Here is Chapter 2! Enjoy.
Chapter 2
The roar of my motorbike calms my soul as I speed down the only road in this godforsaken desert, only taking occasional breaks to check my map for the red X marking the spot of the fortress. I had no plan whatsoever to break in and get out with the spirit wielder alive. I had considered calling Lissa for help to make me a disguise. But she was far too busy healing people and teaching spirit rather than help some soldier gone rogue on suicidal missions.
As I approached closer to the location I turned off my motorbike and stashed it, kissing my baby goodbye and promising her that I'd return. Once it was safely stashed away I then started hoisting on my weapons, my bow and arrow, a gun and my nunchucks were the most important. I also had several other little gadgets hidden within my clothing. My friend Eddie turned out to be the weapons specialist that our world could hope for, the old age of stakes was no longer enforced. Of course some people still prefer that method as it is 'tradition' and refused to believe that these are new and dangerous times. Smart people on the other hand grew accustomed to Eddie's ingenious weapon designs and some even excelled in it.
It is now in the curriculum to study with a weapon of your choice, we have masters in the art of each weapon and if you are talented enough you may become their understudy. These new developments however were after I graduated and so I taught myself how to use my personal weapons. I was excellent with my bow and arrow as my small frame and strong arms perfected the balance required to send a silver arrow into a strigoi's cold, dead heart. In the last base that I had passed through I acquired an owl to send a message. I always questioned our method of messaging and I spoke my question aloud one day. The response I received was that Strigoi were able to intercept our mechanical devices which had led to a massacre attack on an unsuspecting base.
Since then we've used owls to deliver our messages to separate bases. In the letter, I wrote to Dimitri hoping for some reinforcements waiting outside the fortress for when I get the Spirit Wielder out. I hadn't told him what mission I was on and I knew that telling him in a letter was cowardice. But I knew in his rage he would still come through for me and send some men. The closest base was a good day from here, so I had 24hrs to get in and get out before they came and perhaps ran in here and ruined everything for my rescue.
I took a deep breath and made sure my small camera hidden in my clothing was on, nobody had successfully gotten footage of this place and if I was going in there I sure as hell would.
The walk there is excruciating as the nerves in my body jolt at every sound that my dhampir senses pick up. I scold myself for being such a coward and move faster, unfortunately moving faster meant me tripping over a damn log. As I look up from my position on the ground nothing in the world could have prepared me for what I saw.
The landscape was utterly dead, every piece of life or plants you could imagine were burnt to nothing but black ash. The glow of the sunset cast an ominous red across the landscape making it look like blood and ash. I was horrified. Past the charred landscape you can see what appears to be the fortress. A giant wall surrounds it and what appear to be black specks patrolling the front. I take out binoculars and discover to my shock that it is humans guarding the front gate. Why on Earth would they have humans guarding their fortress? Leaving their safety in the hands of humans hardly seems logical. We had no reports of this either, maybe I was wrong and they were in fact Strigoi disguised as humans?
But then again I don't see why they would go to such lengths when no sane dhampir on this Earth would have taken this mission and dare go into the fortress.
I double checked my weapons again and set off through the landscape, having made sure my camera had a good view on what I was witnessing. My combat boots crunched against the blackened earth, the wind howled as if mother earth was weeping for her destroyed land that I was walking on. I can now understand their strategy, with barren landscape there was no way an enemy can approach from the trees in a surprise attack. I would be sticking out like a sore thumb and if I didn't find a way to disguise myself then I could be dead before I can even utter a curse word.
I search my surroundings and find a patch of land that is wet from rain and has turned the earth to mud, it's perfect.
I smother every crevice of skin with mud and rub black coal all over myself; my hair is covered in mud. Thankfully I had stuck with a camouflage uniform that we were insisted on wearing. When I approached closer I got down on the ground and army crawled, I got out my binoculars and tried to find a blind spot on the wall. There.
On the left side of me there was no one patrolling and I took my chance.
I took out a little metal device attached to my belt and clicked the button, a steel rope with a grapple hook at the end of it shot out immediately.
It hooked onto whatever was on the other side of the wall and I clicked another button, the rope began pulling me up and I used the wall for leverage to get me there quicker.
I pulled myself up over the bricks and I hunched down onto the little bridge atop the wall. It was bare, I expected an attack. I braced myself as I searched my surroundings. I risked a peek over the edge.
Holy mother of Satan.
This is what hell looks like, I decided.
