The Venerate Redemption

by Troy Dukart

  “Oh shit, shit shiiiitttt!!!” Rousseau yelled as he pointed toward the castle. Emerging from behind some houses stood four figures I knew we would run into again, General Taleri Ganser, Hendrick Valender, Longwei and Tiras. Alongside them were two giant Slates that stood ten feet high. It seemed like they were the last resistance between us and whatever was inside the castle.

  “It's always something isn't it!?” I grunted.

  We walked forward to confront them. Zon clenched his sword firmly.

  We squared off.

  “Stand aside,” Zon commanded the four foes.

  Hendrick put his foot on a dying Shinjin soldier in front of us while pulling out a red rifle and replied, “How about, surrender or this man dies?”'

  “You Senti have gone too far. Do you even know what you are doing!?!” Zon asked him.

  “The real question is do you wish for the cycle of war to repeat Zon? Are you willing to be responsible for continued atrocities committed by man to one another?” Longwei spoke.

  “Quit hiding behind a veil and show yourself! You are not Longwei you fox!” Zon replied.

  “Very well,” he said as he shifted into an older man with white hair, “Beware that I am the only one who knows his whereabouts.”

  “What the hell?! A shape shifter?!” I stuttered.

  “Yes. The Power of Fear. The ability to change perception. For good or evil,” Roya explained.

  “What have you done? War does not just spring up like the changing seasons. It was calculated by the Senti, and you helped them Master! Look what they have done!” Zon pleaded.

  “This is the cost my son I had to pay to keep them from attacking us sooner. We will build it all back when this is over. Commander Ganser will unlock the Heaven's Gate and we will finally have the power to end this. Now, leave or I will not hold back against you,” Master replied.

  “War is not the answer,” Roya interjected.

  “Enough of this General, let's end them and be done with this!” Hendrick stated, Taleri looked jaded.

  “I agree. It's time for some payback boy!” Tiras said as he pointed at me.

  “I'll be happy to blast your face off again!” I yelled back.

  Taleri hesitated before making a decision, but then held her head high and said, “Leave Strafe alive.”

  We engaged the last defense the Senti had. Taleri and Tiras jumped up onto the roofs of the houses to fire down on us with their long ranged weapons while Master and Hendrick charged forward with the Slates.

  When the Slate was within my striking range I jumped up at its head to take a swipe but was knocked aside by its huge lumbering arm into a building. Roya ran behind me and was able to stab her blade straight through the creature. She then extended her blade so the Slate was dangling high up in the air and then slammed it down to the ground, shattering it instantly.

  Zon and Rousseau fought against Master while Hendrick drew his huge sword and shield. My head was spinning from being slapped away but I shrugged it off. There wasn't much time for me to recover as Hendrick had charged at me like a bull and pinned me with his shield. His charge was so strong he ran me through two of the village's wooden buildings. I laid on the ground in agony before I got to my feet. “Tell me again how it felt when your mutt died!” Hendrick yelled.

  We crossed swords in an alley. For someone with such a heavy suit of armor on, he was incredibly fast and powerful. Each swipe felt like a ton of bricks slamming down on me. When Hendricks's sword swooped down, I blocked it by holding my sword across my body horizontally. While I tried to press him away, a bullet nicked my cheek which broke my concentration. I stumbled back and looked up to see Tiras was on the roof taking shots at me while Hendrick kept me busy. “Son of a bitch!” I yelled.

  Rousseau shot in Tiras' direction to cover me, which made him run and hide to avoid getting hit. Hendrick tried to shield-bash me but I side-stepped to the left of him. As I did, he came at me with a cross-slash to which I deflected it upward and slashed his shield away to expose his chest. I then powered on my aura and blasted him with spirit energy, which him which sent him flying through multiple buildings. Taking the time to assess the battle I ran back out to the courtyard.

