I can proudly inform you, that the 50th chapter of Medieval Cohesion is finally ready for release. Man, we sure have come a long way, haven't we? Our heroes are spending the afternoon in the tavern called "The Drunken Seahorse", as an attempt to replenish their energy before moving on. But unfortunately, it seems like they have less time available for their escape than anticipated. Enemies from Jibanon have tracked them down, but will they succeed in recapturing Wesley and his friends, or defeat them in battle? It's time to find out!

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Chapter 50: Persistent persecutors

A low creaking noise awakened me, during the early evening. Someone was walking carefully through the room, presumably to avoid disturbing our sleep. But even when pushed to the edge of exhaustion, I'll still awaken by the slightest sound. It has always been a fear of mine, to be attacked in my sleep by a disgraceful enemy, seeking to assassinate his target at the most vulnerable moment. But I sensed no hostility from this particular person. My lazy eyes gazed at the wooden ceiling for a while. The room was dim, as the sun had almost retired for the day. It wouldn't be long, before we had to head out. I raised my head from the pillow, before examining the room from the position of my bed. There was a candle lit next to my bed, resting on a short wooden table, the flame being too weak to offer any decent light. My armor was left on a useful rack, that the tavern offered to paying customers, that intended to rent a room. It felt relieving to get out of that thing, even if only for a couple of hours. The supreme defense comes at the price of having a heavy weight, that is bound to leave numerous muscles sore. I groaned weakly, as I rose to take a seat in the bed. Bending my chest ached like hell. But now that my armor was removed, I decided to take a new piece of cloth, and have it wrapped around my torso to cover the wound. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was still necessary to keep it safe from infection. The old piece of cloth was soaked with congealed blood, and had to be discarded. This time, the cloth was wrapped around my bare chest, to be kept inside my padded armor. That way, the tight padding would keep it in place.

While sitting in my bed, a cool breeze passed through the room, causing me to shiver for a brief moment. My body had clearly adjusted to the warmth generated underneath the soft blanket. I turned my head and noticed that the door to the balcony was open wide. Someone was standing out there. It was Gary. He was standing at the balcony with his arms crossed, staring thoughtfully towards the horizon. Shouldn't he be sleeping right now, like the rest of us? His black cloak was motioned by the howling wind. After a short while, I decided to climb out of the bed, and join Gary on the balcony. I made sure to walk quietly, to avoid awakening Raksasha. She were still sound asleep. Once I stepped out into the open, a breeze passed through my long blond hair, before leaving it flat down my back. I placed myself next to Gary, gazing in the same direction, trying to figure out what was drawing his attention. But now that I was able to see his face under the black hood, it became clear to me that his eyes were not focusing on anything particular. He didn't even turn his head to acknowledge my presence. My ears suddenly caught the sound of the waves, drawing my attention towards the sea. Foam was gathering close to the sandy shore. It was a beautiful sunset. The sun was slowly sinking down by the horizon, as if it was being engulfed by the endless ocean, turning the sky red with the last rays of daylight. Standing side by side, Gary's lips motioned slowly, before speaking these words.

Gary: Something is approaching from the far north.
Wesley: What is it?
Gary: The legions of undead, armies of Lord Zervas.
Wesley: So...the march has finally begun.
Gary: Yeah. Within long, they will cross the valley of Durathon, before plunging directly into the region of Aranthir.
Wesley: They won’t stand a chance...
Gary: No... They won’t. And once the armies of Aranthir have been destroyed, the corpses will be used to bolster the forces of undead.
Wesley: Zervas and his armies grow stronger with every victory. Is there any hope, Gary? Are we too late to turn the tide?

Gary lowered his head and released a deep sigh.

Gary: You are asking questions that I cannot answer, Wesley. But in the end, there may only be one question that you need to worry about. In worst case scenario... are you ready to face your own demise?
Wesley: My own... what?
Gary: The world’s ending is drawing nigh, Wesley Lightweaver. Don’t be a fool and let it find you unprepared.

