“Captain. Captain.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0670RufCF
A slap on his cheek. Callan groaned as a painful throb pulsed through his skull. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7k45GijAvN
“Captain!”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniiZmxWcfi
He blinked his eyes rapidly and then opened them. Remy’s face slowly came into focus. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkuYwJ9O8i
“Where?” He croaked. He felt weak. His body had been drained of all its strength. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIO6eU3IQEC
“Don’t know, captain. But we are prisoners.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNr0vX9X3gr
“How long?” Callan shook his head to clear his vision and tried to get up, but a wave of nausea washed over him and he collapsed back on his back.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABlVqegeHo
“Easy,” Remy said gently, trailing a finger along his neck. “They did something to you to keep you unconscious.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWoEzw2Ua3
Callan suddenly remembered the green demon’s claws around his neck. “It pinched my throat.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPRQbJ0a8j
“Aye. Seems like it may have stopped your breath for a moment.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPWCSndzZ4
Adrenaline surged through him. He shot up, his hands around his own throat. A patch of his skin felt bruised and inflamed.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExYhjNeI9Q
Remy patted his back to steady him. “Easy, captain. You’re alright now.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuj44clycT
His surroundings came into view. They were in a damp underground cave whose entrance was barred with iron. The walls were covered with a blue glowing moss and tendrils of it hung from the roof of the cavern. They created odd shadows across the human faces that surrounded him. Some of them he knew; his soldiers stood above him looking at him with concern. Others were strangers. Hesitantly, he removed his hands from his throat. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgtgpJg1JM
“What happened? How long was I out?” he asked as Remy helped him to his feet.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4m2oqoDFQ
“Dunno, cap’n,” Mareet replied. “We all came to ‘bout the same time. But you didn’t wake up, so Remy went to check on you.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbx30ekmKH
Callan nodded distractedly, as he took in the new faces. There were seven of them, divided into two groups. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgqQ35LgIa
“Nogar, cap’n.” Mareet tilted his head towards the group of five who huddled together in one corner of the cave, glancing towards them with trepidation. Callan noticed that they were wearing the typical Nogari garb of skirts and off-shoulder dresses. “I think they are from that first village, cap’n, the one with the wind-whisperer. But they are not talking to us.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFn1YjBk8k
On the other side of the cave were two children crouched up against the wall. One was a scrawny boy of not more than eleven years with straw-colored hair and brown eyes. Tears and dirt stained his face, and his tunic and trousers were grimy with mud and blood stains. He had his thin arms tightly wrapped around a young girl. The girl did not look to be more than six or seven with similar hair, but her face was buried in the boy’s chest out of view. A sob wretched of the girl at intervals and her small body heaved. The boy patted her back gently. Haldan was sitting a little distance away from them trying to engage them in a conversation. But the boy was not paying attention. He continued staring vacantly towards the cavern ceiling. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKZjdTsoEg
“They came with the same group we were caught by, cap’n.” Maaret's voice dipped sorrowfully. “From the looks of it, they are from the plains. Haldan is trying to talk to them, but they seem to be in shock, poor critters.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOO68j1zpu
Callan nodded, then turned towards the Nogar. He approached them slowly to not frighten them further. The Nogar were all middle aged or older. They stiffened at his approach, looking at him wide-eyed. Callan raised his hands to show them he meant no harm.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQkn2kh3nv
“I am Captain Pelegrin of the 17th cavalry of the Newil Johastian army. I visited your village the other day. Can you tell me what happened to the other villagers?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTZ5GGQgQy
At first the Nogar simply tightened their grips on each other's arms and shoulders and refused to meet his eyes. Then the oldest of them, a woman, spoke up.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuuJnHF56O
“You did this to us.” Her voice quivered as she raised a shaking finger at him accusingly. “You brought demons on us. You and your false god and your false beliefs.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjs8tCPVuu
“How dare you, you heathens?” Forgis spat from behind him. “You are the ones who are responsible for this, you, and your savage pagan beliefs. You created these creatures with your spirit magic and dark beniotry.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4ryC8oiku
