Never Say Die

by D J Sternowski-Korzec

  Raider and his squadron safely make it to the walls of his father’s fortress. This time they did not use Raider’s secret tunnels to enter the fortress, because it would be too predictable and may be even more heavily guarded than before. Raider searches the walls for an entranceway and eventually finds it. This doorway does not lead into the daemonic nursery, but comes very close. The daemonic nursery is just across the hallway. Of course, Raider makes sure the area is safe before they enter the fortress. Unfortunately, this area is heavily guarded and they need to wait for the guards to pass by them. It is going to be a very tricky task, but it can be done. Minutes go by and they are able to break into the fortress. In order for them to make it into the nursery safely, they need to take down the four guards in the hallway. Raider and his comrades killed them by stabbing them in the back and throats. With the guards taken down and their bodies hidden, they quickly climb down into the daemonic nursery.

  Raider and his squadron safely make it into the daemonic nursery. Raider is very surprised to see no guards in this area. Which means, there is a good possibility there is something very dangerous being developed in this room. They all need to be very careful when it comes to examining the area. Their job is to not only find a way into Gronder’s secret chamber and examine it, but to destroy as many large eggs as possible. All of the large eggs are deeper into the daemonic nursery, so they need to keep walking until they reach this area. This area is very cold, dark and highly dangerous. This is the most dangerous area in the whole entire nursery, mostly because you can’t see more than 2 feet in front of you. Luckily, they are all wearing night vision glasses.

  Raider and his squadron quietly and slowly walk into the most dangerous part of the nursery. Raider does not order anyone to destroy the eggs, for now anyway. Raider orders them, “Before you destroy any of these eggs, make sure you are not being watched or there is nothing inside of an egg. If there is nothing inside of an egg, make sure you find it. If you cannot find it, please tell me.” Everyone follows these orders. Raider and Leah will be working with each other. The other three will be working with each other. It would be very dangerous for everyone to go their separate ways. It is best to be working as a team inside of this room. You never know what will pop up and try to kill you.

  Raider shows Leah how to examine these eggs properly. Everyone else already knows how to do this, so he doesn’t really have to worry about them. Leah does know how to examine these eggs, but doesn’t have much experience when it comes to this. They don’t really teach you much about this back home. However, she learns very quickly about how these eggs work and how to destroy them. Raider demonstrates how to destroy an egg properly to Leah. To properly destroy these eggs, you need to cut it down the middle, cut off the top, stab the middle and stab the bottom. You make the sign of the cross with your melee weapon while destroying these eggs. Raider will allow Leah to destroy and analyze the next egg. Leah does an excellent job doing it, but she gets attacked by an offspring. The offspring comes charging after Raider and Leah from behind them. Luckily, Raider is able to stab the offspring in its chest with both of his swords and slice it in half. They are able to continue on with what they are doing.

  So far, everything is going well. Unfortunately, it is all about to go downhill from here. Cora enters the nursery to check up on her young. She gets down on her knees and places both of her palms on her eggs. She takes a deep breath with her eyes closed and examines them. She is checking to see if they are healthy and alive. They are doing just fine, but she knows there is danger deep inside here. Cora smells her brother inside of the nursery. She knows he is not alone, because he is never alone anymore. Cora quietly walks into the dark area of the nursery with evil intentions. She doesn’t bother calling or alarming anyone at the moment.

  Cora spots the three members of her brother’s squadron. She hides behind an egg and contacts her father. Cora alarms Synx, “Raider is inside of the nursery with some members of the World Army. I am not sure how many there are, but you need to get down here quickly.” Cora disconnects from her father. Synx is very happy to know his son is inside of his castle. This is the perfect opportunity for him to capture his son and kill him. Synx brings Gronder alongside him. They will be the only ones heading into the nursery.

