April 24th, 1566 ME
Norah Mercia
"Anti-Mamono Zone" of Floria
Every single part of my body hurt. Legs, torso, arms, head, everything. I knew I had to get out of the destroyed building, but I couldn't move any of my limbs. In fact, I couldn't feel my legs. I tried to shout for help, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a weak moan. All I could do was lay there and hope that someone would investigate the rubble and discover me. The fires that Gabriel had set had to have attracted some attention. Maybe if I was lucky they'd catch the bastard before he got away.
Stupid. Why did I think I could take him on my own? I'm so reckless.
Both of my parents had told me that having someone to back them up during a fight was better than fighting alone. It was how they had met after all. My father had been struggling against a group of bandits when my mother had come to his rescue. At the time I nodded along, barely paying attention. It was surface level advice, something that was obvious to me.
Why didn't I get Elise to help me, or Dayna, or anyone else?! I thought to myself as I slipped into unconsciousness.
…
…
…
"Wow… Looks like the fire managed to take out several buildings. Thank the Maou this place is deserted. Who knows how many humans would've been hurt if they still lived here?" Someone from outside spoke.
"I guess that's the silver lining to all the humans leaving, huh? Accidents can't hurt anyone if there's nobody to get hurt."
I awoke to muffled voices coming from outside. "Help… me…" I called out as loud as I could manage. My plea fell on deaf ears. I could hear the people outside moving farther and farther away from my position.
I took a deep breath. "Help…! He-" I shouted once again, only to break down into a coughing fit halfway through. I must've inhaled a lot of smoke during the fight. I waited once again, praying that they would notice me.
"Did you hear that?" One of the voices said.
"Hear what?" The other asked.
"Someone's here. I heard coughing." I could hear the crunching of debris underneath the people's feet as they got closer to my position. "Hello?! Who's there? Shout for us so we can help you!"
"I'm here!" I cried out, managing to get out a full sentence. Having regained some energy, I pushed one of my arms through the debris so that they'd be able to find me easier.
"Look! I see someone's arm over there! Help me move this stuff out of the way!" I heard the two people run over to where I stuck out my arm. They began to move the chunks of wood and stone that had fallen on top of me out of the way. The harsh sun began shining into my eyes as I was slowly freed from the rubble, causing me to squint. I saw two blurry figures standing over me.
"Oh no… Ikaia, get a Unicorn over here. She's hurt, bad." One of the figures kneeled down, picking me up and carrying me with both arms. It was rather embarrassing, but I was in no position to protest. They carried me over to a bench and laid me down.
"Hang in there, you're going to be alright…" I heard as I lapsed back into unconsciousness.
…
…
"Hey, I think she's waking up!" I heard as I regained consciousness once again. I was laying in a soft bed, in a sparsely decorated room lit by several candles. A Dullahan, and Ochimusha wearing uniforms with the winged circle symbol that Amaya and Delilah had come up with and a Unicorn in a white healer's uniform all stood around me, relieved looks on their faces.
"She's coming to." The Unicorn spoke as she noticed me opening my eyes. "How are you feeling?
"Much better." I could actually feel my legs again, and the various burns on my body had vanished.
The Dullahan nodded. "Good. You're pretty tough, you know. You managed to survive an entire building collapsing on top of you."
"Yeah, it's impressive alright. But what the hell were you doing over there to begin with? There's no single men left in that part of Floria. In fact, there aren't many humans left there to begin with." The Ochimusha remarked.
"I was chasing someone." I responded.
The Dullahan perked up. "You actually managed to find someone single?!"
I sighed, knowing how difficult it would be to find a husband for myself after I took out Gabriel. "In a way, yes. But he's not the type of person I would want to marry, ever. Long story short, he's a complete psychopath who takes joy in exploiting and hurting others. I went after him to capture him and stop him from causing any more damage. Hell, I might even kill him." I explained to her.
The Dullahan's surprised smile faded. "Oh… Y-you're going to kill them? That seems a bit much, even for someone as evil as him. I'm sure there's a Krampus or a Bogie around Floria that could whip him into a good person. Besides, you know monsters only kill as a last resort. It's an unspoken rule among us."
I showed them my prosthetic left arm. "You see this? This is what he did to me. I went in alone because I wanted revenge for what he did to me. He's a menace to everyone that crosses his path, and he relishes in it. A person like that doesn't deserve a monster. Because that would mean he would be happy at one point, and I don't think he deserves that." I ranted.
The Ochimusha crossed her arms. "Everyone deserves a second chance."
