The Cities
by Brittany Fehli
Chapter Three
“The best weapon against an enemy
is another enemy.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche
A loud penetrating siren sounded outside of the Safehouse. It wasn’t long after that, that another siren went off from another Safehouse and then another until all the Safehouses in the area had their alarms on and ringing the hills deaf. Rebels erupted out of the front doors with weapons in hand and charged into the night seeking for the nearby intruders. Artist: Kira Dennis
Myka put on her gear and grabbed the Dialector from the Inventory shelf, maximizing the rod into the spear it was. She walked cautiously down the halls avoiding the creaky spots in the wooden floors; the front door was just ahead. A large breath of air was consumed into her lungs as she reached for the door nervously. She had only done battles with her classmates, never actually killed anyone. Her mind raced about all of the what ifs as she opened the door slightly looking around the area before walking out.
As she took her first step, a firm hand grabbed her from the back of her neck and dragged her backwards inside. Myka squirmed left and right trying to break free and clutched the Dialector with her life, swinging it back behind her not knowing if she was cutting the attacker or not.
“What do you think you are doing?” An angry but familiar voice exclaimed in frustration. The firm hands let go of her, allowing Myka to turn around and see Tasen glaring at her. “I thought you said you would be right back, not run away.”
“You don’t understand,” Myka pleaded.
“Oh I understand. I understand that you think you can take on anyone but clearly you can’t even take on a middle aged man.” Myka looked down at the ground ashamed of his disappointment. “Now grab Michael and Orion and tell them to meet me in the Sanctum, and I expect you to join us.”
“I can’t get them.”
“Why not?”
“They’ve already gone out.”
Tasen’s face boiled a dark red. “I can’t believe this,” he muttered, walking down the hallway. Myka followed behind him keeping a good distance between them as they entered the study. A large desk stood in the center of the room with two chairs sitting in front of it and one behind. Tasen pulled back the red tapestries from the window to look outside as Myka sat down in one of the chairs. She minimized the Dialector and put it in her belt and watched Tasen pace back and forth in front of the window. It wasn’t until a full two minutes passed when he strolled over to stand in front of a carpet hanging on the wall. He stared at the three moons and put his fingers to one of the stars. He turned around meeting Myka’s eyes and exhaled. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Doing what?” asked Myka a little concerned. Tasen didn’t reply but reached into one of the drawers in the desk and pulled out a jar that had a small ball of light floating inside it. He opened the jar and dipped his finger into the ball of light. He closed the jar back up and stared at the golden liquid that was on the tip of his finger. He went back over to the carpet and outlined the center moon and the star he had touched previously. As he traced around the lines, they started to glower a bright yellowish gold. The light became so much, that both him and Myka had to squint. “You don’t have to do that,” she said looking at the glowing carpet. “Michael will be fine. Close the portal and let’s go to the Sanctum and wait for them.”
“No, I need to make sure.”
“Dad, he’s done this before. What makes this mission more different that any of the others?”
“This isn’t a mission; this is a war. There is a big difference.”
“You should just trust him. When has he ever failed you?” Tasen looked down at his feet feeling embarrassed. He had never done this before to Michael, but he was just so worried. After losing Lena, he just couldn’t bear losing the one thing that was left of her. “Close the portal. Everything will be okay.”
“Too late,” he replied, staring at the light as it grew to a bright white. He took a few steps back as he saw a figure walk towards him and step out of the brightness. A woman appeared as she walked into the room where Myka and Tasen now stood and smiled a bright fanged smile. She turned her glance from Myka to Tasen and looked at him. He in return met her gaze, staring into her eyes. They were all white with just a black pupil in the center; there wasn’t any color to them. Her long silver hair flowed down her back as she walked towards Myka.
“Hello, darling.”
“Hey Siggany. How are you?”
“Well I was on a date with my wonderful boyfriend, Chancing, when I saw that I was being summoned with the emergency signal.” Siggany turned to Tasen. “And I suppose you were the one that did that?” He nodded feeling a slight guilt. “Well my dear Chancy is waiting for me so let’s make this quick, shall we? What seems to be the problem?”
“The war has spread to the Safehouses.”
“Oh I heard the awful news of the attack. I wasn’t here, but rather in the Outer Realm, living the mortal life in the Americas.”
“Well we need your help,” said Tasen.
“With what?”
“Michael and Orion left to go fight in this war without any type of consent, and I just need to know that they are okay,” said Tasen.
Siggany’s pupils dilated, and she grabbed a handful of her dress and ran over to him. “Michael? My sweet fruit?”
“Uh, Michael, my son, yes.”
“Oh God!” she said throwing her hands over her eyes. “He’s just too brave. Siggany removed her hands and looked at Myka with a nod. “There can be such a thing.”
“I see,” Tasen said confused by her reaction. “Well we just need to know if you’ve had any visions lately about this war or have any predictions on what is going to happen. Anything to soothe our minds.”
“Soothing is far from what I have envisioned,” she said, her voice very low. “Have a seat and prepare your ears for what you are about to hear.
***********************************
The blood trail seemed to go on forever, worrying Orion more and more about Chasity and whether she was alive or not. But after walking a full two miles into the woods, following the thick scarlet substance on the ground, his faith grew faint as well as his heart. He yearned to touch her vanilla soft skin and hold her delicate body in his arms just like he always did when she was cold or scared. He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay and that this was all a bad nightmare, but the more he stared into the streaks of blood lining the dirt pathway, the more he started to think that he would never get the chance to do that again.
