12
“What do you mean, Rave?” Salyanna cried, pacing towards me, her gun in both of her hands. “We cannot go back—not when we have come this far.”
“You will die, if you continue,” I warned her, sighing, feeling a bit agitated. “This enemy, the one you call the madman, is way too dangerous for any of you to engage.”
“And what will you do by yourself, Rave? How do you plan on defeating such a man and his whole army? You need us…..we are your.”
“Enough, Salyanna, go home,” I cut her off, moving slightly away from the puddle of blood, not looking at her. “I can’t do my job while I am watching your back. If losing Cleiver made you this emotional, then you will be nothing more than a nuisance to me later.”
“No, I have come this far,” she roared, cocking her gun, a serious look on her face. “I cannot afford to go home now—not without a victory on my hands. Whether you come with me or not, I will not be dissuaded from this quest.”
Why does no one ever listen to me? How can these fools be so naïve and stupid? It was clear to me—she would follow me whether I liked it or not. She had obviously sealed her fate, although I wasn’t sure about Jutcer; he would most likely turn back and head home.
“Jutcer, are you coming?” Salyanna asked, the power in her voice rekindled once more.
“I can’t.” he replied, looking at Cleiver’s head, whilst biting his fingernails in an aberrant way. “I just want to go home to be with my family, far from this nightmare he brought upon us.”
“There is no going home, you idiot,” she yelled, stomping towards him, picking him up to his feet by his collar, and slapping him on his right cheek with her backhand. “We must stop the madman now, or more of our people will be slaughtered. Besides, even if we let you return, you won’t make it halfway home by yourself; the woods are filled mutant chimeras, all waiting to pounce on you.”
Jutcer, wide eyed, gasped, realizing how deep behind enemy territory he was. He pushed Salyanna back, turning his head towards his gun, and making a swift dash for it. He skidded down, picking it up quickly, as he wiped sweat from his brow, a look of desperation on his face.
“I am going ahead,” I muttered, looking at Cleiver’s head one last time, before trudging away towards another exit. “Since you won’t heed my warnings, you are more than welcome to come with me, if you want. And I will say it once more—following me will be at your own peril.”
I anchored my gun up, taking the first step into the next square exit, the wind brushing against my face. The corridor was dark and humid, the strong smell of rotten flesh nauseous, and the floor wet with blood. I splashed my boots in the fluid; the noise of my own feet squishing through thick liquid was very repugnant. And fortunately for us, this was a short corridor; we had already arrived at the next compartment in a matter of minutes.
“Stay out of sight,” I ordered, leaning against the wall, peeking slightly out.
It was amazing; this new chamber was grand, about five stories high, with walls made of concrete, marble brick, and barred cells on the left and right. There were people, aliens, and creatures I could not identify, all locked inside the cages. A horde of mutant chimeras, stationed at rails above the cages, guarded the place from intruders, stopping anyone from escaping. The beasts were armed with old flintlocks, thick, metallic chest armors, and some sort of flying contraption, on their backs, powered by gears and steam. To take them on would require a lot of stealth, speed, and agility—my area of expertise.
“Stay here,” I whispered, gesturing with my right hand to Salyanna and Jutcer. “I will go survey the area.”
“You better not leave without us,” Salyanna replied, bending to one knee, as she rested her rifle on her right thigh.
“Just do as I say,” I hissed, turning back around, scouting the area.
After surveying my surrounding, locating the safest passage, I placed my rifle on my back, and begun to prowl behind the empty, wooden crates. The chains, anchored on the roof, marred with small traces of old blood, rattled back and forth, being swayed by soft gust of winds. I heard someone approaching and stopped moving, listening carefully to the sound, my silver dagger unsheathed. Screams from terrified captives echoed through the compartment, the sound of their horror and terror drowning my steps. A green chimera, with long goat horns, a dog’s face, and long, thick fur, trudged past me, a silver flintlock in its right hand. I looked in every direction, standing up slowly, raising the blade, and plunged it into its throat from behind. The monster tried to scream, but I placed my right hand on its snout, silencing it before it could alarm the others. When I felt its body grow cold, I removed my hand from its mouth, and began to push its body into an empty crate. I dropped the body down, pulling my knife out, my heart racing, and exhaled silently. To kill this many enemies with stealth required time and patience, both luxuries that I couldn’t have. Time was of the essence.
