Story:Kings of Strife/Part 20

Part Twenty
“Someone’s at the door, sir.” A slim, young man spoke with trepidation at his superior, both of them enclosed in a dark room in the midst of the night. Outside, the wistful patter of rain tapped against the walls of the small building with quick and light strokes, as if afraid to fully slam against the shoddily built structure and causing its demise. Regardless of the dreary weather’s hesitation, the building shook with the wind anyway. No light shone in the darkness outside.

“Are they now? At this time of night?” The superior in the room sat at a wide desk that was overflowing with various papers and documents, their contents strewn about and marked by various colors of ink. Beneath them, almost invisible due to the clutter, were several large maps, all diagrammed and drawn on by the already mentioned ink. One such pen was held in the long and wrinkled fingers of the superior, who sat with his other hand supporting his head. His drooping expression shrunk a little and he twirled his pen in thought. “Very well then, Charles. Let them in.”

“Yes, sir.” With a quiet reply, the tall young man at the door opened it and moved out of its opening’s way. The slight sounds of the rain, still obscured by the walls of the surrounding building but now liberated slightly, wafted into the room on lazy air. As if appearing in the dark hallway outside of the room, two figures in dark cloaks – one short and one absurdly tall – walked in and took stance right in the middle of the small floor. The door closed quietly behind them.

Naturally and rehearsed, the shorter one took vanguard between the two and, even beneath the dark hooded and rain-slick cloak, obviously had a steep posture and pride. The cloaked one that took rear guard, tall and wider than its counterpart, had less of a prideful air but gained more of an intimidating one, although how much of this was because of their height could not be said. Besides this, however, nothing more of the two could be said.

Despite himself, the superior officer shivered and found himself much heavier in thought than before. Not only had the door’s opening for a slight second brought in a waft of cold air, the sight of these two visitors had completely taken him aback and robbed him of all prior thought. He had summoned no one, made no plans, or anything else of the sort for this night, so the identity or intent of these two were a complete mystery to him.

Finally the officer glanced at his young aide, who looked to him for advice, and began to finger a curl in his short and gray hair. “Well, how can I help you? First of all, who are you two?”

The reply came quickly and was deep and confident. From how booming the voice was, the officer assumed it came from the taller one of the group, further eluding him on the identity of the front cloaked one. “We are here to become close friends of yours. Well, I believe I’ve already covered that for myself.”

At this, there was nothing for the officer to say, and he didn’t even know how to respond but to look at the people with even more confusion than before. Were they making fun of him by not removing their hoods and standing completely still? Was that a sarcastic statement, or was he possibly in danger of something? Furthermore, why was that voice so familiar (yet far-away and eluding) to him?

A dark chuckle freed itself from the confines of the taller one’s hood. “You’ve grown old while I was away, Santus.” With the mention of his name, suddenly the officer knew exactly who the speaker was, but he couldn’t really believe it. In his astonishment, he dropped his pen and stood up. Charles looked at him, confused.

“…Taoris? Is that you? After all these years?” In response to the mention of his name, Taoris – the taller one of the two, by far – removed his hood and shook his head, letting his back-length red hair cascade down his now-open neck. A large and energetic hand of his pushed at his forehead, thrusting back any stray hair from his face. A spry smile danced in his eyes, but his real one a fraction of such amusement. “Why, Taoris, you haven’t changed one bit, except your hair’s gotten a hell of a lot longer.” The officer laughed nervously in the direction of the still-uncloaked companion to Taoris.

“I wouldn’t have come back here if I didn’t have to, Santus, but I’m afraid my situations have changed.” Almost immediately, the superior’s expression shifted from nostalgia to fear. He began to stammer and looked away from the tall redhead, instead searching his desk for his fallen pen.

