God of War: The Descendant

13th Chapter: ekpaidevménoi

"Don't forget our arrangement," Lahar said to Makarov as he motioned for his soldiers to remove the chains that bound the prisoner's body. "She is still under the Council's heavy surveillance, so sending her out on missions is forbidden until their consent is given."

"I know, I know. No need to tell me twice." Makarov gave a sigh. "And child, I'm also part of this. Have you forgotten that I'm a member of the Council too?"

"No, I haven't. I'm simply reminding you that you have no jurisdiction over the prisoner even if she is a member of your guild." Lahar answered meekly with a smile that annoyed the guild master. "You and your guild do have some history with the Council, so it's best to be cautious."

Makarov gave a stern look then smiled triumphantly, "Yes, I am proud to say we do have history with the Council," To Lahar's surprise, Makarov laughed. "So now you know what kind of people you're dealing with."

Something about the old man's smile almost scared Lahar. It was coolly intimidating. But despite that, he managed to keep his cool. "You sir, and your guild are certainly alike,"

"Hmm, Of course, we're all family—"

"You're a bunch of suicidal idiots."

Makarov laughed heartily and took a quick glance behind him to where his entire family was, watching; then said to himself, "Like father, like children."

Still feeling cautious about the prisoner, Lahar advanced with slow steps and then stopped a foot away from her. He noticed her cuffs were still intact and squinted his eyes. "I thought I ordered you to remove these cuffs?"

"You did sir," One of the knights said. "But this idiot here—" He nudged the knight crawling in front of him with his staff, "Just lost the keys."

"You what?" Lahar's voice rose as he glowered at his subordinate who was down on all fours, fumbling on the ground around his feet. "How could you lose something so important!"

The crawling knight could hear the lecture his leader was throwing at him, but didn't bother answering. He was too focused on finding the keys, and the only words that came out of his mouth were, "I Know It's Here Somewhere; I Know It's Here Somewhere; I Know It's Here Somewhere." He stopped in his searching when he felt a fist hit the top of his head. "Ow!"

"How could you lose them? The keys were tied to your belt!" Lahar further scolded, an expression of disbelief plastered on his face. His most responsible and reliable teammate just lost the most important thing in the present situation. He can't believe it.

"Y—Yes, but—"

"But what!"

"I... I needed to pee badly," The knight stuttered, embarrassed, "I had no choice but to remove the belt—"

"It was around your waist! You'd still be able to pee even while wearing it!"

"But I wouldn't feel comfortable..."

"Just stop." Lahar put both hands to his head then ran them through his hair. What was he going to do now? He could try to break the chains with some incredibly powerful magical attacks, but doing so would hurt the girl...

Actually, it wasn't a bad idea.

Surely the council wouldn't mind if she lost a limb or two. After all, she would still be alive, just... no arms.

Lahar smiled at his thoughts. His hatred for the prisoner was so great that he started imagining her losing a part of her body. His gaze traveled up from her cuffed hands to her face. Her eyes were intense, focused; and it seemed that her focused gaze was on all him.