The sun had long left them, and under the moonlight the villagers gathered.
"I would say that I was sorry, but I'm not." Ares addressed the people within the village. "When I saved Ash and his family, I had provoked the left a trail. When I killed the officer, Marius, I provoked their ire. Marius was Darius' nephew, and no doubt he felt obligated to find out what happened to his family. To say that I fucked up would be an understatement. By fucked up, I mean, I made a great mistake.
However, I would do it all again if I had to. I don't know what they would have done to Ash and his family, and as a bystander, I couldn't let anything happen to them. After I was abandoned by Ash, I didn't care for what happened to him or his family, though I did care what happened to the children. I was about to abandon Ash when he asked for my help. I offered it to him, as long as he stabbed his leg. As you can see, he doesn't have an injured leg, but he did try to stay himself. Ash is a man of conviction, and he was ready to sacrifice to make sure his family was safe. So I killed the remaining soldiers and had them guide me here. I had no plans to harm the family, I just wanted to meet some more beastfolk.
When Darius came here, I made sure to hide the swords I and taken from his nephew. I didn't realise the mithril sword gave me away. I should have thought about that.
I don't thin it mattered though. The humans came to slaughter you, they just wanted a convenient excuse. I'm sorry for giving them such an excuse.
You saw what he thought of you, though. A commander of a hundred men, what do you think the other commander's think? I'll give you a clue, it's the same thing. You are but savages, beasts to slaughter like a common boar. That's all you are to the humans, that's all you'll ever be to them. I know…" Ares stopped. Though the others were enraptured by his speech, he turned to face the soldiers. All eighty of them. Apparently he hadn't come with all of his men, but considering he had slaughtered about seven before he even arrived here, it seemed about right.
He walked over to Darius, who was still unconscious, and then towards the others that were injured. The soldiers that were dead, they had kept grouped up separately, and there was a pyre being built for them. He made sure the soldiers that fought in the town were kept separate to the others.
"I'll say this. I gave you the option to surrender, and you didn't. So this is what's going to happen. I'm going to let four of you go. You'll each have a spear, and you'll go back to your barracks. You're going to tell them everything you possibly can, and you're going to mention my name, Ares. Ares, the god of war, brought death upon us. The rest of you I'm going to slaughter. I'm going to slaughter you like fucking pigs-"
"No you won't." Called a voice, Voshk.
Ares stood up and turned to face Voshk. He didn't say anything, instead, he cut the bonds to four of the soldiers, gave them a spear, and then told the four to strip out of their armour. Then he faced Voshk again.
"Why won't I?"
"I won't allow such death to happen within my village."
"Alright. I'll do it outside the village."
"It shall not happen."
"I gave them the chance to surrender. They didn't."
"They are no threat to us, bound like this."
"Tell me Voshk, do you think they would have done the same for your people, your family?"
Voshk remained silent.
"I don't want to do it." Ares said. "I know what it'll make me. I would be just like them, but I knew what I was doing when I have them the option to surrender. If they had, I would have left them be, I would have sent them along their way. They chose to attack, and now they have to pay the price. It's the only language they speak, that of gold and blood."
"I won't allow you to do such a thing." Voshk replied, and some of the beastfolk stood up, weapons in hand.
"I handled more than half of these soldiers myself. Ash knows of my strength, of what I'll do to you…" Ares threw a look towards Ash and Rala, who had been tended to. Then he looked down to Rash, who was sleeping peacefully. Ares' eyes darkened. "Tell them to stay back. I only want the soldiers dead." He found his hand was gripping the sheath of his sword.
Rash said something to Voshk, and Voshk stared down at the floor.
"I shall see you in the morning." Voshk said as he turned and left.
Several of the beastfolk stood, their glares fixated on the soldiers.
"No." Ares called out. "This is my responsibility." He threw a look towards the four he set free. "Do you see the rage within their eyes?"
The soldiers grimaced, clutching their spears. "I want you to remember it, in your most comfortable sleeps, I want you up remember. Within your homes, I want you to remember. You'll never be safe from the rage that you've caused." He placed a hand on one of their shoulders. "If I ever see you on the battlefield. I'll ignore everyone else, and I'll come straight to you. I won't kill you, no. I'll make sure you live, so that once the battle has ended, I can enjoy all the time in the world with you." He leaned in to whisper. "Today is not that day. Today I let you leave, I give you your lives. I want the imperial army to know one thing. That Ares, the god of war, has come for them. He has come to deliver justice, and his wrath will be upon them soon enough. Now go, tell them." He let the soldier go, letting them withdraw against one another. They slowly shuffled away. "Go!" Ares roared and they eventually fled.
He made sure they got out safely, and that no beastfolk molested them on their way out.
Then he turned to the other soldiers. Some had been awake for their encounter. He walked over to them, sword out in hand. "You know. If you hadn't harmed Rash, I would have been far more lenient." He said as he then sheathed his mithril sword. He then picked up the sword from Darius.
Then he held it with both hands. "I've given you enough time to pray."
Then one by one, he beheaded each soldier. He only slew those that were awake, and then shook the others awake. After a brief moment of terror, he let them pass on. He did this, taking a few seconds for each one, before then there was only Darius remaining.
He slapped the commander awake. Once they were awake, they stared up at Ares with rage. He tried to sit up to attack, but his arms were too heavy to move, and so was his body. He looked around to see his men, all beheaded, and they sunk down, in terror.
"Slept well?" Ares asked.
"How? How did you manage to face so many of us?'
"I had justice on my side."
Darius shook his head. "Justice? You murdered my men…"
"No, I killed them. They were in the middle of capturing beast folk, and one of them was hurting a child. A child."
"A beast folk is no more than a beast."
Ares slapped the commander. "I'm going to give you a painless death, don't make me change my mind. Your boy Marius came and attacked me because I brought justice upon his men. Then you did the same. I was the one to bring justice. One of your men enjoyed toying with Mala, cutting and stabbing her here and there. Do you know what I did to him?"
Darius remained silent, his eyes still filled with terror, as if he was facing a monster.
"That's right. I toyed with him before I killed him. I let him feel the same terror that he gave to Mala, who was doing her best to protect her siblings. The difference is, she managed to protect her family."
"You monster."
"Yeah, I'm glad you think so." He then stabbed the commander through his ribs, watching him struggle through the pain, his face contorting into a mixture of terror and pain. Ares stared into their eyes until the light faded from them, and then he pulled back his sword.
He dropped the sword and then walked away from the beast folk. He found a nice little place and then began to throw up. After rinsing his mouth out, he left the village, and found a nice little place to sleep.