Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

“What would you have of me?” Luna went straight to the point. She didn’t say it out loud, but apparently, she found what she was looking for in the book or at least a hint of it.

  Good, it would have been a shame to waste the Nightweaver.

  “Three days from now, two hours before dawn, here is the location up-to-date and the man,” he handed her the piece of paper.

  “Lawland, Slaver Union boss of Cinderwell, owner of the slave camp,” Luna read out loud, “not aiming low.”

  “You would be wasted on anything less,” Lucas breathed.

  “Alright, Jack, want his head a souvenir?” she asked.

  “No need, do what you want with it,” he replied.

  “After I do it, we are settled?” she probed.

  “Yes,” Lucas confirmed.

  “What if I want to do something more?” Luna inquired.

  “In exchange for?” Lucas retorted.

  “I need to find a way to reign the monster inside of me. I thought the Order might know where to look for that,” she revealed.

  “When it gets in, does it push you out or merge with what was in already?” he asked.

  “I don’t know… I feel like it is in all the time, so merge I guess,” she evaluated.

  “I know just the man for that,” Lucas assured her.

  “Is he strong enough to handle being around me?”

  “His spirit used to be a God.”

  “Will he be willing to do it? That sounds like someone important. Also, can he really help me if his spirit is that different from mine?” Luna demanded.

  “He is important, but he will help you. Spirit wielding isn’t so much dependent on the type of spirit but rather its power level. You can do a partial transformation, which means the spirit is the highest level there is,” Lucas explained.

  “That sounds good,” Luna smirked.

  “It is also the most troublesome one to handle. I don’t know the details, but the longer it is left unchecked, the harder it is to go back,” he stated.

  “Go back to what?” Luna asked.

  “To being human, without losing any power that is.”

  “Oh…” Luna sat there a bit frozen. She didn’t say it, but Lucas knew she knows exactly what it meant. That was good because he had no idea what it meant and was really just quoting an old conversation with Elias. Lucas turned to leave.

  “Jack, wait! Can I meet him? I need to ask him something,” Luna pleaded.

  “In Xona and don’t worry, there is always a way back,” Lucas reassured her and left.

  46

  Collward

  Edward Collward was having a good time. Gly’Yen’Thn arranged the slave uprising flawlessly, James showed up and his bandits exceeded all expectations. It was no wonder anybody has managed to do anything against the Skullraiders, as James called his gang. Edward wasn’t sure if it can still be called a gang because it was made of over six hundred men and women, all armed with top quality weapons, armors, horses and militarily trained. Militarily trained and used to killing. Frankly speaking, they put his own heavy cavalry to shame, starting from the first impression. Now he was looking forward to seeing what James can do with them in battle. Otherwise, he was on his way to see general Traviscus, the highest commander of the joint slaver army.

  It was a larger meeting, all important slaver lords and military officers were present. Edward entered the room in a swift step and went on straight to the general’s table.

  “Let us begin. General, please review the prepared defenses of the city,” Edward commanded him. Edward didn’t bother to hide his authority how he usually did. He had his hair shortly cut and face cleanly shaven. That made him look a lot more dangerous as nothing hid his sharp facial features and he knew it. The Twins he had by his sides only added to the effect.

  The general obeyed and went on to explain the positioning of his troops and planned maneuvering routes across multiple maps of the city.

  “Looks good,” Edward evaluated. It was exaggerated for an unlikely battlefield, but he preferred being prepared for unlikely eventualities.

  “Now let’s review the plan for the sewers and mines,” he commanded him.

  Awkward silence answered him.

  “We shall simply position sentries there as they are an unlikely place for a major conflict,” the general finally replied.

  “When do you expect the attack?” Edward continued with the next question.

  “In five or six days, one or two days before the planned mass of the Palai archbishop,” he answered.

  “Are you that stupid or just incompetent?”

  “I am not sure I understand the question, sir,” the general defended himself carefully.

  The right guard of Edward drew her blade and slit the shocked general's throat in one swift and precise move. He fell on the table and gurgled for a bit before he died. The right twin then kicked him off the table.

  “Due to the unfortunate departure of general Traviscus, I shall be taking command of armed forces until further notice,” Edward announced as he took the general's seat, “any objections?”

  “What the hell are you doing? You can’t just kill someone and take their position! That’s not how the Union works! Guards seize him for the murder of general…” One of the slaver bosses shouted. Before he managed to finish, the right twin leaped to him, shred through his guards in an instant and sunk her blade into his eye.

  “Any other objections?” Edward mused.

  “With all due respect, sir, we do have protocols for who is in charge of what and we should operate on those,” Lawland of Cinderwell carefully protested.

  “All military forces of the Slaver Union are mine and mine alone. I let you control parts of them in times of peace, but I see no reason to do so in times of conflict. They shall do as I say until I declare elsewise. Is that clear or should I repeat any of it?” Edward declared and had the right twin return to his side.

  “You can’t overturn all our rules and make yourself our sovereign just like that!” another of the slaver bosses challenged.

  “Says who?” Edward thundered and as he did, all the demonic or half demonized men present in the room drew their weapons and aimed them at the slaver bosses.

