The war between the Wilds and the Kingdom of Bernbute continued away from Bernbute. Arvin had successfully defended the heart of Bernbute. The war happened amidst civil war and so the armies were fairly exhausted, much before the real threat posed.
Nira stood at a window, craving for light. It was the first time she could see outside the walls of the room she was in since she got captured. It was then that she realized the busy streets of Neeka were deserted. She could hardly see anyone roaming about in the street. It was strange. As she processed that, she saw a shadow move past the window. It was so fast that she thought maybe she was hallucinating.
She was about to walk away from the window when she came to sight with her tormentor. A Wild stood firm, his eyes cold on hers. He was muscular and very tall with a c-shaped blade and a couple of arrows on his back. He had worn animal skin from the waist downwards to the knees. His chest was bare and his abs showed. He had a long silk black hair. His eyes were deep and black, a medium nose sat on the middle of his face and a vicious smile shaped his lips as he stared at her.
Their eyes locked for a while. She was between frightened and intrigued. She was well aware she could easily torment him and use him to free herself but she did not anyway. She stared at him, with no urgency of taking over him. The Wild man stood too perplexed at her beauty, as every man allowed to stare at her would feel.
" Go, we shall meet again!" She whispered to him as the man fled from the window. Welter's men were close and since they were almost reclaiming back the town, the Wild did not have anytime for distractions or death, at least.
The door opened and Welter walked in, troubled with the recent occurrences.
" You caused all these! We made a great deal and you..."
She cut him off.
" Do you think blaming me is going to restore your fallen town? I am not going to give you back your influence! You locked me, tortured me when I could be of use, so!"she retaliated walking past him to a seat in the corner.
" You realize that you will die in here?" He asked her amused by the thought of her dying.
" Let me go get my death in the way. I will take several Wilds with me to the after life!" She tried to persuade him but he did not relent.
They were silent in the room for a while. Screams outside the walls pierced into the castle as people lost their lives to the brutality of the Wilds. She stared at him but not in his eyes. She had learnt not to stare into his eyes in a very cruel way. She tried to possess him but he retaliated almost taking off her eyes using his guards. It was on a sunny afternoon in the last week before winter came. She had realized that tormenting him gave her some strength back so she tried. Immediately he was clear off her, he brought guards and instructed them to take off her eyes before changing the command a few seconds to her blinding.
" Okay, I will let you go, but if you help fight the Wilds!" He offered her the chance to buy herself freedom. It was an offer she could not refuse. She had longed to walk out of the castle and even if she would by making a deal with the devil, then so be it!
She agreed to the terms. He had her swear that she would not abandon the town until the war was over, otherwise he would have her hunted down and preyed on by all his guards men before cutting her into small pieces such that he would have parts of her day after day until her body was exhausted.
She did not care about the threats. The man himself had forgotten what he was dealing with. Worse, she could be caught by the Wilds so the threats meant nothing to her. She was handed back all her weapons and even added some arrows and a bow. Welter was familiar with her shooting talent.
At last, she was out of the castle gate and into the castle road. She did not have time to enjoy the freshness of air as arrows whooshed past her, just missing her face. She rolled over to a wall as she prepared an arrow strike of her own. She was about to aim when she saw the Wild man she had met by the window. She felt lost. She lost her focus for a moment until she heard several footsteps approaching her. She crawled into a dark ally and into a ale house.
It was deserted and grave silent. She held her sword firm as she walked carefully deep into the building. She rested her back against the wall at the window as she looked outside. The Wilds were getting more and more into the city. For the first time, she was afraid of death. Whoever she was now was nothing compared to how she used to be.
As she stared outside the window, the door creaked and the Wild man entered. He had followed her again. She stared at him confused on whether to attack or not. They stood silently facing each other. It seems the man could not hide his amusement on the extreme beauty Nira possessed even though she was not in her best form yet.
" What do you want here? With me?" She tried to find out why he followed her everywhere. The man did not say a word, he just kept staring into her eyes and smiling. She too felt something between them. She sighed and restored her sword inside its sheath and walked slowly towards him. He stood still.
