Light and Darkness: Nytri's Odyssey

Memories of the Past – Betrayal

News of her being adopted leaked, and the nobles lost their shot at a connection to a more powerful family. They began to see Nytri as useless, trash, waste of space and resources. And then they conspired to have her killed. They could have just abandoned her or even thrown her away but, they had made a proclamation that she is their daughter. They saw no need for her even after she did everything to prove her usefulness, she started doing chores with the maid who was against it, she even learned to cook and clean. The other servants ostracized her and the nobles' kid, Claine avoided her. The one maid that tried to get close to Nytri was often punished for helping and even she was forced to stay away, eventually she was alone.

Nytri overheard their conversations of having her killed, but as a child, she didn't want to believe what she was hearing. She clung to the hope that they loved her as the stories she read and that everything was going to be okay, even when it looked bad. She hoped they would see her if not a child of the house, at least a maid. But it wasn't long before she realized that they were serious about getting rid of her. That was when she knew she had to escape, she waited for one fateful night to confirm if they were really intending on killing her. She saw their attempts and she fled.

Nytri left in the middle of the night, taking only the clothes on her back and a small amount of food she had stored in her clothes to snack on, she wasn't even being fed proper food. She fled into the forest, hoping to find safety. But it wasn't long before she was caught by bandits the nobles had hired to dispose of her. She tried every means she knew of to escape but she was caught and taken.

"Hey, little girl, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" the bandit leader asked. Nytri knew she was being targeted by the bandits, when she fled from the mansion, it was because she had seen them break into her room. She was currently surrounded by the bandits.

"I'm just going to visit my friend," Nytri lied, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Well, you won't be running anywhere now," the bandit leader said, grabbing her by the arm.

Nytri struggled and tried to run, but the bandits were too strong. They tied her up and blindfolded her, then threw her onto a horse and rode away.

Nytri's heart was racing as she was being taken away. She knew she was in trouble, and she desperately searched for a way to escape and took of the blindfolds. When they passed some guards, she tried to call out for help,

Nytri, "HELP ME! PLEASE!" but they ignored her, she knew they heard her, she knew they saw her, but she was ignored.

The bandits took her to a cave deep in the mountains. It was dark and damp, and Nytri could smell the stench of rotten meat. She knew she was in a dangerous place, but she didn't give up hope.

"Why are you doing this?" Nytri asked the bandit leader. "Can't you see I'm just a child? What did I do to deserve this?"

"We were paid to do this," the bandit leader said. "Your family don't want you anymore. They said you were useless, and they wanted you gone. We were paid to do just that." And he laughed,

Nytri was shocked. But she had hoped she wasn't captured because of her family, if it was her family's doing, then it meant she was going to die.

"I won't let you do this to me," Nytri said, her voice filled with determination. She didn't want her life to end like this, no she was going to change it.

The bandit leader laughed. "You don't have a choice, little girl. You're ours now."

The bandits were joyous because they had an easy job with quick money, and Nytri knew that she would not survive long in their hands. She had to come up with a plan to escape, and fast.

It was by sheer luck that Nytri managed to escape when she used a sharp rock to cut the ropes after they had a drinking celebration of the job done, and she fled in the middle of the night.

Bandit1 rush to the gathering, "BOSS! She's gone! The kid's gone!"

Bandit leader drops his jug and yells, "FIND HER!" they searched the cave and saw traces of blood on the floor, one bandit was good a tracking and led the bandits to follow her. She ran for a long time deep in the night until she came across a dense forest, where she was eventually captured by bandits hired by the nobles. They took her to a dungeon that was close by and left her for dead after they received their payment and the noble requested her to be killed without a trace.

Bandit2 is confused, "Boss weren't we paid to kill her?"

Bandit leader grins, "We were but leaving her to die is better, we won't have to worry about disposing the body since the monster will eat her up."

Bandit4 understands, "Yeah, a child can't survive in this dungeon. She will die, am going to use my share for the ladies."

Bandit2 shakes his head, "Is that all you ever think about."

Bandit leader is ecstatic, "hahahah, enjoy it boys, we were paid a hefty sum for a little brat." They took her into the dungeon and went as deep as they could, 3 floors, they tired her to a rock at the center of the floor and left after drawing the attention of monsters to the place with blood from an animal or monster.

Nytri struggles to escape and run, the footsteps of monsters draw closer from all directions, Nytri tries fervently to escape but she has no means of escaping, she hides her face in her knees as she whimpers waiting for her doom.