"And with Gunmar's rise will come our hour of triumph!"
The grand speeches – the fancy words – all echoed in Nomura's memory as she recalled the scene. She was seated among her fellow Changelings in human form. Before them stood an ordinary-looking gentleman, his words eloquent, persuasive.
But his graying, middle-aged appearance vanished with a flash and revealed the being's true form, that of a green troll, his eyes burning bright yellow. "We will hide no longer!" He raised a clawed hand. "And we will crush our enemies!" His hand curled into a fist.
Every Changeling bellowed approval as they morphed into their troll bodies. They beat chairs and stomped heavy feet.
Nomura joined the uproar, shouting Stricklander's praises. His words were like a drug; they promised freedom – the chance to run wild on the surface – to take vengeance on all the humans.
Stricklander's razored teeth grinned at them all. He was so secure, like nothing could touch him, and in his eyes, Nomura saw no mercy.
She remembered another scene.
"You fool!" Stricklander, in his human form, raged. He grabbed the young male Changeling by the throat. "You had the bridge piece, and you lost it?! On top of that, you were compromised!"
Nomura and her fellow Changelings ringed their leader and unfortunate colleague.
"I – I'm sorry," the young man rasped. He morphed into troll form – a dark red hide and small horns – and clutched at Stricklander's tight grip. "Please –" he coughed "– forgive me."
Stricklander hissed in the young Changeling's face and turned from human to troll. He smacked the younger Changeling down so hard, the marble floor tiles shattered. "Do you realize what you've done – what could have happened?" He planted a foot over the downed troll's eyes.
"I'm sorry! It won't happen again," the young Changeling wailed.
Stricklander's eyes darkened. "No," he hissed. "It won't." He stepped off the other troll. "Gunmar has no use for such unreliable servants."
The younger troll stared up at Stricklander in horror.
"Bular is bored. Be useful and offer him some entertainment before your end." Stricklander turned away.
"No!" The Changeling lunged at Stricklander and grabbed for his leg. "Please! Gunmar won't have to know – just don't tell him! Please! Help me!" he begged.
Stricklander kicked the other troll off and rolled his eyes. "You brought it on yourself," he said as he walked away.
As Nomura left the room with everyone else, she steeled her ears against the red Changeling's pleas. Failing to follow orders meant death. It was part of the game. They all knew that. None were willing to become collateral damage because of another's failure.
Among the countless threats to Changelings, the greatest of all, was other Changelings. The friend of yesterday was the betrayer of tomorrow. Along with failure, punishment came, swift and unforgiving. Each would trade another for their own safety. And above it all stood Stricklander, the unmovable.
Only now, here, far away from Arcadia and their old lives, did Nomura realize just how trapped he was back then. It unsettled Nomura to see him now. Instead of confidence, his eyes held doubt and anxiety, but the deep confusion from their last meeting had ebbed.
"You're actually serious," Nomura said in disbelief. "You intend to live out the rest of your life as a human? You're insane!"
"That's probably true," Stricklander admitted.
The two trolls sat atop a high roof overlooking the darkening streets of western New Jersey. Cars whipped down the roads too fast, their brights drilling into other drivers' eyes. Humans commuting home from work honked at each other and waved angry fists at crawling traffic. Nomura chuckled at them.
"It is odd…" Stricklander whispered. "But with her… I feel… safe. Barbara's not the kind to turn on someone. She's honest – in fact, she's a terrible liar. She carries her emotions on her sleeve." He smiled softly.
In Stricklander's eyes, Nomura saw what any half-brained idiot would – pure love. It made her heart ache, and she fought back a surge of jealousy.
"I hope he won't find us…" Stricklander said.
"Daumier?" Nomura snorted. "Just fight him off. Alberto's no match for you."
"He wants blood – mine – and I don't blame him. How can I?" Stricklander stared down at the passing traffic as light drops of rain pattered on the roof.
A pang of sympathy hit Nomura. Stricklander did what he had to, so he could survive. Under pressure, he'd shoved aside the screams, the pleas for mercy so he could keep his life. But now that Gunmar was dead and there was time to think, it all flooded back – on both of them.
"I'm sorry, Nomura… for how I treated you – and the rest of us. I gave you to Bular, just like I sacrificed so many others." Stricklander's whisper barely rose above the din below.
"You don't need to apologize," Nomura replied. "If you hadn't turned me over, they'd have taken your head in my place. Then Bular would have tracked me down anyway – two deaths instead of one. And, well... I survived, so I suppose it worked out."
"True," Stricklander admitted with a sigh. "Still…"
"Don't tell me this is you trying to repent." Nomura raised an eyebrow at him.
Stricklander snorted. "There is no way on earth I could possibly repent for everything I've done. I don't think it's worth pretending otherwise. Do you?"
Nomura looked away and shook her head. "I suppose not."
"All we can do is look to the future and leave the past behind us. Anything else would drive me insane," Stricklander said.
"Yeah…"
Nomura and Stricklander sat in silence, watching the last of the nightly traffic trickle down to a sparse few cars. As she watched a dark blue Ford truck rumble past, black smoke chugging from its exhaust, a thought flickered through her mind, and then it grew into an overwhelming urge.
She stood up. "Follow me."
"What is it?" he asked.
"You'll see when we get there."
Maybe Stricklander could use some music tonight.
Editted by dtill359