I was in the process of hunting down an Offus, when I came across this woman that now had me in her cross hairs. That energy whip would no doubt kill me if I didn’t act quickly. I fired the arrow and she smiled cockily, as she sliced it out of the air and destroyed it. She did it, so easily that it was amazing to see. Had it been any time else, I might have thought that she could be an ally.
I had 4 arrows left and I had no interest in wasting them, but I really didn’t want to die. I fired two in succession and she moved to the side like she knew they were coming. She slashed out with that tendril of energy and once again destroyed the only means of protection that I had at hand.
The tendril came towards me and I barely got out of its way, but I stumbled over a rock and landed heavily on my ass. I looked up at her and she now had that tendril snapped back behind her and about to take the final blow.
“Gemini, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” That was Braden’s voice and I could see him standing behind this girl with the cowl over her black armor. “I know that’s you and you can’t fool me. We were together a long time and I would know your figure anywhere.” That cocky smile that she had on her face had all, but disappeared. She turned away from me and I was tempted to attack, but I thought it better to see how this was going to play out.
“Braden, this is none of your business. You and I haven’t been together in some time. We weren’t right together. Even though you professed your love, you never heard me say the same thing. I thought deep down that I did love you, but there was something that was missing and Lord Vadam was able to give me that.” This was sounding oddly like they had a connection. Maybe she was the one that tried to mend his broken heart after his wife perished.
“Gemini, this is not the place or the time to air dirty laundry. Our grievances are our own and we don’t have to share them with any one.” He was obviously directing his comments towards me, but he had yet to even make eye contact. That meant that he had something to hide and didn’t want either myself or Gemini to figure out what it was. I was starting to put pieces together and then it dawned on me that Gemini was his…wife.
“I’ve noticed in the last three years that you’ve changed and maybe if you had taken that initiative when we were together things could’ve been different. You had no courage and no strength and you were more than happy to wile away your time on a farm. I wanted more than that and I told you that several times, but you didn’t even listen to me.” She had pulled the cloak off and I saw that her hair was white on one side and black on the other. It was a jarring effect, but definitely something that I would not have seen, unless she had taken the cowl and helmet off. The hood had exposed her uniqueness and now I was seeing that Braden was not very happy to see her.
“Gemini, you said that you would never don the hood again. You said that those days were behind you and that you were willing to look at a simpler way of life. I should’ve known from the moment that I met you that you were trouble. I tried to save you, but I don’t think that you really wanted to be saved. You liked who you were, but something told you that what you were doing was wrong. I gave you a way out and instead of grabbing onto it; you let it slip through your fingers. Now I catch you trying to kill Shana. This is not you and you’re not some hired wannabe. You have your own mind. I don’t know how many times you told me that.”
I hadn’t said a word and I didn’t think it was right for me to interfere in whatever personal business they had between them. I was just glad that Braden had come to my rescue, even if it was only because his wife had come back from the grave. Come to think of it, he never really did say that she was dead. He mentioned her memory and I had only assumed that she had passed on. In all the time that we had been together, he never actually said that she was 6 feet under. I think in his mind she was dead to him. She was a painful reminder of what he had tried to have.
“I think that had we met right now and at this time, we might have been able to make things work, Braden. You were never about confrontation and it was only after I put the fire underneath you that you began to see that life didn’t have to revolve around your pet Rankin. You didn’t have to languish as a farmhand. I gave you the courage to rise above your upbringing. I gave you the tools to strengthen your psyche and make you ready for battles ahead.” She was taking a lot of credit for who he was, but I think that he had it in him all the time.
“I didn’t need you to show me anything. From the moment that you left me, I began to take stock in my life and I came to some painful conclusions. I know that you’ve tried to tell me what to do, but you found out in a hurry that I was just as stubborn as you are.” While they were having this little meeting of the minds, others were right now hunting down the Offus and bringing it back to Lord Vadam. We were wasting time, but I didn’t see any way around it.
“We’ve been through this to death, Braden. This is the same argument that we’ve been having, until I finally had enough and decided to find out if there was something else better than you. I found that with Lord Vadam and he allowed me to be who I was.”
“No, he allowed you to be what he wanted you to be. He didn’t give you an open forum and he certainly didn’t let everybody know that you were the rising star. He has kept you underneath that black armor and black cowl for a reason. Every body knows you, as the hood and you think that is by accident? Do you really think he made you this myth and legend, just because he wanted to? He doesn’t want people to know that you’ve been responsible for a lot of his actions. He can’t have women seeing you, as a role model and decide to emulate you.”
“I don’t need to hear this right now, Braden and we can talk about this later, but not until I’m done with what I came here to do.” Apparently, this little talk of theirs did not change her opinion on what she had to do in Lord Vadam’s name. She turned away from him and I could see in his eyes that he didn’t have it in him to kill her. He was going to allow her to strike against me. There must’ve been a small part of his heart that still belonged to her and it was that small part that was ruling his better judgment.
