As Rhys looked at the down-turned lever, he was honestly surprised with himself. Until you reach that point, you never really know what you are capable of.
Rhys walked back to the opening to see if anything would happen.
Barrow's troops were all past halfway, while Barrow had managed to get in front of everyone and was just a few meters away from the drawbridge. The waters were silent, and only the sounds of the men hopping from one stepping stone to another echoed across the quiet landscape.
For a moment, Rhys faltered; His hands clenched into fists, and he stalled somewhere between disappointment and relief. He probably just misinterpreted the symbol.
Thinking about it logically now, Rhys realised that monsters probably would not spawn from the water. This place looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time, and surely if worm-like monsters were being kept by the castle, they would have died by now with no one to feed them... It was actually better that monsters did not appear. He would not be able to get back to the shore if monsters were infesting the water.
Rhys wanted to reduce the group's numbers so that he would have a better chance of surviving if the group ganged up on him again. He would have to think of another way. Rhys began to come up with a plan as he watched Barrow stepping on the last few stepping stones.
Suddenly, a large ripple ran over the still lake. Immediately, Rhys's heart skipped a beat. Something was coming.
Underneath the castle, the old, rusted mechanisms that had been untouched for years started to move again. The gate of an underwater cage slammed open, leaving a large gap in the black water for the trapped, starving creatures to finally be released.
The eel-like monsters burst out from the metal cages and darted towards the surface of the water where they smelt their prey.
A black slimy eel the size of a fully grown man with dozens of long shark-like teeth dove out of the water and latched itself onto Barrow's shoulder. It made a horrible screech as its slimy body wriggled violently.
Barrow yelled in pain, initially stunned by the disgusting creature taking a chunk out of his arm. However, he quickly regained his senses and grabbed his sword. The leech-like creature was latched onto Barrow's arm, firmly holding itself there by sinking its gnarly teeth into the flesh. The panicked Barrow desperately stabbed at the creature's thick body. After what looked like a hundred stabs, the creature finally lost its strength and fell back into the water.
Barrow immediately ran the distance to the castle while clutching his arm, and jumped inside to safety. Although he had sustained a significant injury, he could still be considered lucky compared to the rest of his men.
The vicious eel creatures darted out of the water in their hundreds and viciously attacked the rest of the group. The silent night was completely disturbed by the sounds of carnage and mutilation as the men screamed. Although they activated their powers, they seemed mostly futile against the huge carnivorous eels.
The worm monsters looked like a mixture of a giant eel and a leech. Their bodies were thick and slimy, and they didn't have eyes. They were incredibly strong and were able to dive out of the water and attack at incredible speeds. The men were already barely balancing on the stepping stones, so when one of the leech eels attacked them, the men were knocked off the stones and thrown into the water, where the flesh-eating eels would swarm and eat them.
It was a gruesome sight, but Rhys could not look away. He forced himself to watch it all; he wanted to hold himself responsible, so he listened to every pained scream and watched as the men were devoured. He was the cause of this, after all.
Besides Barrow, only two other men made it inside the castle, but both of them were seriously injured.
One man's shirt had been ripped off, and the result of the bite could be seen. His chest looked like it had been put through a shredder, his skin and muscles had been torn to pieces by jagged eel teeth, and if Rhys looked closely, it looked like he could see the man's rib bones.
The other man was screeching in pain while cradling his leg. His foot was missing, leaving behind a bloodied, raw stump full of shattered bone shards. Rhys's stomach curdled at the sight of it.
A sense of guilt faintly stung Rhys's conscience. As he looked down at the guy, he couldn't help but feel responsible. Rhys was about to put down his backpack and take off his jacket to make a bandage of some sort for the guy's missing foot when Barrow suddenly stepped forward. Faster than Rhys's eyes could follow, Barow's sword slashed through the guy's neck, decapitating him.
"Boss!" Shouted the other man in horror as he ran over to his friend. Rhys watched in a daze as the man frantically tried to put his friend's head back onto his neck. He was probably in a state of shock and had not realised that his friend was dead.
Rhys looked at Barrow, the man was stone cold. He thought nothing of killing his teammate. At least Rhys had a reason for wanting them all dead. They had tried to kill him first, after all. But Barrow being so nonchalant about killing his long-time raid member was chilling.
"You." Barrow raised the sword and glared menacingly at the other man. "Can you still fight?"
Rhys watched as the panic-stricken man on the floor suddenly regained his senses. The man realised that Barrow was going to kill him just as Barrow had killed his friend if he didn't get back up and continue this raid.
The man shakily got to his feet and nodded subserviently to Barrow. However, Rhys could see the hatred and resentment simmering beneath the surface.
"And you." Barrow pointed his bloodied sword at Rhys. "Explain to me why those things suddenly started attacking us."
Rhys's breath caught in his throat as he looked into Barrow's suspicious eyes. Rhys knew that he could not lose his cool; he needed to convince Barrow that he had no idea how those creatures suddenly got into the water.