Having ended our conversation with that statement, he turned around and headed back into our room, leaving me alone on the balcony. By that moment, I just didn’t know what to think and feel about his words. So I decided to leave the balcony myself, shut the doors to keep the wind out, and go back to bed. I anticipated that there should at least be a couple more hours for me, to rest my eyes in sleep. But no more than forty minutes later, I felt someone grabbed onto my arm, shaking me roughly awake. My eyes opened quickly, scrolling from side to side, until they were able to focus. Then I gazed up into Gary’s face. He looked terrified. What the hell was going on here? Once I was awake, he spoke to me.

Gary: Hey! You awake!?
Wesley: Am now... what’s the rush?
Gary: We have to leave. Now! Put on your armor, while I go wake up Raksasha. There is no time to lose.
Wesley: But I don’t...
Gary: Shut up and get your posh behind out of that bed, now! Stop delaying us with questions, and just do as I say.
Wesley: Alright, alright...

I absolutely hate being pulled out of bed like this. It leaves me in a grumpy mood for the rest of the day. But despite my confusion, I decided to obey his rude order, assuming that he had valid reasons for this behavior. Shortly after having equipped my armor and retrieved my belongings, Raksasha moved slowly through the room, holding onto her gigantic axe and wooden buckler. She seemed pretty woozy, just like myself. We both looked at Gary, hoping to be provided with an explanation. But then we suddenly heard an aggressive voice coming from downstairs. Someone was in a conversation with the bartender, and it seemed like it had evolved into a fight. The three of us approached the door and stayed close, attempting to eavesdrop on the conversation. Gary shushed us down, we remained silent, and listened very carefully.

Marcus: But I swear, I haven’t seen these people that you seek.
Guard: Liar! Our scouts have reported, that the three fugitives crossed these shores, heading towards this tavern. You must have seen them! It was an armored knight, a cloaked thief and a giant beast of a woman.
Marcus: Nope... doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry.
Guard: Hmph. They are hiding somewhere. You two! Check the upstairs. The rest of us will search the first floor.

My heart stopped beating for a moment, as I heard the sound of two individuals moving up the stairs, approaching our room. It was the guards. They had found us! And here I had fooled myself into thinking, that our escape had gone unnoticed. But now it had certainly become clear like crystal, why Gary awoke us earlier than expected. If that old lynx hadn’t decided to keep watch, then they would probably have caught us in the bed, unable to defend ourselves. We had to get out of this place. But how? The two guards approaching were blocking the only way out. And we could expect even more guards to await us, inside the tavern on the first floor. We had to come up with a plan quickly. Our attention was slowly directed towards the balcony. It was a potential escape route, but risky. We hesitated for a brief moment, contemplating if there were any more safe alternatives. But once someone grabbed and turned the doorknob from the other side, Gary dashed through the room swiftly, and leapt from the balcony. Raksasha and I watched as the old man disappeared into the unknown, leaving us worried about how he coped with a fall from this height. The door behind us was locked, and the guard attempting to enter the room, was trying to force it open aggressively. It was only a matter of seconds, before this room would be invaded by guards. So I chose to follow Gary blindly, regardless of the consequences, dashing towards the open doors leading to the balcony.

