Chapter 8 – The War Drums Rage In The Depths Of Night. – I

-11:40-

Lantis was frozen in shock, his eyes were bulging in surprise and his mouth was pale. Amidst the unexpected shock, he was appalled by the treatment of these hostages by those so-called mercenaries. Seriously, even children were not spared? Am I watching some sort of hentai bestiality-shit or something? Cuz I sure as heck feel like that.

Despite this, he mustered enough courage to put this initial setback behind his mind and began to think logically. Nothing can be achieved without a swift and decisive mind; he too was no different here. He observed each of them steadily and his curiosity peeked. “Aside from that fact, I am pretty sure the females here have their fair share of misery too. But didn’t Lllorva told me that they captured men too….so why don’t I see any of them here?”

Whatever be the case, let’s save them first. He pushed out his hands to bring them up as he said, “Relax, I am not here to kill you. Look, what those bastards have done to you, come on get yourself moving with my hand.”

Strangely, he got no reply from them instead they looked at him as if he was a monster and began to push backwards in horror.

Lantis tilted his head and looked at them in askance, “What’s going on? I have no time to play hide and seek with you all. Time is running out, relax people, I won’t do any harm to you. If you are thinking about those guys, then don’t because they are already dead or at least most of them should be my now.”

Although he said it, even he wondered what were the results on the other fronts, “Well, I have already disposed of many of them so I think it won’t be much of a problem evacuating these guys all alone. Considering the fact that I alone had done this in such a short time, it is no less than a great deed I suppose.”

At this time, one of the ladies in the corner pushed forward and looked at him, her tattered clothes were not able to hide her injuries or those things that they might have done to her. Still, she had the ability to speak. That thing alone was pretty ‘respectful’ in Lantis' eyes.

She spoke lisped with her swollen lips, “We can’t move right now. We are being bound by these iron chains here. Many people here are injured to the point that they can’t even stand up, much less move around. And I believe going outside will be a foolish thing to do.”

Lantis sighed, “Just when I thought this job was getting any easier, this happens...Still, since I have picked up this task I might as well see it to the end.”

He looked around, and then back again looked at them. “Hold on. I am coming down but first, let me find some stuff for you.”

Standing up, he went back towards the place where he had killed those orcs and humans. He looked at them and nodded, “These dead bodies will really get convenient for me now.”

He stepped down and began to make them naked one by one. Taking out their weapons, armours, clothes or tools that were still intact, he moved to tearing apart the orcs bodies itself with his kukri and tomahawk. Anything that he found had a bit of ‘functionality’ was not spared from his carnage.

While this was going on, Lantis realised that earlier he hadn’t been that liberal with the number of things he was looting from the corpses. Maybe it was because of the restraint of time upon him or perhaps because he was not that opportunistic, it really hurt when he thought he could have made some extra money while selling those orc hides. But then again he was a pretty lazy ass, to begin with, if not for the fact that he was taking some measures for those hostages this time. This thought might not even, have occurred in his dumb head.

“Phew, all done.” When he was satisfied with the things that he obtained, he gave a small laugh and went back towards the cellar. Keeping that stuff nearby the trapdoor itself, he quickly jumped down and went underground.

-10:47-

“Alright, I am here. For the sake of convenience and my mental well-being, young ladies first.” Moving towards the woman who back then was the first to speak with him, he noticed that not only she was being bound by ropes and iron chains but also restrained by wooden planks that looked like stocks.

Lantis concluded those mercenaries must have some sort of bondage fetish. He could only sigh after all this were the rage nowadays.

He first cut her ropes, untied her hands then began to undo her chains with his keys. With that done, he hacked the stocks with his axe.

“Stay there, for now, don’t move. Let your legs get their movements back.”

Then he moved on to the other woman, this one was fainted and seemed pinned down towards the wall. She was partially naked and was bloodied. “I will need to wake her up.” With that thought, Lantis looked at the previous woman he helped, “Hey! You got some water with you?”

The lady shook her head, instead, she asked, “What’s your name?”

“It’s Lan, short for Lantis.” A dumb of a Latin name my mother gave me.

With a nonchalant reply, he looked at the fainted lady’s wounds and thought of an idea. “What is her name? And yours too?”

“Jennifer, they called her. Probably she was the daughter of the blacksmith. As for me, I am Taliya. Taliya Lester.”

“All good names, I suppose.” He tore up pieces of clothes he used before to cover his wounds and used it to tend her injuries as well. It helped that he had some leftover herbal medicines and potions for some necessary healings. Lastly, he used the ‘piss’ wine he had to sprinkle some drops on her face to wake her up.

