Chapter 13
"Eastern Vanguards, part 1"
After an hour of high speed marching they stopped by the side of the hill and hid behind some bushes. Both tried to avoid unwanted attention from the hostiles far in front of them.
A basic campsite with horses bound by the trees and a cave entrance that lead deeper into the hill waited in front of them with a large group of bandits around the entrance. She saw four claymore swords bound together like an unearned trophy and how some of the bandits laughed at the one that tried to lift them. She counted the number of bandits that guarded the entire camp while containing her anger inside her stoic façade.
"25…28…28 humans… this might be troublesome…"
Faith sat right next to her, her hands clenched together in a gratuitous prayer and a big smile on the face. She looked up at the sky in delightment.
"Thank you almighty Deity…this is going to be a feast…"
Grace threw her the evil eye again and hushed with a direct order.
"Forget that! You are not going to kill a single one of them!"
"Come on! I am so hungry… I must have a bandit!"
"You better not…"
"And why? What is stopping me from snatching one or two or twenty of them? You can´t kill humans and I can easily solve that problem for you…"
"If you even so much as chew on one of them, I will not hold the other warriors back from killing you, after saving them."
"And how do you know they are still alive?"
"I am certain that they are, and you will tell where they are confined …"
"What? Why me?"
"Because you are the one claiming to have a good perception skill, not me… so where are they?"
Faith sighed in frustration, all those people and she couldn´t eat even one of them. She shrugged it off for the moment and used her skills.
"They are under the ground, inside the hill, and there are some more auras with them…"
"Must be the being… now… no more time to waste!"
Grace quickly rose up from their hide-out and Faith provided a surprised and chocked expression. She pulled Grace by the cape and back down on the ground by force.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"Like you are just going to storm in…"
"And what is wrong with that?"
"What´s wrong with… You are going to need a plan!"
"Okay… you are coming with me, scare off the bandits, recover the swords and assist when you can, while I deal with the being and free the warriors…"
Faith immediately regretted her decision to ask about it as Grace stood up again and looked back down at her with steady eyes.
"Come on, stay in human form for now and remember… no killing!"
"Okay… okay Claymore… but if this goes bad, then don´t expect me to play by the rules…"
"I am satisfied if you don´t kill them, if they lose a hand or two… that is a completely different matter, and none of my concern…"
Faith grinned an excited smile and they headed towards the camp with unsuspicious steps.
The bandits noticed them and rallied up as the pair approached. The filthy men stood armed to their teeth with swords, maces and daggers as they ogled the newcomers. These bandits had a look of arrogance and too much self-confidence. One of them walked up to her with some authority over the others as he exclaimed with a filthy smile.
"Well, well, what is this? A Claymore? What a lucky day indeed…"
Grace answered with a stoic face and a cold emotionless voice to hide all contempt for them. She didn´t want more trouble.
"Get out of my way, or suffer the consequences…"
The threat had no effect on them and they laughed to mock her further with their wicked chuckling. Anger slowly built up behind her face as he spoke again.
"We have nothing to fear from the likes of you! You are not allowed to harm humans. And usually, we would just let you go, but there is gold to earn on your kind… a lot of gold and since you can´t harm us, we will capture you, harm you, and cash in on the reward… and besides… those swords might be worth a smaller fortune on their own…"
She clenched her fist and kept her thoughts in private as she made a headcount with the eyes.
And I fight to protect these kinds of people? Well, five percent should be enough…
The bandit leader raised his hands as to indicate how pointless her interference really was. They began to surround the two as they arrogantly prepared to strike them down.
"And besides, the woman that is with you is a fine piece that could be worth a large sum on the slave market… but we would rather keep her for ourselves… an unexpected bonus, indeed…"
Faith grinned in her mind and acted like she got a compliment. The bandits pulled out their swords and Grace noticed a couple of archers in an outer circle around them, bows raised and ready to attack on a heartbeat´s notice.
Change that… I don´t need five percent to beat these morons… I will not even waste my time with them…
The bandit leader talked away as he moved his face closer at Grace´s. The eyes examined the detail in her features with a lecherous grin. The stench of unattended dental care sent a gag reflex that she suppressed with force. Her anger reached a small peak inside as she hated the sight of this man and kept her thoughts to herself.
Okay… if this idiot gets one inch closer… then he will definitely regret it.
