CHAPTER 304: WE DON’T LEAVE PEOPLE BEHIND

The elven guard dragged Lianna away from the huddled prisoners toward the far side of the camp. Her shackles clinked with each stumbling step as they hauled her past sleeping guards and dying campfires.

"Where is Captain Morvain?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Shut up," the guard snarled. "You’ll find out soon enough."

They approached a dark opening in the stone wall. A natural cave that disappeared into the mountain’s depths.

Cold air flowed from the entrance, carrying the smell of damp stone and something else. Something rotting.

"In there," the guard commanded, shoving her forward.

Lianna stumbled into the cave entrance. The darkness was absolute beyond the first few feet. No torches. No light source of any kind.

"Captain Morvain?" she called softly.

No answer.

Behind her, the guard blocked the entrance of the cave. His silhouette was outlined against the campfire light outside.

"He’ll be along," the elf said with an ugly laugh. "Meanwhile, you can get comfortable."

The cave floor was rough stone covered with loose gravel. Lianna moved carefully deeper into the darkness, her hands extended to feel for walls or obstacles.

Her fingers touched something soft. Fabric.

Then bone.

She jerked her hand back with a gasp. Human remains lay scattered across the cave floor. Bodies in various stages of decay. The rotting smell was stronger here.

Previous prisoners. Other captives who had been brought to this cave for Morvain’s "private conversations."

None of them had left alive.

"Comfortable yet?" the guard called from the entrance.

Lianna forced herself to remain calm. Panic would accomplish nothing. She needed to find some advantage in this situation.

The cave extended deeper into the mountain. If she could navigate the darkness, perhaps there was another exit. A way to escape or at least hide until help arrived.

She heard cla king hit the floor and the guards were laughing at each other as they stepped closer to her.

She knew what was about to happen and it made her skin crawl.

--

Outside the cave, Grim crept through the shadows between rocky outcroppings.

Most guards were asleep or drowsy near the fires. Only six guards stayed awake watching from various positions.

The prisoners huddled together in the center of the camp. But he counted only four instead of five.

"Where’s Lianna?" he whispered to Captain Wei.

"There," Sergeant Liu pointed toward the cave entrance. "Guard stationed outside. She’s inside."

Grim studied the situation. The camp’s natural defenses worked both ways. The enclosed space that protected the elves would also trap them once fighting began.

"Standard assault won’t work," Captain Wei observed quietly. "Too many guards. Too much open ground."

"Then we don’t use standard assault," Grim replied.

He drew Echo and fed aurora energy into the blade. The steel began to glow like the night sky.

Grim vanished from sight, moving faster than the eye could follow. He reappeared behind the first sentry and opened the elf’s throat before disappearing again.

The second sentry died without knowing his partner was gone. A precise thrust through the heart that ended with Grim already moving to the next target.

The third sentry turned just in time to see death approaching. Echo took off his head in a single clean cut.

Within sixty seconds, all six perimeter guards were dead.

"Perimeter clear," Grim reported softly. "Move in."

Captain Wei and Sergeant Liu descended into the camp like hunting wolves. Their imperial training made them ghosts in the darkness. Sleeping elves died without waking as precise blade work ended their life.

But noise was inevitable. Steel rang against steel as one elf managed to draw his sword before dying. The sound echoed off the stone walls.

CLANG!!

"Attack!" someone shouted. "We’re under assault!"

The camp erupted into chaos as surviving guards scrambled for weapons.

Captain Morvain emerged from a shelter near the largest fire, his armor gleaming in the firelight. His enchanted sword blazed to life as he assessed the situation.

"Form defensive positions!" he commanded. "Protect the prisoners!"

But his remaining guards were scattered and confused. Half were still struggling into armor. The others fired arrows blindly into the darkness.

"Aurora Flash: Sundering Slash," Grim called out.

The horizontal wave of energy swept through the camp’s center. It cut down four elves and destroyed their primary fire pit, plunging half the area into darkness.

In the confusion, Huangyan’s partially loosened shackles fell completely free. She rolled aside as an elven arrow whistled through the space where her head had been.

"Zhang!" she called out. "Your restraints!"

The imperial sergeant presented his shackles. Huangyan’s lock-picking skills made quick work of the mechanism despite the chaos around them.