  Nobody said anything for a while.

  “Now that you understand where you stand, you are dismissed,” Edward motioned the slaver bosses to leave.

  He enjoyed their terrified and confused faces as they all left.

  They should have thought things through before getting demons inside all of the military forces. My demons shall always be loyal to me, only to me.

  Edward turned to his now second in command who stood frozen at his place and stared at the corpse of the general.

  “Get James to come here in an hour and Yen in three. I don’t want them to meet each other, not now not ever. Also, have your men get the newest maps of the sewers and mines, have them updated to match the current state of things, all as soon as possible, tomorrow afternoon before the tournament starts, by the latest.”

  “Yes, sir,” the man confirmed.

  Come at me, Lucas!

  47

  Salazar

  “What the hell did we get into? They effectively took over my city and there is nothing I can do about it!” lord Montero of Cinderwell shouted. This meeting was one of their toughest. It was a secret gathering of the city lords. Salazar was sure the slaver bosses are having exactly the same secret meetings, so it only felt appropriate.

  “Calm down, Peter, we shall handle it,” Salazar tried to calm down the lord, but he knew how it was.

  “How? When?" Lord Peter Montero demanded.

  “After the round in Xona is done, I will send most of my forces to help. Here, in Slupsey and in Sonnenheim,” Salazar offered, looking at all three individual lords who were present.

  “That’s two months before they get here!” lord Montero protested. He knew he could not ask for more though. They all did. Xona was the next tournament site and Salazar would
n’t spare a single man until it was done.

  The argument went on for a few hours, but nobody came up with anything better.

  Salazar rejoined with his royal guard and embarked on their way back to the cell.

  “We are being followed,” Katherine whispered suddenly.

  “Assassins… finally! Haven’t had those in a while,” Salazar whispered back happily.

  “Long corridor ahead, I hope you have your defenses up,” Katherine remarked.

  “Always,” Salazar smiled.

  He heard the arrows whistle through the air, both in front and behind him. All arrows were caught by the shields of his guard. Katherine and Luis from the front, Alan and Betha from behind. The arrows kept coming for a while, but their formation held. The attackers charged. They were dressed in black and had leather masks over their faces. Some had weapons; others had hands twisted into claws.

  Men mixed with demons, they aren’t even trying to be covert about it.

  Salazar knew his guard would do the job, but he had no desire to stay out of the fight. He focused for a split second and the ivy he had wrapped around his body under his tunic handed him a seed from one of the pouches he had attached to the inside of his tunic. He dropped the seed to the ground and focused his magic into it. It sprouted into thorn wine and grew at a lightning speed. Grew the way he commanded it. The wine weaved on the ground on the sides of the walls and quickly wrapped around the legs of the attacking men. They started shouting as they fell over the wines. They didn’t even make it to his guards who kept their formation around him. The wine spread through the corridor, surrounding corridors and a few surrounding rooms within a few seconds. Salazar clenched his fist and the thorn wine twisted as if having a sudden spasm. It crushed all caught men. Some didn’t even manage to scream. Silence fell as the world around went still when Salazar stopped growing the wine. Katherine turned to him with a face filled with shock and horror. Salazar waved his hand and the wine withered to dust in an instant. The crushed bodies were scattered on the ground.

  “Is anyone injured?” Salazar asked calmly.

  “No, sir, we are fine,” Alan answered.

  “Let us go then, while this was entertaining we have a match to watch,” Salazar commanded them.

  “Stop!” Katherine countered his command and the men stopped.

  “We need some answers; you just killed over twenty men mixed with half-demons in a few seconds. What the hell was that?” Katherine turned to Salazar.

  “Anything more specific?” Salazar countered with a question.

  Katherine took a moment to regroup herself.

  “Why do you have us? The royal guard, the team, why bother when you apparently intend to do everything by yourself?” Katherine shot angrily.

  “Because I intend to keep the scope and nature of the magic secret, so for whenever me flaunting around my power would be detrimental to that, I need people capable of handling things themselves. Though I do admit the position of royal guard is rather formal in terms of my protection and serves me mostly for utility. There aren’t many beings in this world that are capable of threatening my life and I do not expect you or anyone else I employ to be able to handle those. Do not worry though, I am satisfied with the job performance of you and your men and have no intention to dispose of you, even should I stop being satisfied,” Salazar tried to reassure her. He knew why she was afraid and she had every right to be. There was no hiding the fact that if he wanted to kill them, there was nothing they could have done to stop the thorn wine from wrapping around them and crushing them just like the assassins. Katherine gave herself a while to think through her position.

  “Who else knows about this?” Katherine inquired.

  “Nobody who isn’t present and I intend to keep it that way,” Salazar admitted.

  “Why did you choose me for this position?” Katherine asked sharply. Her men all turned their gaze to ground or walls, trying to pretend they aren’t there.

  “Because of your excellent positioning, planning, organization skills and strong straight character, which happens to be the qualification for the job I actually need you to do,” Salazar replied.

  “So, it has nothing to do with me being a woman?” Katherine inquired.