"…So, what do you say? Giving up without a fight? Maybe we will get more gold for you intact and breathing. The ones giving us the task said unharmed and breathing. So what do you say before we beat you up to a pulp and get rewarded for it?"
He moved a weathered hand and grabbed around her chin with a smile in his face.
That´s it…
Grace took a deep breath, cracked with the knuckles in a non worried expression.
Smiled in advanced satisfaction…
…and delivered a strong punch right in the face of the bandit in front of her.
The sound of his nose that broke into pieces vibrated loudly in the air and he flew backwards into the ground. He yelled and covered the mess that his bloody nose turned to.
All the other bandits stood there in plain shock and raised their weapons towards them.
She spoke in a cold voice as she smiled a little from the pleasure to breathe fresh air again. She gave the bandits one look as they stood prepared.
"I have a better offer, how about letting me pass, the one offering you gold for me is in there right? Wouldn´t it be easier for us all if you just let me through without further trouble?"
The bandit leader got back up on his feet and held his face in pain. His nose bled moderately as his fingers tried to correct the nose back in place. Anger filled his eyes as he pulled up a dagger from his belt and pointed it at her.
"You broke my nose! And your offer is not good enough…"
The other bandits moved in and with violent intentions. Archers raised their bows and aimed carefully to not hit their own men. Not out of care but to not waste any arrows.
Grace held up her hand to get their attention and interrupted their assault with stored up anger in her eyes. Anger that forced the ones closest to her in a short retreat.
"And... I will leave my companion out here to play with all of you…"
All the bandits stopped within one second and looked at Faith with wide eyes. Anyone could tell their intentions by the malicious grins in their faces. Faith looked surprised and walked over to her as she got everyone´s attention. The Bandit leader also kept his eyes fixated on her and smirked, blinded by greed and potential pleasures. He cracked his nose back in place and spoke with contained anger.
"Okay... Claymore… it is a deal."
Grace kept the stoic face expression up with a hidden grin in vengeful satisfaction and said one more thing to him.
"Once I enter the cavern, she is all yours…"
"Sure… we can wait a minute or two…"
The two women walked side by side towards the cavern as Faith whispered with a delighted grin, hidden away from the men.
"…so much for the plan… I guess these greedy idiots changed it…"
"You didn´t mind what I said?"
"Oh, no… I am going to enjoy this… it could not have been better…"
"Remember, recover the broadswords, and don´t be too rough with these guys, no killing!"
"I know… I know… I can at least disarm them, right?"
A short consideration in silence and she shrugged her shoulders.
"I see no harm in that, just don´t kill them…"
"Good…"
Faith smirked out of their sight in a more vicious tone as her company reached the cavern entrance.
Grace walked in and Faith looked after her for a while before she turned around to face all the bandits. They smirked and laughed a little while slowly approached her. Most of them already undressed her with their eyes and sheathed the weapons to be rough.
"I´m first…"
"No, I will have her first…"
"She´s going to stay here… there will be enough time for all of us to have quality time with her…"
"Look at that body…"
"I know… A real good piece…"
"Anything you want to say before the fun begins?"
Faith just smiled widely, undid the knot that held the robe so tightly together. Her eyes slitted and changed into gold.
"Let´s prey…"
The sound of cold water dripping from the dark ceiling echoed in the gloomy cavern. Its space sparingly lit up by torches and a female voice echoed into one of the secluded chambers deep within the tunnels. A voice of slight annoyance.
"Okay… I just have to ask this Armand… do you even know the meaning with the word "Unharmed"?"
The owner to the voice, a young woman with slightly bright brownish hair and green silver tanned eyes. She held arms crossed over her chest and was equipped with a thin cloak that covered her body from her shoulders and down to her knees. She looked up at the one right next to her with a demanding tone and squinted eyes.
The man, Armand, answered with an apologetic tone.
"Don´t be mad at me Nina! I told them to be careful, but the Claymores tried to escape…"
He appeared to be in his early twenties, a head taller than the woman as he stood with his arms crossed in a submissive manner. His physique was the same as a sprinter´s with subtle muscles. He wore a loose, armless, dark leather vest, along with a pair of short pants. No shoe- wear decorated his feet as they stood barefoot. His dark brown hair laid flat on his head with the exception of one single little lock of hair that protruded outwards by the neck. A pair of dark sapphire colored eyes glimmered in his face.
The young woman, Nina, shook her head and lectured him further with a hand on her temple.
