EDIT
Clearing up a little confusion. Kaz isn't a Creature, he's still human. That Instant Regeneration Armor doesn't make him a Creature it makes him pretty much invincible. And now you're probably wondering why Ulmar just doesn't make a bazillion of them and hand them out to all the UnderWorlders, right? That shall be explained…later.
The Files of Kazdan Kalinkas
Book One: Not By Choice
Chapter Two: Garrison
UnderWorld Rule #2: Strike when you are told to, obey without question, and do not utter a word of complaint when you get your hands dirty.
I think I must have gone into shock for a while because the next few moments were a daze. H'earring must have ushered me out of the tiny living room and back into the tiny kitchen, relighting several candles he'd let burn down.
"Kaz, come on, snap out of it." He tapped my cheek and I started, jerking away as a reflex, "Sorry, Jumpy."
I flopped into the messed up blanket I'd been tucked under previously and smacked myself in the face to see if I was dreaming. I wasn't. And all I got for my trouble was a stinging cheek and the realization that I wasn't wearing my glasses. And yet, somehow, I could see just fine.
Ulmar.
He'd done something to fix my eyesight.
Well, there was one less thing our insurance had to cover.
But that didn't stop my stomach from churning. What else had that little creep been up to?
I meant besides the stupid armor.
"H'earring, what does…what does Chaor want me to do?"
"I don't really know." The little Creature shrugged unhelpfully, "But I heard talk about, well, assassins."
"You don't think that means me, do you!?" I was halfway between horror and disbelief, "Who in their right mind would make me an assassin. They're stealthy, and cunning, and quiet, and they kill! None of which I do!"
"Kaz….you don't really have a cho—."
The door slammed open and I jumped a foot in the air. A couple of Chaor's guards shoved their way into the room, glaring down at me. I shuddered, I couldn't help it. Everything was happening so fast my mind couldn't keep up with it. If I ever got the chance for a regular night's sleep, I was sure I was going to have nightmares.
"New recruits live in the barracks." Growled the first soldier, pointing at me, "On your feet, maggot."
I looked at H'earring helplessly but he was just sending me a sympathetic look. Another thing I didn't have a choice in. Not fair. None of it was fair. What right did the UnderWorlders have to mess up my life?
"That means get up!" The second soldier knelt down, grabbed me by my spiky locks, and yanked me upright. I yelped in pain and staggered away, "Now move it!"
I didn't know whether I wanted to start yelling or crying as I followed them out the door. I glanced over my shoulder as we stepped into the darkened street to see H'earring standing, framed by candlelight, in his doorway. The bottom of my stomach dropped out, leaving a vast empty hole that my heart fell through. It sank all the way down to my toes where it was trodden upon as I followed the two soldiers past tall, dark structures.
The guards moved quickly and I had to jog to keep up with them. This quickly sapped my strength, leaving me more exhausted than I had been. Not to mention that I'd been screaming and fainting for the past hour or so. Normally I would have dropped right then and there but—and I attributed this to the armor—my stamina was considerably higher than it had been. Still, that didn't stop me from feeling drained, empty, and alone.
I wondered if Tom, Sarah, and Peyton were looking for me.
And that did it.
The floodgates were open.
I collapsed to my knees on the street and started sobbing. Tears streamed from my eyes like Coridac Falls, I wrapped my arms around my middle as I shook with sorrow, gasping cries and howls tore out of my mouth, and I didn't care what anyone thought at that moment.
I was swimming in a sea of misery.
And I wished I could drown myself.
One of the soldiers (heck if I could tell them apart; they were like Storm Troopers, they all looked the same), huffed in annoyance and stalked back over to me. What he did next I'll never forget, just like I'll never forget every single word I said, ever single deed I did, and every single moment of that hell I lived in the UnderWorld.
The soldier reached down, grabbed my throat, and hefted me off the ground. I chocked, still crying, struggling in his surprisingly strong grip. Then again, he was a Creature and I was not. His fingers tightened around my neck and he drew back a fist.
No… I thought weakly, head spinning as oxygen failed to reach it, No…just leave me alone…just leave me alone…why do you do this!?
