"Argh...." I tried to feel the back of my head only to find my arms and legs tied together. Great. Just absolutely fantastic. Try help a damsel in distress and get kidnapped instead. This was all Marley's fault for wanting sandwiches. No it was Earnest's fault for hitting me with his bloody sword. Going back further however, it really was my fault for asking in the first place. I sighed.
"And what are you sighing for?"
I looked up and in the silhouette of a nearby torch 'Faith' was standing with her arms folded. My expression immediately soured as I took in my surroundings. A bunch of random goods looted from people who probably weren't even alive anymore. Boxes, clothing, weapons, money, they were thrown around me haphazardly. A single torch lit up what looked like the cave and Faith stood at the entrance.
"What, cat got your tongue or are you still too stunned to speak?" she smiled haughtily.
I looked her in the eyes, "You're not going to kill me?"
She laughed, "Don't worry we'll get around to it. You're still useful for now." Slowly she walked up to where I was tied to the ground and crouched. She was still wearing the Hero's clothes. Things the Hero had been given in good faith. I jerked my body to move but the rope held and only proved to dig into my skin.
She whispered in my ear in a voice that surprised me, "Don't move. They're still watching." Her smugness was gone and a serious concern replaced it. "I'm really sorry but they're forcing me to do this. I can't help you right now but if you're friends are still alive we might be able to do something. Just promise not to leave without me... please." My eyes widened in confusion. Just what was she saying?
"I-," my mouth opened.
She stepped back and released a tremendous cackle, "By the Goddess did you just believe me? Seriously just a few words and you were back to being putty in my hands. Maybe I should have really gone into acting."
My frown returned, "Have you had your fun yet?"
"Oh plenty of it," she curtsied mockingly. "I hope you enjoyed my performance. Next I think I'll perform again in front of your friends." Friends was a bit of a strong word there but I let it slide. "Let's see how should I do it? Maybe the old, 'I couldn't stand waiting.', or the, 'Oh no they captured me again'. I bet the girl with the white hair would fall for either of those."
My muscles tensed involuntarily. The Hero as naïve as she was would definitely fall for that.
Her lips curled viciously, "Wow, did you just react to that? Have special feelings for her? Don't worry we'll be sure to spend time with her before we gut her like the rest."
I looked at the loot around me, "You really killed them all?"
"Of course we did. Trying to sell people these days is far too much work, better to just cut and run. Not that we don't have our fun first." She crouched down again and held my chin towards her. "You though I might keep. You're actually pretty cute, very much my type."
"Just kill me." No seriously please kill me. It might take a few days and some tedious work but I'd get my revenge.
"We'll see," she smiled. "Anyway have fun while we kill your friends. Bye bye." With a light skip she exited the cave taking the torch with her. There was a solid thunk of a door being closed around the corner. Great so I was locked in as well.
With nothing to do I tried shimmy out of my bindings. It only served to cut my skin raw. Without the light I couldn't make out a thing. It was complete darkness. There were weapons around the room but I was tied to the ground and from what I had seen they were too far away. If I could use magic I'd probably be doing better but there was no chance of that. There was one other option I could take, kill myself. The rock beneath me was hard and if I slammed my head into it a few times I'd probably die. While the idea may have seemed innovative I quickly pushed it to the back of my mind. For one there was no telling what killing myself would do. It might not even bring me back. On the other hand the Hero and her party were still alive. Knowing how strong they were, my rescue could be coming any minute.
In the end I waited. The minutes ticked by and the cold began to seep into my body. Even with the fine clothes I was wearing, the cold was eventually getting the better of me. Bored, I sat in silence straining my ears for any sound. Then to my surprise there was a patter of feet.
"Hey!" I yelled as loud as I could betting on the chance it wasn't a bandit. "Anyone out there? Hello?"
The footsteps stopped and there was suddenly a loud snap of wood. Light entered the cave as a heavy wooden door collided with the wall in front of me. An orb of white light hovered into view and closely behind it the smooth strands of hair reflecting in the same colour.
"Rain?" the Hero looked at me surprised as I did to her. Her armour was scratched all over and there clear signs of black blood dried against her clothes. Monster blood.
"Hero," I smiled. "Could you please give me a hand?"
