Death Smith - Book 2 - Chapter 27

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Holding a grudge

Twenty minutes later.

Late-April, 14 AR.

Ireland, Dublin, outside the little Market.

“Lance... wake up...”

Lance could hear someone call out for him, easing him out of his slumber, despite his protesting body. He opened his eyes and noticed a familiar face looking back at him. “Thomas?” Lance asked, seeing his best friend staring back at him, those blue eyes meeting his own. He smiled for a moment, before he became conscious enough to shatter his happiness. The man staring back at him was too pale, his eyes to strange a colour blue, and his face absent the teasing smile that was Thomas’ trademark. “What happened?”

“Bleeding…” Ash said, his voice unnaturally deep and as demonic as ever. He brought his gauntleted hand towards Lance’s body, pointing at the makeshift bandages and tourniquets that were in place. From what Lance could see, Ash had made them from torn pieces of clothing. Blood seeped through the fabric, staining Lance’s skin crimson.

‘Mend wounds’

“You did good,” Lance said as the healing light did its work for a moment, stemming the flow of blood as Lance went over his injuries again. His medical training kicked in as he adjusted the bandages to the best of his ability. ‘I would’ve bled out already if it wasn’t for him,’ Lance thought as he waited for his vision to return. He remembered flashes of him going in and out of consciousness, giving Ash instructions as best as he could. ‘Grab their shards… grab Iyas’ body… and take me to the Smith… He did all of that?’

When his vision returned, he noticed he was in the passenger seat of his van. Ash was still holding onto the steering wheel. The windscreen bore cracks in it, and the front of the van was damaged. Smoke was coming out from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The cheap GPS device inside the van was still indicating that they had arrived at their destination. ‘Ash must’ve used the coordinates that I used last time.’

Looking past the cracked windscreen, Lance could see the entrance of the little Market from where he was sitting. “Help me out of the car,” Lance said as he watched Ash force open the driver’s door before making his way around to Lance’s side.

As Ash was working on the door, Lance looked behind him and spotted the partially destroyed body of Iyas that Ash had dumped in the back. The assassin was barely recognisable in his current state. Lance shifted in his seat for a moment as he reached backwards to touch a part of Iyas’ skin.

[You have stored an item in the inventory.]

A moment later, Iyas’ body was gone. His discarded bloody clothes were the only hint that the man had been there. Lance hated the fact that he got a new item notification. ‘Just deal with it. I’ll live longer if no one ever finds his body,’ Lance thought as he carefully got out of the van with Ash helping him as carefully as he could. The bit of movement was enough to open his wounds further, forcing Lance to activate his skill once more and blind him temporarily.

“The shards?” Lance asked as he held up his hand. He felt a wave of disgust as he noticed the weight of a hard object suddenly on his hand. The weight was only a few grams, but to Lance, it felt indescribably heavy. ‘I am sorry that this happened to you, Mira. I am sorry that everything that gravitates around me ends up dead.’ Moments later he felt the shards of Alpha, Beta and Icarus join Mira’s, reminding Lance once more of the price that had been paid for him to live.

[You have stored four items in the inventory.]

He steeled himself as he ignored the notification. Instead, Lance shifted his gaze towards his status update, showing that he had gained several levels and was now level thirty-two and had several unspent Attribute points on his hands. ‘So much experience from killing a single Rifter?’ Lance thought as he forced all the excess points into his Wisdom stat, knowing that increasing the rate of his Mana regeneration could be the difference between life and death. Spending it on Endurance had tempted him for a moment, but Lance knew that the increase would be useless for already sustained injuries.

‘Mend wounds’

Again, Lance lit up in blue light as he pointed at the entrance of the little Market. “Ash, put on your helmet and help me inside of the fish store.” Lance was hesitant to go further, remembering clearly how it had gone the last time. But he had little choice. He was bleeding out but couldn’t risk going to a hospital or the GRRO. If he did then Kira could find out and send more assassins after him, or after those close to him.

* * * * *

Lance groaned as he made his way past the dirty stall and into the store behind it, seeing Ash slam apart the lock with the steel shield that had belonged to Thomas. He felt more blood pour down his side but ignored it for now. Upon opening the door, he spotted the two startled Rifters he had encountered before. ‘That Smith… That drunk is in charge. The other is just the muscle,’ Lance thought as he forced himself to stand up straighter and move towards them, ignoring the fact that his bloody footprints sang tales of the unknown.

“Listen Kid, I told you we should cool off, right? And from the looks of things, you look anything but cooled off,” the Smith said hastily. No doubt the man intuitively knew that something was wrong here. From the many filled crates in the room, it was clear to see that he was busy packing up, no doubt intent on setting up shop elsewhere. “Look, how about we talk about this-” he halted as he noticed the newcomer stepping in behind Lance.