He punched me in the stomach and I felt it even though he'd hit nothing but armor. I writhed in his grasp, feet kicking nothing but air, vision darkening, my gut aching where he'd hit me. I vaguely heard the other soldier telling his companion to put me down. Then I hit the ground and wheezed, coughing as I fought to take in air again. The world tilted crazily for a few moments and then settled. I turned my tear stained face up to look at the two UnderWorlders.
"Pathetic." Sneered one (probably the one who'd been choking me), "Just pathetic. And Lord Chaor wants this useless hunk of human flesh to join the ranks of his army? Tch, useless."
"Not the army, you dolt." Snapped the other one, "He's Chaor's personal assassin." From the tone in his voice, I could guess he was wearing a mocking smile behind that helmet. I shuddered and closed my eyes, fighting off a new wave of tears.
Assassin.
No.
No way.
Not if I could help it.
I got up and ran.
I turned my back on them and ran as fast as I could, the city blurring on either side of me as I bolted down the street. The soldiers were shouting and no doubt coming after me but I wasn't about to get caught again. I skidded on my heel and shot down an alley way, bursting out of the other end onto a narrow back street that wound back around the way we'd come.
I knew UnderWorld City like the back of my hand.
My gaze flickered over to the armor that now covered me.
Well, I knew it like the way from home to school anyway.
I took another alley way and ended up right back where I started. I didn't pause, just took off in the opposite direction I'd run before. I was heading right for the exit; the path that would take me out of the UnderWorld and into the OverWorld. A dangerous thing to do; especially when I had the UnderWorld crest splashed across my chest; but my only hope. If I could get to Kiru City—maybe not even there, Lake Ken-a-Po even—then maybe, just maybe, I could find Tom and he'd help me get out of this mess.
Like they didn't see that coming.
An electric charge knocked me off my feet and sent me crashing to the ground with a scream of agony. I twitched, screaming even louder, as another wave of electricity coursed through me. Then it abated and I was left shuddering on the stone.
"Where did you think you were going, Kazzy?" Chaor grabbed my wrist in one massive clawed hand and hauled me into the air so I was dangling there like a rag doll, "You're to start your training in the barracks. My orders."
"I don't take orders from you!" I gasped angrily, feeling as though my arm was going to pop out of its socket. My mind was freaking out at me for being so stupid and rash with the UnderWorld Lord but the words kept coming and I couldn't stop them, "I'm not an UnderWorlder! I'm human! I'm a Chaotic player! You can't do this! Let me go! NOW!"
Chaor didn't like people telling him he couldn't do something. Nor did he like it when people went against his orders. He liked it even less when people did those things on top of shouting at him. I'd just dug myself into a very deep and very scary hole.
"You're not a player anymore!" He snarled at me, shaking me so hard I swear I heard my brain rattling around in my skull, "You're nothing but solider! You belong to me! You do whatever I tell you or I'll make you wish you were dead! Do you understand that!?" He stopped shaking me but I was too dizzy to answer so he got even angrier and slammed me into the stone, "Answer me, Kaz! Do you understand!?" I whimpered and tried to organize my thoughts but I was so confused and terrified and hurt and angry I could barely think straight at all, "ANSWER ME!" And he smashed a great, clawed foot down on my chest.
The air rushed out of my lungs and something popped. I would have screamed had I had any oxygen to do it with. Chaor ground his foot into me and my fogged brain suddenly wondered if this was what it felt like to be crushed under a steamroller. Stupid thing to think when you're getting your chest crushed in but, hey, I was knocked for a loop.
"If you keep disobeying orders, Kaz, I'll have to do away with you and that just wouldn't do at all." His gargoyle-like face was inches from my own but I was nearly out of it by this time. Everything started going fuzzy and dark, "You're the one who's going to start the UnderWorld's stampede into the OverWorld. Once we take Kiru, we take Perim."
I coughed out a sob and Chaor took his foot off me. I rolled over, arms around my middle, coughing and fighting off the pain that was shooting through my chest. No doubt he'd broken one of my ribs. White hot pain lashed itself across me and I doubled over on my knees, trying not to faint again.
"Get up." Chaor ordered.
"Can't…" I gasped, "You broke…one of my…ribs…" I wasn't crying because I'd run out of tears. My eyes burned, my throat was raw, and I had a broken bone sitting in my chest. Well, suck.
