Legacy of Death_Revenge

by Thomas J. L. Green

  So… we are outnumbered almost two to one and the enemy army is half made of demons and has four thousands of Miranda’s sisters. I hope they aren’t as strong as she is because the idea of having to fight four thousand Mirandas is downright terrifying.

  “By my reports, the Faye are led by Mathilde Hellwind, the matron of the Hellwind clan. They have just arrived, are completely disorganized and will likely be unable to fight effectively for a few weeks, at the very least. Provided Mathilde is indeed leading the forces; they shall pose a major threat but not unmanageable. For those unfamiliar with the Faye, they all possess some sort of teleportation ability. It is usually short range and slow but depends on the individual. In general, they have superhuman speed and strength, which makes them absolutely lethal in close range combat and shine in a disorganized type of battle. The best counter strategy is large ranked units and arrow fire as they rarely carry shields. For whoever doesn’t know me, I am Beatrice Hellwind, former Faye warrior, now commander of the 14th Legion of the Holy Order of Palai,” Beatrice spoke coldly.

  How many Faye are in the Order? I need to ask Miranda because when I think about it, I saw at least two or three other women who were suspiciously young for their rank. This war is starting to get a personal feeling… and not in a good way.

  “Thank you,” Elias nodded.

  “As for our next move, it’s time to say hi. We start at the city of Vretton and surrounding villages, Khul, Mane and Crore. I’m taking 4th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 24th and 25th. The remaining legions are to send scouts around and chart the area. Our charts of these waters are ancient and we have already seen multiple uncharted islands. I will go through the actual missions and goal with you individually. For now, the most important message is the following. We are not here to negotiate; we are not here make friends, we are not here to be humane about it. We are here to wipe out the pirates and all their facilities. Anything and everything that stands in our path shall be destroyed. Take no prisoners, leave no survivors. Any surviving civilians will be used as food or slaves for demons, so give them the mercy of death by our blades,” he added.

  Time to go to war.

  ‘Yay.’

  What’s with the sad tone.

  ‘Wars have the unfortunate property of being awesome as a tale and not nearly as awesome when you are a part of it.’

  This is the first time you are not enthusiastic about killing people.

  ‘I hope you never find out why.’

  Luna sat through the rest of the meeting and tried to remember what she could.

  “Ah, right,” Elias turned to Luna after the meeting officially ended, “go find sergeant Red. He should have a spot in his unit.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m searching for sergeant Red,” Luna approached a table of men playing cards. Everyone she tried before had pointed her to the ships tavern. She was in it now, although she wasn’t sure if the word tavern applies to this place. It was a lower deck covered by tables where soldiers played all sorts of games. Cards, dice, chess and whatever else she could think of.

  “That table,” the man pointed.

  “Thanks, where do I get the beer?”

  “Ahahaha… you don’t. Beer’s only served after the battle. Till then, it’s just piss, sweat or water,” he replied.

  Luna shook her head and went to the table.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m looking for sergeant Red,” Luna said as she got to the table.

  “Sorry… that’s a really fucking weird name,” a man at the table remarked.

  “I’m Luna,” Luna breathed awkwardly.

  “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the table burst into laughter, “left to fucking right. Rod, Bull, Red, Jim.”

  “I was told that I am to join your company,” Luna revealed.

  “Did ya? Which fucking bastard told you that?” Rod asked.

  “Elias.”

  “AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” they all laughed, “so, why don’t you take a seat.”

  Luna sat down.

  “Meh, we need another player, can’t play in five,” Bull remarked.

  ‘I want to play!’

  You can play cards?

  ‘Of course! I’m a wolf; I can do everything.’

  It’s going to be really awkward.

  ‘Come on, Luna, let me play… just for a bit.’

  “I can play for two, sorry if its awkward,” Luna breathed.

  “Sounds like fun,” Bull agreed and gathered the cards. He dealt Luna two hands.

  No peeking on my cards!

  ‘How am I supposed to play without seeing my own hand?’

  Fine.

  They played a game.

  “You are surprisingly good at this,” Bull remarked.

  Luna smiled awkwardly.

  This is really fucking awkward.

  ‘Stop putting my chips on your pile.’

  Seriously?

  ‘Yes, seriously. It’s time you puny humans feel the might of the wolf!’

  They played another round. Then another and another.

  How the fuck are you winning all the time? I can literally see your cards, I’m playing against you and I see how I’m losing without having any idea why.

  ‘You pathetic humans cannot even hope to comprehend my greatness.’

  When the fuck did you learn to play cards?

  ‘Why wouldn’t I know how to play cards? Just because I’m a wolf?’

  Yes.

  ‘My previous host loved it.’

  They played another round.

  “Looks like the newbie is counting cards,” Jim observed.

  Am I?

  ‘No, of course not.’

  “I have no idea how to do that,” Luna breathed.

  They all looked at her suspiciously and went on to play another round. Wolfie won again.

  “So, what’s your deal with being with the navy, newbie?” Bull asked.

  “I… actually don’t know. I’m… just here.”

  “So, you are just here on admiral’s orders and refer to him by his first name?” Jim pried.

