Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1)

by V. A. Lewis

  The hallway led to a catwalk that was about ten feet off the ground in the main room of the warehouse; it covered three sides of the main hall— with small entrances to hallways throughout the first and second floors— and a large entrance on the fourth side of the box room, leading to the outside.

  On the corners across from the main entrance, two staircases led down to the vast open space that made up the first floor. Wagons and carts were parked in the center of the room, while some boxes and crates filled the sides closest to the walls.

  However, there was a distinct absence of the car which Julian rode in the warehouse; this meant that Mr Jerkface himself probably was not present at the moment, which could also mean that the head guard of the Mancis Company— Marcus— was not here either.

  It did not confirm anything for certain, but the very thought itself left me conflicted; on one hand, their presence could have prevented our escape, but on the other hand, that meant we couldn’t pay them back what they deserved.

  And they deserve a lot of bad things! Jerks!

  Of course, I kept my mouth shut. I did not want to make too much noise, and neither did I want to interrupt this important conversation that I should be listening to. Probably should stop zoning out, I told myself.

  I looked up at Shang as he quietly whispered to Feri.

  "And they’re being kept in there?"

  "I—uh, yes. They had us bring them down there. That’s usually where they bring new arrivals to— um, but I saw them get brought down there, so… so, I’m, erm, sure."

  The Dog Beastkin looked uncertainly at the newest member of our party, and even I had to blink at that. The young man was stuttering and tripping over his own words; he did not sound sure of himself at all!

  But Feri had been a slave for... God knows how long? His dirty blonde hair reached down to his shoulders, and his body was thin and frail. It was a given that he was not the most confident person in the world.

  Still, his words did not instill any confidence into me; I did try my best to believe him, but it was difficult. I shook all my doubts off my head, and turned to face Shang.

  "So, they’re in the basement?"

  "Yes. If we go down that hallway,"— Shang pointed at an opening next to the stairs on the first floor— "there’s a stairway that leads to the basement. Supposedly, they are locked in a massive cellar down there."

  "Good," I said, nodding my head at the Dog Beastkin, "that makes it easier for us. We can get them all out at once." I felt myself bursting with excitement as freedom seemed so close within my grasps, before catching a glimpse of Feri. "And anyone who wants to come with us too," I quickly added in.

  "Yes, but—" Shang sighed and turned to face me. "There’s a problem."

  Of course there is! My face didn’t change in it’s expression; it was the expected outcome, and reacting took too much energy. I just waited for what he had to say.

  "Hrn, the problem is that the basement is also where most of the guards are. They have a small cafeteria down there, and that’s where most of the night guards gather when it’s not their shift."

  "So what?" a high pitched voice spoke up from behind me. Rin was standing at my elbow, and she crossed her arms impatiently. "We took care of the guys here no problem! Why do we have to worry about a couple more guys we can easily handle?"

  "The problem, Rin, is that these guys might alert more guards to come help them. Or worse, they draw in the city guards." The Dog Beastkin took a deep breath, his lips pressed into a thin line, and shook his head. "We’ll have to be very careful. Move silently and in the shadows. Take out any guards we see as quickly as possible, and stay away from anyone we don’t need to mess with."

  "Nn, sounds complicated."

  "Rin, I’m being serious right now."

  "I know you are. That’s why it’s complicated."

  "Rin—"

  "Nn, shut up! Of course I know that!" The Cat Beastkin sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I was just trying to lighten the mood. Jeez! Can we not be all doom and gloom right now, and just worry later once this is all over?"

  "I— fine," Shang resigned the issue to the catgirl, and turned to face me. "Young Melas, please stick close to Rin. She may not act it, but she’s an incredibly skilled fighter."

  I met the Dog Beastkin’s eyes, and nodded my head. "Yes," that was all I said.

  "And Rin," the man spoke to his companion, resting a hand on the catgirl’s shoulder. "Make sure you protect her."

  "Nn. I will."

