Chapter 8.

After about an hour, Marc regained consciousness, as at this time, Berilan, Unae and Merethyl had gotten a grip of themselves and were beginning to think of their next action.

"What happened to me?" He asked as he didn't recall what happened.

That question made Kilin's heart at ease. He was glad that Marc didn't remember how he punched him in the face.

"What did I miss?" Marc added another before noticing they were in the cave yet he couldn't find his sister. "Where is Githa?"

Now Kilin's heart raced again as he knew Marc would surely remember what he did, so he took a bold step to apologize in advance. "I am sorry for punching you in the face."

"Who cares? Where is my sister?" Marc repeated his questions.

From the way he sounded, Kilin could tell that he remembered the punch but it wasn't bothering him at the moment.

"They were gone by the time we arrived, but don't worry, we'll find them." Berilan forced those words out.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's kill some drows and find out where they are keeping my sister." Marc blurted out.

That was such a good idea that in their one hour of thinking, none of them was able to come up with that suggestion.

"Sure. Who is ready to hunt down some drows?" Berilan asked as he fastened his belt.

"What's the plan?" Urzad asked because it appears they were going to leave the cave without a laid down plan.

"Well," Merethyl thought, "Kill a few drows, and bring some captive for questioning."

Now that was the plan they needed to hear before heading into the forest to find some drows.

*****

It wasn't long, the six of them returned back to the cave with three drows which they had taken captive out of the many that patrolled the woods.

The drows were all tied up, and forced to kneel while the questions were being asked.

"I will only have to ask you this once, If I don't get an answer, then your life will come an end, is that clear?" Berilan tried to frighten them, but they weren't quite afraid, yet he continued. "I know you already found this cave, so where have you taken those here to?"

Instead of an answer, one of the drows spat on his face, showing his strong mind and how he wouldn't answer any of his questions.

Berilan controlled his temper as that action said a lot. "You are to tell us what happened to them."

Urzad just observed the drows and knew how to generate the answer from them, so she came close to Berilan the moment he was about to hit the drows for not talking. "Can I take it from here?"

Berilan looked at Marc to know his response and it was positive. But since he really wanted to hit the drow that spat on him, he said. "I want that one this."

"Done," Urzad agreed without hesitation before asking them. "You know what I am, and what I am capable of, so do not let me talk too much. Where are they?"

"Dead." The one in the middle answered out of fear.

But Urzad wasn't going to be fooled by that response, "That's a good start. But I hate lies and would not condone any more from you. So where are they?"

"Dead," the drow repeated.

Being pissed off by that lie, Urzad tore the mouth of the lying drow, which resulted in its death. "Now worse will happen to you if I am told another lie."

Unae, Berilan, Merethyl, Marc and Kilin were shocked at what Urzad just did, they also marveled at how she was so certain that the drow was telling a lie.

"We, we, we don't know where they are. No one was here when we found the cave, so we hung around waiting for your return." The drow that had spat of Berilan began to confess.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Urzad said to the drow and then to Berilan, "They are all yours."

Berilan was still confused at why she believed the second response to be true and the first false. But he couldn't doubt Urzad at this point, so he went ahead and killed the drows.

Having attained the fact that Calaudra, Githa, Ruven and Ristel were alive, Marc asked, "Where do we start searching for them?"

"If I am sure of one thing, they wouldn't be anywhere around Brendal." Unae said.

"In that case, the realm of men is where we must go." Merethyl added, supporting Unae.

*****

Since Githa was with them, Marc suggested that they go over to his mother's house, as that could be where Calaudra and Githa would have them go.

But coming to the cabin where he lived, nobody was there, not even his mother, and it caused him more pain and worry, as he now has to find both his little sister and his mother.

"Are you sure we are doing the right thing?" Unae asked after they couldn't find Calaudra's company there. She was beginning to feel like they've left the main mission which is to fight against evil, and were after finding their loved ones.

"Yes you are," Urzad answered as she knew the importance of family. She never had one and would have done anything to get one. So she wasn't going to let them lose hope.

"We need to find Calaudra, his is the one that can tell us what next to do, remember." Berilan answered, he was also bent on finding his father.

"Or maybe, he already told us what to do, and until we're done we wouldn't see him again." Merethyl said, looking at her cousin even though she knew he wasn't going to like that reply.

"I don't care what either of you think, but until I find my family, and ensure they are safe, no more missions." Marc made his choice irrespective of what they would think.

Urzad and Kilin didn't really have much to say on this matter, they just found it very impossible to leave their company and their course. They were glad to help them get what they never had, which is a loving family to care for.

"I think we are with Marc on this." Kilin spoke for himself and Urzad.

Unae didn't even pay attention to that at all, she thought over what Merethyl said earlier and asked. "What else were we asked to do?"

"The elves, humans, dwarves, and even the most despise of all must learn to fight alongside one another in order to conquer to evil," Merethyl quoted exactly the way Calaudra said the words before continuing. "Since we have spoken to the dwarves, maybe it's time to speak to the humans. Warn them of what is coming."

Marc wasn't paying attention to their words before, but after Merethyl quotes Calaudra, and he reflected on it, he said, "That has already been achieved. Look around you, we have a dwarf, humans, elves, even a half-orc. The army he spoke of is complete. We are the ones to put aside our differences and fight together. Educating the humans of this fight and their powers will make them side with evil, just as Calaudra had foreseen, therefore we can't afford to lose them to the enemy. They must not know the full power of the enemy."

His words made a lot of sense to them that they now saw clearly what Calaudra saw, and had warned them against.

"Together we have to fight against evil. Together we have to defend the last realm of good. Together we have to stop evil from prevailing over good." Berilan said, all in reflection of his father's words.

"Does this mean we are a team?" Urzad asked, as she suspects she has gained their trust.

"Yes, Urzad, we are the defenders of this realm against evil. We are a team." Merethyl smiled at her knowing fully well what she was asking.