Chapter 92: Confrontation (Last Part)
Betrayal was no stranger to me.
It was an old companion that I had sworn to fight when Amanda betrayed my trust and took me away from my parents. That day, softened by a peaceful life after a gruesome death, I had let my guard down and paid the price for it.
This lesson cost me four years of my life as a glorified prisoner.
For this reason, since then, I have seldom given my trust to anyone.
That’s also why, even behind secure walls, I never slackened in my training. I honed my senses, developed my abilities, and created new magic to be able to face any obstacle on my way.
To be able to stand and live on my own in this foreign world.
In fact, Jazor and Alianelle were the first ones I decided to give my real name after Jazor entrusted me with his personal hourglass. Although I didn’t know the meaning and importance of this gesture, the weight of this act on him didn’t escape me. A gift to assure my security became a promise between us to never betray each other and to face what this land had in store for us, side by side.
Until our time together came to an end, one way or another.
However, despite all my resolutions, someone still betrayed me.
This man was currently watching me struggling to get up with an impassable face.
My head was spinning so hard now that I had trouble clearly distinguishing his face, but there was no mistaking it.
Paul was responsible for my condition.
A wave of anger brought my consciousness back from the edge of the abyss I was desperately trying to avoid. No matter how painful it was to remain conscious, no matter how much I wanted to close my eyes to end this torment, I had the disturbing impression that I would lose something precious to me if I allowed my eyes to close and my mind to succumb.
With all my rage and frustration, I punched the ground dangerously close to my face as hard as I could with my fist. With no magic to power my strike, my hand didn’t leave much of an impact, but the splash of the fresh mud on my face and the pain in my hand finally allowed me to regain some control.
Enough to speak the words burning my lips without throwing up.
“What have you done to me?” I croaked with a voice I could hardly recognize.
Probably even more worrisome than a spinning head and a fleeting awareness was my body slowly going numb which made my muddled mind finally realize what was happening.
“Did you poison me?” I asked with a voice made tremulous by a barely working tongue as I took note of tiny green dots appearing on my forearms.
“Don’t worry,” finally answered Paul with a voice I found a little too distant for my taste. “It’s not fatal, I made sure of that when I stole it. The time I spent looking for a poison strong enough to completely overcome Alianelle’s regenerative powers without too many side effects wasn’t in vain after all.”
“When did you steal it?” I asked back painstakingly while Paul got his daughter back from Seth's magical hair.
For what seemed like an eternity for my fleeting consciousness and numb body, Paul carried her to the carriage while Alianelle, bundled up in a thick blanket, stayed blissfully unaware of the betrayal of her father.
The hold of gravity on my body almost overwhelmed me when he finally came back to answer me.
“Inside the devastated camp.”
My face must have translated some kind of confusion, which was impressive considering I couldn’t feel it anymore, because Paul apparently felt the need to clarify himself.
“I didn’t find it when you were with me. It’s only after reuniting with Jazor that I found the half-collapsed building he had neglected. It was probably the place where they stocked up on the Poison mage’s creations. This was exactly what I had hoped to find when I decided to accompany you there. Sadly, the only barrel left wasn’t the poison I needed. Certainly not the kind strong enough to quell Alianelle’s crisis for long, but still enough for you all.”
“How?” was all I was able to mutter before I was forced to close my mouth to preserve all the dignity I could with my hands and knees deeply pushed into the mud.
“The rest of the soup you all ate this morning,” Paul simply replied. “I caused a fight with Ilan last night after dinner to give Seth enough time to poison what was left of it. Ilan would have immediately suspected me as soon as he started to feel that something wasn’t right, so I made sure not to be around when the poison started to kick in. ”
“...”
“I had no other choice as I didn’t know how long it was going to take for them to be rendered completely helpless. Seeing how you resist the poison, I suppose I made the right call,'' he added with a wry smile and a critical eye.
“It was faster for the others,” suddenly added Seth.
“Really?” asked Paul, seemingly genuinely surprised.
“Maybe he didn’t drink enough soup,” proposed Seth while urging his sister, even more silent than usual, toward the carriage.
