Chapter Twenty-Four.
* Elisha's POV *
My fingertips tingle as I exit the room, entered the corridor before following it down into the forum which crawls with Necromonger guards and odd Purifiers. My lungs collapse in on themselves as I cross the space of the forum quickly and climbed the stairs to the safety of the bare second floor.
With no weapon except my fists and with no strategy. Nervous sickness snatches my body as I push over the familiar looking door slowly, glancing around the corner to study the room, a tall muscular figure clothed in a heavy Necromonger uniform stands admiring the view from the window. Black dreadlocks trail down the persons back. My heart accelerates inside my chest as I took a large step forward into the room to close the door behind myself.
"The Lord Marshall has requested all guards to help in a sweep search." I speak clearly with my best attempt to sound like a Necromonger woman.
The man turns slowly as a frail chuckle escapes his lips, revealing his identity to be Commander Vaako, his right hand held a curved blade level to his hostage's neck whilst his left kept the boy still. Hans' face was wet with tears, I stepped forward again but Vaako flinches gently digging the edge of the blade into the soft tissue of his throat.
"You do not want to be like your wife, do you?" I ask him.
Vaako's lips pursed and his nostrils flared with anger, "Care what you say about my wife."
I step forward with no confidence, "She tried to kill him as well. Almost succeed." my voice is calm but my body shakes with nerves.
"She was doing it for the faith!" he growls angrily.
I scoff with annoyance, "Killing a young boy is protecting your Necromonger faith?" I spit.
"The Lord Marshall is unworthy of Lordship." Vaako tells me, his voice was still elevated.
What the fuck? "What?" I ask completely confused.
Vaako clenches, poking the blade more into Hans' throat, "The Lord Marshall is afraid of you Furyans. If he is afraid, he has weakness, therefore he is unworthy of Lordship, It is the law of the faith."
I step closer gently, "Then help us." Yes, I am aware it is a stupid idea, "Help us kill the Marshall."
"What would I get out of this arrangement?" Vaako asks.
I shrug, "Freedom from the Lord Marshall; a peace of mind knowing your race is safe –"
"– I want the crown." Vaako interjects sharply.
Unintentionally my eyes narrowed, I am not sure why this ping of bewilderment tapped my chest, I certainly didn't want the ground, I have no interest in becoming whatever the fuck these people call a queen, princess or leader. I shrug before nodding. "Okay, you can have it." I say, Vaako then releases Hans, he runs to me quickly and wraps his arms around my waist.
Vaako steps forward, "That means, I have to be the one to kill the Lord Marshall."
My eyebrows rise in a questioning expression, "Why?"
He steps forward so Hans was the only thing between our bodies, "Because in our faith, you keep what you will." he tells me.
"Okay then." I smile, "Now we need a plan."
Vaako steps backwards, "Riddick mustn't know."
"Why?" I ask.
"Because he will not agree. This stays between me and you Furyan." he speaks aggressively, then he grips my arm tightly and drives the knuckles of his hand onto my face, my back teeth crunch on impact spilling blood into my mouth. Vaako releases my arm allowing me to fall to the ground, Hans escapes my arms and standing shaking in the corner, but my attacker doesn't hit me again, nor does he kick me.
I squirl the blood around in my mouth gathering it using my tongue and spit the mixture of blood and saliva onto the floor. "What the fuck was that for?" I growl angrily.
"Hit me." he commands once I'd gotten to my feet.
I rub the already swelling lump on my jaw, "Why?" I ask.
"Because it isn't going to look right if I take you and either of us have any self-defence wounds." he says.
I smile inwards, "I suppose so." I say before punching him as hard as I face square on. A snap erupted from beneath my knuckles as his nose breaks, Vaako's body crumbles downward to the floor balancing on one knee as he gripped his nose. Once balanced on his knees, he presses both hands on either side of his nose before moving his hand to the right re-straightening it, the stomach wrenching sound of bone crunching echoes through the air. Hans covers his ears using his hands.
"Any more?" I ask sarcastically.
Then, at that moment, I swear that Commander Vaako smiled. It wasn't huge but it was there faintly, the thin corners of his lips arch upward slightly before he wipes the blood from his nostrils and shaking his head, "No." he replies before walking passed me to alert the guard squad walking passed. Five Necromonger guards, two armed with anti-gravity guns, two with large metal axes and one with blades secured around his waist. The dark-skinned male with no weapons gripped my angrily by the back of the neck whilst another guard shoved Hans in front of me. Our hands were bound in front us by heavy metal chains.
"Do not try anything funny Furyan, unlike the Lord Marshall, I will not hesitate to kill you and the boy." the man says before taking stand at the front of the group who has surrounded us in a protective manor however I doubt this is the reason. Out of the room we are escorted down the corridor, scurried down two steps of stairs before entering into the forum were we were lined up just in front of the balcony. Hans stood beside me, his head staring down at his feet as tears line his eyes, I get down onto my knees to assure him everything will be okay but I am roughly grabbed by the back of the neck and yanked back onto my feet.
