5 Death March

Elys had blacked out from the hard blow on her head.

If she had been in her best state, the worst that she would get from such a blow would have been a severe headache, and perhaps an ugly inflammation.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It was such a waste that ever since she became a slave, she had been getting meager scraps as sustenance for her body.

It had barely given her the strength to plow hard dirt, and her mental strength was just running on hatred.

But she was still thankful for those meager scraps, for it also gave her enough strength to tackle the ugly pig.

If only the guards hadn't interrupted her…

Elys knew her actions would doom her mission for vengeance, but right now, she was just oddly satisfied in a sense.

By standing up to the overseer, the storm that raged in her had found release and her head cleared.

Things were more vivid to her perception now.

The princess was able to think clearly, as well as weigh her options with great analysis.

And despite being forced to walk barefoot towards the capital, the captured princess was relatively calm to the point even she herself was surprised.

Elys took in the new things she saw, her curious eyes taking in as much details as she could.

Perhaps it would deem useful if she miraculously gets out of this predicament. She hopes.

This was the first time the princess had ever set foot – quite literally too – inside the downtowns of the western kingdom.

It only felt like yesterday when she had been strolling around her own kingdom of pristine white marbles.

Right now, everything was just as bleak and dark as the hearts of the vampires. The air was damp and cold, and any moment now, rain was sure to fall.

Her feet were blistered from the long-distanced walk and the pavement that she treaded were now painted with her bloody footsteps.

It trailed down from the very first steps she had made into the first gates that permitted them closer to the capital, and was bound to paint more on her way up.

The people that they passed by had scornful eyes looking at her, as if she was the bad guy for standing up to tyranny.

Ugly Pig had taken a horse up at the front, and he made sure he was a whole lot farther from the girl that had almost choked him to death.

Elys had to stifle a laugh. It was a miracle the equine he rode managed to carry his fat ass this long. The princess pays much respect to the horse.

Once in a while, Ugly Pig would look back and watch how Elys was doing.

He was waiting for Elys to break down and cry, wanting to gloat on her suffering as he had suffered in her hands in those brief seconds that she had the audacity to tackle him.

But to the overseer's dismay, he never saw one tear fall from her blazing eyes.

She only returned his stare with equal contempt, smirked and then made a swift movement with her hands like she was twisting someone's neck off.

The Ugly Pig recoiled as he took the threat meant if she hadn't been shackled, she could easily break his neck.

They were nearing the capital now. The streets were getting wider, and the buildings more elaborate and polished compared to the downtowns.

The captured princess decided to spend the remainder of the trip annoying the guards that accompanied her instead.

"Hey, is it real that you guys had your tongues cut off in exchange for better lives, but instead got forced into servitude as loyal dogs to the Ardorleans?" she asked the guard that was behind her.

The young man didn't reply, instead he just prodded the scabbard of his sword to make Elys walk straight ahead. She was already beginning to lag from the overseer.

The princess pouted, and then asked the bald guard to her right. "Is it true you had been brainwashed to serve without ever questioning the vampires?"

Elys had overheard from the other slaves talking that the guards in the bronze uniform and swords were once slaves who were tricked into brainwashing concentrated camps to create loyal dogs to the vampire monarchs.

Elys didn't get a reply from the guard either, and she tried to change her approach.

"Hey, baldy. What do you say you unlock these shackles around my wrists and ankles?" Elys said to the guard beside her.

He was oddly short for a guard, and his built was stockier too. Elys was fairly average for a woman but the man was just about her height, a couple of inches taller but still smaller than most men his age.

The man took a swift side-glance at Elys and she smiled at him sweetly, even when she had actually called the guy bald.

It wasn't nice of her, but hey, they weren't nice to her either.

"Hurry up, I've been itching to scratch this infection I got from the other day. Please?" She begged with dolly eyes.

The captured princess thrust her hands sideways towards the guard, and the man flinched away, afraid to contract the said infection.

"Come on now, you guys know I'm no match for five guards, right? The shackles are just overkill, knowing that you are actually escorting me to my death." Elys said, scratching her hand and then her head.

The bald guard only grunted.

Elys noted that no matter how she taunted the guards, they were just giving her the maximum tolerance.

Either they were being weirdly nice to her on her last day of living, or they just didn't bother as long as she didn't make any more ruckus as she had done back at the barren fields.

A huge black gate loomed over the distance, and behind it, the vampire capitol waits for the captured princess' execution.

"Who comes to the vampire capitol? State your name and business!" someone yelled from a high vantage point.

"I am Yobab, the overseer of the slaves. I bring the woman to be executed this afternoon!" The overseer replied, holding up an emblem and showing his fat face as he lowered his cloak's hood.

"Very well, open the gates for the overseer!"

With that said, the iron gates of the vampire capital opened to welcome Elys into its deathly arms.