Chapter 49 Chapter 49 - Until Dawn III (1/2)
CHAPTER 49
UNTIL DAWN (III)
The rained never ceased, persisting through the night. Dawn was still an hour away, but the gates had fallen. City of Mercenaries was overrun with spades of darkness and air of suffocation, dark clouds clotting high up in the sky endlessly. Walls were torn asunder, buildings razed, everything which once stood proudly defying the order was now in shambles, squashed to its chaotic form. Every corner was marked by dozen crimson-eyed demons, standing still like statues, watchful guardians. Along the streets corpses piled up groundlessly; there was no distinction between them, just that they were all dead. Still. Frozen forever in time, never to wake again. Crimson mingled with water, running streams bounding destroyed city, filling up small ponds at occasional crater-like lakes.
Dozens of miles away, on a mountain erected like a sword, halfway up, a group was sitting by the blazing flame, doused in heavy silence. From time to time, a pair of eyes would veer off flames into the distance, as though searching for something or someone, but the darkness of the night hardly allowed anything to be seen past the immediate distance. Among them, Aeala seemed the most dispirited, the life in her eyes flickering. Her clothes were torn from travel and her expression weary and dreary, hair messy. She sat in silence, focused on the crimson-gold fire before her, as though waiting for it to give some answers. Smite sat next to her, sighing heavily from time to time while paying her an occasional glance, worry littered over his expression. Opposite of them sat Kraval and Fish, former silent and still like a statue while the latter drank ceaselessly, seemingly never running out of bottles or gourds. In-between the two groups were Shaneine and Lucky, both withdrawn in shadows.
”... you guys are killing me,” Fish suddenly said, burping loudly. ”O'course we'd lost, dam't. We were outnumbered six to billion.”
”Told you we should have not allowed him to drink.” Lucky chimed in from the shadows.
”Y' got a problem wit me drinkin'?!” Fish exclaimed somewhat angrily, trying to get up but stumbling and falling down instead.
”Nope. Otherwise, I'd have less material to make fun of you.” Lucky replied, sneering.
”What now?” Kraval asked in deep, seemingly emotionless tone.
”We gotta get out of the Kingdom,” Smite replied when he saw that Aeala was wholly disinterested in the affair. ”Probably surrounding region as well. We head north as north we can go.”
”There's nothing but snow and cold up there,” Aeala joined in finally. ”I say we head east. While I was living in Endo Clan, I once chanced upon a map. A month away is a massive gulf almost cleaving the whole of land from north to south. Beyond, I'd read, is where Third Rate Sects are stationed.”
”... it's a long journey.” Smite said. ”We don't have enough supplies.”
”Lady's right,” Shaneine said in a matter-of-fact voice. ”North, west, south... we're perched at the corner. Anywhere we go, eventually we'll run into ocean. East expands into a massive continent. Much easier to hide.”
”... alright. So we head east.” Smite sighed. ”Where do we get the supplies?”
”We could circle the border-villages,” Kraval said. ”Pick up what we can.”
”You mean rob?” Aeala asked, looking at him.
”...” Kraval stared back for a moment before replying. ”Yes. Rob.”
”No.” Aeala replied without hesitation.
”My Lady--”
”No discussion on this!” she exclaimed, glaring at the group. ”I didn't get us together so we can pillage the innocent!”
”... better us than them, m' Lady.” Shaneine joined.
”...” Aeala looked at the group for a moment before averting her gaze back onto the flame, falling silent.
”We do it once, we'll do it whenever things get rough,” Smite broke the awkward silence. ”We're just laying the foundations for becoming bandits in the future.”
”M' Lady,” Fish spoke up. ”Do you think Endo Clan was raided after you escaped?”
”... what do you mean?” Aeala asked.
”I mean whether it was discovered by people,” he elaborated. ”If it was not, there's a chance the warehouses over there are full.”
”The Patriarch must have packed anything that matters before fleeing,” Aeala replied. ”And it was all stored in this ring.” she pointed at her finger.
”Yeah, but he'd have packed, you know, treasures, heirlooms, cultivation methods and such,” Smite said, a hint of excitement in his voice. ”And just enough food for the travel. He wouldn't have packed the whole of warehouses.”
”... it's possible.” Aeala said.
”So long as we avoid the Demons, we should be able to arrive there in a week at most.” Fish said.
”... so long we avoid them, huh?” Lucky muttered softly, but all both heard and understood her.
”It's not the time to fight them, guys,” Smite said, sighing lightly. ”You know the mantra? Live to fight another day?”
”That just sounds like giving up to me.” Kraval said, his brows tightening.
”We did all we could,” Aeala said. ”Smite is right. For the time being, we shouldn't incite any trouble unless absolutely necessary. We'll break away before the dawn and move southeast. We'll move through the day as Devil Qi is barely effective. Get some rest everyone. You deserve it.” Aeala said, breaking away from the group and leaning on the nearby tree, taking a deep breath. It wasn't even a moment later that Smite joined her. ”I thought I said you should get some rest.”
”We decided to take turns guarding you.” Smite replied, smiling.
”We or just you?”