“You haven’t come about the investigation, have you? I told you before, we never found any leads. Nor any su-“

“Santus.” Taoris spoke with such a harsh and rough tone, one that was so covered in raw aggression and feeling, that the superior was forced to stop talking and look at him with large, sleep-deprived eyes. His face flashed with pain and sympathy, but Taoris’ was an unmoving aegis of frustration. “I asked you never to speak about that again.” The silent figure, still hooded, looked back to Taoris, but he did not look back and soon the figure turned back around. “No, I come bearing a recruit for your organization.”

Santus stood where he was, fingers absently twirling despite the missing pen embedded within them, obviously hesitating to respond. “I… I’m not sure what you mean by that, Taoris.”

Gin’s face began to flash with aggression before he visibly toned himself down, obviously perturbed but restrained. “Time has dulled you, I see. There is no reason why you can’t still trust me. I wouldn’t let myself do something like Efrain did.” He uttered the name of the person with unmistakable hatred and disdain. Santus visibly relaxed, but still looked off to the side and refused to make contact with Taoris, perhaps strengthened by the mention of the past comrade. “Even so, I’m not here for me. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Santus looked at the two now and was surprised to see the figure in front of Gin begin to remove their hood. Before the hood fell, he noticed that the person’s hands were much smaller and thinner than Taoris’, leading him to possibly suspect that this figure was actually a woman. When the hood fell and the figure shook their head much like Taoris had done, this suspicion was unshakable. Now it was confirmed that the woman, whose teal green eyes shone through the dark room like two ethereal lanterns in a misty forest, had been standing there and studying Santus quite heavily and seriously, for now she looked at him with a stare that seemed to know everything about him despite being complete strangers. What was remarkable about the girl, besides her long and straight brown hair that she pushed off to the side of her angular face, was the fact that she managed to look down at the officer even though she was about seven inches shorter than him.

“Taoris, I…” Santus looked at the girl with a perturbed glance and tried to learn more about her from her stare. He was not very successful. “…You’ve brought me a schoolgirl? What kind of person do you think I am?”

This time it was the girl’s turn to talk. When she spoke, her voice was hard and serious yet not energetic, managing to command Santus’ attention but not fierce enough to insult him. “I am no schoolgirl; I am a woman with ambition. I am here to change this world, and I heard from my companion that your work in this city is the best place for me to start.” Silence followed after her words, with Santus looking at the girl and Charles in the background looked both confused and forlornly at her. The superior mentally made a note to himself to slap his young door guard on the back of the head one of these days when they were alone.

“Wow.” The officer found that the least he could do in this situation was laugh and look up to the ceiling. The rain continued to tap on the rooftop, but a bit quieter and slower now, as if it had been taken aback at this woman who made her statement in the dead whispers of night. “Your companion, huh? I never thought you’d learn to talk to anyone without killing them ever again, Taoris, let alone journey with them.” Now the officer smiled, now with amusement but with true happiness for his old friend. “You wanna join the revolution, huh, girly? Well, alright, and I guess your companion does too. Come here.”

As the two moved closer to his desk, Santus sat down and began to move the clutter apart so he could have somewhat of a clear spot on the mahogany surface. The trio began to discuss their plans, the rain continued unabated, and the gray-haired officer began to let out his sad, melancholy smile a bit more from the moment he saw the determined yet diminutive girl in his office.

“Times really do change….”

****

Within just a week, Nolstuvainia and Gin had cemented themselves amongst the Fifth Brine faction as heavily as if they had been with their efforts for weeks. A long-running group that originated more than a decade ago, the Fifth Brine group was one that took its primary efforts among the Shorican shore line, hence its name. Claiming to be “Reclaimers of the Sea”, they rebelled ardently against the pseudo-totalitarian governmental system that had been set into Shorica a century ago. Their efforts were never very strong, especially since the amount of people who actually despised the new takeover in the nation – the same new government that had stabilized countless small businesses and was overall more productive and morally correct than the dictatorship that had existed in the nation’s long past – were a minority. Still, the Fifth Brine fighters were those who were wounded by the government’s hand in every aspect of business and the appointment of all important officers, and they enjoyed proving their feelings through terroristic force. Their forces proved strong and resilient, but attrition was against them from the beginning, and the faction grew smaller and weaker as the days numbered ever onward. By the time Nolstuvainia joined the group, the Brine was making its last stand in the capital city of Phenicks.

