Chapitre 67: Chapter 67: Tails Between Their Legs
"Where did she go?" Ryas scanned the crowd and sprinted forward - he spun around but didn't see Yuliah anywhere. She couldn't have disappeared this fast.
Across the street, in the alleyway, he caught sight of a group of men looking around oddly in black hooded robes - ones you wouldn't wear to a festival. Ryas' instincts kicked in and with no time to waste both his feet slammed onto the ground as he headed towards them.
Too many people packed themselves into the streets of Murai for the festival, and Ryas shoved, then pushed his way through the excited crowd. Once he cleared the people - he could see a few of the men nervously glanced around as though on the lookout, while others jumped onto the back of a wagon and crouched down.
Then he saw Yuliah and his blood ran cold at the sight of her bounded in the back of the wagon. Their eyes met briefly right as the cart took off.
"FUCK," Ryas released his Ethereal Spirit and sprinted forward with both swords drawn. These Man looked human, but almost all half breeds did now. Could the Kreato already be here? He needed to be careful the Kreato were the strongest of all Nomens. Within a few strides, Ryas slid right into the Men. He caught them off guard and with a few swings killed every single Man leaving just one. He needed at least one of them alive.
The remaining man swung around with a fist, and his arm extended out towards Ryas.
He quickly blocked with his left arm. Then counter with a punch. Ryas heard the crunch of bone as his fist smashed down on the man's face.
A light went out in this man's eyes, and he crumbled to the ground. His body twitched on the ground. Did he kill him? Ryas bent down and held a finger under his nose. He wasn't dead or a Nomen, none of them were Nomens. With a handful of the man's collar, Ryas dragged the limp body across the street with him.
Back at the table, Zehan noticed that his younger brother didn't get up to talk to any women all day, even though he spoke about it earlier. "Lohan, there's no one here you want to talk too?"
He smiled sheepishly at Zehan. "There is, but she's..."
Suddenly the body of a man plopped down onto their table. Startled, both of them jumped to their feet, as did some Captains.
"Take him to the jail," Ryas ordered his Captains, and off they hauled the man away.
"Who's this man?" Zehan looked concerned. "And where is Yuliah?"
"One man who grabbed her off the streets. We need to find the Regent now," Ryas answered.
Ryas shared the information Iyna gave him and what happened to Yuliah with Zehan. When they reached the Regents home, he went over the same information, but he did not explain why the Kreato were marching for Murai. He alluded to the fact that the Kreato were hunting for mates.
In the Ethereal Forest, the Kreato lived, and no one including Ryas had any idea where. They were the most aggressive but allusive of all Nomens. The Ethereal Forest spanned over 2000 miles across the land and reached from one side of the coast to the other. He didn't have the time to explore the Forest anymore. It wasn't the Kreato who took her, but Men. Why? Yuliah didn't know anyone here.
"General..." Zehan shook him. "Did you hear me? We need to go over a plan immediately. Who knows how long before the Kreato reach us."
"Wait here for me," Ryas stood up and left - leaving a confused Zehan and the Regent behind.
Ryas needed to figure out who took Yuliah first and headed to jail.
To get to that man, Ryas would need to walk passed Ward. There were very few people that could annoy him, and Ward would be the first. He didn't want to hear Ward's shit right now.
"You're not here to see me today, General?" Ward leaned against the bars, smiling. "Where's that feisty girl?"
Ryas ignored him and headed straight for the cell.
"I saw your Captains drag a Man in here. I know something happened!" Ward shouted.
Inside the jail, the man slumped over in a cell across from Irk.
All eyes were on Ryas when he approached the cell. "Wake him up," Ryas handed a vile to his Men.
One captain removed the cap and waved it under the man's nose. After several minutes he slowly came to. The Captain hoisted him up by the shirt.
"Give him a moment," Ryas smirked.
Irk, Ox, and Pig stood up and walked towards the front of their cells to watch.
When the Man was finally awake, Ryas stepped into his cell. "Every soldier believes he is tough, that he is brave, and his cause - just," Ryas unhooked a knife from his waist. "Until he comes face to face with death. Have you seen death before?" Ryas asked.
The Man in black confidently stared at Ryas, not afraid one bit.
From behind Ryas, Pig recognized the silver blade and hunched away. The spot where his tongue had ached.
Back in the cell, this man proved to be resilient. After Ryas slammed his face against the bars and nearly broke his arm, he still did not answer but only kept his eyes on the blade.
Ryas switched the knife to his other hand and pointed it at the man's eye. "This will only get worse. Unless you tell me who took her and where?"
"Oh, fuck no," Irk backed away. "I can't watch this anymore."
