Chương 25: Not Yet Strong Enough

We continued our desperate escape along the windy path up top, bodies aching, spirits chewed down to the bone. The cold water had seeped deep into our wounds, and every step sent fresh waves of pain through my shoulder with active muscle spasms. Galer moved ahead with grim determination, still without his knives. Larina stayed close between us, her small wings still trembling.

Unfortunately, the most obvious regular road toward safety, the one we chose to avoid the dangerous, slow mountain hills, led us straight into horror. The path opened into a wide passage littered with the remains of dead soldiers. Piles of ripped carcasses lay scattered across the ground like broken dolls. Organs spilled out in wet, glistening heaps. Blood pooled in thick, dark puddles that reflected the dim glow of glowing fungi on the side of the road.

The stench was overwhelming, iron, rot, and the sharp tang of fear mixed into one. Larina panicked the moment she saw it. Her small body shook violently.

"No… no, no, no…" she whimpered, eyes wide with terror. Galer looked ahead, his face pale but his voice steady.

"This is the fastest way. The mountain foothills would be too slow and dangerous in our current state with that many satyrs after us. We need rest, but we won't get it if we take the long route." I quickly stepped in front of Larina, turning so she could only see my back and head.

"Only watch ahead, Larina. Don't look down. Don't be too fearful. We're getting through this together." She pressed her face against my back, eyes squeezed shut, her small hands clutching my torn tunic.

"I… I can still smell it… all the blood…" We walked sluggishly through the nightmare. Every footstep squelched in the congealing blood. The worst was near the end of the road, close to a city where we had hoped to find refuge and safety. There he stood. The blue-horned monster waited for us with weapons still stabbed through his stomach and back... swords and rapiers lodged deep in his flesh from the earlier fight.

A vile, playful smile stretched across his face, his eyes lighting up with happy surprise the moment he saw us.

"Ahhhh… little lambs back to the slaughterer! for meeeeeee?" He sounded genuinely delighted, like a child who had found his new favorite toys again.

"So I just had to kill some humans… and I knew you would come out of hiding. Wanting to be honest, I was going to destroy the city right over there. Well… no matter." He began walking toward us slowly.

"How dare you think of running away from me when we had such a good time back then?" The air grew heavy with menace. Normally, outsiders would have shivered in terror. Galer stood perfectly still, showing no fear outwardly, though I could feel the panic rising inside him, he saw no easy way for us to run. I stood fearless, drawing on every battle I had survived, but drained physically, as the body was just not up to condition. Behind me, Larina gained a small spark of confidence from our resolve and stayed close.

Then, salvation came from an unexpected direction. A group of surviving soldiers from the city's branch came charging back, led by their High Commanding City Protectorate.

"OIIIIIIII!" the man roared in pure fury and high pressure.

"You bastard! You killed so many! You know how much training and money it's going to cost to fix the damage you CAUSED?! We're going to need to sell you! You got that, you blue bastard?!" A massive man with a huge Morningstar rushed forward. He swung it into the ground with terrifying force, a clear bait.

The blue-horned monster jumped to avoid it, but the man used the momentum to launch himself into the air, delivering a devastating kick that sent the monster crashing down, knocking him out cold like it was nothing. The difference in Animo was simply too great. Galer and I tried to catch our breath. The angry man stroked his heavy beard and turned to us.

"Oi, you lot... are you with him?" We denied it immediately. But the man moved with shocking speed. He ripped the robe from behind Larina and saw her grey skin and wings. A perverted grin spread across his face.

"Oi, you lying fucks! Put them under arrest! I'll handle Bluey over there. We'll bring them to a buyer I know... he's going to pay good money for a never-before-seen specimen like that one, a rare Damp, and two handlers. It's going to be some good coins raining down soon. We can offset our losses from today and get new soldiers to replenish the ranks." Before we could react, his men swarmed us. We were shackled and dragged toward a cell. Xhandor, the man who had captured us, laughed loudly.

