Chapter Ninety-Four: The First Taste


    “Captain Kol, the troops are ready,” Yue saluted, her smile broadening at the thought of a battle, but her gut churning at the knowledge of who the enemy would be. “All fifty of us ready for the all clear.”


    “You shall lead them to the field, and take the healing mage with you. If we are lucky, he can conceal you until you are so close to the horde as to strike them silently.” Kol frowned at her. “I still wish I could go with you, but I’ll see you when it’s done, Yue.”


    “That you will, sir, I won’t let you down, and neither will any of the others,” the Sterkona promised. “This will be a major strike, and it will bolster our defenses.”


    “Be careful,” Kol said. “You’ve heard all of the horror stories. I don’t want to see any of you dead.”


    “You know that may not be possible, captain.”


    Sighing, the captain nodded. “Try to keep all of them alive. If all we have are minor injuries, or at least injuries a Healing Mage can take care of, then I shall be happy. Take this as a means to truly understand the Horde.”


    “We’ll kick the bastards from this bleeding island before they even have a chance to invade it,” Yue growled.


    “You may leave whenever you want, Yue,” Kol said. “Kick their asses, Warrior, and don’t forget, a victory for you is a victory for the morale of Magefell. We must make them feel better for what is coming.”


    “Aye, Captain,” the Warrior responded. “I’ll see you soon with news of our victory.”


    In an uncharacteristic show of emotion, Kol embraced her.


    “Thank you for what you’ve done to help me. You should’ve really been the captain.”


    “No,” Yue responded. “You’re our true captain, um…captain.”


    Laughing, her captain let go. “You’ve done better than Yiro, at least. I think she’s still bitter. Well, you should be off. The faster you get there, the better.”


    — — —


    The fifty, Xander had named this small company the Stragglers, walked towards the field, in tandem, all nervous but strangely excited to meet the wolves threatening to kill them. Yue stood at the front, her closest friends right behind her. She hadn’t wanted to bring Alyx, Aster, Neena, and Xander, but they had come anyway. Artemis, thankfully, had not.


    Alyx looked like she’d weathered the worst in life. Her eyes were completely hollow and she refused to look at anyone. In Yue’s mind, she’d only joined the mission to do something, maybe even to die. The girl looked like she could fall over any moment, and Yue desperately wished to talk to her, but she refused to say anything about what had happened. She felt horrible for her friend but there was nothing she could do. At least not for now. She put a reminder to talk to Alyx in the back of her mind.


    A hand touched her from behind, and she twisted her head slightly to see who had come up behind her.


    “Hey,” Joanne said. “It’s been a while since we talked.”


    “That it has,” Yue responded. “I’ve been very busy, and there’s so much going on, not to mention the fact that I’m Cult Public Enemy Number 1, and you’re well…”


    Biting her lip, Joanne shook her head. “You’re not number one, Helstrom is. And don’t worry, they won’t tell me to kill you. I’m here to tell you you’ve done well.”


    “Huh?” Yue was shocked.


    “Kol is captain, and there’s no denying he’s done amazing, but you’ve truly made this army positive that they can beat the Cult.”


    “How? I haven’t done anything.”


    “You don’t see anything, do you?” Joanne smiled. “These fifty here, they decided to come because they saw how hopeful you are. You’ve never shown an inch of fear, and that’s what the Vanguard has needed. Us stragglers would follow you to hell and back, although personally, I would prefer you not lead us to hell. I prefer cold weather myself, you know.”


    Yue laughed. “Thank you, Joanne. But I’m not unafraid; in fact, I’m probably more scared than any of you are. You don’t understand everything I’m going through and I feel it breaking me down.”


    “But you don’t show it, and that’s enough for the army to see you as someone to look up to. You beat the tournament, and now here you are, facing the Horde, with nothing but a determined look about you. You’re the Sterkona, and nothing can change that. Even if you died, you would just become a martyr. Of course, you must win to keep up the positive momentum.”


    “Thank you for the positivity,” Yue groaned. “But it’s good to know all this.”


    Nodding, Joanne let herself be led back towards the end of the army, and Yue stared after her, until a familiar, echoey voice resounded in her ear.


    “So this is what it’s come to, eh?” Not-Xander whispered, his voice a low growl. “Even Cultists prefer you to Dautha. Well, don’t worry, because it won’t be that way for long. You see, even some citizens hate you after what you did to the Member’s Wife. You want to know what we did to her?”


    “No,” Yue pleaded, conscious that if she showed any emotion, everyone would notice. “Please don’t.”


    “Oh, it isn’t too bad. First, we took turns with her. You should’ve seen us all laughing as we ripped her clothes off, penetrated her over and over and over again, destroying any resistance she might have felt. We groped her so roughly she’d still have scars on her breasts for the rest of her life.”You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    “Please stop,” Yue whimpered.


    “I guess it was that bad, huh? Well, I’m not done. After we raped her, we locked her up for a few days, no food, no water. Now we rape and torture her every day, and she’s growing skinnier, but that’s how we like them. Not to mention that at this point, she’s most likely pregnant. Poor woman is traumatized for life, and it’s all your fault, Yue.”


    “I didn’t want to,” Yue said. “It’s your fault.”