I frowned at the undead warrior. "...Not him. Especially not him."
The Dullahan, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had gone in, stepped in to change the subject. "Enough of him. We'll start searching for whoever did this, and make sure he gets punished. What's your name, miss?"
"Norah Mercia."
"Good to meet you. My name's Alessia, and that's Ikaia and Oriana." The Dullahan pointed to the Ochimusha and the Unicorn. "Norah, now that you've made a full recovery, we can officially send you home now. But before that, there's someone that wants to see you." Alessia walked over to the door and opened it. Dayna rushed into the room and over to my side, a worried expression on her face.
"Norah, what happened to you? You said you were going out to the market to buy something, and the next thing I know you're missing and there's been a fire that took out multiple buildings-" Dayna sputtered out, clearly upset.
"Dayna, there's something I need to tell you. The man that cut off my hand, do you remember him?" Dayna frowned, recalling the night I had come home with a prosthetic hand and a terrible story to tell.
"I do. Don't tell me you went after him alone. He's even more skilled than you are."
"I did. But I managed to-"
"Norah… We're friends. You should have come to me and Hal for help! We would've helped you kick that guy's ass for free! I don't see why you'd need to confront that man alone! Besides, I love fighting." Dayna complained. I sighed, knowing that she was undeniably correct.
"I know…"
Dayna pulled me out of the bed and to my feet. Oriana tried to intervene, but Dayna shut her down with a stern glare. "Come on. That man's going to pay for what he's done to you, and we're going to be getting our revenge together this time." Dayna headed for the exit of the room, signaling for me to follow her.
The next day
Both me and Dayna left the healer's motivated and eager to get revenge on Gabriel, despite Alessia and Ikaia telling us that they were going to handle it. Despite never meeting Gabriel, me getting hurt by him twice was motivation enough for Dayna to hate him.
I watched as Dayna retrieved her mamono-realm longsword from a rack in her room, placing it in its sheath and then placing the sheath on her belt. She equipped her lightweight armor, making sure everything was in place. The Salamander then took several throwing knives and attached them to her belt as well. Salamanders and Lizardmen typically preferred to fight up close and personal, but she had found that throwing knives were very good at catching her enemies off guard. She had even beaten me using the same tactic.
"Finally ready?" I asked her.
The Salamander nodded eagerly, her tail lighting up slightly in anticipation of the coming battle. "Now or never. We're going to make that jackass wish he never messed with you or Elise." The two of us filed out of her bedroom, waving goodbye to Hal on the way out. Once again, I retraced the steps to where I first met Gabriel, Dayna following close behind.
"Are you absolutely sure you don't want Hal to come help us? He's a great fighter. He managed to tie with me, after all…" Dayna blushed as she recalled her wedding fight.
"I don't want to drag more people into this." I responded, giving her the exact same excuse I had given her when she first asked. "Anyways, the two of us should be enough to overpower Gabriel. Once he's fully incapacitated, I brought a normal knife to finish him off. The world will-"
Dayna turned pale as she gave me a terrified look. "Norah… Mamono don't kill. They especially don't take the lives of those who are defenseless, even if they are-"
I shook my head. "Dayna, nobody is going to miss Gabriel. I'm pretty sure his family's abandoned him, and if he does have any friends, they're probably as bad as he is. I was a fool to not see him for what he truly was, and I intend on amending my mistake."
"Even still, a Krampus or Bogie or some other monster that's good at redeeming evil men could probably fix him. I know a few that would love to take him off our hands-"
I cut her off before she could finish her rebuttal. "I apologize if I'm being too… vindictive, but handing him over to a monster would mean that he would be happy. That would spit in the face of everyone he's threatened. Elise would be furious, and if I were one of his victims I would be quite insulted as well."
"...Norah, please. We don't have to kill him. We're better than that. The Mamono Lord wouldn't want us to deal with our problems the same way our bloodthirsty ancestors did." Dayna pleaded with me. "If you don't want him to be with a monster, we can just lock him up in the Castigatio forever."
"And what if he escapes? All of our effort will have been for nothing."
"There's ways we can ensure he never sees the light of day ever again. Perhaps, a spirit realm to keep him trapped would be the best way of making sure he never hurts anyone ever again." Dayna desperately reasoned.
I huffed in annoyance. "Let's beat him first, then we can argue about how we're going to deal with him." Dayna seemed satisfied with that answer. She nodded, and the two of us continued walking to our destination. In a few minutes we had reached the all too familiar alleyway. I pressed the brick that would open the trapdoor to Gabriel's hideout.
