I decided to just let Jillian sleep since I probably wasn’t going to get any actual sleep, and would probably just sit in the back room meditating. I’d messaged Hep earlier to let him know my location, and tell him I thought it was a good spot, lake front inside of an alcove type area, just woods and a few low rolling hills around. A nice little secluded area, we’re going to become much more noticeable once the wall starts going up and alterations start happening but I think we’ll hold fine.

Eventually those mercs are going to show up, but were almost thirty miles out, so with any luck we’ll be well prepared by the time they get here.

I sit the night away considering what I’m going to do until Hep’s group gets here. I don’t want to leave the area, so I’ll probably just clear out the area and fortify a house. This one isn’t bad, all the way on the end, and has the a shed and a couple of mid-size barns. I should probably check those out a little bit more. a could see that a few of the houses had boats, and jet-skis at some at some dockage. If it holds to the ways I know these barns will probably have some ATV’s and other off-road vehicles. If were really lucky one of them will have an on-site gas tank to fill from. If not, we’ll just find one.

Lost in thought I barely notice when the hallway starts to brighten from the grey of night vision to a more overcast morning color. I sit and think for another hour before I go and wake Jillian up.

Quietly opening the door, I kneel next to her and lightly touch her shoulder “Jillian, it’s morning. We need to get up and take care of some things before we rest the day away. Pulling the blanket away she mumbles something into her pillow about ‘five more minutes’.

“No, I’m going to give you about five while I hit the little boys room. If you’re not at least sitting up when I get back, I’m going to drop a bucket of water on you. Before leaving the room, I see that she has sat up with the blanket falling around her shoulders barely covering her, I can’t help but think of one of those photos from the 16’th century that were pretty much porn for them.

“Fucking dictator.” I hear mumbled as the door closes behind me. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, taking care of the other morning essentials I’m back in the bedroom within ten minutes. The door to the room is open and walking in I get an eye full of her bent over pulling up a pair of pants. It’s a hell of a view, if I weren’t so focused on getting the area cleared out and this place secured we’d be busy for a little bit. Assuming she was interested, maybe last night was a one off. I don’t mind, I’m not looking to get tied down, especially with someone who hasn’t entered Valhalla yet.

“Stop staring and hand me my shirt.” Waving her hand at the chair in the corner she points to a red and blue flannel shirt.

“We’re going to need to get you fitted in something a bit more substantial. I’ve got an extra set of clothes, but you’ll be swimming in them. You and my friend Rita are probably about the same size. Might have to barter for the clothes though, she kind of has an addiction.” When I mention Rita, I keep a closer eye for any reaction from her. There’s curiosity, not possessiveness on her face, so were good for now.

“Sounds good to me, we’re only a few miles from my town, and the next biggest city has a few sporting goods stores. It’s probably a ten-mile drive, but it’s probably stacked with gear,” she finishes buttoning her shirt and straps the gun on her hip “what’s the plan?”

“I’d like to clear out the surrounding buildings and get a rough list of what’s around. I’m hoping some of the houses around here were the ‘sporting’ kind of rich people with ATV’S and other goodies. I’m pretty sure I saw a few trails crossing the path on the way in, but we were kind of in a rush.” I check her over, stepping forward I take a knee and unclip the holster around her thigh.

“Stand like you regularly would. The holster should drop so that the grip of the pistol sits an inch or two above where your hand naturally sits. Makes for an easier draw.” I tighten the inner strap up a little, her and her cousin were about the same height but I’ll bet his arms were longer giving him a lower draw. “there you go, try pulling it and holstering it a few times.” She hesitantly pulls grips the gun and pulls it out holding it teacup style.

Her basics aren’t bad, probably shot a few times in the past. I tap her off foot moving it a bit more forward, and pushing her right foot out a bit wider. Grabbing her shoulder, I push her lower back forward a few inches so she is in a more forward lean than straight stand, “You want to lean in, every gun is going to kick,” I move her left hand from under the magazine well and lay it over her other hand on the grip.

Pulling my gun, I take up a stance so she can see what I’m doing “See how I’m almost pulling the front hand while pushing the front? You don’t want too much pressure either way, just enough to get tension.”

After a few minutes of showing her the correct way to stand and having her practice drawing and getting into stance we move out to the houses. “I’m going to go in and draw anything left out of the houses, stand outside where you have a good field of view around. I’ll drag them out and you can use the knife on the sheath on them. I’ll hold them once it’s safe to, and just jam it into the temple as hard as you can.” She looks a little queasy when I mention shit “It’s going to suck. Try not to think about what you are doing, these aren’t people anymore. Their monsters now. Just keep in mind that you’re doing this for the betterment of humanity. Plus, it needs to be done. You said you’re ready to survive in this world, now you need to step up and prove it.”

I feel like an asshole doing this, but she’s gotta start somewhere. We go through most of the houses on the street without running into anything until I run into a lone zombie in the second to last house. She was an older woman, wearing a muumuu gown thing. I shrug and lure her out the door.

Getting Jillian to distract her I slide around behind her and lock my arms around hers and lift her off the ground, “Ok like we talked about don’t think abo- “Jillian slams the knife into its temple with enough force to stagger me to the side, and send a blood splatter over the side of my face. “Shit, Like that. Only not as much force. The temple is a soft spot you don’t have to put your entire weight behind it. Good job though.” I ignore the tears in her eyes, even if I knew what to say about it I’d probably end up being more insulting than anything.

I have her loot the body so she gets the idea, then I lead her around to check out the other houses. We spend most of the morning searching through houses and the other out buildings. We only run into a few more zombies, but we do manage to find four-wheelers, a few dirt-bikes. The barns next to the house I’d chosen actually have a couple of dirt bikes and a UTV in one, and a half torn down Jeep wrangler resides in the other with parts everywhere. I’m keeping this house. The barn has a full set of tools, and from the parts laying around this was probably about to go into the rebuild phase.

We manage to scavenge some chain link fence from a little shack down the street and I bolt it over the windows in the house I’ve chosen. There aren’t a lot of windows, but the big one’s on the lake side over the porch are large pane. By the time, we are done covering some windows with chain-link, and reinforcing others with scrap metal and stuff we found laying around it’s almost nightfall.

-MESSAGE-

Rita: My group is a few miles out from the point you mentioned on the road, if I push the kids we can be there just after dark, did you have a chance to set up a secure position?

Gnome: yes. Once you reach the T in the road cut right and it’s the last house down on the left. Holler when you get here.

Rita: Gotcha. We’re down to about twenty people, we had a few run ins with monsters and zombies that didn’t end well.

Gnome: You guys get here and they can rest for the night. It’ll be a tight fit, but we can manage.

“looks like we’re going to have some friends crashing here tonight. Rita from camp managed to get here. Hep should be here with his group morning after next if he keeps pace, with twenty more bodies we can fortify a few more buildings.” Jillian hears me, but she’s dead on her feet. I didn’t let her stop today, after we were done putting everything together had her practice drawing and aiming until she could do it without adjusting her stance. It’s brutal, and probably unnecessary but it’ll keep her mind busy.

“Go lay down, in that smaller back room. You’re probably going to have to share later, so pick a good spot.” Nodding she shambles off to the back room. I’d be surprised if she even wakes up when they come in.

After about an hour I can hear voices and movement outside. Opening the door, I find Rita with her hand raised to knock. “Hiya. Come on in.” I reach out and grab her hand pulling her into a hug. “You smell like shit.”

“Blow me. Me an this lot ave been slogging through the woods since you messaged me yesterday. I dint have time ta stop for a mani.” She gives me a firm squeeze and steps inside, waving the kids and young adults behind her.

They look worse than I imagine I did when I came out of that camp. Grubby with smudges of dirt everywhere, some faces with tear streaks cleaning tracks down their faces, others with the look of people too far inside their own heads to do anything other than react. These are the faces you expect to see on a battlefield, not on young people. The thought of what they’ve had to go through makes my stomach curl.

“Tell them to lay anywhere, I’ll lock the doors and keep a watch. The bathroom is back there to the right, the water is from the lake and there is manual pump next to the toilet so it works, but the only drinkable water is in the kitchen. I only had a few gallons on standby, we’ll boil some water tomorrow. Get some sleep too, you look almost as bad as them. The back room to the left has the girl I found in it.” She drags me into another hug and mumbles a thank you into my chest before walking off towards the back room.

