Chương 28: Hostage

Taking a deep breath, Evel forced his eyes off the girl. Bremin had already started moving ahead of him, gathering wood for a fire. As Evel finally relaxed his shoulders, the snap of a twig pulled his attention sideways, as an unfamiliar man walked out from behind a tree. Evel tensed and instinctively raised his crossbow. It was neither cocked nor loaded. Diana materialized from behind the man before he could take any other action, her bow aimed at his head.

"This one was snooping around." Evel observed carefully, but his eyes were not on the stranger in front of him, but on Diana. Her actions confused him.

"Why'd you bring him here?" Diana shrugged.

"He probably has information." Evel's eyes wandered slowly to the man before him. Small build, a dark complexion. The man's eyes were fixed on the dead girl, and his hands trembled at his sides. Evel took a sharp breath.

"Your name?" The man didn't respond, still somewhere else entirely. Diana gave him a light kick in the back.

"Oi, he's asking you a question." The man stumbled forward in a half-step before coming back to his senses. With a shaky breath, he managed,"A-Allen." He swallowed hard.

"W-will you kill me?" Evel's muscles tensed, but it didn't reach his face.

"If you answer our questions, we won't kill you."

"Y-you promise?"

"I promise." Diana lowered her bow, walked over to a nearby fallen log and took a seat. Her elbows were on her knees, holding her face up, eyes firm on Evel. Evel ignored her and focused on Allen.

"How many were in your group?" Allen averted his gaze.

"Th-three." Evel narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure what told him, but he was certain. He's lying. There was one dead body before we got here, and the girl died shortly after. At least one more is still out there. Evel's eyes flickered to Diana as he briefly considered whether he should tell her. In the end, he continued questioning.

"What's your ability?" Allen remained silent, clearly unwilling to reveal it, but he was in no position to negotiate. Evel didn't care. Allen had already lied once, and he needed more information. Evel's eyes held Allen's, patiently waiting. Seconds turned to minutes, and after a long silence, eventually Allen gave in. His aura flashed, and he ripped off one of his fingers. The finger came off cleanly, and Allen was able to put his finger back with no consequences, as if he had never ripped it off.

"I can separate parts of my body." Evel nodded his head, satisfied with the answer. Allen wasn't telling him the full truth, but that much could be expected. He just needed to know enough to reduce the threat of Allen, should he ever get hostile.

"Have you fought another group or a beast before?"

"N-no, w-we found a straggler once, but…" His eyes once again drifted to the girl's corpse.

"But?"

"Irene insisted we let him go. Other than that… we tried fighting the crocodile." Evel pursed his lips. A small, quiet part of him had almost hoped otherwise. It would have been easier to justify it all.

"Y-you really will let me live, right?" Allen asked, his eyes glued to his feet.

"I promise." Allen exhaled slowly, though his entire body remained tense.

"Do you know the location of any other beasts?" Allen hesitated.

"The faster we kill them, the sooner everybody can get out. The sooner you'll be able to go home," Evel reasoned. After a few moments of hesitation, Allen gave in. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"F-few hours straight across the river, there's a p-panther, and another half-hour north is a s-snake."

"Thank you, Allen. Please wait here for a moment while I go talk to my friends. You should know what will happen if you try to run." Evel signalled Diana, and the two walked over to Bremin, who was already in the process of slow-roasting the crocodile.

"We're not going to kill him," Evel said, particularly addressing Diana. She shrugged.

"If I kill him, you technically won't be breaking your promise."

"If you kill him, I'm out."

"Out?"

"No longer part of this team." She was quiet for a moment.

"Then we'd have no reason to let you walk away either." Silence. Bremin looked up from the fire and met Evel's eyes, a wordless question. Evel held his gaze and replied.

"I just don't want to." Bremin turned back to the meat.

"Okay." Turning to Diana, Evel asked, "Any objections?" She smirked and raised her hands to her shoulders.

"None." Evel walked back to Allen, whose gaze remained fixed on Irene's corpse.

"Do you know where her necklace is from?" Allen blinked a few times before realizing who Evel meant.

"She… Irene… never got around to telling me." Evel nodded.

"That's all I needed." A pause.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Tears rose in Allen's eyes. He made a final request, barely a murmur.

"Can I stay? I want to give her a proper burial. For David as well."

"Of course." The three left shortly after getting some more detailed directions, the sounds of the forest folding back in around them. Evel looked back over his shoulder one more time before focusing back on the road ahead of him. A confusing mix of emotions and thoughts swirled around him, but he pushed them aside. Right now, he had to focus on the beast that awaited him. The journey continued in absolute silence. … Elsewhere, a group of four stood ahead of a giant wall of translucent white.

"Absolutely not." Elena was stern as she scolded her friends. Juniper and Leo remained silent, unwilling to speak back. Only Brenton had the courage to speak.

