CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

22.

Savia stood crouched behind a wall as she eyed the incoming soldier. The clanging was especially loud on this floor. She did not pay it any mind though. The only thoughts going through her head had been Alaric's advice. He always gave her advice when they would spar. And they sparred a lot. The soldier was startled when Savia jumped out from behind the wall and in one twirling manoeuvre sliced his throat and stabbed his abdomen. The man did not have time to scream as he suddenly dropped. Savia grabbed his body to make him fall quietly. Do not get in confrontations, surprise your targets. End it quickly with your speed and agility. Alaric's words lingered in her mind. She often wondered why he even bothered to give her advice, she could easily use it to kill him. If she actually could kill him. He won the majority of their spars. She only won a few but she couldn't take pride in it since he seemed distracted. She warned him of the bad habit but he just waved her away. A bigger issue now faced her. She was tasked with securing the exit and freeing metalworkers if she found them. And found them she did. A group of ten men chained by the neck, stood shirtless pounding their hammers onto red hot metal. The room was wide. The heat emanated outward like an inferno. The men had been sweating profusely, none of them bothered to wipe the sweat. Their eyes were fixated on their work. Alongside the ten metalworkers were three blues. All three held whips in their hands and seemed to be having fun lashing it out onto the workers. The three blues were her biggest problem. There was no way she could take one out without the other two noticing her. She could throw her daggers and take out maybe two but that would leave her unarmed against the remaining blue. What would he do? Savia got an idea. She dragged the corpse of the soldier she had killed earlier. After a moment of steeling herself, she tossed the corpse into the doorway of the wide room. She could hear a commotion inside the room. She waited outside the door. She heard footsteps rapidly approaching the doorway. Once the footsteps had been close enough, she swung into the doorway with her daggers readied. Unfortunately, the first soldier was struck through the head by Savia's dagger. He had been kneeling over the corpse. The blues body went limp. The other soldiers yelled loudly. Savia used the body as a shield as she charged the second soldier. Instead of attacking the second soldier, she tossed the corpse toward him. The man panicked and caught the body. Savia used the distraction to toss her dagger at the third soldier. The soldier tried to dodge but he was too late as the dagger pierced his right eye. Savia did not stop. She began chanting, she then placed her remaining dagger onto the ground. Large concrete spikes began forming from the ground. The spikes pierced the soldiers, leaving large holes in their bodies. She had to catch her breath. She normally did not cast often, forgetting how exhausting it can get. The heat in the room certainly did not help. She then realised that the metalworkers had been staring at her. She did not like the attention all that much. She went to extract her dagger from the eye of one of the soldier's corpses. Everyone in the building probably knew they were here now. Either that or horrific screams were normal here. She eyed the metal constraints on the worker's necks. There had been a large key-shaped hole.

"Where is the key?" She asked softly.

The workers looked toward one another, unsure if they could speak.

Savia did not want to wait for them to speak but thoughts of Alaric's disappointment forced her to be patient. A larger man spoke up. Savia thought he looked a bit familiar.

"Lord Chapman has the only key. But you are a caster, can't you free us yourself?" The man's voice had been gruff and hoarse. Probably from dehydration. She did not want to cast to free them, but waiting for Florian to kill Chapman would take too long. She sighed. She walked over to one of the metal workers and placed one of her daggers on the metal chain portion of his constraint, She began chanting. Her dagger shifted as tiny metal spikes formed on the dagger. The restraints were forcibly released. When she released all of them, the large man spoke again.

"Why are you doing this?"

She wanted to ignore them, once again Alaric's stupid face appeared in her thoughts.

"Just doing as I am told," She said.

The men did not seem convinced by her answer but followed her regardless.

She pointed at the whips which were first met by confusion but the large man picked one of them up.

"You want us to use it as a weapon, yes?" He asked.

Savia just nodded. Two of the other men picked up the remaining whips.

"Stay behind me. Overwhelm the enemy with our numbers. Make it quick." She was not accustomed to ordering people around.

"Who is your master?" The large man spoke up again.

First, Gwenllian flashed through her mind and then Alaric.

She shook her head. "I do not serve anyone."

The man raised his eyebrows but spoke no further.

Thorin was not having an easy time. She had not expected Florian to have such a strong reaction to killing someone. She usually would think nothing about it but at this time she needed him the most. So he had to snap out of it and soon. As they headed up the staircase, they were immediately met with a soldier heading down. Thorin panicked.

The soldier looked at Florian and smiled.

"Lord Chapman would not be happy if he found you fooling around with whores at work. But don't worry about it, my lips are sealed," The soldier said as he chuckled.

Florian next to her did not say anything. The man raised an eyebrow but as he was about to pass them, Thorin swung her blade across the man's neck. The man had not anticipated it and rolled down the stairs as he presumably bled to death. Florian turned to look at the man's body with wide eyes. Thorin dragged him by the wrist.

"There is no time for this, Florian. You need to get it together," She whispered.

He nodded. "I am…fine. Just need to calm myself."

