Chapter 15: The Answer Lies In Blood

Yiss sprang to her feet and shouted at the two Rogue members

"We WILL NOT kill the governor's wife. Never!"

Lina nodded in agreement.

"Newbies are always so stubborn!" Yama said annoyed.

Kti shrugged and grimaced at Lina and Yiss

"You two, sit down and listen. You don't believe us, right?!"

Yiss and Lina nodded.

"Give us a solid enough reason why any of this is worth it." They said.

Yama glared at everyone and replied in a grave and sad manner

"If you must know our secret" She began 

"war is coming."

Lina and Yiss were sent aback.

Yama continued

"Whether the Rogues are destroyed or not or ever, war is inevitable."

Lina and Yiss became even more disturbed for even Yama that seemed harsh and hardened had shaky hands while talking.

Kti patted her back.

He looked at them and said

"There is little known reason why king Yartar wants war. 

But one thing that is the cause is the Rogues—"

Lina interrupted

"Ah! We knew it! You fools are the reason for all this!—"

Kti got up to his feet enraged

"You will not insult me and my comrades for wanting to help our country!"

Yama stood up and signaled Kti to calm down.

Kti shrugged and grimaced

"You two don't know a thing about this soil we call our home, Kiltar.

So let me explain why a war is inevitable."

{5 years ago}

Yartar is the brother to the king Da.

And Yartar was actually a very kind hearted person.

The problem began when he tasted power.

For Da had instructed Yartar to be king of Kiltar as Da went to a far away country for peace talks with another country.

Yartar being king, he realised that there was so much that could be done as Kiltar was the strongest country on the continent.

But his brother wasn't interested in conquering lands.

Which disappointed Yartar.

So he made a promise to himself to utilise Kiltar's fighting potential and capture the entire continent and make other countries colonies of Kiltar.

When Da had returned, to his surprise, the brother handled the kingdom quite well.

Less crime. More jobs. And a new ally: Misk.

When Yartar had told Da of the conquering initiative, Da became disheartened

"Why are you talking like this?!" Da asked disturbed.

Yartar looked at him surprised

"The reason?! We could be much more powerful!—"

Da became frustrated

"You're more peaceful than I am! You even made Kiltar a friend of Misk—which I couldn't do!

So what's with this power talk?"

Yartar left frustrated.

Turning back, he looked at his brother and said

"That's why you couldn't befriend Misk and I'm always faster than you: you don't seize opportunity."

After stomping out, Da was confused and frustrated.

But the problem wouldn't end there.

Yartar didn't want to wait for his brother's death, so he came up with a group that would destroy Da in secret.

And by the time he'd become king, he would pretend he 'dealt' with his brother's killers.

He worked on this plan for years, until an epidemic hit Kiltar and his brother was the first victim of Sudden.

Which allowed him to quietly seize power.

And in an attempt to dissolve the the opposition he created, they turned against him with their leader now thirsty for power.

His fight against this was him labeling himself as the victim and them as the villains.

And they scattered into smaller groups to avoid attention.

But one particular group pressed on. All this time, this smaller faction were double-agents that sought Yartar's life. Yet, they pretended to be on Yartar's side.

Making them to be called Rogues.

The leader of the group vanished due to tension around the same time Timothy left—Da's one and only child—vanished.

In an attempt to ruin Timothy and the Rogues, he falsely announced Timothy their leader.

He knew how his brother's son would try and stop him from conquering nations, so he had put this blackmail to him.

With the country divided, other countries will want to take over Kiltar.

Whether this happens or not depends on how fast power can be returned to the rightful owner.

{Present day}

After Kti finished narrating the history of the Rogues, Lina and Yiss were silent.

There was such silence it became torture to the ears.

Then Lina began to think of her parents, her siblings and her country and everything they've been through.

She got up to her feet and killed the silence saying in a grave tone

"To destroy the governor and his wife, where do I start?"

Kti smiled with malevolence.

***

As Tye stepped into an abandoned village, the smell of blood hit hard on his nose.

There was rain coming, and surveying the land for people—there were none.

As it began to rain, he went under a roof that was extending from a house top.

Waiting, he saw someone pass quickly in the rain and went into a dark alley.

Confused, Tye began to walk around the village as the rain turned into a drizzle.

While walking, he saw people gathered round a statue and were crying.

These people had thick black hair, with bloodshot eyes and sharp teeth.

Terrified, Tye hid behind a side of a house.

Observing, he began to hear their words

"The deities of this land! Take this curse from us!"

The people chanted over and over again.

And then they stopped.

Everyone was silent.

A boy with his mother opened his mouth and sent a chill down Tye's spine

"Mommy" he began

"Someone that's not of us has come."

Tye's heartbeat dropped as everyone took the little boy's words without thought.

Tye had hid behind a wall.

And everyone, dozens of them, just stared in that direction.

Large amounts of sweat started coming from Tye's head

"A disguise won't be good here."

He thought put on his hood and hid at dark corners of the alley.