Due to my injury and the long way down, I planned my jump thoroughly, to ensure that I would come out of this unscathed. It was my intention to leap gracefully from the balcony, and then roll swiftly to soften the fall, once I made contact with the ground underneath. The plan was brilliant. But unfortunately, things didn't fold out the way that I had anticipated. Once I was about to cross the wooden railings, meant to keep people from falling down, I busted my knee on the way and got out of balance. The plates of my armor protected my knee from being bruised, but the unexpected impact made me stumble over the railings, before falling towards the ground. A small shriek of fear escaped my mouth, before Gary witnessed me coming crashing down, landing on the ground like a falling rock. The soft sand broke my fall, so the only part of me that took damage, turned out to be my dignity. Gary quickly rushed to my aid, and once he helped me back up on my feet, I spat out sand that made it's way into my mouth. Of course, I just had to come crashing down onto my chest, leaving my face buried in the ground. Gary barely managed to move me away, before Raksasha leapt from the balcony as well, landing almost the same place as I did. She landed on her feet, with her weight causing a geyser of sand to rise around her, before being lead east by the wind. Only a moment later, we heard a loud crashing noise from inside the tavern, which we figured was the door to our room being opened by force. The guards were obviously in our room now, so that was our cue to escape. With Gary taking the lead as always, we followed the wall around the tavern, and didn't leave the building before we reached the rocky cliffside. Since I eavesdropped to the conversation that Gary was having with Marcus, I knew where he was taking us. Raksasha asked no questions, following us blindly, showing her faith in Gary’s guidance.

Gathered as a group, the three of us fled into the darkness, running along the steep cliffside. Every footstep lead us further away from the tavern, and we could all sense, that the guards must’ve noticed our escape by now. Remaining hidden in the dark wouldn’t be a problem, but by the break of dawn, our footsteps through the dunes of sand would be easy to follow. The guards would capture us eventually, so we had to make haste, and hope that the clue we were following wasn’t leading us into a dead end. If we somehow failed to find the ship in time, we would be left with no other choice, but to confront the guards pursuing us. I found myself surprised by their persistence, as I didn’t think they would wander this far from Jibanon, just to recapture us. They were clearly not going to stray from our trail, before they had managed to seize us again, and we were in no condition to shake them off our tails at that moment. Despite having my body pumped by adrenalin, running through the deep sand had left my leg muscles sore, burning painfully as if acid had been injected into my veins. The agony eventually passed to my throat, giving me severe breathing issues. And finally, I pushed myself so hard that I could feel my lungs being under a lot of pressure. Even after turning dizzy from exhaustion, I kept running. Because even with the weight of my armor, I stubbornly refused to be the slowpoke that couldn't catch up with the group. Nothing worries me more than being burden..

To my relief, Gary eventually stopped running, giving me the opportunity to catch my breath. My aching lungs forced me to lean forward while heaving for air, resting my hands on my plated knees for support. It took about half a minute before my head stopped spinning, and the soreness of my throat recovered too slowly for my liking. But once I found the strength to raise my head and look up, my eyes spotted what seemed like the frame of a cave entrance, through the thick darkness. This could only be the grotto, that Marcus suggested we should search for. Taken into consideration that Gary was a cunning thief, used to linger in the darkness of night, I could imagine that his night vision must've improved significantly over the years. So even after nightfall, his perception was impressively keen. Shouts of male voices were heard in the distance. It was the guards. They were coming. I was hoping that they wouldn't discover our tracks before the break of dawn. But our indiscreet escape, must have provoked them to search even harder. There was no time to rest. After a very short break, the three of us fled into the cave, with Gary taking the front. Once we made our way inside, it quickly became clear to me, that this could barely be considered a cave. It was more like a straight tunnel leading directly through the cliffs, with the ground being just as sandy as the western beach. Bathed in the rays of moonlight, the exit was illuminated far ahead, about one mile away from the entrance. The distance was difficult to estimate, but it was bound to become quite a challenge to traverse, through the accursed amounts of sand. Every step through the tunnel lead us closer to our target. But as we approached the exit, Gary suddenly stopped and positioned himself in a defensive stance, with his right hand placed on the hilt of his sheathed dagger. Raksasha and I stopped as well, but slid a few steps ahead of Gary, due to our delayed reaction. Something was amiss. My eyes scrolled to detect the danger that Gary sensed. A moment later, it finally caught my attention that a group of five shady figures, were hiding in the shadows. It turned out to be several guards, obviously deployed to ambush us in the dark.

