The night was in a lull. The cackling of dying fires punctuated the snoring and droning of dreaming drunkards, and the howling winds terrorized the whimpering children shuddering in their mothers’ lying whispers that everything would be alright. Often times it was in the lull where humanity’s nature was the most honest. Humans were unmoved by the plight of others, and the only thing that comforted them were the lies they told to themselves to escape from the harshness of reality. After all, humans were just crying children too scared of a world where monsters of all forms lurked.
She wondered if the supposedly good people were exceptions, or if they were just another lie told to themselves so that they could forget the terrors of the night. Her mind wandered towards Jessica, one of the marked ones that carried their responsibilities with conviction. The girl was beaten down but she got back up and had remained steadfast in her quest to protect the innocent. Did it matter if what she told herself was a lie, if it gave her purpose and the strength to do what was right? Rana knew she would’ve answered an instant ‘no’, but now she was not so sure. However, there was one thing she could be sure of. Those who move forward and use falsehoods to justify their path would always fall before reaching their destination.
Then, wouldn’t that mean the end justified the means? Of course. There was nothing to guarantee that the path moving forward was the correct one. No one would know for sure that the end of a dark tunnel was their destination until they have gotten there. When the world was filled with corruption and terrors, the disasters that they wrought needed to be stopped, and that was the only certainty. The path didn’t matter, no matter the sacrifice, even if it was her own heart.
Rana waited in the alley hidden beneath shadows and debris. She heard footsteps. Were they patrolling raiders? No. These were far too light and had traces of mana. They also did not smell of the dying and the innocent, unlike the several before. When she waited for Jessica to return, several raiders visited the dungeon where Rana and Jessica were supposed to be held. She wondered if they were to relieve Leok’s watch. If so, there would be issues down the line since she now had to keep track of enemy patrol schedules. However, it turned out they simply wanted to pay the prisoners a visit to enact whatever vile acts they planned. It was unfortunate that their night of debauchery ended with the loss of their life. She just wished their putrid bodies did not smell so sweet.
Jessica dropped off from the ledge above and landed in a crouch as she needed to use her hands to break the fall. It was not that her body could not withstand the momentum of the fall, it was simply that her body was still weak and recovering. The mark was strong, but injury debuffs took some time to heal, and some critical ones could not be healed by potions and needed hours of natural recovery to fully heal. That was not to mention the mind could only take so much pain. The girl was not at her best, and Rana would not expect her to be during this night. However, to accomplish the mission it should be enough.
“I managed to kill the raiders stationed in the bunkers. Your directions were spot on. How did you know about all of this? Have you been here before? Right. Never mind. Sorry. Too many questions,” Jessica said. She caught herself veering off-topic and quickly reported on what Rana asked her to find out. “The raiders inside the bunkers were indeed operating the ward you mentioned, but I checked the wards and you were right that the raiders only activated one set. I did as you said and made sure that they were broken into pieces. Here.”
“Good. If you must know, me being an inquisitor is not a lie,” Rana said as she took the pouch of shattered wards from Jessica. The girl looked like she did not believe Rana, but it was understandable. The Church did not have any more inquisitors, and it was well-known that Mara destroyed them all. “The Church was not able to reestablish the inquisitor orders after the Dark Paladin destroyed them a century ago, that much still remains true. However, it is also true that I am an inquisitor and that is all you need to know. Please, don’t ask any more questions. The less you know about me the better.”
“If that is how you want to keep saying, sure,” Jessica said, clearly believing Rana was treating her like an idiot with such an obvious lie.
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“Whatever the case, it is true I know my way around chapels,” Rana said after a sigh. “I have my own goals, but the condition I need to accomplish that would allow the prisoners to escape. We need to kill all of the marked ones and most if not all of the raiders. We need to kill enough raiders that they do not pose a threat anymore. If we do not accomplish both conditions, the prisoners even after being freed would be chased down. So tell me, what of the camp?”
Jessica began to tell Rana what she found out of the raiders. She was a rogue-class marked one and her Status focused on espionage rather than combat. She could weave through the battlefield without getting caught, and she was able to dance at the edge of enemy detection with ease. Her Talents and Abilities gave her immense survival through trickery and agility. Yet surprisingly, her Skills were mostly combat-focused, most likely due to her desire to protect others. It was almost telling the story of how Jessica as a marked one came to be. The progression of a mark was random, that was why it would not be surprising to see cowards gain a mark best suited for frontline combat, or how fierce fighters were regulated to a supportive role. Still, these marked ones could still alter their path somewhat with learned Skills and Spells, and also the choice of their specialization. This would often lead to disaster if a marked one was not careful in how they progressed their mark. What good would a healer with healing related Talents be if all their Spells were offense-oriented? What use would a marked one be in melee if they had no Skills that aided their survival? Fortunately, Jessica’s Status was well complemented and developed.
The raider camp had one hundred and twelve soldiers. The captain of this force was not a marked one but he had six marked ones under his command. There were two advisors in which he discussed most of his plans with, one guard that stayed by his side regardless of what was happening, and three fighters that lead squads of their own. The three squad leaders were drunk and out of commission, like the rest of the raiders not guarding the perimeter. The latter were already dealt with. The remaining raiders were stationed at the captain’s camp, who was meeting with his advisors. There was a dozen of guards but they and the two advisors would no doubt leave soon. It seemed like only the guard stayed with the captain when the latter goes to bed.
The prisoners were not guarded. That was not to say that there were no attempts, it was simply that the raiders guarding them celebrated too much and were now in their drunken stupor. The prisoners were kept in three separate places. The men were in one group, the women and children in another, and a few specifically selected to be closer to where the crowd of raiders was. There were no marked ones among the prisoners, Jessica was the only survivor. Her two comrades were dead. The first group had the most amount of guards, the second group the least, and the third group piratically none. That was because unlike the first two groups, the last group was already surrounded by raiders. Rana knew the reason for such a separation, but she wondered if there was more at play. There was one part that was nagging her, and she had no doubt it would prove to be beneficial to deal with it first. The problem was what came afterward.
“So, what do we do now? I think we can free the prisoners and slip away when everyone else falls asleep. The captain’s camp is also far away, so when his advisors leave to go to bed we can start releasing the captives,” Jessica said. Her suggestion was not worth considering as there were too many risks involved.
“No. We have no guarantee that we will be able to command such a large group and our escape will arouse no suspicion or attention. The larger the crowd, the less orderly people become, and the larger the chance of something going wrong,” Rana said. She then looked towards the direction of the enemy captain’s camp with narrowed eyes. “With the mark involved, without knowing the enemy Talents and their Status, we would only expose ourselves if we were to rush things without caution. This is especially true when we know that one enemy marked one would most likely be awake. We are at a large disadvantage here and we should proceed with care. Throwing caution to the wind would only invite death.”
“I am not scared of dying.”
“You should,” Rana said and locked her gaze with Jessica before the latter was able to protest any further. She was reminded of Alpheia and she wondered why do the honest never seemed to fear death. The only difference was that unlike the moon-kin, Jessica was only saying so as to comfort herself. “Just remember, the lives on the line are not only yours. If you make a mistake, the blood tonight will be the very ones you are trying to protect.”
“Then what should I do,” Jessica said after contemplating what was just said. It seemed like she finally understood the importance of being careful. “We already killed the guards and we have only until dawn.”
Rana smirked.
“First, we need to lay the groundwork for what is about to happen. Don’t worry. The night is still young. There is plenty of time before we dye the earth in raider blood.”