It was just after Harwin and Viyetral had left the main building that Captain Farelen discovered a rather strange group heading towards the rooms where the council-men around. All of them were girls being led by a single guard. He would have ignored it, but most of these ladies were chained up and had tearful eyes. They were mostly as young as Alisa — almost twenty or younger — so he could not just sit around doing nothing.

  He asked the guard with a stern look:

  "Where are you taking them?"

  The guard shuddered in fear at the mere sight of the giant. He replied with a shaky voice:

  "The council-men have demanded their presence, Captain. I do not know of anything besides that."

  "You may leave them here, and go back to your duties for now. In the future, always consult me before obliging to any orders from those damn fools!" Farelen shouted.

  The girls were also scared by this scene, but after the youngling left, Farelen shifted to a warm smile. Well, the giant could have done nothing to hide his natural appearance which instigated fear in anyone who laid eyes on him.

  "Who are you children?" Farelen asked whilst breaking their chains with bare hands.

  After a few moments, one of them spoke:

  "W-we have been sold b-by our families to the council-men by o-our families." She stuttered in between whilst gasping for air as well.

  "No need to worry child, you are safe now. Where have you been kept all this time? Can you point it out to me?"

  The girl nodded. The small group went towards the basement of the building. A youngling immediately tried to interfere but one gaze of Farelen was enough for him to run away.

  The basement itself was built like a maze but the girls were able to navigate through it just fine. Soon they arrived infront of a wall.

  "T-this is the p-place." The girl said whilst looking down.

  "Hmm, a hidden door perhaps?"

  She nodded at the statment. Farelen immediately pushed through to find a horrible, horrible scene. There were girls chained there as young as Alisa chained up to the neck. Most of them were starved and in a sorry state, to say the least. Few even laid on the ground — most probably dead.

  Farelen was on the verge of erupting with anger, but he contained himself, for he did not want to scare the poor souls any further.

  The giant sent for his old comrade, Thrandul, for an explanation, yet the man denied of knowing anything about it. The slaves were frightened of anyone approaching them. Soon, the giant, began a thorough inquiry. Few younglings came forward after being promised to be spared. It only further appalled Farelen when he learned the truth.

  These poor beings were slaves of the council-men. Some were captured whilst others were bought. The disgusting and vile council-men used them for various purposes — most for pleasure whilst some to vent out their anger.

  Farelen was older than most of his counterparts, so he considered Alisa his daughter. Now seeing these poor slaves, as young as his self-proclaimed daughter, filled his heart with unprecedented sorrow and anguish. He ordered for the poor souls to be freed and shifted to better quarters for recovery immediately.

  However, none of them were even the slightest of glad, infact, most even resisted getting out of chain. None the less, they were carefully and patiently freed up and taken to the healers.

  After leaving few of his personal guards at the newly assigned rooms for these freed up slaves, Farelen called upon Thrandul once again. Soon enough, Landel also arrived at the scene.

  "I WILL KILL THOSE BASTARDS RIGHT NOW! BRING THEM, CHAINED, TO THE TOWN SQUARE! THEY SHALL NOT BE ALLOWED TO TAINT THIS WORLD ANY FURTHER WITH THEIR FILTHY EXISTENCE!"

  "Calm down Farelen. You have to be rational—" Thrandul's neck was grabbed by the giant, yet he did not resist.

  "YOU HAVE SEEN WHAT THEY DID TO THOSE POOR GIRLS! DO YOU THINK THOSE CREATURES DESERVE TO LIVE!?"

  Thrandul did not answer, but now, Landel interjected:

  "Captain, we have to see past our emotions in this matter. Viyetral is working very hard for the success of the plan, so it will be best to heed to his commands for now. You can have your revenge once everything has been decided." His statements lacked any emotion behind them, but it was a facade.

  Farelen let go of Thrandul, who decided to leave the two alone. Landel placed his hand on the shoulder of his senior and stated:

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  "It is for the best. We will make sure that none of this shall ever happen again in the future, but for that, we need to be patient." Landel spoke calmly. He certainly had gained a bit of wisdom now.

  The giant did not answer but just went to check on the slaves once again. Not all of them suffered from physical injuries, but mental traumas were shared by all of them and no spell could heal that.

  At dusk of the next day, the personal guards on the floor, where Farelen and Landel resided, were cleared out by various distractions. The pair only rested when their own guards stood outside the doors, so there was clearly something at play.

  Soon several armed men began to make their way towards the rooms — subtly. The assailants had divided up their forces between the rooms of the Captain and Landel. One half had gone straight in-front of the room of Farelen yet they did not dare enter, instead, a small figure entered after much pushing and shoving from the rest of the bunch.

  The figure closed the door immediately after entering. Farelen was already awakened by this action, but he did not attack, as it was a familiar face.

  "What is the matter, child?" The giant asked with a gentle smile.