“You know that Braden is right. Lord Vadam has been hiding you, because he doesn’t want people to know that a woman is doing his dirty work. He gave you this persona, as a way to kill me, but I think that you can use that to cement your role within the guardsmen. You can decide to let this be and compete in a more honorable way. You don’t have to kill.” She was smiling and that tendril of energy was snapped back.
“I wish that I could say that this was going to hurt me more than it is you. Unfortunately, we both know that that’s not true.” Her eyes told me everything that I needed to know and more. She was not going to back down and even though I saw doubt in her eyes, didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to follow through.
I was standing there like a deer in the headlights, unable to move and continually staring at this bright white energy beam that was consisting of one short tendril. She would need to take a few steps closer, but I could see that that was not a problem.
“I implore you, Gemini not to do this. You need to finally see the truth. You can’t do this and she means more to me than you can ever know.” I think that was her wakeup call and her eyes opened at the realization that I was more than just a partner in crime. “I couldn’t love another after you were gone. I know how pathetic that might sound, but you had a hold on me. When Shana came into my life, I thought that those feeling could never be rekindled. With her, it was different and she allowed me to be the man that I was supposed to be. I’ve never told her what to do and if I tried, she would always make up her own mind.” I liked that he was praising my virtues, but that wasn’t going to stop Lord Vadam’s assassin from killing me in his name.
Her eyes were wide and then she fell to the ground on her knees with the tendril slipping back within her finger. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and I could only see the whites for a second, before she fell face forward at my feet.
Chapter
two
You could have heard a pin drop. I looked toward Braden; half expecting that it was him that was responsible for stopping her from killing me. He was a few feet away and there was no way that he could do anything from where he was. Even he looked shocked at this latest turn of events.
I heard the crack of the branch and a man stepped forward out of the shadows. He was the same man that I had fired an arrow at. I had forgotten, but now that I had fired four arrows, it left me with only one. It would need to be the kill shot to take out the Offus.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Scar isn’t working for anybody. He does not fight for any side, but his own. Scar deserves to win, but you did him a solid and now he is returning the favor.” I’d never heard anybody talk about themselves in the third person. “This is the last thing this guy does for you. His debt to you is paid in full.” He had wavy black hair and was shorter than Braden, but he certainly did know how to make a good first impression. “Scar will do what’s necessary to win. He will use whatever methods he has at his disposal to make sure that you do not stand the victor. However, Scar does admire your strength of character. He has not seen someone like that in some time. He wants you to know that he thinks that you might be a worthy competitor.” If I didn’t know any better, I would think that he had some kind of split personality.
He was wearing red armor like Braden and that made them direct competitors, whether they wanted to be or not. I turned toward Braden and then back to Scar, but he was already gone with only the whisper of a tree branch to indicate that he was ever really there. I looked towards Gemini and she was moaning, but she was still in one piece.
The arrowhead punctured the space between her shoulder and the rest of the armor. It must’ve been a weak point and something that Scar had decided to use. I had a feeling that he was using something else than instinct to know just where to strike. It was possible that he was getting his information from the same person that had been keeping an eye on me. If that were true, then why didn’t she interject? If I needed somebody to have my back, then it was right here and right now.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about Gemini. It was a very painful time in my life and I really didn’t want to revisit it.” I could understand that, but he led me to believe that she was gone from his life for good. “I know you thought that she was dead and I did nothing to dispel that rumor. To me, she was different and the woman that you see today is not the one that I fell in love with. That girl is dead and I don’t think that there’s any way to bring her back.” I suppose from his point of view it would make sense, but to me, it felt like a bold face lie that he should have to answer for.
“I understand that she hurt you, Braden, but there was no need for you to hide the fact that she was alive. Just tell me that you’re divorced.” He looked at me strangely and once again I had a feeling that there was no such thing as divorce on this world. “Maybe I should reword that. Was there at any time that you dissolved the relationship?”
“When she left me, it was severed and there was no unbreaking something that was already broken.” I looked behind him and he had already bagged an Offus. It was looking up into the sky with dead eyes and now we had one more to complete the cycle. It would make us two of the six going forward.
“I’m going to forgive you for being less than honest. I can see that she affected you. I just hope that you can get past it, because if she’s going to be our direct competition, then we’re going to have to work against her. Not only that, but we are going to have to work against Lord Vadam. He has made it his life’s mission to destroy me and the message that I represent.” I could see some of the looks that I had gotten when I stepped into the arena to battle those in the flying of the arrows. Women had stood and watched intently to see how I was going to make out. When I vanquished my foe, I could see that they were elated, but they were unwilling to voice their jubilation. They didn’t want Lord Vadam to single them out.
“I see that you’ve been busy, Braden. You did that all on your own. That must’ve given you a sense of accomplishment and pride. As everybody has said and we have both witnessed firsthand an Offus is not exactly an easy animal to capture or kill for that matter.” There were at least three of us that were wearing red armor and at the end of this; only one from each castle could be represented. It was known from the very beginning that the black was always the hands down favorite.