  Rousseau and Zon surrounded the remaining Slate. In a show of aggression, it slammed the floor and charged at Zon while bellowing. Zon threw his Kusarigama at the Slate's arm and tried to control it but the Slate was too strong and pulled Zon forward before punching him. The hit knocked him backwards almost to the gate we came through. Master ran after Zon and left Rousseau to himself to fight the creature. “Hey!” I yelled to Rousseau.

  Rousseau waved at me but had to move quickly to avoid a giant rock the Slate threw at him. I was to join him in the battle but I felt something wrap around my ankles. When I looked down, I noticed a rope of some kind which sent me to the ground as it pulled me away from the battle. The rope dragged me back into an alley and hung me upside down over a pole that connecting two houses.

  Dangling about a story up I tried to cut myself free but was petrified. A dart had hit me in the side and made me lose all feeling in my body. The God Blade fell out of my hands and clanked a few times before resting on the ground. I could see someone in the distance through my blurry vision; it was Taleri.

  Jumping down in front of me from her perch, she approached me with her gun draw right between my eyes. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, “There's very little time Strafe. When I wink at you, that will be your time to attack. Do you understand me?”

  After she said that, out of nowhere she kissed me on the lips and stroked my face. What the hell?

  Taleri's head snapped to her left as a huge black flash crashed into her and tossed her into a nearby home. She grunted as she fell down. When I looked over, Roya had retracted her Balis to earring size. She cut down the rope holding me upside down and removed the dart Taleri had shot me with. Feeling began to return to my body and I was able to slowly get up with Roya's help. “One of these days I'm gonna need to save you for a change!” I joked.

  “You will have your chance, this is sure,” Roya said.

  Where are you Zixin?

  We rushed back to the battlefield to witness quite a comical display. Rousseau had somehow gotten onto the Slate's back and was hitting it in the head with the butt of his gunblade. The Slate couldn't figure out how to get him off. Rousseau dodged every grab from the creature because he was too fast.

  “Don't worry mates! I'm just playing around with him. Why don't you stop the others while I keep this one busy?” he told us.

  “Okay???” we both replied with a shrug.

  Taking the opportunity to avoid the Slate, Roya and I ran off in search of Master and Tiras. We ran down toward the gate we entered and heard clashing steel. Off in the far southeast corner had been a trail that led to a secret garden.

  “This battle seems like one he must fight alone,” Roya suggested.

  “We're all in this together though Roya, just think what would've happened if you didn't save me back there?” I replied.

  She nodded her head and said, “You may be right.”

  Something in that moment didn't feel right as we walked forward. Roya stood behind me and as we were to enter the garden, I heard a muffled scream as Tiras had come up from behind Roya and stabbed her in the back with a knife. He covered her mouth and held onto her as she dropped to her knees.

  “ROYA!!!” I screamed as I charged forward.

  Hendrick grabbed onto my shoulder, turned me around and knocked me out with head-butt. Everything went dark.

  Chapter 29

  Taleri

  At this point, I could've decided the fate of humanity by simply whom I chose to kill. Blood was to be shed. It would be either Strafe and his friends, or these assholes I fought alongside.

  The longer this war waged, the more I'd seen great changes in my father. Once a proud, commanding leader, he now stayed to himself and issued orders far away from anybody. I felt someone was cont
rolling him, and it was tearing not just our country but our relationship apart.

  Hendrick held Strafe and the girl over his shoulder and brought them to the market place nesting below the stairs to the castle. Strafe was out cold, but the girl was whimpering in a ball and bleeding from her side. They went down like sissies, I was expecting more. The boy lover was still on top of the giant Slate until I grabbed him with my whip and tossed him on the floor. He winced in pain when he landed; Tiras was there to restrain him.

  “I say we cut their throats and be done with it. These simpletons have far overstepped their boundaries,” Hendrick illustrated as he crossed his finger over his neck.

  “No,” Tiras chimed in, “We mustn't risk losing the Guardian abilities. We must extract them through cohesion.”

  “What are you planning snake?” I called him. I never liked Tiras, just like that slime ball Marcio. Something about this douchebag smelled rotten, and I had no idea why my father trusted him.

