Shadow Slaves
Chapter 12: The Smell of Blood
Right now, the barrier was looking down, avoiding Sunny's gaze. His hand rests on the handle of the sword. As usual, the young slave had no idea what was going on inside the perfectly shaped Hero's head.
Uncertainty makes him nervous.
Finally, after some time had passed, the soldier spoke:
“I only have one question.”
Sunny and Scholar looked at him while holding their breath.
“Ya?”
“You said one of us had to be sacrificed to save the other two. Why her? From what I see, you are much closer to the grave.”
‘Good question! I was just about to ask it myself.’
Sunny turned to the older slave, trying very hard to resist the sneering grin. But to his dismay, Scholar had already prepared an answer.
“Before the first attack, he was already bleeding because of your senior whip. During the attack, he was covered in the blood of fellow slaves. His robe was also drenched when the previous owner died. The boy already smelled of blood. Keeping him alive will put us in danger. That's why he is the best choice.”
The grin died before it reached Sunny's face.
‘Curse you and your big brain!’
The reason Scholar is so strong. Hero listened, his expression getting darker with each word. Finally, he looked at Sunny, a dangerous light shining in his eyes.
“It's true.”
Sunny felt her mouth dry. Cold sweat ran down his back. He's tense, ready for action
But at that moment, the Hero smiled.
“Your logic is almost indisputable,” he said as he unsheathed the sword. “However, you failed to take into account one thing.”
The scholar raised an eyebrow, trying to hide his own nervousness.
“What is it?”
The young soldier turned to face him, his smile disappearing from his face. Now, he exuded a thick and practical killing intent.
“That's because I know who you are, Your Majesty. I'm also aware of what you've done, and how you can become an ointment. Just one of the rebellious crimes you committed was enough to make me want to kill you. So if there's someone among us who deserves to be sacrificed it's you.”
The eyes of the scholar widened.
“But... but the smell of blood!”
“Don't worry about that. I'll make you bleed enough to beat whatever smell the boy brings.”
Everything happened so quickly that Sunny barely had time to react. The hero lunged forward at a seemingly almost inhuman speed. A moment later, the Bachelor screamed on the ground, his leg broken with a single strike from the flat side of the young warrior's sword. Not giving him a chance to recover, Hero stomped his other leg, and the sickening sound of broken bones sounded clear. The scream turned into a sobbing cry.
Just like that, the Scholar is done.
The brutality of Hero's actions was in stark contrast to his usually graceful demeanor that Sunny felt blood freeze in his veins. It's creepy.
The soldier looked at him calmly and said in a calm tone:
“Wait for me here.”
Then he grabbed the older slave and dragged him down the path, immediately disappearing behind the stone bulge. After a few minutes, a horrifying scream was heard echoing through the wind.
Sunny was left alone, trembling.
‘Omong empty! This is too much!’
He still could not believe how sudden Scholar's death was. And how cruel it is.
Some time later, the Hero returns, acting as if nothing happened. But it was precisely that normalcy that frightened Sunny the most.
“Come go. We have to be fast.”
Not knowing what to say, Sunny gave him a nod and stepped forward.
Now there are only two of them left.
It was a bit stupid, but Sunny suddenly felt lonely.
Walking on a stone road is much easier than climbing a mountain wall. He even had time for unnecessary thoughts. A strange melancholy feeling enveloped Sunny somehow, she began to feel that the end of this nightmare, whatever it was, was imminent now.
They walked in silence for a while before the Hero spoke.
“Do not feel guilty for what happened. It wasn't your fault. The decision is in my hands, and myself.”
The young soldier was a few steps ahead, so Sunny could not see his face.
“In addition, if you know the sin of this person.actually, it is better that you do not know. Trust me when I say that killing him is an act of justice.”
“I want to know who among us feels guilty.”
These people are always trying to rationalize their actions, always desperate to maintain the illusion of truth even while doing the dirtiest things. Sunny hates hypocrisy.
Not getting an answer, Hero chuckles.
“You don't like to talk, do you? Well, fair enough. Silence is gold.”
They did not speak anymore after that, each one busy with his own thoughts.
The sun goes down, coloring the world into a million shades of deep red. At this height, the air was clean and fresh, penetrated by streams of red light. Beneath them, a sea of maroon clouds rolled slowly past the mountain. The stars and moon began to appear in the vermilion sky.
That's pretty beautiful.
However, Sunny could only think of how cold it was when the sun completely disappeared.
Before that happens, the Hero has found shelter for them. Not far from the path, hidden behind high rocks, there is a narrow gap that juts into the mountainside. Happy to be safe from the piercing winds, they explore the crevice and end up in a small, well-hidden cave.
Sunny moves to release some firewood, but Hero stops him by shaking his head.
“Today we will camp without making fire. The beast was too close.”
Camping without a warm fire to accompany them would not be pleasant, but at least they would not freeze to death in the cave. The alternative is too scary.
Sunny sat down, leaning against the cave wall. The hero settled opposite him, looking sad and thinking.
He was clearly in a strange mood. If nothing else, it was evident from the fact that today, for the first time, the young warrior had failed to take care of his sword after camping.
Soon, the sun disappeared, and their small cave became pitch-black. Sunny, of course, could still see well; the Hero, on the other hand, was now completely blind.
In the darkness, his handsome face looked graceful and, for some reason, sad. Sunny learned it, not wanting to fall asleep.
After a while, Hero suddenly spoke in a soft voice:
“You know, this is weird. Normally, I could feel the presence of someone even in total darkness. But with you, there's nothing. Looks like you are just one of the shadows.”
With only silence to answer him, he smiled.
“Are you asleep?”
The question echoed in the darkness. Sunny, who had never spoken to the Hero unless there was an urgent need, and even using just a few words, felt there was a strange intimacy between them now. That's why he decided to talk. Maybe the darkness gave him courage.
Besides, there's a chance.
“Why? Were you waiting for me to fall asleep before you killed me? Or will you do it in the morning?”