Chapter 46: Heartless night (First Part)
Dano used an incredible amount of effort, wealth and manpower to find Millodas in this vast kingdom. He even sent numerous men to Alderal in case he decided to cross the sea to reach the Western Continent.
However, his efforts bore no fruits.
If not for the information brought by Vated, Dano would probably never have learned that his master was long aware of the location of his son.
He was peacefully living as a simple city guard with his family in a small town of only a few hundred inhabitants.
What made Dano the most frustrated was that this lonely town was on the Waldemar house’s territory.
He searched everywhere only to find out that he was right under his nose this entire time.
However, none of this mattered anymore.
If Vated succeeded then he would finally be able to revive the Waldemar house or, at least, give it another final chance.
Dano anxiously waited in the royal palace for the return of Vated with the granddaughters of his master.
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Several days already passed since the encounter between Vated and Dano and their decision to complete the six-weeks agreement previously decided with Arthur Waldemar.
Vated had been aware of the details of this mission for several months. He couldn’t execute it when Arthur Waldemar spoke to him because he already accepted another mission.
However, he still left several of his men to watch the habits of this family.
Now that Vated had come to an agreement with Dano, he could finally accomplish his mission.
To capture the granddaughters of Arthur Waldemar hiding in this town and to bring them back to Dano.
Vated was well versed in this kind of job. He had done it more often than he could remember.
Most of the time, he would simply use strength to capture his target and kill every obstacle, but he agreed to use another method this time.
Dano preferred if this job was done as secretly as possible. He didn’t want to bring too much attention on this matter, as the other great noble houses would not let the last members of the Waldemar house live if they learned of their existences.
After a prior refusal, Vated finally accepted the request by increasing its price by a significant amount.
Vated used his bloodthirsty and violent reputation to trap Dano into raising the price of the mission. In truth after hearing the report of his men, Vated would not have chosen a frontal assault.
All this for one simple reason.
Seledia Zadir was the mother of the girls he had to abduct.
Only her presence made him slightly anxious.
He loved to battle and wasn’t afraid of anyone, but he still had to consider the safety of his subordinates.
Trusted and capable subordinates weren’t easily found and trained after all.
He couldn’t rashly sacrifice them especially if he had to face this crazy woman.
Vated himself wasn’t confident in his chances of victory against her without the precious equipment and artifacts accumulated by working under Arthur Waldemar for several years.
However, even with this clear advantage, the reputation of Seledia was too shocking to be ignored.
She was a Saint fire mage rumored to be only one step away from becoming a Master mage. She was also well-known for her violence among the adventurers and mercenaries.
Taking her daughters safely from her while also taking care of Millodas would probably be too troublesome.
Therefore, Vated chose another way.
He used the relation network of the Waldemar House to have the Adventurer guild send her an official request directly to her house for a meeting.
Even if she was retired, as a Saint mage, she still had to report her location and situation to her former guild and by extension to the Kingdom.
It was the only method that the Kingdom found to keep track of the capable mages on its territory, especially the most powerful ones like her, in case of an armed conflict.
Millodas was also constricted by this rule, but by purposely using Seledia’s name, he avoided any unnecessary attention on his family name.
The men watching them already reported that Seledia never left the town on her own and that she spent much of her time with her daughters.
However, in front of an official meeting order, Seledia didn’t have any other choice but to go unless she didn’t want to live safely in the Dorell Kingdom anymore.
This forceful method was the only way to drag her away from her house. The closest relay point of the Adventurer guild was the town of Shaisal in the South-West of Tegralle. Unless she used a fast carriage, it would take her at least a couple of days to come back.
Vated didn’t need as much time to complete this mission.
Once she was gone only Millodas would be left to assure the protection of his family. Vated already met him and knew that he wasn’t his match. Only the elf who came with him before would have been more challenging if he wasn’t currently far away from the town.
Vated was confident in his scheme and patiently waited two boring days for the letter to be delivered. His fifteen men stationed with him outside of the town, near the large forest, also waited until Seledia finally left the house.
“Get ready boys. Tonight is your time to shine.”
With a wide smirk on his savage face, Vated signaled two trusted subordinates.
“Yes, boss.”
Their affirmative voices were not louder than a whisper, but it was enough to make those who heard them shiver.
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A pale moon was hanging lonely in the sky, giving a meager light to the dark world. The entire town of Tegralle was calm without much noise disturbing this usual silence.
Only a couple of guards could be seen patrolling near the edge of the forest bordering their town.
With the regular subjugation missions carried inside the forest, it was unlikely that a deviant would suddenly attack the town in the middle of the night.
Millodas trained them well so they didn’t dare to relax despite the apparent calmness of the night.
However, no matter how vigilant they were, they didn’t notice two shadows moving silently near the forest. Those shadows quickly entered the border of the town without attracting any attention.
After a couple of minutes of impressive silent running, the shadows came to a stop in front of their objective. In this nearly starless night, the pale glow of the moon was barely enough to give away the identities of the shadows.
The two men that Vated sent were slim with short dark hair with most of their face hidden in their clothes.
