“Because he doesn’t want them to retaliate against him. He thinks if they are weak enough they will not bother or be capable of doing so, but I know they will. I think you should all come to my camp.”
Ryan had them follow him to his base camp, and in the meantime, Lyla introduced the rest of the company.
“Ryan, this is my father, William.”
“I thought your father was dead,” he mumbled.
“Ta-da. I guess I’m back from the dead,” William said, mimicking him. Lyla had to hold a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Ryan raised an eyebrow not seeming to be amused by her father’s humor.
“This is my sister, Giselle.”
“I thought Lilly was your only sister.”
“So did I,” Lyla carelessly replied. Giselle held out her hand for a handshake, but instead he kissed the top of her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” If it were not for Giselle’s infatuation with Joseph she might have been flattered, but she wasn’t. She wiped the back of her hand on her pants and continued walking. Ryan didn’t seem to notice or he didn’t care.
“And this is my boyfriend, Thomas.” Lyla smiled as she made her last introduction. It was a strange, yet wonderful feeling. It was the first time she had ever called him her boyfriend aloud and the first time she had introduced him as such.
“Your boyfriend?” Ryan asked in curiosity.
“Is there a problem?” said Thomas. Lyla noticed the tension between the two and slipped her hand into his.
“Not at all. It’s nice to meet you.”
Lyla explained her grandfather’s kidnapping, how her father had been alive all this time, and all she could about Armoria. She wasn’t sure if it was a great idea to tell him of Armoria, but it was the only way he would understand where the Demorites came from and why they were there. He seemed dumbfounded and at a loss for words. It made all too much sense, but an alternate universe was hard to believe.
“So, you’re telling me they invaded our planet for two crystals and a golden ring, and that he created his kingdom just so he could destroy it? It seems very unlikely.”
“I don’t believe he wants to destroy earth, but I think he wants to have the power to,” said Lyla. “If he had that type of power, he could rule the entire world. Right now, there are still people out there who may also be planning attacks on the Demorites, people like us. That is what Damien fears, because he cannot be in all countries at one time. No one would question him knowing he had the ability to destroy everything.”
“Okay, that makes more sense.”
According to Ryan, the camp was not much farther, but it wasn’t easy to get to. They traveled through harsh terrain full of thorn bushes and thorn trees. The underbrush was so compact that there was no easy passageway through.
“Do you not have an easier way to get to it?” Giselle asked.
“No,” said Ryan. “Trails will only lead the Demorites right to us, and then all of our hard work would be for nothing. We have to be smarter than that if we want to survive out here. We stay off the grid, unseen and invisible until we attack.” Ryan heard a lot of grumbling from behind him. He agreed that it was a constant battle going in and out of their camp, but it was a necessary precaution, being as close as they were to the city.
Once in a short while, Lyla could hear extra rustling in the trees and underbrush around them. She wasn’t sure if it was the wind, which was hardly blowing at all, or if the sounds they were making were echoing back to them. Soon after she picked up on a new scent in the air that smelled of dirt and sweat. She stopped to listen, holding up Thomas, William, and Giselle along the path they were creating.
“What on earth?” said Giselle, who was leaning over to peer past William and Thomas in front of her. Ryan had turned around to see what the holdup was. “Lyla, why are you stopping? Is something wrong?”
“I think we’re being…”
Before she could finish, three men appeared from behind the bushes, surrounding them. They were pointing guns at them, and had vicious smirks on their faces.
“…followed,” Lyla continued.
One of the men with black spikey hair took a step forward. Lyla identified him as their leader.
“Remove your weapons belts and throw them here,” said the leader.
“Luke, what are you doing?” Lyla was startled to know that the voice had come from Ryan. He stood with his arms crossed as if he was annoyed at the very sight of them.
“Friends of yours?” said Lyla.
“Well if it isn’t Ryan Tolemo. Look who it is boys.” The other two men stood laughing, still pointing their guns at William and Thomas. “I didn’t notice you with the blood and dirt covering you, and I wouldn’t exactly call us friends,” he said answering Lyla’s question. “I suppose in a way we used to be, but Ryan ruined everything”
“It wasn’t me. It was you and your ignorance.”
“Do not insult me,” yelled the man. His gun had turned on Ryan and Lyla was surprised Ryan wasn’t shot. The man’s anger flared, with his free hand clenched into a tight fist and his eye twitching, but then his anger subsided. “Let me tell you all a little bit about our history with Ryan, since you clearly do not know. We were a part of the Alliance you see and we had grand ideas that Ryan wouldn’t even consider, so we left to form our own group, which in my opinion has turned out quite nicely.”
“Grand ideas?” said Ryan. He was speaking quickly, and his voice grew louder and louder with every word. “Your idea was to storm into the city unprepared and outnumbered. You would have us all killed and the Alliance would have been lost.”
“Enough of the chatter,” said Luke. “Weapons belts, now.”
“We had better give him what he wants,” said Ryan. “He is crazy enough to kill us all.”
Luke ignored his comment, and Giselle, William, Thomas, and Ryan threw their belts down. One of the men behind him stepped forward to pick them up, and threw them over his shoulder.
