𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑂𝐶𝐸𝑁𝐶𝐸 𝐿𝑂𝑆𝑇 // 𝐴. 𝐷𝐸 𝑅𝑈𝑁𝐸

𝑋𝑋

| XX. Soldier, or Man? |

—

The group of children had traversed the sea of rats in somewhat success, the fire guiding their way. They snuck past a few soldiers with little difficulty; for men who were trained to find and kill, they didn't seem to be doing a very good job. They were on the right track to getting out of this place, and back onto the road to the Chateâu.

Until they came across yet another soldier, though he was different. He was pressed against the iron bars of the wooden tower, rats surrounding him with the only source of light the torch Amicia had plucked off the wall. He was breathing heavily, whimpering like a frightened dog. Marion had never seen a soldier look so scared- soldiers weren't supposed to be scared, they killed without mercy and weren't afraid to slaughter entire families.

But this man didn't seem to be a heartless killer.

When he saw the children from across the room, he had begun to plead. He pleaded and begged for them to have mercy, to stay away and not drive the rats closer to him. But the rats were surrounding their only exit- they had no choice.

Marion knew Amicia wouldn't do it. She was visibly conflicted, eyebrows bunched together, with sweat dripping down her forehead. At this point, the two girls were no strangers to killing. Before her injury, Marion wouldn't hesitate to slice a soldier's neck, while Amicia had near perfect aim.

But none of those soldiers had pleaded for mercy.

The dark-haired girl took the torch from Amicia's hands, she needed two hands to support it, and they still shook unsteadily. If Amicia wouldn't do it, she would. As his screams filled the area, Marion felt no better than the soldiers that slaughtered the De Runes. How could she be angry at them for having no compassion when she had just done such a vile thing?

Marion grit her jaw, and left the tower through the large hole in the wall. She didn't expect a drop, and let out a quiet yelp as she fell into the mud, the torch immediately going out.

"Goddamnit!" Marion spat, wiping her now muddy hands off on her britches.

"It's fine, Marion, we'll do without it." Lucas reassured, but Marion kept her mouth shut.

She didn't want to speak. She didn't have anything to say.

There was a lot of smoke in the air, from what Marion could tell, there was a burning tower in the distance, just past the Aqueduct. Her lungs definitely didn't like that- her throat felt scratchy, and she knew she wouldn't be able to breathe too deep, lest she send herself into yet another coughing fit.

Her hands were still shaking. She couldn't tell if it was the usual shivers, or from hunger, or the guilt of killing an innocent man- no. No, he wasn't innocent. If they were in any other situation, he wouldn't have hesitated to hurt them. Marion's mind was in a constant conflict. Part of her felt like what she did was justified, while the other... The other part made her feel like a horrible person.

They approached a lone soldier, blocking their only way through. The rest of the area was surrounded by bushes or old cobblestone fencing- trying to get past any other way would without a doubt alert the man.

"I don't see any other way... Damn!" Amicia hissed, before sucking in a deep breath.

"We don't have a choice- we'll have to take him by surprise." Lucas reached into his satchel, pulling out a few materials that Marion couldn't identify, and handed them to Amicia.