Gemini was holding her head and she turned and pointed her finger and I moved to avoid the tendril. It did not come and she looked down at her finger and suddenly realized that something was wrong. “I can’t bring it to bear. It won’t come.” She reminded me of a man that couldn’t perform. That was one thing that Braden didn’t have to worry about.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Gemini. I will say that this makes me very happy.” I could tell that her mind was a little fuzzy about the details of what happened. She obviously didn’t know who had taken her out and it was not my place to tell her. After all, Scar had done it and I had no reason to put a spotlight over his head. It would remain a mystery, unless of course she was able to weasel the information out of Braden. He was weak around her, but I think that strength within was the only thing that mattered. He did not want to kill her, but I don’t think that he wanted to go back to her. He had already crossed that bridge, burned that bridge and salted the earth to make sure that nothing grew. Metaphorically speaking.
“Shana, we need to get on with what we came in here to do. Gemini will have to answer to Lord Vadam and that is not something that is going to be pleasant by any means.” She was shaking her head and most likely trying to clear the cobwebs.” Whatever arrow he had used to puncture her skin had no doubt some lasting effect on her latten supernatural abilities. I didn’t think that it was going to last long, but maybe long enough for us to complete this cycle of the competition.
I took a moment to enjoy my surroundings and the way that the branches seemed to reach out like a living entity. The leaves were stretching to accommodate the breeze that was making them dance to their own tune. The sun was strong and the later that we got into the day, the easier it would be to catch an Offus. Unfortunately that meant everyone else would have the same advantage.
We were walking on the path and no more than 10 feet away from Gemini, I saw Scar. He was dragging his prize behind him like a badge of honor. He looked like he was having problems pulling it along behind him, but he was not one that was going to give up. He smiled and I gave him an imperceptible nod in return. There was no reason to say anything and to do so would only make it possible for Gemini to know who was responsible for stopping her from killing me.
“Scar has been hunting for most of his life. He comes from a long line of hunters and trackers. I knew that when I threw my hat into the ring of the Red castle that he would come along with it. He just started training last year and this is his first year. That’s the main reason why I tried to get into the position of victor the last couple of years. Unfortunately, my Achilles’ heel had always gotten in my way. He has since been taken out of the competition.” With Scar in the competition with us, it’s going to make it a lot more difficult for either one of us to stand, as the sole survivor of the Red castle.
I admired Scar and his unique way to look at life through the eyes of another. His way was strange, but it wasn’t the first time that I had heard of something like that. It made you think that somebody was talking through him with his own voice.
“I’m not going to begrudge Scar his position, Braden. He did me a favor to cancel out the one that I did for him. I believe in paying it forward. I do a good deed, and then somebody else does a good deed and it continues like that. If I hadn’t helped him out, then I have this funny feeling that I wouldn’t be amongst the living. You didn’t even lift a finger to help me. I know that it was hard for you to fight against your emotions for me and for a past love that has long been dead and buried.”
“You don’t know how sorry I
am. I should’ve acted and done something. I did try to reason with her, but you saw that she was dead set on what she had to do for Lord Vadam. I couldn’t stand idly by and do nothing, but I decided that words were better than actions. I know how foolish that might sound, especially when you were the one that was on the receiving end of that energy whip. That whip was meant to kill you. I’m kicking myself for not doing something, but I’m glad that Scar was able to do what I couldn’t. I hope that you don’t take that as a sign that I don’t love you.” I wasn’t sure how to take that.
“We can talk about that later, Braden. We are wasting daylight. Scar is already one of the six and we don’t even know if there are others. We do know that there is still room for two. If there wasn’t, then there’d be some kind of message to inform us that there was only one spot remaining. With no message comes the possibility that we could still get out of this with our hands raised in triumph.” There was no point getting into an argument that was going to go around and around for hours on end. I would definitely have to talk to him about this. There had to be a way to let him see that Gemini did not have his best interest at heart. I had to poison those memories and make it possible for him to act the next time.
I knew in my head that Scar would not always be there. Our debt to each other was done. Braden had a better chance, because he was in my life and he wasn’t going anywhere. I’d yet to find anything on the looking glass and I figured that the first person that might know something was the mysterious woman inside my head. I could feel real power coming from her and why she hadn’t decided to rise up against her oppressors was beyond me. It was possible that she was in need of an army and that her first salvo was to recruit me into her ill advised crusade. Others would not even entertain the idea of joining forces with her, but I was built from a different DNA strand. I did not bow down to any man. Whether it was lord Vadam or even the love of my life, Braden. Nobody had the right to tell a woman what to do. It didn’t matter if it was common practice. This practice had to end and if I were going to do something, then becoming one of the guardsmen would be a huge step in the right direction.
Another Uoria Holiday: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Holiday Romance Page 62
