by CJ East
A look of sheer terror gripped the historian. He froze clinching his hands with white knuckles.
The Patrician smiled at his Magistrate. “Do you not find history fascinating Justinius?” A look of sincere wonder was in his gaze.
“I do your Excellency. I find the older I get, my truest friends are bound in leather and smell of ink and pressed wood.”
“Well spoken! Indeed they are.” The Patrician nodded to the relieved historian for him to make his retreat. He accepted gladly.
The Patrician inspected Justinius with a curious eye. “Your hair has gone completely white, old man. I almost mistake you for an Auri. It has been too long since we last spoke.”
“It has been a long while. Peace has been the blessing of your reign, Patrician Otho. Meetings of such dreadful content have been few.”
“It would seem our time of peace has come to an abrupt close. We knew there were Damned in the Wilds of the Small Dome, but not of these numbers and level of preparation. We received a report of their true strength just recently. Through an acquaintance of yours, I believe.”
Otho cast a side glance over his shoulder landing on Senator Flavius. The smiling man swaggered forward from the audience near the stairs. “The Magistrate is indeed familiar with the boy. He escaped his custody.”
Justinius read an expecting look from the Patrician, waiting for his reply. The Senator stood in front of the Patrician brandishing a smug grin. Justinius strained a smile of surprise. His old friend Otho would not get his hands dirty in this conflict.
“Senator Flavius, twice meeting in half as many days.” Justinius genuflected with his palms raised. “Yes, the prisoner did escape the Coccino courtroom. Luckily, none of my men were severely injured in the skirmish. They had been relieved of their positions by your personal guard. I pray your men have recovered from the beating they received from the boy.”
There was an almost imperceptible fade in the Senator’s exaggerated smile. The Patrician turned in time to see him recover. “Your genuine concern for the health of my men is touching, Justinius.”
The Patrician raised his head to speak. “Senator Flavius reports the boy claims he is from Terra. He has broken many of our laws. Yet the boy has provided valuable intelligence to General Scipio in the form of a map.” The Patrician turned and motioned to the General. “It is whispered he offers field commands of strategy to our Commander Taurean.”
The Patrician looked hard at Justinius. “If this boy can perform these things and thrash a squadron of my Senator’s elite guard, I need not insult you by voicing my concerns.” Flavius smile completely disappeared. “Your Priestess housed him and has spoken extensively with him.” The Patrician turned an evaluating gaze to Amica. She cast her eyes to the ground.
Justinius interjected. “Your Excellency, I have interrogated the boy and in my findings…” The Patrician lifted his hand with calm control, still evaluating Amica.
“I would prefer to get my information as close to the source as possible, my friend. Would you be so kind to answer a few questions, Mother of Coccino? That is your traditional title, is it not?”
Amica raised her head and pulled in a deep breath. “Yes, it is one title. Our people are found of descriptive nomenclature. I am charged with the spiritual guidance of the scarlet people. I will help you as I am able, your Excellency.”
“This Terra Boy, what is his motivation?”
“Your Excellency?” Her face showed her confusion.
“He fights with our men, yet I have pronounced a sentence upon him. Why does he continue to fight for Arx?”
Amica swallowed deeply. “He does not fight for Arx, your Excellency. He fights because he is an angry and confused child. He strikes out in revenge at the Duobus which ravaged his mind in an attack.” Her eyes implored the Patrician. “He does not wish harm upon anyone. He wishes only to be left alone.”
The Patrician considered her words. “You speak highly of him. Yet, you are aware of the old tales? The brutal men of Terra hold nothing in higher regard than war. There are more like him? They will come for him?”
“He was without hope and alone when he found the blue gate. There will be no others.”
General Scipio received a messenger. The Patrician turned to the General. “Good news, I trust?”
“Yes, your Excellency. The front line of the enemy is destroyed. The Duobus retreats from a charge led by Commander Taurean.”
The Patrician peered over the wall to the battlefield below.
