Aldrich suddenly felt a chill creep on him. But he didn't understand, he was high above the cliff and the people below seemed to belong to different worlds.
"A boring answer. Well no matter, you got caught and now you'll get your head chopped off." It was the woman on the left of the masked man the replied.
"Well, get me out of these cuffs and see how I bore you, bitch." The prisoner was not backing down.
"No, he will not die now, the lord wants him alive. That's how it'll be. That is until he doesn't." The general had no intention of killing the prisoner, for now at least.
"Keep watch over this scum here, when our task is done bring him over." The general instructed the footmen before he turned around with the rest of mounted group.
They headed in the direction of Wakefield.
Aldrich decided to follow them, he had no idea what they planned to do in Wakefield. Despite the increasing chill, Aldrich was not quiet sure what to make of what he heard.
The mounted group traveled along the edge, not willing to go through the woods in the night which made following them easy.
The group did not go too far before they came to a stop, the general turned to the masked man, "I hope your role in the operation is clear."
"Clear, clear, how many times do you have to remind me? Do I look senile to you? Tsk, this is why I hate working with you military types."
It was the first time Aldrich heard the masked man talk. His voice was unexpectedly clear despite his mask.
"Then you understand my need to stress this matter, you and your disciples are to merely watch, if anything unexpected happens then you act."
"Yes, yes of course. But I'm sure you understand these youngsters don't always listen to me, you see? This is their first time out in a while. And as a master, I have found such slaughter to be very educational and fun to boot."
Slaughter? Aldrich felt his suspicious come true. But who are they here for? Wakefield is a peaceful village most criminals are dealt with by locking them up in a cell by the mayor.
"Fun? I care little for your entertainment. I am the highest officer here and the head of this operation. If you or your disciples disobey direct orders, I will send a formal complaint to your elders."
"Oh, come on, stop being such a tight ass, will you? I don't think Enthelmyre gave such strict orders. The mission objective is simple; kill everyone. Mission over."
"That's lord Enthelmyre to you. I won't repeat myself nor will I waste anymore time, sunrise is at hand."
'Kill everyone? What? They're not here to transport some criminal? W-wait, Shit, this can't be right.'
Aldrich watched quietly not daring to breath as the group walked off, then he turned back and returned to the footmen guarding the prisoner. Aldrich hopped that he might get some information from them.
Observing this group felt actually much safer than the mounted group, although the footmen numbered thirteen men they felt less intimidating, even with all their shiny muskets.
The footmen made a campfire and were drinking water from waterskins and eating what looked like dried meat. The prisoner was kept in the center. The prisoner was silent.
The footmen did not move much, none of them went too far from the rest of the group and they were keeping a close watch on the prisoner. Even talk was kept to a minimum and their postures were focused.
Aldrich was disappointed that he could not get anything out of them. Aldrich wanted to turn back when he suddenly realized that he was stuck.
If he turned around he'll be spotted by the mounted group and he couldn't get down here because he'll get caught by the footmen. Aldrich tried to think of a way out to no avail.
If he got caught by these people he did not imagine he would be treated too kindly.
The way the mounted group were going, they might bump into Harvick's house. This thought mad Aldrich restless but he was not going to lose his composure easily, he remembered what Harvick told him about his house.
'None can find this house without my say so'
Aldrich had been thinking for a while now when he noticed something unusual happen down in the camp. The previously alert footmen became sluggish, they yawned loudly and tiredly. One by one they fell asleep.
Aldrich had trouble believing his eyes, how did they go from full alertness to deep sleep in a matter of minutes. And all of them at once? All but the prisoner in the center.
"Can you bastards hear me?" The prisoner asked as he turned his head around, he couldn't see through the sackcloth over his head.
"Tsk, tsk, about time you guys took a nap. Now let this old man be on his way hahaha!" The prisoner joyfully talked and laughed with himself.
Aldrich was awed as the prisoner crawled on his knees towards the soldier to his left and then he turned around so his backside was facing the sleeping man.
"Fuck me, where did you hide the keys?" The prisoner was still handcuffed and had to get the keys while his hands were cuffed behind his back which was very difficult and awkward.
"Damn I can't reach!"
Aldrich descended from the slop and walked towards the prisoner. He stepped on a dry brach and it broke.
Shit.
The prisoner was stiff for a moment and then he turned to his direction.
