Until Forever

Part 2 - Chapter 11

Bidam gave his last retainer, San Tak, one last nod of farewell before turning away from him and fixing his eyes on the road that would bring him to the Queen. He knew that only death awaited him at the end of this road but he would take it nonetheless. If it was the only way to atone for his sins, he would gladly face it. He just needed to speak to her first so he could ask for her forgiveness and tell her that everything he did, he did for them.

San Tak had been a dependable and loyal soldier and Bidam knew that he would've stayed with him until the very end. But Bidam had had enough of people dying for his sake and San Tak deserved a fresh start, a new beginning. He did not deserve to share in Bidam's fate. So it was with a lighter heart that he continued trudging along the lonely road that he'd chosen for himself. At least, one of them would be able to leave all these tragedy behind them intact.

Muted footsteps from behind him reached his ears and it instantly prickled his warrior's instincts. His hand intuitively went to the hilt of his sword as he slowly turned to look behind him. And there, just a few meters from him lay San Tak, his body riddled with arrows, blood gently pooling beneath him. Bidam's blood boiled at the sight of his fallen retainer.

Looking up, just behind the outcropping of bushes, he saw archers sprawled on their bellies, their deadly crossbows trained at him. Farther up, behind the line of archers, several soldiers from the Queen's army also stood. 

"Bidam! Surrender now! We have instructions to kill you should you resist arrest!" a voice called out to him.

Bidam unsheathed his sword and assumed his famous battle stance. "Well then, why don't you show yourself and try to arrest me. Or are you afraid to face one man?" he replied tauntingly.

From behind the row of archers, Bak Uei strode forward, swinging his trademark halberd, a formidable weapon with an elongated pike head attached to the end of a long wooden staff. Few men knew how to handle such a heavy weapon but Bak Uei, with his thick, muscled arms and wide chest, twirled it around like it was nothing. His expertise with it was also legendary, having felled countless men with it in the battlefield.

A lesser man would have cowered at facing such an opponent, but Bidam stood before him without even blinking an eye. He knew that when it came to battle skills, he outranked the other man by more than a few notches. The fact that there were about a dozen soldiers standing behind Bak Uei did not daunt Bidam either. He could get rid of them in a heartbeat. The archers he did not even bother taking them into account; they would not risk firing at him for fear of hitting their compatriots.

"Bidam, we are instructed to place you under arrest for the crimes of sedition and high treason. Put down your sword and come with us peacefully," Bak Uei declared, his halberd pointed menacingly at Bidam.

"Then come and arrest me. The man who kills me will have his name written down in history," Bidam replied, a lopsided grin gracing his lips.

Seeing that Bidam had no intention of surrendering peaceably, Bak Uei then screamed his battlecry as he charged against Bidam, his halberd twisting ominously in his hand. The soldiers behind him followed suit, and scrambled towards the Sangdaedung, their swords poised to engage their lone adversary.