CHAPTER 011

AMBUSH 

 

 

(Pinhan's POV)

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'Finally! There are here.' Passion squealed happily after a long silence and 'It was about time.' Reason shared his enthusiasm sighing in a more reserved way. I didn't care about their shenanigans and kept my silence. 

 

I was waiting on a flat rock high above and observing the broken path that crawls towards the dumruls' camp for the first half of the evening.

 

I saw the flickering light in the distance long ago and waited for a longer time for it to come closer, towards the ambush site I have chosen and prepared a warm welcome. The only thing I didn't consider was the needlessly long wait. 

 

Frankly, I was waiting for them before dusk. I almost lost hope and considered leaving, thinking they weren't changing the guards daily. The reason that I was still waiting was sheer stubbornness.

 

That and to give Yesim more time to choose or... Should I say, be tempted? 

 

The food and water in the camp weren't enough for more than a day for two guards, thus it suggested a change of watch soon. Be it today or tomorrow...

 

Changing the watch during the day was obviously safer, faster, and easier thus, I assumed my guests would arrive far before dusk today or after dawn tomorrow.  Alas, they surprised me greatly to choose to march this late into the evening. 

 

However, this was not an unpleasant surprise. They gave me more time than I can ask to select a good spot for an ambush and to prepare a small surprise. Nothing outrageous, but a surprise nonetheless. Thus, here I was waiting for them to be in the perfect spot to start my attack with the unruly tenants in my mind. 

 

'Dear Lord, protect me from what I want.'

 

'Three men, two in the rear carrying knapsacks, the one in the middle holding a torch.' Reason started his assessment before anyone else as he always did. Then he couldn't stand it anymore and pointed out the obvious, again.  'No! Not a torch but the torch.'

 

'Indeed...' Passion agreed with an animated tone that sent shivers down my spine.

 

Really, these two were more sensitive than vultures circling around their prey in sensing weakness and more eager than sharks drawn to the blood in exploiting that weakness. Now that they found a flaw in the enemy formation they were ready to break their leashes. 

 

Passion was understandable, but Reason being the same was implying disturbing things about me. 'Another problem for future me.' I thought and focused on the prey...

 

'The prey?' I thought involuntarily. 'Really? Anyway...'

 

Three men, potentially bandits, dumruls, as the woman, Yesim, called them. They were climbing the soft slope in a single file, keeping a healthy distance from each other. The problem was, they were carrying only a single torch as a light source. 

 

The presence of the torch was an indication of the lack of night vision capability which was a weakness all by itself. That aside, carrying only a single type of light source could have been attributed to negligence. Carrying only a single light source? Now, that was sheer stupidity. 

 

They were almost at the right spot, carrying only one torch which was in the right hand of the man in the middle. The one in the front was not carrying anything apart from his weapons and wearing some kind of leather jacket and pants, probably some kind of leather armor.

 

Better clothed and treated, that was the one I must capture alive, probably the leader amongst the three. He was carrying a sword around his belt and a rod, probably an unstrung bow, on his back. 

 

'Primitive.' Reason thought in my mind and I almost heard the scoff in his voice.  'Everything about them is primitive indeed...'

 

The man carrying the torch was carrying a sword and a dagger on his belt and the last one was carrying a spear in his hand, a sword on his belt, and a few javelins tied to his knapsack.

 

'Watch and learn trainee.' Reason started talking like a training sergeant again. 'What you are going to witness is the sole reason that The School of Tactical Command insists that at least three different types of illumination should be carried during a night march in the absence of night vision capabilities.' It was prudent, too prudent actually but it was for a reason and a good one indeed. I had no doubt thousands upon tens of thousands of unlucky recruits would have agreed with him if the poor sods were alive.  

 

With that, I started to prepare the mental image that would create a small distraction, possibly extinguishing the torch, and leaving my adversaries in the darkness without properly adjusted eyes.

 

Before triggering the effect, I just pushed a moderate-sized boulder I adjusted earlier, to cause the rocks on my side of the elevation roll, causing a small landslide, or more like a rockslide.

 

'Surprise!' Passion mused internally.  

 

The place I choose for the ambush was a narrow part of the trail with a rocky elevation on the left side and a short steep cliff on the right. The falling rocks were not enough to toss the dumruls off or bury them but it was enough to close the path, separating and distracting the group and even wounding one if he was unlucky.

 

Simultaneously I bolted while murmuring one of the most versatile trigger words in my arsenal and activated the effect that would cause a sudden gust of wind.

