AN:
Sorry about ghosting the past few months, I had gotten through most of this chapter, but my university decided it hates second years. Probably won't be able to work on this after the break so see you guys in the summer.
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Chapter 16: The Desolate
He stuffs the gear into a crate, needing to force the lid down with his weight before he latches on the lock. Picking up the crate with his ODM gear, drags it over to a stack of other crates with similarly coloured brands on them and drops it nearby.
Looking around and ensuring he's not leaving anything in the warehouse, Eirlet makes his way to the back door, peaking out and looking at the entrance to the docks as merchants and labourers prepare for their day.
He notices four men, distinctly not there to work, glancing around the area before splitting up into pairs, each heading to a warehouse on either side, one of which is the one he's in.
He waits as the pair make their way to open large doors at the front, and once they turn the corner Eirlet slips out and heads straight out the gate of the docks. Taking care not to put much pressure on his left foot, but doing his best to not limp, Eirlet confidently makes his way through the waking streets of Yarckel.
Taking turns down familiar streets, Eirlet doesn't stop as he passes a duo of MPs questioning a worker heading for the docks.
"You sure you didn't see anyone suspicious on your way here? Someone with weapons or anything like that?"
"Like I said, no. I'd have seen them if they passed by my house and I've been up earlier than the sun."
Adjusting the straps to his pack, various tools and metal bits jingling within, he turns down a familiar marketplace the restaurant, now filled with small-time merchants and hawkers trying to sell their wares to the citizens and the odd servant here or there on a run for a wealthy family.
Entering the familiar restaurant, he passes by the guards, only two with the third off somewhere, and the few clientele, mainly merchants and workers getting some breakfast in. He moves to go up the stairs but feeling his stomach grumble, he pauses before heading over to the cook.
He waves his hand and catches the man's attention as he stirs a pot, "I'll send the usual up in a bit," he gruffly responds, eyeing his appearance before bringing his eyes back to the food.
With a nod of thanks, and leaving payment, he heads back up the steps and into his room, starting to lean more of his weight on his good foot.
Dropping his heavy bag, Eirlet slumps into his chair as he takes his boots off and pulls his pant leg up, revealing a lightly bruised foot.
'Nice, the crash landing wasn't as bad as I thought.'
Stripping his shirt off, he uses the cracked handheld mirror he found in an alley some time ago to check the rest of his body, fortunately, nothing more deliberating beyond a few scratches and grazes from bullets that long clotted over.
Pausing as someone knocks on the door, he relaxes as he recognizes the voice of one of the guards. Limping to the door he pulls open the deadbolt and lock before swinging it open. Thanking the man with a nod, he shuts the door and places the food down on his desk as he gets to work bandaging up his foot.
Satisfied with the support on his foot, he pulls on his shirt after putting some medicinal cream over his minor wounds before devouring the hot food. Halfway through though, Eirlet pauses his spoon as he hears something odd, the typical sounds of bartering and animals slowly dying out, soon going completely silent.
Setting down the spoon, Eirlet silently pushes his chair out and creeps to the window across from his door. Staying in cover, he peeks his head to the side, just enough to catch a view of the street and curses as he sees no one in the street, stalls abandoned abruptly with food and wares still out.
Knowing what's about to happen, Eirlet pulls back and quickly rushes around the room, dumping the large bag on the bed which drops his bow and quiver down with the tools. Picking both and quickly strapping them on, Eirlet swipes his notes and stuffs them in his actual bag and tightens them on just as-
Bang Bang Bang Bang
A cacophony of gunshots rings out from the ground floor and from outside, quickly dying down but not the screams and groans of pain coming from below his feet.
Creeping to the door as fast as he dares, he nocks an arrow as he slips out into the hall and approaches the stairs. Peeking over the lip, he pauses as he sees the bloody forms of the two guards that were playing cards, both slumped over the table with blood slowly pooling.
Crash
He hears and sees the door of the restaurant blow inwards, landing in his vision and comes with it is another – Bang Bang- two gunshots, this time from within the building given the sound of the same number of bodies dropping to the ground and the subsequent shouting.
Waiting for his chance, Eirlet creeps down the stairs, pausing near the body before another barrage of shots blasts inwards, he counts more than twelve, peppering the building, furniture, and bodies with even more bullets.
Tensing his legs, Eirlet leaps out of his cover just as the round finishes, letting loose an arrow at a shadow he sees through the glare of sunlight streaming through the window.