“I will go in guns blazing, I guess” I sighed, shaking my head, a feeling of pure dark excitement flowing through me.
I pulled my rifle, placing it into my right hand, a gold flintlock into my left hand, and spun out of the crate, ready for war. Coming from the left side, a mutant chimera sniffed me out, turned in my direction, and began to roar out loud, its flintlock slowly turning towards me. I fired first, blasting the creature with four rifle bullets in the chest, felling it to the ground in a bloody mess. Dodging bullets, I rolled behind another crate, using it as a shield, before I stormed out for my next assault. Trying to kill these beasts, while avoiding firing at the innocent prisoners, was proving to be quite the challenge. On previous assassin missions, I had a few civilian casualties who lost their lives because of my recklessness, and it never bothered me that much, but I had been instructed to complete my mission without leaving a trail of dead bodies behind me. Yep, it was a bit too late for that, if I may add.
“You idiots, get back,” l roared, lashing at Salyanna and Jutcer, who had decided to join in without notice. “You are going to get yourself killed.”
Ignoring me, like I was some kind of pest, they dashed into the bullet storm, returning fire in a careless manner. The civilians, trapped in the cages, cried in terror, dropping their heads to the ground to avoid being hit by stray bullets. The sound of gun shots was overwhelming, and the amount of destruction increasing greatly. I felt an urge to look up, the hair on my neck standing, and, suddenly, I saw these massive blue eyes gazing back at me. Up above the crate, a shadowy chimera, dressed in a black cloak with white poker-dots, stared at me with an unsettling silence. The creature had long, clawed hands, a tail with spiky bones protruding out, powerful, sharp fangs, and it was about eight feet in height. It knelt above crate on one knee, a smile on its hideous face, both of its arms wedged by the corners of the crates, and its tail danced around in every direction. The tail stopped swerving around when I angled my rifle slightly up, the creature’s hands moving slightly back, and the smile on its face disappearing. Even though I had the advantage of immortality, even though I had two guns, I could not help but shake this uneasy feeling inside of me. This is no ordinary mutant chimera, I thought, I should tread carefully with this one. Making the first move, I raised my rifle up quickly, my flintlock turning in motion, but the creature leaned back, avoiding the bullets. The crate where I was hiding was destroyed a few seconds later, the chunks of woods flying back in my face, blinding me from my surrounding. I heard light footsteps, coming from behind me, followed by a pain in my back. I fell to the ground on my stomach, yelping, unaware of what had struck me. And before I could even stand up, I felt three bullets pierce through my chest, causing me to tumble to the ground again.
“You are tough,” a voice hissed, my whole body being whisked up by something that coiled tightly around my chest. “I stabbed you in the gut, and you took three bullets in the back, and yet you still breathe. What are you?”
“The one who will claim your life,” I answered, kicking the creature in the stomach, and maiming it i
n the gut with a small dagger that had been concealed beneath my boot.
Shrieking loudly, wide eyed, it released me from its grasp, and staggered back with its right hand pressed on its stomach. I flexed my fingers, walking towards it, a large grin on my face. It was going to give me great pleasure to send this abomination into the dark abyss.
“Any last words?” I asked it, shooting it in the foot with my flintlock. “Come on, creature, say something witty and insightful.”
“Well, your skills in battle are amazing,” it commented, throwing its cloak at me, and using the distraction to gain some distance.
Like an idiot, I tried to parry away the dark cloak with my bare hands, and instead of brushing it to the side, the cloak entangled around me. The dark cloak engulfed me like it was enchanted, the cotton substance wrapping around my hands and legs. It was almost clear to me now; the madman knew how to control and manipulate magic. I could hear the gun fire ceasing, meaning that something was wrong. Sensing danger, I pulled my dagger out of from the holster and cut the cloak into tiny pieces.
“Help us, Rave,” Jutcer cried, his voice coming from the opposite side of the compartment.
“Those fools,” I sneered, reloading a new magazine into my rifle, and pumping some air into it. “Perhaps, I should let these mutants make do with them.”
The two fools had been trapped into a corner by the mutant chimeras, their only barricade being a wide, wooden, table with one of its leg broken. Salyanna and Jutcer had turned it over, and were using the thick drafting board to deflect the bullets away. All in all, I would say that this day sucked terribly.
“I am coming,” I boomed, shooting a mutant in the leg, felling it the ground, and finishing it off with a blast to the face: “Just hold your horses.”
