“Aww, I think someone is jealous,” Ryoko teased.
I snorted. “She can have her master’s attention and be his little play thing. I’ll pass.”
Verra glowered. “Such a waste of a design. Zarda created you. He gave you life. And you disregard his existence as if he were a mere pebble on the street. How dare you act this way?”
I stuck my finger in my ear and twisted it briefly before pulling it out and looking at its still clean state to show Verra how much I didn’t care. “I prefer not being someone else’s lackey.”
“I am not a lackey, you impudent wench.”
I grinned. “Then let’s see if you can back up those words.”
Verra growled. “I’ll make you regret crossin’ my path. I’ll send you to where you belong. With Amara and the rest of the failures!”
I glared at her. “You’ll regret calling Amara a failure.”
Verra grinned. “She got exactly what she deserved. She had no right to have been seen so highly in Zarda’s eyes. She had no right to keep his attention and refuse him without a second thought.”
“You’ll eat those words, Verra.”
Verra readied her sword. “Then let’s settle this once and for all. Just you and me. No guns.”
I grinned. She was out of her league now. “May the better-skilled experiment live.”
Verra chuckled. “May the most beautiful prevail. Oh wait, that’s me.”
Raikidan grunted and muttered to himself. “Delusional bitch.”
Verra glared at him. “You’ll be next on my list.”
I chuckled. “Not like you’ll get past the first one on your list, but I will.”
Without allowing her to speak, I charged her empty-handed. Verra grinned, seeing my actions as rash and thoughtless, but as she swung her sword, I dodged and grabbed her by the arm. Holding on tightly, I swung her across the street and then took off as she crashed into a crumbling building.
“Bitch…” she muttered as she pulled herself out of the rubble. “You’ll pay for that.”
I continued to run. I needed to get to my weapon. Soldiers attempted to stop me, but I dodged them with ease.
“Move, fools!” Verra barked as she attempted to catch me.
Reaching my giant zanbato, I swiveled on my feet and swung the giant blade. Verra defended herself and the two swords clashed. Verra giggled and I growled when her sword refused to break against the weight of my weapon. Her sword must be made from a synthetic metal.
“You’ll have to do much better than that, Little Eira,” Verra taunted. “Amara couldn’t defeat me with that pitiful excuse of a sword, so what makes you think you can?”
I roared with effort and pushed Verra back, taking her by surprise. I advanced and swung the heavy sword with great effort, taking out the side of a building in the process. Verra, unhindered by the weight of a heavy weapon or shield, dodged with ease and came at me.
“Eira!” Raikidan yelled.
I didn’t have time to scold him. I was very aware of what was going on and didn’t need to be warned. Grinning, and using the size of my weapon to my advantage, I slipped behind my weapon and twisted it sideways to use the flat end as a shield. Verra growled in annoyance and tried to attack again but I countered the same way once more. Amara may have had a much different fighting style than me, but I had seen her fight enough times to know how to fight like her, or as similarly as I could.
Verra backed off, but then charged at me right after. Ducking under her, she was forced to run up my blade. The moment her weight left the blade, I slipped under my zanbato and swung it at her. Verra twisted her body, but was unable to get away fast enough. My blade sliced into her side and she screamed in pain as she fell to the ground.
“You’ll pay for that, you stupid bitch,” she swore as she stood up. “You’re just like Amara. Pitiful, ugly, and a complete failure. Zarda should have thrown you away when he did her.”
I glared at her and tightened my grip on the hilt of my weapon. I was getting sick of her insulting Amara. She had no right. I charged, but as I did I changed my weapon. I wouldn’t be able to kill Verra if I kept fighting like this. I had to fight the way I was used to.
Willing the blade into my favorite reverse blade dagger, I separated it into two and held them firmly in my hands. I was going to end this now. Verra’s eyes widened in fear at the sight of my magical weapon and attempted to block my attack, but she was too slow. My blade struck her sword as she managed to block the attack, but the defense didn’t stop my speed. I swiveled around her and thrust my daggers upward as she spun around to defend herself. Verra choked as the blade entered her soft abdominal flesh and her sword clattered to the ground.
“You forgot one thing, Verra,” I growled. Verra grabbed onto my shoulders and squeezed in attempt to get me to pull away. “I am nothing like my mother… I could never be half the person she was. She deserved to live. Not me. Now die.”
I pulled my daggers out and spun around. In that moment, I grabbed Verra by the back of her head and sliced my sharp dagger through her neck. Her body fell to the ground and I stood motionless with her head hanging in my hand at my side.
“Laz?” Ryoko asked tentatively.
“Yeah I’m here,” I replied. I was actually quite surprised of how in control I was of myself. I couldn’t feel the monster inside of me trying to claw its way out at all. It was as if, for this single moment, it respected me enough to allow me to remain this way.
“’Kay, just making sure.”
I turned to face the confused army that surrounded us. I tossed Verra’s head at them and stared them down. “Anyone else want to end up like your poor general?”
