Free Web NovelChapter 19: Chapter 19: Pitiful Creatures
Riven tilted his head and saw a massive hole in the wall of the tent. He looked behind him — there was a large arrow stuck between the fabric of the walls.
He took a deeper breath and added.
"We are under attack..."
Before he could finish his words, a sharp impact struck the tent, followed instantly by the harsh sound of canvas tearing as an arrow burst through and slammed onto the surface of the wall at the other side.
It lodged itself deep into the wall like the first arrow... That meant the elves had finally spotted the tent and were attacking them. This was bad... very bad.
Just then, the woman’s voice resounded through the tent.
"We need to leave quickly."
The woman didn’t wait for them to reply; instead, she rushed towards the exit and signaled to follow her.
They didn’t say a word and followed the woman outside. The moment they stepped outside — Riven’s gaze swept across his surroundings.
To his right... The massive army of elves was rapidly closing in on them. Worse, almost every second the Archers in the army of elves launched a barrage of wave after wave of arrows towards the tent.
However, most of them never managed to reach their target and it was because of their subjects.
His subjects had formed a protective wall around the tent. The bandages wrapped around the undead soldiers’ bodies loosened and shot towards the barrage, blocking most arrows before they even got close.
As for the few arrows that slipped past bandages, those were swiftly cut down by his subjects with the help of their weapons.
To make matters even worse in front of him, a towering wall of sand stretching over the horizon was rapidly closing in on them. At this speed, the wall of sand would engulf them from top to bottom in a matter of seconds.
If that happened then they would burn to death almost instantly. He turned to the woman and roared.
"What are you doing? Get us to safety right now!"
The woman didn’t reply; instead, her gaze lingered on his subjects for a heartbeat, then she turned to him and asked in a raspy voice while pointing towards his subjects.
"Why are these pitiful creatures fighting against their will?"
The moment he heard her words, his eyes narrowed since technically she was right. His subjects’ consciousness and sense of self were sealed away so they were nothing but puppets to him obeying his command against the will of their true self.
But how the hell did she know about this? Did her class grant her the ability to read minds?
Riven wasn’t sure so he replied coldly.
"You don’t need to know about that."
The woman suddenly grabbed him by his collar tightly. He was shocked since just a few minutes ago, she had promised not to harm those who helped her.
But now she was holding him by the collar... quite the opposite of the thing that she had promised him.
Ayala also noticed — a look of uncertainty formed on her face and she said, her voice serious.
"Leave Mister alone..."
The woman tightened her grip instead. The sound of teeth grinding against each other resounded through his ears. He prepared to break free.
However, before he could yank himself free, Ayala intervened. The woman let go of him and said in a raspberry voice.
"Sorry... I am going through a lot right now."
Riven opened his palm to manifest a sword to fight her but he paused as the system whispered into his ears.
(Your subject has died!)
(You have lost 2 sealing power!)
He turned his head around. The army of elves was closer than ever and the intensity of the barrage of arrows had increased tremendously.
Some of his subjects had an arrow stuck in their bodies... blue particles leaked out from their wounds. Worse, the unnaturally hot wind of the desert slammed onto his body.
He felt like his entire body was burning... This was no ordinary wind of the desert. The normal wind of the desert was hot but not this hot.
He looked in front of him. The towering wall of sand was not too far away from him — probably a few dozen meters away from him.
It was probably a few minutes away from swallowing him whole. He glared at the woman although he wanted nothing more than to teach her a lesson for attacking him.
Now wasn’t the time to pick a fight. If she really wanted to help then he shouldn’t interfere. Otherwise... they would die or become the test subjects of the elves.
He couldn’t die here... at least not until he had found a cure for his sister. Riven gritted his teeth and looked at the woman suspiciously and said.
"Listen if you are really sorry then get us out of here."
The woman nodded her head in but she didn’t speak a word. Instead, she put two fingers in her mouth and then a deafening whistle burst from her lips, slicing through the chaos and echoing throughout their surroundings.
At first, nothing happened but a moment later, a massive bird covered in brown feathers with golden eyes, sharp claws, and talons started to fly towards them.
A few seconds later, the bird was flying above their heads, and before they could react, the bird descended to the ground. Its wings flapping up and down creating strong gusts of wind in the process.
The woman walked towards it, and the bird extended its head towards her. At first, he thought that it was attempting to eat her but when its head was close enough, it licked her.
Not in an attempt to eat her but like how a dog licks its owner in love. In response, the woman petted its head and the bird let out a soft, high-pitched whistle before rubbing its head against the woman’s body.
Later, the woman walked towards it and got on its back. Then the woman turned to them and said in a raspberry voice.
"Get on."
