Rend Hope

by Josh Webb

  A quick look around the general area uncovered a corpse that several vultures had feasted on. It looked like nothing more than a skeleton with a layer of raw flesh covering it. Janine approached the ravaged corpse for a closer look, her lips forming a tight line as she concentrated. Yup, this was definitely where the necromantic spell was performed. Strong traces of the vile magic were all over the cadaver.

  Suddenly, a dark violet glyph appeared under the corpse, glowing brightly. Janine watched with alarm as her analyzer registered a rapid buildup of magic energy from the glyph. She had time to mutter a curse before the glyph exploded like a bomb. Sending forth a huge plume of smoke and flame into the morning sky.

  Chapter 6

  All eyes were instantly on Marie. She looked up into Markus' eyes and saw there was a different look about him. The sixteen year-old girl realized she had never seen him truly angry until now. At the mention of the man who killed her team and the realization that he was the same one Markus was looking for, the "Ordinary" magi's demeanor had changed completely. He looked a like a coiled snake ready to strike.

  "Why didn't you tell me this before?" He asked her in an accusing tone, Marie held her hands up defensively.

  "You...never really asked about what happened to my team." She answered, this seemed to satisfy Markus somewhat as he calmed down.

  "Okay point taken Marie. I just have one question, did this man...did he continue heading west?" The blonde-haired magi asked, Marie thought for a moment before answering.

  "Yes." She stated, Markus eyed her for a moment.

  "You're sure?" He asked, Marie nodded.

  "I was a little more concerned with what he did to my team at that moment, but yes I do remember him heading west after the...incident." She confirmed, Markus immediately headed for the room's exit, but was stopped by Kendal

  "Where are you going?" He demanded, Markus stopped, but he didn't turn around to face the sheriff

  "Where do you think? I'm going after him." Markus replied impatiently.

  "I'm not finished with you yet." Kendal declared, Markus just shrugged.

  "Not my problem. My entire reason for coming to the west coast was to get back what's mine. Not play a thousand questions with a wanna-be cowboy." The blonde magi explained, Kendal grit his teeth at the cowboy remark.

  "Low blow blondie. How about I fill your legs full of holes and then we can see what other creative insults you can manage?" The sheriff said darkly.

  "That's fine as long as you don't mind having all your ribs get crushed." Markus shot back evenly, his hands starting to glow with magic energy.

  "Stop!" Marie suddenly shouted out, kicking over the interrogation room's table and stepping between the two magi. She was tired of the arguing and fighting, they should be using their efforts on more productive things, like the threats beyond the city’s walls. The teenage magi turned to Markus. "Look, I know what this guy stole from you is important and I may not know him as well as you seem to. That doesn't change the fact that he's extremely dangerous, even for you. He took out my entire team like they were nothing and I'm still not even sure why he spared me." She revealed, shaking her head. "If you're going after him you're going to need help. Let us help you." Kendal looked at Marie, his jaw dropping.

  "Um, excuse me, but I never volunteered to help this guy. Sounds like finding this mystery man is gonna be a real pain in the ass." The sheriff complained, Marie glared at him. Kendal’s laziness was really irritating at times. Even more so because she knew he was a very capable fighter and magi.

  "Fine! Then I'll help him then!" Marie announced, Kendal took his right index finger and thumb and rubbed it on the bridge of his nose.

  "Geez, you really aren't going to let this one go are you Marie?" Kendal responded, Marie shook her head. He didn’t like this, she could tell. He probably still had his suspicions about Markus, it was his job to be after all. However, the blonde aeromancer had plenty of opportunity to take her life and he didn’t. Despite his ability to keep secrets Marie trusted him at his words for some reason. He seemed less “Shady.” Others had tried to deceive her for their own benefits, but she got the feeling that if Markus was deceiving her, he was doing it for her benefit.

  Just then a deputy cautiously peeked his head into the demolished interrogation room. He had a fearful look in his eyes and looked like he was about to scamper away like a frightened rabbit at any moment. He caught sight of the sheriff and relaxed slightly.

  "Uh sir, just so you know, the scouting team that the vice-sheriff requested is ready to head out." The deputy spoke nervously, Kendal raised an eyebrow.

  "The vice-sheriff sent for a scouting team? I thought she just finished a mission?" He asked, the deputy tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt.

  "Yes, well, the Mayor assigned her a mission to find out what happened to the southern scouting party, which has not reported in yet. The vice-sheriff went off to check it out last night despite protests and we have now just got a team assembled to rendezvous with her." The deputy reported, Kendal shook his head.

  "Let me get this straight, Vice-Sheriff Janine Garlow, went ahead and took another mission after JUST finishing one?" The sheriff questioned, the deputy answered with a nod. "She went off to investigate a missing team?" The deputy nodded, "On her own?" The deputy nodded again. "In the middle of night?!" The deputy hesitated for a moment then nodded once more. Kendal slapped a palm to his forehead and sighed. "How soon until the scouting team leaves?" He asked the deputy in a tired voice.

  "They'll be ready to leave in about twenty minutes sir." The deputy told him. Kendal nodded and began to exit the room. He stopped when he was about to pass Markus, who was still standing before the doorway.

  "This isn't over 'Ordinary' Magi, once I make sure my vice-sheriff is okay, I'm coming back to finish my questions." He declared, Markus matched the intensity of his glare.

  "That's fine cowboy, I won't be hard to find." Was the "Ordinary" Magi's reply.

  **********

  The huge pillar of smoke and fire rose to the morning sky. Abruptly, the pillar suddenly reversed direction, collapsing back in on itself. The ground seemed to be sucking up the smoke and flame like a vacuum cleaner. It wasn't the ground that was absorbing the pillar however, it was a card. Once it had absorbed all trace of the explosion, the small card turned to ash. The card's ashes were then carried by the slight breeze into the air.

  Janine had dropped the absorption card just in time, but it was not without consequences. Her right hand was caught in the blast when she threw the card down. It was badly burned and she couldn't really move it much. She heard footsteps behind her as she was busy examining her hand and trying not to scream from the pain. Quickly she whirled around to find a young man, solidly built, with short red spiky hair. He was glaring at her.

  "Damn it, why did it have to be a woman?" The young man said to no one in particular. Janine reached into the pack on her right hip with her left hand. It took slightly longer than using her injured right hand, but she didn't really have much choice. She pulled out three cards, fanning them out in her left hand.

  "Are you the one who set the trap?" She questioned, the youth sighed and shook his head.

  "No, but I know the person who did." He replied, Janine's eyes narrowed, her sorcery analyzer was still functional, but so far she got no readings of magic from the kid.

  "I don't suppose you'd tell me who then?" She asked, The red-haired teenager frowned and ran a hand through his spiky hair.

  "Afraid I can't do that lady, orders and all that, you know how it is." He answered. It was Janine's turn to frown, she knew it would have been too easy if he told her the identity of her would-be killer.

  "So you're a henchman then?" She inquired, at this the youth's expression darkened. There was a fire in his eyes as he glared at her.

  "No I'm...something else, but I'm not here to argue what I am to your assailant. I'm here to finish the job. It's just that I don't like killing women." He stated.<
br />
  "Sounds like you’re in the wrong line of work then. I'll ask you only once more and then I'll have to get more ‘forceful’ who planted this magic bomb and why?" She demanded, the youth shook his head, sighing once more.

  "I knew it would come to this." He stated, stretching out his right hand. Janine's analyzer picked up the magic energy gathering around the kid. A giant over-sized gauntlet made out of rock formed around the boy's right arm, all the way up past the elbow but before the shoulder. "Look if you turn and walk away right now I won't pursue you, I'll just tell my 'Master' that the person who triggered the bomb was blown to pieces." He offered, Janine took note of the disdain in his voice when he said "Master." Judging from the way he was manipulating the rock, the kid was a geomancer.

  "I'm afraid I can't do that kid. I need to find this master of yours before he causes my home any harm." She declared, the red-haired geomancer crouched into a fighting stance.

