Legacy of Death_Revenge

by Thomas J. L. Green

  They reached large metal doors and stopped.

  “Listen up. The pirates got a set of artifacts that make the storm. We’re here to grab one of them. Agent Rik will give details,” sergeant summarized.

  “It should be of a size and shape of a football ball. There is a protective barrier around it and likely some guards. I will disable the barrier, but for that, I will need your cover. Before that, I need you to lock up the crossroad beyond this door. The room with the artifact is small; I will take four of your toughest men and head in. If we’re not back in an hour, leave without us,” the Shadowless, apparently agent Rik, laid out.

  “Nigh’! Rod! Bull! With me! Jim, take over till I get back!” sergeant Red commanded.

  “Sir, yes, sir!”

  “You two dirtbags are the toughest from the unit? Seriously?” Luna looked at Bull and Red with a smirk.

  “That’s why we got the babysitting duty,” Bull smiled.

  “It explains a lot,” Luna shook her head, “before we go, everyone drops everything you have made of silver. I smell demons from behind that door and if this goes wrong and I go berserk, I will kill everyone with something silver on them. No exceptions, no questions asked,” Luna stated.

  They looked at each other. The Shadowless drew a silver dagger and dropped it.

  “The coins count too,” Luna looked at Rod.

  “Fucking piss shit,” Rod exclaimed, quickly rummaged through his pouch and gave the handful of silver coins to another soldier.

  “Let’s roll,” sergeant ordered and the men opened the door. Beyond them was an empty hallway.

  They advanced and reached a T-shaped crossroad. Rik headed left. Jim motioned the men and they set up a defensive formation to block the right path. The left hallway led them to stairs. Long spiral stairs.

  “This will be a real bitch to run through,” Red remarked.

  Sergeant’s being informal. That’s new.

  They reached another door. Rik stopped them with a hand, soundlessly opened the door and snuck in. He was back half a minute later.

  “There are four bad guys in there. They seem tough but aren’t paying much attention. I’m not sure we can handle them in a direct fight, especially since the room is too small even for the five of us,” Rik revealed.

  “Nigh’ goes in and takes their attention, Rik gets the ball. We guard the door and rush in to get you two out once needed,” sergeant laid out.

  Sacrificial pawn. Great!

  “Sir, yes, sir!” Luna nodded and went to the door.

  Rik is Miranda’s subordinate; if I back out of this, she will hear it and never look at me again. How did she say it… no pain, no fear, no weakness!

  Luna opened the door and walked in. There was a small room with four big men inside. In the middle, there was a black ball hanging by a chain with a shining blue field around it. The men were bald, had tattoos over their bodies and wore light armor.

  “Sorry guys, but is there a toilet somewhere? I think I got a bit lost,” Luna exclaimed casually as she walked into the room. The four men turned to her. One rose up, lifting up a large double-bladed battle axe.

  “Hey! No need to get all sharp and stuff, I’m just looking for the bathroom,” Luna said innocently.

  “You got a Palai symbol on your chest,” one of the men pointed.

  Right! I really, really should have remembered that.

  That second of distraction was enough for the man to bury his axe into her side. It cut through the armor and rattled her ribcage. The impact threw her into the wall.

  Ouch! That hurt you fucking bastard!

  Luna leaped from the wall, turned her fingers into vicious claws and lunged at the man. He blocked the right hand, but not her left. Before it connected, second from the men hit Luna with a greatsword. It smashed her to the ground. Luna rolled to the side to avoid the axe. All four of them were now ready to fight her.

  “Ganging up on a young girl, do you have no shame?” Luna breathed as she got up.

  “You pigs have no honor, you don’t deserve to be treated any nicer,” one of them spoke.

  “Pig? Me? Who the fuck do you think you are?” Luna countered.

  “We are Ravagers, you are a Palai scum, which makes you a pig. I thought that was clear from the get go,” one of them tossed up.

  “Ravagers? Really? What a cool name! Is that how mommy calls you? Hide the lollipops; Ravagers are here! AHAHAHAHA!” Luna laughed.

