章 17: Bomb
It was just another day or night patrolling the city. It was hard to tell how long we've been here, but each of us kept to ourselves and each other. We still held the city, and that was what mattered. Everything was going smoothly. I noticed the usual dark elves walking to and from their work. Although, none of them would make eye contact with any roach. They still feared us, even though we were their liberators. I just thought we just had to be patient. Just give them time, I believed. The undead bats perched themselves atop the corners of buildings watching everybody with unblinking eyes. Roaches rode the flying sharks from above in circles. Viking guarded the collared miners and kept watch over them. Hornet patrolled another section of the city. All was quiet.
BOOM! Screams pierced our ears. The undead bats screeched and flew towards the explosion. But I didn't need to follow them. There were plenty of lights inside the city. I could just follow where the smoke was coming from. The flames rose up in the air. The screams grew louder. I hurried as other dark elves ran away and hid in their homes. As I ran, I realized that the flames were coming from one of the barracks. When I reached there, I saw some roaches coming out of the flame completely charred. The lucky ones died instantly from the blast. The rest cried and screamed in pain. A group of roaches began to put out the flames. Whoever was inside was already dead. Soon, Hornet arrived to the scene and asked, "What's going on, Roach?"
"I don't know."
General Kull came out of the flames covered in a heavy, bone armor completely immune to the flames. Or at least so I thought. When his armor went back into the ground, he had burns all over his body. He had only been able to conjure that armor in the last possible second. And KR-01 was right beside him without being affected by the fire at all.
He said with a cough, "Roach, take a team and follow the circle of bats."
He knelt down in a weakened state as another roach began to patch him up. Before I could ask what circle of bats, he pointed up in the air. I saw a group of them circling around an area like vultures. They moved slowly but surely. I understood what I had to do. I brought along Hornet and a couple of other roaches. We followed our orders and hurried. When we finally arrived to where the bats have been hovering over, we saw a group of shark riders dead on the ground. They were shot with arrows. The bats circled around some abandoned warehouse. A shot came from inside and hit one of the other roaches straight in the eye.
"Find cover!" I yelled as more arrows came flying. And not just arrows, but electric bolts as well. It turned into a real firefight. As the fighting continued, I ordered Hornet to sneak up one of these buildings and try and get a few good shots. She acknowledged without any objection as the rest of us continued shooting.
I could hear what those dark elves were shouting as they fired their arrows and electric bolts.
"Free Hiroga City!"
"Never surrender!"
"For a free Shadow Lands!"
As Hornet got up into position, she noticed that some of them were escaping from the back. She tried to get a good shot, but to our surprise, she missed. They took cover and began firing back at Hornet's location. We were pinned down. But not for long. Those that tried to escape were shot down by another squad of roaches.
"Slaughter the Queen's enemies!" one of the roaches yelled.
The warehouse soon became surrounded by other groups of roaches. They fired in every direction, but we overwhelmed them.
It was a bloody battle. They fought with all they got, but in just a mere second, the shots stopped from inside the warehouse. I advised caution, but the other roaches were eager. They broke in and looked around. There were some dead dark elves, but not many. Some looked like soldiers, but others looked more like civilians. As I walked forward cautiously, I accidentally stepped on one of the dark elves.
"Ack..."
I quickly aimed my crossbow at his face. He gasped for air. This one looked more like a regular civilian. He wore normal clothes. He didn't seem like a dangerous criminal, but if he was here, then that must have meaned that he was associated with them. It looked like he was shot by an electric bolt straight on his chest. But he was still alive. They started that explosion - probably using those yellow mushrooms. I felt anger and hate towards him. These people killed many of my siblings. If he was a soldier being ordered by a false leader, then I would understand. But he didn't seem like it. He just seemed like anybody else. And I hated him for it. I was even thinking of pulling the trigger, but I knew he would be more valuable alive than dead. As a prisoner, he could tell us why they did what they did, and if there were any more of them.
Another roach noticed a piece of wood slightly out of angle with the rest of the floor. He pushed it and there seemed to be a hole dug underneath.
He called out to me, "Roach, I found something. Looks like whoever else was here escaped this way."
It was only for a second, but when I looked up to see it, the dark elf quickly took out a pouch from inside his pockets.
He coughed and yelled, "Freedom!"