Their dark eyes glanced at the garden in front of them. There was only a small fence to prevent them from entering and crossing it.
After a couple of minutes of careful examination and, seeing that there was no trap, the two men prepared to resume their hunt and proceed inside the garden.
However, just before acting, the darkness of the night brightened a little under the influence of the moon which had freed itself from the shadow of the clouds.
Under this new light, they saw that this desert garden in front of the house wasn’t as defenseless as they thought.
A soldier could be seen hiding several dozens of feet away from the house while overseeing the entire building.
If not for this sudden change in lighting, they wouldn’t have noticed his presence.
Moreover, he wasn’t the only one.
They spent nearly ten minutes to carefully look for the position of each guard.
It was a tiresome and difficult task that would have been impossible without their experience.
The positions of these guards were quite clever as it was clearly impossible to take them down without one of the others noticing.
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Therefore, they forgot this idea and waited for the moon to be covered by clouds again.
After an hour of patient waiting, an opportunity arose and allowed them to leave their spot. They silently left their hiding place to reach the garden.
After what seemed like an eternity, they succeeded in crossing the garden and entering the large house from a window.
It was their first time inside this building, but observing this house from afar for so long made them familiar with the location of their target.
The room of the girls was upstairs.
They quietly made their way toward this room. The door made of fine wood didn’t make any noise when it opened.
The room shared by the two girls was a large one. Even with two wide beds and several imposing pieces of furniture, it still had space to spare.
Their eyes were long used to the dark and allowed them to immediately notice two wide beds each in a corner of the large room.
The peaceful snoring of the girls was enough to tell them that they were totally asleep.
Without a single word, each of them went to one bed. The tallest of the two men went toward the right side of the room while his teammate naturally chose the one in the left corner.
Many small and bigger objects were lying on the carpet in front of the bed at the right side of the room making the progress of the tallest man much slower than his comrade who walked unhindered toward the other bed.
A single glance at each other in the nearly totally dark room was enough.
They acted as fast as silently.
They both directly caught the head of each girl nearly completely hidden beneath the blankets. With one hand on their mouth, their other one quickly hit them behind the head.
Only two small impacts and a muffled noise could be heard in the silence of the night.
Their mission was a success.
The tallest of the two men couldn’t repress a small smile from forming on his lips behind his clothing acting as a mask.
These two were infiltration specialists, but with Vated as their boss who preferred to crush his enemies with raw strength, it was difficult to show their usefulness.
This kind of opportunity was too rare for them.
Therefore, even with the little girl in his arms, he still didn’t dare to relax until he was out of this house.
He made a small gesture to his comrade and prepared to exit the room.
As soon as they entered the long corridor on the second floor from where they entered, they silently closed the door behind them and prepared to head downstairs.
However, the tallest man only had the time to put one foot on the first stair when he heard a door opening behind him along with a small voice similar to a whisper.
“Sellysse! Don't make so much noise, you will wake up Llynadia. I will go with you to the bathroom so…”
The small figure exiting from the door just in front of the previous bedroom was rubbing its eyes while silently talking at the same time.
It was Gaya.
She was living in this house while Aten was away.
The two companions couldn’t help but curse their bad luck not knowing that it wasn’t a coincidence if Gaya opened her door at this exact moment.
They were very discreet and silent in their movements, but only from a human point of view.
Gaya wasn’t Human.
As a member of a Beastribe, her ears were naturally much more sensitive. Even the tiniest abnormal noise was enough to wake her up.
She could also see in the dark so, when she saw the two unknown men, she immediately stiffened.
No matter how much she trained or how fast she grew, she was after all only a little girl half-awake. In front of this scene, she didn’t immediately react.
On the contrary, the kidnappers didn’t hesitate.
The closest, who was only a couple of feet away, immediately rushed toward her.
This little girl wasn’t their target but now she was a threat and would become a witness.
She had to die.
The tallest man holding the unconscious Sellysse in his arms knew that his comrade, who was rushing toward her, would think the same way as he did.
He was only afraid that she would scream before dying.
However, Gaya didn’t scream.
She acted on reflex.
Contrary to their expectations, while her assailant was only one step away from her, she didn’t scream but raised her hand and used the magic she was the most familiar with on reflex.
Wind arrow.
The powerful gust of wind, compressed to only go in a single direction without dispersing, was the Wise barrier magic for the wind mages.
It was a magic she practiced daily until she was nearly sick of it.
The assailant was too close and too unprepared for this kind of reaction from a little girl.
The magic hit its target at point-blank range.
However, there was a reason why wind magic was looked down upon in this kingdom.
Even this Wise barrier magic didn’t have any real attacking power.
The man was forced a couple of steps back by the powerful gust of wind but didn’t fall.
On the contrary, Gaya wasn’t so lucky.
With her small weight and stature, she couldn’t withstand the strength of her own magic and was projected several feet backward.
She violently hit the floor but didn’t even have the time to scream when a strong hand was put on her small mouth forcibly silencing her.
The darkness didn’t obstruct her view in the slightest and allowed her to see the man dropping Llynadia before taking a small knife from his waist.
She was terrified but didn’t have any strength to resist.
