Dave started to rally the troops.

“Rest. For tomorrow we will strike them!”, he took a breath and continued, “We will finish what we came here for!”

“Did you hear that sister?”, said Dit, peeking down from a tree. Above from the whole commotion.

“My ears didn’t fail me!”, Ban replied before starting to laugh again.

“So, what now?”

Ban looked Dit straight in his eyes, “We need to prepare.”, the laughter died, and the mood suddenly turned serious.

“But for now, we’ll retreat!”, she smiled and jumped away.

Dit nodded and followed her.

“I wonder how they found out.”, asked Dit.

“Oh... I have an idea about that.”, Ban replied, almost hiding a smirk.

“You do?”

Ban laughed, “Yes, you still have many things to learn dear, brother!”

“It’s probably the blacksmith.”, she added before completely stopping her laughter, with a dead serious look.

“What? I thought we were blackmailing her, She’s brave...”

“What? No? What do you take me for?”

“You... you weren’t blackmailing her?”

“No.”

Dit couldn’t believe what he heard and audibly gasped, “Then what...”

“Money. I paid her handsomely.”, Ban replied before laughing.

“In hindsight, maybe I should’ve blackmailed her instead!”, she added while still laughing.

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Dit sighed, “Sister...”

Soon they reached the cave.

“You!”, said Ban, pointing her fingers towards Ogre.

“Ogre?”, replied Ogre.

“Yes. You. Follow me!”, she smiled.

She looked around and pointed towards Median, “You too.”

“Do we have any other fighters?”, she added while looking at Dit.

Dit nodded a no.

Ban sighed, “We really should’ve invested more in combat slaves.”, before smiling and continuing, “Chin up! We’re going to go and save Slav, and take care of a long overdue pest problem!”

"Good! Finally some excitement!"

"Did you say something?", asked Ban.

Dit looked at her with confusion, "No?", he replied.

"I... I was sure... I heard something..."

"Is this one of your pranks sister?"

"No...", Ban looked around her, trying to find something out of the ordinary but didn't find anything.

"Nevermind...", she added before staying silent for a while.

The others looked at her and awaited for her response while still being confused as to what made her act this way.

“Dit. Are your bombs ready?”, said Ban, finally breaking her silence.

Dit nodded a yes.

“Good! Good! Now do as I say...”, said Ban, before starting to laugh hysterically again.

Meanwhile, back in the village

The elder bared their fangs at the blacksmith who still looked down in shame.

“Give it a rest.”, said Orph as he came near them.

“That amount of bloodlust isn’t going to make those ropes loose or help you break away from them.”, he smirked.

“Just be excited for what is to come!", his smirk turned into a smile.

“As for me... I can’t wait.”, his smile quickly turned into quiet anger.

Eric saw all of this happening in the background, the reveals were quick. So quick that he didn’t get enough time to prepare himself.

He looked over at Orph, “Are you... ready?”

“Ready as I ever will be.”, Orph replied without missing a beat.

The elder laughed. Both Eric and Orph looked toward him.

“Saw something funny?”, asked Orph, smiling again.

“No.”

“Have you gone mad then?”, replied Orph.

“No.”, he laughed again. The elder looked Orph straight in his eyes, with a fire burning in them.

“They... They have always protected us... this village...”, he added while looking around him.

“The people... the houses...”

As soon as he said that, the houses erupted in flames. Almost every house, every building in the village up in flame. The fire even caught up with some of the trees, some of which were on the brink of collapse.

The elder’s mouth became wide open with shock. You could barely hear Ban laughing away from a distance. Almost shrouded by the screams of the villagers. The elder’s shock could only give way to his screaming at the top of his lungs. Only a single word would leave his mouth as he tried his best to get up.

“NO!”