The halls reeked of urine and sweat mixed with the hopeless wails of the captives. A jarry scene for anyone to come about and now Polly at the age of ten was exposed to the horrific sight. At first tears claimed her little figure before shivers and clings to her mother followed. Harriet left with the only opportunity could only hope for the best as she constantly comforted Polly with hopes that she wouldn't dare believe herself.
"Stop lying to the child and tells her what will be of her. I've heard that a lot of the guards like them young." A voice came from the side, the source frail however the coldness of the words were undeniable to Harriet. However rather than engage in a fruitless banter, she remained silent.
"What?! I'm not lying bitch. We all know what will come next so I might as well prepare you of what is to come." The voice urged further sending shivers down Harriet's spine. "If you have nothing of use to say then it would be appreciated if you shut the fuck up!"
Unable to take the taunts anymore, she burst startling Polly in her arms. "There's the fire I was looking for. I thought that you were just going to keep on taking it like a good little whore." The voice snarled followed with a taunting laughter.
She turned her head to face the source, her face apathetic of who it could be. The frame was spent. Her ribs showed, her hair barely latching on as she curled into a fetal position on the cold hard flea infested floor. Her clothes haggard showing that she had been there for quite some time.
"What?! Don't like what you see? Don't worry it's a matter of time before you become like me. As for you daughter, I'm wondering who will buy her off as Maxwell won't allow her to rot here when he can make some malcore shards out of her." The rage that overwhelmed Harriet was insurmountable, wishing to knock down her cell door and pummel the girl to death.
Her fists clenched, her teeth gritting before she let out a sigh glancing back at the metal grate for a window that allowed a small amount of light to seep into her cell. 'I'm sure that the heavens above are watching us.' She hoped in her heart, her grasp on Polly tightening.
...
"Sir we have another wave of goblins!" A knight mused to the inspector who seemed apathetic to the news. With the rise of abominations, the monsters that deeper in the forests of the humans were now being pushed into elven territory. "Just deal with it the same way we've dealt with it before."
His voice sharp as he drifted back to his work. "Uhmm..."Seeing the hesitation, the attention of the inspection grew. "What is it this time? Is it another swarm as well or are they bigger this time?" His question met with a strange silence that irked him. "Well answer me!"
His order jolting the man back to the scene. "It's none of that sir! It's an abomination that has been sighted. Five of them amongst the swarm of goblins. We suspect that they are the reasons for the swarm this time. However it's far bigger than what we've dealt with before."
Now restless, the inspector made his way to the window where deep within the woods he could sense the oncoming swarm. A drop of sweat ran down his face coming to terms with the size. "How could there be so many? This isn't natural!" He concluded as he made his way downstairs.
For him, it was clear that some unseen hand operated in the shadows. 'For abominations to make their way from the humans all the way here meant that someone is forcing them or the goblins have been hunted for this long.' With a few more minutes his latter proposal was proved invalid.
'If they were chased for that long then they wouldn't have done here let alone be this many. This has to be intentional but how? Are they controlling the abominations or something far darker?' The inspector couldn't help but wonder as the sight of saluted men filled his gaze.
His inspirational words curt as his men charged into the heat of the battle. Far above it all, the two kept on indulging with their games. "A swarm this big? Wouldn't this attract way too many heads?" Jarren merely scoffed at her words.
"Attract heads? I never said that I would have to be silent all the way through our game. And besides this way I can ruffle the feathers of those getting a bit comfortable in my game." Callista flashed a smile, her head supported with her hand resting on a plane that cracked with each passing second she leaned onto it before it eventually shattered.
The screams and cries of many nothing more than a lullaby to her as she made her remark. "Then how about we make a small game out of this little fiasco then. I'm sure that you would be interested." Jarren's attention shifted from the scene unfolding beneath him and locked with the horror of a goddess existing across from him.
"I would seem that you're way too playful kitty. How about a walk in another world then?" She was about to go off a tangent about his reference of her however she paused. "What kind?" Her eyes narrowing playfully. "A world of your choosing my dear." She fancied the idea before her attention shifted elsewhere.
"What about Guinevere? Your patience of her is coming off as a taunt to me. Just spare her or make it quick." Jarren didn't bother giving a response irking her.
*BAM*
An entire plane was wiped out with a thought and yet he didn't flinch, merely flashed a predatory grin as he kept on watching below.
...
"Let's move! The boss wants us to have the main doors watched. Nothing should befall his products." A sound rang through the hallway followed with the clutter of footsteps that made Harriet wonder what the problem was. 'With such a huge amount, it would seem that the issue isn't simple.' Her muses ran wild with what the cause would be.