Guard3: Prepare yourselves! The fugitives are here!
Guard1: The commander will be pleased to hear, that we anticipated this attempt of escape. We must stop them here.
Guard4: I don't know, man... that woman is pretty huge.
Guard1: Bah, don't be such a wuss. We have them outnumbered.
Guard4: But...I don't want to die...
Guard3: Everyone, to arms. Chaaaarge!

What a bunch of rookies. I've never been one to underestimate an enemy, but after having eavesdropped to their short conversation, it became challenging to consider them a threat. They were about to plunge mindlessly into battle, believing that numbers are enough to guarantee a victory. Four of the guards charged towards us at high speed, but I noticed that one of them were hesitating. The attacking guards didn't seem to realize, that the last person wasn't backing them up. For the first time, I drew my curved sword of Persian design, allowing the rays of moonlight to reflect in the thin steel. I decided to not equip my shield for this battle. The swiftest guard released a deafening battle cry, before thrusting his sharp spear towards my unprotected face, obviously relying on the long range of his weapon. By the last possible second, I leaned my head to the left, causing the spear to miss by only a few inches. I felt the soft breeze graze the fur on my cheek. Before the guard had the chance to launch a second attack, I raised my arm and bashed his face with my elbow, leaving him stunned long enough for me to finish him off. The Shamshir was light and convenient for quick attacks. So I spun around and delivered a circular slash, causing the sharp blade to penetrate the guard's stomach sideways. Once he groaned in agony and fell to the ground, I snatched the spear directly from my enemy's hand, and plunged it into his back while laying down. The spear impaled my slain foe completely, with the tip disappearing into the sand below. A second guard attacked me furiously, with the sword raised high above his head. I sidestepped to dodge a lethal vertical blow, then quickly grappled the guard from behind, keeping him trapped with my strong arm around his chest. He wasn't even given time to beg for mercy, before I raised my curved blade and slit his throat, with blood gushing out of the gaping wound. I pushed the man away from me, and watched as he dropped onto his knees, grabbing onto his own throat to stop the bleeding. His struggles were all in vain, as they only prolonged his life with a few more minutes. His face turned pale, as the last spark of life left his body.

A sudden breeze grazed my face from the northeast, as Raksasha swung her large axe disturbingly close to me, as an attempt to destroy another guard that was focused on her. The guard ducked to avoid her slow attack, clearly appearing as a tricky target for such a cumbersome fighter. Raksasha raised her axe and attempted to strike him with a deadly vertical attack, but he swiftly rolled out of harms way, causing sand to rise as the axe came crashing into the ground. Once he thought she was open and defenseless, he leapt forward with his spiked mace raised high. Swift as the attack of a viper, Raksasha extended her arm and grabbed the guard in midair by the throat, and then slammed him into the ground in front of her. The sand was too soft for the attack to be efficient, but then she raised her gigantic foot high, and stomped upon the guard's chest with all her might. I felt the ground shake as her foot came down, and the stomp grinded the guard deep into the sand, leaving me convinced that the soft ground didn't save his ribcage from being shattered. When Raksasha reclaimed her axe and moved on, I noticed the man remained on the ground, with blood leaking out of his mouth and the eyes staring blankly into the sky. His fingers still twitched weakly. While observing Raksasha's progress, I noticed a shadow merging with my own, as the fourth guard attempted to attack me from behind. Before ending up being struck down, I turned around and grabbed the guard's arm equipped with a weapon, leaving him unable to carry out his attack. During our struggle, the guard managed to raise his free hand, and deliver a punch to my face. His metallic gauntlet hurt tremendously, but I clenched my teeth hard, refusing to lose focus. Then I turned my back towards the guard's chest, while still holding onto his arm, before tossing him roughly over my shoulder. The guard landed with his face first into the soft sand, dropping his weapon during the fall, and then rolled across the ground towards Gary's feet. The old lynx looked down at the slain foe, and tilted his head once their eyes met. Then he drew one of his short daggers, kneeled down, and plunged it deep into the guard's chest. The dagger was pulled out quickly, leaving splatters of blood in the sand. Then we all directed our attention towards the last man standing, the shaking coward that hesitated with backing up his allies. His eyes were beaming with fear, and he immediately dropped his weapon to surrender.

