Chapter 35:
Fight to Cailith
WARNING: NSFW. This chapter contains (relevant) graphic violence and gore.
"I spy with my little eye something… blue!" It had been a long, quick trip, but with Holland Joey and his games, Meredith felt the trip had become three times longer. The quieter Meredith got, the more Holland Joey spoke, until it was mostly Holland discussing interesting things he had seen or heard, or playing games while they traveled.
Meredith rubbed his brow and said, "Holland, playing games is not making this journey any shorter."
Holland brushed his hand down his ponytail as he said, "Come on, Meredith! Lighten up a little! We'll be there in no time. Cailith is just around the corner." His voice was light and jovial, as if he had nothing else on his mind but his next meal. With Meredith's poor temper, he found himself more annoyed each passing minute. Normally he would not mind talking to Holland, but Silas was in danger, and he was not happy to pretend and act as if everything would be fine. There was the nagging worry in the back of his mind that things would not be okay, that something could still go wrong.
With his mana refueled, Meredith was able to resume his human disguise as he traveled with Holland, making himself look less like a tourist and more like a native of the Yursinean Kingdom. With Holland's appearance, he attracted more attention. Most of the Yursineans had very light skin, and some were naturally tan, but Holland Joey was naturally dark-skinned, making him stand out. Though most of the other travelers did not bother the pair, there were a few hateful comments shouted towards Holland, who seemed to ignore them naturally as if they were not even there.
Meredith understood how Holland felt, at least as an elf. The Bethell and Yursear Kingdoms were unkind of the refugees. Their nationalistic rhetoric was harmful towards anyone from outside of their kingdoms. With the current king, things had only gotten worse rather than improved. The past ten years had been hell, not only for the elves, but for the non-natives entering the Yursear Kingdom from the southern Kyhmal Kingdom as well. Many of the Kyhmal refugees were pushed to the northern kingdom, leaving them to bounce from place to place as refugees, rather than taking them in like the generous, but dangerous and over-populated, Faelfier Kingdom.
Though the Kyhmal refugees were not as hated as the elves. The refugees were seen as peaceful, and they often would travel place to place, some settling down in the villages with their families. Most of them, however, preferred to start in the northern Vartien Kingdom, where they could gather with their families and start fresh in the developing northern kingdom. Holland Joey had been one of those refugees. Many of them were easy to notice due to their dark complexions and curly hair, something rarely seen in the Yursear Kingdom.
As Holland Joey and Meredith began to approach Cailith, they were stopped in the middle of an empty road by two men standing next to a pair of older-looking horses, one limping on its back leg. Just looking at their seedy appearances and cheap suits, Meredith could tell what the men were up to.
"Hey, fellas, can you give us a hand? It looks like my horse is hurt." The man on the left had his hair stuffed up into a plain, woven traveler's hat. Though he was standing next to his injured horse, he did not appear very concerned. The other man, holding a bag in his hands, seemed to be readying something. He had his hands stuffed into his bag like a squirrel, making no attempt to hide their intentions.
Meredith was prepared to use his magic, but before he could conjure the mana in his palm, Holland Joey patted Meredith on the back as he laughed to himself, saying, "Don't worry about this, Meredith. I'll take care of it." Holland's jovial voice still carried a happy swing to it, but on the edge of his words there was a cold sensation that was left to hang in the air.
Seeing this, Meredith did not feel inclined to waste his magic. Instead, he sat back on the saddle and looked at Holland with a curious look. He was interested to see how the man fought, seeing as he was a soldier hired by Eva. Eva had proven her skills before, and there was no chance she would hire someone incompetent to help him, let alone send a single human man alone to help him if he could not handle it.
While Holland Joey stood next to his horse, Meredith branched out his mana and searched the nearby forest. Behind the bushes and trees, there were three more figures. Waiting to strike them while they were distracted by the two men on the trail, Meredith assumed.
Figures. Meredith had felt a set of eyes on them as they were making their way down the trail. Holland must have already noticed it too, as he turned his head and said to Meredith, "I'll take care of them too." Holland winked, looking silly as usual.
Holland had already insisted on it, so Meredith sat back, relaxed, keeping his mana stream close to the forest, so he could keep a close eye on the three fools in the forest. If they were to try anything, he would easily take care of them.
The two men standing by the horse were stiff, but they smiled amicably as Holland Joey slowly walked forward, step by step, closer to them with his usual warm smile on his face. "Are you also on your way to Cailith? My companion and I are on our way there." Holland entertained the men as he walked closer and closer with a particular steadiness in his steps. The two men looked at each other, still smiling, and responded to Holland with a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah. I heard there's a beautiful singer from out east coming here soon. Her name's Ivana, or something like that. We were coming to see her perform." The man standing closer to the horse adjusted his hat, looking somewhat dopey with his wrinkled collar.
"She's got quite the voice, I heard." The other man said, dressed in an ill-fitting tweed suit. His face wrinkled as he smiled, "On top of having bewitching eyes."