Phenicks was a large port city on a peninsula overlooking the salty waves of Inusia Bay. It was surrounded on all sides by forests that fueled the city’s lumber industry, which then went on to allow the nation’s gigantic sea economy – fishing, whaling, hydroelectric power, navy operations, whatever aspect could be extracted from the ocean was taken advantage of. In such a large and prosperous city, the government’s bureaucrats grew slowly but surely into the rut of their own wealth. They grew lazy and arrogant, as such men are known to do, and the city of Phenicks degraded until the day when a terrorist and nationalistic organization made its stronghold in relative safety there.

From her first talks with Command Officer Santus, Vainia knew she had to make some changes. Despite her age and general naivety, the girl was objectively talented with logistics and tactics, and it was obvious to her where the flaws were in the people she had affiliated herself with. Her education and knowledge of history came in handy, for she could easily point out various fundamental notches in the armor of Fifth Brine. Why, for instance, did they find such a problem with the government’s policies in economic stability? There was no reason for the group to feel so strongly about a part of their oppression that actually benefited them, no matter how hard they had to grit their teeth to accept it was. No, she asserted, the entire point of being a revolutionary group was to point out flaws in the current system and make known what their goals were for fixing them.

Vainia proposed a complete takeover of the city’s local government after just a short amount of strategizing with Santus. He initially objected with her “small” focus, but she used herself as an example of how one must start small in order to win big. If her methods ended up succeeding and Phenicks came under Fifth Brine’s control, not only would they be recognized as a serious revolutionary faction and not just some uppity terrorists, but they would have a safe haven in which to recuperate, interfere with national affairs, and recruit more members. Taoris had only to nod his support with the idea to get Santus under her thumb with this part of the plan.

Next she learned of the upcoming appointment of the next Governor of Phenicks. As the final stage for the wave of reform among the country, this would be the first governor appointed by the parliament party and not elected by the people. While this was now a standard throughout the Shorican nation, because it was the final city that hadn’t implemented this yet, Phenicks had also found itself home of all the opposition to this process, and they were all in an uproar over the fact that their last arguing point would soon be snuffed out.

Upon realizing that the city contained not one but two nests of restless, rebellious energy, Vainia knew that her short-term plan had to be put into action in the perfect time available. By uniting over a common agreivance, both Fifth Brine and those opposed to appointments would allow their rage to boil over and explode over the appointment of the next Governor.

“This is our chance,” Vainia excitedly said to Taoris and Santus. “to see the veins of this city. These people, throughout this entire country, are all enthralled in hatred over their voices being removed from them. They all have the potential to change the world, if only guided by and led by a powerful lord who can channel their power for them.” She stood up at this point, displacing papers and plans across the dark and cramped room. Neither of those sitting near her noticed, and even Charles was glued to her words. “We cannot let this injustice go on and lose any hope to hold onto! For this world to change, the people must change it.” Now her large and hard green eyes looked into the jaded brown orbs of Santus’. Thanks to Charles’ inaction, the door of the room drifted open slightly, and those around the headquarters of Fifth Brine began to hear the racketous voice of Vainia and came to listen. It didn’t take very long for the hallways to be saturated with people, young and old, listening to her voice. “Is that a selfish act?” He didn’t answer. “Let not your people lose their way – no lord has the right to look into the eyes of the weak and push them down beneath them! We must crack the world’s shell, and bring revolution to this world!”

Ever since they arrived and were formally introduced into the ranks of Fifth Brine, both Gin and Vainia had been especially popular after the initial mistrust had faded around them. Not only was Gin’s battle prowess instantly notable from his very appearance, along with the fact that the many who recognized him absolutely refused to disrespect him, but Vainia’s sheer passion for the revolution was palpable to anyone who took one look at her. The girl seemed enthralled with the pure ideal of a gigantic world change, and now with her unprecedented and honestly charismatic approach to the situation, along with the fact that she was very young and quite beautiful, she was very quickly brought up to be the very symbol of the group, albeit against her desires.

