Bahrakatan didn't follow Milla'iin when they went to invade the next town. He remained behind with a few Kha'ralls and the younger M'arrillians. They were slow and their leader wanted to strike quickly, while making sure the humans wouldn't claim back their town.
The Coralsmith isolated himself from the others, still in deep thought. He wasn't sure what he should do. He couldn't act yet. Even if he knew what the answer was, turning back to his own tribe wasn't easy. He had gone through a lot with them. He sighed.
"And a few of them turned on us. Thousands turned on us," he corrected the number. It was a small number, but thousands were a lot. It restrained their ability to control the minds of many creatures or humans.
Still, billions of humans. Even if they were all in this together, it wouldn't work. He thought of the human named Remi, "Is he out of town or not?" He wasn't sure of that. He hoped the human was gone, because it would only be folly to remain around.
That quickly came to an end when he learned what Milla'iin had done to the city.
(He destroyed it!) Bahrakatan was outraged by that discovery. It was an act that completely disrespected the Cothica. Not only that, but it showed how low Milla'iin went to control the Cothica.
He heard the other M'arrillians. Most of them agreed with Milla'iin, but a few wondered what was the point of it. They only just heard what their leader did to the city, but not why.
The Coralsmith just knew the reason wasn't a good one. The entire tribe would have known the reason. The only good reason he would accept was a battle. The army would have said something already if that was the case. They heard nothing of the sort though. He guessed it could only be a petty reason, "I…I really did something horrible… Something that hurt the Cothica," he punched the wall of the building beside him. He left a crack on it. He walked away. His mind was made-up.
Chapter 114: The decision
Bahrakatan had no intention of standing besides Milla'iin anymore. He cursed himself for building that portal to Chaotic. He regretted everything. It was too late and he was too slow to open his eyes, "I should have known… it would turn out this way. Capturing the Messenger of the Cothica should have been enough of a warning sign," he put his pincer on his face.
He also couldn't believe how easy it was to make that decision. He just needed that little push, "Was my loyalty that small?" He wondered.
Bahrakatan thought back. He didn't side with the rebels. He didn't bother to know what they were fighting for. He didn't bother knowing what Milla'iin would do. He was just interested in the Cothica, "And I'll have to pay the price for it."
He thought of Remi again. The human who escaped his tribe clutches. Even now, he heard nothing about him, "He left the city," he concluded. He didn't have to find him and leave.
The situation worsened when he heard Milla'iin ordering one thing, (Search for any humans who escaped our control! There is one of them who told the humans about our attack. As long as we don't find him, we cannot hope to conquer the Cothica! Search for him!)
Bahrakatan understood it could only be Remi, "What have you done?" He couldn't believe Remi would do something that reckless. It saved his own kind, but it was dangerous. He took a deep breath and got it together, "Okay. Change of plan. I find Remi and get him out of here. If not him, any human out of their control who did this," he hoped Remi was gone. At the same time, he hoped it was him who told his kind about the plan. It would be much easier to find him than someone who he had no idea what he looked like, "Maybe he would," he thought back. It was something typical that Chaotic Players would do.
He began his search for the human. He noticed the others from his tribe were actively searching for someone now. A few of them rounded up the humans under their control and tried to find out who wasn't. He knew they were checking into their minds.
Bahrakatan sighed. He knew Milla'iin would be back. He had little time to find the boy and get out of this town. He ignored the others who proceeded with their mission. The Coralsmith simply looked like he did the same as them. He had his own plan. He had a rescue mission to complete.
He guessed the human wouldn't be on the street now. There was no chance Remi would be out in the open. The M'arrillian marched to the mall and searched for any trace of a human who wandered around, instead of following the others under their control.
There were a few humans under their control searching for the human in there. They didn't have that many creatures to find one human. They had no idea who it was though.
Bahrakatan had the advantage of having an idea of who it might be. Still, having an idea wasn't that much, compared to them. Still, he had to find the human quickly. He couldn't call his name or it would be chaos, "You don't know. Remember that in front of the others," he whispered quietly to himself. He accelerated his pacing a little as he walked the long hallway. He gazed around and found nothing out of the ordinary, "It's like searching for a shell in the ocean," he sighed loudly. His four legs dropped a little, "That's why I rather smith battlegear than fighting or hunting something," he groaned in a bit of boredom. What he was doing was usually one the end of his priority list. However, a human from the Cothica was in danger and he had to protect him.
He searched the stores, carefully and meticulously. He didn't find anything standing out in most of the stores. However, he noticed something standing out in one known as a restaurant. He noticed a few footprints on the ground, near a red spot. The way they were done, it was clear that whoever ate there, left in a hurry.
He followed the traces left behind. He noticed they were recent. He knew whoever was there, had to find something to eat. Eventually, the trail ran cold when he saw a pair of shoes on the ground. Still, he knew it was recent.
