The way he went down, only half of his face was subject to the torture of the embers. Kaie's hands were careful in their placement, remaining in the center of the safe side. The man continued to scream such an ear piercing scream, his cries echoing around the night. The Myrian woman had seen torture before. Her clan employed it on numerous occasions and practically celebrated it. But watching and doing are very different things.
She could practically feel the heat steaming along his face and onto her hands. She could smell the incinerating flesh. It filled her nostrils and imbeded into her brain, forever locked into her memories. She would never rid herself of such a foul smell. The moment his skin touched the burning coals, he was immediately subject to her control. He fought but it was maniacal rather than intelligent, trying to get away. It was like an animal in a trap, but even that was an analogy that did not do the moment justice.
Trent folded his arms across his chest, watching with a stern expression. The rest of the men watched in absolute terror, one even turning to the woods to vomit. But it did not last long at all. Only a few moments, and Kaie had the sense to tear him up from the pyre. His screams had not ceased even when he was freed of the punishment, and she couldn't blame him.
The whole side of his face was a red, blistering mess of bubbling flesh. Now that one man was not alone, for the other had joined him in vomiting that time around. Trent had a far stronger stomach and simply growled at the rest to return to gathering. Kaie stared in silent horror in the consequences of her actions, watching the man drop the moment she let him go. His screams continued for some time, Trent low in his ear muttering to him. And Kaie could do nothing but back away and return to what she had once tried to do. Just to gather supplies. That woman and her child were still sitting in that tent guarded by the bearded man. No doubt they had heard the whole thing. The Myrian woman avoided them. Petch, she avoided all of them.
Kaie walked to the area they had apparently been hanging clothes finding a bow leaning against a tree and a handful of arrows. She gathered that up and continued her searching, tearing down the clothesline to harvest the line itself. It was eating at her, the ordeal of the torture. The woman tried to bury it down deep, focusing on what she was doing and cramming things into her arms. She didn't care if they were of value or not. She just needed to do something or she knew she might just kill them all. Or at least try to. It was driving her insane. Absolutely insane. But for the wrong reasons one might've thought she was terrified.
Kaie was not traumatized by the action itself. She was not bothered by the torture method, the man, or the reason. She wasn't even so concerned she had caused so much pain and disfigurement. At least not as much as she should've. It was the fact she could do such a horrendous thing that made her uncomfortable. That someone could give the order and she wouldn't hesitate to subjecting them to such agony. Kaie didn't pull that man from the flames because of his screams. She wasn't as compassionate as she maybe hoped. She pulled him out because she was not ordered to kill him. And nothing more. Why didn't she feel remorse? Why didn't she care about the life itself? Had she really become such an animal? A monster?
None of that was the worst part of all. It led to it, but it wasn't the single concept that drove her over the edge. The truth was she could do it again. And again. And again. These men did not turn her into what she was only just discovering she was. It was always there. Somewhere deep within the depths of every human soul, no matter how moral. That sadism always lurks within us all. Someone finally let hers free.
"Get them out of there. Come on, up. Let's go."
Kaie turned to find Trent coaxing the woman and her child from the tent, his voice bored and irritable. The woman obeyed and rushed from the tent into the circle of vicious thieves and raiders. Her bottom lip was trembling, long blonde hair flowing in the gentle breeze. The baby turned into its mother, its eyes closed in an angelic sleep. The men stood about her uncomfortably. All were staring at Trent, waiting for the orders.
"Well. Someone get rid of the dead weight. And be quick about it."
At first no one moved. Not one person made a sound. Trent arched a brow at them all, challenging them. Until finally Quin stepped forward with his long sword. His arm lifted, muscles tensing to hack them to death in one smooth stroke. Kaie saw him spar one of the others during a stop earlier that day. He was a decent swordsman. He would give them the merciful end she saw he intended to give. This executioner was not a cold blooded killer. Not like the rest of them.
"Hold up!" Kaie called out suddenly, stepping forward aggressively toward the advancing man. He stopped before his fatal down cut, looking from Kaie to Trent. The Myrian woman didn't dare look their leader's way. Instead she stared right at the swordsman. Slowly he brought his sword back down and slid it back into the hilt. "This is wrong. We should let them go," She clarified to the group, but more so to Trent. She was not really just defying his judgement. She was trying to change his mind. He saw no worth in keeping them around, and there really wasn't. They would eat up their resources. Resources they needed. But there had to be another way. There had to be.
"Kaie, we have no where to put them. They don't have the food and supplies to keep them going. This is a better end than starving slowly in the woods," Trent said oddly sympathetically, shaking his head slowly like he understood her. Kaie saw his point, but it couldn't be the way. There was another no better than the others, but it included survival for the child.
"Sell them in Nyka," She offered suddenly, almost surprised in herself for even offering such a terrible alternative. It was all they had though. And Kaie had known a Myrian boy, Moru, born a slave living free again in Falyndar. There was a chance for hope. That's what mattered. Trent would never keep them if there was no profit.
"You know the wagons are full. There's no where to keep them."
"We have four new horses. Either let her ride one or we start moving what we can into saddle bags. We can find a way, Trent," She reasoned with him, one of the horses seeming to stomp in agreement behind her. The rest of the men nodded their heads as well, none seemingly too keen on the idea of adding
"baby killer" to their resumes.
"Fine. We'll do it. Let's clean this place up and get back. Quin, get that woman and her kid a good horse. We're out in five chimes!" He appraised Kaie with a nod, almost seeming to flash a natural smile her way before he turned and went back to organizing the movement of his group. The rest of them got moving, gathering what they could. Kaie tore down one of the larger fabrics from the clothes pile she dropped earlier, filled it with objects, and tied it into a knapsack. The men were dragged to a nearby river, pulled behind their own horses, and send on their way.
The camp was in ruins by the time they left. It appeared as if whoever was once there either never returned or left in a real hurry. Kaie supposed both were true. And as she made her escape with her crew back into the night, she couldn't keep from stealing glances at the struggling scout. Goddess, had her morals become so quickly frayed since she left that petching City of Peace. Maybe that was the one thing Syliras got right in the long run. Kaie could hate them for everything else, but they were right in their moral compass. Most of the time.
Yet such ideals are circumstantial aren't they? Are there no real meanings of right and wrong? The world is not black and white, but a sea of grey. The world would forever fight good against evil, but which is which? It depended on which side you spoke to. So if no morals are truly set in stone, if none can truly be undisputedly correct, was what she did, what she felt, so wrong? Was there no going back from the harm she had caused that scout? And that's when the nightmare crept back into her dreams.