Ryas hoped the Man would give up soon. He didn't want to torture anyone today, but the man refused to talk, and Yuliah and his child were in danger. "Pull out his hand, palms up." Ryas ordered his Captains, who did as told.
His wrist flicked, and a cut split the tip of the man's finger to the back of his knuckle. The Man finally screamed out in pain. "You're probably wondering why it hurts this much," Ryas took a handful of his hair as he continued to make more cuts on the man's fingers. "This is a special blade - one cut becomes a thousand, and it will be your death if you don't answer me."
The Man screamed then shook in tremors until a stream of urine dripped down the leg of his pants and pooled next to Ryas foot.
"Do you want to talk now?" Ryas asked again. He'd come across three types of Men - the ones who would die for their convictions and the ones who had little faith in them. The man fell in between - he needed to have his beliefs broken.
After several minutes of silence, Ryas' patience ended. "Strip him down and hang him from the ceiling," he ordered.
"No! I'll tell you," he trembled.
"I'm glad you changed your mind," Ryas smiled. "Who took her?"
"Advisor Biah's son Liang. He forced us to come here."
Ryas took a deep breath and should have known that delusional fuck wouldn't let Yuliah go that easily. "Does Advisor Biah know about this?" Ryas asked.
"No," the man gagged when he glimpsed down at his open cuts.
"Where did they take her?"
"They'll kill me if I tell anyone."
"I'll kill you if you don't tell me," Ryas made another quick cut across the man's ear this time. "Now where did they go - if you still want to keep your ear."
He let out another agonizing scream before answering, "Out by the border. There's an underground tunnel that leads back towards the Capital."
Ryas turned to his Captain, "Find out the details. I need to know how many Men and what direction they headed." Ryas wiped the blade onto the man's robes and exited the cell.
Outside the jail, he approached another group of his Men. "Send a message to Advisor Biah in the Northern Kingdom. Inform him of the situation and that I will not spare his son's life when I find him." Ryas walked away but turned back to his Men. "Gather the bodies of the North Men back in the town square and send them along with my message to Advisor Biah."
"Are you sure about that, General?" The Captain questioned.
"When did I hesitate?" He looked at his Captain and left.
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With limited space inside the cart, Liang could only fit eight Men and Yuliah. They quickly tossed her into the back of the wooden cart and dashed off. Leaving behind a handful of soldiers. "Hurry!" Liang shouted. "The rest of you know where to meet up." He needed to put as much distance between them and her owner. She belonged to that General from the Southern Kingdom, and Liang knew he wouldn't be happy knowing the 2000 gold coins he paid went to shit.
Liang's spies told him she'd been staying with the General in his quarters. Already being the whore he knew she would be. Two thousand gold coins to fuck that bitch? Yea, he'd pay that.
He glanced over at Yuliah and only met a pair of piercing eyes. He could tell she wanted to kill him, but he'd learn a valuable lesson from last time and made sure they had tied her up nice and secured. The scar she left would be for life, but after tonight he'd leave a permanent mark of his own on Yuliah. Liang smiled, excited to have that traitorous whore in his hands finally.
Yuliah fixed her eyes onto Liang. She hated that bastard. If only she could untie the bondages and use the Ethereal Spirit. She would make him hurt.
Once they were outside of the city. Liang and his Men abandoned the cart and switched to horses. Horses they hid away earlier. Liang forced Yuliah to ride on the same horse with him, but she fought him the entire time. She only stopped when his hand came down hard, leaving a stinging sensation across one cheek.
She should have known better than he wouldn't give up easily. "What do you want from me?" Yuliah turned to face Liang. The blacks of his eyes were pinpoints lost in the dark brown. A lump formed in the back of Yuliah's throat. She remembered General Wey and Yujen. The times she spent in the North. It all seemed so long ago, back when she may have loved Liang before she knew the real him.
His words were nothing but bitterness and anger, "All the time, effort, and money I put into grooming you back. My heart bleeds, and your betrayal hurts me so much," his fingers closed around Yuliah's chin. "Look what you made me do again," Liang pushed her head.
The way he tossed her head aside caused a bout of anger to flare up inside Yuliah, but with Liang's unpredictable temper and hints of wine on his breath, she couldn't provoke him. When he drank, he became an abusive asshole. "Where will we go?" Yuliah asked. She felt sick sitting this close to him, but needed to change his mood.
"We're going back home," Liang answered.
He must be one of the stupidest men she met. "You know that I belong to the General, right? The first place he'd look would be Biah Manor." Yuliah glanced over her shoulder at Liang's stupid looking face.
Ryas had seen her, and it would only be a matter of time before he caught up to them. When he did though and found out that Liang had taken her - Ryas would kill Liang for sure. "How will you explain this to your Father?"