 

'[Yel]' was a good trigger word that meant wind and valiant in Imperial but I choose '[Asf]'  instead which meant many things starting from a strong wind blowing to taking things by cruelty and force; from reaping while the crops are still fresh to persecution, injustice, and even agony.

 

'Better suited to the mood.' Passion thought bloodily and 'My thought exactly.' I agreed. It was indeed much better suited.

 

My winds were not strong enough to reap life from my enemies untimely with cruelty and sheer force, causing persecution and agony in injustice. Not yet... But it was the spirit of the things that matter and matter it did. 

 

The one at the front was immediately got alerted even before the sound of falling rocks reach and the sudden nature of the strong wind hit him. He looked right at me just for a moment as if he could see me in the womb of the darkness and started to shout frantically to warn his friends.

 

'Interesting.' Reason gave a passing thought but didn't care much more. It was already too late. The rocks fell and the wind blew, choking the sounds, squinting the eyes, and feeding the fire. 

 

The men dispersed towards the other side, towards the short steep cliff, avoiding most of the rubble that blocked the better part of the path. The two in the front moved forward and outward, while the one in the rear moved backward, effectively separating himself from the others.

 

Some of the smaller rocks hit the one in the back on the side of the shin but didn't do much otherwise. Overall it was not the best, but still a good outcome. 

 

'Separating the leader would have been better.' Passion thought in my mind regretfully. Interestingly, 'You work with what you have.' simply quoted Reason callously. No rebuke, no nitpick...

 

'Indeed, I do.' I thought as I was bolting down the slope, having covered half of the distance already. 

 

Even while trying to dodge the falling rocks, the man in the middle didn't drop their only light source but the torchlight was dancing wildly due to the sudden gust of wind and the sudden movements of the man.

 

He tried everything he could to keep the torch alight. He lowered the torch, dropped his spear to the ground, covered the fire with his empty hand, and even turned his back towards the wind, back to me, to protect the fire from the turbulent winds with his own body.

 

'Commendable.' I thought and 'Commendable indeed, but not enough.' Reason answered. 

 

The sound of the falling rocks and the howling wind was more than enough to drown any sound I could make thus I run hard and fast, without caring about subtility. 

 

Reason prepared the next mental image while I was running the last quarter, one that would take control of the heat and fire and would be the downfall of the torchbearer.

 

"[Hâr]"

 

I whispered the perfect trigger for the job which basically meant heat and fire in Imperial and was already running toward the rearguard.

 

The torch fire fluctuated and then grew almost into a blaze, surrounding the hand that was covering the fire and the head that was lowered towards it. Immediately, everything above his neck caught fire and started burning while he started trashing, running, and wailing in agony like someone that was being slaughtered. 

 

"Aaaaggghhh!"

 

'Well, he is someone being slaughtered.' Passion mused again but neither I nor Reason cared enough to answer. 

 

The screams of the poor sod were reverberating. I was moving downwind but even then the smell of burning meat and hair was suffocating. 

 

The fire burned less than a breath of time, and as soon as he threw the torch away both the torch and the fire on his head extinguished immediately. However, by that time, he was already on the ground,  groaning and whimpering while trying to breathe desperately. 

 

Right at that moment, I switched to night vision and stormed in with an arched pathway to get to the back of the rearguard while the standing duo was still yelling at each other, probably checking if they were alright or not over the wind. 

 

Before closing in on the range, I draw one of my daggers and prepared a mental image, one that would make the target silent for a short amount of time. 

 

Casting one's will on something alive, especially something sentient and sapient was immeasurably harder than casting it on material and energy, alas, not for me. Overcoming sentient and sapient resistance was the specialty of Passion and Reason, one for sentience, one for sapience. Still, there were always easier ways, running around the wall instead of climbing. 

 

I waited for the correct moment to cast my will, the moment the rearguard stopped yelling and took a long breath. Then I cast it with a silent whisper while still running.

 

"[Lâl]" was a rather rigid trigger that simply meant mute in Imperial. Thus, the method to mute the target was entirely dependent on the mental image meaning, the imagination of the caster. 

 

When the man tried to talk again, he immediately realized something was off and grabbed his throat with his free hand. Removing air from the airway of the target was not only an easy way to mute it but also an easy way to choke it. But making the effect activate at the exact time when the target tries to speak was what ensured the choking. A tested and approved strategy from The School of Tactical Command.

