“I live to serve.”
“As well you should, child, you have already seen the news we have begun to leak?”
“Of course Father, the story plays out as it has done so many times before.” She responded coolly.
“As it must be, I see you are still on the surface?” There was no worry or even the basest emotion within his low, gravelly voice.
“Yes Father, I was waiting for orders.” She had perfected her lies, so that now they sometimes even fooled herself.
“That is good, take whatever ship is available and leave that place, there is a most pressing matter that requires your immediate attention. It is a task that you are most suited to.”
She cocked her head slightly, her own intrigued piqued, she had her own assignment to complete, yet perhaps that could wait. “What is it father?”
“An old acquaintance of yours has resurfaced.” The holo-display shifted and her father was replaced, by a screen grab from a surveillance drone, the image was not perfectly clear, yet already she understood what was going on.
“Nathaniel,” She murmured.
“Yes,” her father spat, “the target that you allowed to slip through your fingers, I hope that you still remember your penance.”
As she heard those words, her own synapses fired and once again she felt the whip, lifting her flesh from her bones. She wrestled to keep her emotions under control and not to betray even the slightest slip of her guise. “Of course father, is was a much deserved punishment.”
“It was not a punitive punishment child, it was a necessary penance for your failure, always remember that. Now though it is time for you to right your wrong and put an end to this killer.”
“Of course father, where is he?”
There was the slightest pause and for an instance she thought she caught sight of a sliver of emotion upon that mask, before her father finally spoke. “He is on Absyll four, the death bringers strike at the very heart of our order.”
She stifled her own desire to smile, that was certainly the Nathaniel she knew, always the roguish hero, battling to change this miserable universe. “What are the death bringers doing there father?”
“That is something that we would like to know, for now at least they had done little, however these killers do not act without a plan.”
“What are my orders?”
“They are simple my child, kill him.” With that the connection was terminated.
Tara allowed a sly grin to crease her features, it seemed like fate had moved once again, whatever Nathaniel was doing could help her to accomplish her own assignment and finally perhaps to escape the bondage of the puritans.
She glanced back over her shoulder to where she knew one of Ilius’s little spy drones would be floating, after all he was always paranoid especially about his escape shuttle. She bowed slightly and beamed, then strode towards the vessel. Envisioning the little general’s rage as he watched her steal his only way off this dying planet.
Yes everything was turning out just how she had hoped, she would be free of Ilius’s frigid touch and would be able to see Nathaniel again. As she neared the hidden ship, she keyed in the activation code onto her coms unit and began the vessels activation procedure.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
PLANET ABSYLL FOUR
As the rear door of the shuttle slowly lowered to the ground, Selina took one final breath of the reprocessed oxygen, and then began her descent towards what could be her death. Behind her Kimberly strolled casually and following her were the honour guard.
As Selina exited the gloom of the shuttle and entered the vast doomed hangar, she caught sight of the gaggle of elderly and infirmed men who awaited her. Bleak, milky and ancient eyes fastened upon her.
“Supreme Commander!” a vital voice beckoned to her from the shadows.
Before she could respond she felt a gloved hand upon her arm and Kimberly’s whisper within her ear. “Be always cautious my dear, why don’t you let me go first.”
With that Kimberly eased past her and danced out into the chamber, Selina followed close behind. She craned her neck so she could look upon the wizened frames of the leaders of this mighty Empire, they all stood awkwardly as if they were suddenly unsure of what to do.
“It is good to finally meet you Selina,” A disembodied voice whispered from the murk.
“Why are you hiding that pretty face of yours?” Kimberly teased.
“It’s always good to run into you Kimberly,” From the shade a young man appeared, he was not a giant, yet he was powerful and striking. With a devilish smile that made her envision some kind of long lost pirate king, he held himself with that familiar arrogance and confidence she is so used to.
“Nathaniel,” Kimberly gave an extravagant and mocking bow, “What is it you’re doing here, so far from your mother’s apron strings?” Again every syllable seemed to drip with sarcasm.
Nathaniel shot Kimberly a disarming smile, “I see you’re still quite the bitch,” he retorted. Then his own tone shifted, “You know exactly why I’m here, the storm is upon us.”
Selina edged forward, “Does anyone want to tell me what is going on here?” As she spoke her eyes were drawn to the far end of the vast hangar, where a set of heavy double doors had just swung open and a retinue of armed troops were flooding in.
Nathaniel pivoted his body and caught sight of the intruders. “I’m afraid I don’t have time for the usual pleasantries, Selina, these men,” he indicated towards the advancing soldiers, “have been ordered to kill you and I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Kimberly strode forward her blades already in her hands, “And what makes you think we needed your help?”
“Always so defensive,” Nathaniel responded coolly, “No one is questioning your skills, I just thought you might need some assistance, after all this entire planet is full of those, who right now want all of us dead.”
It was Selina’s turn this time to jump in, “Will someone please tell me just what is going on, and what this storm you’re talking about is?”
Nathaniel glanced at her briefly, his lips curled, “Why it’s the end of the universe supreme commander, unless we can do something to stop it.” With that he swung around the assault rifle pulled in snug against his shoulder.
