Realm of Monsters-Chapter 614: Tragedy

Chapter 614: Tragedy

Captains Vern and Rissa marched down the hill and walked through their army of soldiers until they stood in front of the encirclement. Warriors of the Cairn had made a protective ring around their encampment, while a few of the children and elderly poked their heads out from the tents and watched in fearful silence.

Rissa placed a hand on Vern who seemed as if he was ready for a fight. “Let me handle this.”

Vern glanced at her and for all his anger, his scarlet eyes softened. Few had ever seen this side of the gruff vampire. Rissa considered herself one of the lucky few.

“They killed our friends,” he whispered in a broken voice.

“I know, but we must be strong for them. We have our orders from Lord Veres himself,” Rissa reminded him. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

His expression filled with sorrow, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. Though they had decided to keep their love secret, it was moments like these that Rissa wished she could just embrace him in front of all.

“Captains, your orders?” asked one of the soldiers.

Their men were getting antsy and the barbarians drawing their weapons didn’t make it any better. Rissa took a few steps forward and sheathed her sword. “I am Captain Rissa, loyal soldier of House Veres. Stay your hands. You are surrounded. We do not wish for any bloodshed this day,” she said in a commanding voice.

The barbarians glanced at each other uncertainly. One man stepped out from their line. He was tall for a vampire, almost as tall as a dire. But where a dire was filled with corded muscles, his frame was wiry and his cheeks were gaunt. “You don’t wish for bloodshed? Then why are they all here?” He gestured to the army surrounding his tribe.

“We do not seek conflict, but we are ready for it,” replied Rissa.

“Each of our warriors is worth five of yours. You’ll find us not such easy prey,” he growled.

“That may be, but there are a thousand of us. Your warriors seem to barely measure a hundred. You do not want this fight and neither do we.”

The barbarian glanced warily at the legion of armoured warriors surrounding his tribe. He licked his lips and faced Rissa. “Then what do you want?”

“To talk.”

“Talk?” He barked with laughter. “Your people don’t talk. All you ever do is kill and steal. Since the day your first Ebon Lords came into our Valley. All you’ve ever done is take our fertile lands and kill any of us who opposed you.”

“The Ebon Lords are gone. I serve a new lord, Stryg Veres. He wishes to speak with your elders. Am I right in assuming you are one of them?”

The man nodded reluctantly. “I am Uld, elder of the Cairn. Where is this Lord Veres? If he wishes to speak with us, why are you speaking in his place?”

“Lord Veres is in Hollow Shade. I have orders to escort you and the rest of the Cairn elders back to the city.”

Uld frowned. “You think us stupid? Ignorant? We have heard of how you executed our chieftain. Do you expect us to just follow you like lambs to the slaughter!?”

Rissa stepped closer and whispered for only him to hear. “If we wanted to slaughter your people I wouldn’t be bothering to have this conversation. My lord is interested in entering negotiations with your tribe in the hopes of ending this war.”

“And what if we refuse?”

“Then we will capture your elders and kill anyone who tries to stop us. You and the rest of the elders will be dragged back to Hollow Shade and speak with Lord Veres either way. The only difference is how many men and women will die today.”

“How could I expect anything less from you people,” he growled. “My wife was a part of Marek’s honor guard. She died protecting our chieftain. What do you think she might say if she saw me ‘negotiating’ with the same lords who killed her and Marek?”

“I think she would say to do what is best to keep your people alive, just as she did. We both have people we want to protect, Elder Uld. Please, make the right decision.”

“...If we go with you will the rest of my tribe be left alone?”

“I swear it on all the Ebon gods. If you come with us we have orders to not only protect your tribe but provide food and medical aid until the negotiations are complete, as a show of good faith. My lord wishes to end this war and I hope so do you.”

Uld glanced back at his men and the tents, then sighed. “You leave me with little choice. Very well. Let me speak with the others.”

“Thank you, Elder Uld.” Rissa bowed and walked back to her soldiers.

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“What did he say?” asked Vern.

“They are cooperating.”