  "It was worth a try." was his reply.

  The two sorcerers stared each other down, the only sound was the slight breeze that picked up small amounts of the sand around them. The breeze mildly disturbed their clothing, but other than that the two were fixated on each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. They were like statues.

  **********

  Gudale Prison, that's what the sign said. To Ebrim the building looked more like castle than anything else. Several square shaped towers made from dark-green rock rose into the sky and the heavy oak double doors that served as its main entrance were tall and wide, as if the structure was holding an army within its walls. The necromancer noticed that one of the doors was ajar, looks like there were previous visitors before him.

  As Ebrim continued to examine the outside walls of the prison he felt an unusual thought enter his brain. He thought about how Patricia would have loved seeing something like this, his late wife always did have a thing for castles and knights. An old pain tugged at the necromancer's heart, and his mind wandered to happier times.

  **********

  Twelve years ago.

  Stonehollow Village, located in former Utah.

  Ebrim watched the woman work, her long blonde hair which usually went to her waist was tied into a tight bun on top of her head. Her delicate hands weaving some cloth bandages around a wounded man's waist. He had two cups of a rather rare beverage, something the ancestors called "Coffee." One was for him and the other for the hard-working woman he was watching. The vanilla-colored flannel shirt and ragged blue jeans she wore were covered in spots of dried blood, but that was okay, she wore these items just for this purpose. Once she was finished bandaging the man she wiped some sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, moving a few strands of blonde hair out of her eyes as well.

  "This is the second day in a row you've been here Patricia." Ebrim spoke to the woman, who instantly straightened from surprise. She turned towards him, her chocolate-brown eyes bloodshot and gave a small smile. "You need to get some rest."

  "These people aren't going to fix themselves." She replied. "Some medical attention is better than none." He sighed, his wife spent most of her free time at Stonehollow's clinic, doing what she could to help the sick and injured. No matter how hard she worked though, there was always a pile of bodies to be burned by the end of the day. Ebrim couldn't help but think how futile her efforts seemed to be.

  "I know that dear, but you'll be good to no one if you collapse from exhaustion." The dark-haired man said, holding up the steaming cups in his hands so she could get a better look. "I brought coffee." Patricia's eyes lit up at the mention of coffee.

  "You got coffee? I thought we ran out three days ago?" She asked, Ebrim smiled mischievously.

  "Yeah well, managed to sneak away with a pouch after last night's scavenge run." He replied. After hesitating for just a moment, Patricia went to the clinic’s fitting room and removed the ragged vanilla shirt and blue jeans she was wearing, changing into a green shirt and khaki shorts, though she still wore her brown boots. Together, the couple exited the clinic and sat on the stone steps of the building's rear entrance. Ebrim handed her one cup of the steaming beverage which she gratefully took.

  "What else did you guys find from the scavenge run?" Patricia questioned after taking a sip of her coffee, Ebrim shrugged.

  "A few canned goods, some blankets, and...a cache of medical supplies." He informed her,

  "Medical supplies?" She inquired with interest, but Ebrim snorted in disgust.

  "Mayor Fallon's men already confiscated it." He informed her, Patricia visibly sagged.

  "Oh." She responded simply, Ebrim growled.

  "They hoard all the best stuff for him and his cronies, while the rest of us get scraps. Mayor Fallon's henchman are always there to 'Protect' us on scavenge runs, but really, they are nothing more than common thugs who think they are entitled because they’re butt-buddies with the wrinkled nutsack." The dark-haired man ranted.

  "Well it's not like we have much of a choice honey, besides Stonehollow, there's nothing out there besides the Desert of Despair and we both know how well people fare in there." Patricia said, Ebrim let out a frustrated sigh.

  "I know that, but this isn't too much better, the people are dying a slow death with Fallon's cronies always confiscating things." The dark-haired man told his wife.

  "And a quick death for standing up to Mayor Fallon is better?" Patricia asked, taking another sip of her coffee, Ebrim shook his head.