Amica lowered her head in respect. “Forgive me, your Excellency, but in light of the good works shown by the boy - the map and the pursuit of the Duobus. In light of these, can you not delay your pronounced judgment on the young one until you have spoken with him?”
At this bold request Justinius flinched as if he was struck.
The Patrician perceived the reaction with interest.
“Perchance,” the Patrician smiled as he scanned over the high walls of Arx. “The stars incline us, they do not bind us”
Amica followed his gaze across the battlefield. She felt the intensity of Kinch’s rage and closed her eyes. There was another battle - a sudden, decisive battle. A pulse of desperation echoed through every Damned. She tried to link to Kinch, but his portal was impenetrable as the strongest steel.
Her shoulders tightened with anticipation. She searched the threads of psychic energy flowing through the Damned and radiating from Kinch.
Amica’s knees buckled and her crimson face drained pale. She could feel Kinch was afraid of something. Someone. His strength was outmatched.
She staggered from Justinius and pushed through the crowd to the stairs. Justinius called after her in amazement as she disappeared down the stairs shouting to open the gate. She appeared seconds later, a slender figure in a flowing white, dashing into the Wilds.
Redemption
His vision began to change as he ran toward the Duobus. It started with a thickness in the air. As if the empty spaces had turned to the clearest water, a strange depth filled the space between the trees.
The world turned to gray. The outlines of trees and shrubs appeared to be flowing with a gray fluid. The path he ran licked upward to meet him, the gray canopy of leaves dripped down to embrace him. To his right the fire from the catapults raged in a solid wall of gray flame.
He sensed the strong energy of the Duobus. Ahead a group of black silhouettes hurried down the path deeper into the gray Wilds. Was this a trick? Telepathic camouflage?
He called out. “Halt! At least face death like men.” He sprinted faster down the blurring path.
They stopped. A squadron of twenty dark, fluid shapes turned and fanned out from the path. He felt the energy of the Duobus relaying through them. There, the darkest one, turned his side to him.
The Duobus dug his sword tip into the ground as the Damned surrounded Kinch. “They are almost here. We will crush you outside the gates.” He laughed. “Did you really believe, in one day, you could become more powerful than me?”
“I am more powerful than both of you. Your buddy on the other side of the fire knows it too.”
The flowing dark shade of the Duobus inspected the tight ring of Damned who had circled Kinch. He stepped back as if he might run. “You are a fool.”
Kinch lifted the two sword hilts across each other. The blades slid across each other. A metallic reverberation sang through the quiet Wilds as Kinch lifted them high above his head.
A deep voice spoke and surprised him. “Twenty.” It was his voice.
The events next events occurred so fast they seemed a dream. He didn’t remember planning to kill the twenty soldiers. They seemed to throw themselves under his blade. They all converged on him like gray moths rushing into a raging campfire.
The circle fell as if on command, their dark blood raining down on him. Kinch’s head hung low, his eyes fixed forward on the black-washed figure before him. He was alone with the Duobus.
Kill him without delay. He sens
ed a company of Damned rushing to save their Duobus. The Duobus called back with a fast beating drum of thought.
Kinch felt the Auri army from the opposite direction. They were running through the burning gray scenery behind him on a collision course. At the lead was a blazing white wolf, then the young Lucius, and Taurean leading his men. The Auri soldiers burned as they ran, white fluid flames licking from their blurred features.
Kinch stepped forward, soaked in blood, a sword angling down on each side. The Duobus glanced from one sword to the other, then released a wild yell. He drew back his sword with flashing eyes and ripped down. Kinch spun an automatic sidestep and brought both swords circling around his twisting body. They slashed through the side of the Duobus.
The stunned Duobus fell to his knees, blood pouring from the two gashes in his metal armor. Kinch circled and placed the point of the blade on the nape of his gray neck. A sudden icy wind pressed against his back.
“Do it.” A female voice urged behind him. “He has earned death. Payment for his weakness.”
