“Dammit! Find them now!” Argades was cursing at the gods, his dagger drenched in blood. His personal guards watched in silence as their boss murdered the two guards who were meant to watch the women. As just a few minutes ago, when they entered the room, what they discovered was an unlocked door, and empty room, with no sign of the women being held in here.
The guard had been frozen stiff in fear, his face pale as he had checked for the keys to the door and realized in that moment truth. That the keys were not on his person, that he had not remained in place and had left to get a drink at one point, and that the door was not fully shut. Before the guard had the opportunity to spew any excuses, Argades was on him, his dagger plunging into the man’s body repeatedly. His screams quickly dying down as the blood pooled under his cooling corpse.
“What are you all standing around for! Find them!” Argades thrashed about, tossing aside wooden bed frames, toppling chairs, smashing windows. His guards quickly dispersed not wanting to be in the vicinity, intent on finding and subduing the women. Even if the women managed to slip away, they didn’t have that much time, and were bound to be noticed by someone with such a large group of women, some of whom were in no condition to run.
Yet none of Argades’s men knew about the message, they were not aware of the assistance the women were receiving. In addition, Leucena was a capable leader, uniting the women around a common goal, escape. While her self-defense training and hunting experience meant that she was more than able to deal with individual isolated enemies.
Meanwhile the ongoing attack on the Taureas territory had diverted many of the guards to the front lines, including Damastor. The women were the final goods needing to be loaded aboard the wagons, after which the most loyal soldiers and Argades would make a break for the ships. Even though the port had been overtaken, the ships were still docked, and the southern approach was the widest with enemy forces spread thin to cover the entire front. If they concentrated all their power into one concerted push, they could break the siege lines and overpower the enemies holding the dock.
Time would be important, they had very little of it and if they did not leave soon the small gap they had would disappear, trapping them along with the rest of their men on the front lines. Right now, Damastor was doing everything within his power ensure the lines held, but the enemy force was both larger and more skilled. Soon enough the lines would buckle and break, when that occurred, the enemy vanguard would rush to the headquarters and slaughter every member of the group.
Even Argades couldn’t force his men to all die for one woman, if time ran out, he would have no choice but to leave his prize behind, escaping with what he could. However, should he find her, Argades had every intention of ensuring that she never managed to escape again, even if that meant marring her beauty forever. After all, it would be quite difficult to run with one leg.
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The women’s escape had gone off without a hitch and they were all hiding within the pantry on the first floor, currently in the process of removing some crates to reveal the hole in the wall. Some of the women, had to be shouldered by others due to their wounds, Leucena herself was not in a good shape but was able to easily navigate with a little help from her new friend Atia. That was the crafty young girl’s name, had she not acted on Leucena’s plan to swipe the keys from the guard during the earlier fight, it was possible that many women would have had to be left behind.
Luckily that hadn’t been necessary and whatever was happening outside the building was important enough to draw away most of the guards. As the group of women traversed the building they ran into regular laborers and workers, none of whom paid them much mind, focused instead on grabbing whatever they could and fleeing.
In this way the group faced almost no resistance, some laborers they came across attempted to take the women, sensing an opportunity within the situation. Both men were left bleeding on the ground, as some of the women had armed themselves with fruit knives taken from the table of a previous room. Even if they lacked the strength, they had the numbers, and after getting this far and understanding what awaited them should they fail, none wished to return.
Desperate individuals were willing to do whatever it took to survive, and after witnessing a chance at freedom. Months of abuse had left many of these women scarred, and fearful, those who had been held captive longest spoke of the fates of those who survived until their captors became bored with their bodies. The fact was that none of the women ever escaped, they either died at the hands of their captors, died at the hands of the customers in the Taurean brothels, or sold overseas where death was the most likely outcome. With those hauled to the docks usually disease ridden or horribly disfigured.
“Did you find it?” Leucena whispered as their group held the kitchen, barricading the door against others. Occasionally banging could be heard, servants or looters looking to take as much from the kitchen as possible. It would be slim pickings as most of what had been within the pantry and kitchen was already gone.
