happening?" Someone asked in the room as the people sleeping inside were waking up by the dim outside. "I don't know!"
The banging grew louder and yells and shouts could be heard coming from the gate, before it burst open, swinging creakily on the rusty hinges. Gasps were heard from the helpers who brandished their flaming torches at the intruders who barged in.
Kaga's eyes widened in fear as she thought that the Empire soldiers had come to arrest them and take them back to slavery. The others having the same thoughts panicked and started to flee out of the buildings, hoping to escape the Empire soldiers.
But she saw only several dark figures at the gate who entered and closed the gate before the firelight lit up their features and they do not dressed like any Empire soldier. One of them was even carrying a child on his back.
She walked out of the building and came up close until she could hear what the housekeeper and the newly arrived men were talking about.
"- move now!" The foremost scruffy looking male spoke sharply at the housekeeper, who face was turning pale at the bloodthirsty sight of his eyes. "There is no time, gather all the people and load up the supplies as fast as possible, we need to leave now!"
"But.. but!" The housekeeper sputtered, trying to reason with the tall scary looking man. "We do not have enough wagons! And some are still sick! Nor are the adventurers escorting them here! It is suicidal to go out there!"
"The Empire is coming!" The man angrily hissed, "If you stay any longer, everyone dies!"
The housekeeper paused at the man's angry words, "They know...? Oh, the heavens! Quick!" He turned around and gestured wildly at his helpers, "Wake them all up and get whoever is able bodied to help load the supplies into the wagons we have now! And hitch the dragons up to wagons too!"
The helpers hearing that quickly dispersed and started to call out the people still indoors and also rounded up those that went hiding away. Kaga watched as the leader of the fierce-looking group sat down at one of the outdoor benches and the rest of his party gathered around him.
Soon the whole yard was a hive of activity as workers and the ex slaves started to carry and hoist sacks of food and barrels of water onto the wagons while other harnessed the land dragons in the stables and led the sleepy beasts to be hitched onto the wagons. The word had spread that the Empire will be coming soon lit a fire under the ex slaves, who worked without complaint and rest, and soon everything that could be loaded up was done.
The weak and sick were placed on the remaining empty spaces onboard the wagons while the rest moved on foot, as they headed out of the yard led by the fierce looking mercenary who brought the news of the Empire's arrival. They hurried along with the wagons, using the dim stars lit sky to light their way as torches or lamps were forbid by the mercenaries, to prevent the Empire soldiers from spotting them, they said.
The camp was so abandoned as the housekeeper and his staff scurried away home, not wanting to be caught when the Empire's soldier came to raid.
-----
Dante stepped out of the shower tub, and carried Evelyn's exhausted body out of the tub, wrapping them both with a dry towel. They have returned to Dante's room for another bout of intense lovemaking before showering.
Dante casually wiped himself dry and dress up, before un-sheathing his greatsword and used its edge to open a cut on his finger. He then used his blood to draw runes on the surface of the greatsword before imbuing it with his magic powers.
Evelyn woke up at some point and watched Dante at his work, only when he was finished did she snuggled up next to him. "How are you feeling?"
"Great!" Dante smiled, "Get dressed, its nearly morning, we will grab some breakfast before we head out."
Evelyn nodded and kissed the side of Dante's face before slipping on her nightgown and exited his room. Dante stood up and gave a few swipes of his sword in the room, making and blood red after image with each swipe, the force of the swipes shaking the room slightly. Finally satisfied, he returned his sword back into the sheath and headed down the inn to find some food.
Stab and Liz were surprised that they were moving out so soon after they arrived at the town. Dante just casually explained that they are hunting a group of adventurers who were holding a child and that the child was in danger.
Liz almost immediately stood up and said, "Evildoers! Bullying and threatening children! We must stop them!" And she almost stormed off, when Stab stopped her by pulling her robes.
"Where do you think you are going?" Stab sighed, he had heard of the commotion that was going on outside during the night when he was having several drinks at a pub a few streets away. He did not think that it was due to Dante trying to save the child and fought against several people and he wasn't victorious. It was almost impossible, thought Stab as he knew that Dante was one of the strongest fighters he ever has seen. "Do you know how to find them in the first place?"
"..." Liz froze and jerked her robes away from Stab before returning to her seat and buried her blushing face into her mug of hot milk. "..."
"Don't worry," Dante smiled and patted Liz's head, her fuzzy red hair standing out without her usual pointed hat. "Evelyn has gotten their scent, she can track them easily."
Evelyn nodded, "As long as it does not rain, I can find their tracks."
"Good, everyone full?" Dante asked, "Alright, let's go!"
-----
After a few hours of tracking and searching, the Hero's party arrived before them a large camp surrounded with wooden palisades and a stout gate. Pushing the gates open, showed the camp had an abandoned feel to it. The party stayed within sight of each other and they checked each and every building, finding it empty and the signs showed it was abandoned in a hurry.
