Retaliation (William of Archonia Book 2)

by Jarod Meyer

  William tried to stay focused as he staggered backward, but he was completely on the defensive. Finally, after several hours of being pummeled, the torches came to life. Meredox’s eyes appraised him, and William only hoped he looked better than he felt. One of his eyes was swelled shut that much was certain, and he was fairly confident that one of his shoulders was dislocated. He glanced down to see an array of dents speckled across his armor. His projection was getting stronger as well. There was a time not so long ago that Meredox could rip through his armor with ease.

  “What’s the matter, are you tired?” William asked.

  “Unfortunately, we do not have any more time. You will meditate for two hours, and then you will report to Achilles. Your mission begins tonight,” Meredox said, flatly.

  Dread filled William, and he shook his head. “I’m not ready. I could barely defend myself in the darkness. Achilles said that I’d be ready!” William shouted, panic raising his voice.

  Meredox put his hands up.

  “I am sorry, William, I really am. Achilles found out just today that the Synod will not condone your quest. They have forbidden Achilles from sending you.”

  “If they have forbidden it, then why did we train this evening?” he asked.

  “Achilles requested to see you this evening when we were finished. He will tell you everything that you need to know,” Meredox said.

  William nodded, and then stepped forward.

  “Thank you, Meredox,” he offered, extending his hand.

  The short Greek smiled, and said, “You do not have to thank me. Our goal is the same, to protect Archonia from this threat.”

  “Yes, but the threat against this realm is your brother, and it couldn’t have been easy training someone to kill him,” William said, impressed with the man’s display of courage.

  Meredox’s smile faded, and his gaze slid past William, as if he was lost in thought.

  “Luxor made his choices long ago. He had every right to follow his heart, but now that his ambitions affect the lives of innocents…well, he must reap what he has sown. My brother must die. I only ask that you destroy him quickly, and without forced suffering.”

  William grabbed his new friend by the shoulder and looked directly into his eyes. “I promise.”

  He could feel the ancient Greek squeezing his hand. This decision was causing him great pain. They finally released, and began walking out of the temple together.

  It took them a few hours to fly back to Helios, where the city was alight with all the evening activities. Valhalla was shimmering with bright blue orbs of light, accenting the already breathtaking structure. William and Meredox made their way to the highest pinnacle of the great stronghold, to the balcony leading to the Guardian Commander’s private quarters.

  Meredox walked in first. William followed, as he felt the former Justicar outranked him, even after being dismissed from the military. He wasn’t surprised to see Achilles prized bodyguards “Myrmidons,” as Achilles so called them, were still hard at work, training into the evening hours.

  William found himself wondering how long these soldiers had been in Archonia. They must have been great warriors to have been handpicked by Achilles himself. He then began to wonder why Achilles chose him for this quest, and not one of these men or women.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a bright light that cascaded onto him as the door to Achilles sitting room swung open. William immediately spotted the legendary warrior sitting at his desk, pouring over various scrolls and documents.

  “Young William, no doubt you have heard that our plans have been thwarted by those ignorant fools in the Synod,” the commander said, slamming a beautiful quill pen upon his desk.

  “Meredox just told me,” William replied, not bothering to mask his annoyance. “What is the plan now? Wait decades or centuries for him to attack again?”

  “There are those asking for our friend Meredox’s life. They believe that if the connection of the twin souls is severed, another portal will not be possible,” Achilles responded.

  William fought to hide his shock. He suddenly felt uncomfortable standing so close to Meredox. Yet, the old Justicar didn’t seem fazed by the pronouncement.”

  “I thought that you command the military, and are sworn to protect the realm. Isn’t it your word over theirs?” William asked.

  “We are a republic, William. There are checks and balances that prevent any one group or individual from having too much power. The Synod feels that aggravating our enemy will only bring further suffering to our people,” he replied with a frown.

  “So they will postpone this suffering?” William said, before starting to pace around the small room, trying to stifle his frustration. “I’m still going. The Synod can’t do a damn thing to stop me. If it is a republic, then I am free to go where I choose,” he stopped and said defiantly.

  Achilles remained calm. “I am glad you feel this way, William. I still think it is our best chance. However, you will have to suffer the consequences of these actions. If you set forth on this path, I will be forced to revoke your Guardian status, and the Synod will most likely try to have you arrested for inciting war,” he finished, looking away from William.

  William watched the commander for a moment, the old, prideful version of himself slowly creeping back in.

  “Is that all?” William replied, finally. “So…..what is the plan?”

  Achilles looked up from his papers, and then slowly stood.

  “William, you have courage, and strength. I still fear that you call too much upon your rage to sustain this strength, but you will need this in the coming days. Do not get lost in this quest. In Dichonia you will face temptations so appealing that you could only imagine them in your wildest dreams. You will face demons that you can scarcely comprehend. I will only give you one order on your quest, William, the rest will be up to you,” Achilles said.

  William nodded and waited for his commander to finish.

  “Come back to the light,” Achilles said. Then he walked over to a shelf that held many old manuscripts. He lifted one from the dark wood, and then handed it back towards William, without looking.