A born leader though she might have been, Vainia did not want at all to be the ruler of this group, especially considering the short amount of time she had influence over it. In her own opinion, she had no right to rule nor desire to rule over this country, especially since it was only a stepping stone on her true goal of toppling Inusia. Taoris, when the two were in private quarters, had no hesitation in arguing against her views. A true pioneer, he swore, would take any and all opportunities they could to gain more power. With no intent of disrespect, he reassured his Queen that, charismatic and popular though she may be, she was still very weak and non-influential to the world itself, but if she succeeded in usurping the richest sea-faring nation in the world, everyone would have to stop and look at her. With a reluctant heart but a somewhat trusting nature, Vainia agreed with her protector and allowed herself to become an icon of the resistance.

The plans got out fast throughout the city, both due to word of mouth and official campaigns made by Fifth Brine in secret. On the day of the Governor’s appointment, the city would be erupting into a full-scale violent riot and storm the capitol building, removing the governor and anyone else unfortunate enough to be in power at the time. Fifth Brine would completely occupy the city and set in place their own government frame, one that benefited the people and counted them among their benefactors. Criticism had been whispered of the plan already, and the local government had been stealthily but surely strengthening their defenses in preparation for the appointment date that very quickly loomed on the horizon. Still the operation would march on without hesitation, and hundreds of townspeople had already pledged their services in addition to the hundreds that Fifth Brine boasted.

Truth be told, Nolstuvainia Sestrum didn’t care much for the radically democratic ideals of Fifth Brine. In her own Mortis, a purely monarchial system, her family had always ruled by authority alone, and that was what she planned to set up in Inusia, as well. While she held a similar aversion to the mistreating of a nation’s people, the fact that the people in Phenicks weren’t even in outright poverty as they were in Mortis gave Vainia a certain level of detachment that kept her from becoming fully invested in the movement. Truly, she gave effort into the attack because it would only further her goals, which only directly benefited Mortis.

As for the attack itself, Vainia had no doubts that she would be safe and the vital sections would be a success. Along with Taoris, Santus, and a handful of other warriors, she would be personally storming the Capitol and usurping those who sat in it. With her powers and Taoris’ combined against a group of simple militia, there was no chance at all that she would die, and that was all that mattered to her.

****

On the day of the appointment, the winds were slow and hollow, as if they eagerly anticipated the event in the same way that the population of Phenicks did. The entire populace went about their day in bated breath, either bravely awaiting the riot or meekly dreading the chaos. Vainia was one of the former, as was Taoris. Noltsuvainia watched the sunset on the roof of the Fifth Brine’s headquarters, an otherwise unremarkable high rise with a good view of the sea.

She could hear someone coming up the metallic stairs that led up to the rooftop, and knew it to be Gin Taoris. Nobody else knew that she came up to the roof of the skyscraper often, usually just to get away from the stressful high-expectations of the Brine and to soak in the environment.

“You’re up rather early, Taoris.” She didn’t turn to look at him.

“You know I don’t sleep.” That was true – the man never slept unless his body absolutely needed the rest, and even then it was for two hours at most. Almost nothing about him was natural or commonplace. “Are you ready for today, my lady?”

Vainia pondered this question for a moment before answering. Her shadow, illuminated by the rising sun, was still shorter than Taoris’. “It’s so scary, growing and actually going through my dreams. I’ve never felt so alive than when I stand up here and look over the midnight streets, knowing that by this time tomorrow, I’ll hold this entire city in the palm of my hand. It’s not enough to simply think about what I want anymore; now that I can actually achieve it, I know that it will never be enough.” She paused and sighed, feeling the slight wind rush its icy fingers through the fringes of her dark hair. For once, away from everybody else, it wasn’t put up into a ponytail, and draped over her back as a careless and straight curtain. “I don’t have a wish anymore, Taoris; I have a need. I need to reach these people – I need to show the world what a true royal is like.” Now she looked up from the sun and the pink hued horizon to stare at the still dark atmosphere above her. “The drink of the stars seems to have spilled all over me and imbued me with its wild contents. It’s not enough to sip out of the chalice of mortals, Taoris… I need to imbibe on history. I wish… I wish it weren’t so frightening.”