  Synx and Gronder arrive inside of the daemonic nursery. They both can smell Raider’s scent and quietly walk towards him. They do not rush in, but sneak up on him and his comrades. Synx and Gronder find Cora and hide behind some eggs as well. They’ll plan on killing the three World Army members without anyone else knowing about it. The three are analyzing a couple of eggs and are distracted. Synx, Gronder and Cora crawl behind them before attacking and killing them. They all sneak up behind them and jab their claws into their chests, while covering their mouths. After they are done stabbing them in the chest, they each take a bite out of their prey’s neck. The three members of Raider’s squadron are killed and consumed without Leah or Raider knowing about it. However, Raider knows there is something going horribly wrong.

  Raider can smell his father’s scent as well as his sister’s scent. He can tell they are both very close by and they need to get out of here as fast as possible. Raider grabs Leah’s hand and runs. Raider already knows his father already knows he is in here, so he doesn’t even bother being silent. Raider orders Leah, “Run, run as fast as you can with me! We need to get out of here, now!” Leah doesn’t bother asking any questions. She follows his orders and runs as fast as she can alongside him. She is petrified to know what is going on, but keeps on moving forward and doesn’t look back. Synx, Gronder and Cora are approaching them. Luckily, Raider knows another way out of here and they are able to escape the fortress. But, their enemy is not far behind.

  Raider and Leah are the only survivors of his squadron. They quickly run towards Sarah’s squadron as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, they are in greater danger than they know or could ever anticipate. Another enemy is not too far behind him. It is a very close friend of Synx and his army. This mission may be a failure if they do not escape from any of these enemies. This will be the hardest battle Raider and Sarah will have to fight in. They are almost guaranteed to die and to never make it back home.

  Chapter 14

  Release the Hounds

  Leah and Raider are heading towards Sarah’s squadron. Sarah can see them off in the distance running towards them. She is expecting more people to come out, but she doesn’t see anyone else. Sarah and her snipers only see Synx, Gronder and Cora running after Raider and Leah. Sarah orders her snipers, “Open fire, but make sure you do not hit Leah or Raider.” Sarah and her snipers open fire at Synx, Gronder and Cora. Gronder can see all of the bullets heading towards them. He steps in front of Synx and Cora to block all of the bullets and uses his body as a human shield for them. Gronder holds up his heavy-duty shield to block all of the bullets as they make their way towards them.

  As Gronder is taking heavy fire, Synx calls Rogue. Synx orders Rogue, “I need you to come over towards my fortress. There is an enemy I need you to take care of.” Synx looks at the location of Sarah and her snipers. Rogue can see through his eyes and knows exactly where they are. Rogue replies, “We are on our way, we are very close by.” Rogue and his followers make their way over to Sarah and her snipers’ location. They are coming towards Sarah’s squadron at high speed and will be arriving there at any moment.

  Raider and Leah regroup with Sarah’s squadron safely, because their enemies are under heavy fire by Sarah’s squadron. However, their enemies are not too far away. Raider, Leah and Sarah’s squadron tried to get away unharmed, but they have another enemy approaching them. The sniper that was facing the opposite direction of Sarah has spotted Rogue and his followers. They announce to everyone, “There is something coming towards us out in the distance. It is coming towards us at a really, really fast.” Raider looks towards the direction the sniper is looking. His eyes light up and he is temporarily speeches. Raider sees Rogue and his followers r
unning directly towards them. Sarah can tell something is wrong by just looking at Raider’s facial expression. Sarah decides to look at this direction as well with her sniper. She spots Rogue and his followers. Sarah asks Raider, “Who are they?” Raider replies, “This is very, very bad. We need to get out of here as fast as we can and avoid them.” Raider starts running as fast as he can. Everyone else follows him. Nobody knows who these people are, but they can tell they should try to avoid running into them as much as possible.

  Raider, Leah and Sarah’s squadron are running as fast as they can away from Synx’s fortress and this new enemy. Unfortunately, they are not able to outrun Rogue and his followers. Rogue and his followers are hot on their trail. They are not too far behind them. Eventually, Rogue and his followers surround Raider, Leah and Sarah’s squadron. They have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Raider orders everyone, “Whatever you do, do not fire at them. Only fire at them if they attack you. That is an order.” Everyone follows Raider’s order. Rogue breaks away from his army and makes his way towards Raider. Rogue brings two hell hounds by his side. He has one on each side.

