Chapter Twelve

"Are you sure about this?" Richard asked again.

Denna sighed. "What other choice do we have Richard?"

He tied the rope loosely around her hands. "I still say we should just charge into their camp, maybe undercover of darkness, or something."

"I told you, - " She tried to repeat.

Richard stopped her, "I know, I know. Mord-Sith are trained killers, and blah blah blah. That still doesn't make me feel any better."

"Richard." She said, her commanding tone forcing him to look into her eyes. "I'll be fine." She kissed him softly. "It's not the first time I've been tied up." She kissed him again, and he wrapped his hands around her waist. "Especially not with you." Her tied hands went around his neck and he could feel the coarse rope. "I trust you." She whispered seductively, and he knew all logic was gone.

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Benjamin smashed his boot into the door, and it fell apart, only to send flames shooting towards him. The heat was unbearable by now, and Benjamin thought his eyebrows might be gone. He tried to block his eyes as he ran through the door, but had to be careful not to run into burning pieces of the roof, which had now collapsed.

He heard a loud crack from right overhead, and had to roll to get out from under a galling beam. Luckily he rolled towards the exit; unluckily he caught himself on fire. He cursed under his breath as the flames seared away at his skin, the hair on his right forearm was now completely gone.

As he got closer towards the door, he saw that one of the flaming boulders that the Rahl army had sent flying into Danesville had landed in his kitchen. The wood in the fireplace had caught on fire, and he thought it odd to see such a normal thing in such a disastrous circumstance as it burned away, the smoke floating up the chimney.

Outside, Benjamin thought he heard a baby crying, but he hoped it wasn't Sam. He had asked Leo to get the boy out of here. He didn't want his son to die in the assault. Benjamin smashed his foot through another door, and felt a blast of warm air, a cool relief from the temperature of the inside of his now scorched house.

His relief was short lived however, because he soon realized that Danesville was over run with Rahl soldiers, their red and black uniforms made them difficult to see in the light of the blaze, but the glint of their swords gave them away. Benjamin was glad that they hadn't noticed him yet, probably believing that no one could survive the kind of fire that was burning down his house.

Benjamin was angry that he hadn't thought to grab his sword, though it probably would have burned his hand. One of the Rahl soldiers noticed him, and stalked forward. The firelight glinted maliciously off of his sword. "Over here!" The soldier grunted, and three more of them appeared.

Benjamin began to breath heavily. He'd been in battles before. He'd seen the countless innocent that were slain because they were in the way. He'd interrogated the villagers who knew nothing about the rebels they were supposedly hiding. Benjamin just never thought he'd be one of them.

"Come on now guys. Be reasonable. You don't really want to kill me. That's just one more death to pile onto your conscious." He held his hands up, trying not to seem threatening. He could feel the heat of what was now a huge bonfire at his back.

The four men didn't even say anything. Benjamin could see it in their eyes, the madness; the lust for blood; the need to kill. That red-hot anger that could make a man do anything if he was told to. Benjamin knew the feeling well.

The men moved closer, one of them raised their sword.

Benjamin looked up at the sky, the moon was full, but something big and black flashed across it. The last thing he heard was the cry of a hawk.

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"Look what I found." A soldier burst into their camp, dragging along a woman. There was a bag over her head, and her blue cotton dress was torn.

The Mistress stepped forward. "What are you doing?" She demanded, her eyes ice cold, that look made anyone shiver.

The soldier just smirked. "I caught you a toy. She was snooping around the campsite. My captain told me to bring her to you."

The Mistress narrowed her eyes. "And why would he tell you that? No one is supposed to come here except the General."

"Look, I don't know why he sent me here. I was just following orders." The soldier held up his hands defensively. "Besides, you have the other prisoner right." The Mistress turned her head almost imperceptibly in the direction of the sorceress' tent.

"I think you should leave now." The Mistress said. "Who ever that poor woman is, she doesn't need to come with us."

"No, no." The soldier insisted. "I think you'll be interested in her."

The Mistress squinted in confusion. "I guess I could take a look at her." She said, taking the rope from the soldier's hands. The Mistress drug the woman closer to herself, and reached for the bag. There was a clink as the soldier lifted his sword from his scabbard. No one noticed that the word TRUTH was inscribed into the hilt.

The bag came off, and all hell broke loose.

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"So," Nikolas tried again. "Where are we going again?" He asked the two new Mord-Sith. He thought one of their names might be Caitlyn, or was it Catherine, he still couldn't remember, and even if he knew their names he wouldn't know which one was which.

"To the conference room." One of them spoke. "General Trimack wants to speak with you."

Nikolas was almost positive that they weren't headed to the conference room, as they had now entered the basement level of the servants' stairs. "Are you sure you're headed in the right direction?" he asked. He was getting a bad feeling about this. They hit the bottom of the stairs, and Nikolas was suddenly blinded by daylight as it streamed in from outside the Palace.

"We're here." Was the last thing he heard before something smashed into the back of his head, knocking him out cold.