The Crimson Cobra

by Thomas Green

  “Hey, you… was the slaver boss who brought you here called Marco?” Evelyn asked.

  “I don’t… know,” the girl squeaked.

  “Focus! They called their leader with a name, was it Marco?”

  “It was,” a boy sitting nearby said.

  Evelyn turned to him. “What did he look like?”

  The boy dug through his memory. “Tall, bearded, dark-haired.”

  Evelyn smirked. “That fits.” She jerked her hand to dislocate her thumb. A bit of following struggle allowed her to free the hand from her shackle. She threw the joint back with well-practiced move and reached back for her second hand. One dislocated joint and a bit of struggling later, her hands were free.

  Matt stared at her with wide eyes. “How did you… do that?”

  Evelyn straightened up and realized Matt was half-naked, while his tunic was covering her. “Thanks for the tunic.” Through the pain bursting from her back, she reached into her hair and pulled a few inches long leather sleeve. Slowly and carefully, Evelyn pulled a thin darksteel saw out of the sleeve. She put the saw to the shackle at her ankles and started working on.

  Matt stared in amazement as he watched her saw through the shackles. “Who the hell are you?”

  Evelyn smiled. “That doesn´t matter. Now listen. I need you to stay here and wait. When I tell you to, you will go open the cell and then all the other cells. You will tell everyone to stay inside, so they don’t get in the way. Got it?”

  Matt shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about what you will do now. Focus! Don’t move before I tell you to, once I do, unlock the cells but keep people in. I don’t need the prisoners running around when I’m out killing people, understand?”

  Matt’s eyes were wide and confused. “I… guess.”

  “Good.” Evelyn finished with the shackles. She fastened the tunic around herself, slid the darksteel saw into a pocket and stood up to stretch, ignoring the pain bursting from her back. “Good luck.”

  Evelyn reached within herself, pulling at her strength. Her magic burst out from within, from the seal she had removed. Power filled her veins, steeled her muscles, covered her skin and calmed her soul. The exhilarating feeling of power washed away the pain and tiredness.

  My back is still a mess, so I need to finish this fast before my strength bleeds out through the wounds. She weaved to the side of the cell, looked at the ceiling and teleported to her mark. Her back screamed in pain as she caught herself by a nearby pulley, she paid it no heed. Evelyn stretched her magic, placed a mark by a stone tunnel and teleported to it. She entered the tunnel, knowing it leads to the quarters of Lars.

  A door at the side opened, a slaver stepped through. Evelyn jabbed him in the throat, crushing his windpipe. Before he managed to do anything, she drew his sword and ran it through his chest. The man collapsed to the ground. Evelyn stepped over his corpse and walked to the door at the end.

  The doors weren’t locked. Beyond was a simple chamber filled with empty bottles. At the side stood a bed, by it a pile of weapons and at the center, a table. Lisa was tied to the table, her legs were fixated to the legs of the table, her body was bent over it and her arms were tied to the legs at the opposite side. She was naked and covered by dried blood. Her ankle was a mess of crushed flesh and bones, her legs bore marks of whips, her ass and genitals were covered by dried blood.

  I’m sorry I couldn’t help you… not without failing my mission. Evelyn walked to where her head was. Lisa’s back bore more whip marks, her left wrist and right elbow were completely shattered while her broken jaw distorted her face. Evelyn put her hand in front of Lisa´s mouth. She´s still breathing. Evelyn cleared the hair off Lisa´s face.

  Lisa woke up with a loud grunt of pain.

  Evelyn smiled at her sadly. “I´m sorry… I couldn´t make it here sooner.”

  Tears filled Lisa´s eyes. “Kill me… please.”

  “You don’t have to die,” Evelyn whispered. “It will take time, but healers can heal the wounds. You won’t be pretty anymore… but you can live.”

  “Kill me… I don’t want to live… with what he had done to me. Please… Evelyn… kill me.”

  Evelyn sighed. “Are you sure? Because I will do it… if you want.”

  Lisa tried to form a smile. “Please… kill me.”

  Evelyn moved her hand over Lisa’s neck. Their eyes met. Lisa’s gaze was firm, resolute and filled with relief. Evelyn closed her eyes. “Hundred years ago, I would have killed you now. But I don’t do that anymore, so you will have to live with this.” She punched Lisa to the temple, knocking her out.

  Evelyn spun on her heel and walked to the pile of weapons by the side. In its contents, she found a long chain with a steel sphere fixated to one end and a sickle at the other end. Evelyn sheathed the sword by her belt, wrapped the chains around her arms and left the room.

  The corpse of the slaver lay where she left it. Evelyn strolled out of the hallway. Two guards stared at her as they realized from where she came. The steel sphere at the chain smashed the first man’s skull within an instant. The second man shouted in surprise. Evelyn whirled and introduced the steel sphere to his face. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  Alarm echoed through the mountain. Evelyn teleported to the exit. The guards shouted and charged. Evelyn whirled, swinging the steel sphere on the chain around. The first three men had their skulls crushed straight. The remaining five reached her.