The soldiers wordlessly looked at each other. Although I couldn’t see most of their faces because of their helmets, I could smell their fear rolling off of them in waves.
“I thought as much. Now all of you get back to your pathetic cells in that prison you call home. These people are innocent and don’t deserve to be punished for something they haven’t done.”
Someone chuckled, but I couldn’t figure out who. Then, a man pushed his way through the crowd and spoke. “Jeez, you’ve gone soft on us, Commander. I would have at least expected a death threat or two.”
I tilted my head in confusion. I thought I recognized the voice but the helmet muffled it enough to make me second-guess myself.
He chuckled again and pulled off his helmet. “Been gone so long you forgot who I was?”
I blinked. I couldn’t believe who I was looking at. He was a tall, young and handsome man with ivory skin and hair just as pale.
I chuckled. “Well, if it isn’t my pal, Talon. I thought you would have high-tailed it out of the military by now.”
Talon chuckled, his deep crimson eyes dancing with amusement. “Nah, I figured I’d stick around and do some recruiting.”
My brow rose. “What?”
I watched as more soldiers began to remove their helmets and saluted me.
Talon snickered. “There are more on your side than you realize, Commander.”
I looked around in bewilderment. There had to be hundreds of soldiers here and at least half of them had to be showing me respect.
“Traitorous scum!” someone yell. But before he had a chance to do anything, someone took care of him.
Talon grunted. “Idiot.”
I looked at Rylan and he grabbed my shoulder. “Nice job, Laz.”
“But I didn’t do anything,” I defended. “Talon did all of this.”
Talon shook his head. “No, you did, Commander. I convinced them because of you, because you led us so well. Without your leadership, I would have been long gone and dead.”
“I’m not that great,” I muttered.
A young man stepped forward. He smelled of tank water, an
d I wondered how recently he had been released. “Talon says you are one of the greatest leaders alive. He has told us many stories of great things you have done.”
“How old are you, kid?” I asked.
“Uh… nineteen,” he replied hesitantly.
I grunted. “I figured as much. You still carry the heavy scent of tank water. I will tell you something. You’re young, so you wouldn’t know of who I am or what I’ve done in the past. But I will tell you, I have done nothing great in my lifetime. I’ve made mistakes and allowed good men to die. I’d take their place if I could, but I can’t, and if I were a good leader, they’d still be around.”
The young man blinked. “Why are you telling me this?”
I turned to leave. “Because I won’t allow you to blindly follow a fairytale that doesn’t exist.”
What the young man said next stopped me in my tracks. “Then we won’t follow you blindly. We’ll follow you willingly, Commander.”
I looked around at the body of soldiers who agreed with this young man. Even soldiers who had been on the fence or against our cause removed their helmets and agreed with the kid’s words.
I looked at Talon, who had a large grin on his face. “What did you do, brain wash them?”
Talon laughed. “I can assure you I didn’t brain wash them.”
The young man spoke again. “Talon told us you were honest. He told us you would give your life for your comrades. You were honest in how you spoke to me. You were willing to admit you’ve failed in some way. You value your comrade’s lives more than you do your own. That’s more than anyone can say about the commanding officers we deal with under Zarda’s rule. We are no longer loyal to Zarda. We are loyal to you, Commander.”
I shook my head. “I guess that settles it then, now doesn’t it?”
Talon chuckled. “I guess it does. So what are your orders, Commander?”
I turned and began to walk away. “I want updates on a regular basis. I don’t care how you get them to me. And before you go back to Zarda to play faithful soldier, I want you to clean up your mess. This place is a disgusting disaster zone.”
Talon chuckled. “Now that’s the commander I’m used to. Oh and, Commander Eira.”
I turned one last time to look at him. “Yes?”
“The clones of you, the ones Arnia and Jaybird got caught showing you, they’re going to be letting them out soon.”
I groaned. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Talon grunted. “I wish I were. They’re terrible when it comes to socialization. They’ve destroyed all civilian dummies they’ve come in contact with. They barely have the control right now to keep themselves from killing other soldiers and each other. They’re completely wild and savage. Zarda has ordered them to be allowed out by next spring. He doesn’t care if they’re ready or not.”
I walked away. “It looks like we have a deadline now to end this. Now get to work, all of you.”
Talon chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
My team fell in behind me, and no one spoke until we were around the corner.
“What are we going to do?” Ryoko asked. “We can’t think of a plan to end all of this by spring, can we?”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” I told her. “We’ll figure it out, and come spring we’ll be free people.”
Blaze grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
“Are we going to inform the Council?” Rylan asked.
I nodded. “We’d be stupid not to. I’ll have Seda contact them when we get back to the house.”
Ryoko placed her hand on my shoulder. “You look nice. You look like Amara.”
“She’d be happy you did this in her honor,” Argus said.
“I know,” I replied. “It was the least I could do for her.”