Free, Zhang immediately moved to help the other prisoners while Huangyan searched for weapons among the elven dead.

"Defensive square!" Morvain shouted desperately. "All units to the center!"

But his forces were being eliminated. Grim moved through their positions like a force of nature. Each cut found its mark.

Captain Wei and Sergeant Liu worked together to clear the ridges, eliminating archers before they could establish effective firing positions.

The battle became a slaughter.

"Retreat!" Morvain finally ordered. "Fall back to the passage!"

The surviving elves abandoned their defensive positions and fled toward the narrow exit leading deeper into the mountains.

"Let them go," Grim called to his soldiers. "Secure the prisoners."

He rushed to where the captives huddled together. Willem lay unconscious, his breathing barely perceptible. Fever burned in his face, but his skin was cold to the touch.

"How long has he been like this?" Grim asked.

"Hours," Morris replied. "He’s been getting worse since they broke his arm."

Grim knelt and examined Willem’s condition. The broken bone had become infected. Without immediate medical attention, sepsis would kill him within hours.

"We need to get him back to civilization," Captain Wei said.

"He won’t survive the journey," Sergeant Liu observed grimly.

Grim made a decision that went against every tactical instinct. "We carry him. All of us. Take turns."

"Sir, that will slow us down significantly," Captain Wei protested. "If Morvain brings reinforcements..."

"We don’t leave people behind," Grim said firmly. "Ever."

"What about the woman?" Huangyan asked, pointing toward the cave. "Lianna’s still inside."

Grim had almost forgotten in the urgency of treating Willem. "Guard at the entrance?"

"Dead," Zhang reported. "I killed him during the assault."

"Then let’s get her."

They approached the cave entrance cautiously. The darkness inside was absolute beyond the first few feet.

"Lianna!" Grim called into the depths. "It’s over! You’re safe!"

"Grim?" Her voice echoed from deep within the cave. "Is that really you?"

"It’s me. Come toward my voice."

"I can’t see anything. There are... there are bodies everywhere."

"Follow the wall. Take your time."

It took several minutes for Lianna to navigate back through the bodies. When she finally emerged into the firelight, she was pale and shaking.

"Morvain’s private conversations."

Grim’s expression darkened. Another crime to add to the elves’ mounting debt.

"Can you travel?" he asked.

"I can do whatever’s necessary," Lianna replied with determination.

They gathered what supplies they could from the abandoned elven camp. Food, water, medical supplies, and weapons. Everything that might help during the journey back to Yanyu territory.

Willem remained unconscious as they prepared to move him. His breathing was shallow and irregular. The infection was spreading rapidly through his system.

"Stretcher," Captain Wei suggested. "Use spear shafts and cloaks."

They constructed a crude litter from captured elven equipment. Willem showed no response as they transferred him to the makeshift stretcher.

"He’s dying," Morris said quietly.

"Maybe," Grim replied. "But he’ll die among friends instead of enemies."

The journey back through the mountains began under the cover of darkness. Four men carried Willem’s stretcher while the others maintained security and navigation.

Progress was slow. The rocky terrain made every step treacherous. Willem’s condition continued to deteriorate with each passing hour.

By dawn, his breathing had become labored gasps. His fever spiked higher despite their efforts to cool him with mountain stream water.

"We need to stop," Huangyan said. "He’s suffering."

They found a sheltered spot among tall pines and made Willem as comfortable as possible. But everyone understood what was happening.

"Willem," Morris said softly, kneeling beside his friend. "We made it out. We’re going home."

Willem’s eyes fluttered open briefly. He tried to speak but only managed a weak smile.

"Tell my... tell Sarah..." he whispered.

"Tell her yourself when we get back," Morris replied, though tears ran down his face.

But Willem’s eyes had already closed for the final time. His breathing stopped with a quiet sigh that seemed almost peaceful.

They buried him among the pines, using elven weapons to dig his grave in the rocky soil. Morris spoke words over the makeshift headstone they constructed from mountain stones.

"He was a good man," Lianna said. "He deserved better than this."

"They all do," Grim replied grimly. "That’s why we make the bastards pay."

Grim stared at the night sky, deciding what was the best course of action was.