Thorin nodded. She was not sure if he was telling her the truth but she did not have time to grill him. She was assigned to escort Florian to Chapman. She also had to find the metalworkers on the upper floors and escort them to the entrance, which Savia should have cleared out. Not that she trusted the woman would. During the time she had been locked up alongside Ashe, she could not practise with her blade. She spent most of her time mulling over how poor she fought against the mysterious figure in the barren lands. She was not a caster, she knew that but she had been strong in her way. She always thought she could at least compete with any man when it came to fighting, at least without casting. But now that had been shattered, the mysterious man had not even used any casts but she could not even put a scratch on him. She dragged Florian up the stairs toward the top floor. Luckily for them, they had not run into any other soldiers on the staircase. A set of double doors were the only thing they were met with on the top floor. She assumed that the doors led to Chapman's office or something like that. She turned to Florian.

"Listen, take the time you need, but once you go through those doors, there is no turning back. Whatever you choose to do…I will have to respect it but Chapman has to die tonight."

Florian did not respond to her, he just eyed the double doors.

"I will be heading back down." She gave him one tug on the wrist. He looked at her. "You can do this." She then let him go and headed back down the staircase. Thorin did not believe her own words. She would hate Florian forever if he did not go through with it. She did not want to leave the fate of her father and the other men of Nezzagwyn in his hands. But she had been forced to. With Alaric unable to be here, she would be kidding herself if she had not doubted the plan's success. She could not afford to let her mind dwell there. She was now expected to free the workers and kick some caster-ass. Thorin had not been known for her stealth, hence it came to no one's surprise when she got spotted immediately. She cursed under her breath as she ran down a corridor. The soldiers behind her began yelling as they chased her. She expected them to cast but they did not, they just kept chasing her. She turned the corner and waited. She heard one of the soldiers speak.

"If Lord Chapman finds out there is someone in here, we are all dead." A woman soldier said.

They don't want to cause a ruckus.

Thorin swung her blade as the first soldier turned the corner. With a scream and a horrible slash across the chest, the soldier was dispatched. Thorin was about to break off in a sprint when something unexpected happened. The previous female soldier was struck down by another soldier. Thorin was stunned for a second. The soldier looked at Thorin and withdrew an amulet from his neck.

Rixa, that means…

Thorin held her blade towards the man.

"Scaev…what do you want?"

The man placed his finger on his lips, asking her to be quiet.

"We heard that you are going to take Chapman out. We have come to help." The man whispered.

"Why should I believe you?" Thorin did not attempt to lower her voice.

The man was already losing his patience. "We don't have time, there are bigger problems. We cannot leave, the entrance is blocked off."

"Lead me to the metalworkers." Thorin ignored the man's sentiment.

The man scoffed and walked past her. He mumbled something as he walked. Thorin kept her blade pointed towards him but followed after him.

The man used his disguise to fool unsuspecting soldiers and kill them. Thorin had to admit that it was an efficient method that they had stumbled on.

"How many of you are here?" Thorin asked.

The man raised an eyebrow unaware of what she meant. After a moment it clicked for him.

"I am the only one in the factory. My wife is meant to save Lord Alaric."

Lord Alaric. Did Alaric plan all this? Had they been Scaev all along?

Thorin had to quickly push those thoughts out of her head.

"If Alaric is free, then we do not have to worry about escaping. He will have a plan, or maybe the green snake will help him again."

Thorin watched the man's confusion at her mention of the green serpent.

He didn't know about Versus then.

"You put much faith into Lord Alaric. Are you perhaps the one he beds." The man looked at her suggestively.

Thorin felt like throwing up at the suggestion. "No, he is not what I like."

Before the man could speak further she asked him another question. "You do not seem to have much faith in Alaric. You do not care for your master?"

The man chuckled at her suggestion. "Lord Alaric is not my master. My master is far greater than Alaric will ever be. Lord Alaric is, however, someone important."

Thorin raised an eyebrow. "Who is your master?"

"A non-believer has no right to know." The man began laughing.

The man brought her to a room. She could hear the sound of metal hitting metal coming from the room. She peeked into it. There stood about eight metalworkers, bare-chested slaving over heated metals. There had also been two soldiers in the room. She observed the metalworkers closely. He is not here. The man alongside her had entered the room. He at first casually walked and then he began to chat to the other soldiers. Thorin watched as he suddenly got violent and began to kill the other two soldiers. Thorin saw the happy expression he showed when he murdered the men.

Dangerous. That was the only word that crossed her mind.

The metalworkers looked terrified. They shivered as the man broke their restraints. They did not move once their restraints were broken.

"Follow her!" The man yelled. The workers looked toward Thorin, who nodded. They hesitantly walked toward her.

"I…know…you." One of the workers said while looking at Thorin.

The man looked vaguely familiar.

"You…are…Thord's daughter." The worker said.

Thorin nodded at the man. "I have come to free you all."

"Still…as…reckless…as always."

Thorin gave a small smile at the man's words.

