Oh hi there. Didn't see you =P So! Finally, a chapter 7 for you! Please, enjoy and R&R There's an awesome fight scene for you at the end of this!
Chapter 7: A Stab at Freedom
"So then you followed them here?" The woman with the stringy hair, who introduced herself as Millina, whispered to Alise. The others tied around the trees listened as well, even though most of them looked like they were sleeping. It had been many hours since Alise was first taken in, and now the night was thick with stars. There was still light emanating from the camp, which meant that the Beast Legion men were still there, possibly awake. The guard who was supposed to be watching them, however was fast asleep. A new one had switched with the woman who had been watching them throughout the day, and apparently didn't feel the need to stay awake.
Alise nodded in response to Millina's earlier question. She had tried to get them to leave her story with herself, but she felt ignoring her questions would be too rude considering the situation. "I did," she spoke as quietly as any of the others had dared to, as not to rouse the sleeping guard "I certainly regret it, though. I made it pretty close to their camp without being spotted, but I was captured on my way out."
"And now you're stuck here like the rest of us," said a grumpy voice behind the other tree, blocked from view. Alise couldn't see him, but she figured the voice belonged to an old man. "And look. The guard can't even bother to keep a waking eye on us." He began to mutter under his breath.
"Well, we're not really going anywhere, right?" A young boy said, who was sitting on the other side of the same tree Alise was tied to, unfortunately positioned to face the dark and shadowy mass of trees.
"Jordon, please, don't say things like that..." Millina said, wincing.
"Jordon, please," said a man barely out of sight, sitting beside Millina, also tied to Alise's tree, "don't scare your mother like that."-
"Oh come on, what's the point?" A skinny woman with a prematurely wrinkled face and high voice snapped. "I mean does any body even know what they want from us? For all we know they could be getting us ready to feed us to those monsters." The portly man, faced the same way as Alise and tied to the opposite end of the woman, winced, shutting his eyes and putting his head between his knees.
"Don't say things like that, please!" Millina said, giving a pleading look over Alise to the woman. Everyone but Alise shushed everyone else, trying to keep the excitement down.
"We should all take the time to stop talking, so we can each clear our thoughts," said the deep voiced man tied to Alise's tree sitting behind her.
Everyone was now silent. Alise glanced around the tree to her left to look at the man. While he wasn't muscled, he looked very strong. He even appeared to be trying to escape, as the rope that held the young family, himself, and Alise was starting to fray and dig into the bark of the tree, making a mark. It didn't seem like he could be able to cut through the tree, but maybe his given enough time he could have frayed the rope.
Alise shook her head, staring intently at a rock, trying to make sense of things. All of them were still hysterical about this, even though the strong man showed some degree of calm. Either he was here longer than all of the others, or he was newly picked up. As Alise followed her thoughts, it led her to some questions that burned at her curiosity. "Just how did all of you get captured, anyway?" She said. "And for how long have you been here?"
At first everyone was quiet, as if they were waiting for someone else to speak up first. After a moment, Millina quietly cleared her throat. "Well, my husband and I were coming to visit a friend in the capital. We've lived in Aurnion for some years now and we wanted Jordon to be able to see more of the world than just our little town. We've been here in Illycia for a week when we thought it would be nice to go and see Halure's tree. So we made the preparations to go, but as we were leaving we were head off, and they took us..."
"I shouldn't have suggested this," Millina's husband said suddenly. His head was downcast, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone "We should have stayed in the capital, then none of this would have happened."
"Andrew, no, this wasn't your fault..."
"I'd say it is," The crabby woman blurted out. "It's a dangerous place out here even without these men snatching travelers from the roads. Even when you think you're safe they come out and over power you."
The portly man spoke up, his voice cracking. "I'm just a merchant. What use would I be to them? It's not that I could get goods for them and I'm certainly not a good fighter. I couldn't even try to defend myself without hurting myself in the process!"
"Quiet, everyone!" The grumpy old man said in a rough whisper. "I hear footsteps."
Everyone went silent, now wary of the shuffling of leaves as someone approached. Two members of Beast Legion emerged from the woods in front of Alise, not from the direction of camp, as she would have expected. What was more confusing was what they were carrying. It looked as if a body was slung over the bigger of the men's shoulder.
The big man stopped at a vacant spot in the makeshift prison to the immediate left of Alise and lowered the body to the ground, sitting it up against the tree. The body was male, and looked to be no older than Alise was. At first she was revolted that Beast Legion would be so morbid as to keep random corpses with their captives, but then she saw it.
He was breathing. He even seemed to open his eyes for a moment, but that wasn't right. The young man shifted his position, settling in as if he was deciding to take a nap of all things, and released a long sigh. He didn't move much after that.
