novelraw Chapter 176: A Disastrous Escape!
Chapter 176: A Disastrous Escape!
Having success sneaking across several buildings, Alma had arrived near a dome-shaped structure where the previous cat girls were seen prior. Two guards set up post beside the wooden door, each armed with short swords and rounded wooden shields. They wore chainmail over their tunics and metal dome caps over their scalps, paired with matching gloves and heavy boots.
Alma signaled for one of the Rangers to follow behind her as they sped around the corner before tossing a rock toward their direction. It bounced off a shield with a tink, alarming the guards as they exchanged puzzled looks, unaware of the pair of Rangers slipping across the road. Once they stepped up behind them, the elves cupped the guards' mouths with rags dosed in a liquid potion nicknamed Milk of Amnesia, a sleeping potion. The guards slumped down snoring heavily before being dragged behind the building.
Alma returned back to the door, spinning around the keyring on her finger after picking it out from the guards. She paused, catching on to sounds of coughing and wheezing inside before unlocking the door as the rest of the Rangers arrived by her side, armed with their daggers and bows ready. They stormed through, spreading out and shutting the door behind them.
The first thing they noticed was the thick cloud of dust polluting the air and the heat that paired with it. Railroad tracks that stopped near the entrance snaked its way underground, following a tunnel illuminated by hung lanterns. The walls lacked any smooth polish texture and appeared chunky and natural, like the interior of a large cave. A small wooden table sat on uneven legs along with two stools occupied by two male guards fanning themselves. They glanced up at the elves; their mouths covered in rags to protect from breathing in the dust. The archers made quick work of them as neither guard had their caps on due to the heat leaving their hair mattered with sweat.
Alma coughed and held her breath, following the path that led underground where the tracks were set. At the bottom stood two minecarts and the source of the noise where the digging and coughing came from. Underground stood nearly two dozen monster girls as one by one they looked up at their new guests. The Elves took a moment to recognize them as Nekomata, despite the obvious features such as their paws, cat ears and tails. Their bodies stunk of sweat and were stained black with soot and dirt. They blended in with the dark messy background, each of them wearing collars chained to poles that hung across the ceiling. Between the girls stood two minecarts filled halfway with shiny metals and rubies inside.
"A-Alma?" One of them spoke in a hoarse voice, their eyes lit with awe, pronounced by their green color peering through their black soot-coated face.
One of the Rangers patted around the dead guards before tossing over a set of keys to Alma. She hurriedly approached each of the girls, freeing them from their collars while the Elves signaled the girls to keep quiet. Still, she was caught off guard when one of the younger girls jumped up and trapped her with a tight hug, kissing her cheek as tears ran down her muddied face.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She squealed, rubbing her cheek against Alma's as the mother elf awkwardly patted her back in return.
"Express your gratitude after we escape, child." She replied, hesitant before parting away from teary-eyed cat girl. "All of you be silent and close! Are there any more Nekomata in this fort?"
One of the older Nekomata nodded, clutching her sore arm as she stepped forward. "They're keeping our friends somewhere else. Wounded and sick, but I don't know where."
"Could you track them through smell?" She asked.
The Nekomata sunk her head down with a whimper. "We've been stuck here for so long that my sense of smell isn't so good now."
"Some clean air should help." Alma sucked in her bottom lip, dropping the keys after freeing the last cat girl. "So no one wounded here, good. Follow in silence."
The girls nodded in agreement, trailing behind the Elves as they returned back up ready to leave when someone came knocking on the wooden door.
"We got Rangers on the east side, keep inside and stand by! I'll send someone over when these Rangers are dealt with!"
The group froze, listening in to the sound of running footsteps trailing off. The Rangers glanced over at Alma with worried expressions, filling her with dread as realization sunk.
"So much for the stealthy approach." She muttered in a soft tone, pushing the door open and checking to see no one around. "You two, take the girls and meet with Spi'Reto!"
The elf nodded and took the lead, moving south while Alma stayed behind with two Rangers by her side.
