Chapter 53 - First Mission (1)

"A long time ago I made a terrible mistake. I'm just trying to repent for my past sins," said Raghnall as his eyes shaded over and he put on a somber expression as if reliving a terrible memory.

"It's okay if you won't tell me the whole story. I just wanted to let you know that if things ever do go south, I'm leaving you and your people without so much as a second thought. I've had my fair share of experiences with humans and so far I can say without a doubt that I'm better off without them." Arya said standing up from his stool to leave.

"And what of your companion?" asked Raghnall before Arya could leave the tent. "It seems that I might've been mistaken about her as well," Arya said as he went through the opening of the tent.

Arya wandered around the camp looking for his tent before he finally found it. It was much smaller than all the other tents and had been stained brown due to age. "Of course I get a crappy tent," thought Arya as he entered his tent.

There wasn't much inside it, it had a simple opening for air to enter but that was about it. The only purpose the tent served was to protect him from the wrath of nature. Aside from that, it might as well had been a hollow shell.

"Could this get any worse? First I lose my new family, then I get put into a hell hole for four years, of which I only managed to make a friend in the final year. And even now I wonder about the sincerity of our friendship. Maybe she just needed someone to cling to while we were at the orphanage. Now that she's met Mr. I fought a city guard, she doesn't seem so interested in me anymore." thought Arya as he lay on the ground of his tent.

"What am I doing here anyway? Why do I care whether I make it out alive or not, after all, it was the white figure who told me to escape, but what good is it anyways. I have no one, even the voices are gone, I should just quit right now." thought Arya as he let depression cloud his mind.

"But not before I make them pay. How could I forget about the people who ruined my second chance at life? How could I forget about the people who took my family away from me? That's right if I won't live for myself then I'll live for vengeance. Even if I can't find magic that can bring them back from the dead, I'll at least let them rest peacefully." thought Arya as a sudden surge of rage filled his mind.

"Father, mother, Ava, Luca, Luna, Raul, I'll find whoever did this and get revenge for you. I'll join you all once this is done," said Arya out loud as he turned over and fell asleep, preparing for the upcoming mission.

"Arya wake up, It's time to move out." said a voice from outside his tent as Arya heard people moving outside. It was pitch black, and the only source of light was the crescent moon and the few stars that painted the night sky. Arya couldn't see anyone's face clearly but he couldn't mistake the silhouette in front of him.

Arian stood outside the tent waiting for Arya to come out. "Listen I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have let my personal issues affect the team. I don't want us to fail this mission because you couldn't trust me. How about it? Put it there." said Arian holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Listen I get that you're stressed and all, but so am I. I'm happy that you're over your mood swing but don't get the impression that we will somehow become friends after this. Let's just get the job done without involving any of our emotions, the sooner we finish this, the sooner we will be out of each other's hair." said Arya as he passed by Arian ignoring his handshake.

"Okay listen up. We will be moving in small squads to get past the forest quicker. Silver-fox will scout the area before we proceed, to ensure that there aren't any traps lying in wait for us. Once they confirm it's safe, the squads will proceed in a specific order. This is to reduce the chances of being caught as well as because bigger groups tend to make more noise and are harder to coordinate." said Raghnall as he gestured for everyone to pay attention.

"I will be assigning some of the extra hands of Silver-fox as the leaders of the different squads. You will all now be divided into groups and move out. Does anyone have any questions?" asked Raghnall before continuing.

"Okay, good then let's head out." he continued when he saw that no one had any objections. "Raghnall can I speak to you for a second?" asked Arya as he and Raghnall went behind a tree.

"I thought you said you didn't trust the mercenaries. Then tell me why you've assigned them to be the squad leaders?" asked Arya confused by Raghnall's poor judgment.

"Well if any of the groups go missing then I'll know that the spy is the leader of that group. I've planted a few spies of my own amongst the slaves. I've given them contact amulets to alert me when anything fishy happens, and as soon as we find out who the spy is I'll send you guys over to deal with them quickly so we can finish the mission at hand." said Raghnall.

"You're more cunning than I thought old man," said Arya admiring Raghnall's thinking. "You learn a lot over the years. Some lessons being more important than others," said Raghnall as he walked back to the group and divided the people into different groups of 5 each including the squad captain. In total there were 15 groups accounting for 60 slaves and 15 mercenaries.

Silver-fox got together to go over their strategies one more time. "So Gizem will scout the area first before we move in. If any enemies are spotted you will let me initiate first then the rest of you follow. Arya and Abagail stay out of vision, we will need you two to support us from the shadows." said Geld going over the plan one more time.

"If any of you spot anything suspicious inform me first so that I can warn Raghnall. We have limited contact amulets so it's impossible for all of us to carry one. Since Gizem will be the scout she will have to get one but the rest of us will have to rely on mine. I will give out orders by use of hand gestures. If there aren't any problems let's head out.." said Geld to the group before they disappeared into the forest.