Chapter 4
Only a few minutes away, the knights ran into trouble. Another torch carrying patrol crossed their path as the knights snuck between buildings. The patrol was made up of two men who were distracted by the conversation they were engrossed in. The two did not pay as much attention to their surrounding as they should have.
After waiting a few minutes until the patrol's voices grew faint, Gunther led the way forward while his comrades followed. Unfortunately, they did not anticipate or evade the third member running after those in front. He ran quick, barely making a sound on the grass, and the knights assumed the noise came from the two that had passed.
"Hey, wait you bastards! I don't have a-" The man, who had quite youthful and boyish features, stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the Gunther from a distance.
"Damn!" Gunther growled lowly as he lunged for the man while unsheathing his sword. The knights reacted as fast as they could to try and get to the bandit before he made any noise. They were too late however, and the man whistled twice loudly while attempting to clumsily draw his weapon.
"HELP! E-ENEMIES!" The bandit screeched loudly with a stutter. His voice echoed in the night as he clumsily blocked a sword thrust from Gunther. Petra and Oluo were right behind Gunther and dashed around him in synch to strike their opponent with the flat of their blades and send him to the ground. Gunter then kicked him hard in the head to make sure he stayed there while Eld kept his eyes open for any more danger.
"Company!" Eld shouted as the two man patrol arrived, whistling twice as well before charging at them with their weapons drawn. The knights heard shouting from farther away and knew they were in trouble. Eld smashed his shield into the face of one of the patrol members while Petra tackled the other bandit, sending him to the ground and winding him. She lightly jumped over him and sprinted away to follow her fleeing comrades. As they fled, they heard a deep voice shouting orders at the bandits.
"Light the signal fire! I want those bastard alive you useless scum!" The didn't catch the face of the voice but the way he commanded the bandits meant he must be someone higher up on the chain of command.
"Keep together!" Eld yelled as he ran at a full sprint.
The knights darted away, outrunning the men behind them thanks to their stamina. They aimed to find another opening in the wall to exit from. Sooner than expected, they arrived at one but were met with a group of six armed men, two of which were attempting to put on chainmail armor in a rush. They must have seen the signal fire and waited for them.
Oluo dashed headlong into battle and drew his swords to slash at a grinning brown-haired man. His opponent blocked but was easily knocked out when Oluo used the hilt of his blade to bash him across his temple. The others had a bit more trouble with their opponents.
Petra faced a man with a long axe and had a hard time getting close to her opponent. She blocked a few strikes with her swords and shield as she tried to find an opening. The knight was glad she had her armor on or else she would have had a few nasty gashes by now. She was finally able to block a strike with her shield and darted close to strike the man's weapon arm with her sword. He dropped his axe with a scream of pain before Petra kicked his leg and sent him to the ground. Eld and Gunther were almost back to back as they faced their three opponents wielding swords. They were only able to get a few strikes at their opponents before the knights other pursuers caught up to them. Now they faced more than double the men they did before.
"Boss says not to kill them! Just capture them!" One man shouted from the crowd of men and a few woman. The knights knew they were outnumbered as they tried to fight their way out.
"Damn! Scatter and regroup later!" Gunther shouted but it was no use. There was much more of them than they could handle. None of them had faced such a large group with such few teammates before. One man charged and was able to smash Eld on the head with his torch as he was busy with another sword wielder. Eld stumbled and his other opponent used the handle of his blade to hit him again and again until the handle was bloody and he was down. Gunther met the same fate as three men ganged up on him and beat him to the ground.
Petra cried out in pain as a sword grazed her arm through the leather and opened a shallow wound. She viciously slashed the wielder as he tried to raise his sword for another strike. Distracted, she was kicked away from her opponent and onto the hard ground by another enemy. The knight tried to get up only to feel someone stomp on her back as hard. She grunted but kept herself from crying out in pain this time as the man pressed his booted foot down hard. Petra's armor protected her but it still hurt and his weight made it hard to move.
"You little bitch! Fucking cut my hand will you! I'll make sure to cut your fucking head off!" He pressed his foot harder onto her back and raised his axe to do as he threatened. Petra used all her strength to raise herself up and roll away from the furious man which caused him to stumble back, off balance. The last thing she saw was the man swear at her some more while from behind him, Oluo was finally taken down thanks to another few guards, before she felt someone strike her own head with a heavy object.
Loud boisterous laughter woke Gunther as he sat with his lower back pressed against something solid while his head hung forward. The laughter was followed by obnoxious voices getting louder by the moment and then more laughter. Gunther's head throbbed painfully and he could hear a ringing sound in his ears. His body wasn't in much better shape, he knew he had bruises in quite a few places with the pain he was feeling. Gunther remembered he had been taken down by the enemy and tried his hardest to clear his head. His mouth was dry and their was something in it as well. He had been gagged.
The knight opened his eyes slowly, unable to focus properly in the dim light and tried to lift himself into a better sitting position. When he could not he realized he was bound against something. He then turned to the noise, which was to the right, and saw the blurry forms of two men and a fire. The knight could also see that they were in some sort of building with a high ceiling. Both men around the fire were turned away from him and far enough away that small movements could stay unnoticed if Gunther was careful.
