Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

my heart nearly jumped out of my chest: in one quick motion, Marcus decapitated the Rabbit Beastkin, instantly killing the man.

I wanted to scream. No, no—

I thought I was going to help Rin. I thought he’d only have to distract them! But I killed him. Nonononono—

I killed him. And I didn't even get his name.

I felt my knees give in to the weight of my body; I felt my mind go numb. I watched blankly as Rin reached the head guard of the Mancis Company.

No. Please no.

The Cat Beastkin swiped continuously at Marcus with her claws. He parried with a flourish of his blade. One. Two. Three—

Rin slipped inside of the man’s guard, and head butted him. Marcus’ armor flashed once again, but the aura of protection shattered under the weight of the blow.

The head guard stumbled back, the mana crystals on his armor broken. Falling to the ground in pieces. His face was bloody from the hit, but he still steadied himself and swung at Rin.

The Cat Beastkin sidestepped the attack, and ducked under the glowing red chains flying at her. She got back up, but was met with a punch to the face from Marcus. She reeled back back from the hit.

The head guard swung his scimitar at the staggered woman. But he was slower. Not enough to make a difference if he was attacking me, however enough of a difference for Rin to easily block the attack.

She parried hard, knocking the man’s hand to behind his back. With the other, Marcus tried to draw his pistol. But he was too slow.

His left shoulder had been injured by Rin earlier. And he was hurting from the head butt and constant fighting. All of this accumulated and took a toll on the man.

Marcus had just drawn his pistol, when Rin smacked it away with a clawed hand. His eyes widened as Rin swung for his head.

"Wait—" he barely got the words out.

But Rin did not care for what he had to say. He just killed one of her friends. So as the head guard of the Mancis Company cried out for mercy— as Marcus tried to plead for his life, where he had so easily taken many others— Rin simply stuck two clawed fingers into the man’s neck, and he froze.

Slowly, the Cat Beastkin withdrew her hand. Blood poured out of the holes in the man’s neck, and he collapsed. He was choking on his own blood. Gasping for air.

Marcus clutched at his neck, as though he was trying to force the blood back in. It did not work. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, but nothing came out. He fell.

Dead.

And perhaps in his last moments, he finally understood the fate of those he condemned to slavery; maybe, he knew what it was like to suffer and be helpless about it.

I watched it happen, and I realized I was walking forwards. I was in a trance as I made my way to Rin. And it was not just me.

I stared around the battlefield; the fighting had mostly subsided. Most of the guards were dead or fleeing. Running, now that their leader was dead.

We had won.

Yet, when I saw the price we had to pay; when I saw only Shang and two other Beastkin emerging from the warehouse; when I saw Theodore, Feri, and only a dozen other slaves behind them; when I saw all this, I did not feel elated.

I wanted to puke. That’s all.

I stared at Rin, and watched her lick the blood off her claws.

"Nn, serves you right…" the Cat Beastkin muttered to herself.

Then, a red light flew at her, wrapping around the young woman.

No! I stared in horror as the chains caught Rin off guard. The catgirl struggled as she fell to the ground.

"What—"

Julian Mancis. The owner of the Mancis Company and boss of Marcus. The man behind our slavery and suffering, stood behind Rin and lowered his cane.

"Well, it certainly seems like you’ve earned your freedom." he attempted to speak casually, but I could hear a hint of fear in his voice.

Shang saw this, and a guttural growl left his mouth. He took a step forward—

"Don’t," the old man warned, raising a gun.

It was a pistol. It looked similar to a flintlock pistol in my world. It was Marcus’ pistol. And he was aiming it at Rin.

"If you come any closer— if any of you comes closer— I will kill her. I might not be a good shot, but this is a good weapon. One of the best money can buy. Even if I miss by a foot, she’ll be dead."

Shang froze. So did everyone else. The old man saw this and nodded to himself.

"It really was expensive. I gifted it to Marcus for his loyalty throughout the years. Such a shame he’s dead now."

"Hrn, what do you want? You have already lost. We are not your slaves anymore." Shang spat at the old man.

Julian turned to the Dog Beastkin and met his stare.

"Yes," his voice trembling as he spoke the words. "Yes you are."

The old man slowly walked up to the Cat Beastkin lying on the ground, his gun trained at her head the entire time. He began to lament to himself.

"It’s just as I said. You’ve earned your freedom. You broke free from your cages, and killed every single one of my guards or sent them running. That is truly a feat that I’ve never witnessed before." he whispered quietly. His words, yearning. "That’s exactly what you did. You—"

The owner of the Mancis Company paused. He caught himself from lashing out, and took a deep breath. Then he lashed out.

"You took everything from me!"

I flinched at the unbridled fury directed at me. His voice boomed into