  “Well, I do believe you would be great in bed, but that hasn’t exactly panned out, has it?” Salazar remarked ironically. Katherine seemed half satisfied with the answer.

  “You would do me if I let you, wouldn’t you?” Katherine demanded.

  “I would never dare to offend you by refusing such an opportunity,” Salazar answered with a wicked grin. Katherine softly blushed and turned away.

  “Let’s move,” she ordered.

  48

  Raven

  “Meeeeeh….. I don’t wanna go!” Luna protested.

  “Don’t worry, I will be here when you are finished,” Iowen reassured her.

  “Raven and the Reavers can handle it, I can stay here,” Luna countered. She was still in bed with Iowen; Raven was at the door as he came to pick Luna up for the match.

  “You have to be in the main lineup, prince Jonathan will come if you don’t get up soon,” Raven pressed on.

  “Tsssss….” Luna snarled, but got up and went to dress up. She was ready in a few minutes and went with Raven for the match.

  “Got a plan for it?” Luna asked Raven.

  “Not really, we are the opening match, so we don’t have much to start from. The match is in the mines, viewers are spread all over and there is a massive system of mirrors installed to let them see what is happening. Other than that, we don’t know the layout or format or anything. We are up against slavers from Xona, so three big demonic monsters and a bunch of trained slaves with more or less essence within them,” Raven revealed.

  “Demonic essence?” Luna was surprised.

  “Finubar’s scouts report that the slavers infuse demons into humans and they happen to do it to their teams,” Raven revealed.

  “I wonder what a human infused with a demon tastes like,” Luna mused.

  “Catch one and tell me afterward," Raven smiled.

  “You really don’t like demons, do you?” Luna asked.

  “I don’t. I don’t know why but I just feel an intense repulsion to them. People like Iowen who only have a little of the demonic essence are alright as they feel human, but from a certain point, I just can’t stand it and feel an intense urge to kill the being,” Raven breathed.

  “You can sense it in Iowen? Do you sense anything in me?” Luna probed. This surprised her because she couldn’t feel anything demonic from Iowen even though she knew it is there.

  “Iowen yes, you no. You don’t have anything demonic within you,” Raven confirmed.

  “Is there anything you do sense from me?” Luna continued asking.

  “Not much. Only that the monster inside is terrified of me,” Raven revealed.

  “How the hell can you tell that?” Luna demanded.

  “I just do... I don’t know how or why,” Raven conceded.

  “Meh, come to think of it, you actually are absolutely terrifying,” Luna mused.

  “How come?” Raven challenged.

  “You are cold, analytical and experienced. You have spent your entire life training and analyzing your skills and abilities, yet you have no sense of them. You know how to use them, how to improve them, but have no idea where they came from, what their nature is or what their actual limit is,” Luna continued.

  “Says the girl who eats humans for snack because they taste well,” Raven jabbed back.

  “You know what the worst part of it is? I fit into the world perfectly. There are thousands of wild monsters roaming the wilderness and eat anything living they can find; there are demons where you look, humans are trying to turn other humans into demons, there are men who raise the dead, there are chimeras that are crazy mixtures of anything with anything… I just don’t feel special. It’s hard to feel bad about what I do when I see I am more of a rule than an e
xception. That makes it really hard to keep fighting it,” Luna admitted with a half-resigned voice.

  “For as long as you keep fighting it and you search for a way to remain mostly human, I am okay with it,” Raven evaluated.

  “And if I stop?” Luna tossed up.

  “Then I will end your existence,” Raven stated.

  The cold resolve in Raven’s voice terrified her. He meant it. He would do it. If she ever lost control for good, then it would be mercy to be killed, they both knew it. It still terrified her. On one hand, she was thinking of suicide for most of her life, hell, the main reason she was here was that she was looking for a way to die. But this was the first time she believed she might actually die and it terrified her beyond reason.

  “Have you ever killed anyone because you wanted to? I mean truly wanted to, not to survive or to win or any other reason,” Luna asked weakly.

  “No,” Raven replied. They were almost at the match preparation room where the rest of their team was waiting.

  “I hope I won’t be your first time.”

  “How was the match?” Iowen smiled at Luna when she got back to the cell. Luna leaped to Iowen, tripped her leg and slammed her down in the bed.

  “Get that armor off before I murder someone!” Luna demanded as she started taking off her armor.

  “What happened?” Iowen asked confused.

  “Take. It. Off.” Luna stated in a voice that would give children nightmares.

  “What if I don’t want to?” Iowen smiled weakly.

  “Then I will break your arms, legs and grind my coochie over your face until I get bored!” Luna snared viciously, “now get naked, Icecream, I’m gonna have a piece of you.”

  “There are many nicer ways to ask for it, you know,” Iowen poked Luna. Luna was done undressing. She made two fast steps and then leaped on top of Iowen. Iowen tried to block her, but Luna caught her arms and pinned them next to Iowen’s head, “when did you fall under the impression that you can out power me?” Luna sneered in Iowen’s face and then kissed her. Iowen caught her mouth hungrily; the kiss was long and rough. When Luna detached, Iowen’s mouth was all messed up by Luna’s frozen blood.