Even still the women pushed aside the wooden crates searching desperately for the exit. As the search dragged on fear and doubt had begun to set in, some even proposed they return, surrender themselves to lessen the punishment even if by a small amount. Those in Leucena’s group which constituted the majority vehemently opposed such an action, arguing to fight or take their own lives to avoid going back. With both sides digging in their heels, on the verge of fighting amongst themselves when there was a sudden knock.
The knock did not originate from the barricaded door however, but instead from the pantry instead. Atia crouched onto the ground and made her way to the corner, pressing her ear to the wall before softly tapping against the stone. A few seconds passed, and then they a collective sigh of relief could be heard as the women released the tension in the shoulders, a hesitant tap had sounded in response to their own.
Following the instructions set in the hidden note, Atia knocked in the agreed upon sequence and then stepped back. A minute later a grinding could be heard as the wall came loose, each brick removed creating a gap wide enough for one adult woman to crawl through at a time. The process was slow, and during this time banging could be heard on the other side of the kitchen entrance, but most of the women were already through. Then as the last woman emerged, their hooded benefactor slid a nearby crate in front of the hole, haphazardly sealing up the exit, the expectation being that it would but some time for escape.
“Quickly, we don’t have much time. Follow me, heading towards the front lines will be dangerous but safer than staying where the Taureas can get us.” The young man was gaunt, his almost skeletal frame was masked by a thick boiled boar hide armor.
“First, who are you? What is going on? And why are you helping us?” Even though the man had aided them, Leucena was still cautious any unknown individual. This man had risked his life, yet it would do no good if the group of women were delivered into the hands of yet another violent criminal group. It would be important to verify the situation, specifically whatever it was that was causing the Taureas headquarters to fall into such confusion.
“My name is Gylippos, I am a resident of the slums. To be honest you all are a means to an end, my sister, her name was Pelopia, some of you may know her. She is dead and I want revenge, helping you achieves part of that. The Scylla family and the people you arrived in the city with are waging a war on the Taureas, you will be safer in their care. That is where I am taking you… So, if there are no more questions, we need to go… our escape will not confuse them for long.” Leucena realized that the Scholar and her family had come for her, and some of the women within their group recognized the man’s sister’s name. Recognized his name as one that she often repeated in her delirium. Now the women understood the situation, all they needed to do was get away, they weren’t far now and merely needed to risk the conflict area.
“Okay, revenge I can understand Gylippos. Personally, an honest cause such as revenge allows me to trust you more... We are placing our lives in your hands, please help us.” Gylippos acknowledged Leucena’s words, accepting the request before leading the women away from the building.
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The kitchen was in shambles, Argades’s men tore the room apart from bottom to top. One of the passersby had been squeezed for information, having seen the group of women passing toward the first floor. From others they heard that the kitchen had been barricaded, many assuming that whoever was inside was attempting to raid the pantry, but no one had left yet.
Putting two and two together the guards realized that the women had most likely held up in the kitchen, and they assumed were looking to hold up in the kitchen hoping for the arrival of the Scylla force. They moved quickly, breaking down the door and entering the kitchen only to find an empty and abandoned larder. No women, no matter where they searched, they found nothing, that is until they heard their boss yell from the upper floors.
From his perch on the higher floors Argades had been gazing out towards the battle lines, waiting for word to get to him about the women. Instead, he witnessed a crowd emerge from the rear of the building, closest to the kitchen. The women could be seen escaping down an alley, moving towards the front lines, at their head was none other than Leucena.
Argades’s face turned red, boiling like a steamed devilfish, his face twisted into a demonic roar. All those within the building shook with fear as they could hear his curses, knowing that he was likely to kill the next man who simply glanced at him the wrong way.
However, now there was an even bigger decision for the crime lord to make. Would he give chase, hunt down the women? Take his remaining loyal fighters and engage the enemy force in the vain attempt to recapture his prize, risking all the wealth he had accumulated over his lifetime. Or would he leave the women to their fate, turning and fleeing while he still had the chance, escaping to Myrmien and living to fight another day.
The choice would be his and his alone to make, should he go with his heart’s desire, he would risk the everything. The loyalty of his men, his wealth, and most importantly his life.