“Maybe…” concluded Paul after a few seconds. “It doesn’t really matter.”
Being unable to intervene while they were calmly talking about the possible cause for my current state made my blood boil with more righteous anger than I ever felt in my heart.
My old hyena master betrayed me in my previous life, but I knew since the beginning that he was using me for his own hidden purposes.
Amanda didn’t have any true trust to betray as I barely knew her when she kidnapped me.
That’s why seeing Seth and Paul so calm after poisoning me was totally different for me.
I saved their lives while putting mine on the line more times than I could remember. Without me, none of them would be alive. I was even ready to delay my return and put my long-awaited reunion with my family at risk for their sake.
I would have preferred if this anger and my determination were what was keeping me conscious, but the truth was that shame had a good part to play in it. I prepared for any potential deceit from Ilan or Walmir, I stayed on alert to confront anything this land had to throw at me, but I neglected to seriously take Paul or Seth into consideration.
All because I knew they were weaker than me.
Apparently, my death and journey on this savage land hadn’t been completely enough to erase the sin of pride that indirectly cost me my life in my previous world.
Paul continued to talk, but this time I completely ignored his words.
I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing along with the sharp pain hammering at my head. Anger and resentment were natural, but they weren’t truly helpful.
So I buried them as deeply as I could while asking with my eyes closed and a voice firmer than before.
“So what now?“You’re going to kill them now that they are unconscious?” I asked challengingly. “Are you going to kill me too?” I added coldly after a few more seconds.
Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the sudden awkwardness after my last question.
“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous, Sillath! I just needed to create an opportunity so that we could all run away together,” he quickly explained. “You saved my life and Alianelle’s, I could never forget that. I just wanted you to be unconscious so I could take you with us without you resisting,” he added as if afraid that his previous words weren’t convincing enough.
“So that I can protect you for the rest of the journey too,” I interrupted, doing my best to prevent a snicker from leaving my mouth.
“I must admit that it did cross my mind,” he relented while harnessing the Vrapy. “We are not far from the first Advanced town now. I’m sure even with you alone we can reach it. And now, we won’t have to travel with these slavers.”
“So, you’re really going to leave them unconscious, on their own without any supplies here in the middle of the wilderness? It’s a death sentence, Paul!” I roared with all the strength I had at my disposal.
“No, it’s not!” he argued. “They’re strong and safe for now inside this cave. When they wake up, they will be able to resume their travels. It will take them more time, but I’m sure they will make it. It’s just that we will be long gone when they finally reach the first Advanced town. And you’re forgetting something important.”
“And what is that?” I asked challengingly.
“Seth and Himara are free now,” he declared without hiding the glee in his voice.
I couldn’t deny this was something I wanted to offer them the moment I met them, dejected and cramped together in this ominous cage in the middle of nowhere.
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Certainly, this turn of events could appear welcoming, unhoped-for even. However, only for someone a little too short-sighted for their own good.
“You understand nothing, Paul!” I simply answered while finally opening my eyes.
The triumphant smile on his face was wiped clean when he crossed my gaze. I was still on my knees, but the aching headache had receded and my vision was clearer than before although the strength and total control of my limbs weren’t back yet.
I needed more time.
“What do you mean?” asked Paul, obviously wary even though I couldn’t tell if it was because of my words or because he noticed that the hold of his poison on me had lessened.
“Even without them, we will need to enter the first Advanced town if we want to be allowed in the Dorell kingdom. Good luck explaining how you ended up in a half-broken slaver’s caravan with free Beastmen children, and two other children, one of whom is unconscious, but without any slaver around. And even if you successfully enter, even if you crossed the city and gained entry to the Dorell kingdom without any hitch, you will need to protect them in a country only waiting for an opportunity to capture them.”
“That’s why I need your help,” he countered inflexibly.
“You think too highly of me,” I mocked. “I’m not as strong as you think, not to mention that the creature that decimated the military camp could very well be around here, lurking, stalling us, and patiently waiting for an opportunity you just gave her.”
For the first time, Paul appeared genuinely worried and couldn’t prevent himself from casting furtive glances around him, as if his eyes could possibly discern something my senses were powerless to discover.