“This is leader to all units, prepare for combat.”
Abruptly men and women emerged from the shadows all around, like ghouls stepping forth into the light. Selina saw the old men attempting to shuffle away from the carnage that was about to be unleashed.
“This is where it gets fun,” Kimberly purred.
“I never could understand why you love this so much,” Nathaniel replied curtly.
“One should always try and enjoy their work darling.”
Selina drew forth her own pistol and stepped forward, ahead of her the advancing assailants could be seen more clearly, they were clad in some absurd, gaudy chainmail and plumed helms.
“Don’t be put off by their looks,” Nathaniel piped up, “They’re the worst kind of killers and this is about to get bloody,” With that he began to fire, in short controlled burst, ahead of them, she saw guards dropping like flies. Bodies crumpled and a pink miasma of blood and brain tissue misted.
Kimberly drifted past her, “Stay close to me.”
Selina gave her a scolding look, “I’m am not a little girl, my assassin, I can take care of myself.”
“Of course you can my dear,” she lowered her voice to little more than a sigh, “yet you’re the one who’s supposed to be saving this wrecked realm, and you’re going to stop the tempest that is about to destroy everything that we know. So I have to make sure that you stay alive.”
Selina wasn’t able to even take in what she had just been told, as abruptly the battle was upon them. She saw Kimberly, begin her own macabre dance of death, her blades slicing and cutting through the ranks of approaching troops. She raised her own pistol and began to fire. There was no more time for thought now, the
primitive side of her brain had taken over and now there was only one desire and that was to live.
EPILOGUE
PLANET FRESAL ONE
The scarified man stood encompassed within the dimness, his eyes never leaving the house and the children. They were the keys to his very salvation and he wasn’t about to let them slip away. As he continued his observation, the blade danced over his flesh, continuing the never-ending quest to keep his body free of skin.
“Very soon,” he hissed, his bulbous eyeballs fixed straight ahead, “Your souls will be mine and with them I will bring about my very own Eden.”
As he spoke his tongue flickered out, he could taste the death, which hung heavy in the evening air. From the periphery of his gaze, he could see the drop ships streaking towards the ground. Already the Master mighty armada had arrived and very soon the great one himself would arrive upon this barren rock.
“I will let you think, that I am still your most humble and loyal servant. However once we have the children, I will make sure that I am the one that removes their power and with it I will shape this universe to my will.” As he spoke the knife continued to rip away at his desiccated tissue. “I will create my own plane of existence and all that will exist there is pain. I shall rule and will finally be my own god.”
Behind him hovering over the bodies, the wizened old man leaned heavily upon the ornately carved mahogany walking stick, the dark cloak pulled so far forward that his features were masked within shadows, as if the very light itself was afraid to confront him.
“It is all happening just as it should, very soon all this will fall, as it has happened before so it will happen again.”
He turned and shambled away, he would walk across the battlefield for a time and saviour the sweet stench of decay that now enveloped this dying planet.
His lips creased, “Yes soon everything you built will be pulled down, your greatest creation will set it all to flame and like I once told you, I will need to do nothing except talk. Your humans are weak and spineless. They will do all I want and you will not lift a finger to prevent it.”
Across the surface he could already see the darkness beginning to mass, and soon this pitiful universe would fall, as so many have done before. “Bring out your dead!” he spat, “Because the storm is finally here and when it has past nothing will be left.”
THE STORY WILL CONTINUE IN BOOK TWO OF THE FORGOTTEN WAR SAGA: THE SCARRIFIED MAN FALLS
AUTHORS NOTES
I hope you will allow me this small amount of space just to say a few words. Firstly I would like to just say thank you for taking the time to read this book, I hope you enjoyed the tale. Although this is really my second novel, as it is being published at the same time as my first one, I like to think of them both as my debut novels. This one though I have been working on for some time, based on scribbled notes I made when I should have been working, it grew, expanded and became this story.
For me it is sad to leave it, especially with each of the characters in so much jeopardy, yet as with any good tale, it wrote itself and this was the ending that came about. I hope that if there is interest I will be able to continue this story. I already know that the second novel will be call the scarified man falls, it will take place once again primarily upon Fresal one, where the mighty conflict to decide the very fate of humanity will continue. Yet we will learn more about Selina’s role in preventing the storm, along with what the Death bringers are really planning. More will be revealed I think about the past of the scarified man, although that is still a bit cloudy even to me. Perhaps we will discover more as well about the mysterious, cloaked old man and his walking stick, as well as Kraket, held still within his mystic prison.
So I hope you enjoyed this novel and if you did, or even if you didn’t maybe think about writing a quick review for it and letting others know what you think. Also if you would like to know more about me and my writing you can find me on twitter and Facebook, the links will follow. Of course if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.
So finally, thank you again for taking the time to read this and join me in this strange, dark and mysterious world. I hope you enjoyed the journey and hopefully I will see you again.
Justin Alexander
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/reddeadlives
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1237677.Justin_Alexander
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JustinAlexanderPublications
GOOGLE+:https://plus.google.com/101516482330856816654
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
EPILOGUE
AUTHORS NOTES
The Last Foxhole (The Forgotten War Saga Book 1) Page 24