by Matt Rogers
Chapter 18: General Shield
The Siege (Castle Nirvana)
He stood at attention for it was his duty to do so. She, as always, felt otherwise.
“General, would you please sit down, it strains my neck to look up at you.”
He knew it wasn’t so but did as asked for he could not do otherwise. She was the reason he lived, after all.
“Thank you. Now, I am going to do something I would rather not but you leave me no choice. You are ordered to get some rest.”
“But, My Queen…”
“No buts. You are too important to the survival of the realm to be walking around with half your senses. I am sorry, but this is an order. Go to bed.”
He thought of arguing, imploring her to change her mind but knew it would be of no use for she was right; he was half-asleep. He acceded to her wishes.
“Yes, My Queen.”
He rose from the seat, bowed, and made his way to the bedchamber. It was not his favorite room. It was large, brightly lit with torches and decorated in such fashion a visiting monarch would find acceptable. The bed was gargantuan, the mattress made of the finest padding and the pillows adorned with lace. Tapestries of finely woven silk displayed images of incredible beauty. A rug which cost a year’s wages lay on the floor and a desk polished mahogany brown sat in the corner. All in all, a royal room inside a royal palace with every comfort one could wish for. It didn’t matter. He feared what the room offered. He dreaded what the room was designed for. He was ever loath to use its intended function because to him it was torture. Dreaming was the one thing he wished to avoid.
She was dancing with another when their eyes met, his life was hers from that moment on. She toyed with him for a while but he knew the truth, she admitted it was so, he gave her a jade locket and they were married by the Queen herself, the new ruler of Nirvana; Mother Gaia Nature.
He was an enlisted man in her army and he thrived. He was competent, agile, witty and liked by all. He rose through the ranks and his life was fulfilled. Or at least he thought it was. She was always able to surprise him.
“Sally, I’m home!”
She was standing in the room, facing the door, twirling the locket and looking more beautiful than ever. His breath always caught at the sight of her, his heart skipped a beat, the feeling of falling throughout his entire being.
“Hello, My Love, I have some news.”
The child was born eight months later and he walked around in a daze for he could not comprehend, neither verbally nor intellectually, the happiness he felt. They moved into a cottage on the outskirts of town and he went off in service to the Queen with joy in his heart and a feeling of purpose in life.
Soldiering had been a calling for him, something he could not describe but positive it was true. He practiced the ways of the craft and excelled in all, so much so, he was placed in charge of the Queen’s police and kept order in the town surrounding the palace. He was a good man and the citizens grew to respect his authority. There were always petty crimes to be solved, fights to be settled, but he never chose sides and was lenient with his rulings.
He led a force of twenty and they kept law and order allowing the people to prosper and the palace to thrive. Many felt a debt of gratitude to the Queen for finding a righteous man to guard their lives but she declined their praise and showered it upon him instead. He was grateful for her trust and loyal without question but he knew the truth, the reason he was born, the meaning of his life.
“Sally, I’m home!”
“Hello, My Love.”
She was everything to him. The mother of his child, his bride in marriage, his partner for life. She was blonde of hair with pale skin and eyes aqua blue. She could make him laugh so hard his stomach would clench, his eyes water, and he’d need ten minutes to refill his lungs. She was an adoring mother, a caring neighbor and a kindhearted soul who took pity on the plight of others. It was why he tempered his power; he wished to be her equal in his very own eyes.
“Sally, I’m home!”
“Hello, My Love, meet Rover.”
He couldn’t believe she knew more about him than he did of himself. He had no idea a mutt, a scrawny little brown-haired dog could bring so much joy. He would dream of being home. While sitting at work or stopping a fight the thought was ever in his head. He would sometimes skip on the journey to his cottage because his feet felt too light to remain on the ground. They spent wonderful afternoons doing absolutely nothing as his child played with the dog, he lay on a blanket and she stroked his hair telling of wondrous places and, as always, twirling her locket. He felt like he was in Heaven and thanked the All-Mighty for allowing him the pleasure.
As always and in every place inhabited by many, there were a few looking for easy money, easy prey or easy pickings. One such group came to his attention and he went about dismantling their operation. It wasn’t much, just a few lost souls who couldn’t find their way in the world. It was a pickpocket ring using orphans as thieves. He systematically rounded the children up and sent them to the Queen for her verdict. She, unlike his wife, never surprised him.
“Clean them, feed them, find them rooms and have them report in the morning.”
“What will you do with them, My Queen?”
