Nira, the Wild man and Welter were still stuck behind the gigantic figure that stood in front of them. The other wilds were getting ready for the night and so they had stopped attacking people of Neeka.
Nira was losing her patience. She turned to the wild man and stared into his eyes as her eyes slightly glowed . They stood with their eyes fixed at each other. She then took out a dagger and placed it in his right palm and made him hold it. Welter watched curiously from a little distance.
She stopped staring in his eyes then she nodded. The wild man stood still for a while then tiptoed to the giant wild man. It was strange he had not moved for almost an hour or two. They also felt that being strange but they did not mind. He was or not, their only hope to regain power and save the people of the town.
The wild man sneaked behind the giant wild man and in one swift move, buried the dagger deep behind the giant's right knee, such that it reached to the knee cap and protruded from it. The giant yelled in pain then turned to the wild man sent by Nira. For what is worth, the wild man sent by Nira was under her spell and it was fair to say, he had not betrayed his folk.
Before the giant could harm Nira's wild man, she sent an arrow on his right chest and another on his left chest, missing the heart by just an inch. His yelling made other wilds rush to the scene and as soon as plenty of them gathered, with fire torches to lit the scene, she took out her sword. The giant had fell on his knees, the dagger still deep in his right knee. She walked to him and gave the crowd a cold stare before slitting the giant's throat mercilessly and he fell lifeless on the ground making a mild shake.
The crowd stood unmoved by the scenes that had just unfolded. This had Welter panick so he walked to her.
" It does not seem to work!" He said his eyes racing through the crowds.
" That is because he was not a leader. The one we have is the leader!" She whispered to him then smiled to the wild man in their company.
" You knew all along and we have just been running around all day?" He said, almost shouting.
" You keep up with that and he won't like it. I won't hold him back this time!" She warned.
" What is he? Your dog?" He teased.
" He is someone that can kill you, you think I don't know that?" She threatened.
The crowd remained still and their eyes on them. Nira's wild man was clearly the man of interest. The crowd was majorly focusing on him. As Nira and Wester exchanged words, the wild man took out his own dagger and placed it on Nira's neck. She stood still and easy. She restored her sword in its scabbard slowly as she waited the next action. Something in her had her feel the wild man could never harm her.
" He is turning on us! Great, as expected!" He said trying to impose guilt on her.
" Relax, it is my neck on a sword not yours! She teased as she carefully made him take the sword off her neck. After she was clear from him she stared at him for a while then to Welter.
" You have to die!" She said loudly as if she wanted the Wilds to get her message. Welter was still trying to understand what she meant by that when she removed her sword and dug it in between his chest. He struggled to catch his breath and blood tasted in his mouth. He collapsed on his knees then sideways on his left to the ground.
The wilds might have seemed clueless on what was going on but they surely got an idea. Nira's dressing always made her look like an elevated Wild, even from her palace days and did she just kill a normal human? That was definitely a plus. Poor souls, they had no idea that she had them trapped in this big idea she had, even before she suggested taking captive of a leader.
She had studied them. Their culture, their behaviors, their minds. All of it that made them wilds. She did her research more differently. Instead of reading myths about them, she would sneak into the forest dressed like them and sit among them then sneak back into the palace when she was still a princess. She knew them like the back of her hand. During her stay in the forest, she got much understanding of them. Surprisingly, she was known to the leader, the one who had followed her around since the time they locked eyes when she was still in Welter's custody.
The Wilds were scared of death, specifically death of their leader. It was rare for them to take their leaders to war. Most of the time, the leader would remain in the secured space in the forest or the weakest point of their enemies and in this case, it was Neeka. They were even more scared of magic. In as much as they seemed to be made of dark magic, they feared humans who practiced it. For instance, if Welter were to resurrect, then it would scare them off.
She was aware of him, the Wild man who followed her. She knew he would follow him around. She had him tormented with her beauty, ever since they first met eight years back in the forest. He was part of the reason they survived the forest for that long.