The big man scratched his head. "Bloody Hell, he's still asleep?" For an instant he glanced down at Alise, who glanced away nonchalantly.
"Eh, leave him be." The other man held up a belt that held both a long sword and a dagger in scabbards. "It's not like he can do anything now that we've got his weapons."
The big man chuckled. "Still kills me that he's out cold. We didn't even have to do anything, just pick him up and go! Oh, speaking of which..." He took out some rope and tied the young man up like everyone else was.
The other man was already over by the watchman, who also hadn't stirred awake yet. "Oi!" The man kicked him in the leg. The watch woke up with a start "Get up, you idiot. Your watch is done."
The watch did as he was told, standing up and stumbling off to the main camp, where no doubt he was asleep within a minute. The man who woke him up took his spot, leaning against a nearby tree with crossed arms and scary eyes. The big man left to stay in the main camp as well, leaving the watch to do his duty.
This hardly makes sense... Alise frowned as she thought. The way they work and how flippant they are with all of this, it's absurd that these guys are really a threat. But still, they're kidnappers at best, and some of them are straight up thugs. What are they up to, really?
With the new and vigilant watch in place no one could talk, so the silence grew thick over the woods once again.
Alise looked the new comer over. Brown hair tied into a short and low ponytail, black sleeveless shirt to show off broad shoulders, a pale orange jacket that hung low around his elbows. He certainly looked distinctive compared to all the other travelers Alise has seen in her time.
Unbidden, Alise let out a yawn. A glance around her told her that everyone else was trying to get some rest, and she felt it best to get some herself. It's not like we're all going anywhere, at least not until the morning when they're moving us some...
Alise blinked to find three hours had passed. After a few seconds to shake off her confusion she groaned, hoping to get more sleep than that. She didn't even realize she was that tired. Having that one moment of rest made wishing she could have more, but she had to figure out how to get free first.
Everyone was still asleep, as they should, and she wasn't surprised to hear worried mumblings from a few of them. Alise even thought she heard a soft and quiet, "Sorry," coming from behind her tree. She attributed it to the young father, feeling a quick sting of sympathy for him.
A few minutes passed, and even though she tried sleep eluded her. Yawns came readily, however. Great, this is nice. Real nice. Now I kind of wish I was that new guy, being able to sleep through being picked up, thrown down, then tied to a tree. Actually, that doesn't sound so nice when you put it that way but- Wait. Did he just move?
As if by fate, the young man suddenly stirred. His once limp head rose up to life, as he stared straight ahead through squinted eyes. A minute passed. He turned his head to the left, toward the now sleeping watchman. He halfheartedly tried to stand up, but was tugged back to his seat by the ropes. All the while his dazed expression never leaves his face.
Then something in his mind clicked. The young man groaned audibly. "What a hassle..." He grumbled.
Alise looked at him in surpise. The first thing out of his mouth... She mused.
His head rolled back to return Alise's gaze and for a long moment the two just looked at each other, each thinking about nothing in particular.
"Who are you?" The young man eventually asked, a dull look on his face.
Alise hesitated to answer at first. "...Someone stuck in a situation she never really wanted to enter to begin with."
"Huh. That's a long name to remember," he said dryly, taking a moment to glance around him once again and back to Alise. "My name is Zeke. Do you have a nickname or something, Someone Stuck in a Situation She Never Really Wanted to Enter to Begin With?"
Alise gave him an unamused look. "It's Alise, okay?"
Zeke nodded and repeated her name under his breath. "Alright Alise, where are we?"
Alise took a moment to think. "Somewhere in the Quoi woods."
"And who are these other people?"
"Fellow captives."
"And our captors would be...?"
"A guild called Beast Legion."
At last a reaction. Zeke's eyebrows arched in pleasant surprise. "Good. That saves me plenty of time looking for them."
Alise gave him a confused look, hoping he would explain, but beside her Millina stirred. The woman leaned forward to get a look at Zeke. It didn't seem like she had just woken up. Alise wondered just how long she had been awake.
"Ah, good." Millina smiled. "I was getting worried you might never wake up."
Zeke gave a slight nod. "Don't worry about me. I always wake up eventually."
"So you always sleep that soundly?" said Alise.
"Yeah, I do. It comes in handy more often then you'd think."
Alise lowered her voice to a rough whisper. "I have a hard time believing that... If my asumption's correct, you fell asleep in the woods then taken then tied up! And you wake up only now several hours later?"
Zeke lowered his voice to match hers, unphased. "And by doing so I found Beast Legion. I also confirmed that they have been kidnapping people to use somewhere. I haven't gotten that far in the rumors yet."
Millina asked, "Rumors? Where did you hear of those?"
"Around." Zeke shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. We need to break out."