    “Speaking of my fault, it’s time for—” pausing, Not-Xander’s eyes returned to their normal color. “Yue, Are you okay?”


    “I’m fine,” Yue lied.


    “Yue?” Another voice asked her from the side, and this time it was Eva. “I want to talk to you.” The girl looked gaunt, hollow-eyed, but Yue smiled at her in reassurance.


    “Sure, what is it?”


    “I’ve been thinking about the Horde, Cali, and the Cult,” Eva admitted. “And I want to fight them all. Not Cali, obviously, but you know what I mean.”


    “Yes,” Yue said. “I do, and I''ll have you know the Vanguard exists now to fight the Cult.”


    “It’s not enough to avenge Cali,” the other girl said. “I want to do more, to sacrifice myself to destroy them.”


    “It’s a noble cause,” the Sterkona smiled. “But you need not sacrifice yourself. We need you to fight for us, to get rid of the Horde.”


    “If I survive this, I wish to join you. To die to kill them all.”


    “Of course you can join, but you need not die,” Yue said. “Did you know you have the name of a Goddess?”


    “What?”


    “It’s true,” she smiled.


    “What do you mean by this?”


    “That I don’t believe it’s any coincidence. I don’t think you’re meant to die anytime soon. I think you have something grand to do, and if I were you, I’d do everything I could to make it happen.”


    “Aye,” Eva smiled. “I’ll do that. For Cali.”


    “Hmm,” Yue agreed. She’d never liked Eva’s friend, but it was still a tragedy that she had been killed by something she did not know even existed. “Well, you should go back to your place, Warrior. We have a big fight ahead of us, and you need to be prepared.”


    The girl nodded and fell back, and Yue smiled as she thought about what Eva said. The Cult was growing, but so were their enemies. One day, they would pay for what they’d done, and oh, how satisfying that day would be.


    “Hope you’re not thinking about killing us again,” Not-Xander hissed, and she jumped in shock. “I wasn’t done talking to you when I was so rudely interrupted by that bastard.”


    “Eva is more a man than you’ll ever be,” Yue responded.


    “Oh, no, I feel so insulted,” Not-Xander gasped. “How could you say something so horrible, Yue? You shattered your poor boyfriend’s heart.”


    “What do you want?”


    “Ah, so you come to the crux of the issue,” her possessed boyfriend smirked. “I think it’s time for another mission, don’t you?”


    “What is it this time?” Yue groaned, grasping her sword by the hilt. If she knew the Cult well, they would give her her toughest mission yet, one that would totally break her, and she wasn’t ready.


    “I think it’s time we stopped with the beginner’s theatrics, don’t you think?” Not-Xander asked. “All this of just kidnapping a Member’s wife is pretty basic. We will come back to kidnapping, but first I have something in mind that may make you tingle.”


    “Just get on with it, I have a lot to do.”


    “You don’t want me to die, do you?” He asked, gasping. “Look, just listen and obey, that’s all we ask. This mission you must take your friends, even though you cannot tell them anything of what is happening. The mission is this: you shall raid the Harbor and burn down three ships, all from different countries. You may choose what ships to burn down, but oh, the consequences of what you shall do. Make sure to at least kill some people. I would hate for this to happen without any fatalities.”


    “Monster,” Yue spat. “But I don’t think this is as bad as the kidnapping.”


    “Well, it will turn everyone against you, and threaten war with every other country here. But just because you said that, you must also burn down the Ajutoare ships. Thereby the Ajutoare will not want to help you, and tensions with Arcadia will be high. Do you understand, Yue?”


    “Yes,” She said. “I do. You will pay for what you’re making me do, I promise you this.”


    “Oh, but I don’t think you understand. You’re the one paying for what you’ve done. After you’ve completed every mission, you will die. See, that will be the final missions. We have a lot to do yet, but the last thing you shall do is slit your throat in front of all your friends, including a very awake Xander, and thus shall the disgraced Yue Zhang die.”


    “You’ll never make me disliked in the public’s eyes, and you know that.”


    “That is not true! Once you announce how you burned the ships down, not to mention all the witnesses, you’ll just barely avoid arrest, merely for the fact you''re the Sterkona, but everyone will hate you for it. Then the fourth and fifth mission will destroy you in their eyes. You have no choice, Yue, you are done.”


    Despair hit her like a brick wall, the knowledge that the Cult would get the best of her above all else.


    “You want some more good news. Xander here has been busy. We’ve made him do a lot of amazing things. Did you know that he even once raped the Member’s wife? He had so much fun, laughing while he thrust in her, his depraved mind giving in to the pleasure of the complete degradation of that woman.”


    “YOU MONSTER!” Yue screamed, and suddenly, all eyes turned to her as she screamed at her boyfriend.


    “Ah, now the Vanguard will think you verbally abuse your boyfriend. I’m going to enjoy this.” Not-Xander tittered in elation.


    “Are you okay?” Aster asked.


    “Fine,” Yue gritted her teeth


    “You don’t seem fine, Yue, what’s happening?”


    Yue could just silently sob, avoiding anyone’s gaze, and hoping the soldiers didn’t notice how weak she truly was.


    The Cult had easily beaten the Sterkona, and now Yue only wished to get to the final mission as quickly as possible, to finally get rid of her shame.


    And oh, how horrible it was.