"One got away huh? Did you go take a piss? Well, it's been a long day so the lot of them decided to take a quick nap. Friend, I don't think it's fair of them to leave the watch to you alone, you should join them.
you know what I'll keep watch for you guys, are you thinking of me? Look at me, with my hands and feet like this where can I go?..."
Aldrich stopped in his tracks for a moment before resuming his way to the prisoner in silence. He decided to go along with the prisoner's delusion, without even saying a word he may get more information.
"You're not one of them. Listen friend, help me get the keys. These people are about to do something horrible to your village. You're from Wakefield right?"
Aldrich was annoyed that his ploy was seen through that quickly, but he was alarmed.
"How should I trust you?"
"You've got no choice but to trust me. Kid, you're just a boy right? I know it from your voice. Listen, if you help me out I'll help you escape this village unscathed, I swear it on my dead mother's soul."
Aldrich was still hesitant about trusting a man in hand cuffs, the idea that Wakefield was going to be attacked is ridiculous but Aldrich learned quite recently that ridiculous things can happen.
And if he was going to warn the village he's going to need information, who are they? How many were there? Why attack Wakefield? The prisoner was right, he was Aldrich's only option at the moment. But Aldrich wasn't an easy haggler.
"First tell me everything you know, then I'll get the key for you."
"Shit, kid, fine I'll answer one question and then you open the cuffs, deal?"
"No, no deal, you answer all my questions first."
"Oh, no, no way. What's your name kid?"
"Aldrich" Aldrich answered reflexively and immediately regretted it.
"Well, Aldrich look around you. You see all the soldiers in deep sleep? Yes, they're sleeping not dead and my trick won't keep them asleep for much longer. If you can kill them in their sleep, I would be happy to chat with you until you are satisfied. Can you do that for me?"
Aldrich looked around at the sleeping soldiers. If they woke up his ending won't be pretty. Aldrich was used to hunting and working in the farm he was used to slaughter.
These men came here to kill innocent people but Aldrich wasn't sure yet and even then, he had never killed anything but beasts and animals. Such evil men, they deserved to die but Aldrich couldn't find it in himself to do it.
"Deal. Who are you?" Aldrich decided to focus on the questions to avoid answering.
"Can't do it eh? No shame in that. Well I am Cazmer Brevoy, pleasure to meet you."
"That's not what I meant!"
"That's what you asked! Have you no manners? You should introduce yourself, show some respect I'm a Crestmaster for god's sake.
Okay, don't get mad, as I said my name is Cazmer Brevoy, known by a few other names, I am a Crestmaster and I work—used to work for an order called the true saint's folk. There you go, now, the keys."
"A Crestmaster?!" Aldrich was shocked. How could a Crestmaster be treated like this? As for the true saint's folk, he had no idea who they were, never heard of the name either.
"Don't you know what a Crestmaster is? What kind of backwater is this?"
Aldrich felt his face heat up, "I know what a Crestmaster is! I was just—" Aldrich gave up on explaining.
Aldrich hesitated but a deal was a deal. He picked the two keys from the soldier's belt and opened the cuffs on the prisoner.
The prisoner stood up and rubbed his bruised hands then he stretched his back.
"Alright, now I'm gonna remove the sackcloth on my head, just don't freak out or scream or anything."
'Do you really think I'll scream just by seeing your face? I'm not that shallow'
Soon Aldrich discovered how wrong he was and what a big mistake he just made. When Cazmer removed the sackcloth he revealed a mostly normal face except for the dark greenish stain on his face, it contrasted his body's pale skin heavily.
On his forehead two small and smooth horns protruded, the horns were black too but the tips glowed red. The pupil of his left eye were yellow and much bigger than his normal brown right eye.
An oathbreaker. Aldrich would have screamed if Cazmer didn't cover his mouth.
"Shut it. Do you want to get us both killed? Out of the way, let me get rid of these trash."
Cazmer went on to pick a sword from one of the sleeping soldiers and then he proceeded to slit the throat of the sleeping man, as he died the man woke up but before he could shout, Cazmer covered his mouth with his free hand.
"Sh sh, don't wanna wake your friends do ya? Now thats just rude. Your friends will follow you soon don't worry, I promise." Cazmer whispered to the thrashing body.
Aldrich had no idea who Cazmer was talking to since the soldier was already dead. But since Cazmer was an oathbreaker his actions made sense. Considering he was supposed to be mad.