At this utterance, the other captives seemed to burst into life: "Break out? You mean..." "How would we go about doing that?" "Who is this kid?" "Good luck with that!" "Wait, who's talking?" "Face it, it's hopeless-"
Alise shushed them all, glancing to the watchman. He stirred slightly, but he was clearly asleep. She let out a breath, then faced Zeke. "You think you can break us all out?" Zeke nodded. "How then?" He shrugged. Alise mentally smacked her palm to her face.
It took some time, but eventually a plan did form amongst the captives, with Zeke, Alise, and the strong man who identified himself as Jame being the star players. Beast Legion had mentioned that sometime before dawn they were going to move out somewhere, picking everything up and leaving no trace. The plan for the captives was to catch Beast Legion off guard by starting a fight. The aim was to find some way to cut the ropes tying them all together and knock out as many guards as they could as to make their escape. The only set back was it was going to be three against thirteen(including the monsters Beast Legion had with them), but it was the only chance they had before they were all taken even farther from their homes.
Until then all there was to do was rest up and wait. Some tried to sleep, Zeke actually managed to doze off for a long time, but Alise felt she couldn't. She couldn't stop thinking about how this plan was actually supposed to work. It seemed more like it wasn't even a plan at all, just a random bid at freedom that any reckless idiot could have attempted. Prehaps the only difference was Alise wasn't a reckless idiot. Would that help at all though?
It didn't seem that long before the time dawn hadn't even come, yet the camp had started to come to life, with the beast tamers laughing and talking as cleared out. One by one the men came into the grove Alise and the others were being kept, standing around while they waited for the order. Soon enough each captive was awake, even Zeke who needed some nudging and mocking from Beast Legion.
The leader of Beast Legion stood akimbo in front of the captives, surveying them. "Make sure they're all awake," he said to the others. "We have to get moving now, so no delays. Come on, let's move!"
Half of the members huddled around Alise and the other captives, leaving those tied up with Zeke alone for now. One of the men cut the rope tied to the tree, yelling to have everyone stand up. All of their hand and ankles were bound together, so really they were all pulled from their seats. Then the five of them(Jame, Andrew, Jordan, Millina, and Alise) were cut free from each other, so that their hands and feet were still bound, but the rope no longer tied them to each other.
"Cut just their feet free, except the red-head," Their leader barked. "She's been known to cause trouble."
This is bad, Alise thought. I'm supposed to be the one to start the escape, how can I do that when I'm tied up? At least they didn't tie my hands around my back. Alise glanced over to Zeke, who met her eyes for only a second before looking elsewhere again. That milisecond was enough to tell her that he expected her to try anyway.
Once the others' legs were freed, their leader ordered them to be escorted to the outside of the forest. What was waiting for them, Alise had no idea. She was still stumbling for an idea.
First Jordan was led off, then his father, then Jame. As Millina was led away, she looked back to Alise in earnest. Alise bit the inside of her lip. Nothing left to lose.
The last of the men reached for Alise. Instead, Alise grabbed his wrist and pulled down sharply, then brought her hands up to smash into his cranium. She let go as he stumbled backwards. Alise saw that the leader was calling out and reaching to grab her. Alise twisted out of the way, falling on her back. The leader went after her. She brought up her feet and kicked him, hard, in the crotch. He went down, and Alise threw herself back on her feet in a crouch. She reached ahead and pulled the machete out from the groveling man's belt and cut her legs free with it.
"Zeke!" Alise threw the machete towards him. Zeke ducked his head, and the end of the blade had cut the rope tying them to the tree. Without hesitation, he cut free his bound hands and feet and was on the move. The largest of the monsters leaped at him. He drove the machete into its chest and threw the corpse to the ground.
"What the hell?" The tamers who had taken away the other captives rushed back, weapons drawn. Hands still tied, Alise rushed them and kneed one in the gut, kicking the weapon away. As one buckled the other swung at Alise with his blade. She threw up her hands to free her bond, getting cut on the nose, then threw the man to the ground.
Zeke reached for the kicked off machete and threw it to the remaining captives, calling out to them, "Go, run, now's your chance!" He turned and sent a bolt of silver mana ripping through the air and knocking back the reinforcements. The last two captives quickly freed themselves sprinted off into the trees...
It was now two against nine; Alise and Zeke versus five men with swords, their still recovering leader, and their three remaining wolf monsters. The monsters all leaped to attack, but Zeke stepped forward and thrust his sword into the ground. Water mana poured out of the sword and shot up, hitting the monsters. Whimpering, the wolves faltered and fell to the ground. At this the men made their charge, but Alise dashed low to the ground and with a battle cry rammed into their legs. They fell yet again, and Alise tumbled to a safe distance.