Not much time passes before I manage to get the new people situated enough to sleep. Leaning my back against the front door I drop into a meditative state and spend the night hoping things are going better for Hep than they did for Rita.

The next couple of days go by in a lull, we spend time putting fence over some windows, and boarding up others. The morning Heps group comes up the drive we are in the middle of fortifying the ninth house. Walking up to hep he grabs my hand in a firm shake.

“Glad to see you haven’t been sitting on your ass the last couple of days. Half expected to show up with you having someone fanning you while another fed you grapes.” I let go of his hand and give him the finger.

“I would have but they kept arguing over who gets to sit on my lap. Figured I’d just skip the drama.”

“hAW hAW. You are a riot. I’ve got somewhere between one-hundred and forty, and one-hundred and sixty. The counts I’m getting from the people I’ve put in charge either can’t count, or are not counting well.” He looks haggard. Getting these people here probably took a lot out of him.

“I hate to do it hep, but I need you to get your people in with mine and get them working. Even the bigger houses are going to be uncomfortable with twenty plus people in them.” He’s got a few architects in his crew and they get to work quickly.

The day is spent working and building. We manage to fortify most of the houses in the area, and set up a roving guard. I want to ask Hep about the mercs but it’s too busy.

On the morning of the third day Hep asks me to meet him upstairs in the command building, we need to talk about his past.

Walking into the room he’s chosen as his own it’s hard not to notice how bare it is. A couple of chairs, a bed, closet, and a desk. He’d basically taken over a little sewing room, he was happy with it, so I’m not going to knock him though. He gives me a look that is somewhere between distress, and determination.

“Have a seat boss, I’m going to tell you a story that less than a handful of people know. Don’t interrupt me, or I won’t be able to finish.” Quirking an eyebrow at me until I nod affirmative he leans back in his seat.

“all right.” With those words, Hep launches the tale of his last mission with the Black Raven Mercenaries, and the subsequent fall out.

-HEP­-

“Any way you can get on with this?” Teagan was always a worrier, complaining about something or another. He’s also survived most of our engagements with little to no damage, so he’s a weaselly slimy little shit.

“Any way you can eat shit?” I hate being rushed, explosives are my specialty and I’ve been doing them for years but mistakes can still be made if I’m not careful, “I’ll have this wired up and set for about two-minutes soon. Sooner if you’ll shut the hell up.” Fuck that guy, he might be a survivor, but more often than not he’s the only one. Maybe something shady there, maybe not, I’d rather not chance it.

Teagan kept looking over his shoulder like he was expecting incoming any second, I couldn’t help but notice his tiny little pointy nose, and close in little beady weasel eyes. The face fit perfectly with his short height and malnourished looking body. I’m not the first to compare him to a weasel, it’s his call-sign in the guild, but he owns it.

I’ve been working for Hel for close to twenty-seven years at this point, I died back on titan by accident. Negligent discharge by some other platoon’s men, if timelines were actual lines that kid is probably still in prison back there. Lessons learned. I’ve only died a handful of times since I reached Tartarus usually on these high-profile missions against the “Greeks” or the Pantheon, whichever you prefer. The ‘gods’ have been waging wars since time immemorial and it’s probably going to keep going.

Every fifty or sixty years there is a full scale interdimensional rift battle over who owns whose turf, and who stepped on whoever’s toes. They used to duke it out toe to toe until what is only known as ‘the decimation’ from what I gather a war between at least twelve different god factions decided to meet in a quadrant and get it on. It ended badly. Tens of thousands of beings who cannot be reborn died in the process, two entire factions were wiped entirely from history, and those remaining decided it was best they find a surrogate for their shitty little wars.

In comes the lesser races: humans, elves, faerie, dwarves, etc. the universe can recoup our souls and rebirth us to new beings, it doesn’t have the juice for the older souls. Well, it does, but only one gets reborn every thousand years or so. And it’s not the same entity, just a new ‘god soul’.

So here I am, sitting on the pipes under a bridge in the dark of morning with a weasel rigging it to blow. This is a supply route for the pantheons main force in the meta-rift, it’s where most of their forces get supplied from. My squad got wiped earlier while we were battling our way onto the bridge, me and the weasel here managed to hook up behind the enemy and have set up a daisy-chain of explosives; once the first goes the rest will react. And I’ll tack another bridge onto my tally.

The guild is good at what they do, and we damned well should be. Me and Melark started this guild shortly after we met and have been meticulous in who got in. everyone with us is a specialist in their own right, even the weasel. Their all groomed, and chosen for the positions they sit in. I’m not one prone to emotion, but when I sit and think about what we’ve accomplished it brings a tear to my eye. Back in my previous life I would have been considered special forces, that was only after a few years of training. If I were to compare me now, the me from then I couldn’t just in skill alone the gulf is too wide.

Suffice it to say, if we weren’t the best, we were damned close. That was a known fact in at least one dimension, the “black ravens” were mercenaries, we’d work for anyone who had the coin, or favor to buy us. Melark usually accepted the missions and I planned them, I tended to not do well with clients. This one was a repeat job, we’ve blown bridges for both of warring factions at least once, work was good here.

I finished setting the timer and called out to the weasel, “We’re set, we can roll out.” My only answer was silence. I took a quick tour around our little area, he wasn’t here. Fuck. Slimy little bastard, I wonder what his game is. Fuck em’. I lit the primer and headed for the exit, shimmying along the thin I-beam towards the bank we came in on. The initial plan had been to quick rope down to the water below, but my missing compatriot had the bag with ropes in it. If I have my way this is the last straw, he’s out.

Bending my arm around the last jut to get around an extended corner a hand grabs my wrist and yanks me around and over a railing, slamming my face into the ground with two people jamming knees into my back and another two with guns pointed in my face.

“Godamned it, what are you people doing?” gotta bluff until I come up with something better, “I was checking out the trusses, somebody had tried setting a bomb but I managed to kill him and throw his gear over.” It’s about as flimsy as the shirts on the girls back in the red-district.

“He’s lying.” I know that voice.

“Melark? Shit man, you had me going. Get these fucks to let me up, I completed what I came to do. We have maybe a minute to get out of here.” His sense of humor could probably use some work, but I guess any joke is a step in the right direction.

“No, Hep. YOU are the objective. Weasel has disarmed the bomb, and we have you in custody. We’re taking you to a tribune of the gods to stand in judgement for the acts of war you have used the guild for against several gods.” The look he’s giving me is full of righteous fury, but his eyes might as well have been blackholes for all the emotion they were showing.

“You know I wouldn’t do that, I love the guild. I created it, built it from nothing. You helped me, there’s no way I could have done this.” I’m almost frantic at this point. It feels like someone has stuck nettles underneath every inch of my skin and set them on fire.

“You have orchestrated every mission we’ve been on in the seven years the guild has been active, I have records to show this is true. I am just a Captain Hep, how would I know what the guild master’s business is?” Motherfucker. Not only is he setting me up, he’s been setting me up for years. If he thinks I’m going to take this lying down he’s wrong. They’ll send me for a respawn before I roll over for him.

Slamming my arms down I activate my blink ability and set my point as just behind Melark. By the time the blink had ended he’d already had a stun baton complete in a swing. I barely felt it hit my head before the volts from the weapon sent my body into spasm’s, locking my muscles and immobilizing me. As I fell towards the ground I caught a look at his face with a dark self-satisfied smile as the baton came at my face and sent me to oblivion.

I woke to a blinding headache strapped to a chair in a room set up like a mini-colosseum. Seats filled with gods all around, probably at least twelve of them, sitting in factions around the raised oval space.

“Do you know why you are here Heplite?” The blurry pillar to my right asks.

“Not a damned clue, if you could unshackle me from this chair though we could have a civilized conversation.” I’m trying to keep a lid on my frustration. I know exactly why I’m here, that fuck-bag Melark screwed me.

“We are going to require that you speak your thoughts aloud in this court Heplite. Your mind is blocked from us, we can hear static but nothing else.” The inflection of the voice never changes timbre, just a flat monotone. Probably a male, going by what Melark told me probably either full Gods, or Demi’s.

“I was thinking my partner fucked me. From what he told me on the bridge this is some kind of war crimes tribunal for assaulting various gods.” My head is rocked to the side as the blurry pillar flashes and backhands me. Funny what you notice when you’re on the edge of blacking out, Like the fact that the chair must have been bolted down, that was one hell of a hit.