  “That was really fucking awkward,” one of the Ravagers evaluated.

  “I know. I suck at this. I guess I should just get back to ripping you apart,” Luna sighed.

  She leaped forward. She ducked under their blades but got hit by a sweeping kick threw her sideways again. She attacked once more. Then again, again and again.

  This isn’t working. I got some scratches on them, but nothing that would count as a real hit. Individually, I’m stronger than each of them. Yet they really know how to cover each other, so all my attacks end up doing almost nothing.

  What’s wrong with me? These guys shouldn’t give me nearly this much trouble. I’m not slower; I’m not weaker… I’m a lot less tough than I used to be. These hits aren’t supposed to hurt me. Wolfie?

  ‘Dunno, I’m fine.’

  Were you not fine even before?

  ‘Hmmm, I guess we used to share the hits we got. Now it’s all on you.’

  Meh, now I feel bad about hurting you before.

  ‘This isn’t exactly the time to get sentimental.’

  “This ain’t working, we need to pin her down and sever the head,” one of the Ravagers remarked.

  Luna took a defensive stance. They spread out their formation a tiny bit and stepped forward. First came the man with a greatsword. Luna ducked under his swing and leaped to the side. The second man’s axe hit her to the side and spun her. The third tried to pin her down with his shield. She rolled over. Pain exploded through her as the third man sunk his spear into her chest. She was pinned down. The man with axe raised it to cut off her head. He spun sideways in the last second to dodge Bull’s axe. Sgt. Red rammed his shield into the man who was pinning Luna down. It threw him back, but he kept his balance. Luna sprung up to her feet. The room was now too full to swing weapons efficiently.

  “We’re pulling out,” Sgt. Red commanded.

  They instantly started retreating back into the tunnel. The Ravagers tried to break through sergeant’s shield, but it held firm.

  “Door!” Sgt. Red shouted.

  As the passed the door, there was a flash of light. It stunned the Ravagers for a second. That second was enough for Rik to close the door behind them and Rod to put a crowbar to block the handles.

  “MOVE!” Sgt. Red commanded and they started running up the stairs.

  These stairs are a real pain in the ass to run up to.

  They heard the Ravagers started breaking down the door. There were sounds of fighting resonating from up ahead. At the crossroads, the soldiers they left there were holding what looked like a flow of guards and people.

  So, the evacuation tunnel is being used… this sucks. There are likely hundreds of people there. Hundreds of people whose only hope to survive is to run through this tunnel. The tunnel we shall soon collapse. Men, women, children, they all hoped the escape tunnel would save them. Now it shall be their death. I am sorry.

  They ran into the escape tunnel and waited for the soldiers to collapse the formation into it. The Ravagers got mixed up with the people, which slowed them down. The wall of shields held firm. Slowly and carefully, they backtracked all the way to where the second part of their unit was waiting.

  “All ready?” Sgt. Red shouted.

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Let’s move!”

  They continued through the tunnel. A sound of an explosion filled the air. The ceiling behind them collapsed.

  I am so, so sorry.

  “Clean up!” Sgt. Red thundered.

  The people who were caught between them and the
blockade were killed off in few dozens of seconds. There was nobody from the Ravagers among them. They quickly left the tunnel and rejoined with the rest of the unit.

  “Diamond formation, we’re moving north!” sergeant commanded.

  “North… our ships are to the south,” Luna observed.

  “More fucking special mission bullshit… fucking great,” Rod evaluated.

  “There is nothing but forests up north. Forests and enemy territory… where the hell are we going?” Bull added.

  They marched away from the city into the forests around it. Sergeant Red stopped the march and turned to the unit. “We are transporting the demonic artifact through enemy territory. No fires, no lights, we march fast. Squads spread out, keep a hundred feet between each other. Use horns when attacked and keep your heads low. We will likely have both Faye on flying monsters and tracking demons looking for us. With a bit of luck, we rendezvous with Dreamwalker before they catch us,” sergeant revealed.

  “SIR, YES, SIR!”