Thunk
He hears a gurgle as the arrow impacts the shadow straight through its torso. Passing by bodies slumped over tables he rolls himself over the bar, letting himself drop to the ground and come face to face with the end of a musket.
He freezes as it stays on his face for another moment before dropping out of his vision, revealing the wielder to be the chef.
"They're here for you." He says simply, ignoring the hole in his shoulder as he stands up and releases another shot, another body falling.
He ducks down just as the barrage comes in, calmly passing over his gun to the side and receiving a loaded one in return. Nodding to his question, he glances over at the last guard who looks to be hit in a more deliberating area given the stain of blood on his side and his pale face, but nevertheless pushes through the injury and reloads the gun as he takes a swig of a drink.
The man even gives him a wink as he drains the bottle, somehow still reloading the gun with one hand.
Bang
The chef comes down once more, the end of his gun smoking as he trades guns once more, "Get out from the back, it's too tight for a lot of them to get through." He doesn't say anything else as he goes back up for another shot.
"Nice knowing ya kid, give them hell for us yeah?" The man slurs out, visibly slowing down as his eyes start closing before letting out a final shuddering breath.
A meaty hand grabs ahold of the gun, the chef finishing the process himself on the bloody gun as he locks eyes with Eirlet. Giving each other a nod, they both spring into action, the chef popping out for a shot and Eirlet sprinting low to the ground and slamming through the hole-ridden door to the kitchen and laying on the ground as a wave of bullets goes overhead, going through walls and piercing the kitchenware within.
Crash
Snapping his eyes up from the ground, he locks eyes with an MP wielding a musket entering from the backdoor. Eyes widening, he rolls out of view and behind a cabinet just as the floorboard gets a smoking hole in it. Smoothly pulling an arrow out, he leans out to the side of the cabinet and releases the arrow, the first soldier already inside and behind cover of his own to reload but not -thunk- his buddy.
The woman drops her gun as she stumbles back to the wall, leaving a bloody trail on the wall as she slumps to the ground.
He goes back in cover as he sees another soldier shuffling their way through the narrow passage leading to the backdoor. Notching another arrow, he peeks out but pulls his head back just as a bullet chips away at his wooden cover.
Turning around the corner, he sprints as much as he dares as another barrage of bullets go over his head, using it as suppression fire and goes into a slide. Sliding past the soldier reloading his gun, he lets loose an arrow at the new soldier, piercing through the arm aiming at the chef's back.
The man reflexively lets loose a shot that goes way off, dropping the gun in a scream of pain which cuts off as a barrage of bullets shreds through his body, spraying gore all over the walls.
In a crouch, Eirlet swings his bow like a bat, swatting away the gun from the first soldier trying to aim it his way, letting a shot hit the ceiling and giving Eirlet the opening to close in on the man. Reaching behind him, Eirlet pulls out his knife and puts it between their bodies, letting his body weight slam it straight into the man's abdomen.
The older man gasps as the knife pierces him, his back slamming into the ground from Eirlet's weight he's quickly silenced by a knife slicing through his throat.
Leaving the dying man on the ground, he sheathes his knife as he goes out the backdoor. The area just outside is boxed in by the building itself and the ones across from it, the only way in and out is a narrow alley which can just about fit a person to his right.
"Hurry your ass up Henry!" He hears a voice yell from down the alley.
Approaching the alleyway, Eirlet lets loose an arrow straight through the leading soldier's head, snapping it back and dropping him to the ground, the man behind near the entrance staring with wide eyes.
"Fuck! Henry's down!" The man scrambles back out, giving way for two soldiers to aim down the alley with their muskets.
Pulling back, Eirlet lets the bullets breeze past him and hit the wall, another barrage from a new pair of guns soon following.
Thump
Eirlet hears a body crash to the ground from within the building, the wave of bullets coming since the start of the ambush falling silent.
Cursing to himself, Eirlet looks up the walls to the top of the building, only two stories high. Swinging his bow on, Eirlet pulls back to a wall adjacent to the door as he hears rapid footfalls coming from the restaurant. Giving himself a small running start, Eirlet runs up the wall as high as he can before grabbing onto a support pillar going up the whole building.
With a huff, he starts to shuffle himself up, going slower than he would like but given the state of his foot he can only do so much. Eirlet can hear voices coming closer from within the building as the soldiers clear the floor.
Pushing himself up the last distance, he pulls himself over onto the shingled rooftop just as the first soldier comes through the door.