"You did something, didn't you?" Barrow raised the bloodied sword to Rhys's neck with a murderous look in his eyes.
"What? Think logically for a moment. How could I have done something? I was here the entire time; you both saw me here." Rhys defended himself, making sure to act like he was offended by their accusation, cowering slightly to remind them of his frailty.
Before they had time to think, Rhys hit them with more facts.
"I'm coreless, I don't have any skills, there is no way that I could attract or control monsters in the first place..."
Barrow and the man were silent as they looked at the weak boy in front of them. Although they were suspicious of the kid, what could a coreless person actually do anyway?
"I'm no expert, but it was probably that lever outside," Rhys suggested.
Both men had seen Rhys pull down the lever and had watched as the drawbridge lowered, and from their point of view, right after that, the stepping stones and then eel creatures had appeared. Rhys was solidifying this narrative in their minds. And more than that, Rhys was blocking their view of the levers behind him with his body.
"I'm guessing lowering the drawbridge triggered those steps as well as those worm things to start attacking..." Rhys held his breath as he waited for Barrow's reaction. Rhys knew it could really be over for him if Barrow decided to kill him now. Although Barrow was injured, he was still much stronger than Rhys.
"Fine," Barrow said as he lowered his sword. "Let's search the castle for goods."
With that, Barrow turned around. He immediately refocused on his old objective: raiding the castle and getting as many precious artifacts as possible, gems, and whatever else that had any kind of value. He had already lost so many teammates; he was not going to allow this job to be a bust. In truth, he had already made plans to get rid of half of his members so he didn't have to divide his wealth, but losing most of his group so quickly was unexpected. Black portals really were dangerous...
The other group member picked up his axe from the floor and followed behind Barrow.
Rhys took in a slow breath and readied himself mentally. He needed to get back to District 20 alive; he would be graduating soon, and Grandpa was so excited to go with him. Not to mention, grandpa would be crushed if he just suddenly disappeared. Whatever it took, he needed to get back to that portal alive. And if that meant finishing off Barrow and that other guy, then he would do it.
"You two, let's split up!" Barrow called from the left side of the hall.
"I'll take this side. Mug, you take the right side, and brat, you take the stairs." Barrow explained while he tightened a piece of ripped clothing around his bleeding arm.
Rhys smiled. While those two were looking for gems, he would be searching for a second way out of this castle. Rhys cautiously ascended the stairs while the other two disappeared around the winding side halls.
______________________________
"Sir." The young soldier's voice echoed through the quiet forest.
"Speak, soldier." The general commanded while keeping his eyes on his surroundings.
"Team 1 found the portal opening five hundred metres west of our location."
"Excellent." The general rejoiced at the good news but kept a stone-cold face.
"Did they find any of the raiders who went through the portal?" The general hoped the answer was yes because he didn't want to continue with this mission any longer than necessary.
"No, sir. However, the raiders left a foot trail going north. Team one sent their drones up and found that the intruders headed towards a fortress of some kind. They are probably inside that structure." The soldier reported back.
"Good." The general ran his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. "Has team 1 gone after them yet?"
"No, sir. A pack of unidentified monsters is quickly approaching the location of the portal opening. Team 1 must stay behind to stop the creatures from entering the portal. They are requesting backup since the encroaching energy levels seem quite high."
The general groaned; he guessed that this mission was going to be a headache, but not so soon...
"Fine." The general nodded his head and then turned around to his personal team of selected soldiers. Each one of them sported ridiculously expensive armour and held weapons of the highest quality in their hands. In this group alone were three Duke level fighters, so the general was confident that they would have no problem with the ensuing army of monsters.
"Soldiers, head to the portal opening location and defend the site from the monsters. You are authorised to keep the gems from the carcasses for yourselves." The general watched as the greedy bunch's eyes lit up.
The general was pleased with their enthusiasm; he needed this problem to be resolved as quickly as possible, and if that meant giving his soldiers some incentive, then that was fine with him.
This problem had been quite the headache for him since it was his base where a black portal had gone missing from storage. In all honesty, it wasn't as though the portal itself was so valuable; the real problem was that someone inside the military was a traitor and was able to steal from storage. The general needed to find out the perpetrator's identity as soon as possible, and the quickest way was actually questioning whoever had bought the portal. Hence, the general had led two teams to the portal location to arrest and question raiders about who sold them the portal.
But judging from the initial energy scan they had done on the surrounding land, the general only hoped that he would be able to get the raiders back alive. Whatever monsters were living here were more than capable of giving the military a tough fight. He could imagine that some greedy thieves who were stupid enough to buy and enter a black portal would not last long here.
Nevertheless, the general brushed his worries aside. It had been a while since he had been able to let loose, and now was the perfect opportunity.
The general took in a deep breath and let his more primal, fiery nature rise to the surface. Hot steam blew out of his mouth as he took steps forward, his eyes ablaze; he was itching for some carnage.