Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Trojan horse

"Wake him up," a muffled distant voice could be heard. The next second, a cold biting splash woke Jason up from his sleep. He gasped as the water woke him up forcefully. Trying to get up proved to be useless as he realized he had been bound by rope on his legs and arms. Looking up while still processing what happened was a hard task, and the next thing that came was the headache. What was the last thing that happened last night? He tried to remember. That's right, he had been assaulted and knocked out. His attackers revealed themselves while he was still trying to piece the puzzle together.

"How are you feeling, village chief?" Said a man's voice he recognized. He gazed upwards to find the familiar face of the man who introduced himself the day they came back with the messengers of the village.

"Clay? What the hell is going on? Why am I tied up? What's the meaning of this!?" Jason said as he tried in vain to release himself from the restraints. Clay just grinned mischievously.

"I love idiots like you, Jason. So gullible and easy to manipulate. Can't you see for yourself?" Pointing around the village. Jason hadn't looked around since he woke up, mostly because he was preoccupied with talking to Clay. Around him, he could see the mercenaries that had arrived a week ago gathering anything that was valuable onto wagons with horses. Villagers were gathered and bound like him against the palisade. He then heard the screams coming from another group; they consisted of women and certain mercenaries he remembered being the ones who always harassed the woman during their stay. They pulled the women forcefully from the group of villagers even when the husbands and family members tried to stop them from what they were about to do. They received a beating and were knocked out. One woman tried to run while her captor was busy kicking her father but didn't manage to get far as another mercenary grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her along with the other woman into a village cabin.

"What the hell is this!? Let them go, we had a contract agreement!" Yelled Jason at Clay in desperation, but Clay just chuckled at his demands.

"Bring them out, let's get this over with," Clay instructed to his second in command next to him. Jason watched as they brought Marc along with another person he had never seen before. The person was tied up and beaten to the point of looking half dead. Marc, on the other hand, looked downward when he met Jason's gaze. The village hunter was responsible for making the binding contract with the mercenaries; he probably felt responsible for what was happening. If it weren't for him, they would have still been trying to figure out how to deal with the goblin horde. Clay then took out the binding contract and looked smugly at Jason.

"I'm going to show you something beautiful," said the man as he ripped the contract in half. The stranger they brought out gasped at this scene and tried pleading but it was already too late. The stranger along with Marc, both self-combusted into blue flames. Their screams of agony and torture filled Jason with terror and sadness. Marc had been his lifelong childhood friend; seeing him perish within seconds broke him in a way nobody had done to him since his father's death. The bodies of both men were turned to ashes and the wind slowly spread the ashes around. Jason's mind turned blank, and he fell sideways onto the ground, breaking down in tears.

"The contract was never bound to our mercenary leader; it was signed by some idiot who had a debt with us. Now do you understand your own ignorance and stupidity? We'll be selling off the villagers to some wealthy slavers and you, well... let's just say that we need a new person to sign more contracts for us," the man said as he and his buddies started laughing maniacally.

Jason looked up at the men in defiance, and with a burst of energy fueled by his anger, he forced himself up against the restraints tightening around his skin. His forehead slammed against Clay's groin area, and the man toppled over in pain. Jason fell over exhausted from the strained move he did and was surrounded by the mercenaries who began kicking him.

"Lift him up! I'm going to show him some proper manners," Clay ordered his men, and they lifted Jason up. Clay walked up to him and kicked him hard where he had been hit before. Jason screamed in pain, but he couldn't fall down as the men held him up against his will. The mercenary leader grabbed him by the throat and leaned forward to speak.

"Once the rest of our group arrives with more men, I will personally find that little cunt you like. What was her name again? Jess, right?" Said the man as he enjoyed seeing Jason's reaction. "I will find wherever she went and violate her in front of your very own eyes."

Jason started breaking down and wanted to plead for him not to hurt Jess, but before he could beg, a mercenary at the village gate called out.

"They've arrived, start preparing the rest of the slaves for transport!"

Clay turned around then smirked at Jason. "Look at that, time to finally get out of this shit hole of a village." And walked away to meet his big boss that would arrive with the rest of the mercenaries.