“YOU WILL SHOW RESPECT.” The timbre barely changes, but that is a definite octave boost. Anger, bordering on rage. The indifference is probably self-control.

“Yes sir. I do not know the exact charges. If it would please the tribunal to inform me I would be most thankful.” Flowery speak bullshit. This is why I don’t deal with clientele.

My vision is clear enough that I can see the blurry pillar next to me is Apollo. Clad in his pristine toga, looking like he just pulled it out of a dry-clean bag. Chiseled jaw underneath bright eyes, and sun-golden hair. A darker blur in the stands in front of me stands up. I can’t see his face, but with that color armor its either Ares, or Hades.

“It would please the tribunal greatly. You are being charged with acts of aggression, sanctioned and directed by your own hand, directly against both full, and demi-gods. Your captain was more than forthcoming, he relinquished all contracts for the last seven years. We have almost irrefutable proof that you have been acting against the spirit of the guild contract.” I could have handled Ares, the god of war would be more indifferent about it; he understands how war works, casualties happen.

“I have never knowingly worked directly against any higher beings. I’ve brought the ravens up from an infant guild to one of the top ranking in an unheard-of amount of time. There is no other single guild who has risen so far, so fast. Why would I risk that for trinkets? Sand that would flow through my fingers?” I’m reaching the limit I have for bullshittery.

“You misunderstand this tribunal Heplite. We are not here to gauge your innocence, we are here to decide your sentence. We have reached a decision and you shall be sent the underworld specifically the depths of the timeless to the tender mercies of the residence until such a time as a tribunal can be convinced you have learned your error.” He’s still a blur in front of me, but I can hear the smile in his voice. I can almost feel his aura reaching out to caress my soul.

The depths are a place of legend. Horrifying legend. A dimension bereft of anything but pain, inhabited by the most depraved beings. There is no dying there. Your soul will reform whole in the depths, no reprieve for the inmates. It’s not a death sentence, but a place meant to strip you of your sanity, a place to make you into something that a soul recycled to the world would be a mercy.

I don’t even have words. They weren’t mincing words. Once the gods spoke a sentence it was law, they’ve already decided, I’m just waiting for them to send me. Go big or go home I guess.

“Any of you who believe one party over another without having a fair trial can go fuck themselves. The place I was raised in was brutal, it was dirty, but the right to a fair trial was always an option. I’m not dumb enough to threaten gods, but it should be noted that when I am released I will hunt Melark until he begs for one of you to release him back to the cycle. I Vow that I will spend my eternity bending everything I built and he stole from me into a smoldering wreck that is only recognizable to the people who are watching it burn from the inside. He’s made a grave miscalculation. I will not bow, I will not break. I’ll walk through the timeless with a smile on my face knowing before I go back to the cycle I’ll have made his existence nothing more than pain and loss.”

“I ACCEPT.”

“I have nothing more to say, do what you will.” Closing my eyes, and dismissing the beings in front of me, I waited for oblivion.

-GNOME-

I can’t help but lean back in my chair. I didn’t realize I’d even began to lean forward. He doesn’t look like he wants to talk about the depths, and I sure as shit aren’t going to make him.

“That’s one hell of a story Hep. I’m sorry your friend fucked you over like that. I’m with you man. As soon as I’m done with setting my rift and meshing it we can guild up and get to work.” I’ve only known Hep for a few weeks now, but he has been nothing if not loyal to me, and to walk through what he did and come out the other side standing is a testament to who he is.

“Are you sure man? I’m in one-hundred percent against Melark, it is what I exist for. Once I have completed my task I’m going to be asked to a release back to the cycle. There’s no joy in war for me anymore, only a burning need for revenge. I don’t want to turn into a monster.” It’ll suck to lose him, but I’ll stand by him until he’s ready.

“I got you man, we can do this, I won’t hold it against you. Were already riding that fine line between monster and hero, so I understand. I hope I have the incite you do if it ever comes to it for me.” I reach out and grab his forearm in a warrior’s grip, “you make me a promise that if I ever step over that edge you either put me right, or put me out though.”

He gives me a firm shake “Agreed, but it goes both ways. I might turn into a monster to do what I need to do, don’t let me.”