  There was no more joking or bantering around; the Cat Beastkin spoke simply and with certainty. It was like the gravity of the situation was finally sinking into everyone’s minds. We hugged the walls and silently made our way down the stairs as a sense of dread— the uncertainty of what the next few hours will bring about— hung in the air between. I felt my hands trembling, shaking with an anxiety I had never felt in my previous life. Calm down, I tried to tell myself that, but the feeling never went away.

  Slowly and quietly, we crept down towards the corridor that led to the basement with the other slaves. Rin peeked her head over the corner, while Shang sniffed the air and kept an ear out for any noise; the Cat Beastkin’s night vision let her see down the dark hallway, while the Dog Beastkin’s enhanced hearing and smell alerted him to anybody in the main room.

  "All clear." The young woman threw a thumbs up back our way.

  "I don’t smell anyone either. Not nearby, at least." Shang nodded in agreement, and turned to the rest of us. "Let’s go. Quietly."

  The hallway was lined with doors on either side, with only sparse torchlight to illuminate it; Shang stood at the front of the group, alongside Feri who helped direct us through the corridor. There were a few intersections down the hallway, which would have forced us to split up if not for the young human man who just joined us.

  We continued straight on the first hallway junction, and came across a ‘T’ intersection that we turned left on; we turned left again when we reached a corner, and left once more at the first side passage we came across. Finally, at the end of this hallway, there was a thick wooden door on the right side. It was the staircase leading down to the basement, and where Theodore and the rest were being held.

  Shang pressed his ears against the door, and listened for a moment. After about a minute, he took a step back and looked at the rest of us.

  "Well?" Rin stared at the Dog Beastkin expectantly.

  "Hrn, it’s faint, but I hear a bit of noise. It’s difficult to make out. The walls and floors are too thick. But it’s like a distant sort of chatter and clamor. Not as rambunctious as a tavern in the middle of night, but something… similar."

  Shang’s voice was deep, heavy, almost as if he was hinting at something; but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

  All I knew was that whatever awaited us down there was something noisy, yet... unsettling. I felt a shiver go up my spine as all the possibilities flashed through my mind:

  A man was lying on the ground covered in bruises. He was frail and looked past his prime. His face was covered in blood, and as he looked up at me I recognized him.

  It was Theodore.

  And he was beaten for trying to stop something. A guard had battered him for getting in his way, and now there was no one to stop him.

  The guard stood over a young woman, his clothes hanging loosely off him, and—

  I felt my stomach lurch, and steadied myself. I stared at the wooden door right in front of me, ignoring my imagination; beyond it laid an infinite number of possible scenarios, each one worse than the one before. I did not know what it was going on down there, nor did I want to know.

  But I knew that, didn’t I?

  I steadied myself. The door held in it not evil unimaginable— since it was an evil that was known— but instead, the possibility of freedom; I should behold it with anticipation, not fear.

  I turned to Shang, and grinned.

  "If they’re being that loud, and even you can barely hear it, t
hen all the better for us. We don’t have to worry about being heard. But if—"

  "If they have an alarm, then we’re screwed," Rin finished the sentence for me. The Cat Beastkin met my gaze, and I saw her eyes glinting like I had never seen them before. She said, "Nn, but that just means we have to be quick."

  The young woman spun around, and faced the rest of the group. "We go in, and go in fast. Take them out before they even realize we’re there. No need for subtlety or sneaking around. Do not spare a single life, got it?"

  She looked around at the nodding faces, and smiled. She looked hungry; as if she had been waiting for this moment for ages. And perhaps it had been ages. She had been locked up for months by the Mancis Company, unable to do anything but sit around and chat. Plus, Beastkin have a slightly shorter lifespan than humans.

  Relatively speaking, she has been waiting for quite a while; and now is the time to go all out. Not just for her, but for all of them.

  The door creaked open, and one by one the Beastkin went in; Shang led the way, followed by a Rabbit Beastkin, and then the others. I saw all of their faces as they funneled in through the door, and they were ready.

