Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “I see you have done your homework, Mr. Collward,” Elias returned as he refocused his strength. The large golem was not moving and the winged woman still hadn’t reached him, he had a few seconds to take an extra shot at Collward. Elias focused the wind and made it swirl, creating a small tornado with Edward Collward in the middle. Elias flew into it, spun with it and ran an ice sword through Collward’s chest.

  “Not bad,” Collward smirked.

  His chest opened up like a box, revealing an empty space. An empty space with a shining ball of energy floating in the middle of it. Elias tried to shield himself, but the explosion sent him flying backward. Elias wrapped himself in wind to create a cushion for the landing. Darkness took him before he landed.

  57

  Raven

  Raven lay on the medical bed ever since the match. He regained consciousness, but the pain made him wish he didn’t.

  “You really don’t have to push yourself like this for me, Sam,” he turned to Samantha. She was sagged on a chair nearby, visibly exhausted.

  “And what would you have me do? Sit around and smoke a pipe as you bleed to death?” she cut back sharply with a smile.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Raven protested.

  “Wasn’t? You were unconscious for half a day… this is the worst I have seen you, Raven. Even your rat was worried.”

  “Nibbles is always worried, I am sorry I made you worry,” Raven conceded.

  “Now you are… but when you are out there all you see is the enemy in front of you,” Samantha remarked sadly.

  “You know I have nothing else, Sam. Yesterday I fucked up even that; I should have just ignored the monster and went on to find the keys or the human enemies. I was stupid and we won only thanks to Finubar and his team,” Raven breathed.

  “Luna and Finubar all said the same thing, that they fucked up and only got saved by you almost killing yourself to get to the goal first,” Samantha chuckled.

  “Dumb luck and Castien breaking the floor, that’s all there was on my end,” Raven stated.

  “That’s not what people saw. What everyone saw was you breaking the floor on of the upper cavern to get to the goal first, getting a huge comeback win for your team,” Samantha revealed.

  “That’s not how it was, Finubar and his men would have gotten the yellow key from them even if I did nothing,” Raven protested.

  “Do you know why all the people out there cheer your name? Why they all pay to see your matches? It is because you inspire them and yesterday, you did exactly that. Whether you realize it or not changes nothing,” Samantha exclaimed.

  “How is me killing things inspiring anyone?” Raven demanded.

  “I don’t know how to explain it… but it feels like you do more than you should be able to in almost every match. It makes whoever watches you feel like they can do it too. That they can do more than they are supposed to, more than they can if they just keep trying hard enough. What everyone saw yesterday is you getting up after a hundred feet fall to secure the match for your team before passing out unconscious.”

  “I am nothing like that, Samantha” Raven protested.

  “That doesn’t really matter, you will have to live up to it anyway.”

  “I don’t think I can.”

  “Just shut up and keep doing it,” Samantha ran out of patience.

  “Let me carry you to the bed, Sam,” Raven offered after a short pause.

  “I can get there myself and you should stay in bed,” Samantha refused.

  Raven got up from the bed. It hurt like hell, but he didn’t care. He walked to Samantha, smiled, and picked her up in his arms.

  “Not much of a listener... are you?”

  “Were you saying something? I might have damaged my hearing during the fall,” Raven mused as he went on to carry her to her cell.

  “I hope you aren’t looking for more because I’m too tired of anything other than sleeping,” Samantha breathed playfully.

  “Perhaps another time then.”

  “He he he… you sure know how to be charming when you try. But we both know I am not a woman for you,” Samantha laughed, “not that I wouldn’t want to, but you need someone completely different and we both know it.”

  “Who do you think I would need?”

  “Someone who can stand next to you when you fight… someone who can take your full strength hit and shrug it off… someone who can beat you unconscious when you fuck things up,” Samantha mused.

  “So… you are saying I should try something with Luna?” Raven interrupted.