I took a deep breath. "Now or never." I began to climb down the ladder.
"Now or never!" Dayna as she followed me down into the darkness.
Unlike last time, the hideout was completely silent. As I reached the bottom I noticed that the makeshift butcher's shop that Gabriel had set up was completely missing. It was an empty room, the only features being the ladder leading out, the door leading to the corpse room, and a few heavy looking boxes. Dayna reached the bottom of the ladder as well, looking around in confusion.
"You said he'd be here."
"I said this is where he'd most likely be. Even if he isn't here, we might find a clue to where he actually is." I said as I opened the door to the corpse room. Strangely, the hanging corpses were still here. The smell had gotten even worse since I had fought him yesterday.
God, how does he tolerate this stench? I feel like I'm going to vomit just standing here.
"You smell that?" Dayna suddenly asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, the corpses. They smell like they've been down here for weeks. It's making me sick."
"No, there's something else. It smells like oil."
I sniffed the air. All I could smell was the rancid stench of decaying bodies. "All I smell are these corpses." As I reached the end of the room, I noticed a piece of paper attached to one of the corpses. I tore it off the hanging body, straining my eyes to read it in the dark.
Surprise, motherfucker. I knew you'd come back here looking for me. You want revenge, right? Well too bad, because you're not going to get it. I'm going to finish the job I started. You could've just stayed away. I wasn't even planning on blackmailing you. But no, you decided to be a fucking hero and try and save the day. You're going to die here, and it's your fault.
-Gabriel
I threw the note to the ground, grabbed Dayna's arm, and began sprinting towards the exit as fast as I could. "It's a trap! We need to get out of here, now!" I tried opening the door out. To my horror, someone had locked and barricaded it behind us. I looked up and saw a torch being tossed into the room from a hole above the doorway, followed by maniacal laughter. A moment later the entire room had been lit up with flames. They slowly grew closer and closer to where I was standing.
Dayna, being a salamander that grew up in a volcanic environment, would be mostly fine. Me on the other hand…
"Norah!" I heard Dayna scream, her voice filled with concern for me. I pounded on the door with all my might, but it didn't budge. Not only had the door been barricaded, Gabriel was holding it. As the fire got closer to my position I doubled my efforts, throwing my entire body weight against the door, but it still didn't move.
"Keep pushing!" Dayna leaped over the flames and joined me. The Salamander was taller and heavier than me, providing some well needed support. The door finally began to budge. I could hear Gabriel grunting behind the door.
"Why won't you just die already?!" He screamed in frustration.
With one final push the door finally tore open. Me and Dayna spilled into the room face first. I scanned the room for Gabriel. There was no sign of him. I quickly got to my feet, pulling Dayna up. The two of us ran to the ladder and looked up. Gabriel was climbing out of the underground chamber.
"He's getting away, we need to catch him!" I yelled to Dayna. I began climbing the ladder after Gabriel, Dayna hot on my heels. As I reached the surface, Gabriel came rushing at me, both of his cleavers pointed at my neck. There was no time to draw my sword. I simply grabbed his arms and shoved him away from me with all my strength. He glared at me angrily.
"So. Fucking. Stubborn." He growled. "You just couldn't-"
Dayna emerged from the hole in the ground. She drew her longsword, a determined and ready expression on her face. "Couldn't what?"
Gabriel looked at Dayna with shock and a slight bit of fear. He then shifted his focus back to me. He kept his cleavers in a defensive position, slowly backing up towards the alleyway's exit. Suddenly, he turned around and ran, bolting out of the alleyway faster than I had ever seen anyone run.
"Coward!" Dayna screamed, chasing after him. "Norah, keep up! We need to stop him!"
I took a deep breath and began pursuing Gabriel with Dayna. Gabriel had already gained a significant amount of distance between the two of us. A lone Jinko, preoccupied with something to her left, was shoved to the side as Gabriel ran past her.
Both me and Dayna sped past the Jinko, slowly but surely gaining distance on Gabriel. He rounded a corner, taking a turn deeper into the anti-mamono zone. Then another turn. And another. And another.
It was getting tiring keeping track of him. With every minute we were running, I could feel my lungs burning. Sweat dripped off my skin and onto the ground.
How damn fast is this guy?!
"Keep on him!" Dayna yelled as she followed Gabriel around another corner, nearly tripping because of how fast she was going. I began exerting myself even harder to keep up with him.
After another two minutes, Gabriel ducked into an abandoned clothes store, slamming the wooden door behind him. Dayna practically ripped the door off its hinges and entered the shop, head swaying around frantically for any sign of Gabriel. I entered the shop a few seconds later.