It wasn't long before she heard the snarls and roars of the world outside. A chill ran down her spine, aware of what that meant. 'But how? How could they reach here and how would Caerthalas allow them to make it all the way here?' The roars she heard outside was something she had grown far too familiar with to ignore. The rampages of beasts and wallows of abominations.
Something she had thought would be a thing of the past was now coming after her as if to taunt that there was no escape. "Mommy?! Are we going to be okay? Please tell me that we're going to be okay?" Polly tugged the blouse making Harriet fall into a dazed stupor. On one hand she wanted to be free from their captivity and on the other, the sight of facing such ravenous creatures was scary.
She was unsure of whether she wanted those guarding the door should prevail or fall dead. 'Is this what the heavens have chosen to play out for me? What wrong could I have done to receive such a fate?' Her worries growing with each passing second till something jolted her back to the reality she tried to ignore.
"Gah!" Snarls, those of goblins echoed through her ears. Her grip around Polly increased covering her face and ears fell the screams that flooded the air. Her frame quivered with the cruel fate that awaited them as she saw two goblins make their way to her cell. 'It would seem that this is the end my dear.'
She sighed in her heart as she heard the rampant footsteps of the beasts grow louder.
*Thud*
The pain and beastly roars that she had anticipated never came. Wondering whether she had seen wrong she dared to take a peek and saw the two goblins on the cold hard floor, their bodies twitching with foam coming out of their lips. Before she could focus on the sight for long,the screams of abominations made the rampaging goblins halt their actions and scurry out.
The cells deeper remained untouched while those at the front were properly ransacked with the occupants meeting the fate of death. 'Now's my chance to-' Before a plan of escaping came to her mind, the cold bars glared at her as if with a mocking smile.
'Dammit the doors are still locked!' Her frustrations shared with the rest still barred up. Her eyes tried to find any form o fault that she could use to escape however nothing came up. 'These bars have a malcore laced array. It would need an expert to knock them down!'
Something that she wasn't thus forced to wait for what was to come. "Hey! Someone get us out of here!" A voice filled her ears making her wince in disgust. It was the same voice that scrutinized her before. "Are you mad? It's clear that there's no one to help us!" Her words flying past the woman as she kept trying to knock the bars down.
However the result was the same regardless with her ending spent with a sigh of resignation. "I can't believe the moment that we have our chance of freedom something like this happens!" It felt more like a cruel joke played on them as they could only wait for what was to come. Be it freedom or back to their captivity.
...
Minutes turned into hours, the wails filling the air once more however this time there were no guards to listen to. 'It wouldn't take it this long for nothing to happen.' Harriet thought as she looked outside of the window where the sun had began to set, the orange hue coating her figure as well as Polly's.
Just as she was about to let sleep claim her, she heard the rush of footsteps charge in. 'Are those...' She couldn't help but wonder whether it was more guards but the more she heard the footsteps, her worry began to dissipate. 'They're way too organized to the guards.' A glimmer of hope flashed on her face as she finally came to see their visitors.
Their figures gleaming with the setting sunlight, their armor embedded with the crest of Caerthalas with looks of disinterest on their faces. The sounds of what could be assumed their leader echoed through ordering them to open the cells to which they did. Harriet glanced at Polly who had long fallen asleep in her embrace.
She didn't bother waking her up as she made her way to the exit. "Wait! Let it be known that all of you will not be housed within the walls of Caerthalas! And no signs of beggars shall be tolerated on the streets thus it would be best for an euthanasia!" Most froze, with no place to go they were simply asking for them to die.
"What?!" It wasn't long before disgruntled voices echoed through the air shot at the inspector who brushed them all off. "It would seem that for a rescue your apologies are rather lackluster. Maybe we should return you till we finally hear a word of congratulations out of you lot!"
The horde died down, aware that with the apparent dislike of the elves that practicing a mass culling event wasn't out of their expectations thus they didn't bother too much with it as they began to walk out of their cages.
"Mom! Where will we go?" Polly rose from her nap which made Harriet let out a sigh. "I don't know." She managed to speak eventually as they kept on walking down the streets. With guards patrolling the streets, making a makeshift house was out of the question, slums would be torched down faster than they came to be.
"Then there is no need to worry mommy! I'm sure that the beautiful lady will help us." Harriet who hadn't even considered the pair paused and wonder. As much as she wanted to refute the notion, she knew that the situation would force her to take such an extreme means. 'I could use Polly as an emotional leverage to- No! How could I use my own daughter like that!'
Shaking her head, she glanced at her innocent daughter and made her way to the inspector's office for directions of the two.