“What?”
They hurried over to an Audi that was waiting for them at the curb. Anise, pulling the key out of… somewhere, pressed two buttons on it and threw it to him. He snatched it out of the air on reflex. He didn’t immediately understand what she wanted him to do.
“If the reporters are to be believed,” she said as she jumped into the car, “you’re a great driver.”
He turned back to the blown-up building. The flames had already spread to the first and second floors. He heard people shouting and the noise of fire trucks howling down the street.
The armed men, who’d been dazed by the explosion and were now trying to grab their weapons, looked around in search of them.
“There they are!” One of them shouted and bullets rained down on the asphalt all around them.
“Fuck!”
He dove into the car, hit the gas, slammed on the brake and turned the key. The engine roared and the car took off. In a matter of seconds, they were two blocks away, but he was jolted and slammed into the steering wheel as machinegun fire rang out behind them. Bullets struck the Audi, and the car began to wobble. Slowing down because he didn’t want to risk making a turn at full speed, he twisted the wheel.
“We’ll-”
A powerful impact launched the car into the air. The sky and ground spun around him and he felt as if someone had tossed him into a washing machine and turned it on. The airbags activated, trapping them. When he regained consciousness, he saw Anise dragging him down an alleyway. Her injured left arm was bent at an unnatural angle. They hid in a side alley, behind dumpsters that stank of rot. The stench that wafted out of the sewers was almost tangible. All he could think about was whether this was the end of his story. He twitched and yelped, catching Anise when she suddenly collapsed.
He got to his feet, took her by the shoulder, and started hobbling toward a subway entrance when a bullet struck the side of the building right next to him, sending sparks flying.
“Hand her over,” a voice came from behind him.
He turned around. Hiding behind human shields, the men in suits had their guns pointed at him. He examined the hostages: a crying woman with long, black hair and blue eyes, a man with a strong chin, and a little girl with golden locks.
“Hold on, Elizabeth,” the man’s voice was trembling, but he was clearly trying to comfort his wife and daughter despite that. “Elaine, honey, look at daddy… Everything will be all right.”
“I’m so scared, Haver,” the woman whispered.
Their names made his chest ache. What the hell was an ordinary family doing out on the streets of this damned city at this late hour?
“Give us the girl and-”
Without hesitation, he picked up the gun and, holding Anise close, put its barrel to her temple.
“It seems like we have a problem, gentlemen.” He looked into the eyes of the man who’d spoken. “If you kill them, I’ll shoot her. If you try to kill me, I’ll shoot her.”
For a while, the alley remained silent. Nothing could be heard save for Elaine’s sobs.
“Do you really have the guts to do that?” The man chuckled.
His hand was shaking so much that the barrel kept moving from Anise’s temple to her chin and back.
“Try me,” he snapped.
“You’re brave, but also stupid, aren’t you?” The man smiled.
He didn’t get a chance to answer. His back suddenly felt like it was on fire, as if a blade had pierced it. Why do I know what being stabbed feels like? Falling to the ground, he tried to get back up, but realized with mounting horror that he couldn’t feel his legs.
He couldn’t feel anything below the waist.
This feeling, which was eerily familiar, crept higher and higher, until he was only able to move his right arm. In the window of a car parked near the alley, he saw that a knife was sticking out of his back, right over the scar from his operation.
No, he thought. No, not again.
“Get rid of the witnesses,” the man ordered, picking up the unconscious Anise.
Haver tried to break away from the men’s tight grip, but a gun was put to his head. His wife and daughter screamed something, but it was too late. The trigger clicked and the wall of the nearby house turned scarlet, with only patches of gray poking through. Haver’s body fell to the pavement.
“No!” He wanted to shout, but couldn’t even move his lips.
“Start with the child,” the man said.
The same man who’d shot Haver pointed a gun at the little girl. He pulled the trigger. The bullet, enveloped in smoke and fire, flew out of the barrel and froze in midair.
“What-”
“Is this truly the life that you’ve chosen?” A voice asked from the darkness of the alley.
Chapter 557
Clouds of black smoke billowed in the window’s reflection. Despite the fact that the world was frozen, they continued to reach for the sky.
“Who are you? What are you?”
“Is this what you really wanted?” Whispered a vaguely familiar voice. “To waste your life on pleasure?”
“Don’t judge me!”
“What about all the things you dreamed of doing? What about the ticket?”
A plane ticket to Chicago landed before him. The one he would’ve used to start his journey around the world.
“I was busy and-”
“You had more than enough time to do everything you ever wanted, ever dreamed of,” the voice continued, “but you chose the life of a parasite. You chose a miserable existence without any purpose.”
“Purpose? Why would I need purpose when I have everything you could ever wish for?”
“Everything, you say? If that’s true, then why are you trying to silence your pain? Why are you trying to fill the emptiness that’s devouring you from the inside?”
Shut up! He shouted in his mind, but it was too late. Suddenly, memories of a distant past filled his mind.