"Where'd he go?!" Dayna yelled. As if to answer that question, I heard muffled footsteps coming from upstairs.
"He's above us!" I shouted back. I located the stairs to the second floor with Dayna. As we reached the top of the stairs I saw Gabriel bursting his way through a window and swinging onto the roof. Dayna ran past me and jumped through the window and onto the roof, only for Gabriel to kick her off, sending her falling to the ground.
"Dayna!" I cried out as I tried to see if she was okay. She got to her feet without a word and resumed her chase, following Gabriel the best she could from the ground.
The best part of being on the rooftops meant that it was much more open. I spotted Gabriel several dozen feet away leaping from roof to roof. He looked back for a second before continuing his mad sprint away.
I followed his path across the rooftops, mantling over a small chimney. I eventually noticed Gabriel leaping onto a greenhouse with a glass roof, cracking the glass. He stumbled for a moment. I immediately took advantage and leapt as hard as I could off the top of the building I was on. I soared through the air, slowly gaining on Gabriel. I stretched out my arms as I got closer and closer to him, before tackling him and slamming him through the glass. Both of us hit the ground hard, our fall being punctuated by the sound of glass hitting the ground and a sickening crack.
I pushed myself off of Gabriel. The man was done for. Both of his legs were bent at an unnatural angle. He groaned in pain as he looked up at me silently. I drew the steel knife that I had brought with me, preparing to finish the job.
This one's for Elise, you bastard… I thought to myself as I got closer and closer to him.
Dayna burst through the front doors of the greenhouse. Her eyes widened as she saw me with the knife. "No! Norah, wait! Don't do it!"
I gave Dayna an exasperated glare. "Why?! We have him where we want him, let's just finish him off right here, right now!"
"Mamono don't kill." Dayna growled, a flash of real anger towards me in her eyes. "We especially don't kill those who are defenseless and defeated."
I shook my head. "For fuck's sake… Can't we make an exception?! I can't think of a single person who's going to miss him!"
It's understandable… Salamanders look down on taking easy victories, but can't she see who we're dealing with?!
"Absolutely not, Norah. We beat him. Now we're going to hand him off to someone who knows how to deal with him."
I looked at her, then back at Gabriel, then at the knife in my hands. "Screw this…" I muttered as I raised the knife above Gabriel's throat. Dayna was upon me in a flash, kicking the knife out of my hands and sending it flying several yards away. She gave me a harsh glare.
"Not on my watch, Norah. You're better than this." Dayna disarmed Gabriel of both of his cleavers and hauled him over her shoulder. Breaking both of his legs had completely robbed him of the will to resist. "Come on, we're going to get rid of this asshole once and for all."
I sighed and got to my feet, following Dayna out of the destroyed greenhouse. It was a blissful, uneventful walk. Gabriel, for once, had no more tricks up his sleeve. He simply laid limp on Dayna's shoulder.
"Dayna, where are we taking him?" I asked.
"To Alessia and Ikaia. I talked to them a bit before you left, they have access to the prison."
Suddenly, I had an idea. "You do that… I'm going home. I'm tired as hell."
"Mhm." Dayna nodded. I turned in the opposite direction of where Dayna was heading, walking home. As I reached our house, I greeted Hal. Thankfully, he didn't question or notice that I had several bits of glass sticking out of me. After spending a bit of time painstakingly pulling them out of my body, I went into the kitchen, retrieving a small bottle with a skull and crossbones symbol on it from one of the cupboards. I poured out some of the liquid into a separate bottle.
I went back into my room, took out a piece of paper, and began writing.
Dear Elise,
If you're reading this, then this means me and Dayna have dealt with Gabriel. Your brother is safe now. Gabriel is locked up in prison; A fate that is far too kind for someone like him. I insisted on killing him, yet Dayna seems to think otherwise. I have one final request for you: End that bastard's life. In the bushes outside your front door, you'll find a bottle of poison.
You deserve to be the one to end this, more so than me. Good luck.
-Norah Mercia
I wrapped the paper up and wrote Give to Elise should Eryn or Amias ever see the note. I had to trust that they wouldn't they wouldn't read it. I exited the house once more and traveled over to Elise's house, wedging the note into the doorknob. I deposited the poison into the bush closest to the front door, then quickly left.
It was over. Now all I had to do was wait.
