Chapter 26: Chasing Shadows (1)
The stairwell leading to the underground encampment seemed to be never-ending. The candles that dimly lit the passage created an ominous atmosphere that was filled with damp air and the smell of moisture.
"Everyone be on their guard. I'm not exactly sure what to expect down here so keep an eye out." Stated Strom as he led the group down the rickety steps.
After descending even deeper, a strange greenish blue light began to illuminate the passageway that alerted the group.
"We must finally be close. Get ready. You can kill but spare a few, especially the king. If we can't get him to talk then we will use the others as bargaining chips." Whispered Strom as he halted before an opening before them that seemed to be the source of the light.
Kellen carefully peered out through the opening over Strom's shoulder and widened his eyes at the spectacle he witnessed.
The opening did not simply lead to a regular old basement, but expanded into a large cavern. Near the back of the cavern seemed to be an elevated pool of sorts. The water was the source of the greenish blue light they were now immersed in and reflected the long stalactites that hung from all over the ceiling.
A narrow path jutted out from the floor of the cavern that stopped near the center of the pool where a chiseled alter stood. There the king stood with his head bowed as if in deep prayer.
Roughly fifteen men surrounded the pool and their king from below with their heads raised, eagerly awaiting their king's orders.
"Alright, luckily there isn't enough men to the point that we can't handle the situation. Ceric try to take a few down from here while we sneak up behind them. I don't need to talk to you about timing." Ordered Strom.
Ceric nodded his head in response as he began notching arrows onto his bowstring and began searching for their targets.
"The rest of you will follow me in. Begin the assault as I slay the first target. Make sure we keep at least three alive." With that Strom began to creep up to his first kill as the rest followed.
Kellen quietly unsheathed his sword and located its victim before turning his gaze back towards Strom.
Seeing the captain was about to take action, he also brandished his blade towards his targets neck.
Three rebels fell with two more quickly following after the almost silent sounds of arrows swished.
The ten remaining rebels confusedly retracted their gazes from their king and were in shock with what they saw. Five more fell after the initial startle with the last five unsheathing their weapons.
Kellen swiftly slew another with barely any resistance while the last four were left immobilized by either arrows or a sword pointed at their throats.
"Yariv! Seems like you've been busy. Did you miss us already?" Swaggered Strom as he lifted his hostages chin with the tip of his blade.
King Yariv slowly turned to face the Romans with a hollow and utterly defeated look in his eyes.
He did not answer the provocation but slowly turned back towards the altar and grasped its edges with his hands.
His sigh was echoed off the water and walls within the cavern.
"Who are these foreign mercenaries you hired? Where are they?" Questioned Strom with a heavy voice.
"It doesn't matter anymore..." Finally answered the slumped king.
"This was your kingdom! We didn't make any moves! What did you do?" Yelled Strom.
"I didn't do anything! Rather there was nothing for me left to do! The mercenaries... They... They aren't what we hired..." Shakily said the once brave king.
"What do you mean? Who are they? Who did you hire?"
"I didn't have a choice! If you Roman shits didn't invade our kingdom it wouldn't have come to this!"
"Stop talking in circles and answer me unless you want more to die!" Shouted Strom as he slew his hostage.
"It doesn't matter anymore! We'll all be dead soon anyways! Those weren't any fucking mercenaries! They're-..." Yariv's sentence was ended as a shadow began wrapping its way around his body.
"No! No! I didn't say anything! We were doing as the old man ordered!" He pleaded as the shadow continued to crawl its way up his body towards his head.
"Death is silence..." Murmured the shadow as a dark blade protruded out from the back of the kings mouth.
Yariv's words were now inaudible and soaked in blood as he slowly fell back against the altar.
"Shit!"
Strom quickly raced towards the fallen king and grasped him before he completely fell to the floor.
"Yariv who did all this? Who is orchestrating this bloody madness?"
"A dead king and a crumbling kingdom. You should be grateful for our service Roman." Whispered the shadow before disappearing from the man's body.
The dying man could no longer speak but managed to move his fingers around in his blood that splattered on the floor.
His feeble fingers seemed to trace something before finally ceasing their movement all together.
Kellen quickly rushed over to Strom and the fallen king.
"Did he say anything?"
Strom shook his head while staring at the strange symbol left on the ground parted by the king.
"Have you seen anything like this before?"
Kellen shook his head after inspecting the strange symbol.
'I've never seen anything like thing like this before but for some odd reason it feels so familiar.'
The now drying blood began to cement the symbol into the cavern floor like a tattoo. Kellen was intrigued by its image and tried to determine its sentiment.
"It looks like a lock with a crying eye as its keyhole."
Strom nodded his head in agreement.
"Maybe the legionnaire will know what it is." Kellen suggested.
"No, before it comes to that we need to at least figure this out." Said Strom with a sigh.
"Why? Isn't the legionnaire and backup arriving just for this purpose?"
"But if they solve everything then what would be the circumstances for my regiment?" Gritted Strom in annoyance.
Kellen lowered his head to stare at the symbol again.
'Old geezer! Have you seen something like this before?' Kellen hopefully asked Osiris.
'Is that anyway to address your master you stinky brat! Cough... Cough... But this wise one has not seen nor heard of anything like this.'
'Wow! Everyone behold! My master's wisdom!' Kellen responded sarcastically before contemplating on his own.
"How did the king come into contact with them? It sounded like he recently had a discussion with whoever plotted this." Questioned Kellen thoughtfully.
"Yes, it did seem to be that way. I think I have an idea of who might know. Alright everyone let's move!"
"What about the king?" Said Kellen while pointing to the foolish man.
"Leave him. He lost his purpose long before this."
Strom led the group back to the entrance of the cavern before pausing and looking back at the king coldly pressed against the altar.
"Reliance on the shadows we used to hide from can ultimately be what consumes us in the end; Losing sight of the brilliance that could shine before us."
Kellen seemed to be the only one who heard this under his captain's breath as they began climbing the passage that led back to the shop.
While they scaled the many stairs, Strom's words continued to replay inside of Kellen's mind that led him into deep a deep contemplation.
'What shadows haunted my fellow lab experiments?'
He had never taken a moment to pause and reflect on the fears that drove his enemies before.
The questions that used to haunt him during his residency at the laboratory began to resurface.
'Why did they target me? Why was it me who was always bullied?'
Kellen used to believe it was mostly the researchers' fault for isolating him from the others. That this isolation and the pain they inflicted on them, all on a daily basis, was the root of the other kids' actions.
But the memories that flooded his mind began to paint a different picture.
"You're such an eyesore!"
"You're nothing but trash!"
"You're so weak!"
The voices from his fellow subjects rattled off in his head.
'Was it because I was simply seen as the weakest?'
This answer was the conclusion he would always be led to, but now it no longer made any sense for him.
There were plenty of newer kids that would be brought in or past kids that had perished during the torturous experiments. So why was it him that was singled out amongst the rest.
'I wanted to die... Yet survived the longest.'
He new this fact to be true. It would constantly follow him and the deaths of his friends that were originally with him at the laboratory.
'Again and again. I would survive.'
He determined the reason for his isolation was in part due to success. He was one of, if not the only, experimental subject that survived throughout the many years of imprisonment.
'While the others' survival varied in time, I became a constant. My adaptability was unbelievable, even more so in the researchers' eyes.'
Kellen lifted his head for a moment.
'They were scared of and dreaded their impending "last experiment", while I simply wished for it.'
This thought was the last as he finally re-entered the tattered shop with the rest, ending his discovery.
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