  “Someone who understands what it means to be shackled,” Samantha completed the speech, “Luna is nice… but she cannot understand. Plus, she doesn’t seem to be into men.”

  “Is she? You sure make it easy with the list of requirements,” Raven protested.

  “She’s getting clean bed sheets twice per day, what do you think she and Iowen are doing in there?” Samantha chuckled. They have reached Samantha’s cell. Raven took her in to put her into her bed softly.

  “Raven… promise me that you will take these off one day,” Samantha whispered as she touched the large shackle on his wrist.

  “That’s not up to me, Sam,” Raven replied.

  “It is. I am sure you can take them off if you feel like you need to,” she smiled.

  Raven put his hands on the shackle on his neck and pulled on it with all strength he could muster. It hurt and the shackle didn’t budge.

  “Not moving, Sam, believe me, I have tried many times before.”

  “What holds you here aren’t your shackles, Raven… is it that you don’t know where you would go, what you would do and you aren’t sure you can leave all this behind. What keeps you here is yourself.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it works with these,” Raven laughed.

  “One day, you will find that reason. When you do, you will tear these off and kick out the door when leaving. I just wish I will be around to see it,” Samantha smiled to herself, “good night, Raven… and thank you.”

  “Good night, Sam.”

  Raven went through the complex to where Yvonne usually sang. He had a rough idea of how to navigate, but it always took him way too long. He could hear her sing for a long time before he reached her. He loved the sound and how it was getting stronger as he advanced. It made the pain echoing through his body easier, his shackles lighter and his mind clearer. He loved it. Raven finally found it, the balcony under the one she sang on and sat down to listen.

  Is her voice getting… weaker? Raven realized after a few hours. He looked around carefully.

  Why do I see with a tilt of green?

  Without much thinking, Raven tore of a string of cloth from his shirt, run the cloth through snow to make it wet and wrapped it around his face, covering the mouth and nose. Raven took a deep breath and headed back into the arena complex. He found Yvonne quickly; she was lying unconscious on the balcony. Raven sat on its edge and waited. They came soon, men in black armors with weapons drawn.

  “Hand her over and we will leave you unharmed,” the first man in armor approached.

  “What do you want with her?” Raven asked calmly.

  “Boss’ orders, I am to bring her in,” the men replied.

  “Her? Why her?” Raven probed.

  “I am afraid I do not have the liberty to tell you. Just stay out of the way,” the man said and motioned his men to go take Yvonne.

  “Leave or you will all die here,” Raven whispered in a low cold voice.

  “There are thirty of us and you are badly wounded, you are in no position to threaten us slave.”

  The man barely managed to scream before Raven’s blade slit his throat.

  58

  Salazar

  “Poisonous gas? Seriously? Are they that desperate to kill you?” Katherine turned with an exasperated look at Salazar. It was a rhetoric question, they all knew the answer to it.

  They lay in their large cell. Two trees Salazar had set up in
front of the bars were absorbing the poison nicely. He had them grow to cover all of the bars, so now all air they got was filtered by the leaves.

  “Got a plant that can do this while being moved?” Mark asked Salazar.

  “Want to go find Yvonne?” Salazar returned a question.

  “Yes, I am worried they might be after her as well,” Mark admitted.

  “I have nothing useful I am afraid; these flowers only work when spread out, the leaves alone are not enough to filter the air and their stalks are tough, so if I wrap one around you, you won’t be able to move with it,” Salazar evaluated.

  “Can we please try?” Mark asked.

  Salazar obeyed and took out another seed, tossed it at Mark and had it wrap around his body and face. Mark tried to move a bit but had to gesture to stop soon.

  “It’s too heavy,” Mark breathed. “I still can’t stomach just sitting around though.”

  “I am afraid we don’t have much choice,” Salazar conceded.

  “On the plus side, they likely want to kill Salazar so they will capture her alive. We can go rescue her at the first opportunity,” Katherine proposed.

