Chapter 43

With Dimitra leading the way, the siblings soon made it to a door revealing a set of stairs leading to an underground space.

Upon opening the door, the siblings were immediately assaulted by a pungent, sickening stench.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Clair exclaimed, her face contorting in disgust as she clutched her nose.

Michalis, Nikolaos, Eleni, and Vasiliki quickly followed suit, covering their noses in a futile attempt to block out the foul odour.

Dimitra's expression hardened as she replied.

"It's...excrement." she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper, tinged with a hint of dread.

"By the way, did you both kill all the bandits inside the stronghold?" Draco asked Dimitra and Vasileios, his brow furrowed.

Vasileios nodded solemnly. "After Dimitra found the cellar, I took care of all the bandits within." he replied.

"Good," Draco said, his tone composed.

Without hesitation, he began descending the stairs, torch in hand.

The others followed suit, their faces a mixture of trepidation and determination.

As they reached the bottom, the air grew thick and stagnant, the pungent smell of filth assaulting their senses.

Eleni's face contorted in disgust, and she struggled to keep her composure.

"Ugh, how can anyone stand this?" she muttered, her voice strained as she fought the urge to vomit.

They all had enhanced senses of varying degrees as they were all beast type demi-humans.

Draco, noticing their discomfort, said, "Breathe through your nose, it will get better." His own expression remained stoic, but his eyes betrayed a hint of unease.

Waving the torch around, Draco surveyed the area, his gaze eventually settling on a door to the left of the room.

"Is that the place?" he asked, turning to Dimitra.

"Yes," she replied, her voice barely audible.

Steeling himself, Draco walked up to the door and flung it open, only to be greeted by a sight that would haunt them all for the rest of their lives.

Clair's eyes widened in horror as she took in the horrific scene before them.

"Oh, gods," she whispered, her hands trembling as she covered her mouth.

Rows of naked women, their hands and feet severed and cauterized, were chained to the walls.

The chains seemed to be fused with the raw, angry stumps of their limbs, a cruel and inhumane display of the bandits' depravity.

Beneath them, a bucket filled with a nauseating mixture of feces and urine collected the waste from their tortured bodies.

Michalis felt bile rising in his throat as he took in the sight.

"This is...this is beyond monstrous," he choked out, his face ashen.

Nikolaos, unable to contain his horror, doubled over and retched, his body convulsing as the contents of his stomach spilled out onto the floor.

Dimitra's turned her eyes away, her mind unable to bare the sheer brutality of the scene again.

"I don't know why they would do this?" she murmured, her voice trembling.

Vasiliki's hands clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white as she fought back tears of rage.

"Those...those bastards," she spat, her voice laced with venom.

Vasileios could only stare in silent horror, his face a mask of anguish and disgust. Dimitra had stopped him from entering the room earlier, so he was unaware of what lied within.

Draco's expression darkened as he surveyed the macabre tableau before them.

"So this is what they meant by 'collection'," he muttered, his voice laced with a mixture of revulsion and sorrow.

Looking around, the women were from various races: Humans, Pallums, Chientropes, Elves and more.

Walking closer to the women, Draco placed his hand over their noses to check if they were breathing and still alive.

Surprisingly some of them were still alive but completely unresponsive, their minds completely reduced to nothing more than lifeless sex dolls.

Turning to the right, Draco discovered another door.

Steeling himself, he opened it, only to be greeted by a similar scene – rows of men, their hands and feet severed and cauterized, laid out on wooden tables.

Clair let out a anguished cry, her knees buckling as she sank to the floor, her body wracked with sobs.

Michalis rushed to her side, his own face twisted with grief and rage.

"How could they do this?" Eleni wailed, her voice breaking as she collapsed against the wall, sliding down until she was huddled on the floor.

Nikolaos, his face ashen, placed a trembling hand on Eleni's shoulder, offering what little comfort he could muster.

Dimitra and Vasiliki stood in stunned silence, their eyes brimming with tears they refused to let fall.

Vasileios, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, turned away, unable to bear the sight any longer.

Draco's expression hardened as he surveyed the devastation around them.

"This is what the world is like," he said, his voice echoing through the cavernous space.

"Look very clearly at what the bandits you just killed did." he said.

Their heads snapped up, their eyes filled with a mixture of horror, grief, and a newfound resolve.

Draco continued, his voice stern yet tinged with a hint of sorrow.

