"They're not moving." Ratusk stared at the outcrop intensely. He held a spear in one hand as he and a group of warriors had assembled at the square of the village.
Ashari and I stood on standby as we waited for something to happen.
It's been roughly ten minutes or so since I had warned them of the appearance of the torches at the outcrop. Ratusk looked like he wanted to slice my head off over banging on his door, but as soon as he saw the torches he sounded the silent council.
"Thank you." Ashari said.
"If you hadn't warned us, they likely would've infiltrated the village by now."
"No need, it's what anyone would've done." I told her.
But Ashari swiftly shook her head.
"No, it's not. Your kindness is a rarity." She said with a stout resolution in her voice.
"The Chieftain is hard on outsiders, as they've taken advantage of us before. Much like you, they stumble out into our lands from the Sufolk, and disappear into the night with stolen goods." She sighed.
"To believe that an outsider would instead warn us of an enemy attack, however? That is a first." She smiled.
"Chieftain, one of them is approaching." One of the warriors in Ratusk's ensemble spoke up.
And as he said, one of the torches had begun to approach the village from the front.
My best guess is that now I had ruined their element of surprise, they would try diplomacy.
From the front of the village, the torch had finally gotten close enough to reveal the one carrying it. It was a Human, and one that I recognized-- it was Vask. But behind him were two other men, hidden enough in the dark; likely his entourage.
"Halt, move any closer and we will cut you down." One of the warriors spoke up as she pointed a spear at Vask and his guard.
But Vask only ignored him as he continued to approach, only stopping now at roughly twenty feet away from Ratusk and the rest of us.
"Greetings." He spoke up, he was only looking at Ratusk at the front; he had yet to see me.
Ratusk said nothing and instead spat at the sand below.
"Lovely, well, let me cut to the chase." Vask sneered.
"We happen to believe that two young slaves had escaped and have passed through here." As he began to scan the rest of the group, I hid myself behind the post of the well in the middle of the village.
"Simply put, we would like to recover our lost property as well as capture the murderous brute who had killed two of my men in cold blood."
"Is that so." Ratusk spoke, his voice was as cold as the desert wind.
"Indeed, now, if you were to help us... you would be handsomely rewarded." Vask snapped his fingers and one of the men behind him threw a sack to the floor; it spilled open revealing a multitude of gold coins.
Ratusk didn't bother to look at the coins.
"Aurum gold is worthless to us, leave at once and never return." Ratusk commanded as he stomped his spear into the sand.
But Vask was unphased, instead he lazily shifted his eyes over to something else-- Ashari.
"Oh my, what a beautiful... specimen." He said with a disgusting grin.
Ashari scowled as she felt Vask's gaze slither itself all over her, but she kept her ground.
"You dare lay your eyes on the Chieftain's daughter?" One of the warriors hissed.
Immediately, I knew we had lost the upper ground once he had mentioned that Ashari was Vask's daughter.
"Chieftain's daughter? Oh my, what a prestige." Vask taunted.
Ratusk said nothing as he kept stoic demeanor.
"Well, if you won't deal in gold-- then how about in blood ties?" Vask snapped his fingers once more, and immediately, five other men appeared from out of the shadows from behind him.
"Are you playing games, vermin? If you wish to fight, then so be it, we shall fight." Ratusk finally broke his silence as he readied his spear aimed at Vask, but he immediately lowered it as soon as he saw what the other five men were lugging.
It was a massive cage, and inside of it, were a handful of Demon children; they all looked like Desert Ogres.
"You foul worm, do you have no honor!?" Ashari shouted in disgust over the terrible sight.
"My, what a mouth on her." Vask chuckled as he rattled the cage with his shortsword, waking up the children inside.
"W-We're home?" One of them said in teary disbelief.
"Papa! Papa help me!" Another cried as she saw her father amongst the warriors.
Suddenly, one of the warriors lunged forward aiming their spear directly at Vask. But he was blocked by one his guards, causing him to tumble back.
"Such uncivilized folk, attacking over a trade deal." Vask yawned.
I could sense Ratusk's resolve waver as his shoulder ever so slightly slumped; he was backed into a corner.
"What do you want." He asked.