  One of the last to go was Feri. The young man held back, whether it was out of fear or for some other reason, I did not know. But the man went down, and I followed after him. Rin walked beside me, and she held my hand as we went down the spiral stairway; it was not a long way down, perhaps only 40 steps before we reached the basement.

  At the bottom of the stairs, we were met with a set of wooden double doors. Muffled noises were escaping out from the other side, barely audible enough for me to pick out a single sound to decipher it. There was clearly a commotion going on beyond the double doors, as a clamor of voices mixed into an incomprehensible mess. But suddenly, all at once, the voices collectively erupted into a cheer— like one you would hear when someone scored a touchdown in a football game, or a point in a basketball match— before returning to the previous hubbub after a moment.

  Shang paused by the door, and checked back on us one last time. He then gave us a nod, and threw the doors open into the basement.

  They swung open, and inside I saw a large room. It was not as big as the main hall of the warehouse, but it was at least half its size. Long tables and benches were strewn about the room, organized into rows similar to the ones you see in a high school cafeteria.

  Around the center, tables and chairs were pushed aside to create a small open space: four tables were used to form a box in the middle of this area, with about four dozen guards crowded around it in a circle.

  Two men were standing in the enclosed space, fighting each other. For less than a second, I thought that the guards had set up a makeshift boxing ring for themselves to brawl in, but I quickly dismissed the thought. It was not for them, but for slaves.

  The two men were dressed in tattered clothes, and had chains tied around their ankles. They were bloodied and battered, and yet they still fought on. They heaved and wheezed with every punch thrown, and their movements were sluggish, as if they had been fighting non-stop for half an hour. And perhaps that was the case.

  It was a terrible thing: to be forced to fight in a blood sport just for the entertainment of others. And yet, for some reason I was relieved.

  I was glad that the worst of my imaginations didn’t come true, even though this was arguably just as terrible. I knew I should not have felt this way, but I did.

  It was probably a preconceived notion I had from my world; rape was one of the greatest sins in my point of view. It was something unforgivable— robbing the free will of another, and violating them for your own pleasure. It was disgusting.

  But, and the thought crossed my mind, is what’s happening here not the same?

  Was evil really just evil? Should I even compare two different acts of evil, and weigh them against each other? Was that even necessary? I did not know. And now was not the time for any of these philosophical questions; it was the time for justice.

  Shang and the others saw the same scene I did, and they immediately began moving. Whether it was because they wanted to put an end to such an abhorrent display, or because they took this as an opportunity to act while the guards were distracted, I did not know.

  But they moved. And they were fast.

  It was not like a scene from a movie where the main character slowly approached the first guy from behind: Shang did not tap the man on the shoulder, and waited for him to turn around before he threw a punch. In fact, Shang did not even throw a punch!

  The Dog Beastkin ran up to the back of the crowd, and bit into the back of one of the guards. His fangs sunk deep into the man’s neck, instantly severing his spinal cord. The man collapsed to the ground and lay unmoving.

  At the same time, a Rabbit Beastkin threw a flying knee at another man. The back of his skull caved in like it was made of papier-mâché. A blood curdling scream erupted from the back of the man’s throat which finally alerted everyone else in the room as to what was happening.

  All eyes turned away from the brawl at the center of the room, and to the back of the crowd. But the guards still did not know what was happening: they were in too much shock!

  Their reaction time was slow and sloppy. By the time they broke out of their stupor— when the first guard drew his sword— half a dozen of them were already lying on the ground. Some were dead. The others were too incapacitated to act.

  Shang grabbed a sword from the guard he took down, and stabbed at the next closest man. The man stepped back, and drew his own weapon. The guard lifted his sword up—

  And his hand was gone. Missing. Detached from the rest of his arm.

  His hand and sword went flying as Shang swiftly sliced up at the man’s wrists. His eyes widened in shock, and he gripped his missing hand in pain.

