A New Beginning

by Alexander W Meurant

  The third burst of magic rippled upwards as the enemy mage redirected the blast and Sain felt a wave of amusement wash over him. No, it was not his amusement. It was the voices. Sain’s right arm swung out in an arc across his body to his left side and a bright slash of energy followed the movement like the slash of a sword. Sain watched as the ships wall was traced with a molten red scar before the slash of magic reached the mage. It hit her barrier and simply broke straight through, cutting straight through her now exposed upper torso. She gargled as her body was cut in half from shoulder height, her arms thumping to ground before the other two parts of her body followed.

  Sain’s gaze swept down as his eyes locked on the woman, noting pale skin and red hair beneath a khaki scarf, slowly being soaked in blood. Sain watched the light go out from her eyes, a thought in his mind that this did not look like a Cassar pirate. Like those ones he had seen earlier.

  The though disappeared as Sains eyes came back up and locked onto the corpse the pirates had been standing over. Recognizing Kurt, Sain felt a stab of hurt in his heart and tried to see if the man was still alive. But once more his body moved of its own accord and kept going not even fazed at the sight of Kurt's corpse. Positioned to the right of Kurt was a door and Sain could see a staircase beyond it. Approaching the door, Sain felt even more pain race through him, this time mental anguish, mixing with that of his physical torment.

  Coming to the door Sain's body stepped through and went down the steps, and Sain became aware of them shifting beneath his feet, as though they were melting just like the container wall earlier. Turning a corner in the stairs Sain came to a door, hanging half off its hinges like it had been blown open. Sain approached the door and he saw a bright blue hand raise. His hand. It touched the metal door and there was a flash as the door blew out, a mass of red-hot metal blowing into the room beyond, practically turned straight to molten, liquid metal in an instant.

  Sain stepped through and his head cast left to right looking at those in the area. He saw his comrades on the ground, many still alive and some moving, their helmets torn off and lying strewn around. How many were there on the ground? Maybe a dozen. And then there were another four of his comrades cluttered together in a group to his left, pressed into a corner as magic and bullets streamed off a magical barrier surrounding them. Sain saw Travos there, his helmet split and on the ground at his feet, a line of blood running down his forehead. And now Travos was staring at him, eyes wide.

  Magic stopped being used and silence spread over the group, guns no longer firing. Sain's gaze swept lazily to the other end of the room, a large mess hall with tables lining the walls and chairs strewn about next to them, mostly broken or shattered. And all over the floor of the hall corpses could be seen. Far too many for a dozen pirates.

  Sain's gaze latched onto a large group of men and women at the other end of the hall. Over thirty people stood there, most holding rifles. At the front of the group stood ten people, arms raised and looks of shock on their faces. The place was now deathly still even as a long black piece of fabric slowly drifted across the floor, tied to a light fixture on the left wall. Quite suddenly all the enemies shifted their attention to Sain and started shooting and chanting. Mages.

  As magic streaked through the air Sain saw it ripple and he felt a surge of amusement. Once again not his own. Bullets accompanied the blast and those peppered Sains form, slamming into a barrier held close to his body.

  "Ha. Funny" came his voice as he stepped forward, dragging his foot to step forward again but getting stuck. Sain realized he must had sunk into the floor whilst he had stopped moving. No matter, his body lifted its foot higher and just kept moving. Watching the magic streak towards him Sain flung out his right hand and a bright flash erupted, a blue ark of electricity erupting from his hand and streaking forward. The electrical energy blasted straight through the magic that had been cast at him and surged upwards, slamming into the roof of the mess hall. A scar of red-hot metal being left from the impact, droplets of molten metal starting to drip from the ceiling.

  Still feeling that wave of amusement Sain's right wrist was flicked and another flash of blue light left him. The surge of electrical power flew through the air and hit one of the mages, a flash of color erupting as the man’s barrier collapsed and Sain’s magic slammed into the man. He simply exploded, those behind him being covered in blood and gore. Shouts sounded and some of the mages started holding up fire and wind crystals. As a streak of fire washed over Sain he felt nothing, and he realized there was no more pain. In fact, he could feel nothing. Not even his feet. He would have to think about that later he supposed.

  His body suddenly lurched forward, far faster than what he thought humanly possible. He covered about ten meters in a single step, and he was standing before the mage covering Sain in a stream of fire. Sain's left hand raised and stopped moving in front of the mages face. A woman, and a rather pretty one at that. She stared at Sain, terror plastered all over her face as another flash of light erupted from Sain's splayed out hand and then the woman was simply gone, only her body from the waist down remaining as her upper body was incinerated in a split second, four of the enemy behind her suffering a similar fate.

  As what was left of their lower bodies and arms fell to the ground Sain turned and looked at the horror and terror covering the faces of the remaining enemy. Guns fired still, and magic was hurled at him from close range but Sain ignored it. Or more correctly the voice controlling him did. He could sense the impact of bullets against his barrier, but it meant nothing. Not right now. Both of his hands rose, and his body lunged forward, his arms swinging as if they were axes and he was on a tree chopping spree.