The girl coughed thrice before she opened her eyes and looked at him strangely with her round eyes. Moments later, it seemed to dawn on her what had happened and she could only stay silent sorrowfully. Her small tears were the only testament to the suffering she had passed through.

“Psychological trauma, nothing new stuff; should heal itself, given time,” Lantis concluded. But still as a decent human being, he thought he should at least give them some hope; also more importantly if all of them just stayed there doing nothing- he figured his mission would not end well.

“Listen up, you two. I don’t know what happened here nor do I care to know about it. But I perceived the things that happened here must have been pretty bad for you two or for everyone here I suppose. You have suffered, now you are badly scarred, wounded and pretty bloodied. Isn’t it too pitiful to look at? Tch Tch. But yet, here at this moment- you are still alive and…well standing. That means something, you know. I don’t dare to imagine how much it must have been painful for you or how did you survive even. But right now, your silence dictates that you are still dwelling in the shadows of your past. Come on- stand strong, be strong. Show them at least you all can still stand straight, make all the sufferings that you had a bit more ‘worthwhile’. I will not say anymore, just know that your life is yours. What you do up to from here, is only up to you.”

“Wow, that was a pretty democratic speech, I gave there. Then again, I was pretty decent at this week’s speech competition. Professor Tasha will be really proud of me. God, I not being selected for the elections is a waste of potential for the entire state.” His audience, on the other hand, was still pretty silent on his speech, but now at least they were looking at him more ‘humanly’.

For Lantis, that was enough though. As long as they were doing something and were moving their butts, the trauma will not affect them that much or at least that's what he had heard people say about it in his classes.

Moving to the other woman, the one who seemed most pitiful of the bunch was badly bruised and battered, one of her hands was badly dislocated as well. “This one will be a bit complicated,” Lantis remarked as he tore apart another of his clothes to wrap it around her belly. By now all his medicines and potions had gone dry, so chances of healing everyone has gone down drastically, Lantis thought of his available options once again before nodding affirmatively.

He had the girl lying on her back on the floor. He slowly guided the dislocated arm on the injured side horizontally away from the body, then he grabbed the hand and pulled it steadily and firmly to put into its place. He then carefully but tightly bandaged it with wraps. Lantis tired took a deep sigh. “First aid done, looks like the dislocated arm is back in its place, I know the pain. It hurts seriously.”

He used the same wine to wake her up. “At least this wine has a purpose now, one that is slightly different from what it was made for.”

Lantis smirked at his thought but he had barely 8-9 minutes left to spare, so he couldn’t afford many liberties. He called up everyone and said, “Alright now, you three- Jennifer, Taliya and whoever you are all. Get everyone around you moving, I will be pulling you up. We will talk a bit and then I am sending you home. Seeing that you are all pretty much naked here, I have kept some stuff for you all up above. Grab anything you want, try swinging the blades a few times and we are all good. Oh, I nearly forgot, can any of you fight? ”

Nobody moved and stared at him like a duck.

He was dumbfounded and replied with haste, “Seriously, no one?”

The people there hesitated. Afraid of being subjected to humiliation and suffering once more, they really didn’t want to join hands with a stranger nor did they want to trust him. All they wanted to was to be set free. But did they have any choice?

After few moments, Jennifer was the first to raise her hands followed by Taliya and then an unknown woman on the back. Slowly, others too started to join in as well.

As expected from the daughter of a blacksmith.

“Yep, that’s what I like to see.”

Lantis smiled wide, nodded and clapped his hands.

“Come on, meet me up then.”

With that said, he went up.

-8:28-

Time was nearly running out, Lantis moved to the second and third phase of the mission. That was to evacuate the hostages and to sabotage anything that the enemy had planned all in due time.

He looked at the hostages and can’t help but take a small pride in them.

Come on, I should at least get some credits. They looked good as new now. Although I could have still watched them naked for some more time but then I will be badly flamed on the internet as a lecher.

With a slight smirk on his face, he looked at everyone and said, “I reckon many of you are still unarmed. Here take this huntsman’s axe and common sword. “

Since he was going all out, he thought it won’t be bad if he gave out some of his loots. Each life counts after all. Plus his kukris and tomahawks were already overpowered, to begin with.

He still can’t help but feel like a badass when he looked at its description.

HELIX Database//

Kukri Knives/Gurkha Blade: A one of a kind knife around the world, when it comes to the deadliest of knives and machetes, the Kukri stands strong and proud among the masses. Famed for its versatility, you can do lethal hacking, chopping, cutting, slashing, jabbing, thrusting or cooking on the kitchen table, if you are feeling really ‘hungry’ enough. It’s well-designed handle also allows you to deal the heaviest of cuts with the lowest of stamina, making your opponent bleed more then he needs to.