“Now you,” the man said to Lyla as he aimed the gun at her head.
“I have problems that are way bigger than you,” said Lyla. “So why don’t you take your worthless guns and go terrorize someone else.”
The man pointed his gun at the ground just in front of Lyla’s feet and pulled the trigger. She looked up from the ground where the shot had entered the earth and back to him, unwavering, as if he had just blown a bubble at her.
“Lyla, just give him the belt,” said Thomas. He knew how stubborn she was and that she wouldn’t give her belt up for anything. He didn’t want her to gamble with her life over something that could be so easily replaced.
“Matthew, take the belt from her,” said Luke.
Matthew appeared from behind his leader, taking long strides with his long, gangly legs. “Hands up,” Luke said to her as Matthew approached. “Or this one dies.” He pointed his gun at William, who had said nothing the entire time, but looked at her with pleading eyes. She did as he asked, but she was very annoyed. She didn’t want to give up her weapons, which would save her life countless times in the future, but they were not worth risking the safety of those she loved.
Matthew loosened the belt from her waist, getting uncomfortably close to her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Thomas’s disapproval, but there was nothing he could do about it. Lyla spotted Mathew’s gun that was now holstered at his side. She thought about reaching for it, but it was too risky.
“You will all die by the end of this,” Lyla said.
The three men laughed, and Matthew stepped back with a smirk on his face. He handed the belt to his leader, who examined her weapons with great pleasure. Her weapons were new and custom-made for her.
“Thank you, young lady. I’m sure this will come in handy.” He turned to his men who had resumed the position of pointing their guns at the people in front of them. “Bind them. They are coming with us.”
Lyla was thrown into a dusty old room with her hands still bound behind her
back. She had been separated from the others and had no idea where she would find them.
Plain white walls surrounded her. There were no windows, just pipes running from one room to another along the ceiling, and a wooden chair that sat in the corner. She wasn’t sure what this place was. They had traveled two to three miles before they arrived, and by the looked of it, it seemed to be an old electric company or chemical plant.
Lyla had no time to sit around and wait for something to happen. She had to take action. She had to get out of this place, because time was running out.
She placed her feet firmly on the ground and pressed her back against the wall so she could raise herself up just enough to slide her arms underneath her legs. She reached for the knife that was tightly hidden in her boot. She thanked God that she had always placed one in her boot just in case she was in a situation just like this one. She pulled out the knife with a bit of a struggle, but finally pulled it free. Lifting herself in the same position, she pulled her hands behind her back once more. She began to slowly cut at the rope, trying her best not to cut herself as the strands were unraveling one by one.
The door creaked open and she stopped cutting at her binds. Matthew entered the room and shut the door behind him. His gun was still attached to his hip and he had Thomas’s weapons belt around his waist. She hoped everyone was unharmed and safe, even though she knew they were in as much danger as she was. He spun the wooden chair around closer to where she was sitting and straddled it.
“Why did you bring us here?” Lyla asked.
“I follow Luke and do as he asks and so does Gabriel.”
Lyla quickly assumed that Gabriel was one of the other men who had brought them here. She was slowly cutting at the rope, engaging in conversation, hoping he wouldn’t notice until her hands were free.
“How many of you are there?”
“Just the three of us. We tried to seek out more people after we left the Alliance, but there were few to be found, and the ones we did find resisted.”
“So now you have come to the conclusion that taking people captive is the best solution? Why did you leave the Alliance with Luke? Why do you do everything he asks of you?”
“Luke has done more for me than you could ever imagine. I owe him my life.”
Lyla could feel that she had almost cut through the rope. Just a few more strands left then she would be free.
“We should be fighting together against Damien, not each other,” said Lyla. “Do you not realize what is at stake here? If Damien wins, we are all good as dead.”
Before Matthew could respond someone with a black bag over their head was dragged in by the third man she had seen before in the woods, who she now understood to be Gabriel. Matthew rose from the chair and Gabriel sat the figure down before pulling the bag off his head. Ryan.
He had fresh blood running down his face over the old crusted blood that still remained from before. Lyla was horrified by the brutal sight.
“What did you do to him?”
“We just showed him a little bit of our appreciation from before we left the Alliance,” said Gabriel. “All those times he disagreed with our ideas when all we wanted to do was contribute to the cause. He got what was coming to him.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” said Ryan. Lyla wasn’t sure if he was trying not to appear weak or if it really did look worse than it was.
“Shut up,” Gabriel yelled as he drove his fist into the side of Ryan’s head.
“Stop it!” yelled Lyla. “You’re hurting him.”
“Oh, you don’t like this, huh? Well, that is why we brought him here, you see. Luke sensed a fire in you that cannot be tamed, and we wanted to bring him as a reminder that this will happen to you should you rebel against us.”
Lyla had finally cut the rope free that tied her hands together and smiled.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said.
“And why wouldn’t you?” said the man with an unpleasant tone.
“Like I said before, I will kill you all in the end. You have wasted a great deal of my time that I cannot afford and I’m not taking it lightly.”
Both men laughed in retaliation. “Good luck.”
