49 A hero should save the damsel
Ubong was extremely dispirited and in anguish.
She had been lost in her despair for so long that she had detached from the concept of time. Her marred beauty from the corrosive breath now reflected her state of mind. She had been tortured, raped and beating since the meeting with the scarred old man.
Her new ruler was a sadist.
He had the power, so he claimed, to heal her, but he rather the greater gain possible should she break through by herself and so he said he had a great method.
This so called method was to continuously break down a person, right down to their limit through torture and then build them back up before repeating the horror. This had become her daily life and her torturers were excellent at it. They kept her constant at the threshold never cresting the peak into oblivion or allow her rest to build her strength. She was barely retaining her sanity.
Ironically, this dark art was always done in the bright light of day in a well lite mountain environment just outside the limits of the major city of the empire. This location provided the greatest light energy concentration and there was little to fear this close to their capital.
However on this faithful day, Ubong's screams changed.
***
He had been travelling for a while now in a foreign land. He had only very little supplies left which he carried secured to his back so he could fight at a moments notice. He knew he had little time according to his ability. He was struggling but whenever he pictured Nnenna's face, he would always find the fuel to move on.
Seun was not sure where he was going exactly but his pre-cog ability warned him that there were dangers all around and this direction pointed in the only direction with an opportunity tied with all the danger, so this was his destination.
He had already cleaned out one arrogant, conspicuous sentry and replaced his clothing. As dusk descended he finally heard horrendous screams of a innocence, vulnerability, wrath and despair. He instinctively knew the person was being put through hell.
As he drew closer, he noticed the were four guards in a mix of leather and chain armour surrounded by an assortment of weapons as they were not on guard. In addition, there were two professional torturers who were executing their craft with such fanfare it was revolting to watch in and of itself.
It seemed that this daily ritual ended at dusk as the scarred miserable woman was being dragged by two guards. Meanwhile, the 'fearless' torturers tidied up their equipment before rushing to be the vanguard, against protocol, so as to arrive that much quicker at their lodging. After all, suitable women were scarce to find this near the border of the capital. The last two guards made up the rearguard.
Seun's pre-cog ability was somewhat similar to Jide's in that it gave insight of the future but it was vaguer and manifested more as a feeling than actual knowledge. Maybe it was because these torturers had been going on for a while, trading techniques and sharing sick thrills or they were not far from their bases but their defences were lax.
Fortunately, Nnenna left him with his weapons so he released two crossbow bolts ar the rearguards from almost point blank and dashed to confront the guards holding the prisoner. Luckily for him, of the two Knights on this mission, one was in the rear guard and had been fooled by the change in outfit. The bolt went squarely through his brain given his heightened ability no opportunity.
Moreover, the other Knight was a torturer who could just produce any sound with his sound element which he used to plague his victims and record their screams. As all internal mage he struggled to control his love of hearing people scream.
Seun ignored the frightened torturers and rushed to engage the remaining guards.
