[Arthdal Chronicles] Fight for freedom

FLASHBACK CHAPTER 9 : Breaking the rules. (EDITED 06/22)

-Yangcha's point of view-

At first I was afraid she would run away. Everytime I went back to the Daekans' camp I feared I would not see her again, that she was not real after all. But she was real and she never ran away.

 Each time I searched for her near the camp she was there, welcoming me with her warm smile that made my heart melt.

I slipped away from the camp as much as I could. But I couldn't forget I was a Daekan warrior with a mission and orders to follow. We were on a Hunt and the others and most importantly Tagon were counting on me.

Sometimes several days or weeks passed without us being able to see each other. It had been more than seven years since the beginning of the Great Hunt, the remaining Neanthals were not only strong but also agile and smart, they hid well and it usually took us several days in a row to track only one of them.

So we couldn't see each other as often as we wanted to. It was also dangerous and suspicious if I slipped away too often anyway, even if I was always careful when I did. I would have liked to spend all my nights with her but I couldn't. Nobody could know about us and the last thing I wanted was us being caught.

I continued to teach her how to fight. It was easier now that I could show her the moves knowing our physical contacts weren't uncomfortable. She even developed her own techniques, using two swords, smaller than the usual ones. She was good and improved quickly though she still had a lot to learn to become the strong warrior no one could hurt she wanted to be.

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- Weeks later -

We were on our way to the next camp when Tagon stopped, making us stop as well. An arrow had been driven in the middle of the path, a message tied to it. Tagon ordered one of us to take it and handed it to him. He read it, then he looked around, and so did us.

I followed with my eyes what Tagon was staring at at the top of a cliff and that was when I noticed her. She was wearing a long black cape, a hood was covering her face, only her long hair was sticking out.

I frowned, confused by her sudden action, she knew she couldn't go against Tagon or against the Daekans, so what exactly did she think she was doing at that exact moment? Why take the risk to be seen? To be caught? Was she that reckless?

When Tagon ordered us to go after her, I followed. Even if I didn't want to do such a thing, I couldn't refuse to obey an order, it would have been suspicious if I did.

Luckily she managed to avoid the arrows shot at her and she quickly disappeared from our sight.

"To be that fast, she is not a Saram right?" Gitoha asked.

"She is not fast enough to be a Neanthal," Mugwang replied, "it could be a trap, she could be leading us somewhere."

"I don't think she was," Mubaek intervened. He had ordered us to search for her but our researches were fortunately unsuccessful, "let's go back."

I felt relieved the research was not pushed too far, who knows where she could be at that moment? I was impatient for the night to come so that I could ask her why she had done something so reckless.

When we went back to Tagon's side, he told us that the message was actually a warning.

Apparently, a group of bandits were waiting in ambush. Tagon doubted it was true but just in case we took precaution. We separated the group into three. I stayed with Tagon on the main path, while the two other groups did a detour.

The path we were on was actually perfect for an ambush, two large cliffs offering the perfect cover for archers. I was on the defensive, maybe more than the others as I knew that if she had taken the risk of being caught to warn us, it was because she was certain of what she was saying. As we walked, archers came out of their hiding place and so did our warriors. They were all killed easily because they hadn't expected some of us to be at the top of the cliffs as well.