Bloodletting

Chapter 40

Multi

Captain Jonus, Keeper of the Holy Book

The smiling face drawn in blood continued to leer at me as I tried to think of what it could mean. Yet I could draw no proper conclusion from it. Expecting an ambush, I drew back, but minutes ticked by without so much as a breath of wind.

“They must be going mad,” one of the men behind me muttered. I chose to give a light laugh at the idea, neither confirming nor denying it.

“Onward, let’s see if we can’t catch them by the tail,” I said, still putting on an amused expression. My heart was not nearly so calm, however. I could not shake the mocking smile from my mind, but had no grounds for my disquiet. We hadn’t been chasing that large of a group and they were in poor condition. A possibility occurred to me rather belatedly.

The demi-humans had at first seemed to just be running as hard as they could from my forces. Yet they’d arrived through miles of trackless desert to this place. A maze of stone within which large forces would have little chance to bring their full strength to bear.

When the Hero’s party had fallen, only those with command positions had been informed of limited details. They had gone to this general region and the termination signal had been sent after the death of the signal amplifier. I vaguely recalled the stripling of a boy. He’d been selected because of decent mana reserves and his status as being an orphan.

After going to the training temple I’d had to take him on his first few ‘adventures’ with my forces. Not to assist but to ensure that his training had properly taken root. He’d had a somewhat timid nature, his disposition toward archery leaving him wary of direct confrontations. Knowing little of this place, I’d assumed it was livelier than the vague map revealed. That some uncharted oasis town or way city existed.

That boy wouldn’t have gotten far from traveled roads without a reason. Without such a place to attract the party into the desert, that meant someone had lured them explicitly.

“I think we’re close enough, send up a signal flare,” I said to my men’s disappointment. They were eager for blood, but I now feared the maze held far more hostile forces than the band we’d been after. It would be better to call the rest of my forces to rally than to continue forward blindly.

As the signal flare was held aloft to be ignited, a flaming arrow struck it. It detonated on the spot, the tube shattering from the explosion and sending a fine spray of wooden shrapnel to pepper those too close. A second arrow followed close on the heels of the first, burying itself in the throat of the man who’d been holding it.

I couldn’t decide if that was mercy or a tragedy as the man had lived through the explosion with a ruined face and hand. I wasn’t given any time to ponder the matter either as more arrows rained down. With only one path available I spurred my horse forward, hoping to find a new path. I hadn’t scouted the area around the rock with a smile earlier and could only feel my chest tighten as I found a path that was too narrow to take my horse down it.

Leaping down I hurried into the shelter of the narrow path. Those of my men who’d survived followed suit. Unlike the simpler paths we’d followed before, this one branched quickly into multiple directions. None of them seemed better than another so I plunged ahead, keeping the mountain in front of me.

It was an instinctive move; I had no room to think as panic took hold. I also assumed my men would follow me, not realizing how bad the lighting was nor how much of a head start I’d gotten. It wasn’t until I found myself in a blind alley that I realized I was alone. With noon long gone, the slant of the sun had bathed the narrow paths in shadows growing ever darker as dusk approached.

Turning back the way I’d come I felt my heart leap into my throat. Blocking the way was a lithe figure with luminous green eyes. Despite the eeriness of its eyes, all I could focus on were its long ears. They were not like a demi’s, hailing from an ancestry tainted with bestiality. No, this creature’s ears were placed like a human’s, but flowed back in an angular shape to end in fine tips.

Demi-humans were a vulgar existence, but this was something born unholy by its very nature.

I was looking at a demon.

Vice-Captain Lesner

It was dark by the time I gave up on trying to find a way out of the maze. My men set up camp as much as they could, but none of us had the heart to sleep. Our bizarre day left everyone on edge as we hoped we’d simply be able to see another sunrise. A hope that had grown wane after we sent up a signal flare at dusk and found none replied in turn.

Not long ago I’d been scorning the departing mercenaries as craven fools. Now I wished I’d stopped to think about their reasons a bit longer. They weren’t courageous, but they weren’t cowards either, bleeding a bit for their gold was normal. That they’d outright scorned entering the maze should have been a warning sign.

Captain Jonus had been in a brilliant mood though, and I’d been caught up in thoughts of glory. Neither of us had questioned what happened in a meaningful way. Now I was left with nothing but my fears and my responsibility to my men. A responsibility I hadn’t been thinking about for a while.

I wanted to curse my ambitions. The Captain had never done me wrong, but I needed personal achievements to advance and had become too eager for combat. He clearly favored another man over me, which meant I would have to leave the company to get a promotion. Not an easy feat without direct backing, but possible with enough merit.

That was the limit of my ambition. Once I was captain of my own unit, I’d have been content. I liked my work, it made me feel closer to Strom. Thinking of Strom, I gave a prayer I hoped would please him, despite not knowing the words properly. I prayed for my men as well, though I didn’t tell them. It felt improper to give them false hope of salvation, since I wasn’t sure I’d be heard.

Without firewood, what little we could find to burn was soon exhausted. Tired, but unable to sleep, I moved carefully in the dark to find a discreet place to piss. With nothing to do, I looked up into the night sky and felt a touch of peace. The night sky was a thing entangled in too many lies of false gods to be considered holy, unlike the day.

