Sage pulled the beam of flame from Raad's skull and phased over to the second Toraan. The Toraan threw a punch at him, but Sage evaded his attack and thrust with his flame sword. The fire penetrated the Toraan's belly and Crinnan watched as the monster cooked from within. Sage grit his teeth and ripped his flame sword through the Toraan's side, causing the top half of his body to fall backward while the bottom half remained balanced on its knees.
Sage sighed and extinguished the flame, stepping back and turning toward Crinnan. Crinnan in turn stood silently still, a bit awestruck at the amazing abilities that Sage had displayed. Sage shook his head and after laying a hand on Crinnan's shoulder, turned to face the cages of children.
"I should say that we simply cannot leave them behind now." Sage said reluctantly. "I did not intend on saving a dozen children today but... well I suppose today is their lucky day."
Sage stepped up to the cages and began breaking the sticks that made up the bars. As he made clearance for the first child he reached in and pulled him out.
"These children probably have not seen the light of day for a very long time." Sage said as he started work on the next cage. "Raad and Growe ran this... brothel of sorts..."
"A brothel?" Crinnan asked as he approached the cages and started breaking the bars. "For children? And you were ready to leave them?"
"Raad and Growe used to be very powerful." Sage said, shaking his head. "I should say that I had not encountered them for... well for many years. Thankfully their powers had significantly diminished."
"I wonder how many kids died in the years you did nothing." Crinnan said sourly as he pulled a child from a cage.
"The world’s problems are not for my shoulders." Sage replied. "I should say the only person I am obligated to keep alive is myself... not that I am without compassion. I did save you."
Crinnan remained silent and a child looked up to him and tugged on the hem of his shirt.
"Sir..." the sullen child said softly. "Our friend... he is still upstairs... with a... with a customer..."
"A customer..." Crinnan replied. "Is he like them?" He pointed to the bodies of Raad and Growe and the child shook his head.
"No... he is like you."
"No." Crinnan replied, kneeling next to the child. "He is not like me... I will find your friend."
"Do not hurt Mister Garb." The child said, tugging on Crinnan's shirt again. "Mister Garb... he took care of us. He is like us... their slave. He looks like them but... he is good."
Crinnan nodded at the boy and opened the cylinder of his revolver. He pulled out the two empty casings and replaced them with fresh bullets. As he snapped the cylinder back into place he turned to Sage.
"I don't know how this is going to work." He said. "A dozen children in tow will make us a larger target and slow us down... is there somewhere we can leave them?"
"I hope." Sage replied. "There is a village nearby. We will try there." Crinnan nodded and turned toward a doorway that led to a flight of stairs.
As he began to ascend the ancient Humaan steel stairs, Crinnan once again heard Eshan.
"You are not very adept at fighting ancients." He said. "Though... I never had to. I am surprised you survived that encounter."
"Yeah well I'm full of surprises." Crinnan replied as he slowly walked up the stairs.
"You are doing a noble thing." Eshan continued. "Risking your own life for a child you have never met. A strange move for a terrorist... for a demon."
"I don't care about being noble." Crinnan replied. "It's the right thing to do, nobody with a heart would leave a kid behind." Crinnan reached the top of the stairs and paused to listen.
The hallway before him was dark, lit only by candle light. While the hall itself was eerily silent, Crinnan could hear a rhythmic thumping coming from somewhere.
"I hope you kill whoever is making that noise." Eshan said. "We both know what is going on." Crinnan nodded and for the first time, he agreed with Eshan. He took a step into the hallway.
The aged wood creaked beneath his boots as he walked. Crinnan thought that the wood surely had not been there for a thousand years, it had to have been replaced sometime within the past century. As the wood creaked, Crinnan saw movement from the other end of the hallway.
"Show yourself!" Crinnan shouted. "Are you... mister Garb?"
"Yes!" A nervous but polite sounding voice replied. "Yes, I am Mister Garb... pray tell oh warrior, what has happened?"
"Your masters are dead." Crinnan said, moving toward the voice. "The children are freed. I have come to rescue the last child."
"Ah..." Garb said, "Yes, Freyja... quickly then, please, save the child from the horrors he is enduring."
"Where is he?" Crinnan asked, noticing the thumping sound had stopped. Garb stepped forward out of the shadows and into the dim light.
He had hairless white rubbery looking skin covered in scars and stood a head taller than Crinnan. He was quite thin and wore only rags that barely covered his body and his arms hung down to his knees. Crinnan winced at the ugly creature and took a step back.
"Let not my appearance frighten you child." Garb said with a warm expression. "I will bring you no harm. Please, save Freyja, for I haven't the strength to do so myself." He pointed at a door to Crinnan's left and Crinnan nodded.
The sole of his boot slammed against the wooden door just to the left of the doorknob. The door cracked and violently flew inward. Crinnan quickly stepped inside, gun raised. He saw a Humaan male working desperately, trying to button his pants with shaking hands.
"No!" The Humaan pleaded as Crinnan angrily walked toward him. "It's not..."
Crinnan swung the sword in his right hand upward, slicing through the flesh of the Humaan's stomach and chest. Quickly, the Humaan grabbed his wound, trying to keep his guts from falling out but failed. His innards slowly plopped out of him and splashed onto the floor and the Humaan, with a look of surprise and fear on his face, fell forward on top of them. Crinnan shook his head and looked to the bed.
Silently laying face down on the bed was a young naked Wulven teen. He was brown of skin, bald headed, and his tail appeared to be broken.
"Freyja?" Crinnan called out, seeing if the boy lived. "Hey, are you..."
"What." The boy replied in a sullen tone, rolling over to see the face of his saviour. His eyes were dark red and he wore a look of apathy. "So... get it over with then..." Freyja looked down at the dead Humaan and then back to Crinnan, a surprised look spread across his face.
"Not happening." Crinnan replied. "You... you're safe now. Do you have clothes?
"I..." Freyja looked around with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"
"What?" Crinnan replied, "I mean get dressed, we're getting you out of here."
Freyja looked down at the dead Humaan once again and then back to Crinnan. He bit his lip with one of his pointed teeth and buried his face in his hands. He did not cry, but sat silently.
"Freyja?" Garb's voice asked as he stepped into the room. "This being has saved us my dear child. We are free."
"We will never be free." Freyja quickly replied, not raising his head. He continued to silently sit and Crinnan grew impatient.
“Get up!" Crinnan demanded, "We need to get out of here!"
"Please, mighty Fyres warrior," Garb said, stepping between him and Freyja. "Give him but a moment. The child has endured much..."
"I'll go check the other rooms then..." Crinnan mumbled. "Make sure it's safe." Crinnan slid his sword into its scabbard leaving only the revolver in his hand. "Get the boy dressed, we are in a hurry." At that, Crinnan turned and walked out of the room.
"Hey..." Eshan said cautiously, "Look, I hate you so much for what you did to me but... less so now."
"Okay?" Crinnan replied with an annoyed tone. "What is that supposed to make me feel happy or something?"
"I do not know." Eshan said, "But you are the only being I can communicate with... just... as a father, I want to say that you did a... I
mean you did the right thing."
"Sure." Crinnan replied. "Though the kid may be better off if I just put him out of his misery. He's going to be fucked up for the rest of his life."
"That is not what you really think, Demon." Eshan replied.
"Yeah well what do you know?" Crinnan retorted.
"Everything." Eshan said. "I hear your thoughts, see your memories... I do not believe you are a bad person... I mean, even though you killed me..."
Crinnan was silent. He was beginning to realize that the ghost inside him could not be silenced. Crinnan wondered how long he could retain his sanity with someone constantly watching him.
"I don't care what you think." Crinnan finally said. "Can you just leave me alone?" Eshan did not reply. Crinnan sighed and stepped forward toward the other door.
He turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The room was dark and smelled similarly to rotting fruit.