"So hold your head up proudly, you just did a good thing. You will likely experience more things like this, but stay true to your convictions, and you will be alright." he advised.

Clair, her face streaked with tears, looked up at Draco, her eyes filled with a determined glint.

"We won't let this happen again," she said, her voice filled with emotion.

"We'll never again hesitate. We will fight against the injustice of the world to protect what is dear to us," she declared resolutely.

Michalis, his expression hardening, nodded in agreement.

"Clair's right. We won't turn a blind eye to this kind of cruelty. We'll use our strength to stand up against the darkness in this world," he stated, his words laced with a newfound conviction.

Eleni, her face set with a steely resolve, pushed herself up from the floor.

"These types of monsters will pay for what they've done," she growled, her hands clenching into fists, the knuckles turning white from the sheer intensity of her grip.

Nikolaos, his eyes filled with a newfound determination, placed a hand on Eleni's shoulder.

"We'll make sure justice is served, no matter the cost," he said, his voice steady and firm.

Dimitra and Vasiliki exchanged a silent, solemn nod, their eyes conveying a shared understanding of the gravity of the situation.

Vasileios, his face a mask of grim determination, stepped forward to join the others. He was of the same mind as them.

Draco watched as his siblings rallied together, their hearts and minds united with another common purpose.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at their newfound strength and conviction, even as he recognized the potential pitfalls that lay ahead for them.

"I am glad that you all think that way, but don't let yourself be deluded that the world is all black and white," Draco cautioned, his voice measured and thoughtful.

"The true colour of the world is grey." he said.

Vasileios looked up at his older brother, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean, Draco nii?" he asked.

Draco paused, considering his words carefully.

"Hmm, if you found out that all these unfortunate people were all murderers, wouldn't your feelings change from empathy to disgust, thinking that maybe they deserved it?"

The group fell silent, the weight of Draco's words settling upon them like a heavy mantle.

They exchanged uneasy glances, their expressions betraying the internal turmoil that his words had sparked.

"People are the ones who make things look black and white," Draco continued, his gaze sweeping across the assembled group.

"I'm not saying your way of thinking is wrong, but you all should keep an open mind because not everything is usually as it initially seems." he explained.

The siblings listened, their faces a tapestry of confusion and uncertainty.

They could not fully comprehend the nuances that Draco was trying to convey, the shades of grey that he insisted existed in a world they had previously seen as starkly divided between good and evil.

Draco could see the struggle in their expressions, the inner turmoil that his words had ignited.

He knew that it would take time for them to truly understand the complexities of the world they inhabited, the delicate balance between justice and mercy, right and wrong.

"Just keep my words in mind," Draco said, his tone measured and patient.

"You will all come to understand it one day." he added.

Draco's gaze fell upon the lifeless faces of the unfortunate victims of the bandits.

'What to do with them' be pondered seriously.

'I guess that I will leave them to the city officials,' Draco mused, his mind whirring with the implications of such a decision.

'But before that, I've got to loot the place.' he decided.

Draco had originally considered putting the prisoners out of their misery, a cold and calculated act that would have spared them from further suffering.

But seeing the fragility of his siblings' minds, he knew that such a decision would be beyond their comprehension at this stage.

Explaining his reasons for killing the prisoners would be a complex and nuanced conversation, one that his siblings were not yet equipped to handle.

He was aware that he was their current role model, but raising them to be like him would be a grave mistake.

Draco wanted his siblings to struggle, to think, and to grow, each of them forging their own individual paths.

He also recognized the importance of letting his siblings wrestle with these questions, to confront the difficult truths that lay at the heart of the world's darkness.

He wanted them to grow, to develop their own moral compasses, to navigate the murky waters of ethical decision-making.

Clap !!

Draco clapped loudly to pull all their attention towards himself.

"It's time for us to leave this horrid place but before that, we are going to take any valuables we can find" Draco announced.

'Strange they aren't bothered with the stench anymore. They must truly be shook' Draco thought.

"What about these people" Dimitra asked.

"We will report this to the city officials and let them deal with the rest. We can't do anymore for these poor people" Draco replied.

Everyone immediately began climbing the stairs to exit the prison, each of their minds filled with varying emotions and thoughts.

"Alright split up and search for a vault" Draco instructed.

'Any extra funds will be of help to us when we arrive in Orario' he thought.

The sun had already begun to set meaning that they had to hurry if they wanted to arrive in the city before nightfall.