  His hands slashed through magical barrier, flesh and bone like they were nothing. Blood splattered everywhere, limbs and other body parts flew through the tight space as shrill screams filled the air and Sain just stayed silent as he cut again and again, enemies surrounding him on all sides. He cut and cut and cut, not even feeling his hands parting the bodies of those he attacked anymore. He was dimly aware of his arms being swung but felt nothing. Even the noise earlier seemed to have ended. No screams, no thuds or even whimpers. Nothing.

  He felt as though he wasn't really seeing either. It was more like he was sensing those around him, seeing their position via the energy that ran through them, and sensing the pulses of their hearts.

  Coming to a stop he stood straight and looked around, everything heavily blurred. He looked back towards the way he had come in, four figures standing in the corner, magical barriers raised. Were they enemies? Or friend? Sain didn't know. He took a step forward, then another. He raised his hand or tried to, but it wouldn't lift to a height beyond his elbow. He tried to take another step, but his body wouldn't move. Was he back in control of his body, or was the voice? He wasn't sure. Perhaps when he woke up things would be alright. Perhaps a nice nap would clear his thoughts.

  Yes, a nap would be nice. As that thought left his head Sain's vision went completely black and his shoulders slumped, a strong urge to sleep rushing over him. Yes. Sleep. Right where he stood. He didn't even feel himself fall or hit the floor.

  * * *

  Staring at the being with horror, Travos watched the blue light encompassing the thing evaporate like steam. What remained was a burnt husk, a red and black shape that was trying to walk toward him, a hand raising slightly. The husk then simply stopped and fell to the ground, a dull thump sounding.

  Travos let out a shaky breath and then looked around at the carnage. Seeing molten red holes in the floor of the ship and a red-hot scar running through the roof Travos moved shakily towards one of the holes in the floor, seeing it was in the rough shape of a footprint, like the husk had been so hot it burned or melted everything it touched.

  Casting his gaze back to his people he gulped noting the looks of fear and surprise on their faces. He needed to take charge and get this mission back on track.

  "Check the wounded" he ordered and watched the other
three shake themselves from their fearful trances and get to work. From what he could see, most of his downed people were still alive, some of them just barely. All up there were fifteen of his people here, which meant another nine were unaccounted for. Either dead or above deck. Then he remembered passing the corpse of one of his men near the entrance to the below deck and he scowled. That meant eight.

  Looking past the burnt-out husk of a human he crinkled his nose in disgust as he smelled roasted flesh and his mouth watered somewhat. He scowled and spat to the side trying to get the thought of barbecue out of his mind. Striding over to the group of enemies he stepped into what would be a scene most welcome in a horror movie. He looked around the mess feeling queasy. He couldn't count all the bodies, as most were in pieces, but he guessed there were about thirty corpses here. A full platoon. He had been told there were twelve pirates give or take on the ship. Not thirty plus. And these people seemed more like trained soldiers, not pirates. There were ten or more mages in this group for fucks sake.

  Hearing heavy footsteps on the stairs Travos turned sharply, instinctively muttering under his breath and pulling up magic to form a barrier in front of him. Seeing two of his people come through the door leading to the deck Travos let out a sigh and dropped his barrier.

  "Fuck sake Major, what happened here?" the leading soldier asked and Travos recognized the voice of Roland as the man looked around.

  "A complete butcher, that's what. I think we were conned. This was a damned full platoon we stumbled on. And full of bloody strong mages" Travos replied and shook his head.

  "Well shit, you guys went to town on them then" Roland stated as he walked up to Travos' side and looked over the mess of corpses, his boots squelching as he stepped into a steadily growing pool of blood.

  "Wasn't us. Was that barbecued thing" Travos stated and lifted a hand to point at the burned-out husk of a body.

  "Was like nothing I've ever seen. I thought we were goners then that thing turns up and just, well, just ripped through them like it was nothing" Travos stated and let out a shaky breath, feeling that queasiness come back. Roland said nothing and approached the burned-out husk and put a boot on its shoulder to roll it over onto its back. It was completely unrecognizable, its flesh completely burnt away, even the eyes and lips were gone. The mouth hung open loosely and the white of teeth could be seen in the jaw.

  Roland knelt beside it and pulled a small knife from his boot and started digging around at the husks neck.

  "Shit, don't touch it Roland, check on your comrades, and you, Einar, call in evac. This is going to be a shitstorm" Travos stated, pointing at the man that had come down with Roland. As Einar nodded and shrugged off a back pack with radio equipment Travos sighed and looked back to the corpses wondering if he should search them for information. There had to be something that would hint at who these people really were.

  "Well, Major, I reckon we gotta touch it. It's wearing Belford's dog tag after all" Roland stated. Travos felt his heart lurch and he turned hard and fast, locking his eyes on Roland as the man finished digging a warped and twisted piece of metal out of the husk of burned flesh.

  Travos suddenly felt light headed and staggered forward, falling on his knees as he stared at the twisted piece of metal. He could make out Sain's name just barely and he now looked at the burnt husk with a pained look. He reached out tentatively, his hand shaking quite visibly.

