The Rise Of A Porter

By the time Allen and his troops reached the cave, it was way past noon. It took them about one and a half hour to reach the destination, but when they did they were both amazed and disturbed at the same time.

They were amazed to know that Arnold had managed to kill a type of Orc who had never been seen before but were disturbed after seeing the burnt remains of the Orc. A few weak-hearted soldiers even puked over the walls after seeing the gruesome sight.

"You don't know anything about mercy kill do you, brother?" Allen said as he kicked the head of the dead orc.

"The damned bastard broke my tooth and I got a bit carried away." Arnold smiled turned towards the women who were how dressed in hazmat suits which covered their weak and naked bodies.

"So what do you want us to do with them?" Allen nodded at their direction.

"I... don't know. Maybe feed them and once they are strong enough then they could do small chores around the base?"

"I was thinking the same thing. Should I ask Amanda to help with this?"

"Sure, do as you please. By the way, I'm not coming with you guys, there's something I need to take care of."

"Do you need any help? Should I come along with you?"

"Thanks for the concern, but there's no need, Allen. If you have free time then you should practice and perfect your skills first. The way you are now you'll only hold me back." Arnold replied.

Suddenly, a woman parted ways with her group and headed towards Arnold, but before she got too close, Allen drew his sword and jumped between them.

"It's alright Allen, she won't do anything." Arnold grabbed Allen's arm, telling him to put his sword down, "How can I help you?"

In the half-lit cave, the woman approached him. She was very young, perhaps still a teenager. Allen hesitated but allowed her to step towards Arnold, who looked at her through the visor of the hazmat suit. Her hair was long like it was never been cut, hanging in dusty clusters. Her face was gaunt, a sign of malnutrition, her brown skin appeared as if grey and her eyes lack the light that should come with her youth. Despite her legs being thin, her middle was oddly lumpy... she was pregnant with a baby... most likely it belongs to a monster. If it had been the old country, like it once was, she'd be rushed into a hospital, and showered with medical attention and love, as well she would've been given whatever her child needed.

But this wasn't that world anymore. This world was cruel and uncertain. No one knew what would become of the fetus she was carrying within her womb. Allen was giving him a weird look, as if saying, they had to kill her, but Arnold shook his head. He can't make rushed decisions. Before Arnold could think about it anymore, the woman spoke.

"Thank... you... f-for helping u-us. There would've been a l-lot more women like m-me if you hadn't arrived and saved us. It's too late for me but p-please take care o-of the others."

Arnold could see that the woman was desperately fighting to keep her tears back. Maybe she knew what was going to happen to her next. She could've decided not to tell them anything about it, but she did it on her own. Allen nodded, he too understood what the woman was trying to say, and raised his sword... ready to take her down with one a clean strike but Arnold stopped him once again.

"You can't be serious!" Allen burst out, "Being kind is a great and all but what you're doing now is just plain stupid!"

Arnold didn't reply but his glare was enough to silence Allen. Deep down, he knew Allen was right. They shouldn't take the risk, but he needed more time to think about the situation because his [Probe] ability didn't help him much. The only thing it made clear was that the fetus inside the woman's body was no human, it belonged to <An unknown species>. Maybe if Arnold allowed the fetus to develop more, then the system would be able to recognise what the fetus was and whether it was safe to keep them around or not.

"You'll stay with us, but our scientists might want to do some experiments on you to make sure it's safe to keep you and your baby around us. If you agree with this condition then, you can come with us otherwise we'll have to leave you here." Arnold declared, "But if things go out of hand, then I won't hesitate to kill you. Is that okay with you, Allen?"

"Yes sir." Allen replied, but he wasn't satisfied.

Upon hearing Arnold's words, the woman bent forward and sank down holding Arnold's legs with tears in her eyes, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

The young woman kept crying inconsolably until the soldiers gently pulled her back and took her away.

"You think you made the right decision?" Allen asked, still upset about Arnold's decision.

"I do."

****

AT THE SAME TIME, IN THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE GUARDIAN SYNDICATE...

The darkroom was like a place out of time, a place to where the wrong had to face the consequences of their mistakes. The darkness in the room signified that justice is blind, it didn't see nor care about who was being trialled, in a way, the room was a sanctuary of truth, a place to serve justice. This place was known as the home of the Council of Twelve Heads.

This time they were in the middle of reading the sentence that had been given to one of their own, to the one who was known as Elena White, a former member of the council of twelve heads.

"With all the proof provided to the council by the Black Family, it's clear that the White Family, misguided the Guardian Syndicate and misused their power for their personal gain," the Chief of justice, Livan Tempest, spoke with a determined tone, "the council holds them guilty and as a punishment, strips away all of the special authority and provisions that were bestowed upon them until further notice. Further, the council suggests the Syndicate to terminate all active and inactive contracts that were signed with Troy Industries, and deeply investigate the matter. The council is adjourned."

Elena couldn't believe her ears... the punishment essentially meant everyone that belonged to her family would be deported to East America to serve in the military, and she couldn't accept it.

She turned to face her 'loyal' family members for some support, but to her shock, no one was in their allotted seats...

Unknown to her, most of the people from her family had already joined other families in secret, and those who didn't were 'missing'. To add salt to her injured heart, most of them joined the Black Family. At that moment she was alone. Her family chose safety over loyalty.

Suddenly she started crying and yelling hysterically, cursing the Black Family, especially Nathan. But no one gave their attention to her as she was dragged out of the room. Justice was served.