Yet I had to admit it was beautiful. That sliver of honesty wrung a self-loathing laugh from me. Being honest I felt close to Strom naturally, his teachings in my bones from my cradle thanks to my devout mother. That wasn’t why I’d become a seeker. I liked my job because I felt satisfaction from killing. In that moment of clarity as I tried not to get piss on my boots I prayed again. Not for salvation this time, but for forgiveness.

Instead of devoting myself to the seekers' mission in his honor, I’d been enjoying myself. A selfish and ignoble thing to do while wearing the symbol of the seekers' holy mission. Lost in thought I looked up at the profane stars once more, wondering what the thin half-rings of violet I was seeing were. I’d never noticed them before and had the odd feeling they were twinkling, but not quite. Almost like they were a blinking pair of eyes.

Feeling uneasy I was retying my trousers in a hurry when a gloved hand suddenly gagged me. Panicked, I thrashed and felt little resistance, as if the person were incredibly light. Despite that my mouth remained gagged and I couldn’t give a cry of alarm.

I felt spreading wetness in my pants and knew I hadn’t pissed myself. The knife which cut my thigh had simply been too sharp to feel at first. Panicking I reached down, trying to press my pants against the wound to no avail. Looking back toward my men, I spotted faint violet lights moving among them and collapsed to my knees. I didn’t know what the lights meant but as my mind grew hazy from blood loss, I understood that none of us would see the sun again.

Hubert, Soldier

When it started to grow dark, I’d called for a retreat. My small detachment wasn’t enough to face our original targets at this point. Our path back should have been relatively straightforward, but we didn’t find the entrance before the sun had fully set.

Coming into a large open area, I called for a cold camp. We had little fuel in the first place and using it would just alert any potential adversaries of our location. As things stood, we should have already been at the entrance but I didn’t fuss. It was too easy to get turned around in the dark, we might only have missed it by a single turn. As such it was better to wait for daylight and follow our path back until we found the mistake.

Trying to keep a sense of normalcy, I set up a watch and then went to feign sleep. Captain Jonus should have sent up a flare to call us to fight or retreat hours before. Instead, Vice-Captain Lesner had sent one up notifying us his group was in trouble, though not what kind. Flares were precious, so they only had a few of the common variety.

Lesner was a bit of a creep in my opinion, but I’d have been as happy as a new bride to see him now. His rather too eager attitude about fighting would have been a comfort and I would have gladly let him be the vanguard. Now I was on my own with a few subordinates who were all looking at me for guidance. My pretend sleep turned into a light doze as I fantasized about a comfortable chair and never-ending paperwork with an expensive tea set at my elbow. That and a rank that would make others look the other way about there being more whiskey than tea in the pot.

More asleep than awake, I callously swatted away an irritating bit of light. Not aware it was a prompt, the holiest form of communication. It wasn’t long before I woke to the sound of a muffled scream. Looking around I couldn’t see much of anything, but I still stood and drew my sword. Aspirations of desk work aside, I was a capable, if reluctant fighter.

A sudden light blinded me for a moment and when my vision returned, I found I was no longer alone. Three stones had been thrown on the ground to create a lighted path. At the end, a man stood wearing a large hat and what looked like formal attire to my eyes. I was confused, expecting a demi only to be confronted by a human. One that had magic items no less.

“I’d like to greet you in a friendly manner, but your entrance leaves me nervous,” I said with false calm. Looking around, I couldn’t find any sign of the three men who’d been with me. Instead of replying the man threw something and it landed in the middle of the band of light created by the stones. Reluctant but curious I went to see what it was.

I found a black glove with blue embroidery on the back of a rose and what I thought were two swords at first. Looking at it a bit longer I realized the second blade was missing a hilt and had to wonder if the design was unfinished. A passing thought that let me collect myself as I dealt with the fact I’d just been challenged to a duel of all things.

Looking up at the man I wanted to try and figure out his motive, but my mouth went dry. Over one eye was a sunburst style burn. Growing up relatively literate and modestly well to do I’d read all manner of books though I couldn’t claim a formal education. It had to be a coincidence, but I’d seen a drawing of just such a scar in a history book.

The scar had been the mark of the clergy for a god I couldn’t remember. At least until the King of an old dynasty had gone mad and declared himself the god’s living vessel. He’d taken the symbol and turned it into a form of punishment, destroying the eye of those he decided were criminals. I didn’t know why this odd man was challenging me to a duel or why he had a similar scar.

All I could do was straighten up and throw the glove back, uninterested in keeping it. Hoping he’d be surprised I rushed forward but the man was unmoved by the distraction. His blade was a rapier, much lighter than my own. If I could destroy it or knock it from his hands he would be finished.

His feet moved oddly, making me think he meant to take a step back. Glad of the extra distance I committed, coming in hard and hoping he’d fall even if I didn’t disarm him. Instead, he smoothly lunged, coming in under my swing. If he’d tried to strike me with his blade then, my armor would have stopped him.

Still moving forward as momentum carried me I didn’t see what happened next, I just felt a sudden pain under my arm. Staggering, I hit the ground, just within the band of light. Looking down, I found a slim dagger in my armpit as my vision clouded. I looked up toward the man and for a second and thought I was looking at death itself. A skeletal being in my opponents clothes bowing politely to me at the end of our duel.

“W-who?” I asked. Desperate to know if I was hallucinating in my last moments. He said nothing, kneeling as he took out another dagger and promptly slit my throat.