Footsteps echoed through the tunnel as Inno's bare feet slammed against the dusty tunnel floor. Dust rose as he proceeded.
His head was lowered, his face dark.
"Hmph! I'd rather die than do something that will help those wicked *******!" He exclaimed squeezing his hands into a fist.
"I truly will prefer death." He released his fist. "I guess all this digging was a waste of time—"
RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!!! RUMBLE!!!!
The tunnel began to quake and quiver.
The tunnel breathed dust. Cracks snaked through the walls. Something was coming—fast. It was like a stampede of horses was making its way through the tunnel.
"What in the world?" Inno raised an eyebrow. 'A horse stampede? In a tunnel Florisha and I just dug?' To say he was perplexed was an understatement.
Paying closer attention to the sounds of the approaching horses, he realized that it seemed less of a stampede than he initially thought. The hooves struck the floor in rhythmic unison—too controlled to be a wild stampede
As the horses closed in, Inno sprang to the wall, scaling it with practiced ease..
He maneuvered his body in such a way that he was able to cling to the wall and climb to a top corner of it.
After thousands of years of evading people, Inno had become expertly skilled at it.
Though against humans, it may be useless. He was the embodiment of weakness itself — and anyone willing to look deep enough into their own flaws could find him.
It was effective against animals or people who aren't actively looking for him though.
From his perch in the tunnel's corner, he watched thousands of horses thunder past beneath him.
Leading the horde was a man in an elegant dark green robe with gold-like borders and edges. The robe flickered and shimmered faintly, as though woven with threads of light. He had long black hair which flowed behind him as he rode on a white horse.
'What's that nonchalant b****** doing here?' Inno thought seeing the green robed man. It seemed like he had past encounters with the man.
The other horse riders were clothed in pure white robes. Staring at it for a long time gave Inno a feeling of uneasiness. The robe was just too... pure. There was something off about it, something that made his stomach turn — though he couldn't explain why.
Eventually, the last of the horse riders passed him and went out of view. It seemed like they were headed back the way he had come.
"What is going on?" Inno dropped to the floor and fixed his eyes in the direction of the horses.
* * *
Florisha stared in the direction Inno went off to. She was really upset and she didn't know how to express it.
She just stared. She wanted to shout for him to come back, but her voice was stuck in her throat.
"Dad..." she let out in a soft minute voice. Yes, he was always like a father to her. No... he WAS a father to her. Now, it seems like it all ended eight years ago.
She gripped her dual blades harder. Hate began to boil up inside her. Hate for the Cropgores, hate for her circumstance, hate for her helplessness, hate for Arnold's death, hate for her flaws and shortcomings. Therefore, inevitable hate for Inno.
She shook her head when the thought came to her mind. Gripping the blades even tighter, she turned around.
The twin blades seemed to be forged with ornate craftsmanship, each slim and slightly curved balanced for agility and precision. The hilt that she gripped was wrapped with dark silk cord finished with engraved silver pommel.
She turned to face the other tunnels leading to the different areas the Cropgores dwell in.
"I'm not immortal. I don't have centuries of wisdom or whatever. But I'll be ****ed if I run from a fight. Especially against these monsters that had the temerity to injure and harm one of the few people that actually gave me... peace." She braced herself. Though it was stupid to run in there alone, she steeled her nerves, clenched her fists, and charged forward—not out of confidence, but out of conviction. Some battles aren't won by strength... but by refusing to back down.
RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!!
Before she could make a full entry, she felt the ground shake beneath her. It was as if something was approaching, and was approaching fast.
'Horses? Underground?' She questioned in her mind hearing the sounds of hooves hitting the tunnel floor.
She watched in astonishment and utter disbelief as horses, with riders, came into view. She quickly moved to the side as the horse riders made their way through the Cropgore's tunnels. They were a lot in number, and staring at them gave Florisha a sickening feeling. It had to do with the pure white robe the horse riders were wearing.
Soon, the few remaining white robed horse riders made their way through. It just remained a man in dark green robe on a white horse.
Immediately she took a look at the man, she knew for sure that he was like her. The pressure he exuded was overwhelming. The feeling he gave off was hard to define. It made her skin crawl.
The man stepped off his horse. He slowly walked closer to her. Each step he took was like thunder in her skull. The closer he got, the thicker the air around her felt.
Her knees buckled at his mere presence. It was unfathomable.
"Aunt Florisha. My name is Charles a member of The Council, at your service." He lightly bowed.
Florisha's eyes widened. She had heard of the Council. Everyone has, and she knew **** well how much influence they had.
"It seems you had an issue with these... Cropgores. No need to worry, they are hardly worth mentioning anymore.h" Charles said lightly patting his robe.
"It seems like they are done. Those Cropgores will no longer be of concern." Charles said with a faint smile looking over Florisha's shoulder.
'Done. Hmph! I know how influential The Council is, but there are over tens of thousands of those monsters. I didn't even hear sounds of fighting, I think they are far from done.' Florisha was completely skeptical about this 'Charles' remark. She turned around and saw the horse riders as well as the horses returning. Some were two on one horse meaning not all the horses returned.
She saw green liquid on the robes of the horse riders, but they just fell off without leaving a stain, like mercury.
"I don't believe it." Florisha said refusing to believe it ended just like that.
She ran through the tunnel wanting to see what happened with her own eyes.
- - -
Florisha's vision wavered. Her eyes stung, not from tears but from sheer disbelief. Her jaw dropped. The sight before her was unbelievable.
In front of her was a bloody (green blood) mess of dead Cropgores. The green blood shimmered like oil, the corpses already pale. Not one was spared. Even the eggs were destroyed. Every one of those Cropgores were wasted.
Florisha couldn't believe her eyes, her knees nearly gave out. The only thing she could manage to mutter was:
"No way..."