  "By the damned heavens. What did you do lad?" Travos asked quietly, his hand hovering over the husks face. His hand shook, and he clenched his fist, drawing it in to his chest as a feeling of sadness washed over him. The grief hit him just as hard as when he had heard that Annabelle had died, and he clenched his jaw, struggling to keep a sob in. Roland stared down quietly as well and they both knelt there in silence with the corpse, the only sound around them being that of Einar calling in the evac dropship's and cleanup crew.

  Looking up Travos watched as one of his other subordinates approached, a woman that had been in the group he had been pinned down with. She took off her helmet and placed it on the ground before sweeping her hair out of the way and holding her ear above Sain's mouth.

  "Well, don't give up on him yet Major, Belford is still alive. Just barely breathing" the woman stated and looked up at Travos, smiling softly, yet weakly. Travos felt a surge of hope but then looked down at Sain.

  "Even if he lives, what sort of life will he live Corporal Merta" he stated and stood up with a sigh. He reached for his radio suddenly remembering he had a job to finish. Seeing Rahswa propped up against a wall staring at Sain, Travos walked towards her.

  "Rahswa, you said earlier that you had captured pirates and left Sain to guard them correct?" Travos asked and she looked up and nodded.

  "Yes, correct" she replied, her voice drawn. She stood up shakily and Travos reached out, grabbing her and steadying her.

  "Alright, take Roland and secure them. Roland" Travos stated and looked backwards at Roland. The man nodded and stood up from his position next to Sain.

  "Got it Major. Will do" Roland stated and walked forward. He wrapped an arm around Rahswa's midriff and helped her out of the room and up the stairs. Travos watched them go and gulped. Sending wounded soldiers to finish a job was never good. But now he had to account for eight missing soldiers. Well, seven discounting Sain. Lifting a hand to his radio, he hit the transmitter and started speaking.

  "Major Ligare to all units, call in and identify. Meet below deck at the mess hall. You can't miss it. Over." Travos stated and waited. After a few seconds calls started coming over the radio from his missing men and women and he turned back to look down at Sain, noticing Merta had covered Sain with a coat she had found, the thing bloodstained. Travos swallowed hard and focused his mind on the calls coming over the radio.

  Chapter 30

  * * *

  Letting out a soft sniffle Rella lifted an arm and absentmindedly rubbed her nose with a sleeve. She hoped she wasn't getting sick. It would mess with her duties as a soldier after all.

  "What do you mean he was defeated? Wasn't the Krat supposed to be good at guerilla warfare?" Niall asked angrily and Rella turned her attention to her charge. Niall was currently having a meeting with Colonel Godeslas and the focus of the meeting seemed to be a recent update of the hunt in the Altai Mountains. And he did not look happy. Rella just rolled her eyes. She didn't have to like the man, just do what he said.

  "According to Razmus, he found a large group of Federation soldiers, and attacked them. The battle did not last long and most of the Federation soldiers perished. Around forty by his estimate. A handful were captured as well" Godeslas stated, standing ramrod straight as he faced Phidel’s Knight across the table.

  Rella felt herself zoning out from the conversation, and keeping her face impassive she just swept her gaze lazily around the room, her eyes tracing over all people present. It was a way to not only try to ease her boredom, but also to assess if there were any possible threats among the people to Niall.

  Not seeing anything she judged to be suspicious, she swept her gaze around the large pavilion like tent she was in. It was the same command tent that she had had been in barely a few days ago, where the initial plans against the guerilla's had been discussed by Niall and Godeslas. Hearing conversation pick up again Rella sighed somewhat and listened halfheartedly to the two officers.

  "That is hardly a defeat Colonel. What happened next then that caused the Captain to call in?" Niall asked, his anger quite dissipated now. The Royal Knight now instead just looked mildly annoyed. Rella softly snorted, hoping no one heard her. Niall wasn't an infantry commander and, in her opinion, really shouldn't have been here in the first place. The man's demeanor and reactions showed that, especially when compared to Godleslas, who seemed completely calm and unfazed.

  "Well Lord, I am told that after this victory, Razmus started to interrogate the prisoners, at which point he and his forces were set upon from an escarpment. In the fight Razmus lost a third of his men and wa
s forced to retreat into the forest. Razmus himself was injured in the engagement. He has since surmised that there are indeed multiple groups of insurgents active in the area" Godeslas stated and turned to look at the map on the table between them.

  "Well if that is the case, my confidence in Captain Razmus' ability has since dropped. By all accounts his forces are nothing to sniff at, but he was so easily ambushed. And I remember you stating that you suspected there being multiple groups of guerillas. Did Razmus not set look outs?" Niall asked, his gaze hard and tone of voice demanding.

  "When he submits his written report, I will know. But for now, he and the rest of his unit are holed up in the forest scouting the area and planning a counter attack" replied Godeslas. The man turned away slightly and Rella raised a brow slightly as she watched a staff officer of the Colonel step forward and hand over a sheet of paper. As the Colonel read quickly over the paper Rella caught what she thought to be a look of anger cross over the Colonels face.