11 Into The Dark Lands (VII): Broken

The dark elf captain was really tough, but Nathaniel knew he would get to him eventually. He just needed to use an entirely new and different approach. But there was no way this approach was going to be pleasant, at least not for the captain.

"Since there's nothing I can get out of you, I will hold you guys for ransom. I'm sure your superiors might what you guys back. But I'm not so sure they care about in the first place since they sent you to me."

Nathaniel was met with silence and glares, but he knew that in a moment those glares will change to something else. Nathaniel had one of the dark elves set free, and brought to the front, right in full view of everybody there.

"You look sturdy enough. Well listen up black elf, I need you to go to that fortress or yours and tell them I want a ransom or I will kill this annoying guy here. You got that?"

The dark elf nodded his head, and then Nathaniel signaled his men to let him pass. Everyone was watching with held breaths as they were thrown expected Nathaniel to suddenly scream and say he was kidding while happily pulling the arm and legs of the dark elf from the rest or his body.

But Nathaniel was silent until the elf was about fifty feet away, then he turned to Vane and started a conversation.

"Say Vane have you improved at all in archery. That last time I saw you shoot, you were a terrible shot."

"Yes my lord, I was. But I believe I am now a whole lot more better with a bow and arrow. Will you like a demonstration sir?"

"Mehh, why the hell not. Carry on Vane, let me see what you can do."

Vane pulled out a long bow from within the weapons carried by the dark elves, then he put himself in position beside Nathaniel and drew the bow back. He was adjusting his aim when Nathaniel came closer to offer him so helpful advice.

"you should be careful where you aim Vane, we don't want to bit any of our people now do we?"

"No my lord, I will be more careful."

"Twang!!"

Vane released the arrow almost immediately, the bow string vibrated as the arrow left its cradle and began it's journey. Those who were smarter than an average monkey already knew who the target was, it was the dark elf Nathaniel just sent to get a ransom. The arrow flew through and punched through his back, with arrow sliding between his shoulder blades and below his neck. He fell them with a loud thump, with the sound his body made hitting the ground resounding around the camp.

"Oh no Vane, you shot at the wrong target. You really need to work on your aim."

"I'm sorry my lord, maybe I should practice some more before I give you any more demonstration."

"No. We're going to practice until you get it right. Send another tar...ahh, err I mean messenger. Hehehe I was going to say messenger."

Everybody there knew he meant target, his soldiers thought it was funny, but the dark elves were close to the boiling point. First he insulted them by butchering their name and calling them black elves instead of dark elves, and now he was going to play around with their lives as if they were a sport. There was only so much a demon with such prided as the dark elves could take.

"You have no honor you filthy invader. If you want to kill us, kill us. Must you make a mockery of us and our death. Where is your honor!"

Nathaniel looked confused for a moment, then he looked at the fallen body a distance away and then he looked at the captain, alternating between the captain and the body before speaking up.

"What the hell are you talking about, that was totally an accident. It's not my fault Vane is a bad shot, and your messenger had shitty luck. It was completely out of my hands, why are you blaming me."

Technically Nathaniel was right, he never ordered the death of the dark elf messenger, it was Vane who shot him. So in a nutshell it was quite stupid to blame. The next dark elf was sent, and this one seemed to have learnt from his predecessor and took of running instead of walking leisurely toward his destination. He was dead fifteen seconds later by an arrow through his skull. And after he died Nathaniel had another messenger sent, and he too just like his earlier brothers was shot down.

Nathaniel contrary to the big smile on his face was not having fun. He felt like this deaths were unnecessary, and could be avoided if their leader would just tell him what he needed to know. But the guy was stubborn to a fault, putting the lives of his subordinates on the line for a stupid pride that would mean nothing if he was dead.

Nathaniel had sixteen of them shot down by Vane, sixteen dark elves killed for nothing. It was after the sixteen were dead that he decided to change tactics, the captain was crying and with how terribly ugly his grimacing face looked, Nathaniel was sure most of those guy's were good friends of his. He was almost broken, Nathan could practically see the cracks on his pride and beliefs.

Demons had noticed positive in them, but they knew how to love. Love was not just a force for good, it was also a force for evil as numerous people had done bad things in the name of love. It was the only emotion that had balance and it encompassed everything. Demons knew how to love, albeit in their own strange way. After what he had just seen and learnt, Nathaniel was sure about it. The captain loved his soldiers dearly, and now let's see if they love him just as much.

"Hold him down!"

Nathaniel ordered, as his soldiers pushed the captain to the ground, not caring for his injuries.

"What more do you want?!, even if you kill us all we still won't tell you anything."

Nathaniel inclined his head as if he was examining a new toy.

"Dude who say's I want to kill you...well not yet anyway. I know you don't want to tell me anything, you're strong willed, which is something I respect. But you're a bad leader, which even in hell is a very stupid thing to be. So you won't talk right?, who says your soldier's wont. Gag him"

As soon as Nathaniel gave his orders, his soldiers quickly covered the captains mouth with a thick wad of cloth. He was shouting and screaming, but it wad all muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

Nathaniel then picked up balancer and pointed the sword at the captain. As if responding to his will, a light suddenly shone from one end of the sword to other. All of a sudden there was a heavy pressure around as Nathaniel began to speak again.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and for every question you don't answer, or you lie, I'm going to carve a piece of flesh of the skin of your captain. And if after ten questions the answer you give does not satisfy, I will start choking off his limbs starting with his toes. And if after twenty questions, one for each toe, that you don't give me satisfactory answers, I'm going to start cutting off his hands and legs, including the one between his legs. And I can promise you one thing, I will make sure he's alive and conscious to experience everything. Now first question, tell me about your stupid captain."

***********

It took Nathaniel about twenty minutes after that to get what he wanted. After that he orders his soldiers to execute the captain and his soldiers, and it should be made as painless as possible and in a manner that was befitting of a warrior of their caliber. Nathaniel respected their honor, so he let them die with it intact. As for their pride, he shattered it until there was nothing left but pieces of who they once were.

Ordering their death would make Nathaniel seem like a hypocrite, but their deaths were not senseless. They served a purpose. If he had let them go, they would have caused more troubles for him and his troops, he had to take into consideration the people who were following him. Sometimes some people had to die for others to live, it has always been this way, and it will continue to be this way to the end of time. Everything in this life was built on equivalent exchange, you can not get something without giving something up in return. At the moment Vane came to him in a hurry.

"My lord I have heard from the scouts we sent to canvass the mountains."

"And"

"they found something sir, something that I think will help us take the fortress with ease."

"very well then Vane, make the arrangements."

"yes sire."

Nathaniel had learnt a lot of things from the dark elf captain, he learnt about the societal structure, and their military might. But mist importantly he learnt about the three way civil war that was currently ongoing. It was a I fight between two sisters and a brother, each of them vying for control of the throne. One of those sisters was the queen, the other was the priestess to a dark goddess, and the brother was fighting so that men would have equal rights in a society that treated them as accessories.

It was honestly very funny to Nathaniel, but it was an atmosphere he could work with. He felt the need to hurry up his plans and keep on moving east as fast ad possible, he had this feeling that things were about to change, and his time here was drawing to a close. But be that as it may, he had a fortress to conquer.