Chapter 09

 The whole eastern district fell into chaos with soldiers and hunters roaming the streets, entering alleys and knocking on every household and establishment. The orphanage was no exception. The children were gathered in their room with Esia nearby, comforting and reassuring them.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!

A loud series of hammering and banging on the door echoed throughout the main hall and into the children’s room. Esia told the children to stay put as she checks on the door. When she opened the door, Frianne was standing there with a cloak covering her entire body.

“Esia!” Frianne removed her hood and called out as the door opened. “I’m glad you’re safe. Are the children alright?”

When she asked, she noticed a few heads popping out of the door that connects to the corridor where the children’s room is. She sighed in relief when she saw them.

“Yes. But what’s going on?” She asked Frianne as it seemed she knew more of the situation than herself. “The bells starting ringing and soldiers and hunters are running here and there on the main road and in the alleys.”

Frianne was silent for a while and when she decided to open her mouth, Osar came running towards them with shortness of breath. As soon as he reached the orphanage, he asked the same question as Frianne did.

“Yes! But what the hell is going on?!” She questioned the two in front of her as her panic and unease became more visible.

Osar regained his composure, albeit huffing and puffing, and went straight for the point.

“The Komriyas are kidnappers.” As Osar said those words with a low voice, Esia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Moreso, they are devils.” He continued.

Frianne could not even say a word. She knew about it when she heard it from Aneim, her husband who is also a hunter looking for the three individuals. She could hear Esia panting and see her gripping her dress tightly. She couldn’t see right through her expression because of the darkness and Esia’s bangs, but she can feel her confusion, rage, and panic.

“... Veyrr. What happened... to him...” Esia asked the two in a small voice.

The surroundings were riotous so much so that everyone had to scream to hear another person next to them. But to Frianne and Osar, the sound from the surroundings felt as if it drowned upon hearing Esia’s voice, silenced forever.

Esia asked her question again, but none could answer. Her voice and tone were much sharper now. It’s as if it rang throughout the area, thoroughly silencing the chaotic surroundings.

The silence was broken when a soldier ran towards Osar. It took a while before he responded.

“What is it?” Osar asked the soldier.

“New information. Just before the bell rung, some soldiers saw something fly above them headed towards the forest.” The soldier answered while in attention. “Furthermore, other hunters have spotted the creature who were by the of the forest and city walls.”

Osar hadn’t even begun giving instructions and saw something move from the corner of his eye. Esia grabbed a coat hanged near the main entrance of the orphanage and dashed straight towards the eastern city gate.

“Esia!” Both Frianne and Osar shouted, trying to grab a hold of her but she easily slipped off.

“Here, take this.” Osar gave a dagger with a decorated hilt and sheathe to the guard. “Go to the Count’s mansion and inform him of the information. Just show them that dagger and they will let you in.”

With a ‘Yes, sir’ the soldier ran as fast as he could towards the city centre, where the Count lives. He was about to move out himself but noticed Frianne closing the door from the outside.

“Frianne, you stay here.” Osar spoke to her.

“What? But I can’t do nothing especially with Esia running out to the forest.” She wanted to act and go bring Esia back.

“What about the children here. With Esia suddenly running amok, no one here would guard the children.” Osar gave reasonable arguments that even Frianne fell silent.

“I know you are worried, but leave it to me. I’ll find her and bring her back.” With that, he immediately ran towards the eastern gate, where Esia has also rant to.

With her head cooled down and thinking thins through, she realised it would be unwise to leave the children. Aniem was busy with other things, tracking down the Komriyas and Veyrr, so she could not rely on him to watch over the children. With no other choice, she entered the orphanage, locked the door from the inside, and walked towards the room of the children.

They were all surprised to see Frianne instead of Esia. They asked what happened, they asked where Esia was, but the only thing Frianne could do is kneel and hug them all and trying to hide her tears from falling.

=============================================================================

Esia dashed through the city streets, avoiding all the people who were in the road. There was a plethora of guards by the entrance preparing to seal the large wooden gate. One of them noticed someone approaching the them at a fast speed. Guards who were nearby tried stopping her by grabbing her but failed to even touch her. Preparations were complete and the gate was slowly being closed.

Esia avoided all the soldiers as she dashed straight towards the closing gate. But as she was just a few metres away from the gap, she was caught. A guard tried restricting her by holding her arms but was kicked in the head instead. Another one grabbed her by the waist, hugging her, but she slipped down and escaped his grasp. Another one managed to grab her wrist and lock her by pinning her to the ground.

“VEYRR!” Esia shouted repeatedly the name of the child who was once a resident of the orphanage and the now missing child.

