The Beast Within

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

His attack was unexpected, giving him an advantage, lightning crackled through the cave lighting up the place briefly.

The short, stocky soldier and the third, quieter one who hit the child the hardest were the ones in the path of his lightning.

He had put his all into that single attack and he could say that it was one of the most powerful lightning he had ever produced in his lifetime.

Because as soon as his magic came in contact with the bodies in the non-Mages, they burnt into a crisp before they could even realize what was going on.

A choked scream left the throat of the beaten down child as the bodies of his torturers dropped to the ground on both sides of him scorched beyond recognition.

Elder Feyrer might have been able to kill the last soldier before he could react because in the moments after he killed the first two, the last, tall soldier froze up in terror.

But he was now an old and tired man and perhaps, a part of him wanted this all to end.

While he was trying to recoup for another attack, the tallest soldier recovered.

His first response was to hit Elder Feyrer on the side of his head with blunt force, the butt of his heavy sword made contact, instantly knocking him out.

Another spell of silence as the tall soldier heaved with exertion, horror imprinted on his eyes as he looked from the unconscious Mage to his two dead comrades.

The child on the ground had long recovered, his previously big glossy eyes now faded and dim as he stared blankly, unfazed by all of the death around him.

"You there!" He ordered at a couple of Mages who were staring on with mixed reactions.

The terror in the soldier's voice was palpable as he yelled at the Mages.

It was evident that if they wanted to kill him, they easily could, he was all alone and his fellow soldiers had already been killed.

A huge looking Mage in flowing robes stepped forward with a hard face.

"We have wives and children." He said simply, hovering over the soldier.

The soldier was tall but the height and girth of the Mage standing before him made him look minuscule.

He reached out with a big arm and grabbed the soldier by the neck. "This is what you make us into, animals that have to choose between base instincts of protect or survive."

The soldier’s eyes bulged out and he struggled against the force cutting off his air supply.

The Mage lingered for a moment more before tossing the non-Mage's body to the ground like a discarded robe.

He stepped forward and ever reverently picked up the unconscious body of the elderly Mage, here was a man braver than them all.

He placed the Mage's body over a shoulder and used his other hand to pick up the bruised and broken child, holding him up gently.

The child was definitely an orphan so no one should have cared about his existence, a ploy of the soldiers to have fun at the Mages' expense had turned into a tragedy.

It was not the first time, neither would it be the last, they could only pick up the pieces and keep on surviving.

He beckoned on some other Mages who would carry the scorched bodies of the dead soldiers.

The procession moved slowly, the tall soldier eventually taking the lead.

They made their way slowly from the mines to the gates, where executions were carried out.

Tes felt odd all day but she could not seem to pinpoint what was wrong so instead, she dedicated herself to stitching faster, more food never hurt.

Sometime after noon when she was about rounding up for the day, although there was still a couple of hours to go she had worked hard right through the brief spell they were given to rest before returning right to work so she had almost gone through her daily ration of threads allocated.

Riotous sounds seeped into the swing pit, alerting the women who perked up, starting to bicker amongst themselves.

Tes kept to herself like she always did but she could not help but listen in to some of the conversations going on around her.

"Someone said it was another execution…"

"You don't say…"

"I wonder who that poor Mage is and their families will be devastated…"

"I would like to know what was done to deserve death…"

"Very little I am sure…"

"Sani is right, it does not take much for a Mage to be killed off…"

"Silence!" The soldiers watching over them quietened down their increasing chattering, making the women settle down and go back to sewing.

Tes relaxed her tensed up shoulders when this happened, forcing herself to concentrate on her sewing which grew blurry the harder she tried to concentrate.

Soon she was wiping tears from her eyes for no reason, her heart aching so much she had to rub a hand soothingly over it.

A voice called her name at this point, making her look up.

"Tes!"

It was Viola, from their village, she had barely seen the young girl ever since they were captured, she was not yet working at the sewing pits, not till the Mages that had enlisted into the army were taken away.

She started, the basket on her laps spilling to the ground as she stood up in a haste.

Viola had been such a happy child, yet here she was, looking way older than her young age, wise eyes that had seen so much staring out of her tragically beautiful face.

Now those eyes were brimming with tears as she flung herself at Tes, shivering hard.

"What is it, child?" Tes asked fearfully, trying to hide the quiver in her voice.

She did not want to think or try to predict, she almost did not want to hear want the young girl had to say, she knew that she would not like the news.

As she stared right at Viola's glassy eyes who was trying to put herself together to get her news out, she could already tell what it was that was wrong.