The odor was strong and overwhelming. For a moment Crinnan considered turning back but then he something familiar leaning against the wall opposite him. He stepped inside the room and walked to the object.
The floor was covered with something that crunched beneath Crinnan's feet. It felt like a bunch of sticks and pebbles under his boots and as he walked through it he noticed the rotting fruit smell getting stronger and stronger. As he reached the wall that the object was leaning against, he reached out his hand and picked it up.
It was exactly what he thought it was. An unlocked Agra Model 19 Combat Rifle. It was covered in dried blood and engraved into the stock was the Centurion lightning bolt logo. It was the same image as the tattoo on his own collar bone and the insignia of his squad. Underneath the insignia were the initials J.S..
"What the fuck?" Crinnan asked, examining the weapon. He knew the owner of the weapon, Jeph Scaven, one of his fellow Centurions. Crinnan couldn't help but wonder how the weapon had ended up there…
Curiously, Crinnan reached out and switched on the flashlight mod on the weapon. He shouldered the rifle and began to explore his surroundings.
"By the suns..." Crinnan whispered as he examined his surroundings. He quickly discovered that it was not sticks and pebbles he was standing on but shattered skulls and spinal columns. The belongings of the dead were haphazardly piled against the wall and when Crinnan looked up he felt a desire to run.
Hanging above him were dozens, possibly hundreds of severed heads, some with the spines still attached... Crinnan was ready to turn around and leave but he noticed one of the heads had a long fuzzy red beard. He took a closer look and realized he was looking at one of his squad mates, Jeph Scaven, the owner of the rifle he was holding.
"What in hells!" Crinnan asked as he got a full glimpse of the head. It looked like it had been hanging there for an eternity, the skin was black, bloated and split. His tongue poked out from between his lips and his eyeballs had burst from their sockets.
"No fucking way." Crinnan continued. He could not believe what he was seeing. How had Jeph's head decomposed so much in just one day, he did not think it possible.
Crinnan shook his head and as he did so he noticed Jeph's armor and rig piled in a corner. Quickly, he hurried over and collected the spare magazines from the rig and put them in his own. After he took one last, confused look, Crinnan hurried out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Chapter 5 - Part Two
The President II
22nd of Ramlia - 346 AG
09:00 - Lithanni Sentinel - Township of Lithaan
Cade stumbled through the doorway still feeling mildly intoxicated from the Lodone that had been administered to him. He stood in the excavated hollow and leaned his back against the dirty wall behind him.
"How is this even possible?" He asked, trying to recall every detail of the vision he had had. "How could he be alive??"
Cade pulled a small black clamshell style communicator from his pocket and flipped it open. He punched in a number, and held the device to his ear.
"Yes Mr. President?" A male voice on the other end replied.
"Brake," Cade replied between heavy breaths. "Listen to me, I need a full neural scan done on me immediately. I just had some kind of message transmitted to me and I need to review it. I need..."
"Sir," Brake replied, "Everybody received the message. We are already investigating it. We have not yet recovered the message to analyze it but we know it was somehow transmitted through the NaNe... we have only heard of such a thing, never seen it in our lifetime."
Cade nodded and cleared his throat. "When will we have it?" He asked.
"We are preparing to initiate a neural scan on a subject now." Brake replied. "If we can find and isolate the message it will only be a matter of minutes... however, if it is locked with some kind of encryption we may need to awaken c."
"Graham is not to be disturbed." Cade replied. "Listen, as of right now I am taking over this project. Any information gathered is strictly confidential, only you and I have access to it. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." Brake replied. "I am reassigning the project to you and I now and encrypting the data. Shall we still use the subject allocated?"
"Negative." Cade replied. "Prepare a neural scan for me. Set parameters to the past twenty minutes, exclude all internal thoughts, only process incoming sensations. Use my override code; Kierson334117Exgrane5."
"Yes Sir, please hold still for a moment so I can get a lock." Brake said. "I am locked on to your position and a connection has been established to your NaNe address. On your mark I will run the scan."