Chaor loomed over me, grabbed the back of my neck, and yanked me upright. I yelled as the broken bone was moved but he ignored me and sniffed. Then he threw me back to the ground. I was beginning to think it was some sort of custom to throw people on the ground in the UnderWorld.
"It's not broken." Chaor said, "Just bruised. Now get up. We're going to the barracks."
Sometimes you have to wonder if there is such thing as karma. And if there was, what had I ever done to deserve this sort of punishment?
There were two parts to the UnderWorld barracks. The first part was where all the regular soldiers stayed, those like the palace guards and armed forces. The ones that looked like Storm Troopers. The second was the training barracks where Creatures in Chaor's army came and went as they pleased. All new recruits stayed in the training barracks until they'd completed their initial training and could move to the larger barracks.
Oh, excuse me. Did I say "recruits?"
In the UnderWorld, you don't have a choice to join the UnderWorld army. You have to join it or face the dungeons and Chaor's wrath.
Drafted.
So of course the newbies were all trying to look the toughest in front of their ruler when Chaor shoved me into the high-walled compound. And the best way for them to do it? Pick on the one who was obviously the weakest: the scrawny human.
They advanced on me like hyenas homing in on a carcass. As they approached, I looked helplessly back at Chaor. The UnderWorld Lord was grinning at me as he slammed the heavy steel door shut.
"Heeheehee! Look at 'im! He's scared out of his mind!" I turned to face the new trainees. They were all bigger than me but not dressed in the UnderWorld armor yet. Instead they wore dark crimson tunics with no sleeves, matching pants that were tucked into boots, and vanbraces on their lower arms.
"Hey!" One of them leered over me, "How come he's wearin' armor already?"
"Yeeeaaahhh," One of his companions stepped closer and I moved back, "How come a stupid human gets to wear UnderWorld armor." He shoved me and I stumbled backwards.
"Let's rip it off!" Said the other one, stalking up to me, "Let's rip it off and show him what a real UnderWorlder is like!"
I backed up against the steel door, raising my hands in a defensive and non-threatening manner, but they kept coming. One of them reached out and grabbed my right shoulder. Or rather, my shoulder guard. Either way, he yanked at it and I yelled hoarsely; my voice was going from all the screaming I'd already done.
"Wimp!" They jeered at me, "Low-life! Weakling! Get out!" They kept grabbing at my armor and pulling. It hurt worse than getting electrocuted by that stupid silver rectangle. Because the Instant Regeneration Armor was connected to me not only at the nerves but also at a level that it was able to manipulate my very composition, I felt like someone was trying to rip off my very skin.
I had enough.
Seriously, every time I turned around, someone was there to screw up my life.
This.
Was.
The.
Last.
Straw.
As one of them made to snatch at my shoulder guard again, I kicked out and knocked his foot out from under him. He kissed dirt and I scrambled upright as the other two looked around at their fallen comrade.
"That was a bad idea." Snarled the one I'd knocked over as he got up and wiped dirt from his face, "Now you're really in for it! Puny human!"
"CATH ME IF YOU CAN!" I shouted and barreled past them, running straight for the center of the compound. Other trainees were turning to look at what was going on and when they saw a human dressed in the armor of their tribe…well, they got kind of pissed. Most of them joined the chase.
I could tell I was going to hate living in the training barracks.
With an angry mob of soon-to-be-UnderWorld-soldiers at my heels, I raced past buildings and groups of Creatures. I had never been inside the training barracks before (no one had a scan of it though I'd heard stories about people who'd tried—most of them ended up as target practice) so I didn't know it like I knew the city. All the same, I was determined to lose these guys.
I dodged down a narrow alley between two low buildings, panting, sweat trickling down my face as I ran. The alley was only big enough for one person at a time and I could hear the UnderWorlders behind me getting to small scuffles over who would go first. Well I didn't care, gave me more time to hide.
I skidded to a halt as I reached the end of the alley and looked this way and that. Then I allowed myself a shaky smile. At least something was going right. I jogged over to a tall pole with a covered platform at the top; probably used to observe the trainees at a better angle. There was a rope ladder up to the platform but it was rolled up so I did the next best thing. I jumped onto the pole and started shimmying up it towards the small opening where the pole went through the middle of the platform to support the roof. Once at the top, I carefully maneuvered myself onto the outside of the railing that ran around the platform. Then I grabbed the lip of the roof in my hands and hauled myself up, struggling a little bit with fatigue and, I realized, hunger. I didn't know when I'd last eaten. Shaking the thought off, I lay on my stomach on the flat roof and watched.
