The girls approached the barn cautiously, their steps slow and silent. The settlent was already in chaos, with the tribals rushing all over the place; they didn’t want any problems before they managed to unseal the remaining heroes.
Thankfully, the others had gotten everyone’s attention, as no guards were stationed outside the other barn Adrian had told them about.
"..it’s strange," Sophia comnted. "I’d have expected a few guards here, at least."
"It doesn’t matter if they are here or not," Alia whispered as Sophia nodded back. "Co on, let’s get this over with."
As they pushed open the heavy door, their worst fears were realised. The barn was filled, but not with heroes but tribals. Their eyes shone with malice as the girls walked through the doors.
"Shit..." Sophia cursed under her breath.
Alia’s heart pounded as she took in the scene before her. Skaha and Ahuli stood at the forefront, weapons in hand. Behind them, rows of tribals stood ready for battle, their eyes on the girls.
Sophia’s mind raced as she tried to make sense of the situation. How had the tribe known about their plans? It seed impossible unless soone sold them out. But who could it be? Adrian was gone, and other than him, only she and Alia knew about the move.
Before she could voice her thoughts, Vincent erged from the shadows behind Ahuli, a malicious grin on his face. He stared at the girls as if he had won so competition.
"Well, well, well," Vincent sneered, his voice dripping with venom. "Look who decided to show up. I must say, I’m surprised you had the guts to co here after what you did."
Clara stood by Vincent’s side, her head bowed in sha. She had betrayed her friends, siding with Vincent and the tribe in a mont of weakness.
It was not like she had a choice. Vincent had made it clear what he planned to do to the girls and didn’t want to end up like them. Still, she was unable to et her friends’ gaze.
Alia’s blood boiled with anger as she locked eyes with Vincent.
"You’re the one who betrayed us," she spat, trying in vain to control her emotions. "You turned your back on Adrian and joined forces with these savages. You’re the real traitor here."
"Ah, but you see, my dear Alia, I had no choice," Vincent’s grin widened at her words. "Adrian made his decision, and now I’m making mine.
You should have known better than to think I’ll stay down like a dog. You left for dead and expect to side with you?"
The girls watched in horror as Vincent’s words sank in. They had been betrayed by soone they once considered a friend, soone they had trusted with their lives countless tis.
"Adrian was right..." Alia replied softly, with fury in her eyes. "I don’t know why I served soone like you who was bound to show the true colours of his illegitimate lineage one day."
"You... HOW DARE YOU CAN -"
"Shut it, you crybaby," Sophia scoffed, conjuring fla magic. "You can cry all you want when Adrian gets here."
Sophia was right. There was no ti to dwell on Vincent’s betrayal. They had to get out of there and inform Adrian about the change in plans.
However, the tribals were also closing in on them from the outside. There was no escape, as their weapons were raised and ready for battle. Skaha and Ahuli exchanged a knowing glance, but Vincent made a strange request before they could do anything.
"Please... let handle the bitch. I don’t care what you do with the rest of the heroes-"
"Go ahead," Ahuli waved his hand without giving Vincent another thought.
While Vincent had inford them about what Adrian could be planning while they were checking the barns for the scroll, in Ahuli’s eyes, a betrayal was a betrayal.
Soone capable of betraying their friends because of misplaced ’ego’ would also betray him in the future. As such, Ahuli had no use for Vincent or Nexarians as a whole, and he planned on selling Vincent to Alfvania in exchange for resources.
From that mont on, Ahuli decided to fight his wars by himself. He won’t need the Church or anyone’s help to deal with the Banurs. But for now, he kept that thought to himself.
With a fierce battle cry, the tribals rushed forward. The girls braced themselves for the onslaught, their hearts pounding with adrenaline as they prepared to defend themselves against their attackers.
Alia was the first to react. She didn’t have her bow with her, but as a mber of the royal guard, she had been trained to use plenty of weapons, and her reflexes were honed from years of training.
With a swift motion, she defeated a tribal, took his sword and t another opponent head-on. Loud clanging sounds were heard as she parried blow after blow.
