Chapter 12
715 Words
The ground shook from the sound and presence of the many people charging towards the town. The whistling of arrows followed it behind me. Town’s folk and the guards flinched as they were unarmed and their eyes foretold their doom.
The villagers breached the town’s line as townsfolk got out of the way and guards now unarmed pleaded for their life. The town fell in moments to mobs of men and women with pitchforks and shovels aimed at their oppressors.
“Please, mercy.”
“We are bandits, remember.”
“All of our hard work food and coin you took from us with nothing in return.”
Making our way through the crowd, we came upon the mayor of the town’s residence. It was here that the adventurers had gathered with the guild master along with the most prominent people in the town. People had made space for us as we got closer now. Only the adventurers were before us.
“You beggars!” shouted the mayor from the second-floor balcony. “Go back home. Accept your lot in life. If you turn back now the emperor does not have to know of this betrayal and all can be forgiven.”
Luna stepped forward, her bow steady in her hand. “You want them to go back to suffering.”
“That bow,” the guild master said as the adventurers gripped their weapons tighter. “Are you the Whistling Wolf?”
“Marcar was defeated…” there was whispering as the mayor turned to the guild master before glancing towards Luna. “You assured me that the whistling wolf would be dead and it would be a simple cleanup operation.”
“I am known by that name and there is another you may know one called the Troll Slayer who bested even me in combat.”
Caremilla laughed. “Do you think that you would have a chance against us when the Whistling Wolf can disarm you all? Imagine what the Troll Slayer will do.”
The words seem to affect the men as they muttered to each other in loud succession, each releasing their own fear to the other like a plague.
“Surrender,” Seth said. “surrender and they won’t be need for bloodshed.”
“You’re going to surrender to these villagers!? To lesser men!” the guildmaster shouted.
But it was too much for the adventurers who, like those before them, had dropped their weapons to the villagers.
“Traitors.”
“What do we do, guild master?”
We walked pass them and entered the residence of the mayor. No one stopped us as we proceeded up the stairs. A few villagers followed us, surrounding or tying up those that they deemed to be threatening.
On the second floor, the ruling class of the town held hostile eyes.
“I can take you all myself,” the guild master said as he went to draw his sword.
A single shot from Luna knocked his weapon to the floor as the others backed up.
“Where are the people that go missing, mayor?” I know that you keep them somewhere at least one of you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stuttered.
My eyes drifted from right to left.
A merchant squealed. “Downstairs in the basement, he keeps them the people that he thinks act more than they lot in life. He holds them there! Please let me live.”
From the terrified eyes of the Mayor, I knew this was true.
We headed down to the basement and found many cages with people in them locked and barely fed at the top of each the crime that was given for them for standing above their station. Caremila and Luna gasped at the sight of each as they ran back outside to get villagers and keys to unlock them.
We passed along the cages and found one that we weren’t expecting to see. A scrawny man sat inside. A man that both me and Seth knew too well. Our faces were in horror as Seth dropped to his feet.
Why was he here?
- Writer