Taoris now walked up to Noltsuvainia, somewhat awed at her loquaciousness. Still she did not look at him, even as he reached down a vein-covered hand and ran it through her hair. “This dream of yours… It’s so fascinating. Your very presence fills me with something I haven’t felt in years.” Vainia now felt it harder not to look at her tall companion in awe, but she knew that if they locked eyes, he wouldn’t be able to finish what he was saying. “You’re the only one I feel that I need, my Queen…” His voice broke and he closed his eyes. “It’s what’s really frightening, getting old. Growing older and seeing so many sunsets… But still I cannot die. I, a sinner who’s committed so many crimes, will never be held in history… But you’re special.” It was too much for Vainia to resist, and now she looked up at Gin with a speechless and awestruck face, but he seemed to sense it and clenched his eyes shut. “Please, never let go of that nobility. To help you change this world… That is all I will ever need.”

The sun finally rose to its full height, and the air was quiet and melancholy. Vainia breathed heavily, her chest heaving with emotion. “Taoris… I’m ready.”

*****

With a slight shuffle, Santus heard the sound of two cloaked people arriving at his side. He didn’t bother to look at them for he already knew who they were; they had been at his side for such a short amount of time, but it already felt like they were eternal allies of his. Standing on the main street of Phenicks city, the populace behind him and the government’s armored riot troops in front of him, the leader of the resistance sighed and slammed his cane on the floor. The appearance of the two next to him meant that the time had come for the world around him to change.

Charlie walked up to his commanding officer, face awash with sweat, and gulped before speaking. He constantly looked off to the legion of soldiers staring the rowdy crowd down in terror as he spoke. “Excuse me, sir, it’s time… The appointment has begun.” Now in his combat uniform and clumsily clinging to his standard-loadout assault rifle, tall and somewhat muscular Charlie cut an impressive figure, one that might be intimidating if not for his attitude. Santus shook it off for another time and took a large breath.

“It’s time, comrades!” His booming voice was enough to silence the hundreds of people behind him, for the most part. The streets were unusually quiet anyway; he knew the entire city was listening to every word he spoke with bated breath. With another deep breath, the leader of the rebellion began to speak in his signature explosive words. “Truth and love, scorn and silence – those are frivolous and superfluous values! They are not what we fight for! Today, we fight against injustice! Those in front of us would choose our futures and our opinions for us – to which we say NO!” The crowd repeated his interjection as if rehearsed, and from there, generally let off an excited murmur with the rest of his speech. “This is our legacy! We raise up our swords and our rifles in protest today, after our voices have failed us! Now, my friends – we must give our hate, our sorrow, our hopes into these days! We must give our futures!” The riot soldiers began to fidget and look around in anxiety from what was inevitable. Still Santus continued to bark at them. “We must not let this end us! We must not let them tell us how we may live in our country! We must show them that we will never be trampled on! Let us ensure our memory! Let us be off… TO BATTLE!”

With a mighty roar, the crowd erupted into a ravenous run forward that thirsted for chaos. The noise from thousands of anxious, excited being multiplied, quickly melding with the sound of battle to create a deafening racket. Blades smashed against steel or flesh, bullets were fired, and abhorrent screams were let out throughout the streets, now filled with the discord of war.

Yet Santus, Charlie, and his two cloaked companions were absent from the fight. After breaking from the riotous crowd, they had ran to a nearby alley and began racing towards the Capitol building. By going out of their way to avoid the commotion and snake through the city’s deepest, darkest streets, the party managed to completely bypass any more soldiers who might have been on patrol or guarding duty. They moved towards their destination in solemn and complete silence.