  Evelyn weaved by a sword and slashed with the sickle. The sharp blade cut a slaver’s neck, Evelyn whirled to ram it to the side of another man’s head. A slaver stabbed at her chest. Evelyn knocked it aside with the chain wrapped around her hand, leaped up and kicked him in the neck. She broke his spine. The remaining two slavers wavered. Evelyn spun, reeled back her chain and flung the steel sphere into their skulls. She stepped over their corpses and focused on the outpost by the end of the cleft.

  A sharp shriek pierced the air, the outpost exploded into black flames. Evelyn smirked and forced her magic back out of her mouth. If Rik did his part, Larissa should be right beyond the cleft and see this, understanding it’s time to move.

  She spun on her heel and scanned the mountain with her eyes. The slavers were running down the path, ignoring everything else. Evelyn leaped off the ledge, caught the hanging chain with her legs and slid down.

  “Matt! This is the moment, go unlock!” she shouted as she reached the point where she could see inside his cell.

  Evelyn didn’t wait to see if he obeyed and slid down the chain, all the way to where she could see the dock by the river. The piers were swarming with slavers. Her sharp shriek blasted through the air, the ships at the pier burst into black flames, one by one. Black flames were devouring the entire dock before she stopped. Screams of men and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. Evelyn slid down to the end of the chain and leaped onto the roof of a nearby house.

  The slavers were trying to reorganize themselves. She saw Allara and Lars gathered around a tall bearded man, presumably Marco. He was arranging the remaining slavers into a defensive formation by the left wall of the mountain.

  Tss! There’s still almost two hundred of them. I don’t have enough strength left to wipe them out by myself. Then again, it sounds like Larissa has arrived. Evelyn looked up, soldiers dressed in red and gold were swarming through the mountain. “Eight-four-six, move!” She shouted.

  Soldiers leaped onto the hanging chains, sliding down.

  Evelyn teleported to the side of the cavern, straight above the gathering slavers. The soldiers positioned themselves over the houses, drew their bows and opened fire. The slavers tried to hide, but the cavern didn’t offer much cover.

  There’s something wrong… this is the point where they should either scatter or charge forward, but they are still huddled by the wall, using the first rows as shields. She blinked her eyes to clear them. They are decreasing in numbers and the leadership is nowhere to be seen.
Fucking bastards.

  Evelyn teleported to the midst of the slavers and leaped to the wall at their center. She passed through the stone as if it wasn’t there. Slavers surrounded her from all sides, the tunnel hidden behind the illusory wall was crammed. Evelyn ran the sickle through the man in front of her, slid by the side, crushed the knee of the next man and slit his throat. She couldn’t see how many slavers were behind or in front of her. Her world turned into a blur of bodies, blood, and blades. Time lost all meaning to her. Pain burst within her body from several places, but she ignored it.

  Suddenly, the falling corpse of a slaver revealed a circular cavern with a ladder in its middle. About twenty slavers were gathered around its base while the rest was climbing onto it.

  “I suppose negotiating safe exit would be impossible,” Marco said as he stepped to the front of their formation.

  Evelyn smiled. “Considering a change of career? I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for that… for you, that is.”

  “Someone blocked the grate, boss,” echoed from the top of the ladder.

  “Keep trying,” Marco shouted back before he turned to the surrounding men. “Spread out. We capture her and use her as a hostage to get out of here.”

  The slavers spread out, Marco held the center, while Lars and Allara walked to the flanks, the rest of the men spread between them. Evelyn flung the steel sphere into the nearest man’s face, it splashed like a rotten apple hit by a hammer. She spun and flung it to the other side, whirled and cut a man’s throat before her. The slavers were at her.

  Evelyn teleported behind them and kicked the ladder. It fell with a thundering boom, crushing half a dozen men beneath it. Marco was at her in a blink of an eye, swinging wide with his greatsword. Evelyn ducked under the blow and slashed at his leg.

  Lars stabbed her from behind. Evelyn whirled, but his spear still grazed her shoulder. Marco pivoted for another strike. Evelyn kicked his knee, knocking off his balance, spun and flung the steel sphere at Lars. He tried to dodge, but it still hit his side. Evelyn leaped forward, ducked under Lars’s spear, sidestepped his kick and slammed her knee into his groin. He shouted out in pain. Evelyn whirled over him, running her sickle over his eyes. He screamed in pain while he let go of the spear and covered his face with his hands. Marco stood above Evelyn and raised his sword. Allara’s blade exited from out of his mouth. His eyes widened, Allara whirled and severed off Marco’s head.

  Evelyn postured up and stomped on Lars’s neck, crushing the spine beneath her boot.

