Blood of the Merciless

Chapter Thirty-Five

35.

Savia, Florian and Ashe sat in a small boat as they rowed across the giant lake. Ivo informed them to use the same route Savia had when she had escaped the dungeon. The journey was silent bar the sound of the water and the rain. No one dared to say a word, no one dared to look each other in the eye. Mornings were strange in Adhu Aqua, the city made no sound. No animals, no people. This day was even stranger as the barrier that surrounded the city seemed to disappear. Ivo warned them that they could not worry about that currently as they all had a bigger task ahead of them. They embarked before first light, they desperately had to get the seal to avoid casualties. That was not true for Savia, she desperately had to get the seal to save Alaric. Ivo had told them that the treasury was found on the second-highest of the left wing of the castle and that the Seal of Habbeo will be inside a golden chest with green accents. The trio arrived at their destination. They allowed her to lead the way. She hastily found the entrance that Orvyn had shown her. As she entered the familiar dungeon, she gripped her daggers. She noticed that Ashe had held her spear a little bit tighter and Florian had his hand on the hilt of his blade. She stuck close to the wall as she navigated them out of the dungeon. There had been no soldiers. They entered the lowest above ground level of the castle. The atmosphere felt different. Savia frowned. Ashe seemed to pick up on her change of emotion. "What is wrong?" She asked.

Savia did not answer.

"The castle is different. It is too quiet. We have not seen a single soldier yet." Florian stated.

Savia nodded.

"Is that not a good thing?" Ashe asked.

"It is either we are incredibly lucky or they know we are here and are planning to ambush us," Florian answered.

Savia headed forward. She peeked into a few rooms. There was not a single soul on the first floor of the castle. She heard a faint scream. It seemed to originate from the outside of the castle. By the looks on their faces, Ashe and Florian heard it too. She immediately headed for the stairs, not bothering to check the other floors, she made her way to the second-highest floor. There was not enough time to worry about a potential ambush. She turned around to her comrades. "Go help Ivo."

"What no- '' Florian tried to argue.

"I am fine on my own. I am a thief, I am accustomed to stealing. If there is an ambush waiting for us, it is better if I get caught alone. It means the game is not over yet. Please, this ordeal is done if Jerial kills the others." Savia explained.

Florian frowned, Ashe grabbed his wrist and began descending the stairs.

Savia began sneaking to the left side of the floor. There had been no one on this floor either. She had expected that there would be soldiers guarding the treasury but there had been none. She found the inconspicuous door to the treasury. There had been a slight issue. The door had been slightly ajar. She tightened her grip on her daggers as she took a peek inside. The room was large. Shelves lined the walls and various objects had been placed along the shelves. There had been podiums with glass cases placed atop. There must have been hundreds of different artefacts, weapons, books and whatever the Great Lord deemed was important enough to store. Along the right side of the shelves, stood a figure clad in all black. Savia could not see a face. She scanned the room for any other enemies but found none. Alaric's teachings played in her head once again.

You will not win a battle of strength. Try to restrain movement and aim for the kill. Savia wouldn't cast, she did not want to accidentally destroy anything in the room. She quietly slipped into the room. The figure did not notice her yet. She sneakily made her way behind the figure. She would aim for the neck. She raised her dagger to strike when a gloved hand caught her wrist. A swift kick to the stomach and another to the chin had her stumbling backwards. The figure turned to her. Its face had been completely covered by a mask. The mask was black as well and did not seem to have an opening to see through. How does he see? It did not continue its assault, turning its focus back to the shelves. It seemed to be searching for something. Savia chose to charge again. It attempted another kick, she anticipated it and dodged. She grabbed its collar attempting a throw toward the ground, An athletic masterpiece occurred. The figure caught itself by placing its hands on the ground. It placed its boots under her arms and tossed her across the room. Savia landed on her back, it had been painful. She could not give up now, he was counting on her. She stumbled to her feet to see the figure analysing the shelves once again. She took off her cloak, it left her in a sleeveless shirt that had been buttoned to her neck. She could taste blood between her teeth. She let her hair loose. She then tossed her discarded cloak into the figure, who hadn't anticipated it. She used the moment of distraction to close the distance between them. She lowered her body to the ground and kicked its feet out from under it. It made no sound as it hit the floor. As Alaric instructed, she wasted no time and stabbed it in the torso. She was about to stab it with her other dagger when a fist met the right side of her torso. The punch was powerful. Much more than a regular punch. It resulted in her being flung across the room and crashing into the shelves. The pain was enough for her to blackout.

Savia did not know how much time had passed when she woke up. Her entire body was in pain. She recognized her daggers. They were strangely placed alongside her. In front of her had been a golden box with green accents. Her memories flooded back as she hurriedly looked around the room. Her cloak had been on the floor but other than that there was no one else in the room. She grabbed the golden box and opened it. Within the box was a golden cuff bracelet that gave off a strange glow. She knew it was what she was looking for from the description she received from Ivo. She quickly closed the box and grabbed her daggers. She had no time. She had to get to him. She limped out of the room. Every movement caused her body to ache. It took a lot of willpower to reach the castle gates. After many stumbles, she had finally made it. The scene before her caused her to freeze. It had been horrifying.