"Welcome to our humble camp! You can rest easily here." The guide explained to Commander Ars and his men after they were led to the caravan.
The Commander nodded and finally allowed his men some time to rest. They were able to rest due to the amount of security the caravan had to protect its goods, there were now nearly 50 people between the soldiers, guards, mercenaries, and war slaves.
They were currently camped on a relatively flat part of the sand, making approaching it hard to do without being detected. But this didn't discourage Arkham, he simply needed to do more recon.
After watching for two hours, Arkham started to put together all the things he had seen.
The encampment was in the shape of an oval essentially, the caravan's forces and goods on the left side of the oval and the soldiers on the right. The War Slaves guarded the power perimeter of the caravan since they weren't trusted to be near the goods and their fellow slaves lest they help them escape. The mercenaries were made to be behind the slaves to watch them and the caravan guards were in the center, protecting the important things.
The Febrans had people posted on their side but not actively walking around and patrolling. The caravan didn't bother to patrol, they relied on more defensive positions. This meant Arkham could get close but fighting off everyone might be suicidal unless he had a plan.
Arkham felt bad for what he was about to do, but it needed to be done off; he was to stop the Febrans from advancing or establishing any bases in the region.
It was cloudy tonight, so Arkham was able to move close relatively quickly. After watching the caravan side for an hour, he deduced what he believed was the tent with the other slaves. This was important since he wanted to rely on their desires for freedom, they would be an excellent distraction even though the other forces would most likely slaughter them.
'Run or Fight. I'll pray for your success, you poor souls.' Arkham sighed as he looked toward the slaves tent on the northwest of the caravan.
It was getting harder and harder the closer he got to the tent to stay hidden, his tail was not only huge but it was very distinct as well. Somehow he managed to avoid detection to get within running distance of the tent.
When a particularly large cloud came to block the moon, Arkham made his move and dashed quickly to the back of the tent. With his tail, he was able to lift the back enough for him to enter the back without destroying the tent.
As soon as he entered, all the slaves started to murmur. There were only males in this one so they should support his plan nicely.
"Hey now what's with all this noise!?" A man shouted as he started to walk in from the entrance of the tent.
"What the!? Auuaagh!" The next thing the guard knew, a large claw had torn into his shoulder.
"You alri-!?"
Arkham had crushed one man and stabbed the other in his throat with his tail, there was no turning back now. He had to gamble it all now, whether the whole camp would be stopped here or if he had to start a war of attrition.
Arkham lifted the keys on one guard with his tail and turned around. The slaves were from the south so their skin was a little bit lighter, but their language should be similar. Arkham eyed a particularly strong looking young man and tossed the keys on the ground in front of him.
"Free yourselves!" Arkham said before lifting the other set of keys and throwing it to another slave.
"Why?" The young man asked what was on everyone's minds. They thought things couldn't get worse for them in the desert when a large monstrous creature soared in their tent.
"The men who aren't slaves, you'll fight them!" Arkham growled as he pointed towards the entrance.
"I refuse!" A voice said as the chains from their limbs fell down, it was the other person Arkham had thrown the keys to. "I will run and take my chances in the sand! I won't die fighting them for you, monster!"
Without even using his skill, Arkham stabbed his stinger into the one who spoke and ripped their skull up from their body.
"The only way you survive now is if you fight for it." Arkham calmly said as all eyes were on him. The horrified stares were quickly followed by many nods of acknowledgement.
"Good, now go! Your freedom awaits!" Arkham said as he picked up the keys and flung it to yet another person. Maybe the scorpion was starting to affect him more than he thought, he didn't feel that much guilt from killing that slave or threatening the others.
After the spectacle they just witnessed, the slaves quickly freed themselves and started to make their way to the tent with the weapons in it.
Now that he was finally alone, Arkham could get down to business. If they were any more terrified, they would probably see him as an enemy of humanity and turn on him.
Right after the third soul was eaten, Arkham started to hear sorting from outside.
"They're free! I repeat, the slaves are free!!!"
Arkham smiled when he heard the commotion from outside, this was it.
Meanwhile, in the female slaves' tent, there was a certain girl with obsidian black hair and azure blue eyes. She moved slightly when she heard the noise outside but her eyes remained empty. They hadn't done anything to her, she was too valuable, but she had already given up on her life.
Soon one of the male slaves ran in and started to unlock a female slave's chains before giving the keys to the next slave.
"My love are you alright!?" The man asked as he hugged the woman.
"Yes!" The woman happily cried as they hugged.
"Aaaggh!?" The man cried out suddenly as a spear was thrown in to his back.
"Aaaaaaaaaa!" The woman started to scream.
"Now that's enough! If you know what's good for you then you'll stay put!" A caravan mercenary said as he came inside the tent.
As the mercenary reached to retrieve his spear from the dead man, the dead man's lover cried out once again.
"Die!!" She grabbed the small dagger her love was carrying and stabbed it into the mercenary's face.
"You bitch!" He cursed as he started to fight with the woman, pretty soon more slaves got free and started to mob the man. They all started to tumble outside the tent, adding to the chaos in the caravan.
When the keys reached the black haired girl, she merely glanced at them before ignoring them completely.
"Throw it here! Some of us still want to live!" Another slave said as she glared at the black haired girl.