Chapter 27: A mother’s soul

The fight between the two raiders was supposedly a one-sided affair. Snowdrop might not be as monstrous as his siblings, but he was still Father Foxglove’s progeny. By that very virtue, he was faster, stronger and tougher, although the trade of was his simple way of thinking. Meanwhile, Madam Mandrake was as normal as a human could get, a member of the fairer sex even.

But she was not going to make this easy for Snowdrop. Knowing this, the raider immediately dashed for the closest building in sight. Madam Mandrake must be intending to disappear into the dark, ambushing from her hiding spot. To win, he must cut of her method of victory.

A discrete smile appeared on Madam Mandrake’s face, something she did not realize herself. It was in within her plan to retreat into the building, where many kinds of traps had been set. Now, they were of no value. Direct confrontation was her only option. And when it came to a physical bout, her niece was superior in many way.

“I do not want to do this.” Snowdrop said mournfully.

“Then why are you in my way?” Madam Mandrake asked coldly.

“You gave me no choice!” The raider replied.

The Madam looked into his eyes with her piercing gaze. “We all have a choice.” She said. “I could just leave this place, leaving the past behind. But no, I chose to be vengeful, and you chose to try and stop me.”

The two clashed with blades in their hands. Snowdrop swung his cleaver down with enough force to split a man in half. To reply, Madam Mandrake dropped her knife and grabbed his arm, pulling herself in closer. With nimble movement, she wrapped her leg around his own. All in a blink of an eye, Snowdrop found a palm pushing at his face.

Before he knew it, the raider found himself flung to the ground. Madam Mandrake immediately pounced on him, with a stake hidden within her sleeve. She plunged the spike into Snowdrop’s right shoulder, aiming directly where it would paralyze his entire arm.

Snowdrop did not have time to think or even to register the pain as Madam Mandrake collapsed on him, wrapping her arms around his left. Her right leg crossed through Snowdrop’s crotch, locking one of his leg in the air.

The raider tried to struggle, but he could not move no matter what. How could this be? Was Madam Mandrake stronger than him all this time? Was she simply appearing to be weak?

That was simply not the case. As the abominations’ ‘mother’, the Madam had the displeasure of playing with her children. And in their excitement, they would easily mangle her like a broken down doll. Every normal captives would die from the pain, the blood lost. But Madam Mandrake was abnormal in her drive to survive.

The woman would forcefully drive her dislocated joints back into place. She fashioned make-ship casts for her broken bone. The Madam would pour alcohol into her open wounds or burned it with a candle, all the while enduring the pain in silence.

Madam Mandrake was a survivor and over time, she learned more and more tricks.

She became adept at redirecting forces aiming at her. How to lock up and subdue targets which were much stronger.

“Ughh…” Snowdrop continued to try to escape with no avail.

He did not realize this was a pin, enabling the much weaker Madam to lock his body up completely. The more he struggled, the fast Snowdrop would get to becoming fatigue.

“I’m sorry.”

Madam Mandrake muttered and drew another knife with her left arm. She then brought it close to Snowdrop throat, pressing the blade against his flesh.

In this moment, the raider’s life flashed in front of his eyes. Time kept on going back and back, until mother started to enter his mind. She spoke to him of kindness, of bravery and assured him that everything would be alright. Snowdrop went back to even before he had sight. But the raider could still feel his mother’s embrace and hear her gentle lullaby.

However, Snowdrop knew this was not the time to rest. Mother would want him to continue to fight for goods. He still had to complete his mission, to redeem his siblings.

But what could he possibly do to escape from this situation? One of his leg was free, but with an angle, he could barely muster a pathetic knee at the Madam. Maybe attacking her was never the way? There was only one road left for Snowdrop and it might very well be a dead end, still, the raider had to try.

Gritting his teeth, Snowdrop slammed his free leg into the ground, pushing both him and Madam Mandrake up. Mustering all of the strength within his body, the raider kicked into the ground and flipped them around. The Madam’s back slammed to the ground, causing her to loosen her grip.

Capitalizing on this opportunity, Snowdrop broke free and seized the knife. Now it was him on top, holding a blade pressed at his aunt’s throat.

“So this is how it goes.” Madam Mandrake said calmly. “Come on then, do it.”

She had come far, surviving the harshest of conditions. But her time had come, it was time for Madam Mandrake to die, her desire for vengeance unrealized. However, Snowdrop still had question that needed answer.

“Why… why did you let me live?” He asked, on his face was an expression of pain.

“I don’t understand what you are talking about.” Madam Mandrake calmly answered.

“Don’t lie to me!” The raider screamed, not out of anger but confusion. “Back there, you had all the time in the world to slit my throat… But you didn’t, why? Please tell me why…”

Was it another plan by the scheming raider? Was she trying to confuse him? But why? It was her victory, his life was already in her hand. Perhaps, the Madam had a project that required his assistant! This must be a plan by her to win him over.

But even if that was the case, could he truly kill his aunt.

While they may look similar, mother and Madam Mandrake could not be more different. But even so, she was there for him. Always standing behind, offering him guidance, calming Father Foxglove when he was mad at Snowdrop. It was the Madam’s shoulder that he leaned upon as he wept for his mother and brother. She never hugged or consoled him but Madam Mandrake was always there for him, no matter what.

