A/N: Next installment.
Hope you like it.
And so it was done. The captive was freed and the captor restrained. Karma was pleased with the outcome although it was not how she had imagined things would happen. The whole incident had been a lot more trying than she had anticipated. Still kneeling on the earth her mind drifted to more serious matters, such as the village that was under attack by creatures the likes of which none had ever seen or heard of, when she realized that it was time to leave the forest.
She breathed heavily a few times as she prepared to shift her weight onto her feet in order to stand up. With some difficulty she lifted her knees off the ground, but quickly fell back on them unable to disregard the sharp pain in the side of her waist. A silent gasp issued forth while she moved a hand to the sore spot to her left side. Once she had placed her hand over the spot gingerly, she felt the warm wetness of what could only be blood. She dared not look there or at her dress for it was easier to maintain her resolve when the severity of her injury was downplayed, or in this case, unacknowledged. However, the soldiers, who by now had gathered all around her, did not share in her complacence about the matter.
Watching her struggle to stand, some of the men approached closer in an attempt to help her rise from the ground. One of them knelt and held her free hand indicating that he would support her weight. Another appeared on the other side of her, seemingly intending to the same thing. But she did not wish to be helped.
"I can manage," she said slowly while avoiding their eyes. The soldiers looked at each other in response and decided to wait as Karma tried once again to stand.
This time Karma was determined to stand no matter the pain or the weariness that had come over every muscle in her body. Still clutching the wound, she placed her other hand on the ground and lifted one knee at a time eventually succeeding in maintaining balance as she finally rose to her feet. The two soldiers at her side returned to their positions in the crowd somewhat impressed with her.
"Now then, we should move to Ibaki quickly. I think the horses and we have rested enough," she said, resuming the original task of rescuing Ibaki. Her soldiers merely shot her questioning glances.
The captain of the company, a somewhat older man, was the first one to speak up: "But, my lady, you are injured and we also have Yasuo to worry about. It is not every day that he shows up and it is certainly on special days that we are able to overpower him!"
She pondered over the issue for a few moments, seeing merit in the objection that had been raised. Not going to Ibaki was out of the question, but fighting unknown dangers with an injury could prove a poor decision. It was certain that some medical attention had to be paid to her wound, even if it were only good as a temporary solution.
"All right," she said, "There must be a bandage or a poultice in the packs we have with us. That will do for my wound and then we can be off. I will have it looked at later, when we return to the capital city."
"What about Yasuo, then?" he enquired again as if reminding Karma of the other problem he had pointed out.
This was an easier question for her to answer. "Tie him up," she said almost immediately.
From the baffled look that took shape on the soldiers' faces Karma could tell that her solution to the second problem was not so well received.
"But, my lady…" the man started again, only to be cut short by Karma.
"Capturing Yasuo is not our goal. It never was. Ibaki is why we are here, and if we don't hurry, it will all be for nothing."
"But what if he escapes?" he argued still.
"Then so be it," she replied. "Now, if someone could get me that poultice we can be on our way. There isn't much time."
Karma knew that the soldiers were dissatisfied with how she chose to deal with their captive but she would have it no other way. She turned to leave towards the campsite when she came face to face with the villager who had presumably fallen asleep. Quickly the woman grabbed Karma's hand and led her to a boulder embedded under a tree a few feet from the crowd.
"Please, sit down. I'll get the bandages," she said softly. Karma tried to resist as before, but the villager simply pushed her gently on to the rock insisting on fetching the items herself. Karma smiled at the woman gratefully and thought to gather her strength in these last few minutes before they could depart for Ibaki.
Having nothing else to do for the time being Karma looked in the direction of the soldiers and saw listlessly the things they were doing. While most of them had moved to their horses a few men remained behind finishing things up with the fugitive in their midst. The man she thought was the captain of the company was addressing the remaining few of the group in a voice too low for Karma to hear, but she could still guess as to what was said.
"Tie him to that tree, hands and feet first, then his torso. The bindings should be tight enough for him to wish he'd never come to this forest," she thought the captain said. Three men then picked Yasuo by his shoulders and dragged his unconscious body over to a large tree while a fourth man went to retrieve a rope to tie him with.