"The whereabouts of the escapees." Vask repeated.
"And, because one of your men tried attacking me... your daughter now too." He casually asked.
"I-I-..." Ratusk's resolve had finally cracked.
But before he could get a word in, it was Ashari who spoke up first.
"I know where they are." She walked forward, giving me one last glimpse as she did.
"Ashari, what are you doing!?" Ratusk cried, but Ashari ignored him as she continued to speak.
"I'm willing to tell you, my father knows nothing about this." She stood her ground a few feet away from Vask.
"Hmmm, is that so?" Vask scratched his chin as he listened.
"Then why not tell me now? If you do, I'll even let you say your goodbyes." Vask asked as he leaned against the cage.
"I cannot, I will only tell you at your camp." Her voice wavered.
Ratusk only watched wordlessly as it looked like he was about to split his spear in two in rage.
"My camp? Do you take me for an idiot, girl." Vask waved her off.
"Let me guess, you were going to tell me at the camp and in that time the slaves who're most obviously hidden somewhere in your rotten village would escape-- is that right?" He hit it right on the head, I could see Ashari's figure shrink.
"Do you see, men? This is the true nature of Demons, liars the lot of them; and they're not even good at it!" Vask jeered as he stretched out his arms, causing his men to laugh in uproar.
Ratusk and his warriors were all in dead somber silence as they were helpless in the wake of the mockery.
"And how about the murderer, do you know where he would be too?" He crossed his arms, his previous carefree attitude had disappeared.
"I had found the children, alone, at the edge of the Sufolk." She dropped her spear to the ground.
Then, surprising everyone present, she fell down to her knees.
"Please believe me,... M-Master." She choked out, her pride torn to shreds.
As if she had unlocked the secret to his twisted perversions, Vask's cheery attitude returned; he licked his lips as he ravenously eyed Ashari.
"Ohoho, so you do know some manners." Vask excitedly clapped.
"Well, I am a reasonable man-- and any good businessman should know when to sweeten the pot to smoothen the deal."
"Very well, you can tell me at the camp. Especially so after a little alone time with you and me, I've been very lonely these past few days. And well, it's high time for some... well-deserved comfort, to say the least." Ashari shuddered as he said so with glee.
But just as Ashari got up and began to head over to him, he interrupted her with one more clause.
"Oh yes, the ones in the cage; silly me, I almost forgot. We will not release them until she has told me the whereabouts of the escapees." He jovially tuned.
Ashari's step faltered over his sudden switching up.
"But, our deal!" She cried.
"What of it? It's insurance, you foolish girl." He threw what looked like a collar at her feet.
"Put that on and follow me. Try and run or do anything out of the ordinary, and this trade will be naught." He snickered as he began to walk away with his group, leaving the cage behind with the children inside.
Ashari looked dumbly at the collar and picked it up.
"Papa, I'm sorry." She weakly muttered to Ratusk as she put the collar on and proceeded to follow Vask.
I watched as they disappeared off into the dark, with the sole torch illuminating their way out of the village. Ratusk fell to his knees as the others quickly ran up to the cage, trying to break it open.
Once Vask was gone, I crept my way up to where Ratusk and the cage were.
Before, he looked like a jagged spire of a man; indomitable and unbreakable. But now, he was only a husk of who he truly was. He couldn't bear to look me in the eye.
This was my fault, if I hadn't taken their kindness-- this would've never happened. Rayji and Tesera would've died, but that would've been my burden to bear.
I stared at the cage full of children, the warriors were unable to crack it open.
"It's made of Magic!" One cried as he struggled in vain to break the lock.
I tried my luck at breaking the cage, hoping that my strength would do the trick.
But it was no use, as even with this absurd strength of mine, I couldn't bend the bars or destroy the lock; it was as if there was an invisible force that shielded the iron.
"So, this is Magic." I muttered to myself, now confirming for myself too.
There was only one thing left to do, and I had to do it myself.
"Ratusk." I spoke out to the old man wallowing in his absolute defeat.
He didn't look up, but I made sure he was listening.
"I'll bring her back." I calmly declared.
I'll be the one to flip this crap deal on that bastard's head.