Lament of the Slave

Chapter 140: Mischief

"Where is she?!" the roar of an enraged man echoed through the clearing, breaking my zen and focus. "Where's that bitch?!"

Naturally, my eyes at once fell on the man in the armor of the imperial soldiers who had arrived with his unit of battered men and women. Colonel Gill seemed seriously pissed at someone. He marched through the clearing to the carriage, looking around for the root of his rage.

Lord Wigram had already informed us they're coming back and that they've suffered casualties in the battle with the wave of beasts and the northern eagle. Not an easy thing for anyone to bear. However, it did raise the question of why he was mad at some woman? Defection? Perhaps facing that massive wave of beasts, her courage left her, and she ran away. Did I find that weird? No. After all, that's what I did. I ran away.

The moment his eyes fell on me, sitting peacefully under a tree at the edge of the clearing, my instincts flared up. For whatever insane reason, I was the target of his wrath.

And damn, he was fast.

Even before I got up, he was upon me.

[Great Knight: lvl ??]

Luckily, Deckard, as Void Walker, was much swiffer on his feet and stood in his way in time.

"Move!" Colonel Gill bellowed. "Or I swear..."

"What? Are you gonna attack me?" Deckard asked when the man didn't finish his threat. Then he just raised an eyebrow and gestured with a nod behind the furious man.

"Colonel, what is the meaning of this?" the Imperial Chief Healer called out to him as he rushed over. Gill straightened up and turned around, no less pissed.

"Sir, I don't know what they told you, but no doubt she is behind this all," he declared, pointing his sword at me.

I wasn't the only one taken aback. Lord Wigram stroked his beard while he tried to take his totally ridiculous claim in. "We've known each other for a long time, Colonel. You are not a rash man, and I never disregarded your warnings. What makes you think so?"

"Sir?"

"Our communication was not very, how should I put it... detailed. I was only informed of your casualties, that's all. Please brief me."

Though still furious, Colonel Gill complied. "We faced the wave of beasts. Even before they got to us, we took down half of them. The rest we were prepared to face in close combat. That's when the northern eagle swooped down on us. The hardest battle I've ever fought. Out in the open, against an airborne beast more than twice our level and more of these fuckers...sorry beasts pushing against our front, but we held on, sir."

"There is no doubt of the gallantry of you and your men, Colonel. You have done most admirably, and no doubt it's thanks to you we're all standing here now, but why do you fault Miss Grey?"

The right question I wanted to know the answer to myself. It wasn't me that caused the beast wave; it was the damn northern eagles.

Gill clenched his fists at Lord Wigram's question, trying to keep his anger in check. "We defeated the beasts and were about to take down the eagle when the forest moved. It took a while before we were surrounded by trees, and in that time, we managed to wound the feathered bastard pretty badly. Then the mossbears came in, chased us off, pulled the eagle down, but instead of finishing the motherfucker off, they let it go and even stopped us when we tried to do the job for them. It cost Renee her hand," he growled and spat at my feet. "Who else could be behind this but her, sir?"

Lord Wigram gave him an understanding look. "If I were you, I would most likely suspect Miss Grey, too. But there's more to it than you know, Colonel. Calm your anger, hear me out, and let me look at your men."