The other three men in the woods shifted, and Meredith collected some of the loose mana in the air into his palm with practiced movements, watching Holland Joey's back as he continued walking forward. There were only a few feet separating the two men and Holland, but he continued forward until he had only a short gap between them, leaving the two strange men to take a step back, moving closer to the horse.
When the two men moved back, Holland smiled at the pair as he asked, "Why don't I help you with that horse?"
The two men near the horse smiled and nodded their heads, the man in the tweed suit moving closer with his hand behind his back as the seedy-looking man kept his hands on his bag with a warped smile. Meredith, anticipating a bloody battle, sat back in his horse, moving slightly to the side to avoid any blood that would come with it.
Finally, when the man reached further into his bag, he said he would grab some medicine he had brought, but when his hand came back, he was quick to flash a knife and stab it forward with deliberate movements, straight towards Holland Joey's chest. Holland quickly moved to the side, acting as if he had been caught off guard by the men. He put his hands up in protest as he cried out a weak, "Oh no!"
Seeing the first attack missed, the man in the tweed suit swung the knife from behind his back with a wide swinging movement, almost expecting to catch Holland in one fell swoop with his knife. The movements were practiced and fast, but Holland was a step faster, as he already had his sword in his hand. Holland easily parried the knife in the man's hand with his own. The sword Holland had in his hand was heavy, but in his hands it was light as a feather. Seeing the sword come out of nowhere, the suited man began to sweat.
"Y-you!" The man was surprised, he had not even seen Holland Joey draw the sword until he had stopped it. His eyes bulged, and with an annoyed grunt he lifted his leg to kick Holland, as he moved back towards his companion.
"This will only take a moment, Meredith." Holland looked over his shoulder for a moment, smiling, no longer attempting to hide the pure killing intent leaking from his body. The air around the man chilled as Holland Joey's braided hair moved behind him in waves, making him look more like a warrior and less like the jovial, naive traveler Meredith had seen until now. Holland's amber eyes darkened, and his smile became almost sinister.
The man in the tweed suit was frightened by Holland's sudden change, but he did not think he could possibly lose the battle, since there were so many of them, and only one of him. Shooting a quick look at his companion, the man with the traveler's hat grabbed his knife and moved to attack Holland Joey from the side, where he assumed Holland would not be able to defend himself. He lifted his sword with practiced movements, and just as his knife passed through the air to hit Holland Joey's shoulder, his movements were stopped by Holland's sword. Holland Joey pushed the suited man back with a flick of his sword before he slashed forward, attacking the second man with his sharp sword.
"Ah!" The second man's hat fell to the ground as he stumbled backwards, holding his abdomen with his hand. The knife in his hand fell, and blood drops began to quickly drop at his feet, soon pooling into a small puddle of blood.
"Barry!" The first man, having been shoved back, lunged forward again towards Holland as he yelled, "Come out! Let's finish this filthy foreigner!" Seeing as they were losing the battle, the suited man yelled towards the woods, calling his other companions as he lifted his sword again, his red face distorted with anger.
The three men dressed in leather armor quickly ran out of their hiding places, each holding heavy swords in their hands. The men were all tall and built, making them appear more intimidating then the first two men Holland Joey and Meredith had encountered. Thinking of that, Meredith scoffed, watching as the armor-clad men moved to attack Holland.
"Are you alright, Holland?" Meredith asked, preparing to use his magic to assist the man.
Holland Joey laughed as he smiled warmly, "You underestimate me, Meredith." Just as the three men approached, Holland lifted his sword and ran forward towards the men, catching the three off guard.
Watching Holland run forward, the man in the ill-fitting suit moved to the side first, near his fallen companion and screamed as he attacked. Holland, having ran towards the men, had the advantage as he swung his sword, grazing the suited man's weapon as he stepped back, steadying his feet with a small step back.
With Holland's body turned to the side, there was a small opening, and one of the armored men took the chance to attack. Lifting his sword to the side, the man screamed aloud as he swung the heavy, two-handed weapon down towards Holland's back. The sword began to fall closer and closer to Holland, and Holland Joey already had one hand occupied with his sword. Meredith watched his empty other hand, waiting for Holland to do something. Holland Joey, however, did not reach for his waist or bag.
Just as the tip of the sword was about to slash through Holland, there was a flash, and then the suited man fell, followed by the man in the leather armor falling forward, stumbling with his hand clutching his chest. A rush of blood rolled down his chin as he dropped his sword, his eyes wide in fright.
"H-how did you-?" The soldier was only able to utter this much before Holland appeared behind him with his sword raised high. His gold eyes flashed brightly as he smiled at the man's uncovered back. His companions had yet to react when Holland Joey swung the sword down and cut through the man's thick neck.