  Rogue stops and stands in front of Raider. Raider is very scared to be standing face to face with Rogue. He knows exactly how dangerous Rogue truly is. Rogue says to Raider, “Long time no see, old friend.” Rogue puts a claw on Raider’s right shoulder. He continues to say to Raider, “Your father called me out here, because there was trouble outside of his fortress. I would have never guessed it would be you. Now, you do know I cannot let you escape, right? Your father wants you dead. I plan on killing each and every one of you. Obviously, I will not be doing this alone. That is why my people are here. They are hungry for human flesh and the taste of blood. I’m here to kill you, Raider. I am here to bring your dead body back to your father and claim a reward. Now stand still.” Rogue stabs Raider in the belly with his claws and thrusts his whole arm through his back. Rogue pulls his arm out of Raider’s belly. Raider falls to his knees and looks up at Rogue before puking out blood. Rogue gets down on one knee and looks Raider directly in the eye. Rogue grabs Raider’s face and says, “It is a shame we had to reunite this way and I had to kill you, but it is your father’s orders.” Rogue stabs Raider between the eyes with his claws to kill him. Rogue pulls his claws out of Raider’s skull. Raider falls to the ground and he is dead. Rogue picks his body off of the ground and throws it over his shoulder. Rogue says to Leah and Sarah’s squadron, “Thank you for not attacking me or my men as I killed him. Unfortunately, I’m here to send a very powerful message and I can’t let all of you live. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can send me one of your men or I can have one of mine retrieve one. So, what is it going to be?” Everyone is stunned and speechless. They do not answer Rogue’s question.

  Rogue is not a very patient man. He snaps his fingers and the two hell hounds by his side attacks Sarah’s squadron. They go after a member of Sarah’s squadron. They are quickly devoured by the two hell hounds. It was so quick they don’t even know who was attacked and eaten alive. Everyone is so terrified by what is going on. They can’t even think straight. Sarah is especially upset to be losing another best friend. She doesn’t have a clue how she is going to explain it to everyone back home. It is a tragic loss for the World Army and Sarah. Someday, she will get her revenge.

  After Rogue and his followers are done devouring a member of Sarah’s squadron, they leave without harming anyone else. Rogue and his followers head towards Synx’s fortress to claim the reward for bringing back Raider dead. Synx will be very pleased to know his son was killed by a very good friend of his. Rogue places Raider’s dead body in front of Synx. Synx is very happy to see his son dead. Synx hands Rogue the reward for bringing Raider back to him dead. Rogue’s reward is worth $1 million in human currency. Rogue will be using this money to buy better supplies for his army. Rogue leaves Synx’s fortress and heads back to his own kingdom inside of the desert.

  Leah and Sarah’s squadron are heading back home. They are all still in disbelief by what has just happened. They never thought they would live to see the day Raider would be carried back home in a body bag. Raider will be missed by the World Army and his friends. He will especially be missed by Leah, Sarah and his roommates. He will especially be missed by Scarlet. She will be heartbroken by this very sad and disappointing news. Sarah is hoping they will have a memorial ceremony for the loss of Raider. Without him, humanity may have died off a long time ago. Raider will truly be missed by everyone in humanity.

  With Raider dead, Synx has a new target. His next main target will be Sarah. He wants her dead or brought back to him alive so he can kill her. The reward will also be $1 million for her brought back to him dead. The reward will also be $2 million for her brought back to him alive. However, he does plan on raiding the World Army’s main military base very soon, again. Of course, he will be bringing Gronder and his three wives alongside him. In addition, Cora will be joining their side as well. Synx will be assembling his army to attack the World Army in about a week. His army will not only be attacking the World Army’s main military base, but smaller bases as well. Synx orders Rogue and his followers to assist him when they do attack the smaller military bases. Rogue also wants to attack the main military base, so he will be joining Synx’s army for their next attack. He wants to claim another reward from Synx, because he is a greedy bastard. Rogue loves bounty hunting and collecting a large amount of currency.