"Will this do?" the soldier shouted from the edge of the campsite as the others just waved for him to return without paying much attention to his question.
Within moments Yasuo was tied up and bound to a tree as ordered and the captain, pleased with how quickly the men had accomplished this, sent the men off to their horses to prepare for the journey ahead. After that he walked over to Karma with a certain determination coloring his stride. She could see from the way he walked and the way his eyes blinked so little that his mind was made up about whatever it was he was thinking of.
When he had finally reached where Karma remained seated, waiting for the villager to retrieve some salve or balm for her injury, he spoke without hesitation. "My lady, I am well aware of our task here today. You have made it clear to us that we are to focus on the village and not on Yasuo." He paused afterwards.
Karma readied herself for an argument about Yasuo again and a sigh escaped her lips, when the man continued, "My lady, with your permission, I would like leave a few soldiers here to keep watch on our little guest. Only if you allow it."
It was not what Karma had expected to hear from the man. It was a curious case. His proposition was not completely unacceptable to her and yet she had her reservations. "Are you sure we won't require all thirty men in Ibaki? The villager talked about some very bizarre things," she reasoned, feeling a little silly at how overcautious she sounded.
The captain smiled in response. "My lady," he said, "You underestimate the men at your service. We will save Ibaki even if it means the death of every last man present here."
The sincerity in his voice was both refreshing and heart-warming. Acceding to his request Karma said, "I suppose you would know your company better than me. Perhaps, it is best that I agree to your proposal."
The captain smiled, apparently pleased to know that he would finally get the chance to bring Yasuo to justice after going through all this trouble to capture him. "Thank you, my lady. I will be stationing three men here and the remaining will move to Ibaki," he said. As the villager returned with a salve and some bandages, the captain decided to leave Karma to prepare for their journey and pick the men to leave behind to guard Yasuo.
Karma's eyes followed the captain until she felt the sting of something being rubbed on her wound. She was tempted to look at it, but refrained from doing so forcing herself instead to stare straight ahead. She got the barest of glimpses of Yasuo, still unconscious, and of his sword and its sheath being taken from him. It seemed a tad unusual, but her mind was brought back to the injury when she felt the villager wrapping the bandage around her waist. It was painful and Karma barely held back a wince.
"All done," the villager said soon after.
Karma moved her hand to her waist no longer sensing the dampness from bleeding. It was relieving in a way and she turned to thank the villager for her assistance by bowing to her as an expression of gratitude. The villager beamed and strangely, Karma grew to feel optimistic about the fight to come.
"Let's get going," Karma said gesturing the villager to lead the way.
Despite the almost unanimous disapproval of Karma's decision to leave the captured criminal behind, the campsite was quiet. Most of the soldiers were tending to their horses, adjusting the saddles, giving their weapons a last look to check for battle worthiness and the like. Only one of them seemed somehow perturbed about something which, apparently, he was discussing rather heatedly with the captain.
"But sir, I wish to be part of the fight! Please don't leave me behind," he begged.
Karma noticed him and for some reason he stood out in the crowd of soldiers who looked almost all the same with their uniforms, cropped hair and scars. This man seemed less like a man and more like a boy drafted into the military prematurely. Curiously, he was also the only one to sport long hair, tied up in a ponytail.
"Do you dare to disobey a direct order from a superior, soldier?" the captain asked coolly, even though the threat was obvious. The young man only lowered his head in return, his frustration visible from the way he frowned and look at his feet.
"No sir," he replied before the captain could speak up again.
"Good, now be off. You have a job to do and you had better not fail," the captain spoke somewhat cheerfully. The young man, sensing the futility of his protest bowed to the captain and went to join two other men holding what looked like torches standing at the edge of camp. Karma's attention was brought back to the impending battle when the captain approached her to report of the troop's readiness and at last they had set off for Ibaki.
The reality of having to deal with unprecedented odds loomed larger with each passing moment. The atmosphere grew tense and even though no words were exchanged every one headed to Ibaki could feel the fear and anticipation.