“Besides, you seem to forget that even if I were to escort you all through the wilderness and the Dorell kingdom to your safe haven, wherever that may be, we will still have to worry constantly about leaving no trace behind so that neither Ilan nor Walmir can track us down for revenge.”
Paul stayed silent after that.
Himara still had the same worried face as she looked at me while Seth was still firmly holding her arm to prevent her from getting closer. However, there was no doubt that they both understood what I had just explained.
The path they had chosen out of desperation and naivety wasn’t as perfect as they initially thought.
I could accept the respective reasons Paul and Seth had to try to do something like that.
However, they made the same mistake I did when I tried to escape from my old hyena master.
They were so focused on their plan that they neglected to take into consideration the complete picture.
Moreover, even if I accepted their proposal and gave my all to ensure their safety, there was still another point in his plan that I couldn’t accept no matter what.
“What about Jazor?” I finally asked without bothering to hide the accusation in my voice.
Once more, Paul stayed silent but this time guilt finally made its way onto his face. Seth and Himara never trusted Jazor and apparently thought he was no better than Ilan and Walmir, so I couldn’t blame them. However, Jazor risked his life and future just as much as I did for Paul and his daughter.
“Fucking bastard…” I spat out with all the contempt in my heart when it became clear that he really wanted to give him the same fate as Ilan and Walmir.
“But he… He is a Dwarf,” he stuttered. “A race known for its intransigence toward Beastman tribes. According to them, all the members of these tribes owe to the Dwarven people years of servitude as repayment for the crimes committed during the Great war,” he explained erratically, apparently eager to defend himself. “And, you may not know it, but the first Advanced town shelters the largest mine ruled by Dwarves on this continent. Without him, we can pass off as simple lucky survivors, but if we take him with us, he could denounce us to his compatriots.”
“He would never do something like that,” I categorically denied.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know him,” I declared with as much certainty as I could show in my current state.
“You may have a blind trust in this man, but it was too much of a risk to take for us.”
“Maybe,” I relented. “However, Beastmen are enslaved only because of their race. I don’t see much difference with how you judge and condemn Jazor because of his race instead of his acts. He risked everything for you and Alianelle to be once more reunited. This has to count for something!”
“I…”
“Paul! We have to hurry!” suddenly shouted Seth who had finished dragging his reluctant sister onto the wagon.
Paul ignored his words and turned his gaze to look me straight in the eyes.
“I feel sorry for him,” he finally declared with a voice as stubborn as before. “I truly do, but I can’t bet my daughter’s and these children’s future on such blind trust. The only one I still trust here is you. So, please, come with us. Don’t leave us to fend for ourselves,” he pleaded one last time.
His declaration of trust rang even more hollow than I would have expected from someone who had arranged for my poisoning and intended to take me with him only to use my strength to his advantage.
The sad truth was that Paul no longer trusted anyone.
Life had taken that away from him to the point that he didn’t even trust his own daughter to forgive him for the choices he had to make for their survival.
“Paul. Seth. Himara.” I enunciated slowly, looking them in turn in the eyes. “If you take this carriage, if you truly steal it and abandon Ilan, Walmir, and Jazor, then there will be no coming back from that. Please, don’t do that. You haven’t done anything irreversible yet.”
Paul’s eager, perhaps even confident, expression immediately took a turn for the worse when he realized what I had just said as if I was the one who had made him swallow an even more potent poison than the one he had given me.
“You prefer to save slavers instead of innocent children?” he asked accusingly, clearly horrified by this realization. “You would let Himara and Seth become slaves? You would abandon Alianelle, someone who loves and trusts you like a brother? For them?” he screamed in indignation.
“I knew it. He is with them,” supplemented Seth with cold seeping through his voice.
Their words full of terrible accusations deeply pierced my consciousness. I couldn’t deny that a part of my heart desperately wanted to reunite with my family. It was my only wish, my sole drive for so long that the simple idea to forfeit this opportunity of success or bring more danger to them was unbearable.
However, although my hesitation to risk everything once more for children I met a few weeks ago wasn’t as easy to accept as I would like, this wasn’t the reason for my refusal.