Reta spun around, firing another arrow to keep the incoming soldiers back. It bounced off the front man's shield as he raised it up while his friend took aim over his shoulder with the crossbow. Sauza intervened, shooting another arrow and knocking the weapon off the archer's hand. Felix raced down the dirt path with Ya'Go, both of them carrying wounded Nekomata with them. Returning to the wall meant slipping through another row of buildings, but the path they took was being occupied by incoming soldiers gearing up with weapons in hand. Numerous homes lit up as drowsy men awoke from their naps before being informed of the present threat.
Felix looked around, finding men with torches approaching their position from both sides. They would soon find themselves surrounded and their hopes of escaping would diminish. He looked out past the wall, squinting toward the position where Spi-Reto stood waiting for them when an idea emerged.
"A fire." He said, searching around. "We need a fire."
"What for?" Shouted Ya'Go, looking puzzled and overwhelmed.
"Something to signal Spi'Reto with!" He explained as they all retreated between two houses with Reta and Sauza fending off the others with their bows and arrows.
Acting fast, Felix kicked over one of the torches left by the roadside. Ya'Go caught on, kicking over a barrel and feeling relief when alcohol began pouring out from its nozzle. It pooled in the dirt, spreading out as it inched closer and closer toward the torch, with Felix hoping it would catch on before its light would diminish.
"Reta! Sauza!" He cried out, bringing their attention toward the spilt barrel. They jumped over the puddle with Reta kicking the barrel towards the soldiers, spreading out its mess. As soon as the alcohol touched the torch, a flicker of flame ignited and danced across the pool of alcohol, surging through like a wall of fire. The soldiers yelled out in shock, jumping back to avoid its heat while the intruders ran away.
From atop the Bon Bon tree, Spi'Reto sat up and nudged his friends, grabbing their attention. The men patrolling the fort walls began to retreat, answering a call to action. The young elf scanned around, his eyes set on the growing fire that spread out and torched one of the small wooden buildings nearby. Some of the men hurried over with buckets of water to calm the blaze, while others sprinted out of the armory ready for battle.
His teal eyes caught on to movement at the far west side, discovering the trail of cat girls being led by several Rangers. They were escorted down the wall, taking advantage of the diversion as a way to escape the fort. His smile was short-lived when he found his mother and two Rangers ambushing a few men near the center of the fort. Most of the militia were preoccupied with someone else, running south of Alma's position. His eyes widened when he discovered Felix and his group frantically running toward the wall, unaware that a small group of men were waiting with crossbows held up and ready to fire.
Without ushering a word, the young woodland elf reached for the modified explosive arrow crafted by Nyitzcha. He felt a tingle of excitement and anxiousness run down his spine, uncertain of the arrow's effectiveness. But he knew it was the best time to use it, and he was determined to help.
Felix was short on breath, his arms burning under the weight of carrying this wounded cat girl while he raced down the narrow grass paths between each building. His eyes were set on the wall as they inched closer toward it, his heart racing as the sound of arrows whistled over his head. Ya'Go ran by his side while Reta and Sauza would pace behind, stopping to fire arrows at the growing number of men following them.
Suddenly, he heard Reta curse in her language as she stumbled and lost her footing, crashing on her backside. A bolt stuck to her thigh, the leather armor softly preventing it from digging deeper into her flesh. She pulled it out and took Sauza's hand to hurry back on her feet, the group taking another sharp turn before exposing themselves at the wide range of grass. They froze, falling prey to an ambush group of men that lay waiting for them, their crossbows armed and ready to fire. The horde of men moved in behind them before crouching on one knee and shielding themselves.
It was a trap!
Felix held his breath, waiting as the archers exhaled and their fingers closed in to pull the trigger.