“We not commune with evil creatures. We only listen to spirits of ancestors,” she countered. Her wrinkled face grew animated with every word, and her frail body shook with anger. “We believe old ways, balance of living and dead. You foolish ones do against nature, burn and destroy forests, pollute lands with evil steel. The spirits angry and they call this curse on us because of your evil.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyv4iM1Xm8
The old man sitting next to her tried to calm her down but to no avail. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrToyQEwjN
“Because of you our children dead. Our homes destroyed. Our people scattered and lost. I hope demons eat you, you unholy creatures.” She ended with a savage curse, glaring at them defiantly. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvXiBwsfmr
“You bitch!” Forgis lunged at her. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmSSiLTDmE
Callan grabbed him by his arm and shoved him back roughly. Frogis staggered and then stood up and glared at Callan.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqS6d5YvJSa
“Enough,” Callan barked. “Last thing we need to do right now is fight amongst ourselves.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyX0QJJc2OV
“Or else what? Unless you haven’t noticed, princeling, we are already as good as dead.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTK75xvv7Pk
Callan tried to keep his voice calm. “We are not dead yet.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDDK3QwzzU
“Yeah? Tell that to Entol, or Yurik. Or Bernol, who you sacrificed so that you could save your royal hide.” He advanced on Callan. Callan stood his ground. “You all are the same, you royals and nobles. We work hard, give up our homes and our families to serve Johastia. Then you come along and take what should’ve been rightfully ours, sacrifice peasant blood for your ambitions and glory.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbzy4PdRF3
“If you haven’t noticed Forgis, I am in the same boat as you are.” Callan retorted, his temper getting the best of him.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBU3qgbiqs
“Yeah?” Forgis stepped up so that his nose was mere inches from Callan’s face. His eyes had the same mad gleam he had noticed before. “Is that what you told Valan before you stabbed him in the back? Is that how you earned his trust and then threw him to the pincers?” His voice was barely above a whisper, but it sent a jolt of shock through Callan’s brain.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcu3Z6Yx66e
Callan froze. This was the first time he had heard Valan’s name in six years. Callan couldn’t be sure what the old soldier knew, or more importantly how. But even a rumor about the incident and near-scandal that had preceded it could ruin him. Forgis smirked and patted his cheeks patronizingly before Brine and Mareet grabbed him and dragged him back. All the eyes were focused on Callan now. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64JoeDhJcj
Come on, Cal. Can’t lose your head now. He knows nothing. Probably heard some rumors and now is trying to rattle you with it. Get a grip.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqgjubnkwZ
He took a long breath and reimagined the ring of light in his mind. Then turned back to the eldest Nogar. “I apologize for my man’s behavior. We are all afraid and I understand you have reasons to dislike us.” He lowered himself in a crouch before them. “But if we want to survive this, we need to work together.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡky3QIjVzDK
The first woman simply stared at him in stony silence. Another woman, who sat beside her, spoke up instead. “No one survive this.” Her face showed she had already resigned herself to her fate. “We all die here. They take our children and grandchildren. We hear them scream. Now nothing left but wait to die.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHB9K37MiDZ
The three men kept quiet, not looking up at Callan. Callan turned away. Maybe I can convince them to part with some information later, he thought hopefully. He glanced at Haldan and the children on the other end of the cave. It seemed like Haldan was not having any luck with them either.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgakJSIWKA7
Callan had never been a patient person. Even as a child, he always felt the need to keep himself engaged constantly. Therefore, being stuck inside a prison with nothing much to do but wait for his captors to appear was not sitting well with him. He first walked to the prison bars and pulled on each of them checking to see if any of them were loose, but the bars held tight. Next, he scouted the walls of the cavern for fissures and cracks, but the walls were as solid as they could be. He even pressed his head to the bars and tried to peer past the bend in the tunnel that they were inside, but he couldn’t see anything. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpb516BMxNo
