บท 2: 2
"We saw you guys run into a bunch of wolves earlier," he explained with his arms folded in front of him. "So, I thought I'd come check on ya to make sure nobody got hurt."
His voice sounded slightly strained but otherwise calm and collected. Considering the situation, I expected him to yell and scream like the others who were chasing us only moments ago. Yet, here he stands calmly talking to me as if I'm some sort of princess out to slay dragons or something equally ridiculous. How odd…
"Oh yeah…" I replied sheepishly "Thanks for saving our lives back there. I don't think we would've made it out of that mess alive without you."
He smiled politely in return "You're welcome. No problem. Anytime!"
I noticed the muscles bulging underneath his skin as he flexed his arm repeatedly while giving me a wink. The sight sent shivers down my spine causing me to instinctively duck beneath the table. My heart pounded wildly in my chest and I felt lightheaded which wasn't helping anything. All these strange feelings going through my system left me confused and disoriented but I tried to keep my cool and respond in a normal manner.
"Uhm, what's your name anyways?" I asked cautiously eyeing him suspiciously as he continued walking past the entrance towards us. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
The man stopped mid stride and turned back to face me curiously. From his appearance alone, it was clear to see that he possessed many years under his belt yet surprisingly little facial hair compared to other men of similar age. Perhaps he preferred keeping himself clean-shaven or maybe he just didn't feel comfortable growing a beard or mustache for some reason. Regardless, his features were striking and unique enough to draw attention regardless of the situation. In addition to being incredibly handsome, he was also strong looking with broad shoulders and thick limbs making him appear more imposing than intimidating. Most importantly though, he seemed nice enough despite his rough exterior. If only my mother could see him now…she would probably faint from shock!
After taking a moment to study my expression, he chuckled softly before responding "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Rex."
I stared blankly at him unable to reply for a moment until the realization hit me. Oh yeah, Rex…the guy who rescued me from those wolves last night. Why didn't I recognize him sooner?!
Rex walked closer towards us with a slight limp in his step as he placed both palms on the table top resting atop the floorboards. After doing so, he leaned forwards stretching out his neck so he could peer into my eyes directly. With his sharp gaze, it took everything inside of me not to squirm uncomfortably under the pressure. He then extended one hand outwards offering me a handshake. Naturally, I hesitated briefly before accepting it and shaking it firmly in return. When he let go of my grip, I realized he hadn't actually said much aside from introducing himself. That's okay, I suppose…it's hard to talk when you're surrounded by strangers anyway. Besides, we need to focus on the important stuff right now; namely figuring out how we're gonna get outta this damn place!
"Alrighty then," Rex began addressing everyone present "Looks like we found ourselves a potential ally for the time being. So, why don't we head back to our room and discuss what needs to be done next? Sound good?"
Nobody responded so Rex shrugged his shoulders and shook his head "Guess not."
With that, he reached over and grabbed onto the handle of the large wooden door blocking our way forward. Though the lock held firm against his efforts, he eventually managed to rip the metal latch free allowing it to swing open easily revealing a dimly lit corridor beyond. We entered the passage together with Rex following close behind us as we proceeded deeper within the building. Despite having been trapped inside the structure for several hours already, the interior still smelled heavily of dust and mold. There was no furniture or decorations to be seen anywhere along the way and the walls were completely bare save for a few small holes bored into them serving as ventilation shafts for the entire facility. Not too surprisingly, we soon discovered that every single window in the building had been boarded shut leaving us with virtually nowhere to escape should we need to do so in a hurry. At least we managed to find shelter during the daylight hours however…
As we neared the end of the hallway, Rex pointed ahead towards an open doorway leading out into the main hall of the facility. Upon entering, we came across a staircase descending downwards with three floors visible above us. Two staircases led upwards towards each of the upper levels whereas the third one went straight down towards the basement level below us. Once again, I spotted the unmistakable scent of blood lingering throughout the air which caused my stomach to churn violently. I knew better than to dwell on it though and focused instead on trying to spot signs of life. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see besides the occasional stray wolf roaming around aimlessly searching for food and water. They appeared to be starving judging by their emaciated bodies and dull colored fur. Thankfully, none of them showed any interest in attacking us after seeing the axe strapped to Rex's waist. Apparently, he's earned himself a reputation among these beasts due to his fearsome nature. Personally, I wouldn't want to cross paths with him if I was a wolf for obvious reasons.
Once we descended the stairs, we finally arrived at the bottom floor where we found another set of doors barring our way forward. These were considerably larger than the previous barriers blocking our path and they resembled heavy steel gates. Rex quickly kicked one of them off its hinges sending it crashing loudly against the wall behind it. Before proceeding further, he motioned for me to stand back and take cover behind a nearby desk located near the far edge of the room. While doing so, I kept my eyes trained on him in order to ensure he didn't attempt anything sneaky.
"Okay everybody, listen up," Rex announced once we'd taken refuge "This is going to be tricky since I doubt anybody has ever broken through these locks before. But, if anyone else tries to stop us from reaching the boss' office, things will definitely escalate pretty fast. Got it?"
