Liberation

Chase walked aimlessly among the crowds of savages and murderers. 

He had no true purpose being among these animals anymore, so he planned on finding his team and discussing what their plans going forward would be.

As his wounds threatened to catch up to him, he had a terrible feeling as he gaze toward the highest mountain peak of Frostfang, that stood next to the great castle at the kingdom's center.

"Are you going to run?"

A terribly soul numbing voice asked from no specific direction.

Chase ignored it, and continued walking forward.

It felt like he was pushing through a desolate dessert, running on fumes and an empty stomach, and yet he seemed perfectly fine on the outside.

Of course there was no gain from killing Sazir of House Frostfang, but knowing that Chase had freed the man, gave him some solace. 

'Was it the right thing to do Sparks?'

'Oh...'

He had forgotten that his canine companion had been buried underneath ashen dirt for quite a while now.

The scenes playing out in front of him were quite horrendous and he refused to believe that they were even real.

Men... Women... Children... Elderly... Even the animals were being massacred like livestock.

Blood had stained the walls of the houses made of ebony bricks, frosted over in layers of eternal snow.

Then the fire came...

Consuming the buildings and piles of corpses like a vile infection.

Chase couldn't believe that he had fought for these savages.

In fact, part of him wondered if it was his fault that this had even happened in the first place.

Screams echoed from the basement of one of the nearby houses that hadn't been corrupted by the wildfire's path yet.

Chase walked toward the house with no real purpose, and shrugged off any doubts that he had about himself.

The basement cellar was swung wide open, and there was a trail of blood leading into the stone room below.

Chase drew Hero's Fang, and shut the cellar door behind him.

He figured that if he could kill some of the evil at its branches, maybe one day he could de-root it entirely.

Walking silently against the cold wall, he peaked around the corner to see a young girl laying on top of a gruesomely murdered woman, with tears falling down her eyes.

Two of Rider's foot soldiers were laughing as they picked up a handful of coins that had been in the woman's pockets. 

Chase donned the mask, feeling a surge of energy radiate through his being.

"Alright girl... You're coming with me."

The bigger man said with a terrible chuckle.

Chase wanted to vomit as the man forcefully grabbed her arm.

Before he could lay another hand on the screaming girl, a thud resounded inside of the cold basement. 

Blood splattered on the farthest wall, and his head had been entirely dislodged from his body with a single cut.

The other man drew his blade, but it was already too late.

Chase slashed his leg off, turning the man into some sort of stupid ragdoll.

"Monsters..."

Chase muttered, tightening his grip on Hero's Fang.

"You! You're supposed to be on our side, TRAITOR!"

The man screamed through the pain of his injury.

Chase lifted his sword into the air, and grinned underneath the mask.

"Traitor I am..."

Then he dispelled the man's life force with a single strike, two if you count the previous one. 

Then he turned toward the girl and removed his mask. 

She crawled back toward the farthest wall, whimpering and clutching a small frozen doll.

She had bright blue hair and indigo eyes, and looked far too frail to be of nobility. 

Chase set his sword in-between two broken tiles of flooring, and slowly walked toward her, putting his hands up in a friendly matter.

"It's alright... I'm not going to hurt you..."

"Mo- Mommy! They hurt her!"

The girl screamed, pointing at the massacred corpse of the older woman. 

"Mommy's in a better place now... Just come with me or someone will hurt you..."

The girl shook her head, and pushed further back into the wall, clearly fearful of Chase.

Then another voice called from the top of the stairs...

"If I come down there... Heir of Vallmora... I do not wish to fight you..."

The voice was strong, and yet hurt, if that even made sense, what made less sense was the amount of familiarity that came from the top of the stairs.

Chase felt his blood run cold, and he swiftly back away from the girl, and grabbed the handle of Hero's Fang.

The other walked down the stairs slowly revealing herself in the dim light of a single shattered lantern.

"You..."

Chase lunged toward the woman, bringing his blade above his head, but just as the blade was about to meet Rhysara's throat she had put her hands up in a surrendering matter.

"I've lost..."

Chase couldn't just kill her... As much as he hated it, she had indeed lost, and her kingdom was falling to ruin. 

"The audacity required to show yourself in front of me..."

Rhysara's face was painful to look at, and almost caused Chase to forget that he had originally planned to kill The Queen of Frostfang...

"Even if I wanted to fight, you would lose at my hand... Do not forget that you are young and carry no Trinity Art..." 

"Then why are you here...?"

Rhysara looked at the young girl and smiled softly.

"Because Leander swore that my people would not be killed senselessly... But it appears even the ancient Paladin has no say over a king..."

Then she turned toward Chase, after examining the bodies of the soldiers that Chase had recently murdered, and did something completely unexpected.

She knelt before the heir of Vallmora...

"Rhysara of House Frostfang is dead... So I ask that you bare no grudge against me... and forgive me for the murder of your father..."

Chase tightened his grip on Hero's Fang...

"I will not forgive you for that... But if it means that this girl may live, then leave at once and never show yourself in my presence again."

Rhysara nodded.

And then she left with the child, leaving Chase standing alone in the basement that smelled of rotting flesh.