The Scaev man led them down to other rooms. There had still been no sign of him. They eventually reached one of the lower floors. Their group grew larger as they descended. She had been surprised, all the soldiers that had been on this floor laid on the ground in a pool of their blood. The little woman seemed to keep her word. Thorin looked out of one of the factory's windows. It had gotten pretty dark. They have maybe been in the building for an hour or two.

As Thorin turned a corner, she had to duck under a swinging dagger. She was about to be struck by another dagger. She did not have time to dodge. She closed her eyes awaiting her death. It never occurred.

"Thorin?"

The voice she had recognised. Her eyes shot open and behind the little woman, he stood. She ran into his arms.

"Papa!" Thorin shouted. She could not care if anybody heard her. She did not care that she had been sobbing. He was here and he was alive. That was all that mattered to her.

Her father, the man known as Thord, had been large and well built.

"What are you doing here, Thorin?" He asked while attempting to console his crying daughter.

"Saving you, what else?" Her voice came out between sobs.

"That is dangerously stupid of you." He laughed.

And how Thorin missed that laugh. It had been five whole years since she had heard it. Just before he had been taken by Chapman. Her mother tried to stop them…

Thorin broke out of her embrace.

"You turned into a beautiful woman just like her," Thord said. This caused Thorin to beam at her father.

Thorin turned to the little woman. Savia, she should remember the person who freed her father. Savia had kept a glare on the scaev man, she held her daggers in such a position as if ready to strike.

"Who is he?" Savia asked. This was the first time Thorin heard her speak. It was barely louder than a whisper.

The scaev grinned at Savia. "A caster, I thought Lord Alaric knew better than to trust such scum."

Thorin walked up to Savia and stood at her side.

"He is a scaev, he helped us," Thorin attempted to explain. "Although I hardly trust him as well."

"Did Alaric send him?" Savia asked.

"I do not think so. Unless he had been lying to me, Alaric had no idea what a scaev was before he met me." Thorin tried to explain.

Her explanation did not put Savia at ease.

"We have bigger problems than him right now. There is a squadron waiting for us when we leave." Thorin informed Savia.

Savia did not respond, this brought Thord to speak up.

"We are well aware of that. Thorin you came here with a plan right?" He asked.

"Plan for infiltration and liberation, yes. Escape plan…not so much." Thorin told her father. He brought a hand to his face.

"I wouldn't worry about it that much. If he is out there, we have to pray he is. It should all go smoothly." Thorin smiled. She tried to keep positive. It was supposed to be a happy time. She just reunited with her father.

"Who is he?" Thord asked.

"His name is Alaric, a real madman. If I'm being honest. He probably should have died twice since I knew him and both times he came out perfectly fine." Thorin could hear her good mood flow through her words. She would not have been able to speak with such freedom before.

"Seems like you have a lot of faith in this so-called madman." Her father chuckled.

Thorin shook her head. "Not me, grandma does. And so does the entire Nezzagwyn. A lot of things have happened since you were taken." Thorin turned away from her father. "We are still missing one more, then we can leave." Thorin grabbed Savia's wrist and ran towards the staircase. The smaller woman immediately broke out of her grip but as Thorin looked back she had seen that she had still been following. They reached the top floor. The large double doors had still been shut. Thorin did not know why but her pace suddenly dropped. Instead of a mad dash, she took slow and small steps to the doors. She noticed Savia had done the same behind her. When she reached the door, she realised she had been holding her breath. She could hear no commotion on the opposite side. What kind of monster had Chapman been? She moved her hands to the door handle and pushed the doors open. Her eyes went as wide as saucers at the sight before her. The room had been uselessly too large. Walls filled with paintings. Most paintings were of a stubby man that had a severe lack of hair, only a few strands remained. The rest of the paintings were a portrait of a large man in a suit of armour. The man had an ugly scar across his nose. The room had been a mess. Golden furniture had been smashed into pieces, the few that remained had signs of heavy laceration. Toward the back of the room had been a large and pristine desk with a big chair. None of this had been what stunned Thorin, however. Florian laid face down on the ground in a pool of blood. A chunk of his torso had been missing and he had been bleeding viciously. He held the crimson blade in his hand. He had not seemed to be conscious. Sitting on his knees next to Florian had been a young boy. He had short blond hair, and his face had been freckled. He was dressed in a suit as most noblemen. The boy had his eyes closed and his arms spread towards Florian's near lifeless form. A green liquid flowed from the boy's chest towards Florian's wound. The liquid seemed to be defying gravity. The boy had been sweating profusely. There had been another body in the room. Just north to Florian's had been a body that had been cleaved in two. The body was separated diagonally across the torso. The cleave had been too clean, like the body naturally detached that way. Thorin recognised the body as the stubby man from the paintings. Thorin grabbed her blade and angrily walked toward the kneeling boy.

"What in Heinzidal's name are you doing to him?" Thorin yelled. The young boy opened his eyes and faced Thorin. His eyes were blue, shining like a crystal.