  “We surrender!” One of the slavers shouted and threw away his sword.

  Evelyn stepped in to fling the steel sphere, turning his head into a mess of blood and brains. The other slavers screamed and tried to run. Evelyn and Allara ended their despair.

  “So, about the career change…” Allara said once she and Evelyn were the last two living people in the room.

  Evelyn pierced her with a sharp stare. “What makes you think I’m willing to offer you that?”

  “Well, you have already recruited Rik, haven’t you?”

  “Correct.” Evelyn smiled. “The job ain’t much. First, you prove yourself and afterward, you do missions. If you do well, you might live long enough to start getting wrinkles.”

  Allara gave her an inquisitive look. “Suppose I’m interested, since it involves being alive, boss.”

  “Miranda.”

  “Hmm?”

  Evelyn smirked. “My name is Miranda. You shall address me as such.”

  Allara bowed. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

  “Cut the crap, I’m not that famous.”

  Allara smiled. “You are where I come from.”

  Evelyn stepped out of the room, Allara followed. The cavern village was full of soldiers dressed in red and gold, soldiers of the Holy Order of Palai.

  “Status!” Evelyn shouted.

  A tall ginger-haired woman approached Evelyn and bowed. “The slavers are dead, the direwolves too, we have recovered the slaver hoard and I see you have dealt with the target, general.”

  “Thanks, Larissa, and yes, Marco’s gone. By the way, this is Allara, our newest recruit. She’s to be trained with Rik and join the legion as an associate agent.”

  Larissa bowed. “General.”

  Chapter 6

  “Ugghh!” Evelyn grunted with pain. She lay on a pile of pillows within a tent while two women were applying a healing tincture onto her scarred back.

  “Perhaps next time, you will leave this type of mission for your subordinates,” Larissa remarked, poison dripping from her voice. She stood by a pile of heated stones where she was grilling a few large chunks of meat.

  “And sit at the camp doing nothing? Never! What’s taking so long, anyway?”

  Larissa flipped the meat on the heated stones. “It’s not done yet.”

  “I said I want it raw, this is way too long for raw.”

  “The meat isn’t good, I need to grill it for long enough to burn out whatever worms are inside.”

  Evelyn shook her head. “Excuses.”

  “Someone wants to see you, general,” echoed from outside.

  “Who?”

  “Some boy, calls himself Matt.”

  “Let him in.”

  Matt entered the tent, staring at Evelyn’s mane of crimson hair.

  Evelyn returned his gaze. “So?”

  “I would like some… explanation… if I could get one.”

  “There’s not much to explain. I was there to kill Marco, I did it and freed almost five hundred soon-to-be slaves in the process.”

  Matt shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I saw you kill a dozen slavers without breaking a sweat. Back in the village, back home… you could have killed all the slavers, couldn’t you?”

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  “What about it!? My parents, my friends, my relatives… they died because you didn’t!”

  “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, that’s not how things work. They died because they chose to live in a shitty village instead of a city and because they thought maintaining fortifications and soldiers were too expensive. They made their choice and they died for them, like Tobias, Paula, and Ren. Understand?”

  Matt stared at her in disbelief. “What about the slavers, Rik and Allara? I saw them training in the camp. Why do they get to live? Did you see what they did to Lisa? She can’t walk! Where is justice in that?”

  “Justice has nothing to do with this. They seemed useful, so I let them live. If they prove not to be, they die. And my healers will put Lisa together, so she will be fine.”

  “What makes you think you have the right to decide that? Who the hell do you think you are?”

  Evelyn rolled her eyes. “I am General Miranda Darkscream, Head of the Special Forces of the Holy Order of Palai. I don’t care who has the right to what. I wanted to kill Marco and so he’s dead. I want Allara and Rik to work for me and so they do. Did some innocent people die in the process? Yeah, they did, bad things happen to good people all the time. That is how the world is. Don’t like it? Become powerful and change it. Now go to your sister and be happy you both survived.”

  Matt shook his head. “What the hell happened to you… Miranda? Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, general.” He bowed slightly, spun on his heel and left the tent.

  “A passionate one, isn’t he?” Larissa asked. “Shall I send someone to recruit him?”

  Miranda sighed. “Nah, we’ve caused enough suffering around here. Have you found me another band of slave hunters to kill? Hmm?”

  “I have, but you have received a letter from the great general.”

  “What´s in it?”

  Larissa shrugged.

  Miranda threw her a sour look. “I know you read my correspondence, so what’s in it?”

  “You are summoned to Grimdawn.”

  “Summoned?”

  “I skimmed through it, but it says something about a tournament, abolishing slavery and a big war. You are to drop all curre
nt activities and report to him at Grimdawn within a month.”

  “Hmph, that sounds like fun. Send the word around, for we are moving out by tomorrow’s dawn,” Miranda ordered.

  “Yes, general.”

  The End

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6