Alise glanced up and tried to get farther away, but the wolves chased after her. One's teeth were fastened firmly to Alise's arm, and Alise tried to throw it off of her while getting on her feet. Another beast lunged, jaws wide and breath hot, inches away from her face. She brought up her other arm in time, and this wolf had caught her arm too. The pain in her arms was excrusiating, yet Alise managed to throw down and smash the wolf's skull against the ground. That wolf let go, dead, and Alise threw the other one off her arm. The beast rolled back onto it's feet and lunged at her again. Alise managed to dodge, and she grabbed the wolves feet as it lept and threw him against a tree. This time, the beast was down for the count.
"Gyaaaah!"
Alise whipped around and froze.
A blade stuck out of the tamer's back, which was all Alise could see of him. The blade slicked out of existance, and the man fell. Alise watched as Zeke twisted to the side, slamming the pommel into another man's gut, then slashing him across the chest with the daggar in his other hand. With a groan the tamer fell to the floor, making it three bodies on the ground.
Alise had never seen someone kill three men so easily. Being so close to it made her... sick. Her mind buzzed for a moment, until something behind her moved. She spun around.
The tamers' leader was finally getting up. When at last he looked up and met Alise's eyes, she didn't know what to think. It was the same as those other tamers in Zaphias, where they suddenly were eveloped by some strange black aura. Just looking at it made Alise's skin crawl.
The leader seemed to growl at her, but he was really speaking words. "I couldn't wait to see what else you could do... Now I'll see it firsthand!"
He charged her. Alise tried to slip out of the way, but she could not dodge the fist that rammed into her stomach. Alise hacked, the air leaving her. She stumbled back, struggling to catch herself and avoid getting hit at the same time. But he kept on coming. With no blade he still managed to draw blood from his attacks. Alise's head reeled from the barrage.
Finally in a blaze of silver knocked into the big man's side, and Alise fell to the floor, shuffling to a safe distance. She watched as Zeke bought her some time.
The man's aura flickered stronger, and in a rage he threw his razor sharp fist. Zeke parried, and sword and fist sparked realistically. This continued for several blows until at last Zeke managed a side step and slashed the man down his side. The man blindly groped to grab him, but Zeke bent low and slashed again at the man's legs. Again Zeke stabbed his sword into the ground, and water mana shot up from the ground.
Zeke was a great fighter, but Alise could tell they were hardly laying a scratch on him. As she slowly got back to her feet, he head buzzing so that she couldn't think. Without much thought she slowly walked forward, then faster, then at a run she grabbed both of the man's arms, pulled them behind him and shoved him forward. Zeke moved out of the way, and Alise kept pushing him forward. With cry she smashed the man face first against the trunk of a large tree and slammed her foot into his spine with all her might.
She heard the crack, and with a groan the man's arm lost their taught. Alise froze, unsure of what had just happened. Slowly she lowered her foot and let down the man's arms. He slumped and in shock Alise let go of him completely. The man's aura flickered then died as he fell to the ground.
Alise stared down at him for what seemed like forever. She didn't look up when she heard Zeke's footsteps coming up behind her. He looked down at him as well. "Nice job," he said plainly. "He's dead."
"He is," Alise muttered thoughtfuly, "isn't he...?"
"Well better him than us." A moment of quiet, then Zeke spoke up again. "You know you're bleeding."
"Yeah." Alise didn't care that much. She was still looking down at the man that lay limp at her feet. I... never meant ot kill him... She thought, but I guess he had no intention of sparing me, right?
"At least they left some of their medical supplies around when we surprised them. Let's loot what we can."
Alise finally looked up at the sore sight and watched at Zeke bent low and rooted through the tamer's pockets. He killed three of those men, one right after the other, and he act as if it was nothing? Zeke doesn't even look to be as old as me, and yet...
Zeke looked up to Alise, noticing her staring at him. "I found some gels." He tossed one to her, and she caught it without thinking. However the more she held it in her hand the weirder she felt. She let it fall from her hand and onto the ground.
"Hey, you're bleeding, remember? You need to take what you can get."
Alise gripped her hand. She tried to keep her voice steady. "How about I just leave? I haven't eaten in a day, and inn food sounds good around now."
Zeke shrugged. "If that's what you want. But I'll be following you to Halure." He stood up from his squat and turned to Alise, his arms crossed. "The one that got away still have that family... You're okay with letting them go?"
Alise gripped her hand tighter.
"...Sorry I asked."
No, you're not. Alise glanced beyond Zeke, swallowing her dry throat then sighing. "If you're coming, than I'm going." She walked past Zeke, not looking back to the carnage they had just made. She didn't want to be around when the monsters came to scavenge. She didn't wait for Zeke, but she heard him walking behind her, maybe even looking at the back of her head. At least that was what it felt like, but Alise didn't turn to look.