The UnderWorlders streamed out of the alley, all shouting and cursing, and scattered to look and around and be the first to find me and beat me to a pulp. I thought about all the movies I'd watched. Nobody ever looks up. UnderWorlders aren't that creative; they'd take demolition derbies over a rock concert any day.
It turned out these guys weren't all that persistent either. Perhaps that was beaten into them later. Eventually, they all meandered off to who knows where, grumbling or yawning or rubbing their stomachs. The last one to go was the Creature I'd knocked down in front of the gate. He was different from most of the others. I could already tell the difference between who was going to be a common soldier (aka a Storm Trooper) and who was a warrior made for something else entirely.
And this guy was definitely built for more than a common soldier. He was taller, for one thing, with murky green scales that looked like frozen sludge. He had three eyes, two regular neon blue ones set into his dog-like face and one wide, orange one that constantly swiveled and moved around like it had a mind of its own. He was limber and skinny, built for speed and the delivery of fast blows. I didn't know who he was and I was none to anxious to find out.
I held my breath as he walked right underneath the platform, paused, sniffed the air a couple of times, and then walked away. I waited until he'd vanished around a far corner before letting my air out with a sigh.
I was tired, hungry, and sweaty. And it was getting darker. I curled my legs underneath me on the roof of the platform and scanned the dimming training barracks. It didn't look like anyone was coming to look for me but then again, did I really expect the UnderWorlders to babysit me? A yawn made my jaw pop and I rubbed my heavy-lidded eyes, ignoring the scrap of the steel armor rubbing against my skin.
Well fine then, I thought cracking my neck and laying back down the top of the platform, I'll just sleep up here and then they'll never find me and then…and then…I'll figure something out.
I closed my eyes and curled into a little ball.
But sleep wouldn't come.
I was exhausted beyond measure but I couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts were chasing themselves around in my mind just as those UnderWorlders had chased me…
What's going to happen to me? How did this happen? Why me? When can I escape? How will I get home? What are my parents going to think? Are they looking for me? Are my friends looking for me? What will Tom tell my parents if they ask? Does Tom even know where I am? Assassin? How can I get away?
Murderer.
My eyes shot open as the comprehension of what Chaor had made me do to that defenseless guard hit me as hard as a Flash Kick.
I'd killed that guard.
He hadn't attacked me.
He hadn't done anything.
And I'd…I'd killed him.
I'd never seen a Creature die before; part of me didn't think it was ever possible for it to happen. No one really spoke of death in Perim. They talked of destruction and war and power but never death.
But I'd killed that soldier.
Which meant Creatures could die.
Which meant I was going to be forced to kill more of them.
I scrambled to the edge of the roof just in time to dry heave of the edge because there was nothing in my stomach. I felt hot, sticky, and disgusting; like I'd rolled in a rotting corpse or something.
I felt wrong.
Kaz Kalinkas wouldn't kill.
Kaz Kalinkas wouldn't touch a gun (unless it was Battlegear he was scanning).
But I had and I would have to again.
"I can't…" I croaked to the thick, humid air of the darkening evening, "I can't…I won't…no…no…"
I blinked repeatedly, my vision hazy from tears or fatigue I didn't know. I flopped back onto the roof, shaking, wishing with all my heart that I'd wake up in my room and this would all be a nightmare.
And I fell asleep with that thought dancing on the edge of my mind, lingering there and keeping the dark thoughts of murder at bay.
Am I…going to get killed for this? (peeks around protective metal barrier) Um…yeah…I think I'll just…stay back here.
So anyways, I just want to let you guys know that if there is anything written really weird in here or something that looks like this thenidecidedtomaifu8w758q23jandhefellover it's because I'm currently on some medication that makes me sleepy and I don't concentrate very well. Please forgive me.
On the other hand, I tried to make this chapter good despite that and I think it turned out okay. I'm laughing to myself right now because Kaz fell asleep on top of a lookout post. Hee, hee. He's so funny, even when he's traumatized.
Well, see you guys in the next chapter!