"Damnit, these fuckers took out half of the squad."
Silently standing to a crouch, he starts to move away from the building, fortunately, the block of buildings are all connected through the rooftops or have small gaps. Approaching the end of the block, Eirlet hides behind the tip of the roof, looking over it to the ground where he can see a crowd of citizens gathered around the end of the street, being held back by a small squad of MPs.
'I can't wait, they know there's someone else left and they'll start looking for me as soon as they can.'
Sliding down the roof, Eirlet lowers himself down to a window overlooking the alley between the houses, easily unlocking the latch with his knife and slipping into the bedroom. Looking around he can see it's lived in but given he doesn't hear anyone, there's no one in right now.
Snatching a sheet from the bed, he wraps his weapons up and carries it in his arms, 'Hopefully not too suspicious.'
Moving downstairs, he easily slips out of the house, none batting an eye as he slips away through the crowd.
"Can't believe they would do their training out of nowhere! I wasn't even able to get half the groceries I needed." He hears one middle-aged woman complain to her group of friends, each holding a basket as they try to peer down the street.
"It's very odd isn't it? They usually inform us weeks beforehand, never anything like this."
'So, they don't want the ambush getting out. Good luck with that with all the dead bodies around.'
Weaving between the bystanders, he soon moves away from the ambush site, now approaching the exit to the district but he pauses as he sees a squad of MPs doing checks on both the people and cargo entering and exiting the district along with garrison soldiers.
'Crap, the Umbrella must be putting everything they got into catching me otherwise why in the hell would MPs be doing so much work into a manhunt. It's a risk but the only way out which I can deal with is through the underground.'
Cringing at the plan, he knows what he's going to find down under, he makes his way through the city towards a specific spot. Doing his best to stay clear of the soldiers and the odd group of thugs, he makes his way to a random alley, closer to the restaurant, but it's not where he needs to go.
Making sure no one's looking, Eirlet reaches down to the sewer grate, shifting the heavy piece of metal open wide enough for him to slip in.
Thump
Landing on the wet ground, he looks around with the help of the light streaming in from above, noticing stairs over on his right leading to the surface but blocked off.
'I heard the one here is a shitshow, both literally and figuratively because they didn't get as far in building the place up so tons of stuff isn't properly made.'
Ignoring the stench, Eirlet makes his way deeper into the ground, walking for about ten minutes in darkness before he sees the light at the end of the tunnel. Speeding up, he makes his way to the edge of the tunnel, abruptly stopping at the edge where water and sewage rain down into the darkness.
Looking to the center of the cavern, Eirlet could see the underground city and he can tell why everyone that visits the place dislikes it. The city is smaller than Aurum by at least a half with a massive moat surrounding the ground the city is set on where the sewage of above and below drains off into the darkness.
On either end of the city are two bridges where he can see carriages and people moving to and from, 'So those two are the only ways in and out of here, one leads to Yarckel and the capital, while the other leads out to Rose.'
Looking near him, he can see that he can scale the wall quite easily, a plentiful number of places to grab onto and even some parts where he can stand, 'It's best if I go out through Rose, less of a chance to meet those MPs and easier for me to lose anyone that does come after me.'
Loosening the sheet holding his weapons, he straps them all back on before using the cloth as a cloak, wrapping it over his body and hiding everything bar his legs and hands from view.
Grabbing onto the wall, Eirlet swings himself down and starts shuffling over, slowly making his way to the closest bridge which is only a few dozen meters away compared to the other which is well over a kilometre. Thankfully for him when he lands on the rocky bridge few bother to keep their eye on him after his entry, but those that do worry him.
Watching a carriage manned by a cloaked man pass by, with sounds of sobbing and whimpering coming from within, Eirlet pulls his eyes back as he makes his way down the bridge, watching out of the corner of his eye as he sees two dishevelled men stand up to follow him.
He makes his way into town with the two hot on his heels and he gets a much clearer scene of the buildings and what they hold. Every building looks to be built with spit and prayers, barely holding together and covering the occupants, when he looks at the state of the women and children, he forcefully turns his head away in disgust.
'This is where humanity truly reaches into the darkest pits of hell.'
As he makes his way through the streets, even with his best efforts it's a small city, he can feel the gazes of more and more people linger on him, following him.
Stepping over the fresh corpse of a malnourished child, so thin that he's essentially a skeleton, he hears conversation around him go down into a murmur, 'They know.'
Whipping the knife out from his back with his right, Eirlet spins around and slams it into the outstretched hand reaching for his neck.
The man's sadistic grin doesn't get a chance to fall as Eirlet pulls the knife towards him, cutting through the man's hand and pulling him forward, letting Eirlet slam his fist right on his trachea.
The man gurgles in pain as he flips onto his back from the force of the blow, eyes wide as his hands go to his crushed throat where air doesn't go through. Stepping over the suffocating man, Eirlet eyes his startled partner, skinnier than his friend and looking as though he's taken every drug available.
"The assassin's here!"
Cursing, Eirlet turns away and pushes off into a sprint as he hears a dozen footfalls close in on his position. Three men slam open doors on either side of the street ahead of him brandishing pipes and muskets.
Planting a foot to the ground, Eirlet slams shoulder first into a door to the side of the street, splintering the rotten wood, and into what looks like a slave house.
"Who the hell do you thin-" Eirlet cuts off the greasy man as he charges at him and the two guards on the other end of the room.
Throwing his knife at the guard with the fastest reaction, Eirlet rushes for the other as the owner ducks behind his counter in fear and the first falls to the ground, a knife handle sticking out of his chest.
Eirlet body slams into the man, grabbing onto the musket he tried bringing to bear and uses his weight to slam the guard into the counter. Wrestling the man for the gun, even with his momentum, the other man's older and more well-built, he starts getting pushed back as the man shakes off his dizziness.
Hearing the men coming close, Eirlet slams his knee up right into the man's crotch and forces the man to loosen his grip. Spinning the two of them to the side with the chance, Eirlet aims the gun down at the door he entered from and as he sees someone step inside, he places his thumb on the trigger and shuts his eyes.
Bang
"Gah!" The shot lands dead on the man's stomach, punching a hole right through him and along with that, disorientating the man he's fighting with.
Stunned by the sound and smoke, it gives Eirlet enough time to give a big shove, pushing the man to the ground, and take off into a sprint. Pulling out the knife from the corpse in a spray of blood he leaps over the counter and to the ground as -Bang Bang- bullets pierce through the flimsy wooden front of the building and fly above him.
Ducking as wooden chips rain down, Eirlet raises his eyes and meets another, fearful, pair. Slamming a fist straight on the man's greasy face, Eirlet ignores his whimpers as he shuffles through the backdoor into a room full of cages.
Beyond a glance of pity, Eirlet does his best to ignore the few in the cages as he breaks into a sprint as the bullets come to a pause. Running up to the door Eirlet slams a foot onto the door, splintering it once more and letting him exit onto a path overlooking the edge of the city.
Not pausing, he starts on a sprint down the path, passing down by alleys and just as he feels he's nearly there, a force slams into his side, forcing the breath from his lungs as he gets carried a few feet and slammed downed into the ground.
Gasping as he blinks the stars from his eyes, he just has enough time to figure out his head isn't resting on the ground and see that he has to dodge a knife coming for his head. Shifting his head to the side, he feels the metal cut his cheek, leaving a long line on his face as it passes.
Shooting a hand out, he pulls on the outstretched arm and bucks his hips up from where the man's sitting, launching him off him and into the abyss.
"AAAAAH-"
Crack
Eirlet gapes with wide eyes as the man slams with a sickening crack into the side of the chasm, rag-dolling the way down until the abyss swallows his form from even his eyes. He stares down at the darkness for a second before he comes to his senses, unsteadily standing to his feet before shuffling off, slowly breaking back into a run but slower, his foot starting to act up again.
Fortunately for him, none heard the man fall to his death and so he was able to make it to the other end of the city easily, having to hide only once before the degenerates of the city wandered off.
Looking from around the corner, he could see a little over a dozen ragtag men guarding the bridge with muskets, blocking traffic from going and coming from the city and keeping the street cleared of all. He could see a minor crowd of people and horses on the other end of the bridge, staying a ways away from the city.
'I can see why they would,' he thinks as he sees two men throw a body off into the abyss, another two waiting for them on the ground.
His eyes get pulled back to the abyss, and a light goes off in his head as he smirks, fading back into the shadow of the building.
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Ten Minutes Later:
'This wasn't the smartest idea,' Eirlet barely gets the thought out as he shuffles his hands to the side, sweat dripping from his face as his legs swing above the void.
Looking to the side, he can see he's nearly to the cavern wall, far past the guards and now only a few meters away. Blinking sweat out his eyes, he shuffles his aching arms the last few meters before he does one final swing and grabs onto the cavern wall, grunting with effort as pebbles dislodge and fall to the void.