  "I didn't say that." He answered.

  "You didn't need to. I know that look in your eye." Patricia said, Ebrim grunted knowing he was caught.

  "Look, Fallon's only got a handful of thugs, there are way more struggling people here, we could take over his residence with sheer numbers." Ebrim said.

  "Mayor Fallon also has his thugs well equipped, we've little more than sticks and stones, not something you want to wage a war with. People would be massacred if they tried." Patricia pointed out. After a moment, the dark-haired man's shoulders slumped in defeat.

  "You're right, but we can't go on like this, I've started to give Randal my share of our foodstuffs and that's not near enough for a growing boy." Ebrim said.

  "We'll find a way dear, we always have." Patricia reassured him, leaning her head on his left shoulder, slowly, very slowly, she felt him relax. They sat like that for a few moments, each enjoying the other's company when suddenly Patricia leaned forward and began coughing excessively, covering her mouth with her right hand. Ebrim eyed her worriedly, rubbing her back with his left hand.

  "You all right?" He asked, concerned. Patricia continued to cough for a few more moments before answering.

  "Yeah, just caught some dust in my lungs when I inhaled that's all." The long-haired blonde woman answered. Ebrim wasn't convinced, he spotted the blood on her hand when she moved it from her mouth, saw how she was now a shade paler, but he let it slide. They rarely got moments like these and he didn’t want to waste it arguing with her about her declining health.

  **********

  Present Day

  Gudale Prison

  Ebrim growled as he brushed the old thoughts aside in his mind. That day set into motion events that changed his life forever. And while he didn't regret his choices, he did regret some of the people he had lost along the way. It didn't matter anymore though, that was in the past, he had to look to the future now.

  Taking long purposeful strides, Ebrim pushed open the heavy oak doors of Gudale Prison's main entrance. He needed more corpses to bolster the army he was making and no one would miss people stuck in a prison would they?

  **********

  Sahiron was hungry.

  It had been days since the prison guards had come to feed him. And they only fed him junk like scraps of bread and cheese. They didn't bring him the good stuff, the human flesh. What he wouldn't give right now for just a taste!

  He grumbled to himself in his cell. Dressed in the light-green uniform of a prisoner of Gudale with a white straight jacket str
apped around his torso. His brown hair was greasy with dirt and lack of bathing, and his beard was starting to stretch out from his chin. He wore no shoes as no one wanted to scavenge around or waste time making shoes for people in Gudale Prison.

  As he sat in the corner of his dark and damp cell, fantasizing about eating human meat, he heard a commotion beyond his cell. It sounded to Sahiron like a fight was going on, which was rather surprising. Ever since the man with a staff came through and basically slaughtered the entire prison staff, only the occasional looter would come by. The prison didn't have too much, but the guards had to be fed somehow. And food was pretty valuable this day and age.

  This commotion wasn't a fight between looters though. Sahiron could feel the air around him tinged with sorcery. Someone was casting spells out there, good ones too, not the half-assed ones that feral magi perform.

  His thoughts were interrupted when one of the looters was thrown across the hallway that housed his prison cell. A rather scrawny man the looter was, dressed in something slightly better than rags. As he went to stand up, the looter was hit with a dark violet beam of magic energy. The beam hit him in the torso, incinerating it. His limbs and head flew in different directions, one arm bounced across the bars of his cell door. The barrier that kept him there glowed blue for a moment upon contact from the arm and then disappeared. A reminder of his imprisoned state. Sahiron snorted in disdain at the violent display, what a waste of good meat.

  Into his cell's hallway came a tall man with dark hair. A blue scarf went around his neck and he had these weird elbow length dark brown leather gloves. The man took a quick look around before his gaze fell upon Sahiron's cell. He walked briskly up to the cell and placed his hands on one of the bars. Instantly the barrier glowed blue. Sahiron snorted at the man's actions.

  "Good luck trying to get past that. I've been trying for years." Sahiron informed the man.

  "Really? and exactly how long have you been here Mister..." The man trailed off, waiting for Sahiron to say his name.