April 20th, 1566 ME
Elise Maxwell
"Pro-Mamono Zone" of Floria
It had taken me an hour to get to the Castigatio, but it was worth it. I refused to let Delilah carry me. She would've never let me hear the end of it. I walked on the gravel path leading up to the prison's front gate. As I observed the prison, I noticed the lack of any guards or security. The only sign of life was a sleeping Dragonewt, sitting in a stall outside the front gate. I marched up to the stall and knocked on the window to wake the lone sentry up.
"Huh? Oh…" The sleepy reptilian monster exclaimed as she shot up from her chair. "Uh… Is your name Elise, miss? Delilah told me a human woman would be visiting with her."
"That's correct." I replied.
"Good. Go on through, she and Esther are waiting for you in the lobby." The Dragonewt left the stall and began turning a winch to open the gate for me. I walked through, thanking and waving to the Dragonewt as the gates closed behind me.
After another short walk through a small courtyard, I entered the lobby. I saw Delilah and Esther a few feet away sitting at a table talking to each other. As I got closer, Delilah stood up and came over to me, looking rather irritated.
"You're finally here. Would it have killed you to let me carry you? We could've been done by now." The Malef Dragon complained. Esther shot me a sympathetic look, shaking her head. "Anyways, you know the drill. Remember what I said. Don't let Kirsten see you with any Esther or any other monster."
"One question. Does Amaya know you're doing this?"
"...No. She doesn't. She'd never agree to this, she's too soft." Delilah quickly replied. "Anyways, remember the amulet I gave you. I can hear everything you can hear." I looked down at my chest. The amulet Delilah had given me was dark blue and the one Christos had given me was turquoise.
"Yes, yes. You told me this an hour ago. I'm not stupid." I rolled my eye. Delilah let out a small growl, but carried on nonetheless. She pointed at a Krampus and her husband sitting at a desk a few yards away from where we were.
"Tell her you are here to visit Kirsten. Esther will follow you once you escape the prison." Delilah ordered. She shoved me in the Krampus's direction, causing me to stumble. Esther came to my aid, trying to stop me from falling.
"...Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Delilah snorted. "What are you waiting for? Go!"
I walked up to the Krampus. The monster looked rather bored, much like the Dragonewt outside. She tapped her husband's shoulder, who was nodding off.
"Visitors." She mumbled.
"Ah… Hello. Who are you visiting today?"
"Kirsten Olivers." I replied.
"I see. She'll be in the high security wing of the prison. Follow us." The Krampus and her husband both got up and led us to a side door that led to the low security section of the prison. As we began walking to the high security section, I noticed how the lack of security extended to the interior of the prison. They hadn't even remarked on the fact that I was wearing armor with the sigil of the Order on it, and they hadn't taken away my weapons either.
Did Delilah tell them to hold off, or are they just too relaxed?
"If you're wondering where all the prisoners went… Mamono snatched them up when Amaya and Delilah took over. Everyone that didn't get a husband either left or moved to the high security wing where all the irredeemables are." The Krampus explained, saying the word 'irredeemables' with disgust in her voice.
After passing through a similarly desolate medium security section, we finally reached the high security wing. We began seeing prisoners and mamono guards, although the prison was still quite sparse. The guards lacked the usual lust that mamono had, instead having expressions of irritation and disgust.
We eventually came to a small room away from all the other cells. "This is where we keep Kirsten." The Krampus took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door, letting us inside. I slowly prepared my mamono realm silver sword, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Sitting on a tiny cot in the corner was an Elf with messy and overgrown blonde hair, and exhausted looking green eyes. I could see numerous scars on her legs, arms, and face. She barely even reacted to our presence, just looking up slightly from the ground at us. I could hear a growl emanate from her stomach. She was clearly hungry, yet there was a plate of untouched food on the desk near her cot.
"She's been refusing to eat or drink anything for the last day or so." The Krampus commented, a hint of sadness in her voice. "I don't understand why."
Just like me a month ago… Hungry, uncomfortable, scared, surrounded by enemies… Well, time to put that to an end.
As soon as the Krampus and her husband locked the door behind us, I whirled around and stabbed the Krampus in the chest. Too stunned to react, she simply fell to the floor.
"Hostile!" Her husband shouted as he fumbled around trying to get his sword out of his sheath. A simple cut to his torso and he was on the floor with his wife. The Elf looked up at me with shock, stumbling backwards onto her bed.
"Kirsten Olivers?" I greeted her.
"...Who… Who are you? How do you know my name? What do you want with me?" Kirsten asked, bewildered.
"My name is Elise Maxwell. I've been sent by the Order to retrieve you. I need you to-"
A knock on the prison door interrupted me. "Paula? Aiden? What's going on in there? I heard yelling!"