The room fills with Necromonger guards outlining the room, no one stands behind or in front of us, we stand to the left of the throne. Vaako stands in front of the throne on the bottom step, occasionally we make eye contact but for no longer than a second. The Lord Marshall travels through the crowd to our right eyeing Commander Vaako who gestures to us.
"Congratulations Vaako, you have redeemed yourself." the Marshall slaps Vaako, who looked awkward, on the shoulder before travelling over to me and Hans. With my wrists bounded together, I lightly smile and simply raise my right hand so my palm faced him in a mocking wave, clearly the Lord Marshall did not see the humour in my gesture and like Commander Vaako before him, the Lord Marshall raises his right hand across to his left shoulder before swinging it backwards making contact with my left cheek, Hans moves just in time for my body to miss smacking into him, instead I fall face first into the stone floor.
The guard to my right picks me up viva my arm and drags me to my feet, I spit the blood at the Marshall's feet, "What is it with men?" I ask whilst rebalancing myself on the balls of my feet, "Do they teach you how to hit women at school?" I ask smugly, the Lord Marshall raises his hand to hit my again, Vaako stands by to watch as the Marshall balls his hand into a fist and plants it beneath my chin knocking me off my feet.
"Where is Riddick?" he growls angrily.
I gather myself to my knees, before repeating the process of spitting blood onto the floor, "I don't know." I state through my heavily breaths. His gloved hand grips the neat hair on top of my head pulling me onto my weak legs and holds me there.
"What are you waiting for?" I question.
The Lord Marshall smiles sickly, "Where is Riddick?" he whispers.
"I. Don't. Know." I whisper back slowly.
Bracing myself for another hit, I am surprised to find it doesn't but I am even more surprised when he suddenly releases me and reaches up using his other hand to grab the wrist of an airborne body who was displayed out like a starfish. I fall back onto my knees as the person is thrown viciously to the ground taking out several Necromonger guards along with him.
Commander Vaako is the one who helps me back to my feet and once I am rebalanced, he bare hand gently grazes my palm transferring a small object from his to mine. He gives me a brief nod before walking around the outside of the group as they all grip tightly onto their weapons and closed in to the figure laying face down on the stone floor. Now the guards attention was off me for a moment, I slipped the object, that turned out to be the key to our cuffs, from the hidden crease of my palm and unlocked my cuffs before hiding the key up my sleeve, I do not discard off the restraints instead I pretend that I am still handcuffed.
"Steer your weapons." Lord Marshall orders his guards, "He came for me."
It was within those small words I make out who the figure is. Riddick. The Necromonger guards all retreat from his like a plague going back to their original arrangement around the outside allowing me to have a good view of what is happening. Riddick stretched out his arm to reach for the blade handle that he must have dropped during the impact of hitting the floor. His muscles ripped with tension as he lifted himself to his feet with ease, he face was plastered with determination, that was all before the Lord Marshall dragged me forward to stand before him. My hand bound like a prisoner, despite them not actually behind locked, I played the part of an innocent flower with all the pleasure of being a disguised serpent.
"Consider this," The Lord Marshall says before pulling a blade from one of his guards belts, gripping my neck and pulling my forward to lightly meet the blade with my throat. "If you, or her, fall here now. Neither of you will rise again." he presses the blade slightly harder into my throat, "But, if you choose another way, the Necromonger way, you will die in due time and arise in the Underverse were you can start a fresh, new life."
In his hand, Riddick twirls the blade in his fingers idly before flipping it to face us, his eyes never leaving the Marshall's.
Riddick chuckles darkly, "You talk to much." he states, then in one swift motion, he throws the blade towards us well, more the Marshall, everything in that time frame seemed to slow down, the blade travelled slowly through the air not glitching at all. The Lord Marshall removed his blade from my neck and shoved my body in the path of the airborne knife.
A powerful force knocks my right shoulder flinging my backward, my head buzzed with fuzzy images as I made flat on my back against the steps leading up to the throne, every wisp of air is plucked from my lungs and as the seconds go by the tension in my shoulder becomes more painful. My gentle breaths become staggered as I try to sub-press the panic flooding my body. Keeping flat was my best option as I glance down to see the beautifully crafted blade handle resting on the surface of my skin to the top section of my shoulder, gently rolling back projected the ping of the metal blade on the stone floor. Gently angling my body allowed me to watch the Lord Marshall drop the blade he held to my throat to the ground.
The real fight was about to start.
A/N: Almost finished! Please view with things you liked and the things that you maybe didn't like. Hope you enjoyed anyway, will update soon!
– V.A.16