But she saw a flash. The ground glowed just at her feet. She felt heat emanating from the floor. She backed up, as a wall of flames erupted when she stood.
"You’re quick. Even in all that armor, you have quite the impressive reaction time." Victor pointed, and the fire swept forward. "But try dodging this."
The inferno came at the Captain like a wave. She raised her blade, and it shone red. She swung upwards, cutting the flames in two.
"Oh, you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve," Victor said mockingly.
"Shut up and die!" she yelled as she leapt forward. She stabbed at him, aiming for his heart. There was no way he could cast another spell in time—
And he blocked the strike with his staff. The glowing weapon lodged itself on the wooden pole. But it did not cut through it. It simply stopped, right where it touched it.
"What—"
Victor slapped her across the face. She reeled back, and was struck on the chest by a blast of embers.
"Wisened Wood. Made from the trunks of the ancient Elysian Trees. Difficult to cut down, and even more difficult to make something with. But it works well as a medium for spellcraft, so the effort does not go unrewarded. That also allows me to reinforce it with some enchantments, making it incredibly durable. Not something your weak sword can cut through," he remarked with a smirk.
He sauntered over to the Captain. She was lying on the ground, injured and burned by the fire blast. She looked up as he loomed over her.
"Ah, don’t worry. I told you: we’ll just be borrowing this location for a fair bit. I promise you, we’ll return it later." He chuckled to himself, then he raised his foot and stomped on her head.
By the time Gerritt found Victor, he was seated on the desk of the office, looking through the paperwork. The Captain was unconscious, slumped over on the floor.
"Victor, the fighting is over," the Dark Commander stated.
"Yes, I noticed. Very good. How many prisoners have we taken in?" the young man asked, not even looking up.
"A hundred have thrown down their weapons and surrendered. But there might be more who are still alive. We’re looking through the bodies right now for any who are injured and not yet dead."
"I see. And no one escaped?" Victor raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. We ensured that no one made their way out of either gates."
"Good, good," he said, putting down a document. "I’m sure we want to celebrate, but do remember that we have to be prepared for the next few days. We’ll be very busy."
He picked up the young woman off the ground, as Gerritt reassured him. "Yes, I’ve told everyone to remain vigilant. Tally up the inventory, and contact the Infernalis."
"How prompt." Victor nodded slightly. "The prisoners are in the dungeons, yes? Split up just as I instructed?"
"Yes," Gerritt said. Then he added in quickly. "By the way, we suffered nearly three dozen casualties from this battle. A third of them from Karna’s group."
"Ah, unfortunate. And he lived?"
"He performed admirably, and survived the battle."
"Commendable," Victor remarked without any inflection in his voice. "Let the Infernalis know that I shall contact them tomorrow. Tell them there’s several hundred gold coins stored in this fort. Quite a large sum. But not as much as I expected— apparently they sent some back just recently. Anyway, I’ve been working hard, and I deserve a much needed… break."
The Dark Commander eyed the young man as he walked past him. He knew what he was saying. But still, Gerritt frowned.
"Hrmph."
***
I lay on a bed, just gazing at the ceiling.
It was a hard bed— not the comfiest— but it was a bed. Not a sleeping bag. Not the hard wooden ground. But a proper bed. This is nice, I thought to myself, then I sat up abruptly. But I’m hungry.
I looked to my left for a second, before my eyes darted away from what I saw. Still not done cleaning up, huh? I felt my stomach rumble, but I wasn’t so hungry anymore.
I sighed and walked past the Goblins dragging the dead bodies out of the room. Why doesn’t Gerritt just reanimate them to burn themselves? Seems more efficient to me! I kept looking at eye-level, and tried to breathe as little as possible. Gross.
The thought was there, but the revulsion was not as apparent as before. Apparently I was starting to get desensitized, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
I eventually found myself outside of the fortress. Still within the walls, but no longer forced to smell the putrid stench of dead bodies indoors. Just have to smell it outdoors now!
There was a big fire as bodies were being burned; it was not for any specific reason, other than the fact that burying them would have taken too much time. And leaving them out to rot would’ve stunk up the place.
We were going to stay here for a while. Not long enough for an army to come attack us, but long enough to take the loot from travelers before they stopped trying to pass through. So at most, we would be here for a week.
I was looking forward to it— to sleep in a nice comfy bed. Which was not so nice and comfy. But it was a bed nonetheless. I hadn't slept on one in months!
So I was content.
But apparently Karna was not. I found the Goblin morosely staring up at the sky. He was not upset, just… depressed? Could Goblins even get depressed? I did not know.
"Hey Karna, is Ihsan