"That is no excuse; you went with those low lives so this wouldn´t happen… and look what happened…"
"I thought they would heal…"
"Well, that was a good thought, but it seems like they both are offensive types… which means that they need to get the arrows out before the healing can begin…"
In front of them were two severely injured warriors with twenty to thirty arrows each in different places of their bodies. The one to the left had long hair that reached the shoulder blades, and obscured the left side of her face behind a veil of hair.
The other one had somewhat spiky hair that hung right above the shoulders. They both bled from their wounds and used yoki to stay alive. Bound with iron chains so the two warriors wouldn´t try anything such as escape or offensive attempts on their captors, the condition would be serious for them both. They didn´t have the strength to undo the tight constriction of the cold iron chains or heal their wounds with the arrows still in their bodies.
Armand looked with a displeased and worried caution as he muttered to himself.
"Maybe… Maybe I can pull one of these out…or is that a bad idea?"
Nina sighed deeply as she looked over the warriors and agreed.
"We better… or we will return empty-handed…Okay, remember now… don´t pull it too fast, or it will break and we won´t be able to get the splinters out, and don´t pull it too slow either, otherwise the wound will bleed out…"
Armand grabbed the shoulder of the Claymore with the spiky haircut and around the arrowhead between his fingers with the other hand. He slowly, slowly, pulled the arrow out as she let out a painful scream in response. Armand jerked in scared response to the scream and nearly let go of the arrow. Nina got him back on track with a dominant and strict voice.
"Don´t let go of the arrow! Ignore the screams and keep extracting it…"
Armand breathed heavily as continued with the extraction of the arrow despite the screams.
The arrow slid out with a fast jerk of his arm. Covered in blood and the wound slowly closed neatly from the relief.
He smiled a little over the success and went for the next one. Nina stopped him with a sharp response.
"Don´t be so eager! You must wait until she has recovered from the shock, otherwise she might faint from the pain…"
"But I got one out…"
"These kinds of things require patience… if you pull out too many arrows, she will end up like the other one…"
Nina looked over at something in the corner and Armand followed with his eyes as well.
A third warrior with her body full of arrow holes and a large puddle of blood beneath her. Her head bled heavily from multiple wounds and the dead eyes stared into empty air and the ceiling. The body had been slashed in several places by eager blades.
Nina inhaled deeply as she continued her lecture.
"Remember? You took too many, too fast... and she died from severe blood loss… it is a shame she didn´t awaken either, she could have been useful even then…"
"I know… but those cuts aren´t my fault!"
"Those bandits are useless… too brutal… and too greedy… requiring more gold for each Claymore… and they seem to still be waiting for the payment of the fourth one…"
"But she got away! They shouldn´t request gold for that!"
"I know… but they work at least as human shields…"
As they argued the claymores whispered to each other in tones so the others wouldn´t hear. The one with the slightly spiky hair took the initiative.
"Hey… how are you holding up? Number 16? Renee?"
The other one woke up a little from the fatigue induced daze and whispered back.
"I am still here…Kahlan, if that now matters anymore… you at least got an arrow out…"
The voice had no hope in it and Renee kept her head down. Kahlan tried to move but the arrows from the attack stung painfully and the heavy chain wrapped around them didn´t make it better. To make it even worse, their broadswords had been taken by the hands of the bandits outside. She tried to be optimistic, find a way out from the pinch and whispered.
"I have an idea… can you reach the arrows in my back?"
Renee´s hand tapped on Kahlan´s back and around one of the arrowheads.
"Yes."
"Can you pull them out?"
"Yes, if I try…"
"Okay then, and I might be able to pull some of your arrows as well, listen now, we are going to get rid of them, and while they are talking, use yoki to heal the wounds…"
"There is no point in helping me now… I am not worth saving…"
"Then can you at least pull my arrows out?"
"Sure…"
Renee slowly tightened her grip around one of the jagged arrow heads in an attempt to remove them one by one. Kahlan bit her lips to not make a sound from the pain. Armand and Nina still discussed as the make-shift surgery carried on without their knowledge.
"… Do you understand now Armand? I don´t want you to get hurt in a fight that´s too much for you to handle…"
"I understand…"
"Now… let´s try to convince them again… and if they refuse, we can let the arrows remain for the time being…"
The warriors stopped with the arrow extraction and Armand turned around. Nina walked over towards them and provided a false smile on her face.
"Now… how about the offer we made earlier? Are you willing to abandon the organization to join our cause? It is far better then what you currently have…"
"No deal…!"
