10 Fighting Back

--Gremory Point of View--

"Wake the fuck up you little brat" One of the bandits say to me while throwing a bucket of water in my face.

I start coughing and looking around in a dazed way, my vision is blurred, and I can't see much.

I'm on my knees in handcuffs, looking around I see that Carine and Fulgence are on my side in the same state.

"Your pieces of shit, I am going to kill you all once I leave here" Carine screamed.

Fulgence just stood there in silence like most of the time.

All the bandits started laughing and making jokes about it.

"Say that again, come on!" One of the bandits spoke putting a knife on Carine's throat.

"Chief, can't you just let us have some fun with this three before delivering them?" Another bandit said addressing the man behind.

The chief in question was a man as tall as Fulgence with a two-handed ax on the back and heavy black armor.

"Silence" He said while passing by everyone like the bandits were some kind of minions.

Everyone just stood still without saying a word.

"So this is the mercenaries that everyone talked so much about, and this is the monster? Quite a disappointment" the chief said while reaching us.

My vision starts to return to normal and little by little I can see all the damage done.

It's night already, we are in front of our home and every other place is on fire, dead villagers are everywhere. When I look around I can see Lothar and Clara dead in front of our home door, their panic expressions frozen on their faces.

Then I look back, and I see the old man dead body behind me.

My stomach starts to turn, and I throw up on the floor in front of me.

"Why are you guys doing this? Just steal from us was not enough?" Carine spoke with fear in her eyes while Fulgence remained like a statue waiting for its end.

"The pillage part is just a bonus, we are here for you guys" The chief said to Carine with a serious expression.

"Wait... What? Why?" Carine spoke.

"They knew the moments our defenses would be weak, the time we would be drunk enough to not fight. Besides... Scullery was not at the party and is not here now, this was planned to look just like a robbery Carine" Fulgence said while looking to Carine.

"Yes, he is right" Scullery said while getting out of the shadow.

"Sculleeery? Why are you ther.... You are the one who planned this!" Carine spoke with anger in her voice.

"Why? Do you even ask? We planned this for years and in the end, Robert decided to bring a monster to live with us, he lost his mind and you too" Scullery said to Carine.

At that moment another three men arrive there. Two men with heavy blue armor and a shark stamped on it and in the front a man with nice handmade blue cloth.

"So this is the mercenaries and the little monster?" The man in blue cloth said.

"Yes sir" The bandit chief said.

"Why one of them is dead already? Our contract was supposed to be for them alive"

"I know, but Robert had put a good fight, so we had no choice besides killing him"

"I see, so I'm going to speak directly to all of them"

"Go ahead" The Chief spoke.

"As part of the Empire I want to thank you for all your contribution during the last war, that said... when we offered this land to your company, we were just waiting for you to sell the land back to some nobleman as soon as the war had ended"

Carine just started to look down without saying a word.

"So you can imagine how embarrassing it was for us to simply have to share a post in the magistrate with someone like you. How frustrating it was to have to deal with capturing the slaves before I could return here to resolve this matter!" The man in blue clothes said with a snobbish tone.

"I will fuck your noble ass right now, take these handcuffs off and let's see who is the big guy!" Carine spoke and spit on the noble.

"HOW DARE YOU, SOMEONE MAKE HER BE SILENT!" The noble said to the bandits and so they make.

"Yes, that's better. As I was saying, for the crime of not knowing your place and still harbor a monster so close to the city, I revoke your right over Tuska together with your lives!" The nobleman said.

Carine tried to scream but in vain.

'I don't know what to do, everyone is dead, and soon we will be too, there is a dozen of bandits, and that chief looks way too strong for me, I probably recovered some mana, yet can't move my hands...'

'If the old man was here he would know what to do, we are just going to die, I don't want to die here no no no way too soon, but the man died like everyone else, and he was the strongest here'

One of the nobleman guards went behind us and with a dagger slit Fulgence's throat.

Carine tried to scream again non-stop until the same happened to her.

They both on the floor bleeding next to death, yet they both looking at me.

At that moment I freak out.

I lost control over my shell and that warm sensation come back to me, nothing like when I feed on animals, this time was the same as the day on the battlefield. No more pain, no more doubts, the only thing I can feel is the black energy asking for me.

The fire on the village started to vanish along with the torches of the bandits, replacing chaos with darkness. The wind starts to hiss and the only light comes from the moon.

And then it happened, all the dead bodies started to age until turn into dust and the energy come for me.

Lothar, Clara, the old man, and everyone else come back to me asking for revenge.

"So be it" I said while my handcuffs melted, and I get up.

Everyone seeing this started to panic, the horses became crazy and ran away alongside most of the bandits.

"IT'S THE MONSTER, HE IS FREE" One of the panic bandits shouted while running for his life.

"HE IS COMING TO KILL US ALL, RETREAT!" Another bandit shouted.

Having only the moon as light makes it quite hard to distinguish what was going on, even more with most people running and screaming.

The scar on my left arm started to grown and shine with vivid red, the mark grew on my skin more and more, and I can feel the burning from it. Yet, no pain, just that warm feeling of pleasure.

I look once again to the scar and read it.

"Gremory"

At the same moment, Fulgence and Carine start to struggle and then their wounds stop bleeding, they rise from the ground and still with their hands tied. They attack the chief and the nobleman in front of him.

Just like everyone else, the nobleman panic with his face bleeding from one of Carine's kicks. The two men in heavy blue armor take him running from the place while Carine joins Fulgence to fight the bandit Chief.

The Chief using his two-handed ax tried to attack both Carine and Fulgence, but in vain. There was almost no light.

Yet, my vision is still as clear as day.

For the chief fight almost blindfolded was quite difficult, while Carine and Fulgence were still able to see very well.

The Chief swing his ax with all his might trying to hit something, but he hit nothing besides air. With the Chief having his vision extremely limited, Fulgence manages to easily break his balance and Carine went to his neck. The kick of her was so strong that she managed to break the chief neck with a single attack.

With the Chief dying, his body quickly became dust. Just like every dead person in Tuska.

Again that warm sensation comes to me, and I start to feel stronger than before.

Everyone is in panic or running so Carine and Fulgence just start to walk towards me. I feel happy to see Carine and Fulgence alive, but when they look back at me. What I see is two empty vessels filled with black energy.

'They are dead after all...'

I start to feel tired.

'The power I absorbed here is to much, I just consume an entire village, all my friends, family... Everyone I knew'

As soon as the rush stop, my vision blurs and I black out once more.