Chapter 26: Hunt for the traitors
The stench of blood still lingered in the courtyard long after the last scream faded.
Frejlurd stood alone on the balcony above, staring down at the butchered remnants of what once were his comrades. The sunlight reflected off puddles of red and corpses split into multiple parts, while the faint light coming through the clouds cast long shadows over lifeless faces. No one spoke as even the breeze had gone quiet and if the city itself was mourning the massacre which just took place.
Behind him, soldiers waited in silence, their armor damp with sweat and gore. "You’ve done well." Frejlurd said, his voice calm but heavy. "But it isn’t over."
He turned to face his loyalists. "Eighty-one guards are still out there, scattered, unaccounted for. Some may be ignorant of what happened. Others may already be plotting for their escape but it doesn’t matter. They were not here to prove their loyalty. That alone is enough."
One of them stepped forward, hesitant. "Commander, some of them may have families. Children." He tried to prevent more massacres by creating excuses to spare them.
Frejlurd didn’t blink. "So do the people of this city. And those children are raised in fear because their protectors chose greed over duty." He stepped past them, descending from the balcony. "Find them... Capture them if possible... and kill them because that is a necessity. No more shadows in this City’s Guardians. We shall uphold justice and fight for our home now onwards.."
By evening, the sound of boots against cobblestone filled the air. The Guards were marching across the City’s central region where the 81 were present since it’s the part where they have the strongest presence and control making it safer for them and the people.
The hunt for them began as Frejlurd had organized the loyal guards into squads; they were disciplined and armed. Each was given names, locations and former patrol routes of the 81 of the remaining traitors. Most of them were veterans, trusted by the previous commander. That alone made them suspicious.
One by one, the targets began to fall. In the Slum Quarters, a Guard named Beran was found hiding in a brothel attic. When the loyalist forces arrived, he claimed he had been off duty due to illness.