***
Bernbute residents were being shipped back in the night, group after group. The children came first, then the women then the warriors assigned to keep them safe. As soon as the last ship docked, everyone rushed to their houses and instructed to lock themselves in them.
The ones fortunate to meet their husbands and sons, friends and relatives alive rejoiced and celebrated quietly while those whose kin fell to the sword mourned painfully and quietly. There was not to be any noise in the city, only the sound of wind, as instructed by the king.
By then, the whole kingdom had learnt that the residents were shipped to safety and the city was only occupied by the king and warriors. King Arvin strived to keep it that way, at least for that while. As soon as all the troops sent away for rescue returned, the gates were locked and subtly, the city was shut down. It almost felt like a cemetery. Only the breezing of the ocean winds and the howling of wind occupied the air. The next action was to await sunrise.
***
Welter struggled to open his eyes. They were heavy that he had to try severally and when they opened, they were blurred. His body was cold on the ground. He struggled to a sitting position as his brain began updating his body. He regained consciousness after a while and his eyes had full vision.
He raced his hand first to his chest and tore the cloth open. It was like nothing had happened to him, yet he remembered perfectly of how Nira's sword penetrated between his chest. He got up slowly. It was then that he saw Nira and the wild man looking at him and the large crowd that watched him in awe.
" What did you do to me?" He said furiously walking towards Nira but before he reached her, the wild man stood in front of him making him stop.
" What is the meaning of this?" He asked angrily.
" A plan! You begged for one!" She said , showing no regret of her doing.
" I know I can't die but I am not your plaything. Next time, I will take your head for it!" He warned her. She just smiled at him then walked towards him. The crowd had started falling back and in no time, every wild scattered away from the scene, except their leader, Nira's wild man.
" They are running away!" He exclaimed, his attention shifting away from Nira to the running wilds.
" That's why you had to die and comeback, took you long enough!" She said as she picked up her sword and wiped blood from it using a piece of fur from the dead giant's cloth, then restored it in its scabbard. They walked away from the scene. She and the wild man parted ways with Welter . She walked to the house she fisrt stayed in when she arrived at the town.
" I will teach you how to speak, once we are through all these!" She said to the wild man.
" First, I will give you a name. You will be Hansen! Hansen Wilder!" She said to him as she walked into the house and he followed. The house was pretty much the way she had left it. Her blood dried on the floor and rats roamed into it more freely, otherwise it was all in good condition.
After Hansen( the wild man she just named) entered the house, she locked the door and turned to him.
" We could stay here until morning, then we will decide our path from there!" She said. The man looked at her but did not say anything, though it felt he understood every word, otherwise Nira could not be talking to him.
***
The silent night turned into a peaceful morning in Bernbute. The city became lively, minute by minute. Trade was slowly resuming. The king sat in the king's hall- Arvin had moved the throne room from the court building used by the other kings and had it in the palace under a new name.
The hall was big but not big enough to accommodate every citizen. One by one, the residents entered in the hall, each of them hoping to see the king. His reputation was getting better. We're he to die, he would be remembered as the god of war, he had won countless battles since he ascended the throne.
He sat patiently on his throne seat. Lord Elide stood beside him and his royal guards around the throne seat and at every pillar in the building.
" It is good to see you, we will meet later in the town hall!" He shouted to those that had made way into the King's hall. It was about a hundred people or less. Each one of them had a concern and hoped for the favor of the king.
" We managed to escape yet another scare! I am sorry for those unfortunate who gave their lives for us! We shall forever live to remember their dedication, patriotism and bravery to fight the Wilds!" He said making sure everyone in the hall heard of what he said.
Word spread across the Kingdom of freedom. The wilds were cleared and those alive retreated back in the forest. It was evident that the Kingdom was lucky to resist the enormous force of the wilds. It was the first attack in several centuries of Wilds- free living.
As everyone rejoiced and the survivors of the war prayed to their gods with gratitude and word of the intelligence of king Arvin and his army spread in the land, something was home, the wilds, they could attack and abruptly with a strong force. Yes, Bernbute had just won themselves freedom once again, but this was just the beginning, the first of many.