Lyla gave a half smile. “I don’t need luck.”
At that moment, she forced herself to stand and lunged toward Gabriel catching him by surprise. She drew her knife to his throat and sliced it open. She was about to reach for the weapons around his waist when Matthew came up behind her and threw her against the wall. She remained standing, but he came at her fast and tried to pry the knife from her hand. She rammed her head against his and he drew back in pain, but she regretted it, realizing it did as much damage to her as it did him. She grabbed her head, but continued forward and knocked Matthew to the ground with a swift kick to the back of his knees.
Lyla leaned close, ready to drive her sword into his heart, when he rolled her over. He was now on top of her, and he was grabbing for a weapon from the belt he had on. She was struggling beneath him, so he drove his fist into the side of her head. Her vision went blurry for a few seconds and she was forcing herself to stay conscious or she wouldn’t be able to stop him from killing her. Just as he was about to force the knife down on her, she caught his arm and stuck her knife into his side. She pushed him off her and struggled to get to her feet.
Lyla turned to Ryan, who was still sitting in the chair, and cut the rope that bound his hands behind his back.
“You have some pretty good skills,” Ryan said.
“I’ve learned a lot since we were kids.”
Lyla grabbed the weapons belts off the bodies and walked over to the door, which, to their surprise, was unlocked. They had expected it to be locked from the outside, but it was most likely left unlocked when Ryan was brought in. They cracked the door open to see if anyone was lurking on the other side, but the hallway was completely empty. They searched multiple hallways and doors, looking for the others, but so far, they’d had no luck.
They came to a dark hallway, and Lyla couldn’t resist but to search it. If she were going to hide something or someone, that’s where she would hide them. The first door had nothing but old boxes. Behind the second door was a table with their weapons belts. Ryan was relieved as he pulled his from the table and wrapped it around his waist. All the weapons belts were retrieved except for Lyla’s. After she found everyone she would find Luke and get it back. Lyla opened the last door of the hall, and someone must have been waiting, because when she opened the door, a knife was quickly pressed to her throat. Lyla forced the same action on her opponent until she realized who it was. Giselle.
“Lyla?” said Giselle. She lowered her weapon and embraced her. “We were all so worried. We had no idea where they had taken you.” Lyla looked past Giselle, and behind her stood Thomas and William. A smile appeared on her face as she embraced all of them. It was such a relief to know they were all safe and unharmed.
“What happened to you?” William said, gently touching her face where a bruise was forming.
“I’m fine,” she said as she winced and pulled away.
“I think it’s time to get out of this place,” said William.
“There’s something I have to do first,” said Lyla.
William didn’t want Lyla wasting her time on finding her weapons belt when they could get her new weapons. Except, she couldn’t. Where else would she find an Armorian blade but in Armoria?
They snuck up and down numerous hallways, even though, according to Matthew, it was just the three of them, so they shouldn’t come in contact with any added surprises. They found Luke in a room full of heavy machinery.
“Hey,” Lyla shouted. Luke turned around with a frown. “I want my weapons belt back.”
“How did you get out? Those two idiots can’t do one simple task. I’m going to kill them.”
“You won’t have to,” Lyla said. “I already did.” Luke looked dumbfounded and then noticed the blood that stained Lyla’s clothing. “If you gi
ve me my weapons belt without force, I will let you live. If not, I will be forced to kill you.”
Luke let out a laugh. “You cannot kill me. You have no idea what I am capable of.”
Lyla pulled out her bow and arrow and made a perfect shot toward him, but he moved so fast the arrow didn’t come close to hitting him. She looked at everyone in awe and they looked back in astonishment. She reached for her knife and threw it straight for him, but he dodged it once more. They had no idea how he could move so fast. Maybe he was right. Maybe they couldn’t kill him.
“Like I said, you can’t kill me.”
“How is that possible?” William asked.
“I have a very powerful source that makes me stronger and better at everything.”
“You’re working with Damien,” Lyla concluded.
“That is correct, which is why I am keeping you all here. He will be so pleased to hear that I have found you.” He stared at Lyla and felt so proud of himself.
“If you were working with him, then you would know he is already expecting me.”
“Of course he is, but he would be so pleased if I brought you in myself.”
“I’ve had enough of this,” said Thomas. He drew his sword and walked toward Luke who in turn pulled out Lyla’s sword.
“Thomas, no!” Lyla cried.
Thomas didn’t turn back or acknowledge anyone. He was done playing games and was determined to defeat Luke so they could move on. Thomas swung his sword at Luke, but he was not close enough so the blade barely reach him. Luke pulled his sword up in defense, but Thomas’s sword went right through his blade and cut his arm.
Luke was caught off guard as blood trickled down his arm. Knowing that the sword wouldn’t protect him, he threw down the sword and Lyla’s weapons belt and took off running. “This isn’t over,” he shouted back.
Giselle, Ryan, Lyla and Thomas stood in utter confusion. What had just happened? It was like Lyla’s sword had turned transparent. William stepped toward Lyla with a large grin on his face.
Aftermath_The Armorian Chronicles Page 22