There was no response whatsoever from anyone present including the wolves currently lurking around the perimeter. Evidently, they weren't stupid enough to try and challenge Rex alone especially after witnessing firsthand what happened when they attempted to confront us earlier. Still, I doubted that meant they'd give up without putting up a fight. What did surprise me was the lack of guards stationed around the area. Sure, there was a lone guard posted at the front gate but that was hardly enough to deter intruders from breaking in if they truly wanted to. As such, I decided it best to remain vigilant and prepared for whatever might come next.
Rex approached the second door with his axe raised high overhead ready to strike down anyone who dared interfere with his plans. After kicking the thing off its hinges, he swung his weapon sideways to knock away the remaining pieces of wood cluttering up the floor. This allowed him to enter the room unharmed although the noise alerted someone inside to our presence prompting them to raise their voice in alarm.
"Hey, who goes there?!" a gruff voice demanded angrily "Show yourself before I have you thrown out on your ass!"
Upon hearing this, Rex lowered his weapon and waited patiently for whoever was inside to identify themselves. To my relief, the person responsible for speaking up belonged to a group of men dressed in black robes sitting at various desks scattered about the chamber. Each one wore the distinctive red symbol embroidered into their garments as well as matching crimson cloaks draped over their backs. Judging by their attire, it was clear they were members of the Red Order cult who worshiped the dark god known as Nergal. They looked fairly young and inexperienced but I assumed they must've been highly skilled warriors nonetheless based on their impressive physical strength. Their leader stood out amongst the rest sporting short brown hair and a muscular physique. Unlike his followers, he carried two swords dangling loosely from his hips and glared menacingly at Rex with narrowed eyes. His expression suggested he wasn't happy with us barging in on his meeting without permission nor did he appreciate the fact that we destroyed part of his property.
"My apologies," Rex addressed him politely "But, we're here on official business."
The man scoffed in disgust "What kind of bullshit are you spouting now? Who the hell do you think you are showing up here demanding entry to our headquarters?"
"Relax, old buddy," Rex replied with a friendly smile "It ain't like that. I'll tell you what really happened."
The man sneered sarcastically "Go ahead."
Rex glanced back towards me and gestured with his chin indicating I needed to stay silent. Since he trusted me implicitly, I obliged him by nodding my head silently. Then, he began explaining our story starting with how we escaped from the prison camp outside of town and ended up stumbling upon this facility. He told them all about how we killed those guards who tried to capture us as well as the massive wolves chasing us down afterwards. However, he omitted details pertaining to the mysterious creature we encountered back in the woods because I didn't want to reveal our true identities quite yet. Instead, he simply stated we ran into some sort of monster before running off towards the nearest village in search of help. He finished his tale by stating that we somehow managed to survive and make it safely into town only to discover that the whole place had gone mad thanks to the arrival of some evil demon.
"So basically, you guys got chased out of town and stumbled upon our humble abode here," the man remarked scornfully "How original."
"Well, it isn't exactly easy to explain," Rex countered apologetically "Plus, I'm sure most folks won't believe me even if I did bother telling 'em the truth. For starters, nobody would expect a bunch of random travelers wandering into the middle of nowhere unless something big happened elsewhere first. And secondly…"
Rex paused momentarily in thought before continuing "…we don't look very trustworthy considering we murdered a couple dozen people and tore apart half the prison camp trying to escape."
At that point, I felt compelled to speak up and defend myself "Wait a minute, I didn't kill anybody! My friend did though!"
Unfortunately, Rex cut me off before I could finish my sentence by replying "Yeah, I know…but that doesn't matter anymore. It's not like we can turn back time and change things now. The important thing is we made it out alive and that makes us heroes in this particular situation."
I couldn't argue with him there given how dangerous our predicament was. In retrospect, perhaps I should've explained how the attack on the prison camp unfolded to everyone involved before we left the compound. Sadly, there was no time for regrets now. All that mattered right now was getting out of this mess alive. Even if it meant lying to these guys in order to achieve that goal.
"Fine," the man spat out disdainfully "Whatever helps you sleep at night. Now get the hell out of our headquarters while you still can."
Before Rex could respond, one of the other members of the cult spoke up angrily "You heard the man, Rex! Just leave already before we decide to throw you out the fucking window!"
That was when I noticed a pair of familiar faces standing just a little bit farther away from the others. One was a tall woman wearing a long blue dress adorned with silver trimmings. Her face was obscured beneath the hood of her cloak concealing all of her features except for the tip of her nose protruding slightly from underneath the cloth. She seemed to possess a calm demeanor despite being surrounded by angry looking men with weapons drawn. The other person was an elderly gentleman holding onto his cane tightly in fear of falling over in his weakened condition. Both of them stared at Rex and me intently waiting for us to say something. I figured it best to let them know we appreciated their hospitality so I stepped forward and extended my hand towards the old man "Hi there! I'm Raul and this is my traveling partner, Tanya. Thank you for saving our lives earlier today."
He took my proffered handshake firmly in his own grip and gave me a warm smile "Good to meet ya, sonny. You must be one of the survivors from the prison camp. That explains everything then."
I nodded in agreement "Yep, that's us alright. Thanks again for helping us out."
His wife smiled brightly at that "Oh please, don't mention it. It was nothing more than our duty as servants of the Lord Nergal."
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง