The Sky is Endless
Page 34
Sain just chuckled to himself, receiving even more weird looks as he waited.
Chapter 37
* * *
"We are in a bit of a tight spot aren't we" Anne stated as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Victor, the duo both looking out into the distance from their vantage point. Victor let out a sigh, his expression dark as his eyes wafted over the horizon. Straight in front of him, he could see plains and forests, dotted with small townships, and beyond them, the deep blue of the ocean, slightly lit up in a glow of orange as the sun rose. To the south, the sky was darkened by thick smog, and Victor could see forest fires still burning uncontrolled. Fires left over from the aerial battle that had sealed this campaigns defeat.
Unable to look at it anymore, Victor turned and moved back into the cave he and the other survivors had commandeered. He looked around at the marines slumped against walls and outcroppings, many out of their uniforms and clothes. The clothes were strewn all about the cave, in amongst a number of small fires the marines had set up to dry the sopping clothes, and keep the marines warm at night.
Looking around, Victor noticed many eyes on him and he gulped. Many of these men and women knew him, and had seen him distinguish himself in the campaign. Their gazes were full of respect, admiration and hope. Victor felt a pit form in his stomach, realising he was being held up by these marines, and that they looked to him to save them. They were his responsibility. Victor gulped even as he sensed Anne step up beside him once more.
"Well, lad's and ladies. Out of the frying pan and into the fire" he stated and smiled wryly, a few chuckles coming from those looking to him. At least they could see humour still. Victor cast his gaze out over them again, truly looking at them for the first time since they had arrived here. There were around fifty of them from what he could see, and only a handful of them had weapons or supplies that they had managed to carry with them when they had fled from the port.
"I suppose we now have to decide what we are going to do" Victor stated, his gaze meeting a few others, noting a variety of expressions, from fear straight through to defiance. He felt his stomach tighten some and he grit his jaw before continuing.
"We have three options as far as I see it. One is to surrender" he stated and a chorus of boo's and swear words sounded, causing the cave to break out in echoes. Victor held up both his hands, trying to calm down the mob, his expression tight.
"Well that leaves that option out. No surrender. So the second option is for us to try and make our way back to Federation territory. Straight through Imperial held lands" Victor continued, looking around at his audience. None were speaking now, although a few were nodding their heads slowly whilst others were murmuring amongst themselves.
"And the last option as I see it is to bunker down and fight. To resist here. This is our land after all. Seirei is a part of the Federation and the people will support us" Victor stated as he straightened his back and puffed out his chest. He stared hard at all those gathered there, having set his mind.
"That is what I plan to do. To fight. It won't be easy. But that is to be expected. Who is with me?" he asked, his own glare defiant as he felt blood pumping in his ears, adrenaline surging. He felt a hand on his forearm and looked to find Anne there, a firm look on her face.
"I will fight" she said simply. Those few words seemed to create a domino effect and one by one, the other marines stood up and announced that they would fight too, until the cave was a set of shouting and chanting. Victor just stood there, his hands clenched hard as he steeled himself for the future.
* * *
Celeste stared blankly at the computer, her heart in her throat as she finished reading the email that had come in recently. She had only just seen it after a busy days work. She actually felt a little sick to her stomach at its contents. Leaning back in her chair, she let out a shaky sigh before closing her eyes and just resting a moment. Bradley was not going to like this.
After a few moments of silence, her thoughts a whir, she stood up and made her way to the door of her room, her hand resting on the handle a bare moment before turning it and stepping out into the corridor. She left her luxurious room behind and made her way down the hall, noting a severe lack of personnel in the airships hallways. It was late after all and they had docked at an island not far off the coast of the Gestonian mainland.
Striding down the hallway, she came to Bradley's quarters and she lifted her swipe card from her belt and placed it against the reader before looking at a protrusion near the wall. A light shone and scanned over her face, beeping as her eye was scanned. Recognising her, the machine beeped again and there was a faint click as the door opened to the royal’s quarters.
Celeste pushed the door open, and stepped inside the room, the door closing behind her with a faint click. Looking around, she saw a plate of food that had been barely touched sitting on a small coffee table, a book laid out beside it. Hearing a door open Celeste looked up and saw Bradley half naked, a towel wrapped around his lower half even as he towelled off his hair with a small hand towel. He stared at her with a frown on his face.
"Celeste. Why are you here" he asked of her as he walked over, depositing his hand towel on the arm rest of a couch.
"What. I can't come and see my fiancé whenever I want?" she asked, a brow raised in mock query. Bradley scoffed and shook his head.
"Not until we are wed my dear. Gossip has undone many a royal in my family" he stated as he moved past her and into his bedroom. Celeste didn't look as she heard him ruffling about for clothes and opening drawers and such.
"So why are you here?" the prince called out from his room, obviously not one for small talk. Celeste stayed silent a moment and instead moved to sit down on the large couch parallel to the coffee table, and she picked at the plate of food, taking a small piece of cheese to nibble on.