"Shit. Do you know how to use a knife?" I tossed my knife to Kirsten without even waiting for an answer. She caught it midair, getting up from the bed and getting into position, seemingly already knowing what I was planning to do.
"Paula? Aiden? One of you better answer me, or god help me I'm going to kick this door down."
I gestured to the left side of the door. "Open the door, I'll take care of the guard." KIrsten nodded, taking position. I took position on the right side as Kirsten opened the door. I was greeted with a very annoyed looking Dragonewt. Her eyes widened as she tried to get her weapon out, but I was quicker, sending her to the floor right next to the Krampus and her husband.
"Follow me and stay quiet. Once we get past this area we should be okay. I'd like to avoid further fighting."
"Understood…" Kirsten whispered to me, grasping my knife tightly.
I crouched down and began to slowly advance out of the small hallway leading to Kirsten's cell. It appeared that the Dragonewt was the only one that had heard the Krampus's husband's shouting. The rest of the mamono guards sat idly at their posts, none the wiser to what just happened in Kirsten's cell.
I peaked around the corner. We had come through a large, open area on our way here, filled with several convicts and guards. The only cover was a few thin support pillars and a couple tables, neither of which would hide us from the guards. Kirsten brushed against my shoulder, causing me to flinch in shock.
"Don't do that." I quietly reprimanded her. The Elf shrunk back.
"I'm sorry. I just want to get out of here. I want to see him. They're going to kill me but I want to see him. I want to see him so badly." Kirsten babbled incessantly.
Probably some random resistance member she got attached to. "Shut up and stay quiet if you want to get out of here." I warned her. She nodded her head quickly. "No way we're going to sneak past that many people. We need to find an alternate route out of here."
One of the amulets on my chest began to glow. "Go in the opposite direction. There should be a cell with a hole leading to the lower floors." Delilah's distorted voice spoke. I cringed as I covered the amulet. Thankfully, none of the guards heard her. I grabbed Kirsten's arm and quickly pulled her away from the corner. Delilah was telling the truth; A cell a few paces away from Kirsten's room, there was a small hole in the ground, just big enough for us to squeeze through.
Thank the mamono and their apathy towards maintaining this place.
"Who were you talking to?" Kirsten asked.
"An outside source." I responded dismissively. I pulled her in the direction of the cell with the hole.
"There." I whispered, pointing at the hole. "I'll go in first to see if it's safe. You wait here." I peered over the edge, seeing nothing but darkness. I grabbed a loose rock and dropped it in. About four seconds later, I heard it hit the ground. I sat down with my legs dangling above and slowly eased myself down to lessen the fall. I let go and bent my knees.
I couldn't help but let out a pained grunt as I hit the ground. I wiggled both of my legs around, thankfully I could still walk. I looked up at Kirsten, who was staring down at me.
"Throw a torch down here." I ordered her. She disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later with a torch in her hands and tossed it down.
"How deep is it?" She whispered to me.
"Just jump, I'll catch you." I put the torch down and held both of my arms out. Kirsten jumped down in a very ungraceful manner, flailing her arms and legs. I just barely managed to catch her.
"Thank you…" She muttered as she looked up at the hole in the ceiling. "I didn't expect it to be that deep."
"You're welcome. Now, do you have any idea what part of this place we're in?" I asked her. The torch barely illuminated the walls around us. It looked like we were in some long abandoned part of the prison. A thin layer of dust covered the floor, and mold had taken over the walls. Several empty cells lined the walls, their doors wide open.
"I'm sorry Elise, but I've never been outside of my cell for the past few days. Delilah didn't trust me to walk around freely." Kirsten spoke in a quiet voice. "I'm just glad to finally be out of there."
Delilah, I know she had a hand in your husband's death, but that's no excuse to be so cruel…
"I'll bet you are." I held up the torch, looking for any way out of the hallway we were in. I eventually heard the faint sound of running water coming from below us. From the few times I had visited this place in the past, there was never mention of a sewer system below the prison, but I was willing to take the chance. The sound grew louder as I moved forward into the darkness, eventually leading me and Kirsten to a large hole in the ground with a tunnel at the bottom. I noticed claw marks around the hole.
"It smells disgusting." Kirsten complained. "Can't we find a different way out of here?"
"No. But this is probably the fastest way out of here that doesn't involve fighting." That got Kirsten to shut up. Both of us slowly climbed down the hole, entering the sewers. The horrible smell intensified tenfold once we reached the bottom. Kirsten leaned against a wall and began retching. The poor elf was clearly not used to this sort of environment.