‘As usual as ever, my choices are not bad’ Lantis now looked at Jennifer with a questioning gaze and asked, “I have wanted to ask you, but where are all the men?”

Her gaze turned sorrowful as she looked at other women and spoke, “they…..are no more.”

“Translation: they are probably dead.” Lantis nodded but even he thought it was pretty tragic. “Was I late? No, no it can’t be. Killing every fucking man should be impossible within the 18 minutes time frame. So that would probably mean either they are alive or they were not meant to be alive in this quest, to begin with. Plus, I can’t see any dead bodies here so it sort of supports my hypothesis……means they were taken somewhere away…..but why and where?”

“Alright then, let ask me you another question?” Lantis once again looked at them and asked, “Do you know what they were up to?”

Most of them shook their heads in unison but the third women he saved spoke dispirited, “I probably don’t know much but they were talking something about retaliating with force.”

“A counter-attack? pretty lame but it makes a whole lotta sense, but there shouldn’t be much I can do to stop them then. Still, I should try.” Lantis felt he had enough information to continue onwards, so he decided to wrap up everything now. “Alright, you all can go back now. I personally suggest returning eastwards because that’s the direction I came from. There should not be many alive but if they are, with your new weapons and the strength of your group combined, I don’t think it’s gonna be that much of problem.”

“Ara, you are not letting us fight with you?” She looked at him confused.

Lantis shook his head while thinking “Too risky. You are just basic peasants who have just learned how to walk again, add to the fact that you don’t know how to fight. You can only be used as meat shields in my eyes.”

“Don’t worry; I can hold my ground properly here. There is an elven camp nearby, the one which you gave supplies too. They were the one to send me here, so it would be great if you all can go there.”

“You are kind, aren’t you?” Taliya smiled as she spoke, the other two women behind her agreeing.

Lantis was puzzled and tilted his head in confusion, “That’s a weird question you have put between us, girl. I am just doing what I must. Besides, I like any other normal human being have accumulated too many sins over the years, so it sort of balances out. “

“Alright then, I guess this is a goodbye then. Thank you for everything you have done for us. We definitely won’t have survived without you. It’s a great regret that we don’t have anything to give you but please, do come in our village. We will treat you well….and also take care of yourself.”

Taliya hugged him tightly while sobbing. Lantis was getting out of breath from the pressure of her chest. Fuck! Large boobs! My IQ is getting down again!

This was once again followed by a hug from Jennifer, “I thought I could have taken my payback now along with you. But since you insist to fight yourself, take this amulet of my mine and finish them up, may it help you wherever you go.”

Smiling, she took out her amulet from her neck and gave it to Lantis. When he looked at it, he was pretty surprised.

The amulet looked really beautiful. It had a pointy ‘pendant’ silver in colour with a blue gemstone fitted right at the centre. It stats was even more beautiful to look at.

Amulet of the Moon Type: Jewelry Effect: Increases your health, stamina and mana by 10% more. Rarity: Rare Durability: Excellent.

Yep, pretty nice shit to look at. He took the amulet and promised her, “Since you have given me such a nice gift. I will definitely finish up what has remained undone.”

“Good then. I can now go easy.”

As the crowd began to disappear, Lantis observed the woman whose name he didn’t know even now. She was also the one who hasn’t talked to him much and was always in the back.

She reminds me of someone I used to know.

He slowly asked, “Hey, what’s your name? You didn’t tell me.”

The woman or probably the girl gave him a fake smile and replied, “Aela. They called me Aela.”

Then she disappeared from the hallway, never to look at him back again.

Lantis looked up at the ceiling and heaved a deep sigh, “All good names, I suppose.”

In his mind, he can’t help but reflect and think about today’s events, “Losing everything than trying to stand up again is always a difficult rift and painful process. Let’s hypothesize, and this is strictly hypothetical- should they really manage to recover once again. What will they think of the stuff that happened today? Those scars, these pains; will they wear it like a badge that they survive or will they loathe them? Will they even remember them? If they did, why and to whom? so many interesting questions left unanswered. Tch...what a shame.”

Then from the deep corners of his mind, a voice echoed, “In actuality, everyone is a slave to their past in one way or another. No matter how much one wants to forget and move forward, the events of the past will eventually catch up and cling to them like the morning sun rays as soon as they open their eyes.” Lantis giggled at this thought. “I must be one heck of a coward to close my eyes all the time then. But being a coward is also a form of maturing; I guess I can live with that.”

-7:39-

Dismissing these thoughts he looked at his HUD and then ahead. With newfound resolve, he smiled and continued moving, “Things in life will continue to happen either way. Let’s complete the mission at hand first. It shouldn't take that long anyway.”

Meanwhile, back at the camp though things were about to change and…fast.