  “Read this tonight. Study the maps…they are the only known record of what lies in Dichonia, as provided by your friend here,” Achilles said, indicating Meredox.

  “That rabble is from many thousands of years ago, Achilles. It is most likely inaccurate,” Meredox argued.

  “Nevertheless, old friend, young William will need all the help he can get,” Achilles shot back, finally turning away from the bookshelf like he found what he wanted. William took the thick tome and began to thumb through it. The title read, “Hunt for the Fallen.”

  Achilles indicated with a hand to his desk, where a map of Archonia lay unrolled.

  “Tomorrow morning the Synod will send sentinels to arrest you. You will need to flee to the gate city of Scione. Once over the great wall you must head southeast. Do not fly. That would draw too much attention to you. The demons of the underworld would recognize you as an Archonian instantly. You must mask your presence as best you can.”

  William nodded, as he let Achilles continue.

  “You must follow this road,” Achilles said, indicating a winding pathway drawn onto the other half of the map. “You will follow this path until my contact finds you. She will aid you on the rest of your mission. She will present you with a pass phrase to confirm that she is indeed my contact. The phrase is ‘the Garden of Medina’, since you seem to have taken such a liking to it,” Achilles finished.

  “And what exactly do I need to do after I convince the enemy that I have fallen?” William asked.

  Meredox spoke up. “You must convince my brother to open another portal. Tell him that you will meet him here in the forest of Astoria,” he said, indicating one of the large forests on the Archonian side of the map. “Here we will lay a trap for him. When he opens the portal on our side we will capture and destroy him. If for any reason you cannot convince him
to do this our only hope will be for you to destroy him yourself.”

  “Understood. How will you get the sentinels to come arrest me?” William asked, curiously.

  “You are the tainted one. I do not think it will be difficult to convince them that you did something wrong, William,” he replied.

  “That makes me feel really good, Meredox, thank you,” William said sarcastically.

  As William descended from the tower he couldn’t decide where he wanted to go. This could possibly be his last night in Archonia. He had to tell his friends. Fortunately, they would all be in one place. He slowly floated down through one of the ceiling entrances to the castle, and eventually made his way to the barracks.

  He walked in, a dim light growing brighter as he walked down the hall. The common area was lit unusually bright for this time of night, and when he came around the corner his eyes met a warming sight.

  His friends were waiting for him. Standing in the lamplight was Brock, tall and broad. Juarez was there, with his sleek, thin features. He saw Samuel, whom he had not seen since the dark days after the battle. There were a handful of other warriors William recognized from his captain training. Henry was there as well, grinning broadly. William couldn’t help but smile.

  His friends all embraced him one by one in their own way, and they chatted briefly. His eyes darted between the seats, to the numerous doorways, looking for Katrina, but she was nowhere to be found. A twinge of guilt ran through him, and he wondered if she was avoiding him. Then his thoughts went to Angelica, whom he may never see again.

  “Thank you, my friends. I don’t know how much you know, or how you know it,” William said, looking at Brock with a grin. The large man frowned in return.

  “We know enough, Amigo,” Juarez responded, solemnly.

  “Brock has assured us that we would only cause the failure of your quest. If it wasn’t for that, we would be going with you,” Samuel said seriously. Samuel was a powerful shield bearer, and would be a valuable ally on this journey.

  “Yes, it is true. I will be going alone. There is no reason to worry. I don’t plan on being gone long. Meredox told me that the weather isn’t very nice in Hell,” William said, trying to diffuse the tension with a joke. A few people chuckled. “I also wanted to apologize that I didn’t get to spend more time with each of you. I have been busy since I first set foot in these halls. Just know that each of you has given me something important, and that it has brought me to where I am today.”

  The room was quiet. William clearly had their attention, and as much as he wanted to stay he knew that he had much to do before morning.

  “This isn’t goodbye, my friends,” William lied.

  He certainly couldn’t guarantee that he would return.

  “I have to say goodnight though. I have a lot to do before my mission. The sentinels come for me in the morning, and I won’t have any of you standing in their way,” he said, looking at each of them. They all nodded, and everyone shook hands, and hugged him once more.

  William hadn’t experienced many touching moments in his mortal life, and he was still trying to get used to the fact that people cared for him now. Just one more thing he was taking for granted in this new life.

  One by one, they said their goodbyes, and retired to the meditation chamber. William needed to be alone, and he knew where he wanted to go.

  His little room was dark, save for a small orb of light illuminating the statue of Hangaku Gozen, bearing her marks of shame. He walked up to her, studying her lifelike features. Would they build a statue of him like this one day? He couldn’t help but wonder, his pessimism taking over. Or, would he be forgotten, and no one ever tell his story?

  William felt a presence behind him. He didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. Her small aura was bold and clear in his mind. It was an Aura that he came to enjoy. He turned slowly, and took her in. She was nude, the light from the night sky revealing the curves of her shapely body.

  “Katrina…” William tried to say, but she put a hand to his mouth.