The moons had set high in the darkened sky and illuminated through the tree tops. Streaks of bright light had shone through the area, giving the blood on the ground a more dark reddish color. Orion walked warily, avoiding the moonlight purposely, so he would not be seen. As he walked around the trunk of a bold tree, he noticed from the corner of his eye a light flickering. He crouched down to his knees and peered through a bush in front of him to see what it was. While Orion leaned in, the bush’s leaves and thorns pricking his gear, he could see an opening in front of him with no trees or brushes, just the forest floor. The flickering light he had seen was now blinding him with intense heat. There was a fire right before him with a four Radicals sitting around it while three others were standing guard with pistols in their hands on each corner of the small spacey land. In a pocket corner of the bushes on the side from where he was, he could see a tall wooden stake in the ground, ropes wrapped loosely around the bottom of it, resting in a pool of blood.
Orion could hear voices coming from one of the three Radicals standing guard. “They’re back,” said one of the guards, stepping aside. When he did, three shadows appeared from out of the forest. They neared closer to the fire, and when they reached it, two of the figures dropped what seemed to be a lifeless body.
“Don’t put her there, you imbecile!”
“Well where do you want her?”
“Tie her back up. We don’t need to mix her unholy blood with our royal.”
The two Radicals nodded and lifted the body by the underarms and dragged her backwards, tying her hands behind the stake. One of them grabbed the girl by the hair, lifting up her head. Orion’s veins froze, and his body went cold. His hands trembled, and his feet went numb. She was almost unrecognizable. Dried blood, dirt, and sweat stuck to her hair making it look stringy. Her eyes fluttered to the back of her head, and he could tell her breathing was shallow. He knew he had to move fast if he was going to save her.
“She’s very pretty. I can see why you kept her around,” said the Radical, staring at the girl. He then let go of her hair, and her head slumped down into her chest. She let out a small groan and then fell silent.
Orion unsheathed his sword, not bearing to see Chasity in the Radicals’ possession any longer. He jumped out of the bushes, thrusting his sword into the back of a sitting warrior and then threw him into the fire. All of them were shocked as they watched their friend burn. “You’re all gonna get the same death sentence if you don’t let her go,” said Orion enraged.
“You’re outnumbered. We’ll slaughter you.” One of the Radicals signaled with his hands to move in with their weapons. “And besides, she’s no use to us anymore,” he said walking over to Chasity. He put his gun to her chest and looked Orion in the eyes as he pulled the trigger.
“No!” Orion lunged at him but was caught by the arms by three of the Radicals. He slashed his sword, cutting their legs and arms, but they wouldn’t let go of him. He tried to back flip over them, but he was so out of tune from his training just staring at Chasity and trying to get to her.
“Tie him up with her.”
“I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill all of you!”
The Radical leaned down in Orion’s face as the others tied him up. “You’ll never get that chance.” Orion spit in his face, and the Radical became infuriated. He cocked his gun and held it to Orion’s chest. “You’re going to die just like she did: A worthless piece of garbage that has no worthy soul of roaming these realms.”
“You’re worthless!” He turned his stare to look at Chasity, his heart sank, and tears began to roll down his cheeks.
“Pathetic.”
Orion sat still unfazed from what he was saying to him and just focused on Chasity who was slumped over right next to him. Their shoulders were touching, and he could feel the warmth of her body leave, her temperature growing to an icy chill.
“Kill me,” he said quietly as he put his head down.
“You Rebels give up so easily,” he said holding the gun to his head.
Orion twisted the rope around his wrist to move it further up his arm as he reached for Chasity’s cold hands. He held them in his as he closed his eyes, picturing her in his arms, laughing, smiling. “I beg you.” he said. The thought of living without her crossed his mind and he just couldn’t have it. He wanted to be with her once again, even if it wasn’t in this world.
The Radical smirked and gripped the trigger in his hand, pulling it back, the gun sounding off, but his aim went askew and shot Orion in the neck, for he was startled to hear multiple sounds of grunts coming from behind him. He turned around to see what his companions were doing, disturbing his trophy moment, but as he did, he noticed they all were laying face down on the ground. He ran to one of them and rolled him over and saw a fresh stab wound through his chest. His heart raced as he realized he was the only one standing. His eyes searched the treetops, and then he walked over to the bushes but could find no one in sight. “Come out and face me like a man!” he yelled with his head in the air.
“I would,” said a voice from behind him. “But I’m afraid I’m not a man; therefore, I can‘t face you like one.” He whirled around to see a girl standing in front of him, leaning forwards on a cane. “I can, however, face you like the modest warrior that I am.”
“Serenity. I-I could of sworn you were heading for Bragid,” he said stumbling backwards. Serenity walked towards him with a sneer on her face.
“Oh that place is so boring. Hardly anything happens in that city. But here, this is where it is.”
“I was just leaving, actually. I was just on my way home. It‘s pretty dull here as well.”
“From what I see, it looks like you were in the middle of a showdown. Couldn’t have been that dull. Am I right Memphis?”
“Look, you can have them,” he said pointing to the two slumped over bodies. “The one on the right is more fresh. I don’t miss my shots; he could still be alive. Have him as yours. Have them both if you want. I don’t need them.”
“I don’t want them. I want you.”
Memphis chuckled hesitantly. “You are so kind.”
“No, I was kind on our last encounter together. I let you go remember?”
“And I’m ever so grateful and I will pray to the Gods once again about how merciful you are.”
“I don’t think you get it.” She grabbed Memphis by the shirt. “I gave you a second chance already.” Memphis’ legs became weak from knowing what she was capable of. He fell to his knees and folded his hands in prayer. Serenity kicked his hands down and pushed him over on his side. His head lay in Chasity’s pool of blood. He went to get up, but Serenity kicked him in the face with her boot, knocking him back down. “You stay right there in your victim’s blood, and you inhale her sweet decaying aroma.”