If the other men thought his actions were odd, they didn’t say anything. Forgis sat in the third corner of the cave, away from the Nogar and the children, ignoring everyone. Brine and Remy sat in the middle of the cave, with their backs against the wall and knees crouched against their chests. Haldan still sat near the children and had been joined by Mareet. It seemed like they had finally given up trying to get the young ones to talk. Each one of them had the same vacant resigned looks on their faces as they awaited their fates. Callan wished he could talk to them and encourage them in some way. Maybe with a passionate speech like Eachen or a witty quip like Mareet. But he was not good at those things. He had thought he was good at making plans and seeing them through. But so far, the way his current plan had worked out, he was starting to change his mind about that as well. Bernol’s fierce expression came to his mind, as the soldier stood facing the horde of demons alone, knowing it would mean his death. Bernol had given his life to buy them time to escape. He had believed that Callan would find a way to save everyone. Now his sacrifice would amount to nothing. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKif1dOd9TH
In frustration, he kicked one of the iron bars. A sharp pain shot through his big toe, he had forgotten he had no boots on, but not before he felt the bar move. It was only a tiny fraction, but it was hope. He immediately knelt on his knees, started to jiggle it around. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAjYZEVEJn
“What’s the matter?” Remy walked up to him.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3O0eMYR2ew
“Help me,” Callan whispered frantically, as he pushed on the bar again.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZOBIgERm9
Remy bent down next to him and gripped the bar pushing in the same direction. It moved a little bit more. Everyone’s attention in the cave turned towards them. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUZUV9hcF2
“Haldan,” Callan gestured to the burly man. Haldan stood and quickly walked up to them. Callan jiggled the bar for his benefit and his eyes widened in understanding. He stooped down on the other side of Callan and started pushing as well. A metallic groan filled the air, and they froze as the sound reverberated in the hollow cavern. Then, they heard footsteps approach, several of them.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CljdL1aK7
“Beniot’s taint,” Haldan breathed. Their efforts had ruptured the soil around the loose bar. They moved the iron pole back into its position and hastily patted the earth, before retreating to the back of the cave.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXX5pPT8v6
Moments later, the red demon came striding into view, accompanied by six others, two orange, two blue and two yellow. Tension simmered through the group of humans. The Nogar huddled further back in their corner and whimpered, and so did the children. Haldan moved in front of them protectively, Mareet by his side, both with grim expressions on their faces. The rest of them just stood stiffly where they were standing, fists clenched in nervous anticipation. The red flame-head, the one Callan had vowed to kill, grinned at them menacingly from outside the iron bars. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV0iqFrM9l
Callan wondered how they would get the bars open. He had not seen any hatches or pulleys or any other kind of mechanism that would indicate the bars moved from their current position. Now, he gasped as the one of the orange flame-heads put its hands on four of the bars. The bars started to bend outwards from the middle on their own, as if they were not made of iron but of water, creating a circular opening for a man or a demon to walk through. Sorcery! The stories said that demons were masters of sorcery, but it was still chilling to see it in person.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkNYB7dnU4
The demons entered the cavern one by one and surrounded them. The red looked around, scanning their petrified faces and then pointed to the boy in the corner. The blue flame-heads started towards the boy, who squeezed himself further into the corner, tightly gripping on to his younger sister. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpA1CyiRX3
“No,” Haldan yelled, blocking the demons’ path.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs26ivvl1EE
Then everything happened at once. The blue demons rushed towards Haldan and Mareet. Brine and Remy moved towards them too, to assist but were blocked by the other four flame-heads. One of the blue demons punched Haldan in the side and he crumpled to the floor. The other one stopped Mareet’s fist and twisted his arm. The soldier cried out in pain. The boy screamed and the girl started howling. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElgUNKVlza
Callan made to rush towards the fight, but a claw clamped around his throat restricting his movement and breathing. He tried to punch backwards but the demon caught it and twisted his arm behind his back. Jarring pain lanced through his triceps and shoulders and he felt his strength waver as he was pushed down on his knees to the ground. The blue demon stepped over the crumpled frame of Haldan and grabbed the boy’s arm. The boy punched and kicked, screaming to get free but the demon held on and slapped him across his face. Blood spattered from the boy's nose and mouth as he crumpled, stunned by the strike. The demon ripped the crying girl out of his arms and threw her to the floor, quieting her. It then hoisted the boy's listless body onto its shoulders. Both Mareet and Callan struggled against their restraints as the blue demon carried the boy towards the exit. As the demon passed him, he recognized its face this time without any doubt, but the constriction of his windpipe made talking impossible. He struggled to breath and the cave started darkening around him.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmP5MTayo9z
