CHAPTER TEN: REVOLUTIONS
They'd got in quite easily; walked into the hidden camp in the Horn Plain, spotted Ares—giving another speech, they'd seen, and calmly decapitating a man accused of betrayal, laughing at the bloodshed—and waited until they thought he was alone.
He'd been with Ceres, she frightened and cringing, paler than ever, and they'd had to neutralize her too.
Elspeth calmly bent down, and ripped the jewel from the unconscious Phoebus' outfit. She'd handled more than her fair share of magical artefacts as both a Dark Elf and a practicing mercenary, but she felt uncomfortable about this one, and quickly made it disappear inside a crystal ball.
"You know I'll have to give this to Lukas, and Reinhard through him," she said. "It's my job."
"Our leader was…insane from that gem," Remus said. "This may not be the right decision, but it is the best alternative I possess. And I would count causing Lord Reinhard's insanity as a victory."
"I'll go now," she said. "You might want to evacuate the non-fighters."
She disappeared, and Remus started gathering together the old, the women, and the children, telling them to leave the camp while they still could.
-
"Commander, I have news," the mercenary said. She'd just teleported in, and claimed she had an urgent message for him.
"What is it?" It was the middle of the night, and Lukas wasn't too happy about being awakened, particularly since Maxine had disappeared and he wasn't too sure he wanted to find out where to.
"The Atmos camp is hidden near Horn Plain, next to the waterhole. It's under a cloak of illusion, a concerted effort of the Atmos mages…"
"Something you'd have no trouble seeing through, I suppose," Lukas said dryly.
"They planned a covert attack for tomorrow, but I believe their plans will shortly change."
The mercenary materialised something from inside a crystal ball, and gave it to him.
Lukas turned the gem over in his hands, and felt something unfamiliar begin to rush through him. A red desire for blood and battle…
"That's what's been giving their leader strength," the mercenary continued. Lukas only half-listened. "I believe it is vampiric in origin. It should be easy to defeat them now, though."
Lukas nodded, half in a daze. "You've done well, mercenary," he said. "I don't think I'll need you as a spy any more. I'll order…an immediate attack. A surprise attack. That should do it." He turned rapidly on his heel, and left the mercenary standing there.
She shivered suddenly, though the temperature was quite warm.
I did the only thing I could have considering the job I accepted, she told herself. The fortunes of war are never pleasant…
-.
Commander Lukas felt a strange power circulating through his blood as he ordered the troops to mobilize, marching in deadly patterns towards the hidden Atmos camp.
The scouts he'd sent ahead reported that the mercenary had been telling the truth, the Atmos unprepared and in relative disarray and Lukas gave the order to attack as soon as he could.
The battle was bloody, and painful, and in the end the Atmos rebels fell, their leader, half-mad and wildly searching for something unknown, easily killed by one footsoldier. Lukas watched, and smiled at the death, a red haze filling his vision.
-
"Sir! The camp is now in our control. While it appears the women and children were previously evacuated, we have over a hundred prisoners who have surrendered. Your orders?"
"Kill them. Kill them all," Lukas said, and felt the red haze consume him. Blood and power and strength…
-
Lukas stood, watching his soldiers make their way across the desert plains, finishing off the last of the rebellion.
"Commander, may I take that?" hie second-in-command, a bright young man known as Markos, asked, gesturing to the gem he held.
"No!" Lukas reacted instinctively, clutching it to himself.
"I'll have a special courier deliver it to Lord Reinhard in a sealed box," Markos said. "You never know with these magical artefacts, sir. My mother died from handling a cursed necklace…"
Lukas paused.
There has been bloodshed and there must be more! Mine to kill, mine to spill crimson lifeblood across the land, strengthening all of us…
I am the Commander. I serve Lord Reinhard. It is my responsibility to…hand it over.
He reluctantly passed the gem into his second's gauntleted hands. "See that it is kept in a sealed box, and that it gets to Lord Reinhard safely," he told Markos. "I don't want to hear of any mistakes."
Markos saluted. "Sir."
Lukas saw the young man call a courier, and watched as the gem was sealed tightly before it was taken away.
He felt suddenly lighter, as though a load had been removed from his body and mind.
Another young officer approached him.
"Sir…should we incinerate the bodies? In this heat they're decaying quickly…"
I ordered the entire camp massacred, he remembered.
"Yes. Do what you can to dispose of them," he said, and walked off.
-
Inside his tent, Maxine was waiting for him.
"What were you doing?" he asked.
"I was…hungry," she said, smiling with surprisingly sharp teeth and twining herself around him. "I hear you've just won."
"A mercenary found…what was causing the rebels' strength. We were able to stage a surprise attack."
"And you killed them all," she said, staring at him with her brilliant blue eyes. He felt he couldn't look away from her, that he was being drawn into some sort of trap, a helpless animal led to the slaughter.
"Yes."
"Good," she said, moving in still closer. "Mass bloodshed is quite an…aphrodisiac. And the Blood Crystal?"
Her eyes were brighter than he'd ever seen them, luminous pools of shimmering crystal drawing him in.
