Portals of Infinity: Reprisal

by John Van Stry

  "Well, does he even know that will work? He may think that would just kick him back into limbo as well."

  "I'd think Fuerston would have told him."

  "That's assuming Fuerston isn't fed up with him," Dezba said. "They can't fire us, and they can get pretty annoyed at us. Normally, they just try to work through it, and get us back on track. But right now, Fuerston may be looking at his options and thinking that the sooner he gets rid of Cen, the sooner he can get somebody in who can do the job properly."

  I nodded slowly, "That makes a certain amount of sense, so it is possible."

  "Further, Cen's got a huge ego. Do you really think he's afraid of us? And do you think he wants to be seen as a coward?"

  "He can't be that narcissistic!" I told her.

  "You sure about that? He's a demigod now, right? Has extra powers? Does he even know that his power base is gone? He's not a real god, so he probably doesn't have any kind of real connection to them. In either case, his power has continued to grow since you two fought that first time.

  "I think he's out there, Will, and I think he's looking forward to this fight. If he dies, he's out of the line of fire, if he wins, he's a big hero with the people and his boss. That's how I bet he sees it."

  I shook my head, "I don't know, Dez."

  She grimaced, "Will, I slept with that asshole for years, and then he stabbed me in the back. Not once mind you, but twice. No, I think I understand him pretty well now, I just wish I had years ago."

  I thought about that for a few minutes.

  "So, you think we should go engage their military?"

  "Yeah, I think we attack one of their scouting groups, and then he'll come running, all hell bent for slaughter."

  "Well, might as well wake up Joseph and get started," I sighed.

  I felt like I was in a Clint Eastwood movie. I was standing out in the open, there was a vehicle of some sort in the distance speeding in my direction, kicking up a small dust cloud in its wake. Dezba and Joseph were hiding, for now; I wanted it to just be me. I was the one Cenewyg hated the most, so I figured I'd be the biggest draw.

  I got down on one knee, and putting my elbow on the other one, I took sight on the approaching vehicle. When it got to about a hundred yards I emptied the full magazine, until the bolt locked open, then I inserted another clip and pushed the cartridges down into the magazine, then let the bolt snap close and sighted the vehicle again.

  It had stopped, and from the steam billowing up, I had obviously taken out the radiator. From a few of the screams I could hear, I guess I hit someone in it as well.

  But I could also hear someone yelling for help, that they had found "the one called the War Leader." I smiled and moved back a few feet, sitting down behind some cover, and proceeded to slowly put one round after another into the vehicle, each one about a minute apart from the previous, until I had to reload again.

  Then I just waited.

  I had time to think about what I'd done over this last year, as I waited. I'd killed quite a lot of people, and while that by itself wasn't all that new for me, I had killed most of them rather coldly. It hadn't been in the heat of combat, it hadn't been in a life or death struggle to save friends or family. It hadn't even been because my god had ordered me to.

  I'd done it on my own, because I was determined to get Cenewyg, to get him back and kill him.

  Cenewyg deserved to be killed, I had no doubts about that, and I don't think anyone else did either. In some ways he'd become such a loathsome person, that I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that even those on his own side looked at him a bit funny, well any that had any morals or decency left to them that is.

  Yes, quite a few of the people I'd come across who worked for him were pretty nasty types, even down right evil. But the people I'd shot in that first church of his? I didn't know that, I'd just pulled that trigger. The ones in Boston? Especially the ones I'd set the IRA on later? Maybe they just were conned into it. Until people started getting sacrificed, it was just another crazy cult run by a guy with a magnetic personality.

  And how many of the followers even really knew about the sacrifices?

  I'd wiped out everyone at that ranch, and odds were good the hired help and maybe even the guests there, had no idea what was going on, or what they'd gotten themselves into. But I hadn't cared, and I wasn't sure I even cared now.