Everyone fell back as a sharp whistle zoomed by, followed by a large cloud of sparks spreading out like fireworks crackling and popping. The explosion knocked the group of archers back, landing just out of reach from a direct impact. While Felix and the others recovered, Spi'Reto sucked in his breath and readied another explosive arrow, this time firing at the squad of soldiers with swords and shields positioned behind his friends. This sent the men flying around, their shields bursting and chunks of rock and debris raining down.
Felix fell over the wounded cat girl, shielding her from the blast. He glanced over, his head hurting from the ringing in his ears as he saw Reta and the Rangers slowly recover. Not far off, Alma gasped at the explosions before racing down toward them.
The men had prevented the fire from spreading out, but the blast got everyone's attention. Now they were wheeling out cannons, shouting out for reinforcements and hurrying over on horseback. One of the horsemen was suddenly knocked aside when an arrow bounced off his helmet, toppling him over. Before he could recover, one of Alma's Rangers put him to bed with a boot to the face.
"Rangers near the south border!" One man shouted.
Alma looked over, her heart racing as a witness spotted them before retreating over the corner of nearby shelter. He whistled loudly, grabbing the attention of several more men running by. Knowing better, Alma and her two Rangers chose against direct combat and ran further south, turning around in time to meet with Felix and the others.
"Alma!" He shouted in relief, wincing briefly from the two injuries he suffered behind.
"You do a poor job of staying low!" She hissed, her eyes expanding at the familiar sight in his arms. "Gods, is she still-"
"Yea, still breathing." He assured her.
Ya'Go fell to his knee, pointing at the backpack he carried. "Got a few wounded strays here too."
The group hugged the backside of a wooden house when suddenly a cannon fired off, blowing a crater near their position. Alma poked her head around, spotting a pair of cannons positioned by the main road as the second one took its shot, taking a chunk off the house and knocking Alma to the ground. Everyone gasped and feared the worst, but Alma rolled back around as they realized it was the wooden shrapnel that sent her back.
Spi'Reto took notice, his friends meeting with the recovered Nekomata prisoners at the ground level. He remained alone high up on the tree, keeping his elevated position with two Explosive Arrows left. He held one back, breathed in, and took aim for the cannons.
In a moment, the cannons were knocked several feet away, dragging through the dirt from the force of impact. The men handling the cannons were less fortunate, screaming as they were sent flying back. A moment later, the wall itself was blown apart in a cloud of whistling fireworks and raining splinters and debris. When the cloud cleared out, it revealed an open crater exposing an escape from the fort.
"MOVE!" Felix cried out, picking up the Nekomata as he was the first to go forward. Ya'Go rushed in with Reta limping behind, and Sauza and Alma stood at the rear of the group. The soldiers had regrouped after finding the source of the blast, with some firing crossbows after them. Alma gasped as Sauza was struck and fell over, she dropped to her knees shielding him with her body as footsteps closed in on her direction. She feared the worst when an arm pulled Sauza up, making her realize it was her old group that returned back after rescuing the other cat girls.
"Get up!" One of the Rangers demanded, stepping in to cover her.
Alma yanked her arm back, sinking back in the mud and spinning around. As numerous bolts were fired in their direction, Alma dug her hand into the mud and sketched out a familiar pattern symbolizing in their language an old term to help manipulate the earth around them. Clasping her hands together, she spoke the needed command as the symbol began to glow around her, sending out a rush of wind that raised her hair up as she directed her glare toward the crater in the wall.
"Mud wall!" She called out, casting a spell to manipulate the earth as the ground began to rumble and quake. The soldiers were taken aback as a chunk of mud emerged from the ground, covering the exposed wall entry and dividing them from the elves.
Alma gasped in relief, her hair falling back down as the spell symbol's light diminished. The usage of magic left her somewhat tired after the stressful rescue. Though she wished she could rest, she picked herself up and hurried back with the others. From high up the tree, Spi'Reto smirked and picked up his things before climbing down.
In the time it took for the soldiers to climb to the top of the wall, all they could do was witness the Rangers retreat into the forest under the cover of darkness. They resigned and shouted curse words, realizing their failure tonight.