"Now." Cade replied.
"Scan initiating on 3...2...1... please hold still Sir."
Cade felt a wave of vertigo come and go and for a moment he felt sick to his stomach. He had endured neutral scans before and they had never been overly uncomfortable.
"Scan complete Sir." Brake said, "Downloading the data now. Please stand by."
Cade took a moment to catch his breath. He was not sure how long the Lodone was going to leave him fatigued but he hoped he would recover soon. He heard footsteps approaching from his left and turned just as Doctor Smirnov emerged from the door.
"Mr. President..." the doctor said, shaking his head and stepping up to him. "I saw you run this way, you should not be exerting that much effort..."
"Did you see the vision?" Cade asked, approaching the doctor.
"Vision?" Smirnov repeated, "I haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about." Cade sighed and shook his head.
"Of course you don't." He said, feeling a bit stupid for his lapse of observation. "Humaan people have no connection to the NaNe..."
"That is correct." Smirnov replied. "We, not being native to this planet, are not blessed with Dura'Ana's gifts."
"Right." Cade said, shaking his head. Brake spoke again and Cade held his hand out to Smirnov.
"I have located the anomaly." Brake said. "It is not encrypted, but I cannot download it... well, I can but it will do us no good."
"Why?" Cade asked.
"The code's function is to display content stored on a locked Govian server." Brake replied. "I cannot access the actual files but I think I can replay the message for you."
"Do it." Cade replied.
"Standby."
Cade stood and waited. After a moment his head began to throb again and the message replayed for him. He once again saw the face of the Demon and heard the monotone female voice.
"Crinnan Jamiso, Demon. Terrorist conspirator under influence of the Lord of The Hells, Ashwraith. Wanted dead or alive. Last known location; Belhaasi Weald. Report whereabouts or deliver body to local inquisitors. Praise Dura'Ana. Praise Cidro."
"Play it again." Cade said as soon as he snapped back to consciousness. He took a seat on the floor to prevent himself from falling. Once again the message played and Cade watched for anything he had missed the first few times. This time, at the bottom of the message he saw a fourteen digit number that he immediately recognized as a NaNe address.
&nbs
p; "Brake." an exhausted Cade said as soon as he returned. "There is a Nane address." Cade took a couple deep breaths and cleared his throat.
"Listen," Cade said, "Open the geolocator and prepare to enter the numbers I read off to you. The first number is Four."
"Yes Sir." Brake replied.
"Play it again." Cade said. He viewed the message again and was able to remember four more numbers. "Four, two, three, two... again..."
Once again the message played. Cade felt as if he was having a terrible migraine. He was able to gather six numbers and relayed them to Brake "Zero, Zero, One, Four, Two, Three... one more time..."
Cade felt the pain of the message one final time and was able to remember the final three numbers. "Nine, Three, Two..." Cade said into the communicator. "That is all, run a search."
"Standby." Brake said. "Just a few moments..."
"What is going on?" Smirnov asked, stroking his chin. "What are you doing to yourself, you look terrible."
"Something weird." Cade replied, "I could not really explain it to you... but do not worry for me. What I just went through is over." Cade got back to his feet and looked at the doctor. He pursed his lips together and then Brake spoke again.
"Sir I have a location." Brake said, "The address is pointing to the Belhaasi Weald... the ancient ruins of Belhaas."
"Perfect!" Cade replied in almost a shout. "I will depart immediately. Upload the coordinates to my datatab and keep your communicator on, I may need you again."
"Of course sir, thank you sir." Brake replied. Cade flipped his communicator shut and looked over at Dr. Smirnov.
"Look, doctor." Cade said. "I cannot stay for you to examine me. There are highly urgent matters elsewhere which require my immediate attention." Smirnov crossed his arms.
"That is indeed unfortunate." Smirnov replied. "However, I can not leave you alone, I need to monitor your progress..." Cade thought for a moment and then nodded his head.
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