The two men in the armor looked horrified, screaming out their companion's name with a frightened cry, "G-Gary!" The man named Gary was twitching on the ground, blood shot out of the stump of his neck, some flowing in waves down his leather armor, coating the material in rivers of warm blood. The man's head rolled until it stopped by the suited man's feet. When the suited man saw this, he clutched the wound on his stomach and screamed, stepping back like a frightened animal.
Holland Joey seemed unperturbed by the mens' screams. Looking at the blood, he twisted his lip and flicked his sword, splattering some of the fresh blood onto the ground with a careless flick of the wrist. When he looked up, he met eyes with the man with the tweed suit, and then the man with the woven hat from before, who had carefully walked forward to meet his companion.
"Trying to run now?" Holland's bright yellow eyes seared the two while his heavy gaze moved towards the horse that the two had tried to coax him with before. "Aren't I supposed to help you with your horse?" Holland hummed with a low tone, his smile grew wider on his face. Steadily, he lifted his sword and began to walk towards the two tricksters, ignoring the armored men completely.
The two men huddled by each other, both bleeding from their abdominal wounds. Their hands had already been dyed red long ago from the blood, and they only had a short amount of time before they would bleed to death. Seeing this, Holland turned on his heel and moved towards the unharmed men, his sword directed towards the two with a dark light.
Meredith watched in silence as Holland viciously fought the two men together until they were defeated. Their swords had fallen to the ground long ago, and one of the men's hands was still attached with a tight grip, and the rest of his arm still remained on his body as he fell down to the ground in agony.
Their pig-like cries fell on death ears as Holland hacked the two to death with deft movements, cutting them swiftly and smoothly until they could no longer move. The two suited men had fallen to a similar fate, and before they could run, Holland had already sliced their throats and killed them, giving the men a coward's death. They sputtered and coughed blood until their breaths stilled, and the blood on the ground had long grown cold from the previous battle.
Holland Joey laughed weakly to himself as he turned to face Meredith, whose expression had not changed from before. His lips were twisted in a flat line, and his face was tense. Meredith could only say to the battle-worn man, "You have blood on your face, Holland."
Carefully, Holland Joey lifted his left hand to his cheek, where his rough fingers brushed against his cheek.
"I no longer have to prove myself, do I, Meredith?" The blood smeared on his cheek, making him look as if he had been hurt. None of the blood on his body, however, belonged to him.
As Holland walked to his horse, preparing to grab his canteen to rinse his hands, Meredith cut off the awkward silence and said, "I knew before, Holland, that Eva only picks the best subordinates."
Holland's face fell, and his usual jovial expression returned as he said, "What do you mean subordinate? I'll have you know I'm the captain of her guard!"
"Why'd she send you here then? Don't you have other responsibilities?" Meredith asked with a raised brow
"Nope. She only sends the best for things like this." Holland responded with a smile.
Meredith stayed quiet as he watched Holland wash his hands. The man seemed unfazed by the killing of the men, just as Meredith had become after so many years of war. He could not help but think of when he was Silas's age, when death still shocked him.
How long had it been since he had been affected by death? Affected by anything? Meredith's thoughts trailed, "Are you alright, Holland?" He knew better than anyone that, after all this time, the nightmares of killing another man would never go away.
Holland looked at Meredith's expression and laughed lightly, "Don't worry, Meredith. I put myself in this position knowing fully well what I would be getting into. For my family," He trailed off, the bloody water fell to the ground as he finished rinsing his hands, "I'll do anything, even if that means killing another man."
As Holland put his canteen away, he looked back over his shoulder, past the scattered dead bodies and said with a casual tone, "Uh, Meredith. What are we going to do with that horse?"
Meredith looked back, suddenly remembering the horse that the men had before. Looking at it, it was a fit, young, brown and white horse. On its back were the supplies from the raiders. If they were to take it, they could search the goods and see if the humans had anything useful on them.
"Let's take it. I'm sure we can find something useful." Meredith responded.
There was an awkward pause for a moment before Holland Joey nodded and asked, "Who's going to take the horse?"
Meredith looked at Holland with a blank, serious stare, showing he had no interest in taking the horse. Holland could only look back at the elf once more with a pitiful stare before he said weakly, "I'll take care of the horse, I guess."
Before the stench of death clung to their clothes, the human and elf pair tapped the sides of their horses and took off, Holland carefully leading the other horse he had taken with the reins in his hand.
…
Hunny and I figured we would post early rather than schedule the update for you all tomorrow, so here she is :D We will be quite busy this week, so I apologize in advance if I'm not responding to messages in a timely manner ;; I'm having some stomach problems due to stress (caffeine intolerance too, ye'haw I'm dying), so I may slow down some progress on our webtoon work for now, but the chapters are still ahead for this! (´•ω•)♡
I'll fist fight my insecurities to post another WIP of chapter one of the webtoon soon..... ;;
And, if you get the time, please feel free to drop a ko-fi or comment ♥ Also, check us out on discord to see all the latest updates from us!