Looking at the big rusty lock and thick wooden door nervously, he took a long and deep sigh, his breath trailing off.
And with a small pin, Julian picked open the bulky lock holding the thick wooden door shut.
With force, he pushed open the door; it creaked as it slowly revealed the cold, rectangular stone room behind it.
Lit by two tiny flickering candles, the room was mostly empty; a singular double bed stood against the wall in the far left corner. Julian scanned around for his missing sister, finding a curled-up maiden hiding underneath a dirty blanket in the corner.
Julian walked over, the girl beneath the blanket shook in fear as he approached.
"... It's me, it's me, Julian… I came to get you out of here…"
The blanket was slowly lifted up, the face of a distraught maiden turned into a warm happiness, "Is it really you?" Fia whispered, "You have grown so much…" Her cold hands reached for Julian's cheek shakily.
"Hey, Julian brother! I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion with your long-lost older sister, but we kind of have a situation on our hands." Hew barged in, interrupting the moment.
Julian glanced around the door. He saw an army of soldiers and knights of various ranks push back his companions. Tapping his sister's shoulder, he said softly, "Wait here for me, I'll get you out of here, I promise."
"Heyrm, can we break out by force?" Julian asked.
"Yeah, I can try, but after that, I won't be able to clear anymore if they have reinforcements," Heyrm replied as he batted another armored soldier away with his blunt greatsword.
"Better try it now or we're all going to die here." Hew chimed in, "I can get the lass out of here as soon as we reach the surface. I'm confident in my ability to escape against these slowpokes."
"Swear an oath first," Julian said, "swear an oath saying that you'll never betray me this time."
"Heh? Is it not too much work?"
"Say it!"
"Okay, fine," Hew clicked his tongue, "Tsk... I, Hew, shall swear a blood oath to thy Julian Notros-Farion to serve thee throughout thy life, shalt grace uphold my justice if this oath of mine beest shatters, may I never rest in peace if I betray thee after thy oath." Hew said loudly and quickly, muttering a jumbled, rushed mess of an oath before cutting his index finger, letting a droplet of dew like fresh blood fall onto the cold stone floor. "There ya go, you happy?"
Julian dipped his head in response.
Hew darted into the room where Fia sat, "Okay, no time for introductions, all you have to know is that I serve your little brother, chop chop, get on my back,k I'll get you outta this glum place."
"All ready?" Heyrm asked under heavy breathing.
Taking a deep breath in Heyrm lowered his body onto all four, just like if he was a beast, uttering the chant through and in-between his clenched teeth, "May the sacred beast grant me strength, allow me the let out a mighty roar to collapse mine enemies, turn them to frenzy, none shalt stand forth thy presence, shattered stones, howl of the great beasts—"
An eruption of powerful sound waves burst through the line of soldiers, which collapsed one by one, falling unconscious, failing to withstand the power of the beastly roar. Under the force of the sound waves, the floor cracked, etching a scar on the ground.
The group exited the underground dungeon, arriving above ground, and they were met with twenty or so unarmored guards.
In their trembling hands, they held broadswords, their grip on the hilt loose, barely able to hold their blades straight.
"Guess I had to fight after all…" Julian muttered under his breath.
Heyrm lifted his colossal blunt blade, raising it high in the air.
Whimpering like cats to a barking dog, the guards almost instantaneously darted out of sight, hiding behind the tall walls and empty beer barrels lying around.
"Guess I didn't have to fight?" Julian said rather muddled by the behaviour of the wimpy guards of the fortress.
Heyrm let out a long sigh before covering his mouth and coughing rashly a few times.
He looked down at his hands… Blood.
"Did I overexhaust my mana?" He growled in a raspy voice as he gulped, swallowing a mouthful of half-dried blood and saliva.
The group left the bounds of the mansion soon after, and back in the forest, where they first settled.
There was an awkward silence. Fia never spoke of any words; in the dead silence, she looked down blankly. Fidgeting with her fingers, she sat there, on the base of a tree, she opened her mouth with the intention to interact but closed it again soon after.
Though Heyrm was never the observant type of man, he saw through Fia's hollow eyes, her hidden emotions, her untold trauma…
*Author's note here: The story of Heyrm and Fia from this point on will be in a side chapter soon to be released; those chapter/s will be mostly focused around romance, so make sure to look towards that as well, your favorite unhinged man, kinryu.*