Soldiers irrespective of their genders were briskly moving from one place to other executing various orders from their superiors. Some were carrying necessary supplies and ammunition while others were bringing in their reports but all of them had one thing in common- their expressions, all deathly serious and filled with uncertainty.

It was far from that known amiable and joyous atmosphere when Lantis had first arrived here.

In one of the tents, Alyth and Lucis along with many other soldiers were looking at the reports. Tension filled the room as their expressions turned pale from the incoming news.

Alyth wearily smiled looking at Lucis, “This is not going to end well for us, isn’t it?”

Lucis nodded with a sigh, he rubbed his forehead with a piece of cloth and spoke.

“I knew they were coming but those bastards really picked up a very hard time.”

He looked at one of the soldiers and asked, “Are you really sure that the news is true?”

The soldier nodded, “I am completely sure, senior sire. We must anticipate an attack from Versalia soon.”

Alyth expression turned grave and asked, his face filled with concern.

“Chief scout, give me the status report. How many and how far are they?”

The scout looked at the map laid on the centre table and gave pointers, “Sir, outlying village’s report a human army with a large force is heading towards us from the south-east direction. At this rate, we can expect to meet them within 6-8 hours. I failed to gather much information about their total numbers but they outnumber us well enough for us to be wary of. They seem well-equipped and their army constitution is very well-balanced. The thick woods and dry lands here are working in our favour in slowing them down….for now at least and in addition, I believe they are currently low in supplies, making our chances for survival quite evenly matched. Sire, I suggest rushing past the Yuriel Mountains as much as we can, as sooner as we can.”

Alyth nodded, “You did well but here is the deal…” He pointed towards the Yuriel Mountains and onto their present location, then at the South-east passes.

“We can’t hope to reach these mountains any sooner than 12 hours. So completely focusing on that will be a devil’s deal. Now don’t think that staying here is a viable option too, the terrain here gives us little to no good advantages what’s over. I suggest just moving a little bit towards the mountains NOT exactly towards it per say, just enough where the drylands and Everglades forest meet each other. “

Lucis nodded with Alyth’s strategy, “Yep, humans don’t really fare well in mountainous regions or when the weather is itself against them. By moving there, many things will turn against them. Plus, with the lack of their supplies, I won’t be surprised if they died from attrition alone. With that done, we can then catch them up by surprise, sweep them up from the behind or even flank them shattering their entire forces. ”

Alyth countered Lucis, “We should not get too cocky of ourselves. They are humans after all, plus I am worried about two things. We ourselves are not better off in the first place, we are outnumbered and our supplies are running out as well. Granted, the forests can supply us with stuff but the weather is cold, stupid cold.”

Lucis replied nonchalantly, “Not much we can do about it Alyth, nothing is ever perfect. We got to do with what we have. It will be great if their army deserts itself though, now that will be a sight to see.”

“Indeed. Let’s hope for the best, then” Alyth looked at the other soldiers in the tent.

“Gentlemen, do you have any further queries?”

Most of them shook their heads. The strategy seemed sound to them, but still, something like a battle can’t be decided in the feat of a second. But by now even then there was nothing much they can do about it.

Alyth gave those men 5 minutes to think about the decision with a sound and rational mind.

One of them, actually a woman finally raised her hand and spoke while gazing at the map, “Hypothetically speaking, should the present situation changes or some unexpected events unfold. Are the current strategies liable to change?”

Alyth nodded and replied, “Even if the circumstances remain the same. Strategies and logistics are some stuff which is always dynamic. Who knows we will order you all to sleep in the sands within the next few minutes? But on a serious note, the current orders are just the first phase of a long sequence. We will decide our stance with respect to what those damn monkeys do. Clear?”

Lucis laughed and replied, “Alright, any other questions?”

No one said anything this time. Lucis nodded and looked at the girl, “Alright, sergeant. Send the orders. I shouldn’t see any men or women sitting idle.”

Alyth laughed as he looked at Lucis filled with wariness, “Shit got real too soon, huh? Well, time likes this reminds me of my family and how I crave for their love day and night. But then again, times like this are also the reason why I joined the army, which was to get away from them.”

Lucis composed himself straight and replied, “You are talking as if you are about to die tonight. Don’t worry dawn will come and go, the night will rise and fall but we will remain standing in its wake.”

Alyth looked at stars above in the night sky as a slight sneer appeared on his face. Those star constellations seemed to portray the image of his late wife in his mind. It was the image of a benevolent and motherly young woman with an everlasting smile looking at him. Yet, her eyes seemed to portray sadness beneath it.

A gust of chilly wind blew into the tent through the window, causing many candles lighting the room to blow away, implying how powerless it was….