This was a part of Vainia’s plan all along. She was no soldier, that was obvious, and so her strategy was only to take out the newly appointed governor and usurp control while the city was in chaos. After all, a battle could go in either direction, but if the ruler of the enemy’s army was out of commission, there would be no possibility of a full resistance. She aimed to win the battle very soon after it had begun.

Within minutes, the party of four had arrived at the ominous capitol building that presided over the rest of the city on a natural hill. The group found it odd that there were no guards or soldiers to be found around the premises, not only because of the riots, but as well because of the ceremony that was being given regardless of the attacks. It had been made very clear that the next governor would be formally appointed, rioting populace or not, and the area around showed nothing of this.

Since the beginning of the day, the sky had been taking an ominous move towards calm weather that was out of season for the area. Taoris had seen enough of it to be able to confidently tell Vainia that a storm was most likely coming. Now as it was earlier that day, the winds were moving quietly, and the air was cool and still. The sounds of the battle were loud enough to be heard quite clearly, even though the party was almost a mile away from them at this point.

As the group moved towards the tall, white stone capitol building, the tallest member in a cloak stepped forward, lightly grasping the arm of the shorter cloaked one. Taoris looked down at his charge and gave her a reassuring yet concerned gaze, one that felt almost out of place in his hard features and usually sneering eyes.

“This air makes me uneasy. Let me take first point,” he requested. The only one he looked to for approval was Nolstuvainia, which she gave him with a curt nod, but to the others in the group it was clear he was commanding. Not for the first time, the two armored rebellion members looked at themselves and questioned the origins of the strange partnership in front of them.

“I feel exactly the same, my friend,” Vainia agreed. She unsheathed her rapier in a clean and quick motion and held it in front of her, staying a few paces behind Taoris as he moved towards the capitol. “Sir Santus, this is probably a trap prepared for this very situation. We must be ready for anything.” Despite how confident her words sounded, Vainia avariciously noted that her sword arm was slightly shaking. She shook her head to the side an iota and attempted to bury her fears.

The commanding officer of Fifth Brine nodded his agreement with her statements and his accomplice meekly nodded, as well. The four arrived at the tall steps that led into the dark building afterwards without consequence. Gin Kama Taoris waltzed up to the closed door, not a smidgen of self-preservation in his swagger, and kicked it clear off its hinges with little effort. With the power of his attack, the tall slab of wood smashed through the foyer and slammed into the wall. The force shattered the mirrors hanging next to the door’s impact spot.

Vainia snorted softly as he walked into the place. Obviously stealth wasn’t a priority for the man.

Whilst he looked around the area and inspected the door that led further into the large building, this time without any kicking, Taoris’ hands didn’t even drift to his sword handles. He soon began to express confusion at the fact that everything was empty and that they were apparently the only souls still there.

“The office desks are empty… Nobody is hiding anywhere… I don’t think there’s anyone left in here.” Taoris’ tone was a bit disappointed; he had been looking forward to the conflict, in his own dark way.

Santus confirmed his conjecture as he himself looked around the discarded papers and occasional footprints. “I don’t see any signs of people hiding or doubling back, you’re right.” While they continued to search the expansive area as a whole, it was becoming clear to the group that their initial hypothesis was correct. “They didn’t just hide out somewhere; everybody left.” No corner was untouched and no doors were left closed until only one remained; the large atrium in the very back of the building which also served as the governor’s main office.

“If what you said is correct, Sir Santus, then this last room is either a trap or a dead end. Considering how adamant the government was on proceeding with decorum despite any opposition, I’m willing to believe it’s the first option.” Vainia picked at her hair as she spoke and fiddled with her ponytail.