"Kirsten, we don't have time for this." I prodded her. "I'm sure there's an exit nearby."
Kirsten nodded, taking a deep breath and pinching her nose. I began to walk through the tunnels, searching the walls for any sort of door leading out. Strangely, I noticed that there were claw marks in the form of arrows in the walls.
After a few minutes of following the arrows we found something. "Over there." I pointed to a manhole cover with a ladder leading to it, a few yards away from our position. The only thing standing in our way was a lone bubble slime, staring aimlessly at a wall. I drew my sword, even though I knew it probably wouldn't be effective against a creature made of liquid.
"You!" I shouted as loud as I could. "You're not supposed to be down here! Leave now or there will be consequences!" The bubble slime looked over at me with fear in her eyes. The simple-minded creature slowly began to move away from the ladder and into the darkness. I turned towards Kirsten, who was silently watching me from behind a corner.
"Come on, we're almost out of here." I climbed the ladder and slowly removed the manhole cover, peaking my head out. We were in some dark corner in an alleyway of Floria. I spotted the gate leading out of the city nearby. Esther was crouched on an adjacent rooftop, staring directly at me.
How'd she know… Oh. The claw marks, the hole in the ground… It all makes sense. Esther gave me a thumbs up before flying over the gate and out of Floria. I could just barely see her in the sky, circling around like a hawk.
"We're in luck. The gate leading out is nearby." I said to Kirsten. "Keep your head down, and act natural." Both of us climbed out of the sewers, sliding the manhole cover back on to cover our tracks. We gave the Demon gatekeeper a wave before fully finally leaving Floria.
I noticed Kirsten had a smile on her face. "It's wonderful to finally be back in the forest. All that stone and metal was making me feel uncomfortable. Anyways… I know this place like the back of my hand. We'll be at the safehouse soon enough."
'Soon enough' was a massive understatement. We spent the next hour trudging through the forest, heading through obscure pathways and frequently making turns. Sometimes it felt like we were going in circles with how many turns we were making. The same-y looking environments didn't help either.
"Say, Kirsten… How long did it take for you to memorize the layout of this place?" I asked in an attempt to make some small talk.
"Not long." Kirsten bragged. "We elves have a natural talent for memorizing potential hunting grounds. Places where a human would get hopelessly lost, we would be able to map out in a few minutes. My parents could probably draw up a map of this entire forest in two days."
Wouldn't be an elf if she didn't boast about being superior to humans. Even if she's corrupted.
"Where are your parents now? Are they with the Order? And do they know what's happened to you?" I asked. My words seemed to strike a chord with Kirsten. She suddenly stopped walking, burying her head in her hands.
"Oh no… Why'd you have to remind me?! They're going to hate me for this! W-wait a minute… the Order, they're going to-" Kirsten wailed in anguish, before suddenly cutting herself off.
"Going to what?"
"V-v-v-v…" Kirsten stuttered out.
"Spit it out, Kirsten!" I yelled in frustration.
"I was so distracted by my thoughts of him, I never…" Kirsten mumbled cryptically, shaking her head. "I can't do this. I'm sorry. I have to leave before they know I've returned." Kirsten began to run away. I grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back towards me.
"Let go of me!" Kirsten screamed hysterically.
"Hell no. You're leading me to that safehouse, or both of us are fucked." I stared down at Delilah's amulet, grimacing as I thought about the consequences if I failed. Kirsten was my only lead.
"Found her!" A voice from behind us called out. I spun around, seeing a man and a woman dressed in woodland gear armed with bows standing behind us. Both of them fired an arrow with pinpoint accuracy into Kirsten's legs, causing her to trip and fall away from me. She whimpered helplessly as she tried to crawl away.
The man ran up to me, taking note of the Order emblem on my armor. "Are you with the resistance?" He asked.
"I don't recognize her." The woman responded, while restraining Kirsten. "What's your name?"
"Elise Maxwell."
"Wait a minute. You're Elise? Holy hell, Ken talks about you practically everyday. He'll be happy to see you!" The man said. He held his hand out. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Sergio, and this is my partner Lucine."
"Greetings." Lucine folded her arms. "I'd like to know why you're traveling with a corrupted elf."
"She's corrupted?" I asked, cautiously playing dumb.
"Yes, she is. Aren't you a hero? Couldn't you tell?" Lucine pointed at Kirsten.
"I'm afraid elves are more elusive when it comes to whether they're corrupted or not. No physical changes at all." I made an excuse for myself. Lucine rolled her eyes but didn't question any further.
