***Several minutes prior***
Marcus ran with all his might as he ignored the pain in his gut. Right now he was running on pure adrenaline.
He hadn't cared about Beatrice or her circumstances at first, but now things were different. He didn't want to ignore her, nor did he want to leave her behind.
So instead, he came up with a plan. The rock he'd found earlier and stuck in his pocket was actually a piece of flint. The piece of flint was going to be used to create sparks to start a fire.
Marcus planned to burn both of the wretches who'd been chasing he and Beatrice this entire time, and he'd make sure they regretted ever targeting them in the first place. It didn't matter if he had to burn the entire town down.
He'd only hoped that she'd still be alive by the time he finished.
Marcus embraced the darker emotions he'd been feeling and started to use them as motivation. Anger, rage, shame, fear, and hate were all the emotions that he'd been holding in during this long night.
He felt angry because the slavers tortured and beat him and even after they'd left, they still made things difficult for him by throwing him to the 'wolves'.
He felt enraged at the fact said 'wolves' hadn't allowed him a chance to eat or hardly rest due to the constant pressure they exerted on him.
He was ashamed because those very same 'wolves' had caused him to leave someone he cared about behind not once but twice, and this made him feel no different than Gavin.
He felt fear because he didn't know if he'd live or die, and after enduring so much pain to be revived, he'd be damned sure he got his money's worth this time before kicking the bucket again.
However, of all the emotions he felt, none could compare to the pure amount of hate he felt. He hated the fact he'd been killed for being different. He hated the creepers for all the stress they'd put him through. He even hated his master a bit for making him experience even more pain and denying him the rest he rightfully deserved. But most of all, he hated himself for being powerless to do anything about these situations.
So far, he'd only been reacting to every problem he'd been facing. It felt like he was jumping through hoops of fire and narrowly avoiding being burned.
It was demoralizing. No matter how hard he tried to survive, he always felt like it was barely enough and in some cases it just wasn't.
Marcus decided he was done being the one caught off guard and done being the one forced to play someone else's game and follow their rules.
Now he'd break the game and create his own rules.
Marcus grabbed whatever flammable materials he could find. Whether it be dried moss that'd fallen from trees hanging in the town or logs he'd found lying around in a smithy, he was going to set this town ablaze.
Marcus moved quickly and efficiently as he placed the flammable materials he could find around all the nearby wooden buildings. He made sure to place them strategically around said structures to maximize the amount of fire that would spread throughout the own.
Once this was completed, Marcus grabbed a weirdly shaped piece of metal he got from the smithy and equipped it around his knuckles. Then, he struck the piece of flint with it and the sparks that came off started to make the dried moss and old logs catch fire. He repeated this process for all locations and was satisfied when the buildings started to catch fire.
Now, he only needed to make one more stop at a bar, and he'd rush straight to Beatrice afterwards.
***Back to the present***
Beatrice was being slowly lowered into the creature's mouth. She could smell the putrid stench of swamp water on its breath and it would have made her nauseated had she not been in so much pain already.
She could also see the creeper's razor-sharp teeth that started poking out from beneath its gums. They were a terrifying sight to behold.
The woman was so scared, she briefly ignored the pain she was in. She thought she had come to terms with her death and was fine with the town being her final resting place, but this was too much.
She didn't want to suffer through the pain of being shredded by the creeper's sharpened teeth while also being crushed in its hands.
At this very moment, she regretted attaining the rank she had. Due to her being at the advanced rank, her body was a lot sturdier than Marcus's, who was at the novice rank, and her husband who was at the intermediate rank.
It allowed her to just barely hold on, but it also meant she'd hang on just enough to experience the pain of being torn apart by the swamp creeper's razor sharp teeth.
Tears of blood started running down her cheek, and she let out horrified screams and shrieks as she was lowered further its mouth.
…Then, a miracle happened.
…She started to smell-
'Smoke?'
Beatrice was dropped right before the creatures feet and into the dirt.
She was unable to move but her eyes never left the abomination.
She would never forget the sight she saw that night. Right before her eyes was a swamp creeper baptized in flames.
Fire had engulfed its entire upper body and arms.
The creeper's tentacles were shriveling up and falling off. A disgusting scent of cooked meat spread throughout the surrounding atmosphere.
This scene reflected in the woman's now vacant yet beautiful-blue eyes and she only had one thought as she laid there.
'Who?'
As if to answer her question, the blurry image of a young boy entered her vision and lifted her to her feet. The boy looked to be on the verge of tears as he stared at her and this pained her almost as much as when she'd been forced to abandon her children.
The woman could only utter one word to her presumed savior.
"Mar...cus?"