Gunther glanced around to see that he and his friends were bound with ropes, their arms behind their back. All three were unmoving in sitting positions against pillars behind them just like he was. He was able to lean forward awkwardly to see that everyone was there and in one piece. The pillars were quite close together, so Gunther could probably reach out his legs to nudge Oluo, who was to his left, if he wanted. To Oluo's left was Eld and finally Petra. Their were more pillars on the opposite end of the room and Gunther concluded this building could have been a hall of sorts. Gunther hoped his comrades were all alive and well. Their foes wouldn't bother tying up corpses would they?
Feeling it safe as the bandits were not paying attention, Gunther struggled with his bindings. His arms were sore and his wrists were in pain. Trying to move them caused the pain to intensify as his bare wrists rubbed against rough rope. The knights all had their legs bound together as well. They were covered in dirt and their armor and weapons had been removed. All four were also gagged with a piece of cloth. Gunther's cloth was already soaked in his saliva and he hoped it had been clean when they put it in. He doubted it though.
Gunther shifted his arms and legs, hoping to find some give to the ropes but there was none. He then looked at the other three knights hoping they were awake and heard him. He did not want to make any vocal noises in case he was heard. He glanced over at the bandits again to make sure they were not paying attention. The two bandits, who may have been part the group to capture them, laughed some more and not once looked over at the prisoners behind them. One sat on the ground with a bottle in hand while the other sat on a wooden box. Both men were dressed in dirty leather armor and were drinking what was likely alcohol.
The dark haired knight narrowed his eyes. The nerve of these men! Here were four well-trained, albeit bound, knights and they were just getting drunk like they were nothing! It was good for him but he vowed to make them regret it. He looked to his comrades and saw that they were coming around too.
Gunther could see Eld open his eyes, which were quite alert. It was a relief for Gunther to know he wasn't the only one awake. Eld quickly took stock of his surrounding and nodded at Gunther. He then nudged Petra and Oluo with his feet until they reluctantly moved and opened their eyes after some time. The blonde man's face was covered in blood that must have run down from his head. The bandits had still not noticed anything, too intent on their conversation and their spirits. Petra and Oluo both looked outraged at their situation once they realized where they were and struggled to free themselves. Gunther could see Petra eyes almost blazing in her anger. Eld kicked Oluo hard to make him shut up when he tried to say something through his gag.
Gunther shifted a little, scraping his boot on the ground, drawing the attention of the knights. When they looked at him, he looked over at the bandits and they followed his gaze. It would be hard but they needed to figure out a plan they could understand and follow through to break free.
Before anyone could do anymore, they heard the heavy metal thud of footsteps and the clinking of armor. Eld made a small sound and visibly lowered his head and closed his eyes. The others, getting his hint, did the same. And not too soon as they heard a deep voice call out. Several sets of footfalls approached the knights and drunken bandits.
"The fuck do you think you're doing!" The voice barked, "I asked you to watch these Survey Corps bastards not fuck around like some drunks in a tavern." The two drunk bandits must have been startled as the knights heard something, likely a bottle, drop and shatter. The voice was the same as the one that called to light signal flares before when the knights were caught.
"Uh, sorry boss! They're already tied up... so, uh, we thought-" One man began hesitantly.
"Shut the fuck up and get out of my sight. I should gut both of you for your incompetence right now."
"No! It won't happen again! Please-" The other man begged.
"Disgusting. We need manual labor so I'll have to keep you two for a while." The deep voice spat. "If this happens again, I will personally shove a dagger so far up you ass you'll be spitting it out of your mouth. Got it?" The two bandits cowered and stuttered out more apologies. The knights knew this man must be the leader of the Black Vultures with the authority he had over these men.
"Enough! Now, have any of the prisoners moved at all?"
"Umm, not that w-we know of s-sir." The first man stammered out.
"Useless" The man muttered. The knights then heard the man come closer to look at them. They heard something being unsheathed but tried not to tense. Oluo almost held his breath but then remembered to breath normally, while Petra felt the urge to clench her eyes shut. Eld and Gunther were calm keeping their breathing deep and even. There was a moment of silence and then a yelp from Oluo. Instantly the rest of the knights opened their eyes to see what was happening. Eld felt his friend's body be shoved against him as he opened his eyes to look and see the blurry form of the bandit leader retracting his left fist. His right hand held a long bladed knife.
"Hmph, faking it I see." The bandit leader then raised his leg to kick Eld but missed his face when he leaned away, getting his shoulder instead. Petra, Oluo and Gunther struggled as hard as they could, trying to break free. The man then casually stepped away from Eld and moved to his right. His blade easily sliced through the ropes binding Petra to the pillar and grabbed surprised woman by the collar of her shirt. He hoisted her up with one hand, easily carrying her weight. Petra struggled, trying to break free of his grip and his knife ended up slicing open a shallow wound on her cheek when he brought his hand close to rip the gag off. There was sounds of a struggle behind her and Petra knew it was her comrades trying to help her.
"Hey, you little bitch. Are there any more of you?" Petra refused to answer and squinted trying to get a good look at the man before her. The light from the men carrying torches behind him made it hard to do so.
"I asked you a question!" The man barked when he received no reply. He shook her hard which made her head snap back and forth painfully.
"Answer me!" The man roared as he shook her harder.
The group this man led killed, hurt and enslaved people from all over the countries. How many homes and lives had these people destroyed? How many people had they hurt with their actions? Petra could feel herself grow angry that this man was here before her and she and her comrades could do nothing. This man was scum. Instead of answering, Petra collected all the saliva she had in her mouth and spat in his face in response.
