“Ye ask me what is going on here, heretic?” said Sura. Even I did not find his smile very calming. “The judgment of the Old Gods, of course.”
“What does that even mean?” said Orelia. She raised her hand to slap him again. “I'm not even going to ask. You're clearly behind it, so I'm going to kill—”
Yet another shadow hand shot down from the ceiling and grabbed her by her raised hand. Orelia looked at it in shock, but before she could say anything, the shadow hand yanked her up toward the ceiling, where she vanished as silently as a dying wind.
She was not the only one to disappear. More and more shadow hands appeared, grabbing the remaining Smugglers and dragging them into the darkness. Most of the remaining Smugglers struggled against the shadow hands; indeed, I would have said that their struggles were almost noble or perhaps tragic if I did not utterly loathe all of them with my very being. Good riddance, I say.
Within a few minutes, all of the Smugglers were gone. The only hints that these villains had been here at all were the dropped weapons and the strong stink of super speed, although as all of the Smugglers were no longer here, even that stink was not quite as terrible as it once was.
I stood there for a full minute, expecting the hands to return and take me, even though I now knew that Sura was indeed behind them. Yet the hands did not return and the darkness appeared as normal as ever.
Lowering my hands, I dashed over to Sura, whose head had flopped onto his chest again. I stopped briefly to pick up my skyras sword, then resumed running over to him. Pressing the tab on my sword's handle to extend the energy blade, I quickly and easily cut the ropes tying him down, which stood not a chance against the heat of my blade.
Once all of the ropes were undone, they fell to the floor. Sura also leaned forward and likely would have fallen with his ropes had I not caught him in time, holding one hand on his chest. I felt his heart beating, though not as heartily as before, and felt his lungs breathing, though again, 'twas much weaker than it normally was.
I pushed Sura back up to a sitting position. Deactivating mine skyras sword, I placed the hilt back in my robe pocket and gently lifted up Sura's face. His one good eye opened again, focusing on my face with sheer incomprehension. I saw black lines retreating from his face down his neck and under his shirt, but I understood not what those meant. His skin, too, appeared pale, like he was sickly, though whether that was due to the injuries he had sustained from the Smugglers or whether it was due to those mysterious shadow hands, I knew not.
“Brother,” I said. “Do ye recognize me? It is I, Rii, your younger brother.”
“Rii?” said Sura, his voice weak. Another smile crossed his lips. “Oh, Rii, how long has it been since I last saw your face? Ye remind me of our father. 'Twas so long ago that he died. So long ago.”
“I know,” I said. “Let me help ye. I know not exactly what those monsters did to ye, but I will do what I can to heal ye. Do ye want me to call the villager healer?”
“N-Nay,” said Sura, shaking his head slightly. “I … ye can heal me yourself. 'Tis a healing kit in the—”
“In the kitchen,” I finished. “Yea, brother, I remember. I will go get it as soon as I get ye to your bed. Ye need rest.”
“Th-Thank ye, brother,” said Sura. He sounded close to fainting. “But before ye do that, I have one last thing to share with ye.”
“What is that, Sura?” I asked.
Sura coughed out some blood, which alarmed me greatly, before saying, “Those Smugglers will never bother us again.”
He said that like it was a great joke, for he smiled and chuckled after those words left his mouth.
Then his eye closed and the last of the black lines on his neck vanished. I could tell he had lost consciousness again, which meant I would need to get him back to his bed with haste.
Picking him up in my arms, I walked toward the door as quickly as I could, trying not to think about the horrific screams of the Smugglers as they were dragged in the darkness. I also tried to ignore the lingering stink of super speed, although I did not succeed very well in that endeavor.
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Allegiance is now available in ebook and trade paperback wherever books are sold. You can find buy links on its page right HERE (http://www.timothylcerepaka.com/books/allegiance/)!
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About the Author
Timothy L. Cerepaka writes fantasy and science-fiction stories as an indie author. He is the author of the Prince Malock World fantasy novels, the Mages of Martir fantasy novels, and the science-fantasy standalone The Last Legend: Glitch Apocalypse. He lives in Texas.
Find links to the rest of his books at his website here (http://www.timothylcerepaka.com/book-table/).
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my uncle, James Wilhite, for helping me get this manuscript into publishable shape. I'd also like to thank the rest of my family for supporting me while I wrote this novel. You guys rock.
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