Free Web NovelChapter 179: Begging (2)
Over the years, Ren had gotten these odd weapons from the Polluted Zone and was used to their quirky behaviors.
The red blade wanted his blood in exchange. Since he was alive, he could constantly meet its needs, which was relatively simple for Ren. But this dark longsword? It was a handful. Ren preferred not to use it unless he had to.
Chuckling, it replied, "I’d like to watch a orca’s tongue kiss for three minutes."
Frustration evident on his face, Ren responded through clenched teeth, "Pick something else."
"Fine then. I’d love to see you tangled up by the Kraken. I’ve never gotten the chance to see her. Those red tendrils must be fascinating."
The thing that made the black sword stand out was its eyes. They had a weird hobby: they loved watching unusual and intriguing events.
Feeling exasperated, Ren was about to put the sword away.
"Hey now, don’t lose your temper. You find this amusing too, right?"
The eyes on the sword blinked repeatedly, voicing their grievances.
"Just think of this as me doing you a solid. We’ll talk about my prize when we’re back."
...
Following a loud blast, inside the palace, the Queen remained coolly seated on her throne. Such minor conflicts didn’t bother her. She patiently awaited news from Luther.
Suddenly, as if a sixth sense kicked in, she stood up rapidly. Leaving behind Kestrel and her alpha guards in the majestic hall, she began to gracefully walk down the vast staircase, her flawless gown flowing behind.
"The Queen’s left her palace?"
"I’ve never known this to happen."
The usually stoic faces of the alphas in the hall seemed to become more animated after the Queen left. A couple sneaked glances at a cage in one corner, their eyes reflecting a touch of pity. They began to whisper to one another.
"Brandon..."
"Is Brandon really a rebel?"
"It’s hard to believe."
"Shh, let’s not talk about it now. We should be careful."
Kestrel caught the name "Brandon". She wasn’t familiar with this officer, but Ren had mentioned that name to her on several occasions:
"Brandon and I found out something about your mom and dad."
"You’ve got to be careful. Brandon warned me that the Queen is super dangerous."
"Brandon got an extra reward, so I got you this candy."
As she got closer to the corner where Brandon was locked up, Kestrel thought, "So it was him... the rebel, the one who betrayed everyone. All this noise and the explosion might be his friends trying to save him."
The alpha guards in the big hall greeted her warmly. They knew she was liked by the Queen, so they sweetly called her ’My Lady’.
"I learned a trick from the Queen, and I want to try it," Kestrel said.
Kestrel looked like she couldn’t hurt a fly. She was young and pretty, with smooth skin, delicate arms, and a soft voice. No one would think she was dangerous.
The alphas just grinned at her. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
A gold spark shone deep in Kestrel’s eyes. She clicked her fingers, and the guards looked puzzled at first, then their faces went blank.
With a little gesture from her, they all turned and wandered away, walking further from the big hall.
Messing with the minds of the alphas shouldn’t have been easy. But now, only a few alphas who worked often with Kestrel could defend against betas.
Most alphas didn’t think they had to be careful around betas. They still thought of betas as nice and gentle creatures.
The guards in the hall were easily tricked by Kestrel, leaving her by herself.
Once they were gone, Kestrel looked into the dark cage in front of her.
Inside the cage, there was the hurting prisoner. He was covered in sweat and blood and was struggling to breathe. He looked like he was about to lose it, with his mind breaking down and turning wild.
The Queen probably left because she thought even if his friends tried really hard, they couldn’t save him.
Brandon, inside the cage, was staring up, not seeing anything. A broken piece of his glasses sat on his hurt nose, and tears streamed down his face as he made soft noises of pain.
He might have been amazing before, but now, he was completely wrecked.
Kestrel could even guess what had happened to him. Someone had used psychic power to hurt his mind, tearing it up, crushing it, and making it feel unbearable pain until he started turning wild and beast-like.
"Hey," Kestrel bent down to speak to him. "Can you hear me?"
Kestrel slid her hand between the bars, gently letting a bit of her mind power flow into Brandon’s mind space.
His psychic landscape looked totally wrecked, almost like he couldn’t feel anything anymore.
Inside the grimy cage, only a tiny piece of a torn butterfly wing kept moving just a little, like it wasn’t ready to give up.
After a while, thanks to the tiny butterfly wing and Kestrel’s calming psychic power, Brandon seemed to find a tiny bit of strength. His eyes moved just a touch, looking at Kestrel who was outside the bars. He tried to speak a few times, and at last, he whispered super quietly, "Could... could you let me go? I don’t want to feel that pain anymore."
Kestrel thought maybe it’d be best for him if he didn’t have to feel anything. Sometimes, when things were too hard to handle, making a clear-headed choice was the way to go — like when she decided to leave Ren and go with Taja herself; or when she thought about eating that sad little mutant’s flesh piece.
"Maybe helping Brandon find peace is the kindest thing to do right now," that was what she felt, anyway. She knew how to help him fade away without hurting.
She reached into the dim cage, aiming for Brandon’s head and eyes. She wanted to push down, but it felt like a heavy rock was weighing on her heart.
The leftover butterfly wings on the floor flapped like crazy.
"Hang in there, save my brother."
Suddenly, a voice popped into her head super clearly.
"Help him out."
"Please."
It was the kind of mental message only betas could send.
"There’s another beta here in the palace?" Kestrel looked around, totally confused.