Sophia fought alongside her, her powers surging through her veins as she unleashed a barrage of magic against her foes. With a wave of her hand, she sent arcs of lightning crackling through the air, striking down anyone who dared to co too close.
Torn between loyalty to her friends and guilt over her betrayal, Clara hesitated montarily before joining the fray... against her forr teammates. She drew her sword and charged into battle.
The barn echoed with the clash of tal and battle cries as the girls fought tooth and nail against their enemies. Despite their best efforts, they were outnumbered and outmatched, and eventually, the tribals slowly got the upper hand.
anwhile, Vincent watched from the sidelines, his smirk never faltering as he egged on the tribals with taunts. He knew in order to defeat Alia and rub it in her face. He had to be careful and wait for her to tire out.
He would strike once he had the upper hand, and till then, he revelled in the chaos unfolding before him.
As the battle raged on, fatigue began to set in for the girls. Their muscles ached, and their breath ca in ragged gasps as they fought to keep their enemies at bay. But no matter how hard they fought, it seed as though the tide of battle was against them.
In a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, Sophia unleashed a powerful wave of magic, sending a shockwave rippling through the barn. For a mont, it seed as though their enemies had been defeated, their bodies strewn across the ground in a tangled heap.
But their victory was short-lived. Skaha chanted a spell, and everyone got back on their feet the next mont as if nothing had happened. But they didn’t attack them. Instead, Vincent launched himself at Alia, ready to strike.
A fight broke out between Vincent and Alia. Despite her skills, Vincent seed to have the upper hand, overpowering her with each blow. Sophia attempted to intervene, but Ahuli swiftly moved to stop her.
"You’re not interfering any more," Ahuli snarled. "Besides, I need you so I can punish your lover. Or should I perhaps call him Adrian?"
"Like hell, you will!" Sophia cursed, taking a swing at Ahuli.
But Ahuli grabbed her hand and slamd her on the ground. The air was kicked out of Sophia’s lungs as she fell, but that wasn’t all as Ahuli stomped her hand till her fingers shattered.
"Destroy them, but keep them alive..." Ahuli instructed the tribe and walked towards the exit.
Vincent saw him leave and yelled, "This wasn’t what we agreed on!"
"Get used to it," Ahuli scoffed. "Plans change."
One of the tribals yanked Vincent off Alia and jumped on her. Sophia tried to help, but with her fingers shattered and missing staff, she couldn’t use magic as the tribals jumped on them like hyenas.
They tried to fight back... but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and soon, the barn was filled with their cries as their bodies were stabbed over and over.
Vincent maintained a straight face, but Clara turned away, covering her ears as she could no longer see or hear their cries.
***
anwhile, Adrian was rushing back with the Banurs in toe. It took them longer than he had thought since they had to take the longer route to avoid attracting any beasts, and it was already dark.
"Who would have thought the elves would turn into our allies?" Adrian said as Akila rode beside him.
"You can thank yourself for that," Akila replied.
The elf couple Adrian had saved and sent to the Banurs turned out to be a part of Elven royalty. In other words, they were Rowan’s distant cousins who were kidnapped and sold as slaves to the Tulkas by the Church.
Once the Banurs learned about their identity, they imdiately released the elven slaves they had as a gesture of goodwill towards them.
While not all was forgiven and forgotten, the group knew the Tulkas were responsible for the elves mistaking Banurs as the kidnappers and attacking them.
That’s why they decided to join the Banurs to rescue the others and then deal with their disagreents later.
"Yes, I would like to thank you as well," Shu, the elven prince, replied, riding by Adrian’s side. "Had it not been for you, we’d still be there, serving them."
"Don’t worry about it," Adrian replied.
But Shu continued, "I don’t have much to give you at the mont, but I assure you, Alfvania will be by your side whenever you need us."
Adrian gave Shu a curt but short bow. He already knew of ways to make use of Shu’s kind offer. But first, he needed to rescue the heroes and deal with the Tulkas once and for all.
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