Kinch turned to find the dark vision of a small curly haired woman. Her form blazed and danced like a black flame. An alarm of fear gripped his chest. Was she really here? Was she a banshee or some form of monster?
He examined Lamia with contempt. Her body was translucent. Revulsion replaced shock. She flickered with a sheerness which sometimes showed her skull.
Kinch lifted he sword and kicked the dying Duobus on his side. “He’s already dead, he’s just in denial.”
“Then you have outlived your usefulness, Child of Terra.”
He sauntered forward, staring at the apparition in front of him. He swung a lazy, curious arc with his sword through her shifting form. It parted like water then reformed.
“I have outlived my usefulness? You have no idea how right you are. But that determination isn’t for you to make.” He flicked his wrist and brought the other sword up through her dark pelvis and through her head. “Maybe someone else needs knocked down a peg or two.”
Lamia erupted in laughter. The shadows fled from her cackling face, leaving flashes of bare skull. “You are dog barking at war chariots. You have no understanding. How will you defeat me, Son of Terra?”
He swung with a sudden violence, severing her neck. The black vapors refilled the missing flesh as she spoke. She did not laugh. “You have the power he wishes you to have, no more than that. You are completely consumed by darkness. Did you not think it strange for such a rapid transformation?”
Kinch slashed again through the black vapor of her form. This would end badly.
A remorseful tone filled her voice. “You could have been an asset. It is a pity to waste such a talent, the power of your rage is surpassed only by Drakon himself.” The shadow blazed black. “Kneel!”
A force hit him with the impact of a shotgun blast to his chest. His legs buckled with a sudden drop. He landed on his knees.
“Throw away one of your swords.”
His arm flew out in obedience. He fixed on it, trying to break from her control. He recoiled in shock to see his arm was turning gray. The sword dropped to the ground.
“What, Outlander, are you surprised? You embrace the Great Darkness and expect no consequence?” She leaned in close and caressed his face. “Such a pity. Now place the sword’s hilt on the ground. The tip goes against your chest.”
His free hand gripped the blade and began to shake. He focused all his energy to push away. He lowered the pommel of the sword into the ground. Tremors rippled through his body as the two dark energies fought for control. The point of the sword angled toward his chest. Her power was much stronger.
The approaching armies shouted their war cries at sighting. A great clash was coming. Kinch could not turn away from the sword, for fear of yielding to Lamia.
“Now boy, the easiest part for a lost soul, such as yourself. Just give up. Fall onto the sword.”
Kinch shook with struggle as he blew air and strained his darkening face. She was so strong. He couldn’t stop her. He looked up at her in defiance.
At that moment a huge blur crashed through her. Her form dispersed like a swarm of dark bees, then drifted back to her shadowy frame.
Argus tore into the line of Damned closing in on Kinch. His white outline burned against the black backdrop of Damned approaching their Duobus. Argus ran a small semicircle in front of Kinch, killing the first line of Damned rescuers.
Kinch could not look to Argus. He could not call out. Perspiration rolled from his face as his chest began to bare down on the sword’s point.
Damned boiled around the protective wolf. They called to the wounded Duobus struggling to rise on all fours. Argus stalked the circle, his savage barking pushing back the bravest of Damned.
The Damned overwhelmed Kinch and Argus. Argus made a final charge. He tore into the Damned trying to retrieve the Duobus and kill Kinch.
The Auri army pushed into the Damned. White and black flaming shapes thrashing in mortal combat. Argus spun into a fury of death and teeth.
Kinch felt the sharp tip of his sword press through his jumper. Sweat dripped from his face as he fought his body for control. He watched his black hands move down the sword and grab both ends of the hand guard. His arms began to pull his chest into the sword tip.
He jerked his head up at Lamia. She had moved closer, her black eyes locked on his. Her shadowy robe almost touched him. The flesh of his chest resisted the blade in a slow, agonizing protest.
His soul was falling now. There was no traction for him to change directions. He was drowning in darkness. He searched to find of one good thing which he knew to be real. One absolute, pure truth.
He saw an image of Sashenka.