  “General, you see, I have reports that my people have captured someone very special to this one on Earth,” Tiras put his foot over Strafe's head, “Getting him to break will be easy.”

  “And the others? That Shinjin fool is still fighting Master. He probably would kill himself than work with the people who destroyed his village,” I countered.

  “Shinjo has no 'real' friends right now since they allied with us. The Emperor has been taken out as Symbol of the State and we own the Prime Minister. The Sorians and their gang simply view this place as a battlefield, they couldn't give a damn less what happens to these people. If Zon loves his country, he'll understand that the only true friends he has are the Senti,” Tiras detailed to me.

  I was impressed by the way he knew how to play the game. “Well Tiras, I have places to be so go help get the Shinjin and let's get on with whatever my father wants us to do,” I ordered him, he bowed and walked away.

  Hendrick came over and put an arm on my shoulder, to which I shook it off. “Hey, what's the matter my love? No victory kiss?” Hendrick tried to kiss me but I pulled away, “Is something wrong? We haven't been intimate lately.”

  “Hendrick,” I sighed, “We are about to win this war and fulfill the prophecy my father has been chasing and all you can think about is this? That's something that Marcio creep would've done.”

  With a jerk, Hendrick grabbed my right arm and spun me around, “Don't you EVER compare me to that cockroach again!”

  If Tiras hadn't shown up to break the moment, I would've shot him in the face for talking to me like that. Tiras seemed slightly on edge with what he saw, “Everything gravy General?”

  “Yes,” I said as I yanked my arm from Hendrick's grasp, “Hendrick's just angry I'm not fucking him lately, is all.”

  Both of their eyes opened wide in shock. Radio traffic began going off with details from leadership. My father had made it to the village as we saw his Mag-Ship land. With him were his guardsmen carrying all the Guardian Keys we had gathered. They rushed past us and up to the castle. My father joined us. “Taleri, sweetie, come here,” my father said with open arms, I gave him a hug.

  “Hi daddy! Look what we have for you!” I sang.

  He looked down at Strafe and his friends, “These are the people that we sent to gather the Guardian abilities?”

  “Correct sir,” Tiras popped in, “Like you had envisioned, those with Guardian power attract others with it and eventually eat each other alive until there is only one left standing.”

  They both looked at me, “What?” I asked.

  “Taleri, my dear, don't you see now? The whole point of lighting the world on fire was to flush out these heathens and use them to gather up the Guardian abilities. Now that we have them all, we can gain entrance to Nian. These “Guardian Keys” we sought were means only to power the lift into space,” my father explained.

  “You looked shocked General, you see, the ancient scripts we gathered from around Eternia regarding the Venerates who created Guardian and Nian explained to us how to access the portal, which is right inside that castle, and gain access to heaven. They specifically stated that war, chaos and famine were required to awaken the abilities. The prophecy is unfolding,” Tiras followed.

  My breath had left my chest. We'd done all of these terrible things to the world on the pretext of an ancient script we didn't know was true? My blood was boiling. “Daddy, I need to…” I tried to say before getting interrupted.

  “Sorry my dear, I need to go get prepared. Tiras, you are in charge here. See to it these rats transfer their power to Taleri won't you?” my father instructed as he walked away.

  “Well, that's a switch! You ain't in charge anymore; does that make you feel, angry?” Hendrick said sarcastically, I wanted to slice his jaw off.

  “The only thing we can do is wait for Master to finish fighting that Zon guy. It shouldn't be long, he told me to go away. Master was kicking his ass. Let's get out the Siopi Stones and be ready for him to return,” Tiras ordered.

  Wow, Daddy doesn't care about anything anymore. Not even me.

  Chapter 30

  Zon

  Everything I'd been taught was a lie. The person who mentored and educated me on how to be a Whisper Warrior betrayed us. It tore at my heart.

  The first rule is:

  The clan is everything,

  We care for each other like we shared a womb,

  And we die for each other like we are one soul.