Once inside the dimly lit cell, the guards wasted no time. Rough hands grabbed us and forced us to stand against the cold stone wall.

"Strip them down!" Xhandor ordered with a cruel smirk.

"Everything off. Let's see what we're really selling." The guards were merciless and thorough. They tore at our clothes without any care for dignity, ripping fabric and armor straps alike. My torn tunic was yanked roughly over my head, exposing old scars and the branded "H" burned into my stump, the mark I had kept hidden for so long. The cold air hit my bare skin like a slap. One guard laughed coarsely as he pulled off my boots and pants, leaving me completely naked and exposed.

I clenched my jaw tightly, old memories of my slave days flooding back... the same humiliation, the same helpless feeling of being treated like property. Galer was stripped just as efficiently. His muscular frame was now bare under the flickering torchlight. He stood silent, fists clenched at his sides, but I could see the quiet, burning rage in his eyes. Larina suffered the most. The small Damp girl tried desperately to cover herself with her arms as the guards pulled off her green hood and simple clothes.

Her grey skin and small wings were fully revealed for everyone to see. She whimpered softly, tears streaming down her face, curling into herself in shame and fear.

"Please… don't…" she begged quietly, but the guards only laughed. One of them made a crude comment about "rare merchandise," causing her to shrink even smaller, trembling. Xhandor walked slowly around us, inspecting us like a merchant examining valuable livestock. He stopped in front of me, his eyes narrowing at the branding on my chest.

"Well, well… already broken in, I see. That H mark… Metia, Heinrich Himmel… interesting. Someone from there put a lot of effort into marking you." He leaned closer, a cruel smile forming.

"Makes things easier for the buyer, doesn't it?" I felt a deep wave of shame and anger wash over me. Larina's eyes widened when she caught sight of the brand, her natural curiosity momentarily overriding her fear and embarrassment. She stared at the mark for a second before I turned my body away, not wanting her, or anyone, to see any more of my painful past. The guards quickly stuffed our torn clothes and armor into a wooden box for transport.

"Keep them alive and undamaged," Xhandor warned his men.

"The buyer hates broken goods." We stood there naked and vulnerable in the cold cell, the stone floor biting into our bare feet. The humiliation burned far worse than any physical wound we had suffered that day.

"Well, I'll still sell you to our guy. He can decide whether to garnish you back to Metia and get the reward. It's too far for me, the seller is closer, hehe… haha…" Galer, who had stayed silent until now, finally spoke, using his last chance of freedom.

"Galerius de Firius, son of Vortigern de Firius." Xhandor stroked his beard.

"Ya? And?" Galer pressed on.

"If you do not let us free, my father will destroy this city in a clean swoop." The man knew of his father's deeds and might, but he countered with a smirk.

"If you truly are his son, then why do you have no escort or master around here…?" He punched the cell lightly.

"You boy nearly thought you could fool me. Haha, got me to sweat a bit there thinking about a man of such status, but if a man like me thinks for a bit, anyone can tell someone's name to utilize it for gaining favors. I'll punish you for that once we're on the boat sailing underway."

"Oi, take them all in! We transport them now. Currency is of essence and I got no currency, so run and get them!" We were loaded onto the Minotaurus with four horses. In one hour we reached the big port city of Athenae, a sprawling metropolis of nearly one million people, one of the biggest trading hubs in known history. Galer quietly explained its importance to keep our minds off our situation: its historic trade routes, massive ships, and endless flow of goods.

We were taken aboard Xhandor's ship with twenty of his men. The blue-horned monster was chained in the cargo hold, mouthpiece firmly in place to keep him silent when he woke up. The ship set sail without clearance, slipping out to sea. The monster struggled violently. We all tried to get loose, but it was in vain. The worst was the 1. 90-meter-tall vice-leader who sat nearby with a strong Animo presence... not as powerful as Xhandor's, but enough to make escape seem impossible.