The red demon shoved Callan to the cavern’s floor, releasing his hold on him. Callan’s face struck the floor and he tasted copper. He coughed and sputtered as air returned to his lungs. He took a long breath and turned towards the receding backs of the demons.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8Anss7nHu
“Entol,” he shouted. “Entol, let the boy go.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ivtA1HA6o
The demons stopped and turned around to look at him. He also sensed the eyes of the other humans fixed on him. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwblhgurE1
“Entol, please, let the boy go,” he pleaded again. “Take me instead.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTfFA4EPck
The blue demon, that had the boy on his shoulders, hesitated and tilted its head towards Callan. A spark of hope rose from within the tumult of dread and despair, but then the red demon was on him again. It grabbed him by his throat and lifted him in the air. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dWalGkVfW
“You will have your chance, human,” it snarled, and bits of his spit and flesh of his mouth sprayed across Callan’s face. “Now shut up, before I rip your tongue out.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bBIpf9Ot0
It dropped Callan back on the rocky floor and left. The orange flame-heads restored the bars to their original form and left with the boy as the humans watched helplessly. Callan pressed his palms to the cavern wall and used it to support himself back up. Remy rushed to his side to help him up, but Callan batted his hands away. A fervent rage was surging through him, blinding his senses and he could barely keep it contained. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeK3gMcnEF
“What’s the matter, princeling?” Forgis interrupted Callan’s thoughts sarcastically from his corner. It did not seem like he had even moved an inch from where he stood. “Frustrated that your noble blood means forlac-dung here. Once it comes to it, you are no better than the rest of us.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aFxFqVTkZ
Callan didn’t even feel himself move. One moment he was looking at Forgis, seething in anger and the next, his hand was around his neck as he slammed him into the wall behind him. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn39TsPpGmz
“One more word out of you, I will rip your tongue out,” Callan growled, realizing he had used the exact same words on the man that the demons had used on him.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHfvCt81tj
“You are starting to sound like the demon, cap’n,” Forgis choked. Callan's fury slipped away and was replaced by an acute sense of guilt. He let go of the old soldier and backed away in horror. Things were quickly slipping out of control. Anyone of them could be next and he had to keep himself in check if he was to save those who were left. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFu7YfCKdtg
“Captain?” Remy gently took him by his arm and led him away. In the guise of looking at Callan’s wounds, he asked under his breath, “Are you alright? You need to keep your head, Callan. The men are injured, terrified and quickly losing hope, and losing your temper is only going to make things worse.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGXp83eaTE
Callan nodded and squeezed his hand in reassurance. “How is Haldan?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRsybCZTfV
Remy shook his head. “Broken ribs.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dmZMrfi65
“Can you do anything for him?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOCWVf6aAa
“Without my medicine kit? I have tied a tight bandage around his chest for now, but he cannot move without injuring himself further.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnli43Ieiz
“What about the little girl?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MvnOreinI
“She’s stunned. I laid her down and ministered her wounds as best as I could but there is nothing more, I can do but hope she wakes up.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8J1GwM4L2
“Thanks, Remy.” Callan gave him a small smile. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsezIsVMNoO
Remy nodded and moved away.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYZ00Jn2m6
“I am sorry, captain.” Haldan's weak voice drew his attention. “I couldn’t stop them from taking him.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvIOWAlwQx
He was sitting shirtless against the cave with his tunic wrapped tightly around a nasty red and purple bruise at the base of his ribs. His face was drawn into a grimace of guilt and pain. Mareet was by his side supporting him upright with a look of pallid concern and Callan, suddenly, recalled the intimate moment he had witnessed between the two men. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH19uD6MUNi
“It’s alright, soldier.” Callan looked away from them. “We all failed.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrqBTABnRF
He looked around the dark chamber. Remy was right. Whatever little hope they had carried before had evaporated and their long faces hung in resignation and despair. He knew he had to find some way out of this situation soon. He remembered the iron bar they had loosened and walked over to test it, but it did not budge. Whatever sorcery the demons had done, not only had it fixed the bar back into its previous position, but it had also eliminated the weakness that had made it loose in the first place. His optimism destroyed, he crumpled down to the floor and leaned his head against the metal bars. A few moments later a boy’s screams started echoing through their underground prison.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcysZ8jLMQ
----82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cCBMpKBb3
The screams continued for a very long time, but eventually they stopped. Or at least they did outside. Inside Callan’s head the boy’s pitiful howls continued to rattle through his conscience. The rest were not faring any better. Brine still had his hand tightly clamped around his ears and his head buried in his knees. Remy’s expression was impassive, but his hands fidgeted, mindlessly poking the ground around him. Mareet stared vacantly at the ceiling, holding the unconscious girl in his lap, and stroking her hair gently. Even Forgis’s stony face had crumbled, and he sat with his back towards them mumbling to himself. At one point during the torture, Haldan had charged towards the metal bars in rage and despair, and it had taken the combined force of Remy, Brine and Mareet to keep him from smashing his already injured body against the unmovable iron. Now, he sat in the corner of the cave as tears streamed down his face. The Nogar had started chanting inaudibly the moment the screams had begun and now they sat cross-legged in a circle in their corner, their eyes closed and their lips moving in a silent prayer.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrE07TipeY1
“What are they doing?” Brine inquired with disdain, giving a jerk of his head towards them.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4FE1azMSq
“They are praying for the boy’s soul,” Remy replied tonelessly. “It is the Nogar ritual for the departed to guide the dead’s soul to the afterlife.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7ImvmtErV
“Fat good that’s gonna do now,” Brine spat “when they didn’ even raise a finger to help us.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygXGeZw2vh
“And what exactly do you think they could’ve done?” Remy snapped at him. “We tried to help and fat good came out of that, didn’ it?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbqjYDGzzm
Brine went red in the face and shut his mouth. He drew circles in the sand with his index finger, then suddenly frowned in thought and looked up towards Callan.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPkKMXAjY9
“Why’d you call that demon Entol, cap’n?” he asked him.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc8qP5lgMV
All the heads turned towards him. Callan thought for a moment on how to explain what he had seen. Behind the open festering wounds, the charcoal skin and the fiery hair and eyes, the face that he had seen had resembled too closely to his burunai to have been a coincidence. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNsBcyVorb
“Because it looked like him.” He finally decided to give them the simplest answer he could think of. “The demon looked like Entol.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLV8hSMIDaj
Their jaws dropped.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBfxps6dwD
“What are you saying?” Remy looked at him as if he had gone insane. “How could you even tell? It looked nothing like Entol. They are demons, not humans, Callan.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wJpNH3TkT
It was a sign of Remy’s agitation that he had forgotten to use Callan’s title and, therefore Callan did not take offence. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYjnlWhEmQ
He sighed. “It was the same demon that I ran into on the pass that night when we were attacked. That I’m sure of.” He met Remy’s eyes. He did not like what he was saying either. The implications were too horrendous to even contemplate. But if there was a chance, he was right, they had a right to know what might be in store for them. “Even back then, I felt like I recognized the face, but it had been too dark, and I couldn’t be sure. But today. Its face resembles Entol’s too closely to be a coincidence.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpGgdpYnB3
“So, what are you saying?” Forgis had turned around to listen to the discussion. “That these demons are humans? That they have somehow been, what, cursed or something? You have gone completely mad, man.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM08Gw5F7dz
The other had the same expressions of disbelief and he was too weary to argue with them just then.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5jrNGTtit
“It was a shot in the dark.” Callan looked away. “That’s all.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0Lx8iJTxz
“Next time, keep your barking theories to yourself, cap’n, if you don’ mind.” Forgis sneered at him. “We poor folk, with our small brains, can’t take the scare, ya know.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapDDg6S08K