  She took it away slowly, and kissed it. William’s armor melted away from his body. His bare chest pressed against her supple breasts. She was warm and soft. He always saw Kat as the hard-nosed soldier, one who didn’t back down from a fight. He always saw her as simply one of the guys. But now, she looked every bit a woman; a woman that lit a fire deep inside him.

  She wrapped her arms around him and smashed their bodies together. William didn’t fight it. Hell, now that they were this close, he didn’t want to. His nostrils filled with the complicated scent of her body, a rich musk of scented oil and sweat.

  They collapsed to the ground, wrestling for a moment, until Kat hooked her foot inside his leg, threw her pelvis up, and flipped him onto his back.

  “…hand to hand trainer would be proud,” William breathed.

  Kat nodded, pulling her hair back and out of her face. William’s hands crawled eagerly up her stomach and over her breasts as she straddled him, and then slid them down to the muscular curve of her buttocks. She grabbed his hands suddenly and pulled them free, before pinning them to the ground above his head.

  “Let me,” she mouthed, her breath hot and sweet on his face.

  She bent low, kissing him, as their bodies became one.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  FLIGHT TO DICHONIA

  “William of Archonia, you are under arrest,” said a deep voice.

  William’s eyes fluttered open. He was sitting, cross legged on the meditation matt. He stood slowly, clothed in a thin pair of linen pants.

  “What are the charges?” he asked, playing the part.

  An Adjudicator with charcoal skin, and a bald head stepped forward and spoke. “You have been charged with the theft of an ancient and irreplaceable tome, ‘The Hunt for the Fallen’,” the Adjudicator said.

  William snorted. He wondered if Achilles stole it from somewhere, or whether he actually owned it and simply reported it stolen. Either way the cover would suffice.

  A sentinel walked behind William, and picked up the ancient tome. “The text sir,” the man added in a peculiar accent.

  William remained calm. He had plenty of time the previous night to study the book, and still get four hours of meditation time in. All things considered, he was feeling extremely well rested.

  “Is this the part where I’m supposed to come with you willingly?” William asked, almost suppressing a devious grin.

  The Adjudicator froze, his gaze twitching nervously to the other sentinels.

  “Tainted one, these charges are not dire. You may simply be relieved of duty, and sentenced to a term in prison,” the dark skin man stammered.

  William took a moment to respond. He wanted to lay it on thick. “You seem uneasy. I imagine you wish they’d sent a Justicar instead,” he said.

  The Adjudicator’s eyes widened, the room already pulsing with William’s energy.

  An explosion rocked the room. William’s aura pulsed away from him, knocking the Archonian’s around him from their feet. The wall behind him exploded outward in a shower of rock and dust. After the repulse, his energy sucked inwards, forming the plates of his armor. They shone brilliantly and fierce for a moment, before settling into their rigid dark steel form. A cloud of gray energy enveloped him, singing the intricate carpeting beneath his feet. Everything slowed as he made his exit through the hole in the wall.

  Flying straight southward, the wind whipped his face, fear of the unknown gripping him. Meredox’s book didn’t make his destination sound pleasant in the least. His body shuddered suddenly, as he felt the deep bellowing of Archonia’s warning beacon ring in the distance, catching him off guard.

  The warning beacon for something as simple as a thief?

  William was dumbstruck and more than a little nervous now. The Adjudicators weren’t messing around in trying to bring him to justice. It was possible that he could blame his own reputation for that.

  Achilles must have trusted in William�
��s strength. After his display of defiance in the meditation chamber they would assume the worst, and send the best. William pushed as hard as he could with every ounce of speed. Energy poured from his body leaving a trail behind him in the sky.

  Despite frequent looks over his shoulder, William was taken by surprise as a rush of energy flew past his face. The blinding light left him seeing spots for a moment, but he did see it hit the ground a mile in front of him in a cloud of dirt. He turned fully while maintaining his direction to see more than one hundred Archonian’s fully armored, and ready for battle. He was pleased to see that there weren’t more. This meant that they were the only ones able to catch or keep up with him. It did make him more determined. If they were that close then it wouldn’t be long before they actually caught up with him.

  William looked forward once again and spotted the city of Scione dead ahead. A great wall stretched out from either side of the city, separating the light from dark. He knew flying over the city would be suicide. After all, they would likely already be waiting for him. He veered southeast, in hopes that he would find his road without too much difficulty.

  A volley of energy beams screamed and whined as they burned through the sky. A jarring disorientation overcame him as one found its mark, exploding in a searing flash, toppling him off course. He grunted, momentarily dazed by the shock and explosion, and threw a volley backward, his dark, grey energy like molten liquid spouting from his fingertips. The pursuers, flying in a close formation, couldn’t dodge in time, and a few of his shots found a target.

  He pushed forward, but moments later a swarm of Justicars and sentinels fell over him. A Justicar tried to grab him from behind, but William twisted, grabbing him by the helmet with both hands. With his hands busy, he needed to find another way to expel energy. The cloud around him moved and focused, before three short bursts of energy finally erupted out of his chest, impacting the man’s face. Not enough energy to kill him, but it definitely took him out of commission. He let go and watched the man’s unconscious body plummet towards the ground. Two sentinels broke off to try and catch him.