She advanced to him until she could feel his breath. He was much taller than her that she had to stare up at him. He held his sword firmly on his right hand. It had blood dripping from it.
" It is okay, you want me?" She asked.
You would think she would have appreciated an answer but she did not expect any. The Wilds were believed not to know the language of the normal humans as they had been exiled before the invention of language. But, it seems he understood each and every word she said. He nodded to her, his constant smile on and amusement throughout his face. It felt like love at first sight.
Meanwhile, Neeka was crumbling. Houses were being torched as people flee for their lives. The Wilds were relentless. They took each and every head they walked across. Welter was almost losing his mind, trying to defend the town which had no army to protect itself. He was surrounded by his guards and tucked away in his castle. At least there, he could be safer for a while. The irony that he was scared of death yet he could not die! Actually, turns out he could die, depending on who and what killed him. If he was to be struck by the Wilds, then he would lose his power, meaning another attack would claim his life. No one knew about this, only himself. No wonder he was so scared of the Wilds.
Amidst the chaos, word was out of how Bernbute emmerged victorious. They had won one battle too many. Several thousand people exiled for safety while others lost their lives horribly. The reputation of the capital and that of Arvin seemed to be getting better. Between all these, everyone knew of what had happened to the Merrian forces that attempted siege at the gate of Bernbute.
The kingdom was falling apart, not only from the attacks by the Wilds but also from the image the death of hundreds of Merrians at the gate of Bernbute painted. People were crossing borders to other countries, peaceful countries and away from the kingdom.
The king was urged to do something to unite the kingdom against the Wilds. These events had taught them one valuable lesson, they had a common foe and they only had to unite. Arvin sent messengers and ravens with messages to the major Lords of the land urging them to 'stand together. To put politics aside. To banish greed and ambitions from their hearts and to unite against the Wilds!'
Nira stood even closer to the Wild man. Their breaths against each other. She tried to figure out what was happening but she had no explanation. She remained stunned of how attached he was getting with the enemy.
" You stand together with the enemy!" Welter shouted as he walked into the alehouse. The wild man turned to attack him but Nira pulled him aside. He was so muscular and steady but she did push him aside anyways. The man took it as a signal to stand down and so he did. He moved behind her as Welter approached calmly.
" He is no enemy of mine!" She responded as he turned to him.
" Is it love?" He smiled amused by both what he had walked in to and his question.
" Hmm, what do you know about love anyways?" She said unmoved by his stupid question.
" I should kill the both of you!" He said halting and his hand firm around his sword.
" Several guards surround this building, even if you manage to get away from my grasp, you will still have a mountain to climb." He continued.
It was weird between them for a while. No one making any moves or sound. Only sounds of swords clattering outside the building echoed in the house for a while.
" We kill two leaders, they will retreat for a while then we find reinforcements. This is what you get for holding a town without an army!" She finally said walking away from the Wild man and past Welter.
"How do you know a leader? Also how sure are you with this? He told you about this?" He showed his concerns about her plan.
" They attacked us in the forest, that's what we did, killed a leader, though coincidentally. But they saw and they ran away!" She explained.
" The one behind you seems to be like a leader!" He said pointing at the wild who was already joining the dots of what was to happen to him, but Nira defended him.
" He is mine! Also he is just a warrior, not a leader! If you are ready, we could retake this town, just the two of us. But first he is going to show us the leaders!" She said walking towards the wild. She stood in front of him and stared deep into his eyes. Suddenly her eyes slightly glowed and the man moved back until his back was against the wall.
She followed him to the wall, her eyes still fixed in his. She stared inside them for a while then turned away. Her eyes became normal and the man walked from the wall. One thing she had learnt was that she could switch from tormenting eyes to normal eyes, so she could stare into someone's eyes without necessarily tormenting them, not until when she wanted to. The war outside was ongoing. The wild man in company of Welter and Nira turned against his kin and was aiding them to get to the leader. An arrow almost hit him but Nira pushed him away and it hit another wild. They had to find the wild leaders and it had to be soon. Even as winter fell, the battle was on and no party had intentions of backing out.