 

I arrived at the back of the target at that exact moment, grabbed the man's short ponytail with my left hand to yank his head backward, and stabbed his chest with my right.

 

One!

 

Two!

 

Three!

 

Four!

 

Five!

 

I stabbed him three times on the left side of his chest and two on the right, then slit his throat while he was still holding his spear and trashing with his free hand. After he stopped moving, I slowly lowered his body to the ground. 

 

Killing him from afar would have been ultimately easier but staying close to the enemy was always safer. The shock effect aside, one simply can't have enough meat shields to cover against the counterfire.

 

But the real reason was actually something else. It was simply too alluring to fight against someone with a ponytail or jewelry in melee.

 

'Just what is the obsession with ponytails amongst these men? Can't they see that it is getting them killed?' Passion mused. My boy's hatred of ponytails was simply surreal. 

 

This time, his musing garnered attention. 'Focus!' Warned Reason but not with his usual fervor. 'You are not breathing properly.'

 

Without wasting time, I freed the spear from the right hand of the corpse of my first victim, took the javelins strapped to his backpack, and walked towards the torchbearer.

 

The leader was now kneeling right beside the wailing man and searching his knapsack for something, probably something like a lighter to light the torch again. But considering how primitive they were, he could very well be searching a flint too. He was still yelling against the howling winds, not sure to the torchbearer or the rearguard. 

 

Leaving the spear to the ground, I hold a spare javelin with my right hand and prepared the proper mental image again. 

 

Just as he managed to re-light the torch Passion cast my will, again...

 

'[Hâr]'

 

This one was not to burn the target, I wanted the leader alive after all but the stupidity of the situation was beyond furious and there was something with hâr that simply made the caster release those pent-up emotions. The same word meant rage and rut in other languıages for a reason after all. 

 

The flame flashed ridiculously once again and the leader threw himself backward, sitting on his arse and leaving the torch on the ground with a yelp.

 

By that time he realized something was wrong due to the sudden flash of fire, the cries of the torchbearer, and the silence of the man that was walking towards him from the rearguard, but there was nothing he could do anymore. Any reaction was fatally late at this point. Alas, he continued to talk and yell at the man that was walking towards him from the rearguard position -me- but got no answer naturally.

 

I walked towards my prey slowly and entered the circle of torchlight. Then I quietly started to pierce the wailing torchbearer at the edge of the light circle with the pointy end of the javelin while he was still holding his face and looking at the void incredulously with blind eyes.

 

Three stabs, one on the chest near the sternum, then one on the left shoulder. He hissed and yelled the first two times thus, still alive. Not that he will live long.

 

While keeping an eye on the leader that was still sitting on his arse just a few steps away and crawling away, ever vigilant, I nailed the body of the torchbearer to the ground with a third stab with the javelin, right on the heart, removed his sword and dagger, and checked his pulse. While there was no pulse, I still slit his throat with his own dagger. 

 

'Better safe than sorry.' Reson said? Thought? But 'Your behavior lingers at the border of paranoia at this point.' Passion answered without any hint of muse in his tone.

 

Just at that moment the leader turned his back to me, stood up, and started to run away toward the night. 

 

I wiped the dagger to the clothes of the torchbearer with no haste and followed the last man through the darkness, while he was running, falling over rocks and roots, standing again, running and falling again. I hoped he did not break his neck during one of these falls but still didn't interfere.

 

By the time I reached him, he was already a sweaty and bloody mess, breathing heavily. His eyes were now adjusted to the darkness but still unable to see anything other than silhouettes. He was tired of running and gave his back towards a wide tree, facing towards me following the footsteps. He draw his sword and held it high waiting for me to approach to make his last stand.

 

'Lucky that he didn't stab himself while falling repeatedly.' Reason quipped while I was slowly approaching the ma wit the false bravado.

 

Then he started talking to me in that weird language of his which has too many umlauts.

 

"𐰤𐰀𐰓𐰀𐰤 𐰆𐰔𐰀𐰴𐱃𐰀 𐰑𐰆𐰺𐰆𐰖𐰆𐰺𐰽𐰆𐰣? 𐰖𐰀𐰴𐰞𐰀𐱁𐰽𐰀𐰣𐰀 𐰯𐰱 𐰸𐰺𐰆𐰽𐰆"

 

'So? How are we going to do it?' Passion asked while watching the man from a safe distance.  'Attack? Retreat? Wait?'

