Chapter 7 – Chase of Slaves (1)

The place was filled with wrath and tears.

A single bloody crazed bull gazed upon the piles of bodies.

Swords, spears, bows, and shields were littered.

Body armor, greaves, and gauntlets lay crumpled.

A single bull horned man standing, looking up, intoxicated with his victory.

On his arms, there a woman wore a blue garb.

Blue was her color.

Without her, he could only wear the red garb.

That was his amends.

The amends of the blood-crazed bull that lost everything...

Shig woke up. He rubbed his face. He lifted his body up and stared blankly at the space. It was that dream again, the dream that made his heart wither like a flower. He’s the wearer of the red garb, the blood-crazed bull that showed his back as if suicidal.

But that past was long gone now. He was now a runaway slave trying to save three people from such life. He had no purpose and thought that he should become a slave for this. After all, why would a renowned bull of the demi-humans become a slave in the first place? It was a simple. He wanted nothing. He didn’t want to participate in wars. He didn’t want to do anything with politics. That's stupidly he chooses to be enslaved. He wanted meaning or a goal to strive for.

Was it to make amends? Or was it his withered heart that made him do something foolish? It doesn’t matter. Right now, he found something to do. Protect these young ones. Protect them until his body becomes a barrel with many holes.

It was odd that ‘fate’ made him care for them. Indeed, he really did find something when he became enslaved. He smiled wearily. It looks like the bad choice he made worked out, a gamble which made Lady Fortune smile upon him. He was withered inside but the goal he had right now made him feel awake.

Save them from despair. Save them from slavery. Save them from this blasted city and escape to Avila. That was Shig’s goal now. After wandering for so long while helpless and in despair. Shig felt like he finally found the best excuse.

Was he righteous? Was he a savior? No, he isn’t. What made him do all of this was simply to feel good. Shig can lie all day but he knew that he didn’t help them out of pity or sympathy. He helped them out of his damn ego. He was by no means a good guy. He was just some withered heart Cornus who use his people’s well knowned sympathy to play hero.

But...even though it started as a lie – somewhere along the line, he fooled himself into caring for them. The Cornus Sympathy he had that was buried by all the bad temper and failures he had was dug and revealed. That ‘sympathy’ that he didn’t know he had was finally shown to the world.

Thinking about it, Shig smiled helplessly. He stared at the streak of light and stood up. He strides towards the living room and found Leiko and Kioko. The two sisters were peacefully eating bread. He didn’t want to ruin the sister’s bonding time so he greeted them ‘good morning’ and went to the garage where he found Barbados and Joshua.

Barbados was dismantling the carriage. Shig examined and made a weary smile. The Dwarven have quite the skill in dismantling the carriage. The carriage was halfway done and the only thing that was needed to be dismantled was the casing where the carriage’s engine was.

“Looks like its halfway done.”

“It is.”

Barbados was calm now. He was the type of person who could easily adjust to any situation as long as he was given time. His voice was soft now unlike when they first arrive in his workshop. He kept on working on the casing of the carriage.

“How’s the outside?” said Shig.

“Terrible. All the heralds are mouthing about your escape. There are drawings of you. They are offering quite the amount of gold for your capture. Though luckily your reputation as the crazed bull and what you did at that mansion made the foolish ones back off. But there are fools who would want to take a shot. Thinking they’ll get lucky. Damn, you guys really did mess up that mansion.”

“Well, it had to be done.”

“It had to be done? You lot could have just maimed them. But you killed them in cold blood. Shig, I may not favor the humans, especially those who enslave people. But by the Heavens to massacre even the servants.”

“They fought back. And Leiko wasn’t having it. Do you expect me to let them stab me, Barbados? And what is this that I am hearing? Are you talking about empathy? When did you have it?”

“We are getting older by the years, Shig. I do not fear death. But I fear not seeing how the technology of this world can go far. You may not fear the divine’s wrath. But I do. You are my blood brother Shig. But I am not the same drunkard fool who fought with you now.”

In his eyes, there was tiredness and pain. Shig wanted to know what did this blood brother of his experience that made him like this. But in the end, he kept to himself and hid that curiosity within his heart.

“You’ve changed old friend.”

“And you too. I can’t believe that there would be a time you’d be trying to play hero. Is this amends or your way of helping yourself?”

“It’s both, Barbados.”

“I see.”

Barbados bit the wall of his cheeks. He ignored Shig as he continued dismantling the carriage. Shig saw that Barbados didn’t want to be bothered. So instead he looked at Joshua who was tidying up his rifle. If he could understand their words, maybe Joshua would have felt weird hearing Shig's reason.

“You’re really piqued by that rifle huh,” Shig muttered. Joshua seemed particularly interested in the rifle. Though looking at it, it seems like he was capable of handling it well. “I guess that is good to know. But can he truly use it and point at his fellow human being?”

That was Shig’s question. After all, he knew that once the carriage was dismantled. The sand gator mount would be ready for them. Barbados has promised the engine along with the bag of golds and trinkets to a fellow dwarven merchant as payment for the sand that Shig and the others will use to escape.

They practically spent all their money on purchasing the sand gator. The rest of the gold will be used for housing and food once they arrive at any resting place. Of course, Shig knows that all of this will be useless if they are killed by their hunters.

Escaping this city of storms will be hard.