“What should have been done before; show them the love they deserve.”
The youths found a home in the castle and the citizens were again happy for their belongings quit disappearing and the bulk of appreciation fell on his shoulders; he humbly accepted their gratitude. Another did not.
Men were treacherous creatures when given the chance. The other took it and ran.
“Sally, I’m home!”
The silence was deafening.
“Sally?”
An acid feeling began to rise.
“Rover?”
And exploded when he entered the room.
“Dear God… No!”
The bodies were there, all of them, tossed on the floor as afterthoughts. Blood everywhere, the stench of death, the smell of evil, and one other detail; a note attached to the dagger plunged through his love’s heart where her locket once rested.
You Take My Livelihood. I Take Yours!
He never searched the town, never went to the Queen, he had no need, he knew where the other ran.
Nature’s realm bordered Lawlessness and he went without saying a word, without leaving a note, merely rode away after burying the reason for his existence. He entered and vengeance rode with him.
“Give me your money!”
He never spoke. They were below vile, underneath waste, beyond tolerance.
“I said…!”
His reputation spread as one after another, body after body, lay in his wake. He was after one but unopposed to removing all. Any who came before him never came again. He was revenge, retribution, death.
“Give me…!”
He did not find the one he was after but learned the name and vowed to remove him from life’s list. The tavern was raucous when he entered.
“What’ll it be?” the man behind the bar asked.
Again, he never spoke. He nodded toward a bottle and it appeared in front of him.
“That’ll be a gold coin.”
He looked up and the man stepped back.
“You know what? It’s on the house.”
The place was full so he didn’t notice at first. When he did fury arose.
She was one of the wenches, a portly woman who’d given up on life and whatever prospects it held. He moved and stood in front of her before she recognized he was there.
“Oh! My goodness, you scared me.”
Nothing.
“Do you want a dance?”
Nothing.
“Do you want something else?”
He nodded. They went up the stairs and entered a room. She turned to face him and froze. She’d been living in Lawlessness for years, had seen enough terrifying things to believe in an afterlife filled with devils. Nothing came close to the fear
she felt when looking into the man’s eyes. They were beyond death. They were agony. They were also drawn to the locket she was wearing; one made of jade. She thought fast, felt her life on the line.
“Do you like this? I just got it for a present today.”
Nothing.
She could feel her last moments at hand.
“Was this yours? If it was, I’ll gladly give it back.”
He held out his hand, she placed the locket in his palm.
“Please don’t kill me.”
When he finally spoke she jumped.
“Who gave it to you?”
She opened the door, stepped out and pointed downstairs.
“That man. The one at the table sitting with four of his friends.”
She watched death walk down the stairs, her heart beating with a pounding she had never known.
He moved through the crowd and stood before them; five men who renounced authority and lived according to their own laws. They glanced up as he arrived. They leapt to their feet when they saw the look in his eyes. They fell dead as steel entered their bodies. He left the one she’d indicated for last. He was curious. He’d never seen the man before.
“Look, Mister, I don’t know what we did but I swear we didn’t mean it!”
He was aware of his surroundings, heard footsteps from behind and swung the blade with a speed eyes could not follow.
“Gasp!”
The bartender who attempted to intervene stood stock still as the tip of sword touched his neck. He slowly backed away with hands raised vowing never to interfere again.
A locket appeared and the man who stared at death quickly realized the reason.
“I won it in a card game! I swear to you, I won it in a card game!”
The next words out of his mouth might’ve saved his life.
“His name was Cutter! I swear on my mother’s grave, his name was Cutter!”
It didn’t because he was beyond sympathy, absent leniency and void of conscious. He demanded a description, received a verbal report of his enemy’s visage and dispatched the man with a sword stroke.
He searched for a year but the trail went cold. He wore the locket around his neck, felt the coolness of the stone as his heart froze colder. In the Land of Lawlessness he was a law to himself. Judge, jury and executioner. The innocent he allowed life, the guilty he brutally slaughtered.
She found him alone, sitting on a stool, drinking his memories away.
“It is time to come home.”
He felt empty inside, as though something were missing, something lost forever.
“Can you make me whole again?”
She looked upon him with tears in her eyes.
“No, I am afraid my powers cannot do that. What I can offer is a reason to live.”
He left with her and over time the emptiness subsided. It never fully healed for he would not, could not, let her memory fade. He was clutching the locket to his chest when the servant woke him.
“General Shield?”
“Yes?”
“They are attacking.”
And rose to battle demons again.