  It was the same girl he had rescued just yesterday. The girl did not respond to the question, but she was shaking continuously.

  Farelen, being the gentle soul he was, tried to comfort the girl but maintained a distance to not scare her, either.

  "You can tell me, whatever is worrying you?" He asked once again.

  She did not respond again. Soon after, she broke down in tears, falling to her knees. The captain could not see this and made his way near her. He kneeled down and patted her head — his palm filled with fatherly warmth and affection. The girl sobbed even more at this, so Farelen was just plain confused at what to do.

  He tried to find some water for her, but just as he turned his head, he was stabbed in the chest with a dagger. He promptly turned to see the same girl had stabbed her to whom he had been so kind, yet the captain did not retaliate. Farelen maintained a kind smile on his face. The instant realization of her actions made her cower away — trembling.

  "I-I...T-they..have m-my sister. I-I am sorry....I a-am sorry.." She broke down in tears once again, her face was as pale as a ghost.

  Farelen tried to uphold himself. He slowly removed the knife, it had not reached his vitals but there was something strange this time.

  At-least fifteen armed men headed straight towards the room of Landel and immediately knocked down the door. When they entered, the prodigy was no-where to be found.

  The men looked around in confusion and began to investigate the area. When they were all scattered, Landel revealed himself. He was holding himself up to the ceiling, it was a feat possible due to his small stature.

  He immediately slayed two men after dropping down. Panic erupted amongst the others who tried to engage but were repelled at first. The prodigy was strong, but he was overwhelmingly outnumbered.

  When the panic settled a little, the assailants surrounded Landel. The room, itself, was not a large enough for the latter to harness his usual fighting prowess, as his movements were limited. He broke the sword of one enemy but just before delivering the final blow, he was attacked by the other. This continued in rapid succession which left almost no room for counter.

  Just as he was able to make a little distance, one rather tall opponent attacked the prodigy with a great-sword. The former was able to dodge narrowly but was welcomed by a tackle from the others. Landel was incredibly swift, but his strength was not as great as Farelen. He tried to free himself but was simply overpowered. That was when the tall man from earlier, brought down his great-sword....

  Landel's life flashed before his eyes when suddenly a great gush of wind knocked everyone away. The prodigy looked towards the door to find his dear old friend. However, there was no time to greet, both of them immediately engaged once again. The duo was far too much for the already confused assailants to handle.

  Harwin with his stygian blade and fast chanting proved to be a menace in the enclosed space, but more importantly, his enemies were too bewildered to act accordingly. Just in a matter of moments, the pair had taken down all of their opponents. Most of the slaughtering was performed by Landel, with his shortcomings filled in by his comrade.

  At the end of it all, the room was a wreck, and it stenched of blood yet neither of them minded.

  "Landel, are you alright?" Harwin asked with concern.

  "Thanks to you, but what are you doing here?" He asked.

  "I had a bad feeling about it all, but that aside, where is Captain Farelen?" Harwin asked while cleaning his blade with a nearby cloth.

  The realization dawned on the young lad who immediately ran towards the room of his senior. Harwin swiftly followed behind.

  The pair rushed towards their companion's room. Several men were standing in-front of it — grinning hideously. They were peeking inside the room at first, but were finally beginning to enter it.

  As soon as the two came in view, the assailants' smiles turend into horror, their plans had been foiled at the last moment. The duo launched at the enemies like famished beasts. There were about fifteen guards, but this time Landel was ready, and he had room to fight as well.

  He broke through swords as if they were made of paper. Blood filled the vicinity as Landel cut down his enemies, but not only that, Harwin with his enchanted sword was a force to be reckoned as well. The latter was focused on providing support rather than directly engaging.

  As the enemies were many, few surrounded the young prodigy, trying to strike from all angles, but they were mistaken. Landel leaped up high and dodged all of the strikes at once. Harwin chanted basic earth projectiles that he had used earlier in the alley as well. These proved to be the perfect distraction, as most of the men lost balance which provided the perfect opportunity to strike them down, all at once.

  It was an easy victory for the two, much easier than the fight in the alley. The reason was simple: Harwin and Landel had learned to cooperate in perfect sync during their student-master sparring. Both knew eachother's strengths and weaknesses.

  They had won, however, there was no time to celebrate. They charged through the doors to find Farelen on the verge of collapse, and a girl standing infront of him — frightened to the core. The pair found a dagger, with a strange liquid oozig from its tip, near their captain and immediately understood what had occurred. Landel was about to strike down the girl when Farelen shouted:

  "DO NOT TOUCH HER!" He fell to the ground after this statement.

  Both Harwin and Landel were shocked and petrified at the scene. Farelen was a legendary warrior and a source of inspiration for any and all who aspired to be great warriors, and that same hero now laid unconscious, if not possibly dead, infront of them.....