Rise of the Horde - Chapter 348:

After the sudden massive high profile operation of the Eye in the Shadows that resulted in nearly crippling the capital of the Ereian kingdom when it comes to food supplies, the king ordered for his subjects to hunt them down. The residents of the city witnessed the increase in frequency of the patrols going around. Many who dealt in shady businesses within the city were dragged into the mess.

All those who were suspected of belonging to the organization were all taken in by the Royal Guards. The unlucky fellows who were captured were tortured gruesomely which often resulted in their deaths. Angered by the brazen act of the organization, King Gyassi was determined to destroy the group. He considered their recent activities as a blatant challenge to his authority and he must not let their existence continue.

Many criminal groups within the city that had no connection with the Eye in the Shadows became the target of the king’s frustrations. A small portion of those who were captured, imprisoned then tortured had some small dealings with the organization that angered the king but the real culprits behind the king’s wrath were still freely roaming the city.

An order came down from the elusive leader of the Eye in the Shadows which was to evacuate most of their members from the city less they be captured and forced to spill out some useful information to their enemies. It only took a few days for the members of the organization to withdraw from the city since with the identities of many of the members who left the city didn’t warrant any suspicion. The guards who were in charge of the gates for once didn’t suspect that the people that were letting through were actually their enemies.

After not hearing any word of success from his subjects, King Gyassi ordered for Commander Ishaq to be the one to lead the investigation and apprehension. Although the commander was against the idea of him leaving the side of the king, he was left with no choice as the monarch was determined to destroy the organization. Along with his two trusted adjutants, Commander Ishaq managed to capture a few fellows who were real members of the organization that they were hunting.

Equipped with the information that a high ranking figure from the organization is inside the city and is the one giving out commands, the trio quickly formulated a plan to capture the person.

Darkness shrouded the alleys of the city as it was now time for the people living inside of it to have some rest but that was just for the normal residents of the city. A huge portion of the slums or the place of the poor inside the city was silence and dark as always except for the sound of rats roaming around the dirty streets.

“Is the information you extracted accurate?” Commander Barika had a stern look on his face as he stared at Menna with eyes full of doubt. He was the one who was in the lead of the hunt at first but after not being able to produce any noteworthy results, the king ordered for Commander Ishaq to take the lead which would mean he would work under him whom he didn’t like.

*****

The two’s conflict can be dated back when they were just fresh recruits under the guidance of their teacher, Commander Nassor. They were bitter rivals who frequently butted heads to secure the top spot among the students of their teacher. Both of them were excellent students and were quick to learn what they were taught but their attitudes were a bit contradictory. Barika was a person who would do anything that would allow him to triumph over his rival even if it means sacrificing his teammates, he was always hungry for attention and recognition unlike Ishaq who was almost always silent and was easy to get along with.

What really gets on the nerves of Barika was how easily and relax Ishaq was doing with their training often acting like the gruelling practices were nothing but a relaxing stroll. Unlike him who had to focus everything he got to become an excellent student, Ishaq seemed to be naturally attuned to become a great warrior even without spending much effort on it.

Ishaq easily awakened his battle energy after being introduced to it but he had to spend months of lessons and practice to awaken his. The talent of Ishaq infuriated Barika which slowly made him hate his fellow student.

*****

“The information is pretty accurate especially since I was the one who obtained it from the enemy.” Menna replied with full confidence and a mysterious smile. He had his own ways of getting the enemies who fall into his hands to divulge information even if they didn’t want to. No matter how strong the will of the person is, as long as they fall into his grasp, they would spill everything that they know to him.

“Where is the captive?” Commander Barika wanted to personally interrogate the person to confirm the info that Menna had obtained. Menna shook his head in reply. Barika didn’t expect the captive to be well but since he was already dead, he had no use of the corpse since he had no abilities to interrogate the dead.

Since he can’t do anything about it, Barika just had to follow the lead of his rival and wait for their target. Ishaq was just remained silent as he deemed it useless to have a conversation with the person who considered him to the greatest obstacle in his life. If the poor Barika just knows the truth then he wouldn’t be acting like the way he was nor reacted to the existence of Ishaq ever since.

A huge portion of the slums was silent and dark but there was a part of it that was still bustling with activity. Women wearing clothes that were near non-existent were along the streets as they display their assets to those who were passing by as they try to catch their attention. Although the quality of the women in the place was leagues below than those of establishments near the city center, most men can’t afford the price of those exquisite beauties.

It was already an hour past midnight and the group that were on the lookout for their target were already yawning because of boredom and lack of sleep. They were tired and really wanted to sleep already but they can’t afford to since their commanders were with them and were also watching the hustle and bustle down below.

“Suspicious figure spotted…” one of the soldiers informed the rest and people soon crowded to where he was at.

d|

“Where?” a voice came from behind him, he didn’t know who it belonged to but he didn’t care as he pointed at the hooded figure who walking with the crowd down below.

“Get him!” Commander Barika quickly ordered and his soldiers quickly jumped out from the rooftops that oversaw the busy street. With the sudden appearance of figures clad in armor, the crowd panicked thinking that the soldiers were out to get them. Many of those who were among the crowd or inside one of the buildings nearby had some shady dealings or committed some crimes and with the current happenings in the city of many underground groups being destroyed by the soldiers inside the city, they thought the soldiers were there for them.

Chaos ensued and people began fleeing from the scene. Some tripped and fell down to the hard ground and some unlucky ones got trampled by the panicking crowd. People jumped out through the windows and hurriedly bolted away.

Commander Ishaq clicked his tongue in annoyance. If Barika just waited for the right moment then the suspicious figure would have been easily apprehended by them.

“Chase!” that was all that he said before jumping down from where he was at. Menna and Isma followed after their leader but before they jumped down, they gave a look of disapproval towards Barika who was gritting his teeth in anger after noticing the look that the two gave him.

“Why you…” he slammed his fist down on the roof in anger. He hated Ishaq and all those who were following his lead. He didn’t know where the two capable adjutants of his rival came from but he once tried recruiting them to his side which was quickly refused by the two. The next day after trying to recruit them, he found out that the two had joined the side of his enemy which made him also hate them.

Barika was jealous of the talent and luck of Ishaq which fuelled his hate for him. He had to spend a lot of effort just to match his rival but his rival seemed to have everything go his way.

Among the panicking crowd, the cloaked figure blended in and followed after the frightened mob. The figure took off in the same direction as where most of the crowd was headed to. Right behind the startled people were soldiers chasing after them. The chaos made them lose sight of their target which confused them as they didn’t which group were they supposed to chase after. Left with no choice, the soldiers split up and went after different groups to try and locate their target.

Ishaq and his adjutants didn’t share the same dilemma as the soldiers as they had a way to track down the objective. Isma managed to marked the figure and he was able to locate its whereabouts easily. Thinking that it was already safe, the hooded figure turned towards a nearby alley to escape.