If Lance’s roughed up and bloody visage was enough to unnerve the Smith, then Ash’s appearance was enough to terrify him to his core. Wrapped in shadow and covered in fresh blood, Ash stepped forwards like death itself, wielding a bloody axe and a shield. There was too much blood on Ash, to much for someone not to realise that Ash had just killed someone up close. “Kid… please. I have kids. I don’t know for sure, but I might have them… I-” he stopped as Ash slowly slid the desk to the side, removing the last obstacle between them.

“Get out of the chair,” Lance said as he flared up in a blue light, temporarily blinding himself as Lance’s wounds tried their best to close on their own. When it faded, he noticed the Smith had jumped out of the chair and had rushed to the Rifter he had hired to be his muscle. Lance let Ash help him in the chair as he sank down, suddenly feeling just how tired and injured he was.

“Kid, if you wanted to settle a score… you’ve succeeded. I am freaking out here and I doubt I can ever get these stains out of my pants again. Please… don’t kill me. If you want blood, take Fergus’ over here. He is the mastermind behind all of it. I am just-” he stopped talking when Ash slammed his axe against his shield, silencing the room in an instant.

“A deal… I am here to offer you a deal,” Lance said as he forced the words past his lips. The blood loss, the pain and the lingering poison in his system were draining what little strength he had left. He again lit up in a blue light as a bit of colour returned to his cheeks. “I need… multiple forged ID’s and Guild-credentials… off market gear, transportation, dark-shards, and immediate… medical help… and mana crystals.”

The Smith, to his credit, calmed down. It was as if his shrewd mind immediately noticed that the option of diplomacy and manipulation was back on the table. “Call me Brian,” he said as he took a step away from his scared companion, as if to distance himself. “I can get you all of that, no problem. But a deal has two parties, so what am I getting out of this, kid?” Brian asked with a smile, as if he could smell an opportunity. That smile vanished when Ash took a single step forward in an orchestra of intimidation, blood, and ethereal shadows. “I mean, besides your demonic friend there not ripping me apart?”

“I don’t… have access to… outbreak sites,” Lance said as he clutched his side again, feeling the blood pour out. He focused his thoughts and activated his healing skill again, halting the life-threatening injuries for the moment as the blue light wrapped around him. His wounded state and the constant flash of light reminded him of that fateful day when Thomas had bled out in his arms.

“I’ve something better…” Lance said as he forced himself to stand up to his full height. Both mentally and physically he towered over the others in the room in that moment as he held out his right hand to his side. “I have this.” Suddenly, three intact monster corpses materialized underneath his hand, stacking on top of one another. Both Fergus and Brian nearly fell over backwards, their faces twisted in a mixture of awe, fear, confusion, and greed.

“Deal,” Brian said suddenly before he kicked his companion in the shin. “Fergus, on your feet! Fetch the Doctor.”

“You mean the veterinarian?” Fergus asked as if confused while Brian pushed him towards the door.

“Stop talking. Just get her. Drag her out of her house if you need to. You have five minutes,” Brian hissed as he slammed the door shut behind Fergus before he composed himself again.

“Trust me, she is brilliant. She has done a lot of work for me in the past,” Brian explained as he rushed over towards several crates and withdrew all the items. Most of the items inside of it contained a mana crystal with some charge. He carefully began handing a few of them to Lance. “Just drain all the mana out of them. The doc will be here soon. She’s a brilliant doctor, really. Works wonders with dogs and horses. I mean, how different can they be from a human, right?”

Lance ignored the man as he depleted the mana from the first item and basked himself in another blue light that struggled to stem the bleeding. “Ash, kill him if he tries anything,” Lance said as he closed his eyes while he drained the mana of another item. He ignored the obvious pleading from Brian, knowing the weasel would try anything to stay alive. Still, this weasel was the best option Lance had now.

Ash took up a protective stance near Lance, placing the broken shield next to his chair. Ash inspected each mana filled item that Brian dug up from his many storage containers before Ash handed them to Lance, taking his role seriously.

Lance tried to ignore the pain he was feeling as he opened his eyes and accessed his inventory. He felt the embers of Thomas’ fury at seeing Iyas’ mutilated corpse within his Inventory. He hated having it inside of his inventory but knew it would be better than the authorities finding Iyas’ body and linking it to him. Or worse, that Kira would find the body and assume that he was still alive. Next to the icon of Iyas’ body was a single white-shard. It disgusted Lance having it there. He wanted to mourn her loss properly. To weep at the knowledge that this monster had cut her life so short and that her body was left behind in that alley. ‘At least her family will have a body to bury,’ Lance thought, as he hated himself for not being able to shed a single tear in that moment. ‘It’s more than what Thomas’ family had.’

Knowing his own personality and the weight these topics had on his conscious, he forced himself to close the Inventory and stare at the television to distract himself. “Ash,” Lance asked his companion as he pointed at the remote control that was on the table. ‘Is that the thing Oliver mailed me about?’ Lance thought as he watched a press summary about what was going on in Paris.

Ash increased the volume, allowing Lance to hear the French president and a general go on about retaking Paris. They spoke of the hundreds of brave heroic Rifters that had already pledged themselves to fight alongside the army, and a great experimental weapon that was to destroy the Rift itself. ‘What the hell is going on in the world? Stopping an outbreak? Is that possible?’

“The doc should be here any minute. She’ll patch you up nicely. Might even stich a smiley face if you want to,” Brian said nervously as he handed Ash another item while eying him like one would eye a feral wolf. “Any preference for pain medication? I have the good stuff: morphine, pills, brandy, whiskey, you name it. Even some weird stuff from Egypt that I can’t pronounce.”

“Nothing… just get me the doctor,” Lance said as he checked on his wrapped-up chest and stomach before he lit up like a blue beacon again. By the time his vision returned to him he could see a list of names being presented on the screen, showing the world the many guilds and Rifters that had pledged themselves to the liberation of Paris.

“Not even a sip of Bundaberg Rum? I cracked open a crate an hour ago. I might’ve got a few local beers lying around, but honestly, I’d prefer your scary friend elbow me in the family jewels a few times rather than drink that,” Brian said as he pointed at a large crate that contained a surprising amount of alcohol.

“Stop talking,” Lance said suddenly as he leaned forward, ignoring his protesting body. His eyes went wide as he watched the screen. The list of names was still going on, revealing the Rifters’ nationalities, guild affiliations and, for some, even their world ranking if they were particularly strong and skilled. Most people would look at that list with awe, but Lance only had eyes for one person on that list. “Louis Vidal.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Brian asked while taking a step backwards, seeing the look in Lance’s eyes and the way his armoured friend reacted to the name.

Lance felt his anger ignite again as he remembered the way Louis, Connor, and Kira had left him and Thomas to die in a Rift. Ever since that day, his life had gone off the tracks. Now people close to him were even getting targeted or killed just for being near him. ‘Iyas mentioned his sister was going to clean up loose ends in France. Is Louis her target?’ Lance flared up in a blue light to halt the flow of blood again as he grabbed Thomas’ broken shield that was next to him. Iyas’ blood still covered it, but Lance paid no attention to it.

“Brian, I am going to need one more thing from you.” Lance threw the broken shield towards Brian, who was obviously freaking out because of everything that was going on.

“What do you want me to do?” Brian asked nervously.

“I want you to turn that shield and turn it into a weapon that can take down monsters,” Lance said with a soft smile forming as he spoke the words. He had endured much since Thomas had died. His body was a testament to that. He had suffered broken bones, had been bitten, clawed at, and stabbed. All that to get justice for his friend, to see his killers to confess what they had done. But having barely survived an assassin and seeing Louis’ name displayed as a noble hero broke something inside of him. Relying on justice wouldn’t work, not with people that were more than willing to lie, hide, or kill to prevent it.

His problems had only gotten more numerous and problematic since he had started this path. There had been three of them at first, before Kira had invited two more. ‘This needs to happen. Overwhelming force is the only thing that will subdue and scare these people… these monsters. Before anyone else gets killed because of them,’ he thought as he shifted his gaze back towards Brian. “I want it strong enough to take down four of them.”

“Sure, kid, whatever you need,” Brian said as he held onto the bloody and broken shield, not yet fully grasping the sheer weight that he was carrying in his hands beyond the metal. He took a few uncertain steps away from Lance and the armoured warrior. Moments later Brian opened the door to let Fergus and a confused woman carrying several bags inside of the shop.

‘I promise that I’ll keep your family safe, Thomas,’ Lance thought as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, letting a blue light stem the bleeding again. Mentally, he closed himself off from the world around him, from the people in the room, the hands on his body and the pain of his injuries. He found solace in that place, closed off from the material world and just be by himself, with the faint whispers of Thomas’ memories occasionally seeping in.

‘Paris.’ Lance uttered it in his mind, as he felt the importance of the word and that place. He knew his path would lead him there, as if drawn to it. “Paris,” he said out loud as he breathed life and meaning to it in the material world. Unbeknownst to Lance, there were other souls in various locations that felt the same pull to that city.

The broken twin… the guilt-ridden soldier… and the cloaked stranger. Everyone felt the threads of fate leading them there.

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[Two items can be forged. Templates available: 1]

[Required black-shards: 100 x2. Do you wish to proceed?]

[Yes] [No]

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Author: Osirium

Copyright: 2022 OsiriumWrites

Released: 2022