  “Meh, I am still not happy with this. How can we find her afterward?"

  “I have a special flower. An extract from its leaves works like a truth serum, so we can just ask around,” Salazar offered.

  “You really have a plant for everything, don’t you?” Katherine asked.

  “Well, I have over seventeen thousand different seeds on me, so I guess yes,” Salazar smiled.

  They waited for a few hours. The gas started getting cleaner and they got ready to head out. A wet cloth over mouth and nose wasn’t the best protection, but it was something. They stuck a few leaves of the air filtering flower under it for good measure and headed out. As they opened the door, the hallway was littered with corpses. Everyone looked at Salazar.

  “Wasn’t me,” he answered the obvious question.

  “Who the hell killed them then?” Linda tossed up.

  “I think we might find out,” Katherine evaluated and led the way. The trail of corpses spread through most of the complex. All of them killed by a sword or sword-like weapon. Up in the highest floor, they found Yvonne. She lay on a balcony, next to her sat a man covered head to toe in blood. He looked at Katherine as she stepped up, then rose and sheathed his sword.

  “Please don’t tell her I was involved,” he said as he leaned on the wall, dragging himself forward.

  “Did you… do all this?” Katherine asked with wide eyes. Raven nodded as he kept moving by the wall.

  “Can we at least heal you or something?” Linda offered.

  “I will be fine, I am just tired,” Raven refused, “just… please don’t put her in the main lineup for the match when we meet. I have nothing to offer for it, so all I can do is ask,” Raven turned to Katherine.

  “You just killed dozens of men who were sent to kill us, that is the least we can do,” Katherine smiled.

  “We can also help you get back to your cell, you barely stand,” Mark proposed.

  “That would be nice,” Raven whispered. Katherine motioned her men; two gently lifted up Yvonne and the other two took Raven.

  “Where is your cell?” they asked.

  “First underground floor, there is an unused maintenance room under the stairs,” Raven revealed.

  “Maintenance room? What happened to your cell? I remember prince Stallington getting you and Luna one of the best cells in the complex,” Salazar asked.

  “I got kicked out by Luna’s friend,” Raven admitted.

  “Here is what is going to happen. We will take you to our cell, wash you, treat your wounds and let you eat and sleep. We will make up some story for Yvonne and not pry into whatever is between the two of you. And you are going to shut the fuck up and let us do it, understand?” Salazar turned to Raven.

  “The rat hiding in my armor is called Nibbles. Please feed him something when he wakes up,” Raven said, then sagged down and let the men carry him.

  59

  Collward

  “Report,” Edward Collward ordered Gly’Yen’Thn as she came to his office.

  “There were no major breaches in the upper city. The fire was kept under control, but we have lost a larger number of military officers. No soldiers of Palai got into the city though,” Yen answered.

  “Did you run into any of these assassins?” he asked.

  “I met one who was using a spear; he took out my men before leaving,” Yen admitted.

  “Did he say anything?” he asked.

  “No, he seemed to be in a hurry and wasn’t very chatty,” Yen admitted.

  How the hell did she survive meeting Lucas?

  “Well done. Your payment will be written to your name in the bank we had agreed on. I expect nothing more to happen in Cinderwell. For your next mission, I want you to investigate something from the Order of Palai. In particular, for what would they use large magic focusing crystals. See me in Xona in three weeks with the results, I will give you next set of instructions then,” he commanded. Yen bowed and took her leave.

  Edward went through the rest of the reports.