  30

  Raven

  “Do you have any idea what the bloody hell happened to Lucas?” Zoey asked Raven when Lucas was busy fighting off a bunch of snake demons behind them.

  “We need to go help him,” Raven contested.

  Zoey caught him by the wounded shoulder.

  “We need to talk!”

  Time to play stupid.

  “Dunno, what should have happened to him?” Raven asked back cluelessly.

  “Are you serious? It’s been over a week since the last time he said something longer than three words. Plus, the only time he doesn’t drink is when he fights,” Zoey started.

  “Yea, he’s like this from time to time, gets over it soon though,” Raven revealed.

  “Soon? How soon?” Zoey pushed.

  That didn’t work.

  “Zoey, promise me you will try to help him. I won’t tell you anything otherwise,” Raven demanded.

  “I promise.”

  “Lucas’s got a problem. Or problems, I don’t know. Something haunts him. I don’t know what, I don’t know why. If it were something that could be killed, he would have done it a long time ago. He keeps it inside most of the time. Sometimes, something makes him remember. Then it comes out, all the sadness, all the hatred, all regrets. I just… can’t imagine what must have done to hate himself this much. Anyway, this happens once per year. He disappears for a few weeks and when he comes back, he doesn’t speak and just kills and drinks. He recovers after a couple of weeks and is fine for the rest of the year. This is the first time it happens without him disappearing first,” Raven laid out.

  “Once a year? Would it happen to be at around the same time every year?” Zoey pried.

  “Yea, should be soon. In a few weeks at most… oh,” Raven paused as he realized, “what do you think it means?”

  “Anniversary of something. Somebody’s birthday, funeral, wedding day, something like that. Does he have anything personal? I mean, all his items are completely impersonal. His weapons and clothes are just something he pulls out of the dream pocket in the morning. He’s got hundreds of them. They mean nothing to him,” Zoey tried.

  “He’s got a rosary. Six colored beads and a Palai symbol. He takes it out only when he thinks I can’t see it,” Raven revealed, “what do you think it could represent?”

  “Beats me. Could be anything, six friends, six former wives, six children, six past achievements… or a mixture of any of these or other things. Six is a bad number, it’s too high to guess it,” Zoey evaluated, “got anything else?”

  “Not really. He had a spear that meant a lot to him, but he somehow lost it,” Raven revealed.

  I will leave out the wife and mistress, Zoey can figure that out by herself plus Lucas did ask me to not tell her about them.

  “Thank you; I will think about it and see where it takes me,” Zoey concluded.

  “We need to move,” Lucas ordered as he finished with the demons.

  “Where the fuck are we climbing?” Zoey shouted. They were climbing up what felt like a massive chimney.

  “Up,” Lucas pointed. He was first and helping Raven while Zoey was behind them, climbing on her own. She wasn’t an unskilled climber, but the heavy armor and long poleaxe didn’t help. The climb was long, very, very long.

  “This screeching… are those harpies?” Zoey asked as the sounds became impossible to write off as a coincidence.

  “Yes,” Lucas confirmed.

  “Where the hell are we going?” she pried.

  There was no answer. Soon they got up to cavern.

  “Above and around us is the largest harpy nest there is. Most inhabitants are out away looking for us, there will only be few harpies protecting the children who were left behind,” Lucas started his speech. He waved his hand and six large barrels filled with oil appeared. Zoey remembered them; they bought these barrels in the cavern city a few days ago. “Go around, kill the bigger harpies and splash the oil all over the nest,” he specified before picking one of the barrels.

  “Are we… going to burn the harpy children alive?” Zoey realized with a bit of a shock.

  “Doubts?” Lucas returned a question.

  “No,” Raven replied and picked up a barrel.

  “How the hell did you get to hate the demons so much?” Zoey wondered out loud.

  “I don’t,” Raven admitted, “but I just can’t find any flaw in his logic. The world will be a better place without demons. Until something proves me otherwise, Lucas is right.”

  “And you?” she turned to Lucas.

  “Long story,” Lucas refused to give a good answer and just picked up a barrel. Zoey shook her head and took a barrel as well.