Kahlan threw it out like an insult and Nina remained calm. Armand just shook his head in response and disappointment.
"It is hopeless… I think we blew our chances to convince them because of the bandits…"
"Please be quiet…"
Nina thought in private as she looked up at the ceiling. She smiled an eerie smile as an idea that would solve two problems in one appeared within her mind. She offered one look back down at the warriors again and a more sincere smile for now.
"Okay, a fifth no is a definitive no then. How about this? You can leave, free as birds…"
"That sounds better…"
"…The only condition that needs to be fulfilled is that one of you has to awaken. It will break the chains, heal the wounds and the other one will be free to run for her life after Armand here has removed all the arrows, and escorting her outside… the one that has awakened can have the bandit gang outside as a first meal. This is my final offer and your last chance…so make your choice."
Kahlan remained speechless and Renee looked down at the ground with her response in the shadows. She resembled a shell with no life left in it. Kahlan began to object against Nina´s offer with fierce voice and insulted eyes.
"You really think we abandon our humanity just like that? We would rather die before…"
"I´ll do it…"
Renee´s statement lacked any emotion except for a sense of depression and hopelessness. Kahlan stared back on her with a shocked expression.
Nina clapped her hands in delight as she made a nod at Armand to get his attention.
"Okay then! Armand! Come over here!"
"Wait! Wait!"
Kahlan interrupted with haste and denial, Armand stopped in his tracks.
"…I want to talk with her first!"
"Ah… final words… okay, I´ll give you some time to think, and then I want a definite answer."
Nina moved away and watched them with amused interest. Kahlan talked with Renee, trying to get her to back out from the decision.
"Are you insane? Do you want to be a monster!?"
"You have a greater chance to survive this than I have… you are the single digit in our team…"
"Then I shall be the one to sacrifice myself, not you!"
"…And, if you, a number 8 awoke, then I wouldn´t stand a chance… I am a number 16, a useless number sixteen on top of that… and the only thing I can hope for now, is that I will become an equally useless awakened… you can get out, get the broadsword and kill me after I have killed those bandit scum… it sounds a lot better than to let these bastards do it again with more of our comrades…"
Kahlan could not find the right words to say and only answered with silence. Renee inhaled a small breath as she spoke with great burden in her voice and head lowered.
"I thought so… just let me do this… let my death have a meaning… I wouldn´t be a complete mistake then…"
Renee looked up at Nina and raised her voice.
"I will do it… let the other one go…"
Nina shined up in a delighted smile, half visible from the muffled lights of fire.
"Splendid! Now, Armand! Pull all the arrows out from number 8 and escort her outside…"
"But what about the other one?"
"She will take care of it herself… just pull them out… and hurry up!"
"Okay…"
Ten more arrows remained in Kahlan´s body and Armand pulled them all out in rapid succession. All in accordance to Nina´s instructions and orders. The pain turned excruciating and Kahlan screamed loudly from it. She got lifted up like a ragdoll by Armand with one of his arms around her waist like a piece of clothing. All while the wounds closed together again. Nina provided with guidance as she focused on Renee and sent him away without a second look back.
"Now, take her out…"
"But what about you?"
"I will stay here and monitor her awakening; this is going to be fun…"
"But… what if I encounter someone on the way?"
"The bandits won´t touch you, and if it is a claymore, then bring her in so I can make the offer to her as well…"
"I got it…"
Armand left with a content smile and Nina laughed a little. Renee slowly increased her yoki bit by bit and with strained breaths as her face distorted at the thirty percent limit and she went higher by her free will.
Grace walked in a deep tunnel, lit up with torches and her travel had continued further into the darkness for a solid three minutes. She looked around for anything strange or odd that could show her a way to the objective at hand.
A massive chorus of screams in terror echoed through the cave from the entrance, followed by the distorted high shriek from an awakened being and more male screams.
Sounds like Faith having fun…
She moved on and the darkness of the caverns slowly start to unsettle her. Echoes of footsteps slowly approached her and she stopped to await the source. A male gestalt separated itself from the darkness and in the flickering lights to the torches, she grabbed the handle of her sword in anticipation.
It was a man that stared down on his own feet and mumbled something about how dark it was. He carried a warrior in one of his arms who appeared to be in a bad condition.
She remained silent and tried to get the jump on the man that had not seen or heard her yet.
