Ed walked briskly around the weathered cathedral. He found a couple of doors that led to simple rooms but unless there was a hidden lever somewhere, there was no prison in the cathedral.
'I should check outside' Ed thought after a bit of pondering. The chance of finding something by circling the cathedral was not nil.
He jogged out of the place and managed to keep his ears and eyes perked. In the end, it barely even mattered as he easily located a set of stairs.
'I better hurry' Although feeling somewhat stupid, Ed still felt the urgency of the situation. What if the old orc lady decided to kill all the captives as a form of revenge?
Ed stormed down the set of stairs, he slammed his entire body against a door at the bottom opening it with a loud bang. His eyes were greeted by the dim lighting of torches and the voices of those surprised inside.
"F*ckin-!" "What…?" "Hahahaha, scaredy cats!"
Ed quickly scanned the situation and found that there were two sacred tribe guards who had been shocked by his arrival. Apart from that, there were also captives inside rows of prison cells.
"Are you the one who caused that commotion earlier?! Where is the-" One of the guard orcs shouted as he pointed a blade at the not too far off Ed. Before he could continue ranting, however, the earth grabbed a hold of him and swallowed him alive.
"Wha-" The other guard couldn't react. He also received the same treatment, except that his head was still above the floor.
[Bula (Thunder Cry)]
[Urog (Thunder Cry)]
[Bolar (Thunder Cry)]
[Grikug (Sanctuary)]
A slew of messages quickly appeared over Ed's field of vision as he promptly scanned the row of cells. On a quick count, there were approximately 15 cells.
'This is bad…' Although he found a prison, clearly this was not where most of the captives were held. if it was…
"Hey...!" The rooted orc shouted.
'Let's hope it isn't…' The 15 cells each seemed to hold one or two orcs, that was a maximum of 30 orcs. There were captives of the thunder cry tribe though meaning that most of the members of Sanctuary had perished or were held elsewhere.
"You won't get away with this! God watches ove-" The orc who was initially ignored decided to threaten Ed. He was cut off by Ed's terrifying glance.
"Where are the other captives?" Ed asked with a chilly voice.
"I- You won't get anything out of m-" Before the orc could continue, the earth writhed and he was swallowed alive. Not more than three seconds after, he resurfaced.
"Wha-?" The orc seemed terrified after coming back to the surface.
His breathing had been stopped and he truly felt death's hand gripping at his lungs exhausting any ounce of oxygen.
"Where are the other captives?" Ed asked again.
The orc guard who had been momentarily gripped by death and scared out of his wits was brought back to real life. His gaze turned fierce with a hint of smugness.
"You won't kill m-" The orc didn't even get to finish his sentence once more as Ed gave him first hand experience of what it was like to be a corpse buried in a casket.
"That's not the answer I'm looking for" Ed said five seconds after when the guard returned.
The fearfulness he had briefly forgotten had returned, and with a vengeance too. The extra two seconds seemed to add a lifetime of torture. To make matters worse, Ed's expression showed he was losing his patience.
"God wil- Aaaargh!" Before he could continue a swift axe swing cut off one of the orc's ears. His head started to bleed profusely, and that wasn't all.
The ground swallowed him whole again. Once Ed returned him with extended time, the unyielding orc seemed terrified but still didn't speak. His sense of smell paid the price. After that, his sense of hearing was further impaired. More and more body parts and limbs were being cut up until the orc finally gave in.
Now a husk of his former self, the pale orc agreed to show Ed the direction of the prison. It was good that he did too, all he had left now were his legs, torso, and head. As for the bleeding, it was a none issue. Some well-controlled fire took care of it.
Ed didn't forget to free the orcs present either. It was actually rather hard to forget, throughout the whole torture, a large chunk of them was cheering and jeering. Others were clamoring to be let out.
"Thanks Ed, I knew you would come for us. Hahaha!" One of them even tried to get chummy with him.
[Sarul (Exhausted)]
Overseer of Sanctuary's crystal mine. Part-time warrior.
'Overseer huh…' Ed had a vague impression of this orc. If he remembered correctly, he was Duma's right-hand orc.
Still, Ed ignored him and instantly addressed the crowd instead. There were 28 orcs, excluding the mangled guard of course.
