Lament of the Slave

Chapter 25: Surrender

I was still having trouble breathing, my lungs were only now healing, the decay slowly turning back to healthy tissue, but I still tried to get up. Weak in my knees but standing, I looked around. I stood less than twenty meters from the barracks wall, wondering why were they heading here, to the opposite side from the barracks gate? Was there another entrance? Place where did they break-in, or did they just want to jump over the wall?

"Where's Roe?" I heard Hal ask, somewhere behind me.

Turning quickly, I saw a swordsman just a few steps away rushing at me. This time I didn't get a chance to create a barrier. He punched me in the stomach with his left hand, taking my breath away, and threw me over his shoulder like a bag in one motion. That's how I felt, like a punching bag. How many blows have I received tonight?

"She's doing her damn job. Why do you think we have to deal with only the two of them?" the swordsman growled at Hal, ignoring me on his shoulder. Not stopping for a moment, he said, "If you did your job, we wouldn't have to be in this mess!!"

"How could I know that the local captain ... aaaah," Hal shouted suddenly in pain and fell to the ground.

The swordsman just looked back at his companion, smirked, and said, "Good luck!"

Still gasping for breath on the swordsman's shoulder, I looked at Hal. He sat on the ground holding his left leg, which was missing from the knee down. The rest of it lay on the ground beside a sword stuck in the ground. Of course, another potion appeared in his hand, but I was more interested in who had thrown the sword.

So I looked in the direction from which the sword flew. My heart leaped when I saw Captain Rayden jumping off the barracks wall and running here. She moved so fast that in the darkness illuminated by the burning building behind her, it seemed to me that she was teleporting, appearing closer and closer.

Though, my joy was short-lived, as I realized how close we were to the barracks wall, which the swordsman either intended to run through, as he did not slow down at all, or rather jump over it. I looked at the Captain again. But even though she was so close, she was still far away. I knew Castiana was behind this wall, that it didn't mean the end, but as I saw it, my chances of escaping behind this wall were slimmer than here.

That's why I was determined to do everything I could to keep the swordsman from crossing the wall.

From my position on the swordsman's shoulder, where I faced the wall with my ass, I covered his face with my healthy wing, hoping it would distract him at least for a second. I was under no illusion that a man as strong as he would not have a skill similar to mine [Space Domain], and even with blocked vision, he will have no problem with orientation.

I screamed in agony as pain seared through my loins after that asshole grabbed my wing and tore it from my back. The pain I felt when a spear pierced me, or a dagger stabbed my heart, was nothing compared to this agony I felt right now, hitting my mind so hard that my vision went black. Unfortunately, I didn't faint even though I wished I did.

In pain, overwhelmed by the fact that it was all probably in vain, I watched as he tossed my wing aside. When the swordsman staggered with the next step as an arrow hit him in the thigh, gave me hope that, for some reason, he didn't have the skill I thought he must have and relied on his eyesight.

Because of the pain and tears in my eyes, I relied more on my domain now, so I had no idea how far the Captain could be? How far were the two Guards the swordsman had fought before? Who shot the arrow at him? I didn't know!! But I was terrified that if he got over the wall, the pain I had experienced so far would be the least I had to fear.