As he walked toward the opening gate, his eyes caught sight of the convoy of wagons along with some oddly dressed members. They wore dark cloaks on them, with minor armor showing. He wondered if the boss had recruited some new members or maybe they were new partners. The boss who was named Barden, was getting off the lead horse and behind him were several of the dark cloaked mem following close to him. They were tall and imposing. Actually, now that he noticed. The cloaked individuals outnumbered the amount of mercenaries from their group.

"Boss, how was your trip? We have captured the village like we planned but can you please tell me who these people are with you? If you don't mind me asking?" He asked just in case they were someone powerful that he shouldn't bad mouth. They had worked with mysterious organizations and people like this before. It was good to act humble and not step on the foot of a snake without knowing.

Barden looked at the cloaked men as if he was asking if it was alright to say anything and then looked at Clay, "Ah, yes. These fine...men. They are the clients who wish to purchase the villagers. I met them back in Roriksten and have agreed to sell them for a fair deal." He finished slowly as if he rehearsed everything he just said.

Clay just stared awkwardly at his boss, he knew the man for a long time and he had only seen him this nervous two times before. Once was when they were close to dying in a battle and the second time was when he had met a powerful client. Clay just chalked it off to him being nervous around the slave buyers.

"They wish to see the goods first, just to confirm that they have not been damaged too much," said Barden and Clay obliged as he lead them to the villagers.

One of the cloaked men turned to see Jason lying on the ground. Clay noticed this. "That one isn't for sale, by the way. We need him for our next setup. I hope you can understand our arrangements." He prayed the client wouldn't be angered by this.

"That is fine, your leader has informed us on how you operate," said the stranger. The cold and deep voice surprised Clay; he actually felt a chill when he heard him speak. He wondered how strong they had to be to put fear into not only him but his boss as well.

Just as they were arriving in front of the tied-up villagers, a woman's scream emanated from inside the village cabin that the women were taken to by force.

Clay furrowed his brows in anger. "You! Go tell them to keep it down. Make sure they don't hurt them too much while they're having fun with them. We got an important customer here to buy," ordered Clay at the closest mercenary. The mercenary ran towards the cabin in a hurry. Clay was about to continue talking, only to stop mid-turn and witness the man he sent to the cabin be stabbed through the body at the door entrance.

He was so caught off guard that he didn't notice the cloaked men behind him begin to move, and the rest that came with the convoy had already spread throughout the entire village. They began killing the mercenaries one by one with quick efficiency.

In slow motion, Clay grabbed the guard of his sword to unsheath it only to be stabbed through the chest and fall down on his knees. He gazed upward and witnessed his boss beg for his life in front of the strangers.

"I have done as you have ordered. I am even willing to offer my own life with a binding contract. Here, I have one with me he-" the sound of his gurgling blood erupting out of his mouth could be heard as his throat was slit from behind.

Clay couldn't believe that after years of deceiving people and selling them off for gold, that he would be set up like this and die. He couldn't say anything in his last moments, he could only wheeze in pain as the cold embrace of the lord of death took him to the Necro realm.

Jason, who was a witness to all of this, was in shock. A part of him was thrilled seeing the mercenaries get their just reward, but another part of him started feeling fear for who these new people were. He had overheard that they were here to buy the villagers and he wondered if they just jumped from the mouth of a beast to an even bigger one.

One of the cloaked figures approached him and started cutting his binds. The sensation of being freed from restraints was liberating but only added more confusion to who they were and what they wanted.

"Thank you, but I have to ask... who are you and what do you want from us?" Asked Jason in hesitation. The dark figure looked down at him and the silence was nerve recking for the village chief.

"I'm just repaying the kindness of a...friend."

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Chronicle27

Hey guys! I just recieved my first power stones and to show my appreciation to you guys, BO-BO-BONUS CHAPTER!! Hope you guys add the story to your library and a comment or review. I'm really curious how you guys view my story, is it good,bad or mid? anyways see you tomorrow for another chapter. :D

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