How did the spear return to me on its own? What was that thing that she hurt me with? How am I gonna get outta here and find Layla? Ian had no time to ponder these questions. He scoured the lieutenant’s desk as quickly as he could, but he found nothing. No trace back to Horus, nothing about a headquarters, and certainly nothing about where he spent most of his time.
Ian nonchalantly walks out of the room in his disguise and makes his way back to the slave room. Everyone looks up at him with anticipation when he enters. He unlocks each cage with a key he took off of the lieutenant’s body. "Alright, everyone, you’re going to have to put on these chains if we want to get out of here. It has to look like I’m escorting you out." They all nod and comply. Duke nods to Ian solemnly.
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As Ian walks the prisoners out, he catches several confused glances from passing soldiers. Just keep moving. Don’t draw attention. Ian’s heart races as they approach the door. Before he can open it, someone stops him by placing their hand on his chest. He turns his head to look at the guard who stopped him.
"Halt. Where are you taking these prisoners?" He asks. Ian begins sweating profusely now.
"Uh, I honestly have no idea. Boss just ordered me to take them to the surface and wait. Someone is supposed to come pick them up." Says Ian.
"Really? Last time I checked, they weren’t due for export for another two weeks."
Ian gulps. "Something came up. You know how the boss has been lately." The guard sighs and nods, letting Ian through.
When Ian and the prisoners reach the surface, he takes them through a path with more vegetation before releasing their shackles with the key. "Hurry now! Stay quiet and out of sight! There’s a village not far West of here." The prisoners thank him and run away, all except for Duke. "What are you still doing here?" Asks Ian.
"I... I can't just walk away from this. Horus has taken too much from me. I'm coming with you." States Duke.
"I understand," Ian responds. "The only weapon I have on me right now is this dagger. I know you prefer greatswords, but this will have to do for now." Duke nods in gratitude. "For now, let's recuperate back at that village I pointed us towards."
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Duke and Ian laugh heartily while walking through the field, two old friends reunited. "...and then she said, 'That's not my horse!' Ha!" Jokes Ian. They enjoy each other's company for a time before coming to a stop about an hour into their trip.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"I'm gonna go take a piss," says Duke. Ian nods and Duke moves behind a tree. As Duke answers nature's call, Ian looks around at the scenery. This valley is very beautiful. As he admires it, however, he begins to once again hear the whispering he heard at the inn. What the hell... He takes the spear from his back and looks at it with curiosity. He closely tunes his mind to it... and... he hears...
"The ditch. Look in the ditch." The voice itself hurts Ian's head. What ditch? He looks around, nearly glancing over the indent in the ground. He walks over to it, and discovers the second most horrifying thing he's ever seen in his life.
Piled up in the ditch were the corpses of every single slave he had released. Oh my... Rhea... Who did this? They weren't even that far ahead of us? Holy... Ian pukes, and Duke runs up behind him, shouting, "What's wrong? Oh my..."
Ian regains his composure. "What bastard is sick enough to do this?" He asks. He looks around for any trace of anyone, but the only living thing nearby is a blue jay perched on a dead tree. Wait a second... Ian throws a kunai at the bird, but it moves out of the way before it can get hit. In a flash of crunching flesh, the bird grows in size, sprouting arms and legs and a head. The figure, to Ian, is unmistakable. Horus!
"I thought you might come by here," Horus says. His voice is deep and menacing, the vocalization of an entity who has lived countless years and killed countless people. The cloth mask over his face obscures his visage. Ian wastes no time monologuing; he throws the spear at Horus with his full strength. Horus raises a shield and blocks the spear, which flies back to Ian's hand. What the hell!? He wasn't holding a shield a second ago! "Ooh! I didn't know it could do that! How fun! Well, I don't particularly want to risk facing you head-on when you've got that, so I'll do this instead." Horus stops his foot on the ground so hard that his leg submerges in the dirt. Three roots sprout up around him, and each root grows into the shape of a human before fully forming and taking on the appearance of one of Horus's soldiers and detaching from the ground. "My three eternal warriors will kill you and take the spear before you get the chance to use it against me!" At this, Horus turns himself into a bird and flies away to the North.
"Mother fucker..." Duke says under his breath. "You saw which direction he flew in, right? That means we know where he's going." Ian draws his kunai and Duke clutches his dagger. The three warriors Horus just spawned draw their weapons and charge at them. The first runs straight at Ian with two tomahawks. He swings both at Ian, but Ian blocks them with the spear and thrusts his dagger into the man's belly. Surprisingly, he doesn't relent in his strike at all, and is still pressing on the spear with both axes. The second man charges at Duke, who, unfamiliar with the dagger, can only dodge the man's rapier strikes. The third warrior charges at Ian from behind and draws her broadsword, ready to stab him through the heart. This is not good!