Filed To Story: Queen of the Battlefield Her Return to Glory Novel Online Free
Tiberius had known so many women in his life that he couldn’t immediately place her. Before he could even ask, the woman stormed forward, striking him across the face with swift, decisive slaps. Dazed, he stumbled in a circle, then his hair was yanked as she roughly pulled him toward the door.
“Who are you?” he shouted, his voice full of fury. “How dare you lay a hand on me? Do you want to die?!” The two women in the room finally snapped out of their shock and were about to scream, but Violet spun on her heel, her eyes cold with menace.
“Keep quiet, or I’ll make sure you lose your heads,” she hissed.
Terrified, the two women paled and immediately fell silent.
Cynthia hurried in from outside, swiftly binding the women’s hands and sealing their mouths with a pressure point to keep them quiet. Once the door was closed, she followed Violet as they made their way out.
Meanwhile, Sophie and Travis had already taken care of the guards outside. Alana and Leah remained to oversee the area. The rest of the group entered the tunnels.
As Tiberius was pushed into the tunnels, he began to realize the gravity of the situation. Panic set in.
“I don’t know anything!” he pleaded, trying to justify himself. “I’ve only been taking money to do the work for others!”
Violet wasn’t in the mood for his excuses. She gave him several more sharp slaps, knocking him dizzy before signaling to Bun to carry him away.
Rafael’s dinner had improved tonight. Dylan had caught a few small fish, grilling them until they were charred black on the outside. By the time they were finished, Rafael’s mouth was full of the unpleasant combination of fishy and smoky flavors.
However, the improvement was relative. At least the meal wasn’t nauseating-it was simply revolting. Tonight, it was clear that more people had gathered in the deep cave. Black-clad figures, their faces concealed, were making their way up the mountain. It seemed they were about to make a move. Rafael finished the grilled fish and swiftly climbed a nearby tree, his eyes scanning the area below. Dylan had already crawled close to the deep cave, near enough to hear everything. It was a place they’d been watching for quite some time. This was where the men would relieve themselves, and the stench was overwhelming enough to make one gag.
But this was also the ideal spot for an ambush. Most of the time, only two or three men would come here at once. A sudden ambush would be enough to grab them and drag them off to change clothes.
After crawling for nearly an hour, Dylan finally saw his chance. Two masked men in black appeared, heading toward the same spot. Without hesitation, Dylan moved in, striking swiftly and silently. Within moments, both men were incapacitated.
He quickly lifted one over his shoulder, then the other, and hurried back up the mountain to the small cave.
Rafael dropped from the tree just as Dylan returned. Together, they stripped the men of their clothes, swapping their outfits for the black garb. Then, they freed the men’s pressure points. Before they could cry out, they each grabbed a throat, cutting off their shouts with a sharp slap. The men slumped down to the ground.
Rafael donned the black attire with a quiet sense of satisfaction. It was warm enough, and the man’s body was slightly heavier than his, so the clothes fit well enough over his own.
Dylan flashed a knife in front of the men’s faces, and the sight alone was enough to make them speak. They revealed that they were indeed headed to collect grain. Their role was to assist with the transport, an operation that occurred once every three months. The village didn’t produce enough to feed itself, so they had to rely on outside supplies.
When asked why they wore black clothing and masks, they explained that it was a precaution to keep their identities hidden. They were told by their higher-ups that it was essential to maintain an air of mystery.
When questioned further about who they served, the men didn’t know. They explained that they had come to the mountains when there was no food to be had. Their work involved carrying grain and doing the heavy labor of farming. But unlike the villagers, they were only allowed to stay by the mountain’s edge and were forbidden from approaching the village itself.
When asked if they had weapons or anything like that, they said they did-stored in another cave. This cave only held a small amount, but they couldn’t go near the other one unless they were called to move the weapons. After moving them, they had to leave right away.
It seemed the soldiers here were divided into distinct ranks. The men who did the laborious work of transporting and farming had no privilege of approaching the important figures within the village.
Dylan tied them up with vines, securing their hands and gagging their mouths.
