Chapter 96: In The Rubble
— At The Main House —
Deep inside the pulverized ruins of the Thorne Main Estate, Sam was curled up tightly, hiding in a small pocket of space beneath a collapsed stone wall.
"Is this really a good idea... hiding in here instead of running into the forest like the others?" Sam murmured to himself, shivering in the dark, dusty corner.
He shook his head. "No, this is good. I know those masked guys won’t come searching in this rubble. Anyone looking at this destruction would be completely sure that no one survived inside. But... it suddenly got so quiet outside. Did something happen, or did they already kill everyone in the village?"
"Who killed everyone?" a voice suddenly whispered from the darkness, and a heavy hand firmly grabbed Sam’s shoulder.
"It’s those masked guys, of cour— Aaa—!"
Before Sam could even scream from the terrifying jump scare, the unknown man aggressively clamped a hand over Sam’s mouth.
"Shhhh... do you want us to get caught by them or what?" Adam hissed, keeping his hand tightly over Sam’s mouth. "I’m going to release my hand now, so don’t scream, okay?"
Adam waited for reassurance, and Sam, trembling violently, nodded his head.
"Good." Adam slowly pulled his hand away.
"Young... Young Master Adam?! You are alive?!" Sam gasped in absolute shock, recognizing Adam through the thick dust.
"Of course I’m alive! What kind of question is that? Did you actually want me to die in here or what?" Adam grumbled. He tried to shift his weight to sit down comfortably, but he instantly gritted his teeth, his face twisting in sharp pain.
"It’s just... you know... we always heard the dark rumors that these days you were a vegetable and couldn’t even move your limbs at all," Sam explained defensively.
"What?! Who the hell is spreading bad rumors about me around here?!" Adam snapped.
"Well, it’s just that for these past few days, you haven’t been seen by anyone outside your room. So all the servants just assumed you either died in your sleep, or you really were a vegetable," Sam said with an innocent look.
"Well, you guys thought completely wrong. I am alive and kicking... owww!" Adam tried to proudly punch the air to show off his strength, but a sharp spike of pain immediately shot up his fragile arm.
"Anyway, what are you doing hiding down here?" Adam asked, rubbing his sore bicep.
"I was just hid—"
"can anyone help me...?" a weak, feminine voice suddenly echoed through the gaps in the rubble.
"Someone is trapped down here. And that voice... I know it from somewhere," Adam frowned. He slowly forced himself to stand up, ignoring the dull ache in his bones, and started carefully navigating toward the sound.
"You, follow me."
Sam just nodded nervously and followed closely behind him.
They carefully crawled through a narrow gap in the debris and arrived at the source of the voice. It was Tracy. She was miraculously still alive, but the lower half of her body was completely pinned underneath a massive, heavy stone pillar.
"It’s Ian’s personal maid," Adam said, quickly kneeling beside Tracy.
"Young... Young Master Adam...?" Tracy coughed, her eyes widening when she saw him.
"How did you end up in this situation?" Adam asked, gently brushing the dust off her face.
"All I remember was that I was standing outside in the courtyard... and when that terrifying fire came down from the sky. And the ring that Young Master Ian left me suddenly glowed brightly," Tracy explained, her breathing shallow. "It projected a shield that protected me from the hellfire... but it couldn’t save me from the destruction of the collapsing building. When I finally woke up, I was pinned under this rubble... sniff... and I can’t feel my legs at all," she sobbed, tears finally breaking through the dust on her cheeks.
"Don’t worry, Tracy. We will get you out of here, and we will find a Mage to heal you right up," Adam promised with a warm, reassuring smile.
"Thank you..." she cried softly.
"You, what’s your name again?" Adam asked, turning to the villager.
"It’s Sam, My Lord."
"Then Sam, grab that end of the pillar. We will lift it up together on three," Adam ordered, gripping the jagged edges of the stone.
"I don’t mean to disrespect you, Young Master, but are you absolutely sure you can even lift something this heavy in your condition?" Sam asked with concern.
"Of course I can... nggh!"
The exact moment Adam tried to crouch and apply pressure, a sickening CRACK! echoed from the bones in his back.
"Young Master, you need to stop! In your current condition, you will do way more harm than good to her!" Sam panicked, trying to pull Adam away.
"What do you expect us to do?! Just leave her—"
CLANG!! BOOM!!
Massive shockwaves and the deafening sound of clashing steel suddenly echoed from the village streets outside the rubble.
"Vincent must have started fighting the intruders," Adam muttered, looking up at the ceiling of debris as dust rained down on them.
Suddenly, the heavy galloping of horses could be heard rapidly approaching the ruins of the mansion.
"Young Master, hide!" Sam whispered urgently, forcefully pulling Adam back into the shadows as the voices of two people echoed from above.
...
"Man, this is—" Zena paused, pulling his horse to a halt. He couldn’t even find the right words to describe the destruction that used to be the grand Thorne Estate.
"Stop being amazed and help me search for my mother!!" Isaac said.
Isaac had already thrown himself off his horse. He was desperately digging through the smoldering ash and heavy stones with his bare hands, completely ignoring the heat. His hands were shaking violently, and his face was covered in a cold sweat.
’Wow... he is really worked up this time. I have never seen him act like this before, well it’s not like I have spent a week with him anyway’ Zena thought, staring at Isaac in surprise. ’But he must really love her, if he is acting like this.’
Down in the rubble, Adam’s eyes widened. ’It’s Isaac!’. Adam thought, recognizing the voice. ’But who is that kid with him?’
"Who’s there?!" Zena suddenly snapped, his hand flying to his sword hilt as he sensed something. Even Isaac instantly stopped digging, turning a deadly glare toward the ruins.
"Isaac, calm down. It’s me," Adam called out, slowly limping out of his hiding spot and into the moonlight.
" Adam, it’s you!" Isaac rushed forward, grabbing Adam by the shoulders. "Did you happen to see where my mother went before the blast?!" he asked, his words rushing out in a desperate panic.
"I don’t know," Adam admitted honestly. "When the destruction started, I was completely oblivious to it in my room. I was saved by Vincent at the last minute. But Vincent did say that father and aunt were both safely with a Fourth-Circle Mage in the study. So they must be safe behind a barrier or something like that."
"Did that Mage happen to have bright red hair?" Zena asked from his horse.
"I don’t know, I never actually met him, and who are you?" Adam asked, looking at Zena.
"He did. I saw him, he had red hair... cough," a weak, feminine voice suddenly echoed from the rubble behind Adam, joining the conversation.
"There is a girl down there?!" Zena asked, shocked. "But wait, if what you say is true, then your parents must actually be safe!"
"Where?! Tell me exactly where you last saw them!" Isaac demanded, ignoring Zena and stepping aggressively toward the rubble.
Adam frowned, stepping directly in front of Isaac to block his path. "Hey, chill out, Isaac. Can’t you clearly see that she is —"
"You... shut the hell up," Isaac growled, his eyes turning terrifyingly dark as he glared daggers at Adam. "You might not care about your father, easily leaving his fate in the hands of some unknown Mage... but with my mother’s life on the line... I will absolutely not relax until I know she is safe with my own eyes, so please get out of the way if you don’t want your bones broken."
’This kid.. he is not even in his right mind.’ Adam thought looking at Isaac’s eyes.