There was no time to react. As I was going to shoot him, he was about to squeeze the pouch in his own palm. It looked like the same kind of pouches that we made using those yellow mushrooms. If that was the case, he would have killed every one of us along with himself. I thought I pulled the trigger, but it was too late. We would have all died. At least we would be, if General Kull hadn't shown up.
A skeletal hand grew from underneath the ground and crushed the dark elf's arm. Long, thin, undead appendages grew around the skeletal arm and gently released the pouch from the dark elf's clutches. General Kull stood just at the entrance of the warehouse. He leaned on KR-01's shoulders, and breathed heavily. But he was still able to conjure his magic even in his weakened state. And then I looked at my electric crossbow. There was a long appendage holding my finger back from pulling the trigger. I didn't know why, but General Kull wanted the man alive. When I looked at the general's eyes, I could see a dark and rageful presence. But it wasn't aimed towards me or anybody else. Just at that one man.
"Leave us," he commanded in a dark and menacing tone. With that, the rest of the roaches started to scurry away.
I was about to protest, but when I saw his dark eyes, I understood his intentions perfectly. I noticed that KR-01 was also holding one of those magical collars. He wanted to interrogate this man himself. Then, I began to understand their intentions. They planned to assassinate the general, and he took it personally. But they failed and took so many of my siblings' lives with them. I hoped that the general would make it painful. I left without any argument. The doors shut behind him. But the windows were easy to peer through. As General Kull used his dark magic to keep the elf alive and in excruciating pain, KR-01 placed the magical collar on him. The general knew that he was still in there. He knew that he still experienced everything on the outside, yet had no control. The general continued to interrogate him, and it was easy to get answers out of him. But the general was unsatisfied with that. He made sure that with every question, KR-01 would cut off a piece of the dark elf's flesh. There were no screams. It was like watching a dead man. But we all knew he was alive.
As the general interrogated him, he brought in a couple of roaches to search the area that was uncovered inside the warehouse. The group entered into the underground exit, but they had left it with rubble. The roaches began digging through immediately.
Meanwhile, I went over to Hornet who was brooding by herself. She seemed upset, but when she saw me, she hid her frown.
"Hey, Roach," she said as if nothing was wrong. But I could tell.
"What's wrong, Hornet? You don't seem like yourself," I said worryingly.
She sighed. "It's... it's nothing."
She wouldn't tell me, but she's been having trouble with her aim. Ever since she fought the black dragon and was badly injured from the blast, she never seemed to get a good hit. Her eyesight began to weaken - or at least to her standards. At first, it wasn't so bad, but every day it got worse. But she didn't want to tell anybody. She had no reason to throw her burdens off to another. But if it had become a problem in the future, then she planned to let me know. Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about this.
When General Kull was finished with his interrogation, he dragged the man out along the dirt. His body looked like it was flayed alive, but he was still kept alive with his twisted magic. But I felt no remorse for him. I believed that he deserved it.
Then, the general said to me.
"So, Roach... I've had my fun with this man. He seems to be part of a much larger resistance. I also got word that during this firefight, some slaves escaped without notice. Their collars sliced open with some kind of weapon. Seems like that was their plan."
"Slaves? Is Viking alright, sir?" I asked knowing full well that Viking was the one guarding them at this time.
He nodded his head, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Viking didn't see anybody, but the other roaches were knocked out."
"Knocked out?"
He nodded his head as we were all confused. If they were a part of the same resistance cell, then they would have killed the guards - not knock them out. It didn't make any sense.
General Kull replied, "I don't know why. The man knew very little. Walk with me to the wall."
He looked to KR-01 and Hornet. He said, "KR, oversee the other roaches. Make sure they get through that rubble. And you, bug. Take a squad of roaches to look for those escapees."
It nodded its head without any argument and began to help them. Hornet and a couple of roaches went around the city to find any escaped slaves.
Meanwhile General Kull and I walked towards the wall, we came upon the rows of dead dark elf soldiers. Their rotted bodies still hanging on pikes.
General Kull threw the traitorous dark elf to the ground.
He said to me, "Tell me, Roach. I can see it in your eyes. The same look of hate that I usually have. I want to know why I see that in you. And I would like you to be completely honest. Do not try to lie to me."