“Once this is all over,” he said quietly, “someone will come to rescue you. Stay still and keep close to one another to stay warm.”
Rafael and Dylan blended in with the group sent to collect the grain. No one questioned their presence. Dressed in identical black garments with their faces covered, they were indistinguishable from the others. The leader of the group carried a whip, and strict silence was expected of them.
The black outfits reeked of mold and decay. It was clear they only wore them when going to pick up supplies.
Rafael wrinkled his nose at the stench, though he had no right to complain. After all, he had spent countless days climbing the mountain, drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through and then dried with the accumulation of days. The smell now was nothing compared to the heavy scent of his work-worn garments from earlier days.
Now, Rafael was free to move about the deep cave without suspicion. The space was vast, divided into several storage rooms. The grain had once been stored in three separate sections, but now only one remained, and it was not much to speak of.
The team collecting the grain numbered around a hundred people, and from the looks of it, they had quite a large amount to move. But Rafael, a seasoned commander of men, was irritated by the lack of discipline. The workers lacked proper posture, their backs slouched, and they did not stand with the firm bearing he expected of soldiers.
This, in turn, confirmed what the two men had said earlier-they were not truly private soldiers. They were just laborers hired to do the hard work, brought in from outside the village.
The real private soldiers, however, were the leader and his men. The hardness in the leader’s eyes was unmistakable, and the others avoided him, keeping their distance in fear.
The entrance to the secret passageway was located within this very cave. When a torch was lit, the stone gate slid open, revealing a narrow path wide enough for three to walk side by side.
Under the leader’s guidance, they entered the passage. The sound of their footsteps echoed loudly within the confined space, the noise amplifying in the narrow tunnel.
As Rafael and Dylan walked, their eyes swept over every corner, searching for any hidden passages that might connect to other areas.
Suddenly, the sound of a whip cracking echoed from ahead, followed by a muffled grunt.
Then the leader’s voice rang out, sharp and angry. “Have you forgotten the rules? Keep your eyes forward. No looking around!”
The man who had been struck with the whip was the one carrying the torch in front of the leader. A deep gash appeared on his back, the mark of a brutal strike.
The man winced but didn’t dare cry out. He immediately steadied himself, lifting the torch high and marching forward with steady, deliberate steps.
Rafael and Dylan exchanged glances.
The discipline here was strict.
Meanwhile, Sophie and the others had already dragged Tiberius into the passage and were moving forward. Not far ahead, a group of burly men was transporting the grain. The passage was too narrow for carts, so each man carried a heavy sack on his shoulder, trudging along with great effort.
There was a lot of grain, so the men would likely make several trips tonight, or perhaps even over several nights, to transport all of it.
As they ventured deeper, they found that the tunnel branched off into several paths. Each one was sealed with a door, and they would only know where they led after opening them.
Everett and Sophie took note, keenly observing the doors to see if they matched the markings on the map. If they aligned, it would confirm the authenticity of the map, making future exploration much easier. Along the way, the burly men paused to rest, but only briefly before continuing their laborious trek. The heavy sacks of grain bent their backs, but despite the strain, they moved with practiced efficiency. Clearly, carrying such loads was second nature to them.
After nearly two hours of walking, the flicker of a torch appeared ahead, signaling that someone was coming to relieve them.
Sophie and the others were some distance behind the group transporting the grain. As the men were much taller than her, she couldn’t see who was approaching.
She surmised that if Rafael was indeed lying in wait with the grain transporters, he would likely be among these men. If they didn’t spot him and Dylan this time, then something was seriously wrong.
Everett raised his hand, signaling for them to halt, his eyes fixed on the men ahead.
Sacks of grain were piled up, blocking the entire tunnel, making passage nearly impossible.
The leader waited until all the sacks had been set down, then ordered his men to step forward and begin moving them. The entire operation was efficient and orderly, without a single sign of chaos.
But to Rafael and Dylan, a lack of chaos was unacceptable.
As they stepped forward to help with the grain, someone suddenly shouted, “Watch out! There are venomous snakes!”
The men who had been about to carry the grain froze in alarm, hopping about on the ground in a frenzy to avoid being bitten by the snakes.