She could only see in horror as the knife flew toward her throat to end her life.
A lifetime of effort could end in a second because of bad luck.
It was Gaya's fate.
She trained daily to be able to live with her own power. However, she didn’t have enough time to accomplish her wish.
It was a cruel fate, but the world she was living in wasn’t merciful.
In her last moment of despair, the image of her missing friend appeared in her mind like a fleeting memory destined to disappear alongside her.
No tears came out of her eyes when she closed them under the cruel gaze of her murderer.
The small corridor regained its previous quietness as if nothing happened.
The tallest man near the stairs looked at his comrade still holding his knife against the throat of the limp little girl.
No tears came out of her eyes.
No cry came out of her throat.
No blood came out either.
The tip of the knife stopped against her pale skin but didn’t go further.
His companion couldn’t understand why he stopped his movement at the last second because he couldn’t see clearly the head of the little girl.
Above her lustrous long dark hair spread on the floor of the corridor, twitched two long dark ears covered in a luxurious dark fur. As she was previously sleeping, Gaya didn’t put her usual hat to hide her ears when she came out of her room.
This choice saved her life.
Her assailant with his body above hers still had his large hand covering her mouth preventing her from moving or emitting a single noise. His dark and cruel gaze lit up with greed upon confirming what he was seeing.
These ears were the proof that she was from a beast tribe.
A beautiful young girl from a beast tribe was incredibly valuable.
Capturing Beastmen members to sell them as slaves was officially allowed in this Kingdom contrary to Human slavery who was much less tolerated and developed.
The price for Beastmen could be low or shockingly high depending on the tribe they came from and their usefulness.
Selling a beautiful young beast tribe girl to a noble as a sexual slave would earn him much more than what he ever earned by working under Vated.
If he wasn’t so afraid of Vated, he would definitely forget his mission to take her away for his own profit.
However, to enjoy money, one had to be alive. If he betrayed Vated, he had no doubt that he would be doomed. He saw too many time Vated ravage his enemies before raping or killing their families.
The cruel scenes he witnessed were enough to cast a profound fear of this man deep into his heart.
Any thought of betrayal was long gone from his mind.
However, even if he couldn’t enjoy the benefit all by himself, Vated would surely reward him for his contribution.
These thoughts quickly circled in his mind.
In less than a minute, the man made his choice.
He put down his knife and prepared to knock the young girl out to give her a much crueler fate.
When he was ready to strike, he saw his companion silently moving toward him. Even with the corridor plunged in a profound darkness, it was still easy to understand the incomprehension on his face.
Without saying a single word, the man moved a little allowing his mate to see the body under him. He used his other hand to point at the long ears of the young girls furiously twitching.
His companion was equally cruel and equally greedy. He immediately understood the value of this girl.
He nodded in approval for the wise choice of his teammates before going to pick Llynadia who rolled on the floor previously.
The man above Gaya looked at him picking the other girl. This single glance away from Gaya wasn’t long but it was enough to stimulate her will to live and her desire for freedom.
She suddenly released her wind magic.
It wasn’t a wind arrow like before. Her mind was in disarray and chaotic while her heart was filled with fear. She just desperately summoned as much wind as she could in a last struggle. This magic wasn’t enough to hurt them or to free her from the grasp of the strong man restraining her.
However, the surprise of her attack made the grasp of the hand on her mouth slipped a little.
Gaya didn’t wait for another opportunity and furiously bit the hand near her mouth.
She bit with all her strength.
In her struggle, her small white teeth became sharp fangs sinking deeply into the hand of the man restraining her.
The man refrained from shouting in pain, but his hand still unconsciously moved away.
The electric blue eyes of Gaya filled with despair and anguish, but also unwillingness didn’t miss this opportunity.
She immediately let go and, while tasting the fresh blood flowing in her mouth, she did the most natural thing for a little girl in her situation.
She screamed.
However, it wasn’t the usual strident scream of a little girl, but the powerful roaring of a beast that came out of her small mouth.
The furious roar broke the silence of the small house and resonated across the entire town.
In the deepest moment of the night, this desperate yell resonated across the land shaking the souls of those hearing it.
The man acted quickly despite his surprise.
He hit Gaya on the head, putting an end to her resistance.
However, it was already too late.
In the profound night, this scream reached the ears of Vated patiently waiting in the forest for his men to return.
His face twitched in displeasure after understanding that their mission failed.
“Those useless scumbags.”
After a few seconds of an uncomfortable silence, Vated sighed a little before revealing a savage expression on his brutish face.
“Well, this kind of discreet job isn’t our strong point anyway. Let’s rampage guys! Bring the girls safely and kill anyone in the way.”
Vated uttered those cruel words with a small smile on his face as if he was happily anticipating the fight awaiting him.
His men hearing his cruel words felt their blood boil in anticipation.
In the calm and dark forest, this small group issued a sharp cry filled with malicious intent before heading toward the peaceful town with their weapons in hands.
They didn’t feel an ounce of fear in front of this defenseless town.
Only an incredible ardor for the slaughter to come.
In this heartless and starless night, blood was ready to flow.