  “What are you doing?” she asked Lucas as she was finished with her barrel.

  “Cutting their wings,” Lucas remarked and stepped to the next baby harpy.

  “I didn’t sign up for this,” Zoey complained.

  “Then leave,” Lucas didn’t let up.

  “You are literally crippling children to attract their parents to death. This is inhuman,” Zoey protested.

  “It’s just demons,” Lucas refused.

  “What the hell do you mean?” Zoey demanded.

  “What I mean? I mean that humans, Faye, Urushnii, forest kin and all the other races have a thing that demons don’t. Free will. You can decide what you do with your life. Yes, there is the society that puts expectations on you; yes, it’s not like you can be whatever you want, but you always have a choice. Demons are made for one purpose, to serve their creator, the Red God. They may seem human, they may seem like you, they have emotions, they spawn scions and they might live normally. But not even for a second do they have free will. Because once the Red God calls, they all answer and do what they are told. Without question, without choice. Never, ever forget that!” Lucas stated in cold, convincing voice.

  “At least you started talking… and I suppose you aren’t going to tell me how you know all that,” Zoey observed.

  “No,” Lucas admitted and went continued his dirty work.

  “Company incoming,” Raven shouted from the top. They looked around and saw a swarm of harpies and bird demons closing in quickly on their location.

  “Good, light it up, we slide down by the eastern slope,” Lucas announced and took out a sealed jar marked with red x.

  “What is that?” Zoey pried.

  “Alchemist’s fire,” Lucas replied and threw it among the screeching baby harpies. It shattered and the liquid sprayed out, then instantly caught on fire, “let’s move.”

  “Aren’t we killing their reinforcements? They don’t seem to be too numerous,” Raven contested.

  “No, there will be a second host behind them, likely above the clouds, so we don’t see it. Plus, there is Kayleanne, who we have no means to fight as we are now,” Lucas rejected, “on the plus side, lots of them will suffocate from the smoke as they are trying to save the screeching children.”

  “You are a monster,
” Zoey breathed.

  She received no answer. Without any better options, she went to fasten a rope over a rock and descend the mountain before the black smoke reaches her. She tried to ignore the sounds from above but knew they would haunt her dreams for the nights to come.

  “No demons on the horizon,” Raven shouted before he descended the tree.

  “Good, seems like we have enough of a head start,” Lucas evaluated, “time to get some rest.”

  They were moving with minimum breaks for past day and a half and were all borderline exhausted.

  “Meh, this is weird,” Zoey shrugged.

  “What? Realized you aren’t feeling nearly as bad as you expected?” Lucas smirked.

  “Yeah… I did something so inhuman I can’t even wrap my mind around it, but I’m fine. I mean, it doesn’t even bother me anymore. I’m more worried about washing myself and getting something decent to eat,” Zoey shook her head.

  “Welcome to the dark side, being evil is a lot easier than people say,” Lucas laughed.

  “I need a drink,” Zoey evaluated.

  “Here,” Lucas tossed her a bottle.

  “RAVEN?” a woman’s shout echoed from the trees.

  “Hey, Luna,” Raven shouted back and rose.

  Luna leaped down from the tree to stand in front of Raven.

  “What the fuck are you doing here? You look like shit. Fried shit that was rolled in dirt for months. When’s the last time you washed? Ugghh… I wanted to hug you, but I don’t want this stench on me. God! I leave you out of sight for a couple of years and you go back to being a stinky pile of mess!” Luna exclaimed.

  Raven stood dumbfounded.

  “Luna, meet Zoey. Zoey, meet Luna,” Lucas motioned to introduce them.

  “Hey… sorry, I know we should shake hands now, but really, you stink as bad as Raven and I meant it when I said I don’t want the stench on me,” Luna shrugged. Zoey just sat down, utterly embarrassed. She wanted to fall through the ground.

  “Happy to see you too,” Raven finally found his words.

  “How far is your unit?” Lucas asked.

  “Couple of miles east. I was bored, so I went out to scout and well… I smelled you from a mile away,” Luna smirked, “literally.”