She struggled so much that even two guards found it difficult to fully restrain her. With one arm free, she punched one of them and kicked the other, thrashing about as much as possible to escape their grasp. And she did. She dashed again towards the closing large door, grabbed a nearby torch and just before the gate fully closed, she was able to slip right through the gap and run into the forest. Those above noticed her running away but after a few seconds into the forest, they could no longer see the flickering of the flames from the torch, much less for her running figure.

Only a few seconds later, Osar arrived and noticed the beaten-up guards and the missing Esia. He clicked his tongue and gave orders to the soldiers present.

Jus how much of a monster are you, yourself, Esia? Escaping from a squad of trained soldiers and making it look as if it was child’s play.

“Make five four-man scouting teams and head into the forest. Bring torches and weapons with you. Your main priority is to search for the monsters that escaped. Find that reckless brat while you’re at it.” Osar dashed out orders to the soldiers.

The gates slightly opened and five teams with four members each went out with torches and weapons at hand. Osar was with one of the teams, making five members, and they headed out into the forest.

=============================================================================

After searching for some time, one group saw a faint glimmer of light from a distance. They assumed it was Esia so they dashed over. And, indeed, it was Esia who was confronting the monsters with a torch on one hand and a dagger on the other. She was able to move nimbly and wound the large one holding Veyrr. But it seemed like she was out of breath. The soldiers stepped out into the fight and covered for Esia to catch her breath while they deal with the monsters and kill them.

All four soldiers attacked with perfect coordination and no wasted movements. But it seems their attacks did nothing to either of the monsters. They ripped and tore the clothes but not even a scratch was formed on their skins. As they attacked, the view of Gaman was limited to those in front of him. In an effort for a surprise attack, Esia extinguished the light from her torch and jumped from the back of one of the soldiers and stabbed the arm of Gaman. He screamed in pain and loosened his grip on Veyrr.

Esia used that chance to pull Veyrr from his hand from Gaman’s clutches. She pulled him harder but Aldia, who was fighting another two soldiers, came and aided Gaman. She severed the hand of Veyrr with her blade like legs, enabling Gaman to compose himself once more.

Esia lost her balance and fell on the ground. She got up and reformed her stance while holding her dagger on her right and who she thought was Veyrr on her left. But she saw Veyrr screaming while muffled up, crying, and holding his own bloodied and severed hand. She was slightly confused.

She knew she pulled Veyrr out of the grasp of Gaman’s clutches. She can even feel the warmth and softness of his hand. But she thought ‘why is Veyrr still with Gaman?’. She slowly looked down and saw the severed hand of Veyrr on her hand, still dripping with blood.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Esia screamed as she held the severed hand of Veyrr.

She only screamed and knelt down as she grasped the hand of Veyrr close to her chest.

“I guess it’s time to stop playing around.” Gaman spoke, ignoring the screams of Esia and Veyrr. “Teiyninya, kill the other two.” Gaman spoke and ordered the other monster.

“Yeah.” Teiyninya, or Aldia, responded promptly and flew towards the two she was fighting earlier.

One of the soldiers clicked his tongue and ordered the others to ignore Esia and focus their attention to the two monsters before them. But in an instant, Gaman was in front of him. The two soldiers were stunned and couldn’t even make a sound when the towering figure of Gaman was right in front of them.

With a punch towards the stomach, the whole torso of one of the guards exploded and burst into blood behind him. Some blood splattered on the quiet and kneeling Esia but had no reaction.

“Oops, I used too much force there.” Gaman calmly spoke while clenching his fists.

The other soldier was taken aback. Fear ran through his head, his life flashed before his eyes, and even questioned the reality of things. When Gaman looked over to his direction, his body automatically responded and brought his spear up and locked. When the monster stood in front of him, the soldier could not move his body. No words were spoken or screamed. The head was simply crushed by the powerful grip of Gaman. Thus, the life of the soldier came to an end.

Teiyninya was also finished with her ‘fight’. One of the soldiers’ limbs were stretched, broken, and bent the wrong way. His limbs were looped like a pretzel. Some of his bones broke and protruded out of the flesh like those from the elbows, knees, and ribs. The last soldier was nailed to a tree with large spikes and hung upside down. Teiyninya even called them a form of art.

With all soldiers dead. The two monsters approached Esia but stopped at their tracks. They heard faint chuckles and giggles, eerie ones. Esia’s laughter grew louder and louder until one of hysteria. Teiyninya and Gaman stood there, with questioning faces.

“Ahh Veyrr. I should never have let them adopt you.” Esia creepily spoke to the severed hand of Veyrr and rubbed it against her cheek. “Now come, let’s go home, yes? Hahahaha!”

The real Veyrr, who was covering his severed hand with his coat saw the horrific sight of Esia, shouted and called out to her but was not noticed.

Esia’s eyes were flooded with tears and the dam had burst. She rubbed Veyrr’s hand on her cheek, smearing the blood all over. And laughed bizarrely.