Guard4: Oh God. I give up! Please don't kill me...
Wesley: You're a disgrace to the army of Jibanon. Why have you chosen to become a guard, if you are so afraid of getting involved with battle?
Guard4: Give me a break. I'm just a humble conscript, forced into this line of duty, by the wealthy dukes of Jibanon.
Wesley: Is that so? Tell me your true profession.
Guard4: I work as a smith for a living. My job is to make weapons for war, not use them! I don't belong on the battlefield.
Wesley: Fine... then go. Get lost!
Guard4: Really? Thank you, sir, thank you!
Gary: Hey, wait - stop!

The released guard turned around and fled towards the grotto's entrance. But then I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that Gary drew one of his jagged throwing knives, and threw it towards our pardoned enemy. The knife went right past my left side, and I attempted to grab the hilt with my hand, before it reached the target. But since I wasn't by any means prepared for this, my reflexes weren't sharp enough to catch it in time. The knife remained in it's course, flying away from me, until it plunged into the back of the guard. My eyes grew wide, and I watched as the young man fell to the ground, using his last strength to crawl towards the entrance. A second knife was thrown, striking the guard's back just like the first one, this time while he was laying down. He was done for. I immediately turned around to face Gary, clenching my fists in anger.

Wesley: Gary... Are you out of your mind!? This was completely unnecessary! I gave him permission to flee.
Gary: He was just lying to save his own life.
Wesley: How would you know?
Gary: Call it a hunch.
Wesley: A hunch... you must be kidding me. You killed another person because of a hunch?
Gary: Look. I respect your heroic desire of saving every life in peril, and showing mercy to those that surrender. Not many possess those traits anymore. But in this situation, your attempt to save one life, could've prevented us from saving thousands in the future.
Wesley: That makes no sense.
Gary: Think about it. Would you want to run the risk, of having the guard alarm his allies to our location? He would return with an army too large for us to handle, and our quest would come to a tragic end.
Wesley: I suppose you are right...
Gary: Come along now. If we aren't too late, there should be a ship awaiting us in this isolated bay. Move out!

Wasting no more time, we entered the isolated bay through the exit of the grotto, leaving the five corpses behind us. And once we stepped into the open, we were met by a glorious sight, that left my eyes full of awe. A great carrack was moored in this bay, solid and in excellent shape, a seaworthy vessel of high rank. This was the miracle that I had been hoping for, our one and only way to access the open sea. But surprisingly, it was completely quiet, and there was no sight of the crew. The ship seemed completely abandoned. Having admired the great vessel from afar, we eventually walked so close that it was within our reach to touch. The wooden hull was still moist, revealing that it had been floating upon the ocean recently. A thought crossed my mind. Assuming that the ship was abandoned, would it be alright for us to just hijack it like this? I found myself excusing the theft, by convincing myself that we would just "borrow" it with good intentions. After all, we are on a noble quest to prevent the darkness of Zervas, from consuming everything living and corrupting the planet to the core. I was certain that the owners would understand. But while I was considering the rightfulness in this questionable action, something unexpected happened. The sand around us begun shaking. We raised our weapons to protect ourselves, though we didn't know what to expect. Then suddenly, a horde of seamen rose from the ground, all armed with knives and curvy cutlasses. Sand sprinkled from their dirty clothes, and they did not seem to appreciate the attention directed towards the vessel. We obviously found the missing crew. They were hiding in the sand, waiting to ambush us. I gave up on counting, but there was definitely more than fifty men, approaching us from all directions. We were surrounded, severely outnumbered, and in tremendous peril. Gary, Raksasha and I remained close to eachother, with our weapons ready for battle. The horde of seamen smirked and approached us slowly. Maybe this wasn't such a brilliant idea after all...