  Leah and Sarah’s squadron are making their way through the desert and into the swamp. They all look very sad and depressed as they walk. Luckily, they do not run into any trouble inside of the desert. However, they will run into more trouble inside of the swamp. As they are approaching the swamp, Sarah orders everyone to take a short break. They all sit down or lay down in the desert sand for their break. Sarah wants everyone to take a break so they are not exhausted inside of the swamp. Also, Sarah is in dire need of a break. Her mentality is not doing so well. She is trying not to break down crying while laying down in the desert sand. Leah can tell something is terribly wrong with Sarah. So, she walks towards her and sits down next to her. Leah asks Sarah, “How are you feeling right now? You don’t really look too good at the moment.” Sarah replies, “I’m not feeling too good. Raider was a very good friend to me. He is still a very good friend to me. Raider was like a brother to me. He was the only man I could trust. Unlike most men, he liked me for my personality.” Leah replies, “I didn’t know Raider very well, but he seems to be a very good guy.” Sarah replies, “He was, he was a very good guy.” Sarah stands up and orders everyone to get back into formation. Once everyone is in formation, they all head into the swamp.

  By the time Leah and Sarah’s squadron enter the swamp, it is already nighttime. Everyone is extremely tired and exhausted, because they didn’t even get the chance to set up base camp inside of the desert. However, they are all too terrified to even go to sleep at the moment. They just want to get home safely and alive. They will set up base camp once they enter the forest.

  As they are walking through the swamp, Sarah and Leah hear a stick breaking. Sarah orders everyone to stop. Everyone stops and readies their weapons. After 10 seconds of waiting, two more sticks are broken. Everyone is searching for the creature, but nobody can seem to find it. Eventually, a member of Sarah’s squadron does find the creature. The creature rattles some bushes. The member of Sarah’s squadron announces, “There is something in the bushes.” They point at the bush where the creature is located. The bush continues to rattle, but stops as soon as Sarah steps in front of it. Sarah takes out her sword and moves the bush with it to see the creature. Sarah sees the creature, but doesn’t think it is a threat. Sarah believes it is just a cute little rabbit, but she is mistaken. She picks up the rabbit, because she thinks it is cute. However, the creature is not a cute little rabbit. This creature has the ability to shapeshift into any creature. Sarah may think the creature is cute, but she does plan on killing it as a food source. She ta
kes her sword and goes to stab it, but the creature shows its true form.

  The creature is not small like a rabbit, but big like a bear. The creature roars in Sarah’s face and swipes her across the face with its left claw. The creature looks like a bear with a giant third eye on its forehead and spiky bone fragments poking out of its back. Sarah falls to the ground after getting swiped by the creature. She immediately points her sniper rifle at the creature after hitting the ground and open fires at it. The creature takes three bullets before it is killed. The creature roars as the final bullet cracks open and splits open its skull. With the creature dead, they are able to move on. But before they do so, they are going to prepare the bear. Sarah and one of her comrades will be skinning and removing flesh from bone from this creature. The fur coat will sell nicely on the market. The bear’s flesh will be their food source as they make their way home.

  Leah and Sarah’s squadron arrive at the waterfall. They are just moments away from setting up base camp. After they are done getting down this waterfall, they will be able to set up base camp and immediately go to bed after eating. Leah will be heading down the waterfall first. Sarah will be heading down the waterfall last. Fortunately, nobody has a hard time climbing down the waterfall. Leah begins to set up base camp as soon as she reaches the bottom of the waterfall. Everyone else starts packing up base camp as soon as they reach the bottom of the waterfall. Leah and Sarah will be sharing a tent together. After everyone is done setting up base camp and eating, they are all ordered to go to bed and to never leave their tents. They are not allowed to leave their tents until the morning.