  Spectacular, that’s the only word that comes to my mind. We kept the upper city under control, completely crushed their advance through the sewers and managed to push them back in the mines. Me getting five of their assassins is a pleasant bonus, while the loss of Luis Lawland doesn’t really mean much. Cinderwell is our complete victory and with that, the city is ours because the lord has now nowhere to turn to. Moreover, both Gly’Yen’Thn and James are simply magnificent. Gly’Yen’Thn correctly evaluated the fire being a distraction and secured the upper city flawlessly. James crushed the Palai advance in a way I haven’t thought possible. He buried over five hundred Palai soldiers while losing only a handful of his men. I will have him set up the defenses the next time we expect an attack as there is no point in denying the fact that he is a military commander at least a level above me. The only thing that bothers me is the loss of the arena protection barrier crystals at both Cinderwell and Grimdawn arenas. When Lucas is around, mysterious disappearance usually means that Lucas stole it. HopefullyGly’Yen’Thn will find something that could lead me to what it means. In the meantime, onwards to Xona!

  “Urgent report sir!” a soldier stormed into the room.

  “What is it?” Collward asked sharply.

  “Both units who were sent into the arena have been found dead in the complex,” the soldier started.

  “HOW?”

  “We don’t know sir. We confirmed the deaths of all eighty-three men involved; we found no indication of any assailant. All wounds are standard weapon wounds, all corpses were in the hallways with no indication of being transported there,” the soldier continued.

  “How did we lose eighty-three men in a building full of our own sleeping gas without them even reaching their target?” Collward asked.

  “I don’t know, sir,” the man conceded.

  “It would be strange if you did. Thank you for the report, you are dismissed,” Collward evaluated.

  “Sir,” the man bowed and left.

  Eighty-three men… that’s two units with the entire chain of command above them. I don’t even have anyone left to execute for failure. Salazar’s team is loaded with magicians, those wouldn’t leave just standard weapon wounds. Ah well, I guess eliminating the count won’t be easy. It wasn’t supposed to be easy anyway… I guess that’s my next mission for Gly’Yen’Thn.

  60

  Iowen

  “Hmmmmh… you sure know how to wake up a woman,” Iowen purred as she was slowly awakening. Luna was down at her crotch, licking it eagerly. Her strong thick tongue made Iowen’s senses go wild.

  “I thought I would have some ice cream for breakfast,” Luna replied and got back to it.

  Glorious! She is getting better and better at using her tongue.

  Wait a second… why are my hands tied?

  “What’s with
these?” Iowen asked Luna and jerked her leg.

  “Didn’t want my breakfast to run,” Luna replied.

  “Like I would ever run from this,” Iowen laughed. She relaxed and enjoyed it.

  “Don’t tell me you are getting tired?” Iowen probed an hour later when Luna stopped. Luna slid over her like a snake, putting her face in front of Iowen.

  “Got a taste for something else,” she whispered and kissed Iowen passionately. Luna kept on kissing and started grinding her body on Iowens.

  “How come you like the cold so much?” Iowen whispered when Luna got away from her mouth and went on to kiss and suck on her neck.

  “It reminds me of James… his body was also cold, cold as a corpse. He would never make fire or another source heat, so winters were harsh. I liked them though… I liked all of it,” Luna admitted.

  “How about you untie me so I can cuddle back?” Iowen proposed.

  “Nah, I want to see how it is when I don’t need to hold you down myself,” Luna announced with a devilish smile.

  “Oh, come on, not that thing again,” Iowen protested. Luna slid her hand down to Iowen’s crotch. It felt like an erupting geyser.

  “Your snatch says otherwise,” Luna snickered, put her palm on the top and slid a finger inside, so only the tip was in, right at the entrance. She sucked on Iowen’s neck and started making slow circles with the finger.

  “For fuck’s sake Luna, can’t you just do me normally?” Iowen demanded among the moans.

  “I can,” Luna smiled and went on to kiss Iowen strongly. She didn’t stop with the finger.

  “Luna!” Iowen whispered threateningly.

  “You would sound a lot more threatening if you weren’t moaning loud enough to wake up the dead,” Luna purred. She reached with her left hand and took out a salt box.

  “What the hell is that?” Iowen demanded.

  “Breakfast,” Luna smiled and started showering Iowen’s neck and chest with it. The yellowish powder was falling out on her.