Chapter 65

Ash felt stupid now for giving Gurg more credit than he deserved, colluding with the goblins for his own advantage was just the thing he would do. But right now he didn't have time to think about that, what he needed to do now was to figure out a way to save the city, all he knew was that Gurg was sending a message to the goblins, to launch a straight attack? or was there some other more elaborate plan put in place.

He needed to alert someone but who first, then he remembered there was an alarm bell near the front wall, it would be best if he went there, the guards on the wall would also know the right protocol and if they were planning to attack that's where they will first attack. 

He turned a street out of the market towards the city walls when he ran into someone, he barely managed to keep his feet on the ground, and he looked up to see who it was. His breath caught in his lungs when he saw it was none other than Captain Gurg himself with two of his men. 

"Where are you going in so much hurry? Mr. Ambassador?" asked Gurg for the first time talking to him directly.

"Nowhere, I was just on a morning run, it helps me keep my mind fresh," he quickly made up an answer, his heart was beating too fast to think if the lie was good or not.

"Strange Human customs, well I was hoping we could have a talk but I have been too busy with one thing and another as you know," he said. Ash couldn't help but glance at his hand where the same red ring was still there.

"Well, you can just come to the embassy any time to talk, I should continue with my run," he bowed and moved past them. He had just gone a few steps when the world flipped upside down, he felt the ground rushing up and hit him in the head. Before everything went dark he heard their voices.

"Sir! Why risk it now?" said one of his men.

"He was lying, they wouldn't let him go alone wandering around the city, I have sensed an elf in the shadows watching over him always, but she isn't here now, never doubt my intuition, we can't risk anything at this stage check his pockets," said Gurg.

Ash felt two pairs of hands ruffling him around, they pulled out everything he had.

"Sir, your ring!" 

Shit now it was over, they had seen the ring.

"I knew it!" said Gurg "but it doesn't look like he has told the rest of them, he mustn't have realized what it was until the message was sent, probably why he was running so fast, but what was he doing here in the city, lock him up somewhere good, and keep watch here and at the gates and Silv's office, if he told someone they might try to inform them too," said Gurg.

"But what does it matter even if they do, they can't do anything now, it will be too late," said one of his men.

"Fool, we can't let it be known that I was involved with the goblins no matter what," said Gurg.

As complete darkness washed over him Ash worried what would happen to everyone now, he wondered if Amyra would be able to inform them in time, but at the same time, he didn't want anything to happen to her.

When Ash again came back to his senses he found himself in a dark room. The back of his head was bleeding, his sword was nowhere to be seen his hands were tied behind his back and he was lying face down on hard rough ground. The worst part of it all was that loud bursts and noises could be heard from somewhere far away, he had no idea how long he had been under and how many of his friends were killed. It was the first time he had felt too helpless and the angst was almost killing him. He tried to move or get out of the binds but it wasn't going to work he would have to do something.

He started channeling his mana to his hands, the sparks started flying and soon there was enough light coming into the room that he could see, the walls were wooden, and he was in some kind of a hut, he kept increasing the density of mana until he started feeling the heat on his hands, he was about to reach his limit soon he would be able to feel the burn too but he didn't care about the pain, his hands burst into flames suddenly, he endured the pain until he felt the binds burn off, he pulled his hands apart and stood up quickly.

He didn't have time to wait around anymore he pushed aura into his feet, and using lightning step rammed into a nearby wall, he burst through the wooden wall on the other side, he found himself in a secluded part of the city, there were small houses all around but not one soul nearby, this must be where Gurg's army was camping.

He set a course towards all the noise and blast and ran at full speed.

He was much better and lightning step now, his body was channeling mana much better which made his muscles and bones much denser and stronger.

Gurg didn't want the whole city to die or he wouldn't have anyone to rule over, he wanted to be the savior instead and make sure the people would stand behind him and his house if an opportunity came.

When Ash finally reached the city gates again he found himself in the middle of a similar scene as last time, only this time the fight was still going on and there was much more noise around.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ash grabbed a nearby female elf who he thought he had seen with Silv before. She looked at him with a tired and defeated look.

"What do you mean what's happening? Where were you? Silv and Farin were looking for you all over," she said.

"I was stuck somewhere, tell me what's happening," said Ash.

"The goblins attacked the city in the morning with their full force, the scouts and the guards on the walls weren't able to inform us in time, they must have done something to them, we were barely able to push them back out of the city," she said.

"But, Silv and others had prepared for it, we knew the attack was coming, they must have had other cautions in place," said Ash.

"I don't know none of them worked, but there was something else, the goblins had some prisoners, some elves they had abducted, and among them was Princess Aria," she said.

"What? What happened to her?" he was sure Gurg had something to do with this too.

"They couldn't do anything until they had them safe, the goblins were using them as a shield, but then it was that dark elf Maya who was able to sneak in and save them, and then the real battle started," she said.

"And what was Gurg doing in all of that?" asked Ash.

"His men are providing support since he has a lot of long-range attackers but they haven't been too useful, the goblins just keep coming and the number of injured and dead soldiers keeps on piling up, sorry I have to go get a healer," she said and left.