I wish I could do more for you, mother. You know I would if I could. I’ll think of something. I promise…
Chapter 23
Images flashed by as I messed with objectives on my planner. Nothing was working together and it was frustrating me. Not that I wasn’t frustrated as it was. The Council had promised they’d up the ante on our assault against Zarda, and yet nothing had changed. It wasn’t surprising in the least though. Their way of working and my way of working were different, and that’s what frustrated me. They didn’t like to listen to other ideas that were different, even when they promised they would. Even working on these plans would be a waste of time because I more than likely wouldn’t be able to use any of them.
I sighed. I needed to talk to Genesis. She was part of the Council, after all, and the leader of this group. I needed to go to her more often with problems I had, rather than try to work them out myself. Tossing my planner on the bed, I scooted to the edge, but as my feet touched the floor, my door opened and Raikidan strolled in.
“Hey, I need to talk to you,” he said.
“Can it wait?” I asked. “I need to go talk to Genesis about something having to do with the rebellion.”
He shut the door. “Actually that’s what I want to talk to you about. Can you hear me out?”
I nodded. “Okay. What’s up?”
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot and didn’t know how to bring it up until now. When I offered to help, I thought there’d be more hands-on work. I thought the moment we entered the city we’d be doing something to tear Zarda down quickly, but that’s not how it happened. We’ve done more keeping low and to the shadows than helping the cause. Can you explain to me why this is?”
I sighed. “I can when I’m done talking with Genesis. They’re pretty much related.”
He blinked and then nodded. “All right.”
I walked past him and set a quick pace for Seda and Genesis’ room.
“Come right on in,” Seda invited as I was about to knock.
I didn’t hesitate and opened the door. “Genesis, I need to talk to you.”
Genesis sighed and Seda giggled. “Told you she was coming.”
My brow furrowed as I closed the door behind me. “Seda, you haven’t been eavesdropping on me again, have you?”
She smiled. “Not intentionally. I was talking to Genesis about what you were thinking about, and told her you were on the same page as me.”
I nodded. “Good, at least I don’t have to explain myself and I have someone on my side.”
Genesis sighed. “There’s nothing I can do differently, Eira. Things have changed; our team just doesn’t see them yet.”
“Well we need to start seeing them. We need to end this. It’s gone on for too long.”
“We have limited resources,” she reminded me. “We have limited numbers. Zarda doesn’t. We need to work with what we have.”
“I was gone twenty-two years and we haven’t progressed in the least!” I shouted. “We’re an organized group. We should be better than this.”
Genesis’ face reddened as her anger started to rise with mine. “I understand your frustration, Eira, but there’s only so much that can be done.”
Someone knocked on the door, diffusing our anger a bit.
“Come in,” Seda called.
The door opened and Ryoko stood in the doorway. Everyone else in the house was hanging out in the hallway.
“We all should be a part of this discussion,” Ryoko said.
Genesis glowered. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
“Yes there is!” I shouted. “We’re not moving this fast enough.”
“We’re doing the best that we can, Eira. Like I said, we’re limited on our resources and numbers. If we exhaust too much, we’ll go backward.”
“We’ve barely gone forward.”
“And what will you do if things stay the same? Go rogue and attempt this on your own?” she challenged.
�
��Of course not,” I replied. “I’m not suicidal.”
“Then you need to be patient. The other teams already have more work and are doing them the best they can. We will have our chance soon enough.”
“Don’t tell me about patience,” I warned. “It’s my job to be patient and wait. And this is getting far too ridiculous to be patient about anymore.”
Genesis sighed. “If you want a team transfer, I’ll give it to you.”
Ryoko looked at me as if she were afraid I’d take that offer.
I shook my head. “That’s not what I want.”
“None of us want that,” Argus said. I looked at him and he nodded. There was one thing we both had in common and that was how out of place we were on Team Three. “We want this rebellion to end.”
“Just talk to the rest of the Council,” Ryoko begged. “We’re all tired of fighting. If this is dragged out too much longer, morale is going to be what kills our cause, not lack of numbers or resources. We all want real lives.”
“And some, like Raikidan here, are offering their time to help even when they’re not directly involved,” Blaze pointed out. “Still not clear why you’re here.”
“His reasons are his own,” I said.
Blaze held up his hands. “Easy. I was just stating a fact. No one here but you knows why he’s helping. We don’t exactly get help from the outside.”
“Except there are a lot of people who are affected by Zarda’s reign,” Raikidan countered. “And that’s why I’m here.”
Nice cover. The others wouldn’t be too thrilled to hear his only reason for being here was the satisfaction he got out of revenge, even if it wasn’t his own.
Genesis sighed. “Look, I don’t want to argue with all of you about this. I’ll go talk to them again, but I’m not promising anything.”
“Whatever,” I muttered before heading for my room.
I flopped down on my bed and grunted into my blanket. My planner rolled and tapped me on my head, but I ignored it. That talk had amounted to nothing.
“Hey, Eira?”
I turned my head to look up at Raikidan. “Yeah, I promised you an answer.”
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