And the chant continued.

Then he felt a door behind him open and he fell into darkness.

"Aargh!"

He fell a few meters down and landed hard on his hands.

Thanks to the armour, the fall only bruised instead of breaking his arm.

"Phew! Maybe that blacksmith was worth it after all."

Coming back to the moment, he realised he was in pitch darkness.

He drawed his sword and was searching the place for anything he could feel.

"Darn!" He whispered to himself.

He proceeded by feeling the ground and sides. Until he reached for a torch he came with.

Lighting it up, the place was so vast and dark that the light didn't lead to anywhere.

Just darkness after darkness.

He kept walking until he reached a large cave that led to a larger cave.

Before him there led to another path.

And proceeding to the left but smaller cave, he saw bodies of people that he had knowledge of.

A dozen Kiltarns that were lifeless scattered across the path.

All of whom were victims of Sudden.

Clenching his fist in agony, he could feel hot tears escaping his eyes.

"Tsk!" As hard as he tried, the tears couldn't stop flowing.

They say men aren't supposed to cry, but Tye was the heir to Kiltar's throne.

And being alone with no help or clear path frustrated him and the that people died only reminded him of his harrowing mission of finding a cure to the epidemic in Kiltar and preventing his relatives from ruining the country.

Of which if he doesn't carry out, Kiltar will be destroyed under the rule of his relatives.

He wiped his tears and looked around

"How did this happen?"

Why are some Kiltarns dying and others aren't?

"I'll avenge every one of you."

He said with his heart on fire as he had reached a dead end and headed for the other, more larger cave.

Inside he saw several desks with books scattered on the floor and table.

And metres away was another cave.

Exhausted from everything, he saw a seat close to a table and sat down.

In curiosity, he flipped through the books he was reading.

"Journals?" He remarked.

Someone had been journaling their experience in the village.

""Day 200: Miles away from any civilization, there has been no sign of help for us""

Tye read aloud.

And every word confuses him even more

""No hope. I am the only one left...I shall now leave, with my friends.""

Tye stopped as he heard footsteps and he hid at the outer parts of the cave.

A man came inside, with thick black hair and red eyes.

"He's just like the people from before!" Tye thought.

Only this time, this man wasn't mad. He was even arranging his books and made a splendid environment of the place.

Then four other men joined him as he began to study.

Then another came in with two huge bags of coins.

Gold coins.

Strange enough, the man wity the big sacks carried them with ease, even though he was a tad bit smaller than an average husky man.

"Is it a coincidence?"

Tye flashed back to the words of the Duke of the South-eastern region.

Of how 'inhuman people' had stolen his treasure.

Before Tye could conjure a theory, the one sitting on the chair studying stopped and made Tye to sweat

"That idiot that thinks he can hide, let's use him for the fire of tonight's meal."

Even though he was hiding, they all turned to Tye's direction.

Five men that looked inhuman were quiet staring at Tye's direction with bloodlust.

Tye started to have shortage of breath as he was hiding

"Staring! Why are they always staring?!" he thought worried.

They say suffering sharpens a man.

And Tye grinned at the thought of this philosophy.

Ever since he came to Misk, he's never been in a tight corner. Outnumbered? He turned the tables. Surprise attack? The attackers end up in the belly of death.

"So this guy thinks we're idiots?!" One of the men asked.

But there was no response.

In frustration, the man walked up to the corner Tye was hiding and before he reached, a hooded figure emerged.

"Yeah, you're an idiot!" Tye said in a calm voice.

All the men became furious upon seeing him.

"Who let you in here?"

Tye clenched his fist

"More like, why is the village like this?!"

The man before Tye clenched his fist and tried swinging it at him, but another man said

"Wait!" The man stopped at his words.

"Sir, why are you here? Are you here to end our suffering?"

Tye was confused

"What do you mean? And how did you know I was back there?"

They all shrugged and laughed at him.

"You won't understand, you—"

Tye erupted in rage

"This village! The people! All of you, why are you like this? What did the Duke do?"

They stopped laughing at his words and the one seated replied

"No one remembers us. Even before this, no one cared for us.

Take a look at us! Everyone has been struck with abnormal strength but cursed with madness!"

Tye backed off disturbed.

The men continued

"Our eyes as red as blood! Our skin as white as a newborn lamb! We are monsters—"

"You're not monsters!" Tye protested.

The men that looked deranged began to wonder who was mad.

Them that looked and acted hideously, or this man that's behind a hood?

The one seated asked

"What do you mean? Why should you care for us?"

Tye didn't respond and only surveyed them.

And then all the men—except Tye—began to feel a massive headache that sent them to their knees.

Tye's eyes glimmered at the sight

"That's why you're not monsters!"

At his words, the men were bewildered as they felt normal again.

"You people, for some reason, are the only ones that haven't run completely mad!"

Even though it looked obvious, the men never thought of this fact until now.

"So what now?"

One of them asked.

Tye took in a deep breath.

"The way to save your people" he began

"Courses through all your veins."