The strange mutant, who had thrown its cloak at me, leaped into the air, unveiling its powerful wings as it came down towards them in a vertical dive. It held a large blade, the first time seeing it, in its right hand, and a whip in its other hand. And upon seeing the creature, I rushed in, planning to intercept the creature before it could wreak further mayhem. Spinning to the left, I dodged a series of bullets, rolling behind another crate, before standing up and making a fierce dash. I fired at the diving mutant, forcing it to stop halfway in its descent, its head turning towards my direction. The wide, metallic wings on its back flapped vigorously up and down, both of its feet spread apart for balance, and its body turned slightly back. Opening its mouth wide, it puked out fire in my direction, forcing me to flea for cover. It was just as I had suspected: the monsters had their organs altered too. Whoever this madman was, in my opinion, had a vast amount of knowledge in organic structures, mechanical properties, and magic. He or she was someone worthy of being a true challenge. To create such a creature, to be responsible for orchestrating all of this madness, was indeed impressive.
“Help us, Rave,” Jutcer screamed, throwing his rifle to the ground, out of bullets.
“Be a man, you idiot,” I muttered, ignoring his pleas for help, all of my focus on the fire breathing mutant.
Every empty crate became fuel for the rampaging fire, the smoke rising into the air, but trapped within the ceiling of the confined compartment. I heard the prisoners banging against their barred cages, coughing from the smoke, and screaming for help. The other mutant chimeras were still firing their guns at Jutcer and Salyanna, laughing like hyenas, enjoying the carnage and destruction. To think of them as former townspeople, former, simple space travelers, made my mind boggle.
“Now, die,” a monster screamed, approaching from my blind spot, and shoving a blade through my chest.
I screamed out loud, felled by the weight of the creature, as I puked my own blood. The pain was unbearable, the feeling of the blade being twisted inside my chest maddening, and the sheer look of pleasure on the creature’s face appalling. Blinking slightly, I felt my strength leaving my body; the blade seemed to possess some sort of paralyzing toxin. The creature, a combination of lion’s head, the upper body of a bear, and eagle talons for hands, sat on top of my chest, restraining my movements. It opened its mouths, shooting a straight line of fire at my face, causing me to scream out loud in agony.
“Let him go,” a voice screamed, the creature stopping the fire, as it turned around and got its head chopped off by a long sword. “Are you okay, Rave?”
“Yes, and you have my deep gratitude for that,” I replied, shoving the creature’s heavy body to the side, smelling my own burning flesh. “Is that you, Salyanna?”
“Yes, Rave, it is I,” she whispered, helping me up, an expression of confusion on her face. “How are you even alive after all of that? How can you even stand up?”
“I am lucky, I guess,” I lied, not planning on revealing my secret ace—my immortality—to anyone.
“No, most people get lucky and end up in a hospital for two or three days, depending on the severity of the wounds, but you are already standing up. You have taken an extreme amount of mortal wounds, not to mention, you face was horribly burned by that chimera’s fire. What are you, Rave? Are you even human at all?”
“Yes, I am human,” I chuckled, standing back to my feet slowly, my strength shelved in half. “I am just a lucky person, I guess.”
“Run,” Jutcer bellowed, coming from the corner, his right shoulder oozing with smoke: “The monster is coming.”
The flying mutant descended towards us, its blade angled straight in front, and its body curled up like a bullet. Salyanna, morphing her eyes and fingers, pushed me back, planting her feet in the ground, her blade positioned into a defensive form. In an instant, they parried blades, the tip of their swords sparking tiny flames, as they both moved back with their blades raised. Salyanna looked hurt; she was panting heavily, her right hand, the one holding her sword, swollen and bleeding slightly. One more encounter with that monster and she would be killed, a thing I couldn’t allow to happen. I owed her for saving me, and if there was one thing I hated above anything else—it was not repaying my debt.
“Run, Salyanna,” I screamed, lifting myself up, and darting towards her.
I pushed her away, pulling out my small dagger in front of me, in an attempt to deflect the creature from finishing her. As our weapons collided, I felt the raw power of the creature’s strength and weight pressing down against me, and in one small blink, my small blade was broken, and my head sent flying back.
“Crap, I messed up, didn’t I?” I smirked, watching my headless body still standing on the ground, and watching a mortified look on Salyanna’s face.
Everything went dark in an instant; I stopped breathing, stopped thinking, as the darkness took me.