"Looks like everyone left in a hurry," Stab said as he came out of the last building shaking his head. "No one is home."
Dante nodded, as he sat on the bench which Tyrier and Claymore One had sat on a few hours earlier. "Evelyn?"
The Huntress stood braced on top of one of the roofs of the buildings, staring out into the sea of trees surrounding them. "They left that way, at least nine wagons and dragons, almost 300 people." She pointed towards the south.
Next, she gestured down to the tracks on the ground floor from the roof. "You can roughly see how many different sets of feet there and the lines drawn by the wagons."
"I found several sacks of dried rations and some water barrels in the stores," Stab said, as he joined Dante and Liz at the bench. "I think they took what they could and left the rest."
"This group looks quite big, are you sure this is the correct people we are supposed to go after?" Stab asked Evelyn who had nimbly climbed down the side of the building and joined them.
She nodded and indicated to the bench which they were sitting on, "I can smell the same scent which Dante gave me to track them with." She bent down and sniffled the wood, "No doubt about it, it's the same scent!" She rubbed her nose.
"I thought we are going after a small group of people over a child, but this looks like more than that," Stab said, "Could it be some kind of kidnapping racket?"
Dante gave a good natured shrug, "We will know when we find them," He turned to look towards the south, his eyes turning cold.
-----
Southwest of Falledge, Uncharted Forest
Two untidy lines of tired people were walking on the sides of the row dragon pulled wagons. The lines weaved around the massive tree roots and disappeared from view in the forest. Kaga slowly put one put before the other as her healed sores on her feet were started to hurt again after more than half a days travel.
As she rounded a bend, she saw the head of the column had stopped and the people were gathered around a clearing. Her stomach rumbled when she saw some people starting to take out cooking pots from the wagons and remember the last time she ate was dinner the other day.
The people surrounding her saw that the cooking pots were being laid out over cook fires, forgot about their tiredness and pushed themselves faster, flopping down on the green grass when they reached the gathered wagons.
Kaga headed for the water barrel set out with ladles for people to drink and pour a mouthful into her parched throat. The mid-spring weather made the forest humid and hot, making her sweaty and sticky. She wished that there was a river for them to wash up as the water in the barrels were limited and precious.
"Alright, people listen up!" The mercenary from before stood on top of one of the wagons yelled, "I will form every one of you into teams. Each team will be responsible for one aspect of workload, be it cooking, driving the wagons or collecting firewood."
"There are no maids or servants here," Tyrier continued, "Everyone has to play their own parts if we are to survive the trek to safety! After getting fed, I want to start organizing every one of you. Now, drink more water, get some food and rest!"
Kaga nodded, thinking that what he said was right, and headed to one of the cookpots was an ex-slave was stirring some grain porridge with strips of dead meat inside. Several chipped bowls were set to the side and Kaga took one and had the cook serve her up one big bowl of porridge with some chunks of vegetables and strips of dried meat and started feasting.
Tyrier hopped down the wagon and looked worriedly to the rear, where small groups of stragglers were coming in slowly. "Shit, this is not good. We have too many people lagging behind."
Young stood next to Tyrier and said, "If the Hero is chasing her, he should have come by now. I don't think we need to worry much about pursuit now."
"I don't think that S O B will give up so fast," Tyrier said. "There is only seven of us to guard this rubble of over three hundred, we can't be everywhere if they are strung out too far back."
"Hitsu, Loke, and Tavel are acting as the rearguard," Young said, "They should be able to handle anything that comes their way."
"I seriously hope so," Tyrier said grimly.
-----
"Yup, the campfires are still warm," Stab dug his fingers into the soil covered campfires. "I say, half a day ahead of us?"
Dante smiled, "We are getting close." He looked up to the sky, "It will be dark soon, but we should be able to catch up with them before the sun sets."
"Let's go!" Liz waved her staff threatening, "I want my bed! And a shower! I will make those people that forced me out here to suffer!"
Dante laughed and patted Liz's shoulder, "Get them we will! Let's go!"
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Capítulo 144: Sum of All Fears
Kingdom of Bluewood, Imperial Capital
A tall muscular bald elf wearing pure black plate mail with a crest of a twin-tailed scorpion strolled past the featureless Lifeguards of the Emperor, his plated boots clanking as he walked down the narrow spiral stone steps and entering into an underground hall. The globes of light moss lit the way for him as he pushed the heavy stout wooden door open and entered a stone chamber of horrors.
Dozens of tables and wall racks hung naked people of all races, sex, and ages in various poses of agony. Some had their eyelids cut away, and forced to watch various kinds of torture inflicted on their bodies, while others had their tongues removed. The black armored elf stood before a table filled with instruments of torture and gently removed his plated gloves, and slapping them on top of the table, ignoring the screams of the condemned.