The buildings inside were also brick but what shocked me the most was the scent of death and the sight of rotten bodies everywhere. It seemed that although the Strigoi could work together it didn't mean they didn't have quarrels with each other. Some of the bodies also seemed human, as if their service was no longer required.
It was a death fortress.
I took a couple of deep breaths and got ready for action. Upon further investigation I realise that it's bigger than I thought. It was a city consisting of brick structures and people in metal gear with loaded weapons. The stench of burning bodies filled my nostrils and I gagged. The rumours were true after all…they had an army and they were growing.
I heard voices approaching in my direction so I crouched down and prepared for an attack.
To my surprise it was a woman around my age and height. A sudden plan formed in my mind.
They approached closer to me and when they were within two feet I quickly stood up and snapped the guys' neck from behind. Killing humans is something that went against our moral code but when it comes to them willingly helping Strigoi, well we had no choice. His lifeless body dropped to the floor and the woman gasped in shock. I knew she was about to scream but before she could I snap her neck as well. I quickly pinched her uniform and threw it over my own; I took out a vial and tapped a couple of drops onto each of the bodies. They dissolved in a matter of seconds.
I had stolen these from Alchemists that had visited a town a while ago, you can buy them on the black market but…soldiers don't get paid. They get paid by still having their life.
Killing humans may make me seem like a cold-hearted killer whose heart is masked by what is good and evil. But it's a mistake that I have had to learn the hard way, to underestimate humans and think they are simply weak. If we had of known otherwise a fellow soldier would still be alive today, my partner in crime Mason Ashford.
Some humans had wondered into our camp injured, Mason automatically took it under his obligation to make sure they received medical attention. Only when he got closer Strigoi jumped out of nowhere and snapped his neck. Drained him dry and left him, the humans weren't even injured but tricked soldiers into thinking they were so the Strigoi could have their next meal.
It made me sick and angry to the core.
I had no more faith in humanity and just did what I needed to do to survive and get what I needed.
And what I needed was that Spirit Wielder. And a bath.
I found a ladder to get down from the wall and attempted to appear normal and as if I belonged. My uniform had the name Anna I noticed. I walked past some men cooking over a stove and I cringed as one called out my name.
"Anna? Aren't you meant to be patrolling the wall with Dean?"
"Oh, I was reassigned to tend to the spirit wielders needs." I bluffed as I kept my face hidden underneath my hat.
"Babysitting again? He seems to trust you so it makes sense the commander makes you babysit him."
I nodded and said goodbye.
Now if only I knew where he was, it appeared that luck was on my side however. As an earpiece attached to the uniform buzzed to life.
"Anna, I need you down in the south dungeons. Spirit guy is having another of his attacks and we need you down here to calm him."
"Roger that." I replied back.
Roger that? God damn I was going to get myself killed in here.
I took a major gamble on where these dungeons were and just kept heading down flights of stairs and going South in hope I will have some luck.
As it grew darker and the air became warmer and denser I realised I must be at the dungeons. A huge door greeted me and I knew I had reached my destination.
A little flap slid to the side and a man peeked through it, he was only tall enough to see my uniform with my name tag and I was granted access. What I was trying to figure out was why they had such medieval methods; the rumours were that their expanse knowledge in advanced technology had allowed them to have amazing security. I was perplexed as I had not yet seen this 'advanced technology and amazing security mechanisms.'
So far I was able to kill two of their soldiers, steal their uniform and acquire the whereabouts on the spirit wielder in less than three hours.
Yet my gut was screaming to be cautious, this could all be such a cover and their robot soldiers could come out any second and disintegrate me with their laser guns. I was let inside and I could hear agonising screams and ramblings. As I walked down the corridor I passed more cells and in each one were men. Dozens of dirty men, upon closer inspection I notice the grime of a familiar uniform. My camouflage uniform and I nearly screamed in shock. These were the men that had been sent in but had never made it out. They had been kept prisoner all this time.
Now it seemed I had another mission on my hands, one more impossible than the last, and it would mean I would have to come back again.
I rushed toward the sounds and found a man coated in sweat thrashing against metal chains.
Two men were standing at the front of his bars and were shaking their heads.
"Ah there you are he's having another one of his episodes. We'll need you to calm him down so we can get more answers out of him."
They walked by me without as much as a glance.
Once they had left the corridor and out the door I rushed to the bars and attempted to get a closer look.
The dim lighting hadn't allowed me to see much but my dhampir senses kicked in and I saw quite a young Moroi man. He was definitely our guy, I noticed the mad ramblings of a spirit wielder who held no healing charms to keep the spirit demons at bay.
I pulled out a little laser appliance that I knew would eat through these bars, I got rid of some that allowed a man hole.
The next mission was getting him out of his trance and making sure he was physically capable of getting the hell out of here.
I crawled through the space I had made and grabbed yet another vial out of one of my pockets, this one contained dhampir blood.
I pulled off the top and held open his mouth, I poured the liquid into his mouth and he seemed to snap out of it almost immediately.
He spoke "Please, please no more. I can't handle anymore."
"It's okay, I'm here to rescue you. It's okay."
He whimpered.
"Please, I can't help you anymore. They will come for me; I can't keep my sanity for much longer."
He only recognised my uniform and couldn't understand that I wasn't the enemy.
I turned around and showed him my Zvezda mark on my neck and he gasped.
"You've come for me. Thank you. Oh god" He began to sob and I slapped him across the cheek.
He looked at me in surprise and I told him that this was no time to break down and that we had to leave.
I examined his chains and pulled out my trusty laser and I cut through them. He landed on the ground and rubbed his sore limbs.
"Are you too weak to stand? To walk and run?" I asked.
"The blood you gave me has given me some strength but I don't suppose you have more under their?"
I had one more vial but hoped that I wouldn't have to use it.
I gave it to him and he gulped it in one go.
He jumped to his feet and urged me forward.
"Have you got a plan?" He asked.
I had one but it all depended on whether he had any spirit left.
"I do, but it requires you using your spirit."
His brows furrowed together in anguish. "How much spirit are we talking here?"
"Only enough to disguise the both of us so we can get out of here unnoticed." I told him.
"Have you got anything silver on you?"
I nodded and pulled out two silver bracelets for him to charm.
He sat there for ten minutes charming them and I hoped to god that they would work.
"Okay, that should disguise us long enough to get out of here. So lead the way."
I braced myself; if we could get out of this alive I would have accomplished something that could potentially change our world.
"What is your name?" I asked him.
"It's Robert, and may I ask the name of my rescuer?"
"Rose, Rose Hathaway."
"Okay Rose, let's get out of here."
I put on the bracelet and advanced past the cells but it seems our chatting got some of their attention.
"Hey! She's rescuing the spirit wielder! What about us! Get us out of here too!"
One of the prisoners yelled. Oh no, they all joined in. They were making too much noise, I hadn't counted on them yelling and carrying on.
I grabbed Robert's hand and ran for the door all the while promising myself that I and a team would return for them.
Our first issue was the guard at the door; the memory of his red piercing eyes brought me to an obvious solution. I pulled out my bow from its holster and drew an arrowhead from its pack, the guard turned around and it took me all of a millisecond to aim for his heart and shoot the silver arrow.
He went down with a cry and we were out the door, once we were climbing the stairs we had to remain completely natural. Once the body was discovered all hell would break loose that there is an intruder in their midst.
We had to get out quickly but calmly.
Once out of the dungeons out next issue would be getting out of the wall or passed through the iron gates. A diversion had to be created.
I pulled Robert into a corner and crouched down, an alarm had been sounded.
That was a diversion we needed but it wasn't enough, the guards were still in their place at the gate. I pulled out something from my jacket that I didn't want to use, it was a grenade. But it was no normal grenade.
This was a grenade reinforced with silver spikes once it exploded. It was rare to come by and I only wanted to use it for emergencies.
However once we were spotted by a guard and our charms had worn off, and then it would be an emergency.
My prayers were answered as some guards were called away and an opening was there for us to get over the gate. Unfortunately my grapple hook can only hold a certain amount of weight, I made a decision quickly.
"Here, take this. Press that button and it will pull you up over the gate. Once you get over it there is a bit of a drop but the hook works both ways, shoot it into the ground and use the rope to slide down. Once you're on the ground run, run like the wind. Keep going north and you'll find a motorbike and within the next 18 hours men should be arriving there. If I'm not back by the time they arrive, leave without me. Don't come back for me." I gave him these quick instructions hoping he wouldn't argue with me.
"What about you?" He asked.
"Me? I'm going to blow these bastards to hell." I said giving him my best smirk of all time.
"Now go! Remember my instructions!" I pushed the device into his hands.
I watched him from a distance as he climbed over the fence; I heard a thud as his feet touched the earth on the other side and the sound of running. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Now it was time for some fun.
Hope you liked it!
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xxSezaxx