"The gem? I sent it on to Lord Reinhard," he said. He couldn't have lied to her if he'd wanted to. "He has sorcerers who can deal with that sort of thing…"
Lukas wasn't prepared for the sudden change in her expression.
"Where is it now?" she asked, desperation edging her voice, turning up the force of her stare still more.
"It's in Lord Reinhard's hands by now."
"And the mercenary who located it?"
"She's still around here, I think…I didn't order her to take part in the attack, I remember."
"Who was she?"
"Illusion. The elf."
"Ah. You've told me all I need to know. You'll pay her off now, and send her away from here. Understand?"
"Yes. I'll do so immediately."
"And you'll tell nobody about the Blood Crystal or this conversation. Am I correct?"
He nodded, unable to do anything else in her hypnotic glare.
She smiled, revealing pointed incisors—had his mind been clear, he would have wondered about that—and disappeared from the tent.
It took Commander Lukas a few minutes to wake himself from the trance, and he shook his head dazedly before calling an orderly to summon the mercenary.
It didn't take her long to appear in a flash of light and salute.
"Commander?"
"You've finished your job here, mercenary," Lukas said. "I want you out of here now."
"And the reason why?"
He pulled a bag of money from his desk and threw it to her.
"Our business here is over," he said. "I don't want you around here. This is more money than the original agreement," he said. "Take it and go, and don't gossip."
"I never do." She disappeared, looking slightly miffed at the peremptory dismissal.
Lukas wiped a hand across his brow, and realised he was sweating.
He shook his head, half-dazed, and walked out of the tent to try and carry on with his job.
-
Elspeth walked thoughtfully along the narrow alley in Reinhard's city, the place seemingly deserted. She wondered why she'd been so quickly gotten rid of. Some…influence of the artefact, perhaps? No logical reason for that. I suppose I should be relieved that I got paid…more than I'd expected, and certainly for less work.
She was interrupted by a creature melting from thin air behind her, and turned, too slowly.
The vampire, dark-faced and with breath smelling like rotting meat, grabbed her by the neck, and started an energy drain—less messy than blood, she knew, struggling to free herself, her mind sending random memories to her—not a common ability for vampires…who is this creature?
Elspeth reached her right hand to her boot, contorting her arm to reach that extra distance, and grabbed the dagger she usually kept there. She jammed the blade into the face of her assailant, and he let her go, distracted. There was blood running down his face, but he didn't seem fazed by it, and the wounds healed quickly. She materialised a crystal ball in her right hand—better finish this quickly—and threw. A large cloud of smoke rose up around the vampire, but she didn't want to give him any more chances, and followed up that explosion with two more.
The vampire was lying on the ground, and she bent over him and pressed the dagger to his throat.
"Who sent you?" she said. She'd ended up with more than her fair share of vampiric enemies over the years, especially after the events of the previous year.
He didn't reply, and she twisted the knife to show she meant business.
"They call me the Drainer," he said. He smiled—he was gap-toothed, she noticed, with a mouth like the interior of a grave—and flicked a wrist in a sudden movement.
Elspeth lifted a hand to shield her face as his body appeared to explode, in a shower of darkness and mud. She cursed fluently in elvish.
He had a teleport. Probably on a timer. I'm a fool.
She thought she saw a few of the alley's denizens staring curiously at her, and continued on her way as quickly as possible.
-
It had been a long day—no less than sixteen reports of vampiric attacks, spreading all over Londres—and Sparx, still slightly bloodstained, was relieved as she finally stumbled into her quarters. She looked around the small room assigned to her by Lightning Knight Headquarters. She had to admit it was adequate, and clean, but as she lay down on the hard bed she felt an inkling of regret for the soft featherbeds and life of luxury she'd been accustomed to as a royal. She'd never had to worry about money then; nearly everything she'd wanted had been there almost before she'd asked for it. As a Lightning Knight, she'd had to learn how to balance a budget, something which she still found difficult. The Lightning Knights were officially entitled to accommodation, energy supplies, and weaponry, but aside from that they didn't get paid much.
Mercenary probably does pay better, Sparx thought. Of course, I'm happy here, with my friends…
The Lightning Flash buzzed softly in a corner, and Sparx remembered that the extra parts she'd put in a claim form for hadn't come in yet.
It'd be nice to have something saved up, to buy stuff before the bureaucracy at Headquarters get around to it. And nice to not have to wait from payday to payday, I know Random finds it irritating sometimes too, Ace is lucky he's got a rich family…
My father's very rich, and I ran away so he didn't have to give me a dowry or anything, and I know Lord Reinhard can more than afford the reward. And seeing Reinhard's face when I run away again would be fun.
She thought about Lady Illusion's proposal again.
I could turn you in, we split the money, and then you run away again.
Yes. That'd work, and it wouldn't be wrong exactly, just a little…shady. And hey, it'd be fun. I go in, I get out, with a large bank balance included. Easy.
Sparx reached for her phone.
"Um, Lady? Are you there? It's Sparx here, I've been thinking about your idea. I'll agree, as long as we split it with Ace and Random…"
A/N: Feedback? Please. Thanks, Hyperpsychomaniac!