"I am going to rescue the rest, who wants to come along?" Ed didn't beat around the bush. The orcs which were initially either making fun of the guard or thanking and boasting to Ed instantly became silent.
"I'll go, I need to find my brother!" One of the orcs stepped and yelled with resolution.
The other orcs glanced at each other before quickly mimicking him.
"Yeah, I'm with you!" "I'll teach those bast*rds a lesson!" "I'm a f*cking warrior!"
The silence was broken as all of the orcs started to clamor their willingness to follow Ed.
The guard who was weak and pale by the side felt pain from the constant screaming. He really wanted to die but at the moment Ed was in charge of his life. The last way he wished to perish was being buried alive.
"Alright." Ed finally responded. He had a resolute expression as he turned towards the mangled orc.
Even the tears that welled at the side of the orc's eyes couldn't stop him from vividly catching the wild resolution in Ed's eyes. He gulped even though his throat had long since being dried of its saliva.
"Lead the way" Ed told the orc who barely heard this and nodded.
They walked out of the small prison, Moonlight greeted the captured orcs letting them know how much time had passed since their captivity. They didn't dwell on it though and followed rowdily after Ed and the living corpse.
***
Lagakha was an experienced woman. The dread she felt as she stared at the rocks that illuminated the night skies was not small. Perhaps her dwindling life span had made her more familiar with death and its harrowing claws.
She no longer bothered to maintain her sea of plants as she instead made the grass carry her swiftly out of the area. Nonetheless, the area of effect of the crashing meteors was not small, nor was its effects as even the dust and dirt that flew from the impact was enough to aggrieve her aged body.
Her hasty retreat was not hasty enough. Her garbs had been tattered and dirtied but she didn't dare stay. The monstrous orc that summoned such a calamity was still inside her dome of grass.
With a bloodied and bruised body, she continued her swift retreat while being carried away by the grass. She only felt reassured of her safety minutes after the actual event.
"Cough cough" She coughed dryly as she finally stood on her two feet. The grass that carried and stretched to do her bidding dried and died behind her.
She walked as fast as her exhausted and aged body could muster. She finally reached a large building. The architecture was plain but the history behind it was anything but that. Regardless, the place was both a prison and a barrack.
Only about half of the sacred warriors were present inside of the cathedral. They were the ones placed in charge of her safety as well as those that piously prayed at the cathedral come sunset.
"Let me in! Come on!" There was the young voice of an orc, Gurln. He was still curious about the orcs outside the tribe and wanted to be let into the prison.
"Gurln… this isn't a good idea…" His friend who one would have expected to break ties with him was still there.
"Listen to your friend, you are not-" The warrior on guard duty stopped as he noticed a figure emerging from the dark streets on the corner of his vision.
"Chieftess…!" He exclaimed in fright as he hurried over to support her small body.
"Hey! Go get the others!" The guard finally didn't care if Gurln entered anymore as he commanded the teenage orc to inform his comrades.
"Sure!" Gurln said without a trace of reluctance. He was curious about the chieftess' situation, but he was far more interested in getting to know more about the living conditions outside of the tribe.
Yam, Gurln's friend, was however concerned about her and deliberated on whether or not to follow.
"Sunuguk…" The chieftess said weakly at the orc that supported her.
"Chieftess! Don't say anything!" The orc warrior, Sunuguk, said tearfully.
The chieftess might seem cruel to outsiders but to them, she was more like a mother. She even knew the names of every single orc in the settlement, even without her elderly age that would be a tough task!
"Sunuguk… he is, too powerful. Destroy the boulders..." The chieftess spoke faintly. Her life had always been on the decline. She didn't handle matters personally due to this.
Mana kept the body healthy, once someone expanded their lifespan, it was detrimental to lower their mana pool nevermind empty it.
It was asking for death.
"Chieftess! There- there's no need…! I'll- I'll avenge you! Wher-" Sunuguk said raspily. His throat felt sore and pained as he held back the urge to cry.
"Sunuguk" The chieftess interrupted.
"Yes, chieftess?" He asked faintly while looking at the aged orc woman straight on the eyes. He saw compassion, he saw warmth, he saw his mother.
"Do it…" She muttered softly as her eyes slowly drew to a close.
