Even though Liam’s orders were blunt and thunder raged outside the camp like a wild beast in a pasture, he couldn’t contain himself a second longer. He snatched a greenechemy potion from the scientist’s tent, took his two revolvers, a dagger, just in case, and eagerly sneaked out.

The times were uneasy -- the tension between the families rose to beyond a breaking point. These times also lent themselves well to the Swords of the Guardians. Whenever unrest and misery plagued the lands, the company flourished and sprawled.

Liam struggled against the wind and rain until he reached the camp’s outer wall. There, he searched for the small crack and escaped through it into the depths of the dead forest.

No one’s been guarding your castle for the past week, he thought. Screw the awful weather, I can’t let this opportunity up.

The camp had been set in the scorched earth around the Bruno castle which it spied on. Odd occurrences happened in the massive fortress and many high profile clients were dying to know exactly what. Consequently, they were more than willing to fork over heaps of coin for that.

The blade in your heart will feel as cold as the blood with which you took all I knew.

Liam joined the Swords of the Guardians only in part because he wanted to and accepted this quest to sit around in a tent not because it was quiet and comfortable. He did a lot of things he didn’t like all to pave the road to revenge.

Back in the day, his family farmed exotic fruits. In his lifetime, they went from serving a lord’s guests to selling out a full market of fruit everyday. Life became better and better. A few years and they would’ve been able to sell their farm and move out of the powers’ forsaken town in the middle of nowhere. Though their hopes and all they had disappeared once the Brunos attacked. The bastards burned the farm to ashes. They took his mother and flayed his brother. They destroyed his life and his future.They left nothing but dirt.

Now, he’d destroy them.

Liam reached the road.

Dozens of huge puddles covered it and beggars sat in the middle of it. Nobody else in the region had any hope for the goodness of man.

The sprawling Bruno castle came into view.

Liam stopped and took a deep breath. It was hard, but he contained his excitement and quickened his pace. He reached the massive ebony gates that had been open for the past two days and slipped in. He navigated the dying garden and reached the entrance to the main part of the castle.

Detailed inscriptions of a battle people had forgotten covered the doors, but countless scratches and even bullet holes did as well. Liam tried to open the doors. They were heavy and didn’t budge. After a while, he almost gave up, but the rage within stopped him from doing that.

The storm around him worsened and the rain turned to a constant waterfall.

A light from a tiny hut shined through the weather. It was a guards’ outpost which nobody inhabited.

This is a damn ghost town! Liam thought and barged in. He’d get inside the damn castle one way or the other. An outpost would only get him closer to that goal.

Liam walked around the sole room and searched.

Swords, unfinished letters, half-baked meals and pieces of armor littered the ground.

Did that madman Gerald fire you all? he thought.Seriously, why is no one here?!

Also, this is really not good. I gotta get past that damn door in--I presume--a very short time and everything isn’t helping!

Think, you fool! How do you get in to a castle when you can’t?!

Well, you either bribe a local without morals or find the secret tunnel everyone has to have.

There aren’t any people around so the only reasonable thing would be to find a hidden way in. I’m not smart enough to find one of those… or maybe… where do people usually dig them? Well, along castle walls and in the nearest building outside them….

There aren’t any buildings, so that means… Liam crouched and wiped everything off the ground. He took the letters and skimmed through them all. They contained awful confessions of love.

Ah, Liam threw everything down and barged out of the hut. He strided towards the castle walls, but stopped and returned. He flipped all the furniture in the room upside down until he found a slab of wood similar to a trapdoor. He raised it up from the floor.

The slab wasn’t a trapdoor, but a loose floorboard. Yet, it still contained something interesting under itself.

Liam grabbed a squished scroll and unwrapped it. His eyes went wide and his mouth rose into a grin. Exactly what I need, he barged--even faster this time--out of the outpost and stuffed his newly found map into his pocket.

***

The secret trapdoor slammed shut behind him.

Liam flinched at the echoing sound as he ran through the tunnels. A minute later, he reached a crossroad. The tunnels diverged into four paths that a dozen feet later branched out into even more ways to take. He reached for his pocket, but… the scroll wasn’t there.

May the powers that be damn these useless pockets! How the hell am I supposed to navigate this place without a clue of where I am?!

Liam turned around and started going back. Then, he stopped and shook his head.

No time to waste this opportunity!

The maze rule should get me to where I need to be.

Liam stuck to the right until he reached the end of the tunnel system -- an alloy grate. He kicked it down and emerged within the damp corridors of the dark castle.

He stood dumbfounded for a moment. It was… that easy? he thought then continued.

No inhabitants wandered the halls and no guards patrolled. His hasty footsteps disturbed the silence.

Where did you bastards go?!

He passed a corridor and another until he stopped in his tracks.

Two armored corpses laid on the floor and the puddles of blood under them expanded.

You.. you just died, shivers crawled down Liam’s back. Something just ravaged this place…

Maybe there’s still time for me.

Liam broke into a run and searched through every corridor and corner for occupied rooms or passages into other floors and chambers.