The group was now standing in front of the last door, Taoris posted upon the wall and the others watching from a slight distance. Santus coughed and made clear his dissension with the thought. “It wouldn’t make any sense for them to lure us this far; a potential trap could have had the same effect if done a lot earlier. If anything, it would have been easier to catch us off guard that way. Even easier would have been a full shoot out, using the walls as a stronghold.” He looked around as he spoke; the walls of the building were old, solid stone, which would make shooting through them difficult if at all possible. Why, then, weren’t they used for cover?

“So you’re saying they left, even the new governor? Fled with their tails between their legs?” Vainia gave a vindictive snort and made a short swipe in the air with her rapier. “I know how nobles think, and they are much too prideful for that. They’re here and they’re waiting for us.”

Taoris cleared his throat with Vainia’s words and rested one hand on a sword hilt that protruded from the dual scabbards strapped to his waist. “Shall we enter, then? This calm of no conflict is beginning to have me on edge.” His appearance, rough and wild as ever, did nothing to disprove this. He looked through the group and was surprised to be met with a withering glare from Santus.

The commanding officer gave a grunt and looked at the closed door with finality. “There’s nobody left in there. Trust me, I would be able to see if they had all walked into this same room, and we would have definitely heard them in there. But if you are feeling a bit soft today, Taoris,” Santus persisted with an increasingly venomous tone, “I will take point instead. Just to give you two a little reassurance.” He stomped forward and took a dominant hold over the handle of the door, glancing back and nodding towards Charlie as if to recruit him onto his way of thinking.

The cloaked man didn’t take kindly to this sleight and began to eagerly clench his sword hilts. “The lady Vainia has spoken that your ideas are false. Don’t make her say it again.” His guttural growls were enough to terrify Charlie, whose rifle almost fell from his hands, but Santus was a stronger man and bravely looked Taoris in the eyes.

“That’s enough, Taoris.” With three words, Vainia snatched her knight’s attention and relieved him of most of his aggression. “Santus is the leader of this operation, so in the end he has final jurisdiction on our action plans. Let him enter first if he so wishes.” Santus noted with some irritation the holier-than-thou tone she spoke with, but he had learned to deal with it over the brief time they had known each other. Once again, she spoke with complete control of the situation and an upturned nose that signified her almost effortless grace under pressure, but inside she was just as anxious as the rest of them. The complete lack of resistance so far had taken its toll. Collectively, the group took a breath of anxiety as Santus paused in front of the door. He hoisted his large rifle in the crook of his arm and gave a look at Charlie in order to check if he still had a semblance of testosterone in his body. Charlie did not, according to his pale face and white knuckles around his gun’s handles. Santus shook his head slightly and pushed open the door in a fast and smooth motion.

Immediately the four were slammed in the face with a notable stench of death. Both Vainia and Santus were correct in that the room was indeed not filled with living enemies, but they had been meaning to take the group by surprise. Their plan was foiled on the simple principle that everyone already inside the room was dead.

Labyrinths of corpses inside the expansive office were obviously very fresh and had been brutally destroyed. Both Charlie and Vainia looked away in horror upon getting a good glimpse of the pure mayhem. Entrails and gore were wildly strewn about the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. No corpse was left unattended by the whirling chaos. Gruesome wounds plagued every victim, with various crumbling limbs and organs splattered about with no regard for decorum whatsoever.

Charlie was stricken with sudden sickness and vomited within minutes. Santus was frozen in fear and looked about with uncertainty. “It’s like… It’s like the entire room is stained bright red…” An arm stuck to the ceiling deconstructed from its skin and a combination of bones and blood splashed onto the floor. “Who could have done this? What sort of monster did this to so many people?” His voice, usually full of bravado and righteous power, had never before sounded so meek and unsure. Tears began to sprinkle on the officer’s eyes. Gin Taoris was perhaps the one least affected by the desolation within the room’s walls. He pushed Santus to the side slightly and took a gander into the area. His eyes widened for a moment as he looked over the devastation, but besides that he gave no other reaction. Instead, his eyes went to the large windows in the back of the room.