Vern grunted.

~~~

After half an hour and several bouts of shouting from the line of Cairn warriors, a small group of men and women broke away from the rest of their tribe and headed for the Veres army. General Vern had come down from the hill he had been watching and joined the Cairn procession alongside his captains and several soldiers.

Uld and the rest of the elders eyed them with heavy suspicion. “Who are you?”

“I am General Harlan Gale. I am the commander of this army. The woman you spoke to is my second-in-command, Captain Rissa.”

“Gale, huh?” Uld muttered. “Does she speak for you?”

“I trust Rissa with my life. She was acting on my behalf. We will provide aid for your tribe if you join us.” Harlan gestured to his soldiers. They each pulled out a pair of shackles.

“What is this?” one of the elders hissed.

“A necessary precaution. If we let you roam free in our army, you might slip out at night and return to the Cairn Tribe. We’d then have to chase your tribe through the Valley once more. Neither of us want that, do we?” said Harlan.

The elders glared at the vampire and muttered curses at him, but in the end, they each offered their wrists to be shackled.

“No! Don’t go! It’s a trap, they’ll kill you!” screamed a young voice. A girl, no older than 10, broke through the Cairn’s line of warriors and rushed across the grass. “Dad, don’t go!”

“Ysabel! Stay back!” Uld shouted, panic rising in his voice. He tried to run to her but the soldiers held him back.

“Dad!” Ysabel ran with newfound desperation. Captain Rissa stepped in the girl’s way and snatched her up in her arms. “Let go of me!” she screamed.

“Please calm down,” said Rissa as she held the girl tight in her arms.

“Murderers, you’re all fucking murderers!” Ysabel shrieked, tears in her eyes.

“We aren’t going to hurt your dad. I’ll let you speak to him if you just— stop struggling,” Rissa said with a grimace.

“Liars! You killed Mom. You’ll kill him too!” Ysabel snapped her head forward and sank her fangs into Rissa’s neck. Rissa stiffened and gasped. Ysabel yanked her head back and tore a chunk of the Captain’s throat out.

The world fell in stunned silence as Rissa collapsed, clutching at her neck, gasping for a breath that did not come. Ysabel stumbled to her feet, stunned at what she had just done. It had all happened so fast.

Before anyone could react, Vern had already rushed forward, sword in hand, blinding rage in his eyes. Ysabel barely had time to raise her hands in fear as Vern cut her down.

“Aaagghh!” Uld roared in a hoarse agonizing voice. Lightning surged across his hands and exploded outwards in a swirling storm, knocking Harlan and the other soldiers away.

The Veres soldiers rushed forward. Uld was already charging at Vern, the shackles melting off his hands. The elders were close behind him. The Cairn warriors charged, screaming war cries.

~~~

The sounds of wooden swords clashing against spears resounded in the distance, but Stryg did his best to ignore them as he relaxed in the lounge chair on the balcony. Or at least, he tried to. His body ached from the several broken bones and countless bruises scattered over his body.

“Ow, stop doing that,” he winced.

“Stop being a baby,” Feli admonished as she dabbed at one of the cuts on his bare chest. His innate healing had long stopped bleeding, but that didn’t stop Feli from cleaning the wound with a wet cloth and applying one of the many ointments she had brought along.

“I’ll be fine— ah, dammit, stop that, it stings!” he hissed.

Feli grabbed a muffin from the platter next to her and stuffed it in his open mouth. He blinked but began eating with only a small grumble.

“You have to stop training with her,” Feli said in a quiet voice.

“She’s helping me learn how to control my abilities. I trust Melantha,” he said between bites.

“Well, I don’t. Every night you come home as if you’ve been beaten half to death.”

She wasn’t far off, but Stryg didn’t wish to correct her. “I need to exercise my regeneration. Melantha means well. There is no malice in any of her attacks. She’s always holding back.”

“This is holding back?” Feli gave him a flat stare.

“The woman is a goddess. Yeah, this is holding back.”

Feli bit her lip, “Goddess, huh…”

Stryg had finally sat her down yesterday and managed to convince her about his heritage and what had transpired the last few weeks. It had left her shaken and she hadn’t spoken much since, not until she had found him trying to rest on the balcony.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She scoffed and chuckled to herself. “Am I okay? You’re the one who looks like he was mauled by a bear.”

“I mean, about the gods.”

“You mean if it isn’t weird that my husband is the literal fucking son of Stjerne, the patron deity of the Realm’s humans, myself included? Or that I have spent years praying to my father-in-law, who by the way, happens to be the physical embodiment of Death itself. Or did you mean your cousin, Caligo? The god— my mistake, goddess, who wants to— let me check… Ah, right. Commit genocide across all ten Null Realms. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, then I’m just totally fine.”

“That’s a relief, I was worried you might not—”

“Of course, I’m not fucking alright, Stryg!”

“—be okay…” He winced. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No,” she said a little fast. “Not right now at least…”

He grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb over the back. Instead of pushing her, he decided to change the topic. “Elayne and the others are doing well.”

The daughter of Lykos the Warrior Elect, had visited Stryg at the Veres Manor a few days back, along with the rest of his honor guard. After witnessing Jahn training with the Gale vampires they had insisted on joining him.

Though the siege had ended, Elayne still saw herself as the leader of his honor guard, a role that Gale saw as a challenge. Thankfully, it had settled fairly quickly and without problems, since Elayne planned to only serve as Stryg’s honor guard for as long as the Sylvan army resided in the city.

“My lord and lady, forgive me for the interruption.” A messenger stood in the balcony’s doorway, breathless.

Stryg sat up. “What is it?”

“The army has just returned. They are at the city gates.”