Revenge of the Captured

Chapter 4

A few days later I found myself still in D'arckalve. I don't know why I stayed there for a week, but I did. At any rate, it was definitely time to move on. I hadn't really done anything the whole time I was there. Okay, that's not entirely true, I did go over some harder spells and incantations that I was still struggling with. Okay, father. Just because you transferred the knowledge into my head doesn't mean I can do everything perfectly now.

When I had gotten to D'arckalve, I had made myself at home in one of the old abandoned homes. I knew I was relatively safer here than in the forest. It was nothing like back in HQ. Sure, there were monsters, and yes you had to be careful not to be captured by the Seractinalia, but I knew the woods there like the back of my hand. There wasn't a monster I hadn't seen before. But here, in D'arckalve, things were very different. There were things here I had never seen before, only heard about. I had created a magical barrier to keep the unknown from entering my makeshift haven. Unless something was trying to get in, I would be left in peace.

I worked hard, until I had mastered the remaining spells that had given me trouble. Once I had completed phase one of my mission, to master my magic, I gathered my things. I prepared to bring down the barrier surrounding D'arckalve. I walked down the pathway that lead to the entrance of the town, the statues of old gods in the ruins of their temples stood cold over their shines. The temple shrines used to be bright, clean, and doused everyday scented oils, each one unique to the god it served. I paused at the one temple, it was the second one nearest the town entrance. I remembered this one well, it used to covered in gold, the sun's rays would shine onto the shrine and bath it in warm light. People would come here to this shrine to worship the goddess Rivkahavna, goddess of the sun.  The priestesses would place the most luscious foods for her on the altar of the shrine, the priests would come at high sun, and in a glorious ceremony pour a scented oil over all that was on the altar. Then the high priestess would light the altar with a gold torch and the smell would waft over everyone on its ways to the skies. It was said that the goddess of the sun would only except the best offerings and anything less required a punishment so severe that one would never make the same mistake twice. I never believed that particular tale, but for weird reason it made me smile  all the same that I still remembered the stories and myths after all this time.

As I looked at the ruins that once seem to hold the very definition of beauty, my mind took me to its end. When the Seractinalia invaded, they burned everything in their path. They destroyed villages, towns, and cities alike. They killed, and enslaved men, women and children. Towns, including D'arckalve, were stripped of everything worth any value, and its people were enslaved or killed. Where I stood used to be crowded with people, happy and joyful. Children would play in the streets.... But now, now everything was empty and let desolate. No one visited the shrines, the temples had fallen to ruin.

As I walked away from D'arckalve, the ruins of homes outside the town littered the landscape. Old farms that used to be golden with fruit of the fields now were desolate and laid baren.

I made my way through the hills and low lying valleys, I ran through the Plains of Fahadriz-gnam, and passed through the Three Lakes of Harlèvkah-hànék. I stopped only to eat and rest my weary legs. I pushed onward as fast I as I could. I pressed myself to the limits of my strength. My maps told me there was a Seracinalian Fortress somewhere near The Northwestern Mountains of Kaldorevka. If I can make it there and find a way to infiltrate it without being captured....Another thought entered my mind, if i couldn't get in without being captured and they did catch me, there is a possibility I'll be taken to their home planet and face their ruler. As a daughter of royalty, I could possibly stand trial, if that happened I could maybe cut a deal and save my life. Then I can bide my time till the moment is right to strike and take them all out at once. While I wait I can help others get out of their cruel grasp.

It took me almost three weeks to get to the Mountains of Kaldorevka, if I was in dangerous waters before... What have I gotten myself into now. I pondered my actions and then clambered down a sharp and jagged raveen. Some of the rocks cut into my skin, and as I got closer more and more skeletons litterded the way. It was as if they were pointing me the way to a fortress of doom. I scrambled up the incline following the trail of bodies, and skeletons of earlier people who had tried and failed to make it to the fortress. The closer I got, the more the skeletons turned to rotting corpses, then fresh bodies. Not only my people came this way, slaves litterd the path of death, their slave collars still attached. I gagged, this is horrific. The seractinalia are all monsters. I will surely eliminate them. They killed my people like life doesn't matter to them. They enslaved millions of MY people! I will slaughter them all for what they have done. They must pay for their crimes.

The anger and rage I felt for my people filled me with energy and enforced my resolve to go through with my plan.

I rounded a sharp corner and there on the top of the ridge was the fortress. It was hued into the side of the mountain, and I stood there in a weird combination of awe and amazement. Wire with spikes coiled around the perimeter kept the slaves inside its boundaries. My breath caught in my throat, some of the slaves looked vaguely familiar. I probably knew them at some point in my past. So this is where they took the captives.

Just then a low rumbling sound reached my ears. I dove to the ground just in time to avoid being decapitated by a flying ship. It was some sort of craft that let them come to our planet. What was it Mother said they were, ah yes, spaceships. What incredibly strange machines. I watched as it landed in a cleared space and a squad of despicable Seracatinalia started to unload large chamber size cages, enough to hold at least 10 people at a time. They started to round up the slaves and herded them into the cages like cattle. I was so angry I summoned my whip and sword without thinking. I gripped the handle with a death-like grip. I took a couple steps forward then stopped. I can't go down there, I'll be killed. But I can't leave them! I have to fight. No! I can't! They'll be killed, they'll take me!

The battle raged inside my mind for what seemed like forever. "Damn it all to the Seven Hells of Torture and Death!" I flung myself into the mist of the wailing and screaming of the prisoners who were being loaded into the cages. I slashed my sword and sliced through the chains holding three of the prisoners. Their eyes widened in surprise, I nodded and they understood. I was giving them a chance to run, a chance to embrace freedom once again. They scattered, the other prisoners were in confusion, some of the Seractinalian guards tried to hurry and complete their task while the others rushed me. My smile grew as I slit the throat of one, whirled around and buried my dagger into another, and with my whip, slashed one around the neck. It staggered and fell, writhing in pain. The poison I had soaked into the whip is earning its keep. In about 30 seconds he'll be dead. I danced to and fro, in and around them, taunting the invaders. When they got close I killed them. My sword flashed in the light of the setting sun, the blood of my enemies painted bright, dripping from the blade. They circled me, now I had to watch from all sides. I couldn't use too much magic without extending the limits of my strength. I couldn't risk it. I'd have to rely on hand-to-hand combat.

I continued to keep them at bay, killing any that got close. But I was wearing out, sweat beaded my forehead and I knew it was only a matter of time before I slipped up. I couldn't see the prisoners, I could only hope that some were able to escape. More and more Seractinalia were coming. They kept advancing, I kept backing away. I hit a wall and I knew I was cornered. Unless I wiped them all out at once, I was doomed. But I've used too much energy, I don't have the strength or energy to use magic. My dark reality set in, making me feel like a metal ball had fallen into the pit of my stomach. Something out of the corner of my eye flashed, then I saw stars and collapsed onto my knees.

I felt the kick on my back and my face connected with the bloody ground. I turned my head so my cheek lay on the ground. I could barely see, the sweat, and blood made everything blurred. I was barely conscious but I felt the claw like hands that gripped me and hauled me onto my legs. They started to drag me but I was so tired I didn't care what happened to me.

I heard voices but was unable to comprehend what was being said. They hauled me down some stairs and tossed me into a cold, dark cell. My mind didn't register the blood on the walls, or the foul smell that seemed to penetrate the walls. I lay in a heap where they had deposited me. I didn't bother to crawl over to a corner, I just passed out right there and fell into a harsh sleep.