"But Elena…"

"Absolutely. Not." Since the compass needle shifted at noon, the group began traveling in the exact opposite direction in order to avoid any confrontation. They had traveled further into the open fields and had soon discovered a weird white membrane, a giant one-horned rhino trapped inside. The moment their eyes fell on the intimidating creature, they instantly recalled the method to free it: direct contact with the intention to release.

"The four of us can take it." Brenton insisted. Elena shook her head and denied his request curtly.

"No." Brenton looked over to Juniper and Leo for support. Leo stayed silent, looking at the ground like a scolded child. Only Juniper managed to protest.

"E-Elena, I think w-we can win too." Brenton quickly jumped in.

"Yeah! And the rewards must be insane for a beast this big!" Elena snorted.

"Can you kill this thing without me?"

"... No."

"So what happens if I don't participate?" Silence.

"You're being overprotective…" The corners of Elena's lips rose.

"Such is the right of the strong." Elena then turned around, continuing along the path and leaving the encased beast to her back. Brenton sighed. Once Elena had made up her mind, it was all too difficult to convince her otherwise. A part of him knew it was his fault she shouldn't fight. After all, Elena wouldn't risk his life. But how was he supposed to get stronger without fighting? He shook his head and followed along, Juniper and Leo walking close behind him. They continued their march forward.

Brenton sped up to catch up to Elena, who looked back at him from the corners of her eyes, only for a brief moment before focusing back on the road. They continued in silence for many more minutes until Elena abruptly halted.

"Stop," Elena commanded, hushed and urgent. Brenton followed her line of vision and took a sharp breath at the sight. Less than a kilometre away was a group of three. And they were watching right back. Brenton unsheathed his sword, Juniper drew her bow, and Leo gripped tightly onto his shortsword. All three waited for Elena's call.

"Brenton, Leo, with me. Juniper, you and your summon will cover us on the escape if things go bad." They wordlessly nodded, and the trio approached the group. A porcupine trailed a few meters behind them, hiding behind their silhouettes. The other group also advanced, and soon they could clearly make out their faces. At the lead was a confident young man with a shiny rapier. It looked expensive, but the rest of his clothes were of a lower quality.

To his right was a girl wearing soft wool clothes, extra flaps extended down from her elbows to her stomach. Another was also placed between her legs. In her hands was a long, thin sword. To his left was a slightly older man wearing tanned hides reminiscent of hunting gear; he was slightly crouched, keeping low beside a wolf, presumably his summon. Elena smiled.

"I knew it!" She waved at the group from afar.

"Dan!" Brenton remained tense and ready for a battle. Although Elena's actions confused him, he never doubted them. The person leading the other group stopped for a brief moment before yelling back.

"Elena of Ruby?" Elena's smile widened.

"It's been so long!" She sheathed her knives and approached in a jog, no sense of doubt or distrust in any of her steps. Dan also sheathed his weapon and met Elena in the middle, embracing her in a light hug.

"Guys!" Elena signaled to the group to get closer.

"This here is Dan, from Newlight City." Brenton kept a few paces back, looking the new man over. He had silky black hair and a sharp jawline. He was quite tall, to say the least, and… Handsome. Brenton suspiciously approached.

"So… how do the two of you know each other?

"Childhood friends, our parents were business partners, so we'd occasionally meet at events." Elena and Dan quickly fell into easy conversation, catching up with each other. Brenton crossed his arms and let himself fall slightly behind as Leo and Juniper stepped in for introductions. Brenton appreciated that Juniper hadn't dispelled her porcupine. These people were suspicious. Dan introduced himself and his two colleagues, Luca and Tessa, both of Newlight City.

They had met each other on the journey to Orsus Camp and had hit it off quickly. At some point, the tone of the conversation shifted as Dan explained why he had enlisted in the first place. His parents had passed away in an accident not long ago, and without their connections or their protection, the family business was doomed to collapse. Selling it for Riaks on the Lumen, he shifted his focus more to personal strength. If he were able to get strong enough, he could reclaim his family's belongings without issue.

Elena placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, your parents were very good to me." Dan nodded, steadying himself.

"It was an expensive lesson." He managed to get out an awkward smile.

"Why in the world are you here? I can't imagine your father approves of this." Brenton let out a sheepish chuckle. Elena glanced at him sideways with an annoyed expression as she explained her situation. The discussion slowly arrived at their current situation as Dan explained they had fought another group and had lost one of their colleagues. Elena explained their situation and their battle with Jack's group. It wasn't long before the topic of the rhino came up.

"Less than an hour back that way, there's a giant in a white membrane, a one-horned rhino. We decided it wasn't worth taking a risk with the four of us." Brenton's head snapped to Elena.

'We' decided? She didn't look at him. He didn't say anything. A beat of silence settled on the group before Leo, who hadn't said much until now, looked between the two parties.

"Now we have seven."