  “I guess.”

  In retrospect, I should have been prepared for these questions.

  ‘Hush, I need to focus.’

  On what?

  ‘Bull’s shuffling.’

  You are totally counting cards, aren’t you?

  ‘Of course, I am.’

  I thought I was the brain of our team… since I’m not the brawn to begin with.

  ‘You are our charming personality.’

  Thanks.

  “Alright, newbie, you are part of the 47th company now. The first battle is in two days, get ready. Rules are simple. One drink after the battle, not before it. Two, loot with care, we don’t leave behind a single fucking coin. Three, no raping, we’re better than that. Four, have fun, just because we are at war, it doesn’t mean it’s gotta be boring. Five, first do the orders, then discuss them. There is no time for discussions during the battle, we talk about what went right or wrong after we have won, not a second sooner,” sergeant Red laid out.

  “I can do that,” Luna breathed.

  They played a few more rounds before heading off to bed.

  I want you to teach me how to play these games.

  ‘Grab something then.’

  Like what? I have no idea what all these games are.

  Luna looked around.

  ‘There! Take the board and the pouches with small round stones next to it.’

  What is that?

  ‘Weiqi. It’s hard but good to learn how to play these games.’

  Luna grabbed the game and headed to her cabin.

  “Alright men, listen up. We land by the east side of the docks, form a shield wall and advance into the city. Over twenty roads are leading to the docks; we get to block one of them. Got it meatbrains?” the sergeant leading their unit announced as their ship departed from Angry Judith.

  “SIR, YES, SIR!” echoed from the ship. It was a board
ing ship packed with soldiers. Eighty heavily armored soldiers with pavises.

  I guess we are the front line.

  “I think I forgot to get a shield,” Luna squeezed out awkwardly.

  “Newbie! Have you done shield wall drills?”

  “No,”

  “No WHAT?”

  “No, Sir,” Luna corrected herself.

  “Do you have the extensive practice and knowledge our formations require?” the man continued.

  “No, Sir.”

  This is really, really awkward.

  “Do you even know how to use a pavise?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Then why the fuck would you want a shield?” he shouted.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t know WHAT?”

  I want to jump from the ship, swim down to the bottom of the ocean and dig myself into it. Forever. “I don’t know, Sir,” Luna repeated.

  “You know what this is?” sergeant pointed at a symbol of Palai symbol on his shield.

  “Yes, Sir,” Luna agreed.

  “You wear it. We wear it. Stay around us and kill everyone who doesn’t wear it. You are on a special association; this is what it fucking means! Got it?” sergeant explained.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  I can do that. At least until I can get lost in the chaos and go search for Miranda.

  “OI! Ease up a lil, we are outpacing the fog!” sergeant turned to the men who were rowing.

  “Yes, Sir!”

  “First time in a big battle?” Bull asked softly.

  “Mmhmm.”

  “It’s not much different from small fights. Help your friends, kill everyone else. When you get too wounded, go chill in the back and wait for someone to patch you up. Also, don’t overdo it. It’s the first battle; there is going to be a lot of them before we are done. Don’t get into backlash unless you have to and finally, if you don’t know what to do, then just stand and fight,” he revealed.

  “Thank you. I just feel like I was really thrown into this head first,” Luna admitted.

  “There ain’t much to it, newbie. It’s really what sarge said, stick around and kill shit who isn’t us. When there ain’t nothing left to kill, we’ve won. About instructions, well, you can’t join the 4th Legion without having at least 10 years of service at some other legion, so everyone is expected to know what to do.”

  “Sounds like the 4th is special,” Luna observed.

  “The first five are. We are the main navy legion, home to the admiral himself. It means we get to fight the most,” Bull smiled.

  “Hush back there, we are getting closer!” sergeant ordered and the boat felt silent. Luna took the opportunity to look around. The fog was thick, but she could see shapes of other similar boats around. Judging by the density, there had to be a lot of them. There was no sound of alarm from the city

  This fog is really convenient… too convenient, in fact. The dense tall fog that’s been surrounding us past two days. Who am I kidding? There is no luck involved. We are on night attack to put a city to torch while we hide under magically made fog… this isn’t going to be a battle; this will be a murder. Meticulously planned and coldly executed the murder.

  Their boat hit the shore. Without a word or signal, men grabbed their shields and made a formation on the shore. There were plenty other units around them doing the same.

  "GO, GO, GO!" thundered the sergeant and the unit moved forward. The light started to spark around the city and people started shouting.

  Too late. Were they to notice us before we boarded the boats, they might have had a chance.

  They advanced to the docks, sergeant picked a street and ordered them to block it. Luna was amazed by how well coordinated the soldiers were. The first line knelt down to plant their shields. The second row stood above them to hold shields to make what looked almost like a roof. The third row knelt behind and took out crossbows to shoot in the gaps between shields. The fourth line was like the third but standing.

  “HOLD!” sergeant commanded.

  City guard soon started running from the street. They were panicked and disorganized; some looked like they didn’t even change since they got up from the bed. Not a single one even made it to the formation.