She was someone very dear to him and Snowdrop could not bring himself to kill her. The raider was torn, he wanted to save his siblings and she would never cooperate. Madam Mandrake wanted to tear down this world, a cause Snowdrop could not accept.

“I… I don’t know what to do…” The raider murmured, tears streaming down from his eyes. “Please tell me what to do… mother, like you always did… I don’t know how to do good…”

Snowdrop dropped the knife, but Madam Mandrake did not pick it up. She simply gazed at her niece, struggling with his internal conflicts. This world was never black and white, to believe so was a dangerous thing. And to pass that ideal down to another was no doubt, evil.

Madam Mandrake reached out and held her niece’s hand. He looked back at her, so confused and lost. This was her chance, Snowdrop was vulnerable, susceptible to suggestions.

It would not take much to sway him over to her side. She just needed to emulate her late sister’s manner and offered to console him. Stripped away all of his defense, Madam Mandrake could then whisper into his ear, offering guidance.

She could do it, but the old raider chose not to.

Instead, Madam Mandrake simply held her niece’s hand. Her face was not flustered with emotion, but she was not being cold either. This was how it always went. She was like a scarecrow, always watching but also, always there.

Snowdrop wiped his tears and gripped on his aunt’s hand. They looked into each other eyes. Both remained quiet, yet, they were conversing for the first time ever, as niece and aunt.

Their tender moment, however, was rudely interrupted.

Snowdrop’s eyes opened wide as a piercing pain shot out from his back. Blood started to leak out from his cracked lips. The raider held his aunt’s hand tight, shivering uncontrollably. Madam Mandrake watched as her niece grasped for air as his life was slowly snuffed away. It was so sudden, all she could do was to hold his hand tightly.

The raider collapsed with several crossbow bolts jutting out from his back.

A group of five armed with padded leather armors and all sort of weapons approached. They kicked Snowdrop off and one of them reached out for Madam Mandrake.

“It’s alright, miss, the raider is dead now.” He said. “Come one, we will get you out of here.”

The man was the leader of a veteran scout group for the Knight Order. After the 23rd Chapter went dark, his team was sent in to assess the situation. All very accomplished knights before, these five could take care of themselves just fine.

They pulled the woman, who was seemingly in silence out of shocked, out from under the dead raider’s body. With their main base not too far away, they could escort and question her there. Little did they know, the team was bringing in with them a poisonous viper.

With this, Madam Mandrake’s plan was a success. Masquerading as a civilian, after some questioning, she would not doubt be released back into society. There, the woman could enact her vengeance upon the world.

And yet, inside her was an empty feeling. Madam Mandrake had a vision, of time long past.

___

The cave was shrouded in darkness, filled with the disgusting sounds of abominations filling its many tunnels. They laughed stupidly, eating, snoring, relieving themselves, every single noise they made was simply revolting.

But among them, the sounds of babies crying could also be heard.

Madam Mandrake, bruised and tattered after having to share the bed with Father Foxgloves, arrived at the source of the cries. It was her sister holding her twins, they were calling out for their mother. But she was not here, instead, the woman was deep inside her mind, trapped in her delusion of hope for a brighter future.

“Wake up.” Madam Mandrake called to her sister, slapping her in the face. “Wake up, your children needed you.”

But no matter how hard she tried, the mother would not wake up. The dainty soul could not bring herself to face with this reality. Thus, Madam Mandrake took the two babies boys into her arms. Having given birth to an abomination some time earlier, which nearly killed her, the raider had a bit of milk for the hungry twin.

Their mouths soon sucked at her breasts, the only that they knew. The boys were now three months old, but not once did their mother ever feed them. No, she was simply too busy looking away, drowning herself in ideals of a better world.

And so, Madam Mandrake provide them with nourishment as always. She then sang to them a lullaby, the only one that the raider could remember.

“Don’t worry, I am here for you…” The exhausted Madam Mandrake said.

The twin, full and in a warm embraces, slowly drifted into a peaceful slumber.

But their peace was not to last. The deluded mother could not fool herself no longer. She asked her own soon to take her life. He was sent away and only his body returned, a feral beast. The Iron Child had to commit matricide and he paid for it with his life.

His brother cried himself to sleep. And there Madam Mandrake was, by his side, always.

___

It was supposed to be smooth sailing from here. ‘The hard part was over.’ Madam Mandrake told herself. Yet, it was not meant to be. She found herself once again with a bloodied knife in her hand.

The scout group watched in horror as one of their member collapsed from a slit throat.

What happened next was a blur for the old raider, smeared with blood. Somehow Madam Mandrake had slain them all, broken out in an unmatched ferocity she never thought was inside of her. The woman could barely stand up, her body covered in deep cuts and bolts. She limped away with one leg, slashed by a sword, dragging behind.

‘Why?’

Madam Mandrake asked herself. Her escape was right there in front, but she had risked it all, for what. The woman could not find an answer herself as her head was light from blood lost.

She collapsed, her legs refused to move no more. Even then, Madam Mandrake dragged herself forward with her arms, pierced by crossbow bolts, with her left hand nearly chopped off. The woman crawled back to where her niece laid. She then mustered all of her remaining energy, braving the pain, just to sit up.

Taking Snowdrop into her embrace, Madam Mandrake sang to him a lullaby, the only one she knew.

“Don’t worry, I am here for you…”