He could hear some murmurs coming from above and looking up he sees a face peeking down at him. Eirlet freezes as the man eyes his form clutching to the wall, not uttering a word before silently pulling his head back, footsteps moving away from the edge.
Tentatively pulling himself up the edge, half a dozen eyes turn towards him as conversation comes a close, all watching as he dusts himself off with a few resting their hands on their various weapons, but none brandish them.
Eyeing them back, Eirlet notices the ones guarding the bridge didn't notice him clambering over the edge. Taking his good luck in stride he ignores those around him and breaks off into a jog into the dark tunnel, the dim light from the deplorable city soon leaving him in darkness.
Using his limited night vision to watch where he steps, he spends the next few minutes travelling down the tunnel, soon getting to a point where lamps line the walls. Going to the side of the tunnel, he goes up the built-in ladder leading to a house within the town just outside the district, the rest of the tunnel leads to a storehouse which he knows they'll be watching.
Reaching the top of the ladder to where wooden floorboards block the entrance, Eirlet grabs onto the ladder as hard as he can before shoving himself up as hard as he can, using his shoulder to slowly push off the panel of floorboards. Flopping himself forward between the gap that gets formed, Eirlet pants as the panel sets heavily on his back, his legs still trapped beneath.
Crawling forward with his hands, Eirlet wiggles himself out of the panel, grabbing it before it could close and quietly lowers it the rest of the way down. Laying on the ground for a minute, he gives himself some time to catch his breath in the cellar of some sort of restaurant or inn.
'Easiest place to explain why so many people come and go,' he grumbles as he comes to a stand, 'but that means it's likely owned by people that probably would sell me out.'
Traversing the cellar, he goes up the steps leading up and thankfully for him the door built into the floor is already swung open for him, letting him peek out into the currently empty kitchen, though the voices coming from the other side of a door lets him know he's not alone.
Scuttering across the kitchen, he unlocks the backdoor and quickly gets himself out of the building before someone comes and sees him.
He sighs as his face hit fresh air, letting loose some of the tension coiled in him as he drops the hood around his head, too conspicuous among citizens.
Turning to the side to leave, his eyes meet what looks to be a waiter leaning against the wall next to the door, a half-eaten sandwich in hand. Confusion in his eyes, Eirlet could slowly see recognition enter his eyes, taking his attire in but locking onto the limb of his bow peaking over his shoulder.
"You-"
Eirlet instinctively throws a right hook as fast as he can, slamming it right on the man's jaw, and dropping him like a bag of rocks. Blinking at the sudden knockout, he shakes off the surprise and grabs the unconscious man by his ankles and drags him over to a pile of trash, haphazardly throwing bags on him until he's hidden well enough to pass a cursory glance.
Letting out a breath, he heads down the path the chef came from, already done with the day as he turns a corner.
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Twenty Minutes Later:
Splash
"Cough cough," hacking water out from his lungs, the man groans as he turns his body to the side, tumbling over trash bags and rolling onto the ground.
Groaning from the ache in his jaw, the man can't resist as a pair of hands grab onto him and flip him on his back. He gasps as something presses down hard on his chest, making him struggle to get even a gasp in.
A shadow looms over his face, his vision too fuzzy and the sky too dark to focus on the person holding him down.
"Who did it?" It questions lightly.
He voices something between incomprehensible garble and a gasp in his befuddled state.
Slap
The grogginess of waking up so suddenly clears slightly from the stinging sensation on his face, letting him think more clearly.
"Focus man and answer the question."
"It-it was a kid,"
Slap
Another, but lighter sting on his other cheek, "A child? Not just a short man?"
"No-no, I saw his face, he was young, too young," He wheezes out.
The shadow hums for a moment above him, "Thank you."
The man gasps as the shadow moves from his vision, the weight on his chest lifting off and letting him get full breaths in. Pushing himself up with a hand, he wearily watches the person walk into the dark street, the last thing he sees before they meld to the darkness is the bowler hat sitting on their head.
AN:
HossamGasser0 - I'll be adding tags in as the story progresses and more characters are introduced, that's all I'm gonna say.
Freedmoon – Yeah ik its being stretched (been feeling it myself honestly but when I write I just can't stop putting words down) but I'm hoping to finish this 'arc' up in the next few chapters so stay tuned :)
Thanks a lot for reading my stuff!