We sailed unwillingly toward our demise. Ten hours passed with almost no food and only a little water to fill our stomachs. The monster, still muzzled, dripped water onto his tongue in agony. Larina cried softly, unprepared for any of this. Galer looked defeated, desperately needing a break. Only I kept a mind of resolution. This new capture reminded me painfully of my past in Mat. Life was full of repeated experiences, but ending with a successful escape. Then the ship suddenly lurched violently. Everything shook.

Clearly something was wrong. The vice-leader rushed upstairs. A powerful wind force had kicked the ship far off course, smashing it onto a beached island. The hull was broken. Our shackles had been ripped open in the crash. Larina clung to me as we got free. Galer, the only one still able to move properly, helped me up. We saw all the soldiers lying dead. Xhandor was nowhere to be seen. The vice-leader's body was cut cleanly in half near the exit.

The blue-horned monster levitated from the rubble of broken pieces from the ship's hull toward the beach shoreline where someone stood. A mysterious man in a mask stood there. One side of the mask was white with a smiling expression, the other side black with a crying face... two opposing emotions frozen in porcelain. He wore noble dark clothes with a black robe and carried a cane with a white tip and the rest in black. The masked man turned toward us, making us momentarily unable to move.

"Sorry, let's see…" He touched his finger to each of our foreheads, reading our memories in seconds.

"Ohhh…" to Galer. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Ahhh…" to Larina.

"Oh my…" to me. He bowed like a nobleman while levitating, never once touching the ground.

"Oh, where are my manners? I am Mister Phenomena." His mask shifted strangely from white to grey, the smile turning neutral in an instant, as if it were alive.

"As payback, let's do this." Before we could react or understand, he tapped his cane on the ground once. The world moved. Reality itself fractured like glass struck by divine force. Particles of light and shadow exploded outward in swirling vortexes. The beach, the broken ship, the blood-soaked sand... all of it tore apart into countless glowing fragments that spun wildly through the air.

Pieces of the distant mountains, the ocean waves, and the cavern walls flickered in and out of existence, overlapping like pages of a cosmic book being flipped at blinding speed. The very fabric of the world shifted and rewrote itself in a breathtaking cascade of color and light. In the blink of an eye, we were no longer on the beach. We were suddenly back at the place where we had fought the blue-horned monster.

Not only that, he tapped his cane again, and the entire cave, all the satyrs, every broken stone and drop of blood was restored as if we had never fought. The cavern walls sealed themselves, the ceiling reformed, and the air filled once more with the scent of battle. He even reinstated Galer's weapons and clothes, repaired Larina's ripped clothes, fixed my armor, and restored my lost arm in a surge of impossible power. We stared at ourselves in disbelief, fully healed and in full strength.

I looked at my newly restored arm in shock, flexing my fingers as if afraid it might vanish again. Mister Phenomena spoke calmly.

"Erumes Flamma… I kept your enslavement branding. As I can tell, you will thank me later. It will fuel you better in the future. It's a part of you now, whether you like it or not…" He mumbled the last part quietly to himself, almost as if reminding himself of his own past: "just like I have mine to remind me of…" He awoke the blue-horned monster and made him stiff and unable to move.

"I told you to only go to the castle, not play around, little Simon. What's your defense?" Without even letting him explain, he nodded.

"Ohh, I get it. He is not sorry for it and won't be. The reason he did it… he is a two-year-old child and was jealous of them playing safely while he has to walk this treacherous path to find peace of mind." He came closer and whispered, "He is a Blood Attribute user. That's why I transformed him from a human to a monster. Well, turns out I can't change someone's soul. That's why he still has a human soul in a monster's body. Still a child, though."

"Ayy, my little Simon…" Before sending us off, he warned, "I hope we won't see each other again… but knowing you, Erumes, and seeing the flame inside you… we will. Heed this warning well: next time I will fight you, not help you. I say this to stop you from making a bigger mistake in the future, and I will do this as a precaution." He tapped his cane once more. Before I could ask about his powers, before Galer could voice his curiosity, before Larina could ask about her father… the world moved again.

We found ourselves near the city of Athenae, standing in complete bewilderment at everything that had just happened or not... something was different.