He looked up five meters away from her and screamed in a short frightened shout. Dropped the warrior on the ground from the sudden shock and held up his hands in front of his mouth.
"OH MY GOD!"
He jumped backwards a meter and then shouted at her. "What the Hell is wrong with you?! Did you try to give me a heart attack!?"
The deep blue eyes fell down on the uniform and his initial fright replaced itself in confusion.
"A claymore? But I didn´t even sense it… must get Nina…"
He ran back the way he came and she rushed over to the warrior in front of her.
She recognized the symbol, number 8, Kahlan, "Painless". She looked down at her for a moment and asked with a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
"What, who… number 42?"
Grace stopped for a moment and one eye twitched in subconscious response to her new number. She still didn´t like to be called by it even if she was promoted.
"Never mind that… are the others alive?"
"Regina is dead… Renee is still alive, but she is going to awaken if I don´t stop her soon… I need my blade!"
"Don´t worry, a companion of mine is taking care of that problem; she will be here soon with the swords…"
"That bastard… he killed Regina in cold blood… let her bleed to death…"
"He won´t get far… I am going after him…"
Grace rushed further into the tunnel after the man before Kahlan could say anything else.
Armand stopped once he entered a larger tunnel with twenty meters up to the roof and ten, twelve meters from side to side. He laughed a little and removed the vest from his body in a hurry.
"Perfect… this place is perfect…"
The body started to take a shimmering emerald green color and transformed while he grew in size.
The ground shook a little and two massive impacts sent tremors from further ahead.
Grace unsheathed her blade and got ready as she entered the larger corridor. There was not a single sound in it and no one in sight. Some of the torches had gone dark and concealed anything further ahead in it. She moved slowly and tried to use her nearly useless perception skills. It failed and she relied on nocturnal vision instead, She noticed a faint movement in the darkest corners of the walls and inhaled deeply with a solid grip around the handle.
Something hid in the dark and waited for her.
A sharp blade-shaped appendage shot forward in high speed and got blocked by her with the sword. It was an organic blade made from dark bone connected to a thick fleshy string with the same thickness as an arm. The blade was the same size as her broadsword and it swung with the fleshy string behind it.
It tried to slash her up in violent motions and attacks. She fended them off in a hurry and dodged most of them as they lacked precision to her advantage.
It retreated into the dark after a while and then shot out again, followed by two more blades exactly the same as the first one. Grace parried them with great speed and dodged a couple that stabbed into the cavern floor with great force. A distorted voice rose from the darkness as the blades retreats again.
"Bring it on… I am right here..."
Another attack from the darkness and four blades came out this time. She parried and fought off all of them. They retreated and no new attack came, only ominous silence and a heavy breath.
She grabbed one of the torches that hanged on the wall and threw it into the darkness in front of her. Something big lurked within and she only caught a short glimpse before the torch went out.
She grabbed another torch and something much bigger leapt out from the dark before she got a chance to throw it. It was thick like an old oak tree with five sharp talons at the end like a falcon´s foot and she jumped backwards to not get hit by it.
It made an impact that shattered the floor as it struck down where she had stood. Her eyes had adapted to the gloomy light and she could track the tendril back further. The thick appendage retracted back and now she could see the creature in front of her.
A large humanoid, ten meters in length towered over her. The body was covered in emerald scales giving the impression of muscles. The arm joints appeared to be able to go in all directions. The hands had been jammed straight into the walls and were covered in more scales. The sole exception seemed to be the back of the forearms that carried a darker tone to them. The waist looked pretty normal, covered in scales. So did the legs down to the ankles, plated and muscular. But the feet had transformed into a mixture between a human and a falcon´s with four toes in the front and one in the back. The razor sharp talons on each toe looked like they could grab a horse in one foot.
The head resembled a elongated skull from a hawk. It had large slit golden eyes, covered in emerald colored scaled eyelids. The nose and lips had turned into an expressional beak that was at the moment open, displaying within it a set of pointy fangs and gums. The entire body lifted itself with the arms and his feet did not touch the ground. He had his legs currently crossed.
It seemed like he hadn´t noticed that Grace could see him. She decided to play along on his ignorance since she had the element of surprise on him. He opened his jaws and licked his beak with the four blades that attacked her earlier. His eyes glowed in the darkness of his sunken eye-sockets. He prepared to strike her down again with another strike of his tongue.
(Author´s note: Please review as you read it would be appreciated.)
And next chapter is in progress...
:)