Chapter 18: Everything goes South

Rye quickly left the village, only to slow down once she had gone about a mile away from it.

She was extremely worried about her fate.

She had no idea where she was headed and above all, she desperately hoped not to meet any terrifying person on the road.

But unlucky for her, she had been staring at her feet when she heard the sound of horses in the distance.

Her heart thumped in fear and she instinctively lowered her gaze even more. All she wanted was for them to pass beside her without so much as looking at her.

Looking around, she would have dived behind anything even a rock if her environment wasn't completely plain.

The noise approaching her increased in intensity and her fear only worsened as she saw a huge carriage accompanied by more than a dozen horses slowly come to a stop as they throttled towards her.

"You look a lot like a human," a deep authoritative voice spoke right after the sound of a door opening was head. Rye nodded her head vigorously, bending and falling to her knees at the same time.

'It's better to act too compliant than for me to not look respectful enough,'

"I-I'm a half-Santor," Rye responded without looking up in a trembling tone.

"Hmmmm, she looks good enough for a human doesn't she?" Rye heard the person who seemed to be the leader ask as she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Yes sir, and it appears that she came out of the village we're headed to," another voice spoke, one that sounded just as cold and condescending.

"Hmmm, so you think she's leaving because she heard that we were coming?"

"Yes sir. We should take her with us!"

At that moment, Rye tightened her fists as she dug her forehead into the ground the second she heard one of the men's opinions.

She had on the black powder Misha had given her to make her eyes look more slanted, but that didn't mean that the Reds in front of her wouldn't discover her identity if she spent enough time with them.

"Hmm, I agree. Pick her up! After we're done with our business in the village you'll be free to go,"

Rye wasn't happy about the sudden turn of events but beyond that, she was terrified of what would happen to her if she refused to show complete obedience.

All It would take was one scratch on her body for her identity as a human to be revealed.

One of them moved closer to her and Rye instantly scrambled on her feet as quickly as she could, before he could pull her up.

Following closely behind him as he led her to the second carriage where their food items and other miscellaneous were being stored.

She was just about to get in when she took one last look behind her, only to freeze in fear at what she saw.

Something so unexpected that it wasn't until she was pushed into the cart that she snapped back to her senses, her eyes widened in alarm.

She stared and would have stared some more if she could, only to lower her head into a submissive position a second later.

'It's them! I'm sure of it!' Rye thought to herself, resisting the urge to look back at them again.

Standing behind her in their respective horses was a man who looked like the leader of the intruders. To confirm her suspicions was the Santor that rode right beside him.

'What are they doing here? Are they going to reveal that I'm human?'

Rye's heart thumped heavily in her chest as she wondered what they were doing there and why.

She was terrified and it was only after a while into the journey, that she realized that they couldn't expose her as a runaway human without exposing themselves.

'At least not without proof,'

Rye relaxed a little because of this, moving her thoughts to the other problem she had to face which was Misha and the Murder she must have publicized.

'Won't the Reds kill me the instant they find out that I've killed one of their own?'

As much as it worried her, she couldn't do anything about it as she sat in the cart dreading the time they would get to their destination.

Unfortunately for Rye, it didn't take long before the entire company got there, stopping right in the center of the village she was familiar with.

The loud slamming of the door to the luxurious carriage was heard right before the sound of someone getting out of it.

"GET EVERYONE OUT HERE!" A fierce order rang in the air.

From where she sat Rye could see the men around her instantly jump off their horses and run straight towards the houses around them.

Their swords were drawn out of their scabbards and glinted dangerously in the afternoon sun.

Screams started soon after, and Rye did her best to make her image in the cart as small as possible, enough to go unnoticed as the Village people began to stream into the center of the village one after the other.

"Please don't hurt us!"

"Wha-what have we done? Let us go!"

"Don't touch my wife!"

The screams only got much louder as the people poured out into the center of the village.

"Lieutenant Hozah! Everyone has been pushed out," one of the men moved closer to inform their leader.

"Check again! I don't care if it's a baby, I want them out here!" The lieutenant commanded in a heated voice as Rye watched from inside the cart.

She could see Misha and Krella with her two sons, gathered together on one side.

At first, Rye had held on to hope but with how intensely they were searching the Village, it was just a matter of time before they found the body of the dead boy.

'No matter how I see it, it can't end well,'

A few minutes later, the last group of men that had gone around the village came back dragging a huge bag behind them.

"Sir, we found a dead body hidden in the barn!" One of them loudly informed the Lieutenant, his voice loud enough for all the villagers to hear.

There were heavy gasps of shock and one man even ran out, his red eyes filled with tears and a tone of agony as he spoke.

"Please- it can't be my boy! I couldn't find him! Please- I just need to check!" He screamed as they held him back from getting closer to the body on the ground.

"Open it!" Hozar commanded and Rye took a deep breath in, closing her eyes from inside the cart, wracking her head for a plan to ensure her survival when everything went south.