 

'Let's retreat for now.' Reason answered without surprise or maybe I should say, much to the Passion's surprise, not mine though.

 

'We can use sleep, fear, stun, and even dominate. You know that, right?' He suggested with no small enthusiasm but there was no way Reason would do it like that. 

 

'Tell me?' He asked like a teacher asking a question only to set the stage.  'Why should you use your authority on something you are already achieving without using it?'

 

The man was already afraid, tense as a spring, and blind in the darkness. So what would happen if I were to leave him here for some time? He was practically blind, too afraid to follow me in this darkness, and too tired to run away. All he could do was to walk aimlessly towards the dead of the night. Patience here would have definitely helped in the interrogation later and I could use that time to loot the other two while on it.

 

'But I object to leaving an unmarked target without supervision.' Reason answered immediately even without the suggestion. 'I don't need to add, armed even. He can hurt himself or even find the campsite and hurt the woman.'

 

Now that was a little bit stretch and it wasn't only me that was thinking like that. 

 

'What? Even if he finds his way he can't walk to the camp like this anyway. Moreover, why do you even care about her? That's new.' Passion questioned the reasoning. 

 

But, 'It is not about caring.' Reason answered without any emotion. Even if he was irritated he didn't show any hint. No juicy gossip here. 'I don't want any more rouge elements and he can be a good test for her. Unarmed of course.' He explained his reasoning. 

 

Now. I must admit that it was damn pragmatistic just like what should be expected from Reason but also a little bit sadistic which made Passion flip. 

 

'You are a sick b*****d, you know it, right? F**k your tests. You are just trying to find a reason to get rid of the girl at this point.' He blamed Reason justifiably. Now, I didn't decide what to do with Yesim but still, there were only so many options. 

 

With that, I watched the man for a time and then retreated to watch from afar. He stood there, his sword in his hand, and gazed through the darkness, yelling from time to time, swearing probably.

 

I waited patiently at first. Then my patience started to run out when he sat on the ground, his back still on the tree. Then it run out completely when I heard a howling sound in the darkness. 

 

'Nocturnal predators...' Reason identified the most possible cause. Then, 'We should loot the supplies on the corpses before they mutilate them. Paralyze the man and let's head back.' he ordered with haste while preparing the mental image. 

 

'Paralyze?' Passion asked with a mocking tone. 'Now tell me? Why should you use your authority on something you have already achieved without using it?'

 

There you go, as soon as the external threat is eliminated, mostly eliminated, those two started to rip each other apart again. 

 

'Sarcasm?' Reason questioned this time. 'Great... But remember... I am not the only one that is going to collect supplies of our mutilated victims from the ground in the dead of the night while fending off predators. So leave sarcasm for later.'

 

Now, the man's behavior was unpredictable. Not because it was bad necessarily. I simply didn't consider him to overcome his initial fear and start to think logically. I thought he was going to run in the darkness until he loses his sword, injures himself, and got too tired to resist.

 

'He is not that stupid I guess.' I thought with a little bit of respect, but just a tiny bit. Even against primitive people like this, one simply can't know what to expect on a battlefield. 

 

Still, there were rustling and howling sounds in the darkness which made me more and more nervous over time and I decided to follow Reason's advice and get over with it. 

 

'Careful there. Not something too strong that would prevent him from breathing like back there. We were supposed to stun them before but ended up paralyzing them completely. They weren't even breathing let alone blinking.' Reson warned, reminding the blunder earlier today. 

 

'Understood.' Passion agreed without objection. There were simply too many unpredictable elements about this place and a few unexpected accidents until now were just too unsettling, more than enough to suspect something was amiss. Thus, 'We need something that leaves him immobilized for some time without affecting bodily functions.' Passion asked the not-question amicably. 

 

'Don't go for contraction.' Reason suggested. 'I don't want to carry a sweaty and trembling waste of a man over my shoulder to the camp. Go with the relaxation. At least he would not have any aftereffects when the effect expires.'  

 

'Except piss and shit.' I thought almost gagging at the thought but stayed silent. Thus, I prepared the proper mental image and inhaled through my nose deeply.

 

"ShShSh"

 

Then cast my will while exhaling through my mouth slowly.

 

"FhFhFh [Felc] FhFhFh" 

 

The man stood up as soon as heard me talking, just to drop his sword, and then slowly fell again. First on his knees then on the ground face-front while his eyes were still facing me. I turned my back and left him there to collect my loot in the darkness.