"Elise! Please help me, they're going to kill-" Lucine interrupted Kirsten with a fist to her jaw.
"Quiet, traitor." The woman faced her partner. "Sergio, lead Elise back to the safehouse. I'm going to let Valerie deal with Kirsten." The moment Kirsten heard the name Valerie, she began panicking even harder than she already was. I watched helplessly as Lucine took a syringe out from her pocket and injected it into Kirsten's neck. The elf's movements gradually slowed, then came to a complete stop.
"Don't worry about her, Elise. Let's go." Sergio called out to me. I turned around, guilt welling up in me.
April 20th, 1566 ME
Hidden Order Safehouse
Valerie Lockhart
I yawned as I took a sip of my tea. I had just gotten done speaking to my fellow council members. Out of the blue, the Chief God's High Council had contacted me, saying they had something that could take back Floria with ease. They told me to sneak out to Floria's exterior and record the area of the space outside of Floria's western gate. Then they had told me to tell Kenton to do the exact same thing for Floria's eastern gate. He had yet to return, but I had faith in him.
A knock on the door interrupted my afternoon rest. "Come in." I responded, not bothering to look up from the numbers I had recorded.
Lucine, my replacement for Kirsten, walked in. "Ma'am. We found Kirsten and Elise a mile or two away from the safehouse. I've restrained Kirsten and Sergio is escorting Elise to the safehouse."
I quickly stood up. "Tell Sergio to not let Elise inside the safehouse yet. As for Kirsten, I'd like to speak with her. Personally."
"Understood. I'll lead you to where I've kept Kirsten." Lucine swiftly exited the room. I followed after her, exiting the safehouse and traveling a short distance away. I watched from afar as Lucine instructed Sergio to wait outside with Elise. I would deal with her later; Kirsten was my number one concern right now.
Lucine returned to me. "Kirsten is near the pond." She pointed to my right, towards a small body of water. Kirsten laid unconscious, bound tightly to a tree.
"Excellent work, Lucine. You may head back now." Lucine nodded, sprinting back towards the safehouse.
I slowly walked towards my former ally. She looked no different from how she looked the day I met her, apart from several new injuries and her overgrown blonde hair. Yet, I knew something had changed with her. And not for the better. I kneeled down next to her, slapping her awake.
"Kirsten." The elf moaned in discomfort as she slowly opened her eyes. Once she realized who she was face to face with, she began panicking.
"Stop it. Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." Kirsten didn't seem to listen, screaming helplessly into her gag.
"Calm down." I repeated in an even tone, trying to get her to stop struggling. She continued to thrash against her restraints in a vain attempt to break free. "Fine, then. Tire yourself out."
I waited for a couple minutes. Slowly but surely, she stopped struggling, instead opting to silently stare at me. I took the gag off of her.
"Good. Now, I want to know what you told them." I said to her, getting closer.
"N-n-nothing. I said nothing. I kept my mouth shut the entire damn time, I swear. Please don't hurt me." Kirsten stuttered.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely! They tortured me but I never said a word to them!"
The fact that we hadn't been raided yet was evidence to that. However, there could only be one reason she returned here.
I continued with my interrogation. "Why is Elise with you?"
"I… She said she wanted to find the resistance. I assume she wants to join you." Kirsten whispered. "Elise just… broke me out of prison. I just went along with it. I was desperate to get out of there…"
Fascinating. Who told her about Kirsten?
I freed Kirsten from the restraints binding her to the tree, but kept the restraints on her legs and arms so she couldn't run or fight back. I took her over to the pond.
"Kirsten. You failed. You were supposed to kill Amaya and you got corrupted instead." I said to her as we stared at our reflections in the water.
"...I'm sorry, Valerie." She whispered.
"I know, Kirsten. Forgive me for what I have to do." I swiftly shoved her into the pond. Quickly kneeling down, I grabbed her head and held it under the water. Muffled screams came from the poor elf, but I blocked them out the best I could. Slowly, she began to struggle less. After about forty-five seconds, she stopped moving. Once I was sure she was dead, I fully submerged her body in the pond, then headed back to the safehouse.
Kenton had returned from his scouting mission. "Hey, Valerie! Lucine told me Kirsten was back. I'd like to talk to her, if you don't mind."
"I sent her away."
"Wait, what?" Kenton tilted his head in confusion.
"She said she had someone she loved far away from here. So I allowed her to leave." I lied.
Kenton sighed. "...Just like that, huh? Yet another member lost to the monsters."
"Indeed…"