Feeling a little uncomfortable about the proximity between us in the small room I release his hand and open the door, “I’ll catch you in a bit.” He just waves me out of the room and lays down on his bed. We’d coopted this house after he and his group got here a few days ago, I decided the one on the end was unsuitable as a main hall. So, we grabbed the big two story a couple of houses down from the T in the road.

It had four bedrooms upstairs, the ground floor had two living rooms with a fire place in each on opposing sides. The kitchen was open to one of the living rooms, with a rear porch facing a lake about ninety meters out. There was a basement too, but it was mostly just storage space and a workshop.

I made my way downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a roll on my way out back to the porch, I needed to process some of the information Hep had given me. I think his story is true, but I’d be a fool not to do my own research as we went along. Being manipulated by someone I think is a friend is not on my agenda.

Stepping out the door and onto the back porch I can’t help but be amazed at the people Hep had brought in. They had managed to build a wall around the backside of the road, blocking the water off so that you had to make your way around a sixteen-foot wall, or cut your way through full grown trees. And that wasn’t happening without someone noticing. There were stations build with ladders up to platforms that looked over with plans to make it a full wall with a palisade once the initial wall surrounding the area and making it a compound was finished. The plan one of the architects that came with the group had made up was evolving quickly.

“Hey ya gonna sit, or just stand around with ya fly-catcha open?” Rita is on the second, lowered, portion of porch on a foldout chair. She’s face down with a towel folded over her ass and her bathing suit top untied. “I wasn’t staring at you Rita, I didn’t even notice you down there. These people are for real, they are trying to make a home here. And their doing it quickly.” I hadn’t noticed her, I guess I should have noticed a half-undressed woman though.

“Way ta let a girl down easy. How bout you grab some of that tan lotion and give me a quick rub-down.” She points at a bottle of lotion on the table next to me. “Just don’t go kicking me in the junk for it.” She lowers her head and raises her middle finger.

As I grab the bottle and step down she pulls the towel down towards the center of her ass, “I’m not gonna hitcha, just don’t reach under the towel, and don’t try shovin’ ya snag down meh throat.” I almost trip, and let out a choking cough.

She snorts, “Gals talk Gnome. You best keep that in mind goin forward.” I can hear the smile in her voice, so I’m fairly certain she’s not mad.

I do walk up to her with my twig and berries angled away from any attack she might make at me though. I squeeze a drop of the lotion in a line down the center of her back and watch her shiver as the cold substance touches her “I’d have warmed it up with my hands, but I figured you might need to cool off some.”

“yeah, nah, get bent mate.” Rubbing my hands together to warm them up some I start massaging the lotion into her back trying to get an even application. I’m almost immediately lost in how soft her skin is. The stark difference I can feel from the first centimeter or so before the almost rock-hard muscle underneath pushes back. Lost in thought I don’t even realize that I’ve been massaging her ass for much longer than is necessary.

“Dunno why ya stoppin’ now. A little bit longer and I might have attacked you like blondie did. Given these crowd a show that’ve scarred a few of em, if what she said about ya donger’s true. Sounded like she found the bloody Bunyip the way she went on.” I’m glad I wasn’t a fly on the wall for that conversation. Free advertisement is better than no advertisement, especially if it’s a good endorsement.

“Sorry Rita, I just got lost in thought about everything going on. Maybe if you ask another time, nice-like to apologize for the last time you offered, and I’ll consider it.” Her chest rises and a “Pfft” sound comes out of her mouth “get on and do something useful, mouthy gallah.” I stand up to walk away, but can’t help to open the lotion and squeeze a large squirt between the towel and her ass leading down.

As much as I wanted to watch the show of her jumping up I decided digression is the better part of valor and vaulted the rail sprinting off towards one of the work crews cutting down trees in the distance.

“Yeh gonna pay for that one, I’ll beatcha ass until it looks like raw meat!” Looking back, I can see she’s managed to wrap herself in the towel and is standing at the railing. The swim bottoms she was wearing earlier laying untied next to the chair. Damn, it might have been worth it to stand there and take the beating.

I pull my eyes off the angry Ausi girl and continue out to the work crew at a jog, I’ve got some issues to work out, and manual labor is always a good way to work out some confusion.