  The man opened his mouth to scream, only to find a sword buried down his throat. He fell to the ground, dead in an instant. Shang drew his sword back, and turned to engage two oncoming attackers.

  At the same time that happened, Beastkin charged and leapt into the crowd. They tore into the lines of panicked guards with the ferocity of a pack of wild beasts. They were like animals!

  A Dog Beastkin— not Shang— ran up to all fours up to a panicked guard. He was desperately fumbling to draw his pistol, but he was too slow. The Dog Beastkin lunged into the man, and began biting. He was tearing the man’s face off!

  The man was screaming and trying to cover his face, but the Dog Beastkin continued biting. He ripped into the man’s face, as another guard ran over to help him.

  The second guard raised his rifle, but a Rabbit Beastkin intercepted him. He was the one from earlier; the Rabbit Beastkin who ran in first with Shang.

  The Rabbit Beastkin threw an axe kick, and snapped the rifle in two. The guard took a step back, and reached for a knife in his pocket, but the Beastkin advanced on him. The Rabbit Beastkin took a step forward, then raised his front knee up. With his back foot, he spun his body around, and snapped his front foot at the guard’s head.

  The guard raised a hand to block the strike, but the Rabbit Beastkin was too strong. The roundhouse kick shattered the man’s elbow, and continued on unimpeded to the man’s head.

  His head snapped back, and there was a crunch. The man fell straight back, not getting back up. His neck was broken from the force of the kick.

  Immediately after, the Rabbit Beastkin took a step back. He crouched, placing one hand on the ground, then jumped.

  He sprung forwards at another guard with a gun. He landed with both his legs extended on the man’s head. He quickly stomped twice: once to crush the man’s neck, and another to crush the pistol. Then he was off again.

  He was targeting those with guns!

  I looked around the battlefield, and saw the other Rabbit Beastkin. He was leaping from guard to guard, doing the same thing his friend was. He leapt over the fighting, searching to take down anyone with a gun. He turned, and saw gunshots flying over ten feet away, and jumpe
d to his target, over the head of another Dog Beastkin.

  The Dog Beastkin was wrestling with a guard on the ground. She was on top of him, trying to bite at the guard, but he had a dagger out.

  The guard stabbed at the Dog Beastkin, and she pulled her head back. The man grinned as she snarled at him. However the man forgot about something. They had claws too.

  The Dog Beastkin raised a hand, and cut at the man’s eyes. The man screamed as blood poured out of the sockets, and was quickly silenced as she ripped out his throat with a snap of her teeth.

  Just beside them, a Cat Beastkin was tearing into the chest of a fallen guard. His claws were long and sharp, just like Rin’s, turning the guard into a bloody mess.

  It was a bloodbath! The Beastkin were massacring their enemies like it was nothing. The guards had to have outnumbered them four-to-one. But they had already lost half of their numbers.

  Meanwhile, not a single Beastkin had died yet. Some were injured, but they continued fighting. Only two fell back away from the battle, and that was because they were badly hurt by gunshots.

  It was not fatal. At least, it did not look like it was fatal. But it was enough to force them to pull back.

  Even still, the Beastkin were still slaughtering the guards; it had only been a minute, but it was such a beat down that it looked like it was going to be over soon. And that’s without Rin.

  The thought made me turn to the one person not joining in on the fighting. Well, the one Beastkin, at least, since Feri was watching from the side too. His eyes were wide open, staring at the slaughter before him. It looked like a dozen emotions were flowing through him right now; shock, fear, joy, but most of all— amazement.

  He was amazed by the display of the Beastkin; the way they were utterly crushing his lifelong oppressors had to have instilled in him a sort of admiration for the Beastkin. But not for me.

  Don’t get me wrong, I liked Shang and Rin and the others. They were my friends. But the brutality of it all was too much for me; the main reason— the real reason— why I turned away, was because I could not stand to watch it.