The Emperor bent over the wriggling body of Sturm, eagle spread over a rack with steel bars securing his arms and legs and watched his mage drawing lines of arcane symbols that confound and distort the mind. Sturm's mouth was opened in agony, a dark bloodied pit of emptiness as his tongue and teeth were all forcibly removed. His eyelids were also cut away, forcing him to watch the dark mage drawing magic runes on his body with the blood of the sacrificed.
Once the hooded mage was done with his art, he bowed to the Emperor who smiled and patted Sturm's shoulder in an assuring way. "My dear Sturm, well let this be as enjoying to me as to you." The Emperor then turned and nodded to his mage who started to whisper some form of chant which crawled the insides of the mind if one were to listen closely to it.
Suddenly Sturm jerked upwards, despite the steel bands holding his body, he bent up in an arc, thick veins appeared over his head and body as he contorted in pain and suffering. Underneath his skin, worm-like veins were wriggling all over his body and his body turning red and his temperature went up higher and higher.
The Emperor tilted his head as he watched in fascination at the changes occurring to Sturm's body. The skin of Sturm grew taut and turn dark shiny brown, his muscles growing abnormally, while his pupils turn red and sharp teeth grew out from his toothless gums. The metal bands holding on to his arms and legs creaked and strained as Sturm struggled and growled in suffering.
Finally, after a turn of the glass, Sturm slumped down back onto the rack, his lidless eyes staring blankly at the stone ceiling while his chest rose up and down as his body had changed to almost twice of his actual size.
The Emperor clapped his hands happily, as the mage bowed and gestured that the experiment is a success. "Well, at least you can be useful even if you have failed me after all." He turned to the newcomer and smiled, "So what do you think?"
The bald knight just gave a raised eyebrow look and said, "Won't know till he goes into the battlefield."
"Ahh, my esteemed mage here assures me that his," The Emperor gestured the changed Sturm on the rack, "Bronze Men, are more capable than our knights, one of them equaling 10 knights in strength and resistance. Normal swords and spears can barely penetrate their bronzed bodies."
The bald knight shrugged, and repeated, "Still have to see their performance on the battlefield."
"Haha," The Emperor laughed, "Then he's all yours! Since you caught him and brought him back to me. How's the situation at the border?'
The bald knight just gave a casual nod, "Not good, the two nations had allied up and are resisting rather strongly. But your Bronze Men are still tough as claimed, we should be able to force breakthrough before winter."
"And the rebels?" The Emperor stabbed the unmoving body of Sturm with a dagger. "How do you plan to deal with them?"
"I have sent the Hero down to deal with it first," The black knight replied, "The priority now is the Two Nation Alliance. The Hero should be able to deal with them, if not after we crushed the Two Nations, we can easily divert all our attention to the south, once we unite the whole New land."
"Good," The Emperor looked at the skin of Sturm were he had stabbed hard with his dagger, yet there was barely a mark seen. "I will be sending all the Bronze Men we have to be under your command.'
The black knight nodded, "I will make preparations for departure as soon as possible. Please send the Bronze Men to the Black Scorpion Legion barracks." The knight then gave a bow and departed from the stone chamber.
"Don't fail me, Rock..." The Emperor advised at the disappearing back of the knight and smiled at his mage. "Now, who is next?" He rubbed his hands together in glee.
-----
Uncharted Forest, 479 km from Sawtooth Mouth Pass
"GO, GO, GO!" Tyrier yelled as he fired at the approaching blue-coated soldiers mounted on dragons. He pushed the frightened ex-slave as he aimed at the charging dragons. His single shots snapping the soldiers off their saddles.
"Come on!" Altied helped one of the fallen ex-slaves up from the ground and urged the rest to run faster. "Where the hell did those blue boys come from?"
"I have no idea!" Doth yelled over the dim of gunfire, as he crouched next to tree root and fired single shots at the dragon cavalry. "I thought we are dealing with that Hero guy only!"
Unknown to Claymore One, the Hero and his party had managed to track the escaping slaves and Dante sent Stab back to Falledge to the garrison to bring reinforcements. Stab had shown up at the garrison and showed a letter to the garrison commander who immediately after reading it, turned pale and followed all instructions given by Stab.
It took the garrison's cavalry 3 days to catch up with the Hero and his party who followed behind the convoy and they took the opportunity to attack the ex-slaves when they stopped to setup camp.
"Go!" The men of Claymore One held the rear and proceded in a tactical withdrawal, buying time for the non-combatants to escape. Due to their firepower, they managed to stall and even led the pursuing cavalry into an ambush which decimated more than half their numbers.