A sudden energy connected and joined all the white shadows on the battlefield at once. A solitary Coccino woman, running through the battle, called out. Her inner voice was thunderous, firm and confident - “Close your eyes! Now!”
Hundreds of men shut their eyes. A blinding flash of white energy exploded through the Wilds. A ring of light pulsed from her upraised hands and rippled through the trees.
The Damned screamed in blinded terror. They dropped their weapons and groped in their darkness.
Amica dashed through the soldiers looking for Kinch. Her mind found Lucius - “Were is he?”
He responded, “I cannot find him!”
She leapt over a body. The wails of the sightless Damned filled her ears. She ran faster and saw a group of standing Auri. Taurean was with them and was removing his helmet. She sprinted to him, her breath short with panic.
She called out to Taurean and he turned with slow steps. Behind him was a kneeling boy in a green jumpsuit splattered with blood. The boy angled forward, his arms limp and his body propped up with a longsword through his chest.
“No!” Amica screamed.
The men turned to her as she fell forward. “No! I cannot be!”
Taurean stepped forward catching her. He held her tight and wrapped her in his golden arms. Amica fought, beating his chest with her fists. She tore from him and ran to Kinch.
She stopped short, her hand flew to her mouth in shock. Her eyes filled with tears and her head began to shake side to side in disbelief.
Her distant gaze drifted from the body to Taurean as dreaming. “Hurry, take him to Arx.”
The commander took a deep breath, peering at the pale flesh of the dead boy. “It is too late, Amica. He has left us.”
Amica turned back to the body. She raised her head high fighting back tears of doubt. “I do not believe it to be so. The Lord will not allow it. He is the One We Await. The boy has struggled so hard and given all while we have sacrificed so little. It is not too late for God to attend his faithful.”
She walked toward the body and knelt down. She pushed back the boy’s shoulders and looked into his open, vacant eyes. A tremor flashed across her crimson lips.
She wrapped her thin hand around the sword handle and gripped the body’s shoulder. The swo
rd slid out of the body with a loving care as silent tears fell from her eyes.
Kinch’s blank expression was peaceful with the hint of a youthful smirk.
“Take him.” She pleaded, looking deep into the boy’s face. “Taurean, take him inside the city walls. Someone must help him there - Justinius will know.” Her statement sounded like a question.
She smiled into Kinch’s lifeless eyes the way a face attempts to mask a breaking heart. She raised her head and glared at the circling skirmishes in desperate battle. “Taurean, if you ever loved me, please take him now.”
Taurean eyes flashed from the ground to the broken woman. He touched her shoulder and picked up the body.
“Kinch?” Lucius called out. Amica rushed to him in an embrace. He opened his eyes and looked over her shoulder. He saw the corpse of Kinch draped over Taurean shoulder. To the side, the Duobus staggered on his hands and knees. Lucius pulled away from Amica and walked over to the Damned.
Lucius glared down to the struggling leader. The Duobus lifted his head and returned his scowl with bitterness. An expression of recognition crossed his gray face as he surveyed the half-breed boy. He lowered his struggling head and coughed, spitting blood. A wicked smile crossed his thin lips and he began a slow, mocking laugh.
Lucius’s body did not seem to move, but his sword became a blur. The head of the Duobus fell to the ground.
The Wilds shrieked with the demonic screams of thousands of Damned in a maddening chorus.
Taurean lurched to Amica with the dead boy over his shoulder. “Run!”
His men formed a living shield in front of Amica, Lucius and their leader. They drew swords and sprinted toward Arx. Losing their sight had disoriented the Damned. The death of their Duobus and connection with reality propelled the enemy into inconsolable madness. The Damned wailed in chaos as they slashed and ripped against anything they could touch, including their own kind.
Auri soldiers collected to the safety of the retreating column. They carried their dead and wounded to the center of the formation. The growing column fled from the anarchy. The strongest soldiers lined the periphery, leading the frantic pace and cutting down every flailing maniac in its path.