  I followed Master into our Shinjin Garden. The fog was thick here, so much so I could barely see ten feet in front of me. The garden was as old as our village. To my dismay, much of it had been destroyed. Pots holding ancient plants laid broken and stepped on, flowers stained with the color of sanguine blood and bodies strewn about on bridges between stones. I held my sword in front of me, between my eyes, guarding for his surprise attack.

  Master was nowhere to be seen, and I'd assumed he was pretending to be among the dead on the ground. Nothing was sacred to him, not even my fallen brothers and sisters. To my dismay, I began stabbing the bodies of the dead in the heart as I walked by, to ensure they wouldn't surprise me. I hadn't done enough to protect them.

  The second rule is:

  As a clan, our mission comes first,

  The mission will, and always be, to serve diligently and loyally,

  To protect the freedom our ancestors created, and honor them every day,

  And to destroy those who wish to hurt our brothers, sisters and country.

  Before I would get revenge, my heart screamed to know, why? Why did someone who was loved and respected so much by his people succumb to the Senti? I was afraid that it was gold that he was loyal to, not his creed. We were trained assassins, but I never thought of myself as one who killed in cold blood. I felt it was my due diligence to give back to my people, and in life, warriors are necessary to keep the peace. With power though, comes great responsibility.

  The third rule is:

  A lifetime of learning is a life well spent,

  The heart and mind will always crave more,

  To always be self-improving is a way of life,

  No-one is above practice, even a master.

  Maybe this was why I needed to know, to know why Master led us down this path. The truth will always set one free, and to save our descendants from repeating atrocities. Although I'd been growing, and my ways of understanding reaching new heights over the past year and a half, I wondered if he'd done the same.

  The final rule is:

  Betrayal to the clan is the ultimate sin,

  It matters not the reason,

  Traitors must be dealt a dish of revenge served cold.

  One of us would die here, as Whisper Warriors we would choose death over dishonor. To be defeated by him would make my life useless, in my clan's eyes. I knew though that this way of thinking would need to be changed. Failure doesn't necessitate such heavy disdain, for in order to succeed, we must fail.

  As I walked down the bloody and silent p
athways of the garden, I heard moaning. Slowly, I approached a group of bodies that seemed to have a person alive underneath. Before I plunged into the corpses with my sword it was snatched out of my hands by another Kusarigama and tossed across into the pond. With a quick-draw, I fired an arrow from my bow into the tree where the attack came from. The arrow flew but hit nothing. Dark, purple fog started to creep throughout the garden and my vision was cut in half. He was using his Power of Fear.

  Looking back I saw someone. It was the person I thought responsible for this travesty, my old best friend, Longwei. He was bloodied, and it seemed he'd been a slave under Master since our village was attacked. His ankles and wrists were in shackles. My instinct was to rush over and help him, as ordered in our first rule in the creed, but I knew it is a trap. “Longwei, I am sorry to have taken so long to get here brother,” I told him, “We will be free again soon.”

  Too weak to reply, he simply nodded to acknowledge my words. In that instant, Master transformed from one of the dead bodies and got behind Longwei with a dagger to his throat. Other dead bodies rose up and circled us, with weapons drawn, waiting for Master to order them to attack.

  “You will never be free, until you give yourself over to the ones unlocking the prophecy,” Master said sinisterly, “I will always be hunting you.”

  My bow was raised and aimed at his head. Master, who taught me how to fight, was actually blind. Wearing a purple bandana over his eyes, he smiled as if he could see clearly. His other senses were so acute it's as if he weren't blind at all. He could smell my sweat, hear the stretching of my bow and feel my fear in his mind. The dagger across Longwei's neck was taken away and pointed at me, “If you so dare as move, you will be responsible for his death. My brothers, back from the dead, will then strike you down before you can move.”

  “Before we find out who lives, tell me why you have done all this? Why have you sided with these foreign devils and destroyed what you taught us to believe in? If there is any honor among men here, you will answer me,” I demanded.