CHAPTER 118: RESCUE MISSION (1)

Olexa had a little rest the previous night, and woke up early, having spent most of the night thinking and strategizing in her head. She had never led such an endeavor before, so of course, she was troubled.

Despite the turmoil within her, she still had the courage to shove aside her fear, determined to see what she had proposed through to the end.

The sound of woodwork woke Olexa up from her slumber in the temporal tent she had made by herself. Stretching herself, she got up and took a walk around the community.

The people had woken up as well and had begun reconstruction. She saw that everyone was involved in the process. It was a beautiful sight to behold, seeing everyone working together.

As Olexa got closer, they all paused their work and greeted her, smiling. Olexa generously smiled, greeting them. The kids rushed over to her, giving her a warm hug. She embraced them happily, enquiring how they were doing.

The adults smiled, seeing how happy the kids were. Olexa looked around, seeing the people smile. And was more encouraged to do what she had set out to do.

Regardless of the tragedy they faced a couple of days ago, they still found a reason to smile.

Looking in another direction she saw Mona, Tully, and a group of men, arming themselves. She excused herself from the kids and went to meet them.

Arriving where they stood, they bowed slightly, greeting her.

"Good morning chief," Tully greeted. Olexa cringed at the sound of that title, but said nothing, smiling anyway.

"The witches are doing the locator's spell as we speak. They got the blood of some of the relatives of the abductees. When they're done, we can hit the road, and recover our brothers and sisters," Tully stated.

"Excellent! We should leave as soon as they are done. We don't have time to waste. The elders can oversee the construction," Olexa replied.

They all nodded in agreement.

"Mona and I got you something," Tully said to Olexa.

"Oh, okay..." she replied, with her voice trailing off, as she wondered what it was.

Mona brought a wooden casing to Olexa. Holding it in one hand, she used the other to open it. Olexa gasped at what she saw.

"Oh my goodness! It's beautiful," Olexa smiled with dreamy eyes, as she brought out the custom-made bow, with a couple of arrows in a quiver.

"It belonged to Kron. I was surprised how it survived the fire," Mona chuckled softly.

"This is beautiful. But I can't accept it," she handed it back to Mona.

"No no no. It's yours, Olexa. Kron would have wanted you to have it. That, I know for sure. So keep it," Mona insisted.

"Besides, it fits well in your hands," Tully added.

With all that, Olexa found it hard to refuse.

"Okay," she nodded, smiling. "Thank you."

They all smiled at each other. Then, some of the men returned with the warlock and witches.

"Good morning chief," they bowed greeting Olexa.

"We were able to locate them. We separately did the spell to be sure they all were, just in case they were taken to separate locations. And it turns out that they are all in one location," the warlock revealed.

"Good. That makes it a lot easier," Olexa remarked. "But where exactly are they?"

"They are being held at the Mountain of Bones," one of the witches replied.

"The Mountain of Bones?" Olexa furrowed her brow.

"Yes, chief. It's a two-day journey, or less if we make haste," Tully responded.

"Then we shall make haste. We have no time to spare. Is everything set?" Olexa enquired with a sense of urgency.

"Everything is set. We were just waiting on your marching orders chief," one of the men said.

"Good. Let's ride!"

Receiving the blessings and goodwill of the people, Olexa and her men headed out, riding on horses as they journeyed to the Mountain of Bones.

***

They arrived at the said location in a little under two days. They only took breaks so that the horses could rest and be fed. They didn't give much thought to themselves, as they were worried about their brothers and sisters in captivity.

Having arrived at the location, they stealthily surveyed the area and found an entrance where they saw some members of The Legion entering and exiting a cave. A couple of soldiers stood guard, fully armed.

"I'll bet all my life's treasures that they are in there," a man whispered, as they observed.

Olexa nodded in acknowledgment as she watched the place. From a distance, she noticed a horse which was adorned differently.

Using her enhanced vision, she looked at the insignia on the browband of the horse and realized whose horse that was.

"General Klaus is here. That's his horse," she revealed to the people.

Immediately, they all got even angrier than they already were.

"As much as I itch for us to attack, we can't go there now. We need the cover of the night. It'll be to our advantage," Olexa stated.

"The chief is right. Just because we are not afraid to die, doesn't mean we should die a needless death as a result of not reasoning," Tully said.

"I agree," Mona supported. They all nodded in agreement and decided to wait till it was nighttime.

"We'll take turns to keep watch, just in case there may be any new developments," Mona instructed.

"I'll keep first watch," one of the men delegated.

"I'll join you," another said.

"Alright. We'll keep watch in pairs then," Olexa said and they left, leaving the two men there.

After a couple of hours, it was night, and Olexa signaled to her people it was time. They all rallied together and masked their faces. They stealthily made their way down the hill where they stayed, hidden from the sight of the soldiers at the cave.

They split into two groups, circling around, so they could attack the soldiers from the side, and not head-on, according to her plan.

They were to wait for her signal to attack. So they lay in wait for it.

Mona stayed with Olexa. Olexa drew her arrow facing the soldier on the left, and Mona drew hers, facing the soldier on the right. At her signal, they both released the arrows, and it penetrated the soldiers.

Seeing that, the men knew that that was the signal and they swiftly but stealthily killed the soldiers before they could draw the attention of the others.

They dragged their bodies away and headed in, while Olexa and Mona quickly caught up with them. As they got in, they met the magically sealed door made out of a boulder.

The witches analyzed it and saw it was magically sealed, and did their best to open it. But all their efforts were to no avail. They all seemed frustrated at that point, not knowing how to get in.

"I can help with that."

They all turned and saw a scarlet-robed lady. It was Roweena.

Immediately, they got defensive and wanted to attack her.