Grandmaster Oswald rested in front of the fire, he and his men camped at the edge of the forest. Their bout with the Dark Elves and those… Men-Lizards, had left them exhausted. They were able to escape the attack of the saurians and the Dark Elves by retreating to the outside of the jungle, where no one even attempted to reach them. While it was a close call, it wasn't in vain. They had a prisoner whom they caught amidst the chaos. The aforementioned Dark Elves had been captured during all the fighting, at least, the ones who survived.
Oswald stood and commanded his men.
"Stay on guard, and get the horses ready should we need to leave camp quickly."
"Yes sire." The guards responded.
Oswald then called to two guards standing idly, commanding them to follow him. They then walk to a small tent, where a group of dark-skinned people were tied to their respective posts. Their pointy ears and dark skin pointed to the fact that they were Dark Elves. Oswald could count three of them, tired and injured from their bout, one male and two females.
"Wake up elves!"
The three elves were startled and open there eyes quickly, their eyes perking up. They immediately wore a scowl as they saw who was calling for them. One of the elves spat at his feet and uttered curses against him. The female elves looked down and saw that their clothing was different, being prisoner rags rather than elven clothing.
"You mortal apes, why am I in this distasteful clothing!?"
"You are a prisoner and you will be treated as such." Oswald said coldly. "And your elven battle gear is no different from that of a harlot. You should be thanking us."
"How dare you insult our superior clothing!"
"Irrelevant. The only reason my men and I kept you and your damned friends is because you have something we want."
"You will turn us into your objects of pleasure! Like what you did with Queen Olga and Chloe!"
"Ha! Don't think of us like those lowly, scummy Black Dogs. We are a more… practical type of people."
The Dark Elves were visibly intrigued by this as they did not expect these men to be so distasteful of the Black Dogs. They had assumed that all humans were the same, but what Oswald said was quite the surprise.
"Now, what we really want is what you know."
The three Dark Elves kept their mouth shut. They were sworn to never speak of what Olga had done. They averted their gaze from Oswald, who was already getting impatient. He then draws his sword and says.
"So be it then! Hyaagh!" Oswald screamed while swinging his sword.
The Dark Elves closed their eyes, but reopened them to see that none of them were injured. They saw that the male elf was released from his bonds as he fell face flat on the floor. Oswald then removes his gauntlets and hands them to his guards, leaving his bare fists. He puts a sword against the neck of the Dark Elf.
"Give us information about the Legion and your military and I will consider sparing you."
"I will not speak of such information to a lowly mortal like you!" The elf spat at Oswald.
"Tried to do it the easy way." Oswald sighed while sheathing his sword, before kneeing the elf in the face.
"No!"
"Alfalfa!" One of the she-elves screamed.
The elf spat blood as he felt that his face was cracked by the knee of Oswald he growled at Oswald.
"How dare you!" The elf snarled while trying to gather strength to stand up.
"There'll be a lot more if you don't cooperate." Oswald threatened while raising a fist.
"Never."
Oswald then punches Alfalfa to the floor, before he kicked him. He then stomped his foot as hard as he could, causing Alfalfa to scream in excruciating pain. Oswald then left his foot planted on the young elf's fallen body.
"Feel like talking now?"
"N-No!" Alfalfa said shakily, his injuries already catching up to him.
Oswald kicks his body again.
"How about now?" Oswald asked.
"No." Alfalfa replied while coughing out blood.
"Now?" Oswald asked, while holding the elf by his neck.
"No…" The elf said before passing out.
Oswald drops the unconscious body of the elf to the floor as he then walks towards the exit. But the female elves notice Alfalfa's body moving. Alfalfa suddenly stood up from his feet and lunged at Grandmaster Oswald, only to be held back by the guards. He was unable to get to him, as the guards held on tightly to him. Oswald turns back with a face of impassiveness.
"So, you still have some fight left in you."
Oswald then bore his gauntlets and commanded his officers to hold down the young elf while he began his second phase punishment. Oswald then begins with a punch to the gut, causing the elf to suddenly feel nauseous.
"I'll just get straight to the point. Since you won't answer the more complicated questions, I'll give you a simpler one. Why did you attack us?"
"I'll never tell you…" The elf said before closing his eyes to pass out again, before opening them and screaming in pain. "AHHH!"
"I'm not letting you off that easy elf." Oswald said while tightening his grip on the elf's throat. "The pain won't stop until either you're dead or you give us what we want."
Oswald then gives the elf a good hard punch to the neck, causing him to suddenly gasp for air, as if he were being choked. Alfalfa was already in tears from the excruciating pain being dealt onto him.
"You damned apes… You'll get nothing from me…"
"Stubborn! I didn't think you would make it this far! Because it only goes further from here!"
Oswald then draws his sword and walks up to the she-elves, who were also crying and traumatized from what they had witnessed.
"Let's see if there's anyone here you hold so dear."
Alfalfa's eyes widened as he realized what Oswald was about to do.
"Don't you dare touch—"
"Oh?" Oswald expressed while pointing his sword to the youngest elf. "This is the one you hold dearest?"
Oswald then put the sword to her neck, causing Alfalfa to flare up.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!"
"Then do as I say. Just a mere utterance of the answer will do." Oswald said.
The youngest elf was a young girl, barely into her adolescence. She had the naturally tanned skin of Dark Elves, with flowing, red hair. Her face looked terrified, with tears streaming down her face. Oswald could tell that this was the girl's first time seeing all this, as she was so traumatized by their brutality.
"My arm is getting tired, better to end it quickly."
"WAIT!" the other she-elf screamed.
Oswald turned to the older she-elf, her body, more developed, likely in her late young adult years. She was also in tears, but her face was that of tiredness rather than fear. Grandmaster Oswald could see that she was growing exhausted from this traumatizing experience.
"Oh, so we have a willing prisoner? What is your name?"
"I go by the name of Freudia, that is what you may call me."
"Okay Freudia." Oswald said while crouching down in front of her. "Why did you attack my men and I? You're lucky that none of my men were gravely injured, otherwise this would have gone in a much worse direction."
The two she-elves cringed at the thought of an even crueler Oswald.
"W-We were given orders to prevent the awakening of the Anthrosaurs at any cost."
"Anthrosaurs? You mean those Men-Lizards we escaped?"
"Yes, we were told to prevent you from breaking the barrier that was keeping them imprisoned."
"Wait, that does beg the question, who are your commanders? I thought the Dark Elves fell against the Black Dog advance."
"We are members of the splinter factions formed after the fall of the Dark Elves."
"How well-trained are you?"
"We are trained since birth to serve Queen Olga, as her assassins, we are trained since birth about our culture and pride as elves. Even a child will know the most important parts about the Dark Elves."
"Is that so?" Oswald questioned while looking at the youngest girl. "What's your name?"
"Lilim…"
"So Lilim, is Freudia correct?"
"Yes, I-I'm very familiar with the culture…"
"Then we don't need these two after all." Oswald said while gesturing to the guards. "Put a bag over their heads and send them somewhere."
"Wait! What are you—"
The two older Dark Elves couldn't react as they were knocked out. Alfalfa and Freudia wake up in the middle of the forest. Alfalfa rubs his forehead in frustration. Freudia also wakes up and tries to look around. They both realize in horror that the youngest was not with them.
"Where is she!?"
"You don't think—"
Meanwhile, Oswald was already on the move with his men, marching on their horses back to the city.
"Sire, may I ask why you decided to bring the elf girl?"
"Because we still need as much information about the enemy as possible, and younger ones are easier to get answers from."
Behind Grandmaster Oswald, was Lilim, who was peacefully unconscious, leaning on his body as she slept.