  I used to feel a little guilty about myself, because I had become a womanizer, but the truth was I enjoyed it, I liked how it fed my ego. But that was pretty harmless, all things considered. Now I was becoming a killer, and a rather seasoned and cold one.

  I wasn't happy with that revelation, while I could and did blame Cenewyg for most of that, for putting me in this position, some of it was still my own damned fault. I was not happy with myself over what we'd done in the last few days. When this was over, and hopefully it would be over soon, I'd have to think about what I was becoming, because the last thing I wanted to become, was another Cenewyg.

  "Fel," I said softly as I watched what looked like a column come into sight as it approached, "I think we need to talk. Or maybe you need to talk and I need to listen. I'm not so sure I'm the kind of man you want any more."

  The approaching trucks resolved into a rather small group of three, with a smaller vehicle in the lead. They pulled up behind the damaged truck, and troops started to pile out of the back of the two larger ones, but I wasn't paying attention to that. In the first smaller vehicle a man stood up.

  "William, come to die again?"

  It was Cenewyg.

  "Big words for a small man!" I called back to him. "I killed you the last time, and I can do it again this time."

  "Then why don't you come out and play, William? Or are you too afraid?"

  I picked up my carbine and sighted on the man sitting next to him, and then pulled the trigger. His head exploded rather nicely.

  "I think I'll just sit back here and kill your men, until you come and face me, you coward!" I called out and then I started picking them off one by one.

  A few started to return fire, but I could see that most of them were not armed with firearms. As Oliff had told me when I was here last time, ammunition was rare, and was hoarded rather carefully.

  "Cease firing, you idiots!" Cenewyg yelled, "Save your ammo, you can't kill him, that's my job," he said and jumping down from the car he started to walk towards me. I took the time to shoot a few more of his soldiers, picking on the ones who were stupid enough not to take cover.

  When he finally got close enough, I tossed the carbine to the side and stood.

  "Why do you bother, William? You know you're only going to die."

  "Because you're an asshole, Cen. You just had to come and kill my in-laws and steal my kid."

  "I'm surprised you even had it in you!" Cenewyg laughed, "What kind of a man would give up his balls to have a child?"

  "One who's fathered a hell of a lot more than you ever will, runt," I growled. "Now, are we going to fight? Or are you just going to bore me to death with idle chatter and your lame wit?"

  Cenewyg drew his sword, and attacked, I was surprised he wasn't even using a shield. I stepped back and let him come at me; I wanted a bit more space between me and his troops.

  "No shield, Cen?" I said surprised, "Feeling brave are we?"

  "You can't kill me, Will!" He laughed, "You see, I know your little secret!"

  "My little secret?" I said surprised, and then stabbed him in the left shoulder, just for good measure.

  "You don't want me to die; you want to take me alive. If you kill me, I'm out of your reach, and I'll be out of your reach for years!"

  "Oh? And how did you come to that conclusion?" I asked him surprised.

  "Fuerston told me of course!" And he attacked me seriously then.

  I spent the next several minutes parrying his attacks and then countering his with my own, about this moment I heard Dezba open fire on Cenewyg's troops, Joseph would be joining that fray soon enough, so I w
ouldn't have to worry about them for awhile at least.

  "I'm surprised he told you," I said. "After all, you haven't been a very good champion now, have you, Cen?"

  "I have been an excellent champion!" Cenewyg said laughing as he took a slash at my head. I took advantage of his over extending himself to stab him again. I noticed at that point that he hadn't healed his previous wound.

  That made me worry.

  "Oh really?" I said and backpedaled some more. "So, getting Stephanie a powerful ally? A demigod? That was a good move?"

  He frowned a moment, but then came back at me, "How was I to know that the bitch had a plan?" he swore.

  "Whose idea was that anyway? Yours? Or Fuerston's?"

  "It was a good idea!" Cenewyg yelled and attacked rather furiously again, and for the next several minutes I was once again rather occupied. He scored on me twice during this volley and I was forced to heal myself the second time. I restrained myself from attacking him further however, because he was right of course, I couldn't kill him. And it was getting to be obvious he wanted me to do just that.