"Doth!" Tyrier yelled, "You gotten in contact with HQ?" He dropped down behind a massive tree root and replaced his empty magazines with a fresh one.
"Negative!" Doth yelled back from a tree further down the line. "Too much interference from the trees!"
"Damn!" Tyrier cursed, he patted his ammo pouches and found he barely had two magazines left. "Try harder! Find high ground!" He yelled back to Doth who nodded and dashed off somewhere.
"Ammo status?" Tyrier yelled to the rest.
"Two mags!"
"Three left!"
"Same three here!"
"Shit, at this rate we need to go melee!" Tyrier cursed to himself. "And the damn Hero hasn't shown his face yet!"
"Save the last two mags for the Hero and his party!" Tyrier ordered, "Switch to melee against the blue boys!"
Suddenly, a warcry roared out from dozens and dozens of soldiers as they charged across the trees to close in with Claymore One. "CHARGGEEEE!"
Tyrier dropped his M2 and drew his longsword, stepping over the roots of the tree he was at and skewered a charging blue coated soldier right in the chest. The boyish features of the soldier's eyes widen in shock and he crumbled down while Tyrier barely gave a second glance at the dying soldier.
Hitsu raised his palm up and two blue magic circles appeared and a crack of lightning flared out, followed by a strong smell of ozone and burnt meat as he blasted at the enemy soldiers. He blocked a spear thrust and grabbed the spear and jerked the surprised soldier holding the spear towards him and impaled his sword bayonet into the surprised soldier.
Taver leaned against the tree roots and calmly fired his M2 at the charging soldiers, at the short distance, he barely missed, each shot dropped a blue coated soldier. Altied also did the same, popping single shots at the enemy, providing cover for the rest.
Young and Loke were leading and escorting the escaping slaves, while the rest held the rear, trading spells, and gunfire. And just as suddenly as it happened, it was over, the Empire soldiers were either dead or dying, the small battlefield was littered with the dead and dying.
"Grab whatever is useful!" Tyrier ordered, "Five minutes then we retreat!"
The men quickly went forward and started to loot the bodies of the Empire soldiers, picking up swords, water skins, dried rations, and even healing items. They gathered the weapons and retreated, leaving behind broken bodies. They managed to catch up with the ex slaves and handed out the weapons and supplies to them, as they had run away when attacked, leaving behind most of their supplies of food and water.
"I think the Hero is purposely draining our strength before he will show himself," Young spoke up as he applied some medical paste on a sword cut on Tyrier's arm. "At this rate without any supplies, we will be cut down one by one."
"Damn," Tyrier looked at the frightened and exhausted ex slaves. "How many made it?"
"I did a roll call earlier," Young replied as he bandaged up the wound. "232 of them, roughly 110 people are missing or lost."
"Shit!" Tyrier flexed his bandaged armed and grimaced. "Doth! Did you managed to contact HQ yet?"
"I am still trying!" Doth was perched on top of a tree branch, the radio headset covering his ears while he fiddled with the dials of the radio. "No go!"
"Keep trying, if you managed to get to HQ, tell them we need a dust off, ammo and supplies," Tyrier ordered.
"Hitsu, find out who can fight or know how to use a sword," Tyrier ordered next, "Issue out the swords we got from the Empire." Hitsu nodded and started yelling to the ex slaves who were huddled up together.
'Tavel, check our total ammunition amount," Tyrier said next to Tavel, "Redistrub the ammo evenly out."
A smallish girl with white hair and fluffy ears suddenly stood before Tyrier who looked up in surprise," Yes? Can I help you?"
"I can help!" The cat girl said, "I- I know how to fight with magic! My name is Kaga, Kaga Whitetail!"
"Thanks," Tyrier smiled at the cat girl who barely reached his chest height and looked like eighteen or sixteen, "Then I will like you to help protect the women and children."
"But... I know magic!" Kaga protested, "I can help kill the Empire soldiers!"
Tyrier shook his head, wondering what is happening to his world were women and children have to fight and kill just to live. "It's all good," He assured the cat girl, "I am sure your magic powers are very strong, but I rather need you to protect the rest."
Hitsu came up at this time and cleared his throat, "Boss, I got about 40 men and women here who knows how to use a sword."
"Ok, gather them together," Tyrier stood up and rubbed the head of the cat girl who frowned, "Go look after the rest." Just as Loke yelled from his vantage point.
"Contacts!" Loke yelled down from the tree he was in, he spotted more blue coats moving among the trees. "They are about five, ten minutes away!"
"Go!" Tyrier gestured Kaga towards the rest and headed to where Hitsu is gathered with the slaves that knew how to handle a sword. "Protect the rest for me ok?" He left Kage who stood there staring at him with tears forming in her eyes.
"Come on! It is a good day to die!"
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