A Deadly Lesson from A Cruel Fool

*****[ALERT: there is a scene that alludes to the harm of a child towards the end of the chapter. Please skip the rest of the chapter when you start to feel uncomfortable, please. Your mental state is worth more than anything else! I made this extra long so those who wanted to skip the last 200 or so words, won't feel cheated from their usual word count. <3 ]*******

Harbinger had no reason to not trust Silas when he claimed that Cassandra had been kidnapped. The guards were also great witnesses, as they were the last to see her alive, unharmed, and outside.

That being said, it was so easy to convince his 'father' that Metas and his little gang of miscreants were behind the operation. In reality, she was in their care.

Without Veltar, she'd most certainly be dead by now - not that Silas cared.

"Bring my daughter back, or a hostage that is just as good," Harbinger ordered towards the golden-haired boy. Silas would never look like a man to the General. He had too many strings around the male to allow him to grow into one.

"I believe they have been taking shelter in a nearby village. We've searched the forest, and all we've found are trails of blood that lead into the Demon realm, and tracks around the woods. They are stale now. I have a feeling Metas and his little friends needed a nice resting place to sleep at by now. I can take a scouting troop there in an hour and scour the area, I''ll burn it all down if I have to and leave the stragglers in the woods to feed our allies," Silas said with dark intentions, trying to keep favor.

"Only leave a few in the forest. Bring the rest back here and we can divvy them out. Otherwise, the savages will just gulp them all down like they did the humans," Harbinger replied with an irritated sigh.

"I knew Metas was desperate, but this is unlike him. They must be terrified of us to steal our Luna - and your mate who is with child. If you can't find Cassandra, and you don't get a hostage - don't bother coming back here. Understood?" The General asked with death clinging to his cold tone.

"I'm the Alpha- why wouldn't I return?" Silas asked innocently. He still didn't get it.

"An alpha returning without his Luna would be beyond shameful. I don't care if you have to burn the entire village to the ground, or flay children in the streets - you bring her back, or at least a good enough hostage that bastard wolf cares about. We need leverage, you idiot." Harbinger barked back and pushed Silas in irritation.

"Stop being a little nit-wit and do something useful. Bring back our Luna before you become a laughing stock of the entire mountain," he tacked on.

"I will come back with something, I swear it." Silas said and gave Harbinger a bow of respect.

"You had better, or I'll never forgive your clear incompetence. I will have you ousted before you can blink. I'm tired of tolerating your uselessness, Silas." Harbinger replied with a voice that lacked any kind of care or love for a child. His puppet wasn't dancing like he asked, and until it did - Harbinger wouldn't sleep well again.

"Get out of here, stop staring at me, shit for brains!" The General howled out and lobbed a thick book towards Silas which sent him running out the door to the old male's delight.

******

House after house wasn't spared as Silas and his fellow soldiers burst in to each dwelling and tore it apart as they searched for Cassandra.

Nothing was spared from abuse - they flipped over beds, tore open cabinets, and even threw over cribs without hesitation or waiting to even see if it was occupied or not. Silas was so angry and so mad with authority, that nothing felt out of his reach.

Harbinger's affection was all that mattered, and now the small amount of love he once held for Cassandra had become deep contempt. At this point, in his mind - everything was her fault now.

She had been the one who cheated with him on Syrana. She had been the one who ran away. She had been the one who started all of this spiraling downwards - and she was the one who should be to blame for the misfortunes of all the citizens they assaulted and stripped of the dignity they deserved.

He really was going to burn the place down at this point. At first it was something he was just saying, as he didn't think this was going to be as hard as it had been - but as the time ticked on, and each house continued to be ransacked, his mind changed.

If he had to burn it all to the ground, he was going to. Whatever it took to get her back, or to keep favor with Harbinger - he'd do it.

He dragged females from the houses by their hair, and held children as hostages until all complied - and even when he had shot a male in the head who dared to step up to him, it still yielded nothing.

Now Silas had an entire group of angry, frightened villagers (well, those who hadn't escaped) - and he had nothing to show for it. Someone would have to pay, but first - he would send as many of these degenerates as he could back to the mountain with the guise of having them re-housed.

With so many soldiers holding so many weapons that most had never even seen before, everyone was terrified to move. One soldier had even used theirs to project some strange item into the air that let out the sound of lightning.

Human weapons with names none of those alive knew. Human weapons which could kill them in an instant, as they had seen just moments ago.

Whatever they had in their possession was not something anyone else wanted to have tested out on them.

Silas even pointed out the dead male's carcass when he saw someone give him a side eye or sour glance. He didn't expect them to be happy about his actions - but he did expect them to respect and recognize his authority.

"If anyone wants to join this one, they're welcome to. By all means, challenge your Alpha King," Silas announced acridly and with a darker intention that he was letting rise to the surface.

"Mommy, I thought Metas was the prince..." a little girl whispered innocently.

"Who said that!? Which one of you dare say such things!" Silas roared. He was really starting to lose his grasp on reality, as well as sanity itself.

"M-My king, it was a child - please forgive her..." a timid female said in the protection of the crowd.

"You should teach your child manners. Bring them forth so that I can do your job for you," Silas growled and pointed towards the gathered group of terrified citizens.

"Oh - p-p-please, your highness. She's a child. Punish me in her stead, I beg you..." the female sputtered and dropped to her knees. "She was just asking a question, she was confused - please, your grace..."

"If I have repeat myself, you won't be able to walk again. I said - send her forward." Silas repeated coldly. Part of him was still grieving for Syri - and he wanted her back so badly. To him, the only resolution was to have someone feel as helpless and lonely as he did.

...and sadly, this child had made their mother a target for those feelings.

"That's fine - just do that, then. I can't..." she pleaded, and became visibly to the crazed 'alpha' who pointed the same weapon that had killed the other male so quickly at them, which caused them to part out of the way.

The mother of the child looked sickly and small. It was clear they were poor - and that they were nothing to this town with how the all scattered like roaches when a light popped on. She was the perfect target for the male who was dripping with rage. She wouldn't live long enough to take revenge anyway....

"Ah. A mother's love. Something that not all of us are afforded. Something that can be so strong, and yet so toxic. Where is your daddy, little one?" Silas asked with a fake smile and a dangerously light voice.

"He's in the mountain..." the little child replied with tears in their eyes as their fingers clenched around it's mother's skirt in an attempt to shield their face.

"Oh? Why isn't he here?" Silas asked again with the same kind of deathly calm a devil would speak with before unleashing hell upon its victim.

"..He...doesn't want to be here..." the child replied with much confusion. They didn't know the affairs of adults and the more complicated issues they faced.

"Oh, he left you for another? Or did you mommy trick daddy into thinking she loved him?" Silas returned with a sadistic look in his eyes.

"Don't worry, my little cherub. Your mother clearly isn't fit to be one. You can be saved by that very quickly....do you know how?" The crazed king added.

The child merely shook its head.

"No matter. Your mother will," he said with a pleased smile, and let hit finger squeeze the trigger of the beautiful black metaled weapon that let out a loud clack again.

...and just like that, the world shattered for another parent, and Silas was so very happy to see it in someone else that wasn't him.