  All the other units are holing up as well while completely ignoring the ships in the shipyard. I see corpses of guards all over the docks… who killed them? I mean, I know it was us but when? It must have been before we even landed.

  *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!* echoed through the air.

  What?

  The house near to Luna looked like it exploded. There was a massive burning hole instead of its second floor. Luna made a few steps to look in. There were holes going through multiple houses, at the end of them was what looked like a massive ball of flames.

  *BOOOOOOOOM!* the ball exploded into bright light and liquid flame flew all out from it. It felt like night turned into day. Luna looked up and saw the sky was full of burning balls. They were like a thousand falling stars. Smoke and ashes filled the air. It mixed with the wet, heavy air into a heavy blend. It was hard to breathe, but not entirely unpleasant to her. Luna just stood and stared as the bombardment from the fleet turned the city ahead into a sea of flames in a matter of minutes. The atmosphere completely consumed her. She enjoyed the heavy wind coming from their fleet. It fanned the flames into the city. Screams of pain and horror filled the air. Luna was absolutely petrified.

  “PUSH!” the sergeant ordered after about an hour.

  The unit moved.

  Right! I’m not here to enjoy the scenery. I’m here to get lost and go search for Miranda!

  ‘Why don’t you just run off then?’

  I want to repay them at least a little. If I help them win the battle, it’s not so bad if I get lost later, right?

  Luna went with the unit. For long minutes, they advanced through the burning city, killing everyone they saw. It was mostly just civilians. They reached a city square. Inside it was forming what looked like a local army. The Palai soldiers were pouring in from the streets; they quickly made a large formation. For a minute, it looked like the two forces were staring at each other across the square.

  “FOR PALAI! CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!” thundered across the square and the Palai soldiers started advancing forward.

  My blood’s boiling… all these screams, burning corpses, blood… they make me wanna go wild.

  ‘…’

  No! I need to stay calm and focused. I should fight alongside the soldiers, take it easy, make it steady, exactly like Zakuma taught me. Calm… focused… calm…. steady… fuck it.

  “ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!” Luna let out a roar that shattered windows. She didn’t need to check her hands. She knew they are turned into claws. Just like her mouth was full of fangs which stretched from one ear to another. Luna ducked and leaped forward. In a single leap, she flew over the Palai soldiers and landed in the middle of the square. Few steps forward and she was on the enemy line. Luna ducked under the spears and rammed her claws into two men in front of her. They went all the way through. Luna threw them aside and whirled forward. A speartip was in front of Luna’s face, she ducked, slashed the man’s belly open and bit off his head.

  Yummy! She swallowed it in one gulp and whirled while ducking, crushing legs of everyone she could reach. Her world slowly turned into chaos. Swords, spears, blood, screams. Luna slashed and stabbed and bit and cut. It was all one red blur.

  Luna started hacking her way to a man with a tall golden trimmed helmet. He saw her and drew his blade. He stepped in to meet her with a stab. Luna parried his blow with a claw while stabbing forward with her right. He put a shield to block. Her claws pierced the wood and dug into the man’s arm. He let go of the shield and stepped back. Luna threw off the shield and pressed forward. The man took his longsword into both hands and cut down at her. Luna ducked left to avoid the cut. She forced her body to turn the motion into an uppercut. Her claw grazed over the man’s leg plate
s but caught him under the breastplate. Luna’s momentum was so strong she ripped the breastplate off him, tearing the leather straps that held it together. He didn’t panic. Instead, he pivoted his stance and launched a swift cut at Luna’s neck. She straightened her back and stood. The sword missed her by barely an inch. Luna hit the man with a backhand strike. His helmet flew off and he staggered. Luna pierced his shoulder with her left hand and pulled him in. She bit. His head filled her mouth. Luna crunched it and swallowed. A headless body was all she held.

  Delicious! Luna ripped the man’s ribcage off, revealing the organs. She leaned in and bit. She still felt his heart beating in her mouth. More!

  “Done snacking, newbie?” a man asked as Luna was ducking over an eaten-out body.

  Shit! I lost it. How the hell did I lose it so easily? This only happened when I got my brain damaged, but I took virtually no hits in this fight. Wolfie?

  ‘…’

  WOLFIE?

  ‘I was hungry.’

  You can’t just take me over and go eat people!

  ‘I can now. I’m sorry, I didn’t know I could… I guess it’s one of the side effects of the new bindings.’

  She realized she knows the soldier. It was Bull. Luna looked around and saw the square was full of Palai soldiers. Palai soldiers and enemy corpses.

  “We’re done stabbing the corpses, it’s time to return to the ship,” Bull smiled at her from under the helmet.

  “Yea,” Luna stood up and cleaned her mouth. She didn’t need a mirror to know she was covered by blood.

  “REGROUP!” echoed through the square.

  Luna followed Bull to regroup with her unit. They were all close to her.

  “We’re coming back,” sergeant ordered and the unit started to move back to the boats. “Newbie! No eating before the battle’s over!” sergeant said in a scolding voice as he turned to Luna.

  “Sorry.”

  “Sorry, WHAT?”

  “Sir, sorry, sir! I won’t do it again!” Luna corrected herself.