When he’d had his fun with the girl on the hospital balcony, his only thought had been: Is this it? So many movies, books, and songs had been made about sex that he’d presumed it was something truly special. But it wasn’t. It didn’t give him any pleasure or meaning. And when he’d left the hospital, when he’d finally been able to walk on his own, free to go anywhere he wanted, his only thought had been: Is this it?
Back then, he’d thought that maybe the first girl just wasn’t to his liking. So he’d found another. And another. He’d slept with an untold number of them, but each time had been as dissatisfying as the first.
Is this it?
Then came the alcohol. But even that didn’t manage to fill the void in his chest. While bedridden, he’d lived with only one goal in mind — survival. And when he’d finally been given a chance to walk, to live a normal life, he’d lost that purpose, and no woman, or any amount of fame, money, and alcohol had been able to replace it.
Then came the drugs. Just the light stuff at first, but then he’d moved on to the really dangerous ones. They’d allowed him to forget the void for a while, but each time, the emptiness had come back stronger than ever.
“I didn’t want any of this-”
“You did!” The cloud’s roar made the windows around him rattle. “Don’t lie to yourself, Dark-”
The wind drowned out the name.
“This is exactly what you wanted.”
New memories emerged and he relived them vividly. He was lying in his own vomit, in the middle of some fancy nightclub. He fooled around in bed with three girls who were clearly underage. He lay in a half-abandoned building, rolling his eyes in shameless bliss. Driving under the influence, he almost ran over a child, but he didn’t avoid killing his dog. All charges were dropped, and he only lost his license. He immediately bought a new car. He didn’t feel any remorse. Why would he? What would be the point? He just existed, crawling from day to day, destroying himself and everything around him. After all, if he couldn’t fill the void in his chest, maybe he could at least destroy i
t.
“Then die,” the voice said. “Admit that this is what you wanted from the very beginning and just stop wasting everyone’s time.”
“No! You’re lying! I always fought for my life with everything I had!”
“Why?”
“Because… Because…”
“I’ll tell you why.” The smoke thickened, coalescing into a figure. “You weren’t fighting for yourself, but to spite others. To prove them all wrong. To show that they’re less valuable than you. That they’re weaker than you.”
He remembered all the awful pranks they’d pulled on him at the orphanage. All the whispers he’d heard from the orderlies and nurses at the hospital. He’d hated them all! Every. Single. One. Of. Them. He’d fucked that first girl just to laugh at her because she’d once claimed that she would never sleep with him!
The same was true of the city. He’d hated it. He still did. He hated it for living while he’d slowly died, day by day, in that bed.
“So, this is your moment of triumph — you showed them all. You proved to them that you’re alive. You lived a good life. A life that most people can only dream of. A life full of pleasure and ignorance. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Tears ran down his cheeks. They were bitter, full of burning resentment. The voice was right. This was all he’d ever wanted to do. Live a glamorous life of pleasure. Show everyone how wrong they’d been. Show them all how superior he was to them, how valuable his life was compared to theirs.
“Now, don’t you think you’ve finally earned some peace? A chance to finally fill the void?”
He hadn’t found what he’d been looking for in this life. People had rejected him even after he’d become like them. They’d admired him the same way they would admire a caged animal or a circus freak. He was a cripple to them and always would be. Just an interesting freak…
The future he’d wished for had been made from empty dreams. All his life, he had dreamed of something magical, but his illusions had been shattered by the harsh truth of reality. He wasn’t unique. He wasn’t special. He was just like everyone else. A nobody. He was one of the many stones in a landslide, hurtling down a cliff toward the gaping maw of oblivion. What difference did the exact moment he fell into it make? The fall was inevitable. After all, no matter how hard you clung to the edges of reality, the pull of the abyss waiting for you at the end of life was always stronger. Stronger than love. Stronger than hate. Stronger than grief, pleasure, fear… Everything would end there — in the darkness of absolute nothingness. He’d been nothing and would once more become nothing.
“Accept reality. You’ll die one day, regardless of what you do. So why don’t you do it right now and end the agony already?”
The voice was right. Why not end the torment and finally fill the void?
“Dark-”
It felt like the wind itself was trying to whisper something to him. Failing to do so, it wiped the tears from his eyes instead, allowing him to see reality clearly, to see the bullet flying toward the little girl’s head.
His heart began to beat faster.
BOOM! BOOM! Came from the depths of his soul.
All the stones would eventually end up in the abyss. They were all just fragments of the universe, always striving to destroy themselves.
“Hold the flank! The nomads are breaking through!” Someone shouted.
They would all die.
BOOM! BOOM! His heartbeat became even louder.
“To the last drop of blood, brother?”
The abyss would inevitably devour them all. The voice was right.
BOOM! BOOM! The drums started playing.
But the voice was also wrong.
“Accept your fate,” the smoke whispered. “Accept the inevitability of death. Accept the inevitability of emptiness.”
The voice was wrong! Because he wasn’t hurtling toward the abyss alone. If he could help someone else’s fall last longer, the abyss’ meal would be postponed. He would’ve done some good.
BOOM! BOOM! The drums continued.
“Move, you worthless body!” He growled to himself.