The impact of the horses' hooves trampling rocky ground underfoot flowed through Karma's body like a steady rhythm and her heart seemed to thump in tune. Although it had been close to an hour since they had left from camp the time had flown by swiftly, leaving Karma entranced and partially unreceptive to the changing landscape.
The forest had begun to thin down. The trees were not numerous, nor were they tall enough to hide the sky from view. Mild gusts of wind could be felt streaming over the earth with the cold reaching its peak in the wee hours of morning. As more and more of the surroundings could be viewed without the trees obscuring sight, someone noticed how the sky appeared bright in the distance ahead.
"Look!" one of the men said, "What is that?!"
Karma peered listlessly in the direction the soldier pointed to. Indeed, there was a gentle yellow glow visible just above the tree line pulsating slowly, but she could not fathom what it could be until the captain yelled from his horse, "That's fire! We have to hurry!"
Getting the horses to gallop then the company sped in the direction of the light. Karma could feel her muscles tighten and her resolve was firm. She snuck a peek at the villager who was also doing her best to stay strong in order to help her family and friends. She also recalled that a meeting with Akali and some of the Kinkou people was soon to occur, based on what Kennen had told her back at her house in the capital city. Although the fire ahead did bring forth foreboding thoughts, there was still strength in numbers and therefore, hope of saving Ibaki.
Eager to meet the allied Kinkou warriors, Karma eyed the path ahead expectantly. The feverish pace of their journey continued on and in a short while all the excitement seemed to genuinely give rise to heat. The night air blowing against her skin felt warm and the light ahead only grew bigger. The fire was presumably large and it was not only she who sensed the mounting of dread. Little by little the horses slowed down, contrary to the soldiers' intention to reach Ibaki faster than they would have thought to do so some time ago. The men even tried to push their horses to gallop by commanding them either verbally or with nudges to their sides. The horses only neighed in opposition, eventually coming to a halt.
However, military personnel were not known for dealing too well with insubordination be it from man or beast. There were those among the men who simply could not accept that their mounts refused to move ahead. But even they were left without a choice when the horses started rearing as a result of being forced to run. Puzzled and without options, the captain pondered the possibility of walking to Ibaki while leaving the horses at their current location. The villager confirmed that they were close enough to Ibaki to reach it on foot in a few minutes.
Without wasting a minute the party setoff for Ibaki on foot. It was still at least an hour to go before sunrise and the sky was still dark. There was no time to make torches but conveniently the villager said that she would still be able to lead the way. They also had the large fire that they had caught sight of from further away to guide them.
They walked through the area at a steady pace, unable to jog to their destination owing to the villagers and Karma's injuries. Barely moments walking towards the village made it plenty obvious why the horses resisted going in any further as vehemently as they did. There had gradually built up a scent most foul, wafting in the air as if from corpses and other rotting mass somewhere nearby. Their vision also grew blurred with bits of ash floating in every direction originating from the large fire up ahead.
The villager was visibly distressed, trying as hard as she could to prevent herself from crying and yet she sniffled from thoughts of being too late to save her people. Karma too grew worried as no sign of the Kinkou seemed to show and no sounds could be discerned except those of flames consuming anything and everything in their path. No cries, neither human nor animal, could be heard calling for help. She picked up the pace inadvertently as anxiety rather than caution grew to drive her forward. Never realizing that she had even crossed the villager at the head of the party, she ran in the direction of the ash and smoke, the path growing brighter from the firelight but no less clear.
Completely immersed in the moment, Karma could scarcely hear the soldiers calling out to her. All she could feel was the hot gusts of ash laden air blowing past her skin and the irritation in her eyes as a result of running into a smoking inferno. When she had finally reached the edge of the village, every muscle in her body froze making her come to an abrupt halt. What she beheld was destruction only paralleled by the Noxian invasion. Dumbstruck, she could do nothing but stare at the flaming ruin of Ibaki. Very little was going on in her mind, except that Yasuo and his horrible timing had cost her the life of several innocents much like the invasion had a decade ago.
A/N: Do comment and/or critique. Thanks for reading.