Special Chapter VI - Plan of Peace (part 2)

At a dark alley, on the other side of the kingdom.

Two men, with only a single lantern on their hand, are walking in the dark. Their eyes are checking out everything that exists in that dark alley. They are in search of something.

"Look, over there!"

One of the two guys pointed at a big square mark on the edge of the wall. Both of them approached the mark. The one holding the lantern pushed the wall, and the wall dropped inward.

An entrance… to a small room.

"We found it, Jale!"

One of the men cheered while whispering and pointed at the man-sized hole at the wall.

"Sshh! Don't be so loud, Keseine! Look, a staircase!"

The other man, Jale, scolded his friend, Keseine, and pointed at the staircase behind the hole. The two gulped and entered the staircase one at a time.

The size of the hole requires a person to squat down to enter. But after entering, the room became bigger and it was possible to stand.

The staircase goes all the way down, and after three minutes of going down the staircase, they arrived at a door.

"This is it. They must be behind that door."

Jale spoke to his friend and unsheathed his dagger silently. His friend, Keseine, also unsheathed his sword and held it with his right hand, while his left hand held the lantern.

"Let's go."

Keseine said as he slowly moved forward to open the door.

The door opened slowly with a squeaky sound as Keseine pushed it with his left hand while still holding a lantern. His eyes searched for the room in front of him.

Funny. The room is bright.

Torches are placed all over the walls, and right across the room, is a single pole. And tied to that pole, is a single man, with wounds all over his body.

"Gulrey!"

Jale shouted when he saw his friend tied to the pole. Gulrey opened his eyes, and immediately saw his two friends right in front of him. His eyes became wide open, and his expression turned into rage.

"N-No!! You guys shouldn't have come here!!!"

Gulrey shouted as he tried his best to pull the rope away, but it's not budging at all. His friends are all confused.

"What, Gulrey, what are you--"

"It's a trap!!!"

A heavy thud can be heard outside. Multiple sounds of steps can be heard going down the staircase. It's quite close.

"N-No!!!"

Gulrey tried even harder to free himself while his friends were preparing to fight.

Then one by one, men in black clothes and their faces covered with masks entered the room. They are all armed with their weapons, and they look ready to fight.

Jale and Keseine tried fighting them one by one, but more were coming from the entrance. Gulrey kept pushing himself forward, hoping that the rope would snap. But the rope was a high quality one, it just won't snap that easily.

The battle is one sided. Jale and Keseine tried their best, but in the end the numbers were already unfair. At least they were able to drop three of the black clothed men before they fell.

Jale was facing three people at once, and one of them stabbed him in the chest. Keseine was far more unlucky. He fell to the ground after his leg got chopped away, and immediately received a stab on the stomach. He was facing four people, and none of them were weaker than him.

Gulrey could only scream while his friends were being slaughtered. His eyes were red from stress, and his hands were bleeding from the friction with the ropes.

The leader of the black clothed men approached him and opened his mask. It was the face of the person who captured Gulrey before.

"Now will you speak?"

The black clothed leader asked, but Gulrey was too busy biting his own lips.

The black clothed leader stood up and sighed. With a gesture of his hand, all his underlings started cleaning up the basement.

"Too bad for your friends, but you can still save the others, you know?"

The leader spoke to Gulrey again, but he was already lost in insanity.

One of the underlings knocked Gulrey unconscious, and picked him up. The others had also picked up the bodies of Jale and Keseine. 

The leader stood back up and nodded at his underlings before he left the basement, followed by his underlings. The room turned dark with all the torches put out, and what's left is only the heavy scent of blood.

A few hours later, the door to the basement got slammed open. Seven people, the knights that came from Mazino including Eva, entered the room and searched. They are all wearing casual clothes, because they had to stay camouflaged and hidden.

As they looked around in the dark, one of them found something in the walls and shouted.

"There's torches here!"

"Light them up!"

One of the knights asked and the captain replied. The torches on the walls are being lit one by one, revealing the sight which they wish they never see.

Aside from the gruesome blood stain and a pole with tons of blood on it, there is something else on the floor. A bright item, made of metal. The knight captain picked it up and stared at it for a moment.

It was a pendant, a badge that knights worn. And they belonged only to the knights who were from Mazino.

"C-Captain…"

Eva called from the side of the room, where the blood stain is at. She picked up an item from the blood pool, and it's also a pendant.

"Here too..."

Another knight from the other blood pond called. And he is also holding a pendant. All the pendants are covered in blood.

The captain looked at the pole right in front of him, where marks of blood and torture are everywhere.

He gripped the pendant harder as tears dropped from his eyes.

"Let's go."

The captain turned around and headed to the door, leaving his bewildered underlings.

"What should we do…?"

"Isn't it obvious? We need help."

The captain kept on walking without turning around. The other knights were confused.

"Help? Where are we going to get help?"

The captain turned to his underling, and stared at him grimly.

"From him... The masked man."