“Don’t even try to-”
BOOM! BOOM! The drums drowned out the voice.
If this was the last thing he ever did in his miserable and worthless life, then so be it. Let this be the best thing he ever did. Even if this ended up being the only good thing he did in his time on this planet, he didn’t care. After all, as a writer had once told him: ‘The middle of the story isn’t as important as its beginning and end.’
BOOM! BOOM!
He started as an angry cripple, became a drunkard and a drug addict…
BOOM! BOOM!
…but he would end this life as himself.
A primal roar of defiance tore from his throat as he lurched forward.
“NO!” The voice roared back, smashing the windows.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The drums beat furiously now.
The bullet didn’t hit its mark, having ricocheted off a blade that had been placed in front of the girl.
“What the-”
But the man didn’t get to finish speaking. The blade cut off his head.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he growled, shielding the crying girl. “I’m here. Everything will be fine. You won’t die while I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”
“Look at him!” The men in suits surrounded him. “This idiot brought a sword to a gunfight. I thought that sort of idiocy only happened in movies.”
“Run!” Elizabeth whispered.
“No,” he said, adjusting his grip on the hilt of his sword. “I’ve never run before, and I won’t run now.”
A shot rang out. He didn’t know if God or some other higher power was watching over him, but he managed to deflect it with his sword as well. It bounced back and hit one of the men in the knee.
His accomplices laughed.
“Mommy, mommy, it’s okay,” Elaine said through her sobs. “Don’t you see that he’s a superhero? He’ll save us for sure!”
No, he wasn’t a superhero.
“What’s your name, you suicidal lunatic?” The leader of their little group stepped forward, gripping his machinegun.
“My name is… My name is…”
What was his name?
“You’d better get out of here. I’ll let you go as a sign of respect. Your dumb luck and recklessness have impressed me. After all, that toothpick of yours won’t help you a third time.”
He looked down at his trembling hands. The furious drums stopped beating. Really, who did he think he was? Trying to use a sword against…
Suddenly, his eyes flashed. No! It wasn’t like that!
“You can shove your offer up your ass!” He shouted. “As long as I’m here, you won’t lay a finger on these people!”
As long as he was there, no one would touch them.
BOOM! BOOM! The drums came back, even louder than before.
Even if their entire clan came, he wouldn’t lower his sword.
“General! General! General! General, victory will be ours! General!”
Even if the government brought a whole army, he wouldn’t back down.
“We’ll fight alongside you, General! Our General is the best in the world!”
Even if demons and gods, villains and heroes alike, all united against him… they would be no match for his iron will.
BOOM! BOOM! The drums were deafening.
Mad… Gen… Dark…
Because, for the first time in his life, he had a goal. The abyss would have to wait. He was going to save these people!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Because his name was… His name was…
“HADJAR DARKHAN!” An inhuman roar rang out through the streets.
“MAD GENERAL!” The drums exploded.
He followed his dragon heart…
***
Hadjar stood in the middle of a vast sea of white light, dressed in rags and gripping the Black Blade as if his life depended on it. In
front of him, on a hospital bed, lay a young man who’d dried up like a mummy. Hadjar could barely recognize himself. The only thing they had in common was a pair of clear, blue eyes.
The young man raised his hand and typed something on his laptop.
“Is it time?” A mechanical voice rasped.
Hadjar nodded. There was a lump in his throat.
“Is it scary?” The mechanical voice asked. “Dying?”
Hadjar shook his head.
“It’s like a dream. You’ll have an amazing dream where you’ll get to be a Prince. Unfortunately, it won’t last very long. You’ll also have a sister and a brother. The best siblings in the world. And a father and mother as well. They’ll love you with all their hearts.”
A smiley face appeared on the laptop screen.
“It sounds too good to be true,” the mechanical voice rasped out.
“You’ll lose them.”
Their eyes met.
“You’ll lose them because you’ll be too weak.” Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Because you won’t be able to protect them.”
“And you? Will you be able to protect them?”
Hadjar stared at the ocean of white light.
“I’ll get them back,” he said firmly. “Even if I have to burn the whole world down to do it, I’ll get them back. I’ll get them all back. I’ll change fate.”
The young man paused. Finally, he responded:
“A worthy goal. It’s an honor to die for such a noble cause.”
“Goodbye,” Hadjar whispered.
“See you later,” the mechanical voice said. “See you in the future, Darkhan. North Wind.”
The Black Blade sank into the chest of the man on the bed.
At the same time, from somewhere far away, came a shout:
“His blood pressure’s rising!”
“Neural activity is off the charts!”
“Pulse… Two hundred and fifty per minute!”
“We’re losing him!”
***
Hadjar sat by the fire. The old orc threw his herbs into it. The vortex was gone. Suddenly, Hadjar felt his right arm burn with agonizing intensity. When he looked at it, he was surprised to find that the tattoo that had previously only covered his forearm now covered his entire arm, starting from his fingers and going all the way up to his shoulder.
Dragon Heart: Land of Demons. LitRPG Wuxia Series: Book 7 Page 10