"Y-yeah," she immediately set to cutting me free. "What are you doing here?"
"Turns out 'Faith' was working with the bandits. She led them right to us," I rubbed my wrists tenderly as the thick rope fell apart.
"I...," the Hero frowned in disbelief but she nodded. Apparently my trust was high enough. "What about Taylor?"
"She managed to get away with carriage. I was taken here," I looked around the room again and quickly found what I was looking for. My bow and some arrows. "What are you doing here, where are the others?"
"We were split up," she became dejected. "When we arrived the bandits let loose a horde of monsters at us. During it all I fell through a hole and ended up down here. I don't know where the others are...."
"They'll be fine," I said on reflex. "I-I mean they're all strong and Ronalt's with them."
"You're right," she nodded vigorously, confirming to herself her hopes. "We need to get out of here first. Can you walk?"
"I believe so," I patted the dirt off my clothes. "I'll follow you."
"Your wrists," she looked down at the bloodied marks. "I-."
"Don't worry," I hid them from sight. Unlike Marley the Hero wasn't gifted in healing. It was unfortunately the one type of magic she couldn't grasp. If she could, then their might not have been a reason for any of us. "They don't hurt too much. Let's just get out of here."
It was clear she was conflicted, but in the end she knew what she couldn't do, "This way then." The orb of light shifted and lit the way ahead.
Well I had to admit not killing myself was a great idea. In a grand stroke of luck I had the Hero, in other words the strongest human on the continent and maybe even the world. I followed her easily. There was hardly anything that posed a real threat to her... then again as I thought back to it the Monster was one. Surely there couldn't be more than one of them right? Looking around however the system of caves were definitely much older than the bandits had been using them. There was no telling what creatures could actually live there.
"Do you hear that?" the Hero suddenly stopped and whispered.
I narrowly avoided walking into her back, "I think so." After straining my hearing I could make out the agitated voices of people talking up ahead. Slowly the Hero and I moved forward sticking to the darkness as she extinguished her light.
"What do you mean they killed all the monsters!?" it was Faith's voice. "And you're sure none of them died or were injured?"
"W-well the one with the white hair fell and disappeared," a bandit replied. "But there's no way she could survive that."
Faith groaned, "Then where are they now?"
"They're on their way here. We're trying to kill them but nothing is working. We've almost ran out of everything."
"Shit! Those monsters took forever to capture."
"We still have the 'that' one."
"You want us to all die? That 'thing' stays where it is."
They finally came into view. It was a large cavern filled with tables and chairs. More than a dozen bandits including Faith stood in the centre. Across from us was another entrance and in the corner a large iron portcullis blocked something. An array of runes I couldn't understand spread across the walls beside it. The much newer words 'Do not open' were plastered on top of it.
"Boss at this rate they'll make it here," another bandit spoke nervously.
"Damn it," Faith cursed. "Jackson go get the hostage. We'll use him as bait here and once they arrive we'll sick that 'thing' on them. Even they won't get out alive."
"B-but who's going to open the gate?" his words were filled with fear. Whatever they had was something I didn't want to meet.
Faith's voice lowered dangerously, "If you keep talking, it might be you."
Jackson ran off towards us but as soon as he had turned the corner the Hero knocked him unconscious. She let his body slump to the floor.
"You were right," she looked towards Faith disappointed. "It was all a trap to begin with."
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Let's wait. I'm getting a really bad feeling about whatever's behind those bars."
"If it's enough to make you feeling anxious, shouldn't we stop them before they can open it?" At closer inspection the iron used to seal the area off was much older than the rest of the objects in the room. Whatever was trapped there had been trapped long before the bandits came here. Worse still the more I looked towards it, the more the feeling of apprehension in my chest grew. It was as if whatever was on the other side was something that didn't quite belong.
The Hero went still. It was only then that I noticed the line of sweat on her brow. She was anxious. Of course she was, if it weren't for the number of times I had died I would be as well. Just knowing the fact I would come back settled my heart but for her, every moment could be her last. As powerful as she may be she was still just one girl.
"You're right," her voice jittered. "Now is our best chance."
I didn't know what to say. Did I have the right to comfort her? To tell her what to do, to try lift her spirits, to tell her that she would be okay? Instead my mouth opened and closed with no words to say and I just nodded.