There was a green door near a part of the wall covered in bricks.

Like with every one he came across, Liam kicked the door in, skimmed the room over and got out. Though this time, as he left the chamber, he froze. It clicked in his head and he bolted through doorway once more.

The room contained a fancy stairway going up and down. He took the way up.

On the next storey, paintings covered orange walls and bodies of guards littered the floors.

Liam gulped and continued, careful not to step on blood or someone’s blown out brain. He couldn’t begin comprehending what had happened or who could kill so many nobles and guards at once. Yet, misfortunes for the Brunos only meant good, no matter how messy they were.

A not-so-dead body laid back against a wall. The girl with gray hair held her leg that bled. She pushed harder on her wound, but the blood kept streaming out. She shouted for help.

Liam crouched in front of her and asked, “What happened?”

The girl flinched and pushed her back against the wall. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she closed her eyes. A minute passed and she turned back to Liam with a “promise not to kill me” look on her face. “They went insane. Mama and Papa. They… they killed everyone,” she spoke.

Surprise took Liam by surprise.

Those bastards have been mad longer than I’ve been alive, he thought. In what absolutely, unimaginably, horrible way did they have to kill everyone here to make their girl think they’re insane?!

“Where are they now?” he asked.

“Down there…”The girl swallowed her tears and pointed down the corridor.

Liam nodded and darted away. An urge to help the girl appeared in him, but he pushed it out.

I promise I'll help you when I'm done.

A marble door covered in diamonds marked the end of the corridor. A guard jumped up in front of it. Blood poured out of the black man’s nose, most of his fingers laid on the ground and his uniform resembled rags more than the clothes of a soldier. Nonetheless, the man wielded a revolver aimed at Liam.

Ah, just let me kill your lords already! Liam thought. You look like a kid who stole his father’s gun and is now waving it in front of a group of bandits!

“Drop the revolver and get out of my way!”

The guard spat blood. “No!” he said. “You shan’t go there! No! Please… no!”

“You think you’ll stop me!?” Liam took a big step forward and put his hand on his revolver.

“You don’t understand! I’m trying to save you!”

“Get out of the--”

The man jerked his hand. In a split second, Liam drew his revolver and fired two rounds at the man’s chest. Bones crunched and blood splattered. Two holes formed under the man’s belly and maroon dripped down from those holes. The guard collapsed.

He… he tried to find his balance, Liam thought after a moment. Oh, powers that be… This won’t stop me. It can’t, he scratched his forearm so the pain distracted him from the shock and continued past the bloodstained door.

Two candles burned in the chandelier above and gave a tiny bit of the light to the otherwise dark room. A burly man and a pale woman stared at one another while an octopus-like black void moved its tentacles all around.

Liam’s rage and desire for revenge had burned in him every second of the past five years. He’d gone to sleep and woken up at least bitter. Yet, now those feelings shrunk and fear started to rule over.

The door behind Liam shut. The legendary man and woman--Gerald and Girina Bruno--both turned and walked towards him. Behind them, the black void followed. It suited a pair of golden glasses and brown rags similar to ancient clothes.

“Who are you?” Gerald--the head of the Brunos--asked, his voice monotone.

“I’m here to kill you,” Liam responded. I’m not drunk, I’m not ill in the head… this is really happening.

“Please do,” Girina said, her voice same as her husband’s.

From behind, the black void cackled. “Heh, Liam, you think I’ll let you foil my plans?”

It knows my name. It's really that, isn't it?

“It’s time for me to ask -- who are you?” Liam voice cracked.

“I’ll give you one guess.”

“One of the powers that be.”

“Indeed. Whisper,” the god whispered. “Run and I won’t bother to kill you for you are nothing, but thrash the wind of fate has blown at me. Or stay, try to achieve your naive goals and die. It’s as simple as that. I’ve, quite literally, have no time to mess with you.”

Liam’s mind was in a daze. Half of his veins froze while the other half burned. His limbs trembled and his bladder ran down his leg. There was a hard choice.

The Brunos looked at him with pitiful eyes and blood covered faces while Whisper slumbered towards him.

The tiny seed of fury remained in the corner of Liam's consciousness. It managed to rise and overpower the chaos within him. It brought him a decision.

Liam’s hands moved towards his hips, but he stopped them midair. It’s time for me to give up on this dream, he forced the thoughts into his head. I shall run and not try to foil his plans.

Whisper giggled.

Then, Liam knew. He drew his revolvers. His fingers both twitched six times, six gunshots thundered and six crimson wounds appeared on the chests of the Brunos.

Whisper screamed and soared towards Liam.

With a grin, Liam threw his guns at a window and darted towards it. As he jumped through the falling shards, cold tendrils of black void grabbed him and an overwhelming voice screamed inside his head.

“Where do you think you’re going, pretty boy? We’ve got a lot of torture to do on you and quite the opposite for killing. Oh, you thought you could deceive me? I never said you couldn’t. Though you should’ve known there’d be consequences for that. Oh, what incredible consequences!”