“What in the world could that be?” Boldly, Taoris took a step into the dungeon of gore, and then another. His armored boots squashed various parts into a further paste as he walked to the windows with no hesitation. “Hmph.” Gripping his cloak in one hand, he began to wipe away the blood and viscera that coated the window, and a sly grin slid across his face. Besides himself, he began to chuckle slightly.

Vainia stepped to the side of Santus and gingerly entered the room herself as the other two still stood outside. “Taoris, now is not the time to indulge in your morbid hobbies!” After shuddering and scolding Taoris, who didn’t stop his activities at all, she gave another look around the atrium, but was barely able to contain the revulsion rising through her stomach like bile. “I can’t even identify if the governor is a part of this mess. Could this have been a trap they set whilst they escape?”

Suddenly Gin’s chuckling stopped at the same time as Charlie’s retching. The absence of sound was so striking, especially in Gin’s direction, that all of the other three were compelled to look in his direction. All of them were now able to see out of the tall window thanks to his cleaning efforts, but were shocked silent once again to see that the sky had turned completely to darkness. In its place, an extremely bright point from the east was growing ever larger. An uneasy feeling stuck in the back of Gin’s mind as he backed away with sudden, paralyzing terror.

The light was beginning to grow faster and faster at an exponential rate until it was taking up a considerable part of the sky, almost like it was something that was zooming towards the city itself. Only Taoris was able to move in the face of its appearance. With the light getting increasingly closer with each passing millisecond, Gin Taoris found himself filled with a survival instinct for the first time in a great many years, except it was not for the survival of himself. As if every mystery in creation had suddenly been solved for him and the veil of human mystic had been yanked from his eyes, he moved with clarity and not an iota of lag. Jumping from his current spot, he vaulted over the destroyed desk and tackled Nolstuvainia into a corner of the room within a moment.

At this point the light was blinding and encompassed every space of the room, and it started to heat up incredibly quickly. Breathless from his superhuman vault, Taoris only managed to whisper into Vainia’s ear as she gasped from the tackle. “Do not move until I say you can – I will protect you!” He shoved her closer into the corner until, her body already small and compact, she was curled up into a fetus-like position. As Santus and Charlie looked at the two in complete surprise, Taoris bent himself over and made himself cover from Vainia, his body pressed so close to hers in the tight space that he completely protected her from the outside world.

Not a single second after he had made his final preparations, the speeding light made its complete domination over the room and all of the air around it. Suddenly the light was everywhere, searing and burning and melting everything without mercy, ripping the stone to pieces and disintegrating human flesh within seconds. The beam of light lasted for less than a minute after touching down in the city, but to Taoris, the attack on his body was eternally painful. He felt everything within him ceasing to be, felt the celestial heat cause his very subparticles to move beyond existence, could almost see his epidermis being ripped apart and the structures beneath flying into the air and evaporating, but still the pain was foreign to him, as if he was intimately watching someone else suffer from it.

Just as soon as it had begun, the light was gone. Gin Kama Taoris could not move, not after the only parts of him still existing were the bones of his arms, legs, and body. All of his hair and clothes as well as most of his skin was gone, nowhere to be found – simply inexistent, burned to a crisp. The heavy armor he had been wearing beneath his cloak had protected him, to the extent that it had mostly protected him from being completely disintegrated. He wanted to look around, inspect the area around him, but he feared that any motion of his head would cause it to be severed. His heart beat faintly, yet concretely, and obviously his brain was still working. Breathing came slow and ragged, but it came, which meant that his lungs were still available. That was good; that meant he would still live.

After checking over himself, Taoris let out a deep and bloody breath before attempting to look down. One of his eyes, melted to a viscous liquid, slathered out of his socket and burned the pockets of skin on his face as it fell to the ground before hissing. His remaining eye confirmed that, miraculously, Nolstuvainia Sestrum was alive and well, harmed only to the point of her clothes being slightly charred.

Taoris chuckled.

...End of Part Twenty.

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