"Sir... those dark elves... they killed many of my brothers and sisters. And for no good reason, either. We're not their enemies. They should be happy that we came along. Before we came along, their homes were full of chaos. Our presence - the Queen's presence - brings order to that chaos. They should be grateful for it, yet they retaliate."
"Many don't like change. Whether it be good or bad. You must have been involved in putting down the occasional revolt before. You act as though this is different," he replied.
I continued, "To be honest, sir, I'm not sure. But when I think about it, none of them have been able to do such horrible things. We go in and end it without any trouble. This feels different, yet at the same time, it feels no different."
"Different? That is because of your connection to the Queen. As long as she is with you, then you will believe what she believes. You may not feel it directly, but her mind is always there. Since we came into these lands, you roaches haven't been able to connect."
When I heard that, my eyes widened. I never thought about it before. Whenever I had doubts, the Queen would always reassure me. Now that she was gone, I had to reassure myself that what we were doing was just.
The general continued, "You shouldn't worry about a couple of stragglers trying to break free. I assume you haven't actually been a part of an occupation force. This kind of stuff is expected, although I wish I was more prepared for it. Anyways, I want your opinion on what we should do with him."
General Kull unlocked the magical collar holding the dark elf. As soon as the collar was off of him, he began to scream and vomit with such intensity. His eyes turned red. His body began to convulse to all the torture. HIs mind twisted from within as zombified worms crawled inside.
"You want my opinion, sir?" I asked.
"Don't make me repeat myself."
I thought about it. I never really had to think about choices like these before. I would just have to follow whatever the Queen ordered, and I'd be happy. They already interrogated him, so there was no reason to keep him alive. Maybe, he could have been put to work in the mines as a slave. But his body already looked like it would keel over at any second. And more importantly, I had no desire for him to live. He was a part of a group that burned and murdered my siblings. What they committed was treason to the Queen and her empire.
I said in a heated anger, "Put him on a pike. Make it hurt. Show the rest what happens when they try to murder to leave paradise."
The general smiled with joyful glee. He planned to do just that anyways. But this time, there was no argument from me.
Without a second thought, General Kull conjured a skeletal pike from the ground underneath the dark elf. We watched as it went straight up his leg slowly and painfully. He made sure that he could feel every inch of the blade crawling up him. He tried to scream, but his lungs were drowned in blood and maggots. The pike kept going until it eventually came out of his mouth. Still breathing, but unable to scream. The general used whatever magic he had to keep him alive. His heart kept beating even as worms chewed through it. And the terrorist lived for some time. He was stuck atop the wall for the rest of the city to see. Eventually, the dark elf longed for death. But the general didn't give it to him.
When the roaches finally dug away the rubble from the hidden passageway, it led to a dug-up tunnel that led to another abandoned building. We completely searched it. There was some evidence of people living there, but they were already gone into the endless night by the time we found out about it.
During our free time, Hornet, Viking, and I went to The Lucky Oister and ordered some shark steak and troll blood to mourn the fallen dead. And not just those who died in the blast. We mourned for all those who died in taking this city. So many lives that could have been saved if the dark elves had just decided to become part of something greater. I remembered Brother, Doc, and Cutter. None of their bodies ever found. Brother's and Doc's bodies were completely gone in an instant, while we didn't even know how Cutter died.
When I looked at Viking, I could tell that he took the loss of his brother, Cutter, very hard. Over time, I began to notice that his soft and kind demeanor alongside his aggressive personality switched around more frequently. In the middle of a light drink of troll blood, he immediately started fighting a couple of dark elves that were just drinking silently in the corner. They were just common civilians, but he blamed them for killing Cutter. Of course, Hornet and I helped him fight as we siblings stuck out for each other no matter what - although I didn't think the fight was necessary. Jamie and some waitresses stopped the fighting between us, but before he could do anything, those dark elves were left bleeding on the floor.
And then Hornet began to just stare at her drink depressed. When she thought we weren't looking, she threw a dart at a dartboard. She missed, and went back to her drink.
Eventually, the three of us just became silent. Nonetheless, we always enjoyed each others' company. We still met up at the local tavern whenever we got the chance. We talked about our day.
It became quiet again, but patrols have doubled. Everybody was on edge. Both roaches and dark elves. I didn't know when the next attack would occur, but I was sure it would come.
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