  I just wondered why his god had told him our offer. Eleven plus years without a champion in an upcoming war against a side that had a demigod was not a position I would think any god would like to be in.

  "So whose idea was it to butcher those helpless innocents? An old man and and old lady?" I asked next.

  "Liked that one did you?" Cenewyg laughed, "I knew you would! You're such a pathetic little sod, William!"

  "So, you lured me, and several other champions here, why?" I asked. "Do you really want us to wipe out Fuerston that badly?"

  "Ha! You can't wipe him out, it would take years of work to do that, and none of your gods would stand for it!" He laughed again.

  "But they don't have a say, Cen," I said and smiled back at him, "After all, just like you, we can't be fired. So we could do it all just to spite you."

  Cenewyg swore and attacked, he was swinging wildly and leaving himself open as he did, knowing I couldn't counter, he was able to throw all caution to the wind, and I was finding myself very hard pressed to defend myself.

  "None of you would do that! You all love your gods way too much to leave them hanging, to abandon them like that!"

  "But not you, Cen, not you at all right?" I grunted and burned another healing spell as he stabbed me in the side.

  "Tell me then, Cen, why'd you do it? Was it because you thought you could beat us all?"

  "No! I did it, because I wanted you to watch as I destroyed that bitch! Spurn me, would she? Take away the thing that was rightfully mine? The thing that I'd earned after so many years of putting up with that bitch, and her bitch mistress! Oh, I'm going to make that bitch pay; while you, her bitch mistress, that savage, and that fairy poof are all going to know that I laid her low!

  "That's why I did it! I did it for me! I'm doing it all for me!"

  "So, you're not doing it for Fuerston? For your god? For the god you swore your service to?"

  "Hah! I serve myself first; everyone else can wait in line, even the gods!" Cenewyg crowed.

  I took another step back and smiled toothily, "So in other words, you just quit."

  "Hardly! I'll never quit, and he can't fire me! He's stuck with me!" Cenewyg laughed and took a step forward and took another wild swing, only this time I took a step forward and ran him through the side. Not an instantly fatal wound, but one that hurt like a bitch and would take a while to kill him.

  I had figured out what Fuerston was doing to him, Fuerston hated Cenewyg alright, and at that moment I could see why. He wanted a champion who would serve him first, all the gods did, they were gods after all. But Cenewyg's ego wouldn't allow him to do that anymore.

  "A man I know told me something once, Cen, you might find this interesting," I said pulling my sword out of him and stepping back. "He said that you don't have to tell your boss that you quit, for you to actually quit your job. He said that once you stopped working for them, once you started working for someone else, it was just as good as quitting, especially when it became obvious."

  I grinned at him.

  "You just quit."

  The look on Cenewyg's face at that instant was priceless, apparently at that moment Fuerston pulled the plug.

  "What?! NO! NO! He can't!" Cenewyg said, his eyes going wide.

  I charged and attacked, stabbing him again.

  Cenewyg backed up and started to fight defensively, healing his wounds as he did so. But those heals were limited, and we both knew it.

  "I think your time has finally run out, Cen," I purred and now I was the one attacking recklessly, because I just needed a few good hits, and he knew it. If I died, I would come back. He would not.

  "You bastard!" Cenewyg swore, starting to breath heavy, "I'll get you for this, I don't know how you did it, but I'll get you."

  "That's going to be pretty tough, being that you're going to be dead soon," I said smiling at him.

  Dezba had started silently walking up behind him then, she had her own sword out and a very evil look in her eyes.

  "I'm not done yet! I'll find a way!"

  "I've been to all of your temples on Earth, Cen," I told him, "All of them; did you know that the locals wiped out the one in Afghanistan? Or that the ones in Azerbaijan all quit?"

  "Liar! They're my followers! They'll never desert me!"