"Fuck my Father. He'll be dead soon, and I'll be in charge of Biah Manor and head of the Advisors Council for King Taeyer," Liang boosted.
He didn't think any of this through. Yuliah heard it in his voice. She understood why his Father always felt disappointed in him. Yuliah sighed. "When Ryas... When the General finds you. He will kill you. You know that right," Yuliah cautioned.
"You're fucking him aren't you? A woman would never call a man of his status by his first name.
Unless you're fucking." Liang sneered. "I always knew you were a slut."
Yuliah's entire body tensed at Liang's words. To keep her child safe, she didn't want to risk making him angry. After several breaths, the muscles in her body loosened, and she asked him a question instead. "Are we going back to the Capital?" Although she didn't remember the way to Murai this road they were on, resembled more of an off-road path.
He leaned beside her ear, "We're taking a different route. I'm not an idiot," Liang said.
Yuliah wanted to respond but pressed both lips together. She didn't want to get hurt for their child's sake.
Crimsoned mixed with yellow and hints of blue painted the darkening sky. All the stores and homes spread further apart as they traveled down empty streets. Everyone must be at the festival or nestled away, safely at home. The edge of town drew closer, and that meant they were heading out of the city.
With no sign of Ryas still panic zipped through her heart. Yuliah was sure they made eye contact right before the wagon took off.
Liang and his Men pushed their horses onward, making them run even faster. With both her and Liang's weight, Yuliah could feel the horses were getting exhausted. Soon the horses would need to stop, and when they did, she would use that opportunity to escape.
Three hours of complete silence they traveled together into the night. Yuliah's gut feeling knew wherever Liang lead them would be a terrible choice. For beyond the borders of Murai laid the Ethereal Forest, and the stories people told were frightening.
After what Yuliah encountered in the Northern Mountains with Ryas, she believed every single one of those stories and the thought of what else could live in the forest terrified her.
She needed to figure out exactly where they were going. So when she escaped, she could find her way back to Murai. Maybe she could leave a clue for Ryas, but how? Then she remembered the flower pin still in her hair. Yuliah reached up to scratch her head, but quickly swiped the hairpin into her palms. She brought her hands back down and flicked the flower towards the ground.
The woods became quiet - taking on an eerie calmness, and Yuliah's eyes scanned around. She remembered this calm from her time in the mountains. Already she felt uneasy.
"We're here," one of Liang's Men stopped, and everyone else did. One by one they maneuvered the horses through an opening of trees, down a smaller path, and each one of them except Liang lit up a torch.
With all the torches lit, in front of them stood a giant wall made of stone that went up as high as Yuliah's eyes could see until it disappeared into the darkness.
"The door should be around here somewhere," one man jumped down from his horse and strolled off waving the torch around. "I see it, Lord Biah."
"Help him, you two," Liang pointed at three more Men, who hoped from their horses and headed towards the door.
With a few more torches to light up the surroundings, Yuliah eyes fell onto a large double door made of stone that closed down over the ground. Both doors spanned about twenty feet up and across. A secret door underground? No. Her stomach rolled. How would Ryas find them?
"What is that?" Yuliah asked. She didn't like the looks of this place and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck raised - signaling danger ahead.
"The way home. So your General can't find us," Liang sounded proud of himself for being able to outwit the General. "Open the doors down to the tunnel." He ordered.
It took four men to undo the latch and lift the doors.
The Mark suddenly burned and blood veins scorched up Yuliah's arm. She gasped in pain. When the mark lit up on its own, that meant only one thing. "NOMENS. Close the door!" Yuliah shouted, but it was too late.
Four Nomens leaped from inside the tunnel, landing right in front of Liang's Men.
Long silver blades swung effortlessly through the air and split the men into halves.
Within a matter of seconds - four bodies became eight pieces strewn across the ground. The smell and sight caused Liang to gag. Yuliah knew he'd never seen real death before. Not as she had.
The Nomens were larger than any she'd seen, almost as big as the one Ward and she fought at the breeding camp.
When Yuliah thought things couldn't get any worse. Three Fenrir sprung up from inside the tunnels and snarled at them. The horses neighed and reared up, sending Yuliah rolling sideways. She dangled from the saddle. "Liang!" Her bounded hands clung to the leather. Before Liang could grab Yuliah - she fell off.
Luckily the fall wasn't too high, and Yuliah landed on both feet, then tumbled down. Tiny rocks jabbed into her palms as she pushed off the ground back onto both feet.
A gust of wind and soft fur brushed against the sides of each arm when two of the beast sprinted passed. Yuliah watched in terror as Liang fled away with the other Men and the Fenrir right behind them.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone