5 Hopeless
Rai twisted the head of the doll again, causing the smoke to stop pouring out. He and Rie took slow steps until they were no longer under the cover of the smoke.
Then, they too were struck dumb and afraid.
Right in front of them, sitting on the ground, was Li. His sword was already drawn, a look of intense rage and unbridled anger.
Without another word, he waved the sword. His simple action spurred the wind into a motion so powerful that it blew away all the smoke from where they were. Even the smoke back at the lake was gone.
The brothers had no words. For just a moment, they had won.
How easily they had been robbed of their victory. They were undoubtedly swindled, or perhaps they never had the victory to start with. They just thought they did because they got a little taste of it, but that wasn't the real thing.
The real thing was in the hands of the man in front of them.
Victory was his, and in that moment he held power over their lives. One simple action from him could result in their deaths.
"You boys sure are creative. Good on you." To their surprise, he sheathed the sword and then walked over to them.
"I know your parents taught you about how discipline works. There are consequences for stupid actions." Li's hands blurred out of sight for a short moment.
Rie and Rai looked down to find that they had now been shackled and chained to each other, hands and feet.
Niu also had shackles on his hands and feet, but he wasn't chained to his brothers.
"You enjoyed the privilege of being free men, but now you will be our prisoners.
"Luckily, my orders are strict. While I can chain you up for now then keep you under watch, I cannot truly treat you as prisoners. I value my life, after all." Li smiled briefly, then started to walk.
When he was closer to them, he waved his hand.
"Well? Turn around, let's go." His words went unheard at first, but then they complied.
Together, they walked back to the carriage.
Only, this time, they were kept inside. Their chains were removed before entering; there was no way they could escape the carriage though.
After closing and locking the door, Li turned to his captains.
"Good thing I was here. They might have escaped if it were only you guys." Li yawned again, then found a cool spot to lie down.
His captains didn't even need him to say anything. They all sat in different positions, surrounding the carriage.
They would have to stay there and make sure the boys didn't escape.
Watching as Li enjoyed the cool and started relaxing, one of the captains grumbled.
"He thinks he's so much better than us. If not for that magic sword, you think he could ever be as strong as he is?" His words startled his fellow captains.
"Shut up before he hears you."
"Idiot. Even if it's all thanks to the magic sword, he's still the one who has it. Don't be stupid."
The captains sat around, not hearing a single peep come from within the carriage.
The brothers were huddled together, still trying to process what they had seen.
"That man..." Rai was the first to mumble a few words.
"He's strong. He's like a monster." Rie pulled his brothers closer to him. He could feel Rai's fear. His younger brothers exuded such an innate fear that he could no longer continue to act tough in their eyes.
"We aren't going home. We're never going home." Rie's head fell, hiding his tears from his brothers.
They already knew he was crying though.
Niu chanced upon some hidden strength and courage, hugging his big brother.
"We will get home Rie. I know we will. Mama and Papa are waiting for us." Rie sniffled and forced a smile. Rai remained silent.
A few days passed, and they were on the move again.
Before long, the greenery began to lessen. The land seemed to be steadily decaying the further they went.
Far off, two snowy mountains could be seen. There was an immense distance between the two mountains.
If the brothers could see ahead of them, they would know that they were heading toward that valley.
Once they were closer, they realized that they were wandering into a lingering mist. There was a strange scent that came with it, but no one knew just what it was.
Li, who was sitting atop the carriage, looked around in confusion.
His eyes narrowed.
"Captains. Listen close. Whatever happens here today, no harm can befall our prisoners. If anything happens to them, every man here will suffer for it." Li kept a hand on his sword, eyes darting all over.
They continued slowly. A large number of the marching soldiers were already panicking. They had came through the Shenmi Pass not too long ago, but it was now unrecognizable.
This was why Li felt that something was very wrong.
"Have the scouts branch out. They're to keep an eye on our surroundings and head back here if they see anything at all."
His order was quickly carried out, leaving all the other soldiers in an even deeper state of panic. It was frightening enough being in a place like that, but what was even scarier was seeing that their leader was scared as well.
They couldn't help but feel like things were steadily heading downhill.
The brothers were also unsettled, but they weren't full of fear. Having seen what Li was capable of, they didn't think there was reason to worry.
However, upon hearing Li's voice, Niu gasped.
"He sounds scared."
Rie and Rai looked at him, incredulous expressions on their faces. However, it was true that Niu was freakishly perceptive.
"I don't know, let's just wait and see."
The brothers remained looking through the half-open window. There was an eerie silence.
This continued until a small number of people came running back. The scouts that were sent to ensure they weren't being followed did not return.
"Milord! It's the Noble Goblin armies! Not only the half-breeds, but goblin forces as well!" One scout reported, out of breath. His voice cracked and, as he passed them by, they could see tears in his eyes.
"What he says is true. If I hadn't decided to check the rear afterward, I'd have never seen it. They've joined forces to take us on!" The others scouts also corroborated this story, then all of sudden there was an intense heat.
The area was illuminated by a bright crimson light that originated from the rear. This only cemented the fear the soldiers had and they instantly believed the scouts. There was no room for doubt.
"Magic!"
"Quick! Run or we'll all die!"
Seeing his men respond this way, Li could only curse under his breath and react accordingly.
He signalled for his captains to lead the way forward, then he lingered near the carriage.
They all increased their speed, getting as far away from the light as possible. When the heat intensified again was when the light seemed to be getting closer.
Li turned around to see a massive ball of fire, like the sun itself. It was flaming through the mist, charring the earth as it passed.
"No chance!" Li was at the side of the carriage. Behind it were the running soldiers who seemed to be the fireball's main target.
He leapt off of his horse and into the air, sword already drawn.
The brothers couldn't see what happened, but there was a blinding flash before the red light was no more. The heat also went away.
However, what replaced the heat was not any better.
Anguished cries could be heard from the front where the captains were.
Li returned to his horse with another leap, spurring it to run faster.
Before he could get anywhere, he met a returning captain.
When Li saw his condition, it was like time stopped for a moment.
The man's hand was gone, his armor pierced by almost a dozen arrows. Blood flowed from his mouth.
He coughed, struggling to breath, then uttered his last words.
"They weren't our men. It's a trap."
Li didn't understand what he meant. He pondered for a moment before realization dawned upon him and he cursed loudly.
He screamed at the cowardly men that were approaching, ordering them to stop.
They did when they saw he had already arrived at the rear. Li dashed off, returning almost a minute later with the severed head of a half-breed reptilian.
This, however, was no cause for celebration.
Li now knew what the captain meant.
The scouts were imposters. Possibly spies from the goblin army that used magic to steal the appearances of the original scouts.
With the head raised high, he calmly spoke to his men.
"We have been fooled. Were we not consumed by fear, we might have had a higher chance of survival. Now, we may have played right into the hands of the enemy."
When Li said this, there was a strong and noisy wind. It seemed to originate from no where.
The mist was blown away before long, revealing exactly what Li was suspecting.
The army was surrounded from all sides except the rear.
Thousands of half-breeds and hundreds of goblins. At the front were two goblins that seemed more like humans. Other than the skin color, it was impossible to tell them apart from normal men.
"Fear is human nature. When a human is afraid, you get insight into exactly who they are." One of the Noble Goblins, who wore red clothes, spoke.
"Fear makes you stupid, so my guess is that most humans are actually idiots." The other, clad in white, also said a few words.
Li remained silent. By looking around, he could see that the goblins had many mages in their ranks.
He sighed.
"We will fall." The men seemed to have already figured out the nature of their situation. There was nothing they could do now but accept their fate.
The brothers were also beginning to feel it. They also began to doubt that Li could keep them safe.
They sat together again, staying close.
"Don't worry, guys. Just stay calm. Stay calm. Nothing is decided. The future is unpredictable. No matter what it looks like now, don't be scared." Rie held them tightly, desperately hoping that they would be alright.