Callan ignored his jibe. He knew the man was just looking for a fight and he was not about to give him one. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDHw709RWC
“But, what if he’s right?” Brine started.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaTKcjv3Mp
“Shut up, Brine.” Forgis snapped at him. “Don’ use that pretty little head of yours too much. See what you done now, plantin’ nonsense in his head.” He threw another jibe at Callan. “As if we don’ have enough to worry ‘bout.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1KKcheQYD
“No.” Brine yelled so loudly, it stunned everyone including Callan. “I don’ ‘ve a pretty little head and I ken think for meself, Forgis.” The young soldier glared at Forgis, to which Forgis just snorted in reply. Brine turned to look at the others, wide-eyed. “Don’t ya see. It responded. When cap’n called that demon, it stopped and looked around at ‘im.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyIXmldsFf
“They all looked around, Brine,” Remy interjected impatiently. “The red one even attacked the cap’n or did you forget that?” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCPRwtkjtJ
“No. It looked at cap’n all like it recognized ‘im,” Brine insisted. “That’s why the red attacked him, to stop ‘im from calling ‘im out. Didn’t it, cap’n?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGC1m0xV7hv
But Callan was not listening anymore. His heart was thumping faster as he recalled the blue demon's head tilt of recognition. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyEuZaHKw1
“This is getting ridiculous,” Forgis growled. “Shut up Brine, before ya make a even bigger fool of yerself.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuCgF4MfY8
“I’m not a fool. N’ ya should talk, after ya scurried into yer corner like a muus at the sight of ‘em!”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9T4qjsRCH
“What’d ya say boy?” Forgis rushed at him. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89XIxMlPmC
But Callan was faster. He grabbed Forgis’s arm to pull him back. Forgis snapped around and threw a punch. Callan grabbed it just before it hit his face and twisted the arm. The old soldier grimaced and tried to strike Callan with his free hand. But Callan was expecting it. He ducked, bent the man’s arm behind his back and unbalanced Forgi’s knee with a shove from his foot. Forgis fell to the floor with Callan on top of him. Callan quickly took his other arm and twisted it behind him as well and then planted a knee to his back.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡys0A3YCPp9
“Calm down, Brine,” Callan said in a quiet, commanding voice. Then he turned to Forgis. “And you. You raise your hand at anyone else again, I’ll feed you to the demons myself. Is that clear?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqtVOPrHyN
Forgis grunted.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGoq43CmcT
“Is that clear soldier?” Callan barked.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Msh0NOR2w
“Yes, captain,” Forgis said, his voice muffled from the dirt.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MjQy1quCS
Callan let him go and stood up. “Anyone else itching for a fight?” He glared around the chamber, but no one met his eyes.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxme7Ej925
Forgis stood up and shuffled back to his corner, rubbing his arms, and muttering to himself. He again sat down with his back turned to them.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqTcrglOyx
A moment of awkward silence followed. Then the eldest Nogar female, spoke up. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVp1THUpFlE
“You is right. They be turning our children” They all turned to look at her. The other Nogar avoided his eyes, but she looked at Callan directly. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4mmTIV4W8
Callan approached the Nogar and sat down on the ground in front of her.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wGoZbHuyv
“What do you know, old mother? Please tell me.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoWuqDRR5G
“They took my Vanya, my son. He tall and strong and try to fight. We fight too. But they be too strong for us. We hear him scream, then nothing. They come back and take his daughter, my grandchild. Papu, she screams, don’ do this papu.” She reached out and grabbed his hands. Her hands were small, frail, and calloused, but burning with the same feverish heat that was in her eyes. “She sees her father in that demon. And then I see it too. Same nose, same mouth, same face but eyes and hair and skin all wrong. But demon not listen. It takes my Roha, and after she starts screaming too.” She suddenly broke down and started sobbing loudly. “My Roha, my poor little girl.” 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI0tsKkx0C
Callan did not know what to say to comfort her. After a little while, one of the older men gently pulled her arms away from Callan’s and wrapped his own around her comfortingly. He looked at Callan with despair.82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEN6ieMWEm
“We all try fight, but they take our children and kill them, make them monsters like them. Everybody gone but us. Now, nothing we can do but wait to die.”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPRipkk0JY
Callan gave him a sympathetic nod, then stood up and left them in their grief.
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