“Not for them, Paul. For you,” I declared softly.
“What?” he asked, baffled, clearly not understanding the meaning of my words.
“Don’t underestimate the wilderness and never underestimate the men that chose this kind of land to make a living!” I declared with a forceful tone completely different from my previously barely audible voice. “You think I never thought about all of that? You think I never planned how to free Himara and Seth? How to defeat Ilan?”
“Then, why?”
“Because even with him gone, things can still go horribly wrong. Some things can’t be done with strength alone!” I exclaimed. “You want to separate our group, to put all of us in danger on these lands as if our closeness with the first Advanced town obviously meant that we would succeed. This is the most insufferably naive thing I have ever heard,” I finally spat out.
Even near the border of the wilderness and so close to the safety of the first Advanced town, the lesson I learned the hard way on these lands was still absolute.
“Everything can end in an instant in the wilderness,” I finally declared with so much forceful certainty that Paul visibly flinched.
This kind of reality hammered at my very being by all the blood I spilled couldn’t be easily denied or overlooked.
Neither Seth nor Paul immediately replied.
Was that hesitation I saw appearing on their faces?
Doubt about which path to choose?
All journeys have their crossroads.
I remember reading this sentence somewhere in my old life.
I have already chosen mine when I risked everything to save Alianelle from the gruesome fate this Ryunno clan member had in store for her.
It was time for them to make their own definitive choice.
“What was I supposed to do?” suddenly cried, Paul. “I can’t let Himara and Seth become slaves. I saw too many of my friends and comrades share this fate. And Alianelle definitely can’t stay near Ilan or Walmir, they would capture her and deliver her to the Ryunno clan themselves.”
“I won’t let Himara become a slave either!” roared Seth in turn.
Their respective despair and anguish were laid bare in front of me with these simple words. Himara’s tears, watching this scene from the wagon, only made things worse. Because it made me realize the words I should have said to them a long time ago.
Something I couldn’t say no matter what throughout our journey.
So as not to give them any false hope, but also to leave me a way out.
However, today, it was time.
“I will protect you, no matter what!” I sincerely declared, putting a temporary end to their respective struggle.
If Paul's truth was that his trust in this world and anyone in it was gone, mine finally became clearer when I was put in this situation.
No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn’t live with their shattered fate on my conscience.
Without any sure way to save these children, I had tried to come up with reasons to turn my back on them. For weeks, I found many of them only reinforced by Walmir’s pleading to put my own wishes and safety first for once.
Certainly, I never really liked fighting.
I never wanted to be a hero either.
All I ever desired ever since my reincarnation into this world was to live a peaceful life.
I let this long-awaited, almost unattainable wish, blind me this close to this impossible goal.
However, maybe it really wasn’t time for me to rest just yet.
Confronted with their despair, I couldn’t turn my eyes away.
If I had to fight, to put my life on the line to offer these children and this broken family a new start, then I would.
I will fight for them one last time.
I straightened my back as best I could to show them the precious ring of calamity on my thumb that I wanted to use to buy their freedom back, to prove to them that I had finally made my choice.
To make them understand that they didn’t need to continue their mad plan.
To let them know that they could trust me.
However, a sudden cracking of branches behind me interrupted my motion. With my senses almost completely crippled by the poison and my body still stiff, all I could do was look at Paul’s and Seth’s faces when they both raised their eyes above my head.
Paul’s face immediately turned livid while Seth took a sudden step back. Their eyes round with shock made my heart skip a beat and forced me to turn my stiff body as fast as I could to look above my shoulder.
With gritted teeth, I witnessed with the same horror as them as Ilan emerged from the trees, weapons drawn with a rage I had never seen before burning on his face.
His footsteps were slow and heavy, but steady.
His skin was covered with the same green dots as mine, but was also reddened by his emotions.
His blood-rimmed eyes were misty, but resolute and fixed on Paul who was backing up behind me with clumsy steps.
I was the only one on my knees struggling against the poison coursing through my veins, but we all watched, paralyzed by shock, as Ilan advanced toward us like an unstoppable angry god, his weapons glowing ominously, ready to deliver their judgment.