He continued his search in the mall, when he heard a loud sound and someone grumbling painfully. He checked the store. It was a place where they could get those strange technologies for communications. He proceeded inside and recognised Remi, "Human," he dodged the first thing that went to his face, "Calm down Remi."
"Y-you again," Remi realized who it was. He frowned, "Came to capture me?"
"No."
"What's going on? The M'arrillians just suddenly started a manhunt for no reason," the man asked.
Bahrakatan sighed, "Don't pretend you don't know what's going on. Milla'iin told us in our mind what happened and what his orders were… One that I won't follow Chaotic Player," he grumbled when he got a suspicious gaze, "Milla'iin search for the spy who told the town he wanted to invade to escape," he put his hand on his side and his pincer pointed at the man, "A human who acted like he was under mind control and spied on his orders."
"I did none of that. I didn't see that yellow tentacle M'arrillian since he took control of my parents mind," the boy gazed to the side. He quickly focused back on Bahrakatan, "I didn't even know today was the day they tried to capture another town."
"How do you know about that?"
"It's obvious you would do it sooner or later."
The Coralsmith nodded silently, "Then there is a spy somewhere else," he scratched his chin.
"I don't think so. I can't call anyone outside of town. Cellphones are down and the scanner is too," he showed his blue scanner. He sighed, "I'm have no idea what's going on outside from what I see."
Bahrakatan believed him. There was no reason to lie anymore and he gently checked in the mind of the boy. He was ignorant of anything, "Did you meet anyone else who wasn't under mind control?"
"No."
"Good… Remi. I'll get you out of here," he sighed quietly. He then looked in the eyes of the human, "When Milla'iin destroyed the other city because everyone left… I decide that this is enough. I'm leaving them and I'll bring you to safety. It's… my fault my tribe is here in the first place," he shamefully grumbled the last part.
The human thought about it, "Right… Hard to find anything anymore," he grumbled, "But how?"
"I think I have an idea. You just have to act like you are under mind control as I escort you outside of the city," Bahrakatan told him.
"W-what?" Remi protested. He wasn't ready to act like he was one of their slaves.
The Coralsmith heard something in his mind, (Search everywhere. There is a human here!)
"We don't have time. More are coming. Remi, just trust me," the M'arrillian told him. He put his hand on his chest and waited for the answer.
The boy heard footsteps. He bit his lips, "Okay," he stood up.
Bahrakatan gazed at the foot of the human. He noticed that the shoes didn't have any traces of the red stuff he found on the ground, "What happened to those foot clothes Remi?"
"I changed shoes to avoid getting spotted…didn't work," Remi sighed.
"Okay. Act like you are under my control," the Coralsmith quickly told him, (Just do what I tell you in your mind. Stand straight and walk forward. Once outside, go left.)
The human did so as he walked outside of the store and turned left.
Three Kha'ralls walked towards the two. They observed them. One of them said, "Wait Bahrakatan."
Bahrakatan followed behind him, (Stop,) Remi obeyed him, "What is it?"
"Who's that human? I don't remember seeing him around?" the one who asked the question crossed his arms.
(Don't say anything,) "You just didn't see him around. There are so many humans and you cannot remember each of their faces," he replied with a bit of annoyance, "I don't have every answer to everything," he knew what their next question would be, "I decided to search around and have an extra pair of eyes. I rather have one under my control than one of you. You didn't take your job seriously because Milla'iin is angry," (I didn't mean anything about having you under control.)
Remi rolled his eyes. Thankfully, no one noticed him.
(Don't do that again… Please,) the Coralsmith said. He sounded a little nervous at that reaction as it seemed outside of the human's control.
"You can be such a jerk!" One of them grunted at the M'arrillian who was about to leave town. He poked the chest and added, "You think we cannot do our mission?"
"No. I said you drop your guards when you thought everything was fine. Look what it did," he crossed his arms.
The three grumbled between themselves.
The Coralsmith knew they had a very heated conversation in their minds right now. He turned around, "I'll keep looking for the humans. You should stop raging and focus on the task," he walked away, (Follow me.)
Remi did as told and followed him. They left the three M'arrillians behind.
Bahrakatan felt a bit of tension in the air. It didn't come from him, but the human who walked in front of the M'arrillian as he was asked to. Once they were outside of the mall, they walked forward.
When there were no other creatures around, Remi sighed loudly, "D-damn. My chest hurt when I tried not to get caught."
"It's not over yet. We need to leave the city," Bahrakatan replied.
"Yeah. The hard part," Remi sighed, "Don't have a driver license to roll away."
"We'll find a way. Keep up," he told the boy.
The two went on to leave the city.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Close Call.
Bahrakatan and Remi continued on to their destination. As they left the city, they ended up in an extremely risky and dangerous situation.