Dawn- An age of Darkness

"That was a nice bluff." The girl gave me a thumbs up as we descended the stairs. 

There were pyres here and there but the place was oddly dark. And I felt empowered without the sun. 

"What bluff? The slayer of Thamas thing?"

"Yeah!" She was excited, but still behind me. "Thamas was like one of our greatest rulers, using her name, and using the lord of Elves\' name no less! You staggered them for a second, brilliant!" Perhaps too excited. 

I didn\'t know if I should have been happy or sad, but oh well. 

We\'d descended to the first floor. Her mother wasn\'t here. 

The guards put up a fight but they weren\'t good enough. 

There were traps here and there. And even domesticated monsters. 

To me though, they were nothing. 

I sliced and slashed and before we knew it, we were halfway through the third floor, on our way to the fourth. 

The criminals here were mostly dead, some were still alive but they weren\'t in the shape to actually even try to beg us. 

The smell- definitely like forests.

"If I remember correctly my cousin should be guarding the floor below."

"Then I\'d assume we\'d have an easier time or-"

She remained quiet. 

I had my answer. 

Unlike the stairs above, the stairs leading to the fourth floor were different. Stairs spiraled down next to a massive pillar. There were no guard rails and it was almost like we were spiraling into the abyss. It was too dark. 

The floors above had groans, this floor though, too quiet. 

Only our steps reverberated. 

"What will you do after rescuing your mother? You won\'t be able to stay here, right?"

"I\'ll secure mother, leave this place and then aid you however I can. That\'s the promise I made you and I don\'t plan to go back on my word."

"Maybe you misunderstood me but, I don\'t have any need of you other than just getting some information. That\'s it."

Besides, I was going to march into hell, I didn\'t need followers there. 

She again remained quiet.

Eventually, we\'d reached the bottom. 

There were three cells here, and only one guard. 

"I was wondering why it was so noisy up there." The guard stood up, unsheathed his sword. 

I hadn\'t seen people use slender swords like that in a while. His sword was almost like a needle. And it was dripping with some sort of liquid. Poison perhaps. 

"I suppose I can\'t convince you to just give up?" I spoke. 

Behind him, in a cell, I saw a woman bound to chains, unconscious. The rest of the cells were empty. 

"That her?" I whispered. 

The girl nodded. 

He smiled. "Sorry, gotta do my job."

I guess everyone had their own shit to deal with. 

But unfortunately for this kid, I didn\'t have time. 

"Guess so." With my sword drawn, I casually moved ahead. 

There were no traps around, so I didn\'t have to be too careful. But I didn\'t let my guard down, not one bit. 

He visibly shook, more like vibrated, and sped towards me. 

Fast. 

He was fast. 

In a blink of an eye, he was already here, thrusting his sword straight at my chest. 

But I blocked his thrust. 

The air vibrated and sparks flew. But nothing happened. 

He was surprised for a second. But that surprise turned into dread as, I kicked him hard and he flew straight into the bars. 

Clang!

That must have hurt. 

"What the hell are you?" He managed, got up, and spat blood on the floor. 

I did wonder that throughout my life. 

What was I?

I failed as a brother.

I failed as a son.

I failed as a friend.

I was a failure. 

"A failure, I suppose?"

I walked ahead. 

I knew I was a failure, and there was only one way to redeem myself: kill the emperor. 

And that\'s why I couldn\'t afford to play nice in a place like this. 

He again prepared himself, this time not quite trying to attack me. 

He breathed hard. "But I can\'t let you have your way. She\'s a criminal and since you\'re here, you too are a criminal. As a soldier of the country, I must withhold justice-"

He was young- perhaps fifteen. 

I guess at that age, everyone just had a rather delicate sense of justice and way too much hope. 

I didn\'t blame him. 

I didn\'t hate him. 

I just, didn\'t like him. 

"HAH!" With a bit of a scream, he tried to attack me.

  I just kicked him again. 

He was too full of himself and there were so many holes in his technique. 

Honestly, I was rather disappointed in the skills of the demons so far. 

"WHO made a kid like him the only guard of a place like this?" I wondered aloud as the kid crumbled on the floor. 

"Most of the veterans are already preparing to go out. Only the amateurs are out here," the girl said. "And among those amateurs, he was the most promising."

I suppose that did make sense. 

Though just because something made sense, didn\'t mean it was good. 

"I\'ll search for a key."

Anyway, I imbued the sword. "Don\'t bother." And sliced the bars. 

They all just fell off. 

"Anything goes for you, huh?" She said, not quite believing it. 

I went inside and examined the woman on the floor. 

She had her hands shackled and she was beaten quite badly. 

I tried healing her but- it wasn\'t enough to make her conscious. 

"Mother!" The girl came in, tried to shake her mother. 

The girl was rather calm. She was taking this a bit too well. 

I meanwhile, cut the chains. The shackles though, required keys. 

\'I guess we did need keys.\'

Good thing the girl still searched for some keys, regardless. 

She unlocked her shackles. "Mother!"

"Neira?"

Her mother\'s eyes fluttered for a second and she again passed out. 

Oh well. "I\'ll carry her. take vanguard, in case someone shows up."

She nodded and I picked up her mother. 

The woman was a tiger demi human, and barely had any clothes: Her condition was similar to when I found the girl in the goblin\'s nest. 

The girl- Neira gave the cloak to her mother.

***

I was carrying Neira\'s mother and we started getting on the stairs. 

"You do realize that everyone would be out to get you, right?" The guy was apparently conscious. "The lord has his men everywhere. Even if you succeed in getting her out, the rebels and the lord\'s men\'s fight would only get deadlier. In the end, she\'ll only cause more death." And he was also in a very talkative mood. "Besides, they plan on executing her today, meaning-"

"Then crushing the lord would make everything good, right? No more lord, no more war, and no more revolts."

Both of them looked at me with dull eyes. 

They were cousins alright. 

"What is wrong with this guy\'s sense of humor?" The guy chuckled, tried to get up, but fell on his butt. "I\'d hurry out if I were you." He eyed Neira. 

"Right, let\'s get out!" Neira took the front, just like I\'d asked her to. But she leaned back a little. "Maybe take it easy with the jokes?"

Unfortunately, I wasn\'t joking.

Anyway, we headed up.