  "Oh, like you deserted them?" I laughed, "Don't worry; I hunted down all of your priests, and then I slew them! I blew up your churches! And I set the IRA on what was left of your followers!"

  "You lie!" Cenewyg yelled again, but I could see he was starting to look desperate, I wounded him twice more, and he healed the first slash, but not the second.

  "I have senators! Congressmen! I have important people, rich, powerful people!"

  "Not," I stabbed him again, deeply. He got me as well, but I still had healing left. "Anymore!" I finished and took a step back to heal myself.

  I watched as he healed himself, and suddenly looked panicked. He turned then to run and took one step, impaling himself on Dezba's blade, as she had been standing behind him, waiting for this moment.

  "Hi, Cen!" She smiled at him, "Savage huh? How's this for savage?"

  And as I watched she ripped her sword out of his guts, and then took his head off with a heavy slash. Sending it flying a good ten feet away.

  "Well, that was easy," Joseph said padding over, and as we watched he crushed Cenewyg's head between his jaws, and swallowed it.

  "I don't think I needed to see that, Joseph," Dezba said.

  "Of course you did, you're just a hot little savage girl, right?"

  I looked back at Cenewyg's troops. As far as I could tell there weren't any left alive, or at least not any left standing. There were however quite a few columns off in the distance, and they were all converging on this spot.

  "I think we should be leaving now, don't you?" I said and motioned towards the on-coming forces.

  "Excellent idea." Joseph agreed, and the three of us turned around and ran off, back the way we had come.

  Twenty-One

  Wasteland - Stepheen's City

  "Hi, Dad,"

  I looked up, it was Cameron. Joseph and Dezba had left two days ago, but I had decided to stick around until Cameron returned, I really wanted to meet my son, sentimental perhaps, but I was worried about him.

  "Cam!" I said and standing I strode over to him and hugged him.

  He looked a little surprised, "What was that for?"

  "A father needs an excuse to hug his son?" I said and smiled at him.

  "Well, maybe not," he said looking a little sheepish.

  "And as your mother, I need even less of a reason," I teased him quietly.

  I was surprised that he actually blushed at that!

  "Come, I want to talk to you for a while," I said and taking his hand I led him off.

  "Is this, err, really necessary?" he asked, still blushing.

  "You went from three years old
to being an adult, you're my own son and I hardly know you," I said, "Of course it's necessary! For me, if not you."

  He nodded. "I guess I can do that, Dad," he said with a smile.

  "I guess the biggest question I have, is how are you? How are you managing? What have you been doing?"

  He told me everything that had happened in the last year, what he had done, and what he had hoped to do. I was surprised at his personality, and his knowledge, he had gone from being a baby to being an adult in just an instant after all.

  He told me then that much of what he knew, and much of what he was, had come from his parents, namely me and Stephanie. Because he was now a demigod, he had actually gotten a lot of knowledge from her, and that they were linked as well, he could talk to her much like a high priest could. However he received no power from her, simply knowledge. What power he had, came from what he was.

  I asked him about his powers next, and he confessed that he was still learning them, and that they were still growing a little as well. He really had no idea what he'd end up being able to do, and Stephanie either couldn't or wouldn't tell him. Apparently there were rules at work there too.

  He was a little socially awkward as well, he might have had a man's body, and an adult's knowledge, but he had little experience with any of it. I could see at times that he was still finding his way though some situations. He wasn't quite a child, but he definitely wasn't an adult, and with the level of power he had, I could see that would cause him problems for years to come.

  I spent another two weeks there, with him, and I guess you could say we did some father and son bonding, though I don't think raiding enemy camps and wiping out scorpion infestations are what most fathers would consider typical 'bonding' sessions.

  But then of course, we were anything but typical, so it worked for us.

  When the time came to leave, I left late at night, because when I showed up back at Fel's temple, I wanted to have some private time with him.

  What I didn't expect however was for him to kill me the moment I set foot in his temple.