Theo grabbed her elbow before she could charge off. “Wait, I don’t think splitting up is a good idea.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because Karl is with Grandmother Yasta right now.”
Cherish sucked in her breath. “Then we better hurry.”
Eight
“Ready?” Makram whispered to Cierra. They were almost to Grandmother Yasta’s room.
Cierra nodded and tightened her grip on her gun. They had decided to start with the matriarch. She was the least likely to put up a fight, and with her room out of the way, it was unlikely that anyone would hear them. They rounded the final corner. What they saw made them freeze. The guard outside of her room was dead. Someone had beaten them to it.
Makram gave the signal. On the count of three, the two of them charged into the matriarch’s room. A pool of blood was already spreading across the floor. Karl stood over Grandmother Yasta’s dead body. A sick, satisfied smile was spread thickly across his face. When the two Carbonari operatives burst through the door, Karl yelled. The two fired their laser weapons at him, but he deflected them with his lasana blade easily.
Karl charged towards them. Cierra barely had enough time to draw her lasana short sword and brace against his sweeping blow. Her gun dropped to the floor. He managed to lock blades with her. Pulling out a second sword, Karl hit Makram in the face with the flat of his blade. Makram dropped to the ground with a hard thud. He was out cold, before he hit the ground. Blood dripped from his nose.
Distracted by Makram’s fall, Cierra almost lost her concentration. She was able to deflect Karl’s blow, which was almost superhumanly strong, but her hand twisted wrong in the movement. Her short sword was knocked out of her hand. Cierra scrambled under the robes to grab the lasana that Hubard had given her. She frantically ripped it free, and raised her sword grip to block his next attack. All she could do was dodge his attacks. He didn’t give her a chance to get her footing. Cierra knew he was backing her into a corner, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. She felt her resolve falter for a second. Each blow fell faster and faster. The force of each hit made her arms vibrate with effort. Cierra’s knees buckled under her. She didn’t want to die, but if she was going to, she would go out with her head held high like a true warrior. If she died at Karl’s hand, at least she died defending what she believed in.
Karl lifted his sword hand to deliver the final, smiting blow. From the smoldering, perverse evil in his eyes, Cierra knew that he would take pleasure in her death. His breath was quick from exertion and excitement. Karl let out a battle cry. He brought his lasana blade down in one fell swoop. Cierra braced for the inevitable impact.
Karl’s blade sliced the air a foot away from her. Somehow, he had shifted sideways by a foot. Both of them locked eyes for a moment, dumbstruck. Cierra quickly jumped to her feet, and put more distance between them. She may have gotten lucky once, but Karl would make sure it didn’t happen again. He regrouped, and took the stance to charge her again.
He never got the chance. Before Karl could get close enough to try to get the upper hand again, Cherish and Theo burst into the room. Quickly, Cherish shifted her arms into lasana blades. Theo freed his own swords. Both of them ran into the fray. Sparks and yells filled the room. Theo leapt over Makram’s unconscious body. Not wanting them to have all of the fun, Cierra joined them with her sword held high. She saw Karl flick his blade at an odd angle. The sword flew from his hand. Cierra managed to duck before it hit her. Cherish wasn’t as lucky.
The lasana blade sliced through Cherish’s neck. Her face was shocked. Glancing at her friends one more time, Cherish’s head slid off of her neck with a wet, squelching noise. Karl had decapitated her with one flick of his blade. Theo and Cierra screamed. Cherish’s body fell to its knees before coming to its final resting place, chest down, close to Grandmother Yasta, her blood mixing with that of the matriarch. Theo reared back to fight against Karl with renewed anger. Before he was able to charge, the door was flung open again. A dozen Yasta soldiers swarmed the room. Some of them cried out in dismay upon seeing Grandmother Yasta’s lifeless body on the floor.
“Freeze!” Aphano yelled across the room. He was leading the squad of Yasta soldiers.
Karl made his voice warble slightly to make himself seem more shaken up over the scene than he really was. “I was coming to meet with the matriarch. When I got here, I found those two in the room, and saw her body on the ground. Naturally, I had to try to avenge her. Two more of the them showed up. I was able to kill one and knock the other out.”
“That’s not true at all!” Theo’s only hope was that someone would recognize the truth when they heard it. Maybe Batumah could somehow block Karl’s lies, and allow the truth to be seen…
Cierra nodded in agreement. “Grandmother Yasta was already dead when we got here!”
“How dare you call her that! Show some respect.” One of the other monks yelled at Cierra. Most of them were visibly distraught, at the sight of their matriarch sprawled on the ground.
“They lie!” Karl reached over and snatched Theo’s sword from his hand. “Look at his blade. Everyone knows you don’t use a lasana sword unless you are intending on killing someone. How did an acolyte even get a lasana of his own to keep? He must be a thief as well as a murderer.
With disgust on his face, Aphano yelled at his troops. “Take them away.”
“Wait, please! I can heal Cherish. Just let me heal her, and then she can confirm our story. She doesn’t have to be dead. Please, just let me heal her.” Theo pleaded with Aphano as two beefy soldiers grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back.
Aphano looked at Theo with cold eyes. “The only one that had the gift to heal someone else was our matriarch. And now, a part of Batumah’s golden light has been extinguished.”
The soldiers escorted Theo and Cierra from the chamber. Hot tears were spilling down Cierra’s cheeks. She had treated Cherish awfully the other day. There was also the fact that if she hadn’t ducked, Cherish might still be alive.
Theo wanted to reach over and take Cierra’s hand, to show her some comfort. The soldiers prevented any physical touching. Cherish saw his anguished attempt to comfort her, and their eyes locked, momentarily.
The two of them had no idea where they were being taken. All they knew was that they were being falsely held for a murder they didn’t commit, and that yet another of their friends was dead because of Karl. The world was going to be darker without Cherish. Aphano was right. Part of Batumah’s golden light had certainly been extinguished.
The Adventure Continues…
If you liked Capture, you’ll love War.
CRASH! An enormous ship slams into the monastery where the Carbonari team is imprisoned. Their fight against dying in a dungeon is now a flight for survival, as the incoming troops fight the Yasta with fearsome weapons. But, do the Carbonari side with the evil empire or the murderous Yasta? Or will both sides devour them?
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Capture: The Relissarium Wars Space Opera Series, Book 6 Page 6