"I received word from the mercenaries a few hours ago" she stated and popped the piece of cheese into her mouth, quite enjoying the mild flavour and texture.
"Is that so. What did they have to say?" Bradley asked as he stepped out of his room, a pair of soft trousers on his legs and a half buttoned up shirt adorning his chest. Quite a casual appearance really. But he was in the comfort of his own quarters getting ready for sleep. Celeste locked her eyes on his face, not quite sure how he would react to the news. But if the past was anything to go by, then he would not react well. Celeste steeled herself for what she thought would be an uncomfortable situation.
"Well. They want more money. The contract was already a total of two million plus expenses, and now they want that tripled" she stated and watched as a wash of anger flashed across Bradley's face.
"Celeste. Tell them to go fuck themselves. A contract is a contract. They have never upped the price before, so why would they now" he snapped, that anger vivid on his face. At least Bradley seemed to be in control of his rage as he came towards her and sat opposite her. He reached across the coffee table and dragged his plate of food towards him, set on eating his dinner. Celeste gulped a little, not liking his rage being directed at her.
"I expected you to say that my lord, but I feel they may be justified. They said one of their local teams approached the boy, but were all killed. That the level of magical prowess in our reports were grossly understated" Celeste stated blankly, trying to keep as much emotion as she could out of her voice. She knew Bradley was like a vulture, but instead of feasting on carrion, he thrived on emotions.
Bradley just stared at Celeste and then scoffed before picking up a knife and fork and starting to eat his dinner. He stayed silent for a time, the only sound being the noise of him eating. Celeste just sat there, her hands gathered in her lap as she waited quietly, having no idea what Bradley may be thinking.
"Tell them the price is the price. If they don't like it, they can cancel the contract. It will be their reputation that suffers" he stated angrily before returning to his dinner. Celeste just stared at him and bit her lip, showing nervousness now.
"My Lord t
hat would be a bad idea. These people are everywhere. They have friends in high places. Do you remember what happened to General Carter?" she asked and Bradley looked up sharply, anger on his face, like he was about ready to yell at her. She saw a vein bulge in the man's forehead and she felt a pit form in the bottom of her stomach. After a minute or two, he spoke calmly with great effort.
"Fine. Give them what they want. Tell them I will only pay if they can guarantee no more extra costs though" he stated before lifting a hand and gesturing at her with it.
"Now get out of my sight. You have destroyed my appetite" he stated and dropped his knife and fork into the half-finished meal, the utensils clattering onto the plate. Celeste stood up and nodded brusquely before turning away and making her way towards the door. She didn't hesitate to leave the quarters and stepped out into the hall. She sucked in a shaky breath, realising she had been holding her breath.
She walked away from his quarters and made her way back to her own. Passing through empty corridors, her mind wandered, lingering on the expression Bradley had worn when she had mentioned General Carter. The general had been a powerful man, and had crossed the mercenaries. He had tried to find them, and find out their organisations real name. And his entire family had been killed for it, before he himself met a grisly end. The mercenaries had made it common knowledge they were responsible as well.
Shaking her head, Celeste cleared her thoughts as she arrived at her quarters. She swiped her card and punched in her pin number before entering her room and heading straight for her computer.
Celeste sat down and flexed her fingers as her computer came to life and scanned her facial features.
"Celeste Barion, unlock" she stated as the dual protected computer unlocked and let her in. She went straight to her email and opened it up. She tapped away at the keyboard quickly, shooting off a brief reply to the email she had received earlier.
She then leant back into her chair and tried to gather her thoughts. She was not exactly looking forward to what would happen next. Only a few minutes went by before a reply came back and she leant forward, seeing a new link in the email. She clicked on it and it opened up a video in her browser once more, that familiar masked man in his usual dark room.
"Celeste Barion. We were very displeased to learn that your lack of up to date information caused the deaths of one our teams" the man stated in distorted tones, straight to the point.
"And we expect to be compensated for the loss" the man continued, his gaze hard behind that mask. Celeste felt turmoil within her. She was sickened by these people and hated dealing with them in the first place.
"My employer has agreed to pay your demanded sum, but now expects the job to completed without a problem. With information you have gained, I am sure you will be able to modify how you handle this job" she stated and clenched her jaw a little.
"Rest assured, we will adhere to the request when the new funds arrive. I will send you the details shortly. In the meantime, do tell Bradley that we look forward to the day he decides to speak to us himself" the man stated before suddenly shutting off the connection, leaving Celeste sitting there, her heart thumping in her chest.
She had never once told them she was employed by Bradley, but had always known they would eventually find out. She let out a shaky breath and looked back to her email as a new contract with its costs came through. She gulped and set about filling it out, keeping to her part of the bargain.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Part I
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 Part II
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37