Frozen Flame of Dawn-Chapter 86 - 42: Night Feast to Forge Trust_1

But as Bella’s gaze swept over them, her heart twisted at the thought of the mayor’s wife and those nine girls—the horrors they’d endured at the hands of these animals. The urge to do more than look at them welled up inside her.

"Captain we’ve got them all tied up and no resistance left." A young recruit member of her squad stepped forward with nervous expression on his face.

No resistance? Bella’s eyes narrowed at that moment because she wanted to pound their faces into the dirt until their arrogance turned to tears.

But just as she was about to walk away, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye as three of the captured thugs who were whispering among themselves as they sneak glances at her with cocky smirks despite their predicament.

"What’s a woman like you gonna do?" One of them, a tall wiry man with a chipped tooth chuckled under his breath. "Shout us to death?" he sneered.

While the other short man with a jagged scar over his cheek joined in. "Untie me, sweetheart and let’s see if you’re as tough as you act."

Hearing others arrogant talks the third thug who was quiet before gained confidence as he leaned back against the wall with a lazy grin on his face. "Cole said we’d have fun... Looks like you’re the one serving the entertainment today."

Bella’s smile was slow, wicked, and full of dangerous intent and looking her like that her squad members instinctively took a step back, recognizing the shift in her mood. The air grew tense as Bella rolled her shoulders, loosening the stiffness in her muscles. "Oh, I’m so glad you volunteered to test me out," she said with her voice as sweet as poison.

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The first thug blinked with his smile faltering. "Wait—"

But before he could finish, Bella hit him in the jaw with such force that he fell to the ground as the sound of bones hitting flesh echoed through the room, and the man groaned in pain.

The scarred man tried to wriggle out of his bindings as panic overtaking his bravado but Bella grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room like a sack of flour as he hit the wall with a dull thud and slumped over, groaning.

The third thug—the one with the lazy grin—paled."L-look, we didn’t mean it—"

Bella crouched low with her face inches from his. "You didn’t mean it?" Her voice was icy. "Funny. I don’t believe you." With a quick movement, she yanked him forward and drove her knee into his gut. He crumpled like paper, wheezing for breath.

The entire room was silent, save for the pitiful whimpers of the battered men while Bella’s team exchanged glances with a mix of admiration and relief on their faces as at least someone had vented their collective fury.

Bella dusted off her hands and stood tall with her heart pounding as the last traces of her rage ebbed away before turning to her squad. "Drag these pieces of trash to the holding area," she ordered.

As she let out a slow breath as her adrenaline settled and asked, "We’re done here so, where’s Amira now?"

Miles that young recruit nodded after wiping a smear of blood from his knuckles. "She’s at the town hall," he said, a small grin tugging at his lips. "She’s gathered the whole town for a meal—said they are cooking up something special with mutated beast meat." His lips quirked into a small smile.

Bella raised a brow. "Mutated beast meat? Seriously?"

Miles nodded. "Yeah and she’s doing it for a reason to show the townsfolk that it’s not just edible, but beneficial also it’ll help her figure out who’s close to awakening and who’s not."

Bella smiled as she said. "Smart? She’s a genius...." She then motioned for the team to follow her as they hauled the thugs outside.

As they steeped out, the afternoon sun struck their eyes as the sun hung low, spreading the uneven shadow on the ground which told that night was near but the scent of roasted meat drifted faintly through the air from the direction of the town hall, making Bella’s stomach growl.

"Alright," Bella said as she stretched her arms overhead. "let’s finish up and dump these losers for getting something to eat as I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving."

Her squad murmured in agreement as they started to move the captives in their makeshift holding area while Bella also took one last look at the thugs—most of them unconscious or too sore to speak—and smiled to herself as justice had been served... with a side of bruises.

The streets of town were quiet, save for the muffled buzz of voices converging towards the town hall as Bella walked with her team, as they moved through the pavement roads.

Behind her, the captured thugs were being hauled to their temporary holding area, their groans of pain barely registering in Bella’s mind. She had already made peace with the fact that they got off too lightly.

As they arrived near townhall, "Finally, something to eat," one of her teammates muttered, his stomach audibly grumbling.

But Bella shot him a sidelong glance with the edge of her lips quirking upward, "Focus now or food later," she said though the faint aroma of something being cooked at the hall teased her senses.

When they approached the grand but slightly worn building that served as the town hall, Bella’s thoughts drifted about their next step while inside, Amira was already busy in something else rather than preparing to address the townsfolk.

Inside the town hall, the atmosphere was one of hushed anticipation as it wasn’t vast enough to accommodate whole town residents comfortably seating at once, but can at least hold all of them if they adjusted while standing.

While the seats and chairs which were present on the hall were removed and placed neatly over the large empty ground near the town hall for the feast for which despite the tension, there was an undeniable curiosity among the townsfolk about what will be told or happen going forward.

As hall was slowly filling, Amira who sat near the podium as her sharp eyes scanning the pages of a worn ancient book she had taken from the mayor’s house with her focus as she absorbed the information.

Megan approached, balancing a stack of documents in her arms. She placed them on the table with a quiet thud and stood to the side, waiting for Amira’s acknowledgment. Without missing a beat, Amira finished her page, closed the book with a soft snap, and looked up at Megan.