by James Somers
The world was dark. Luxana felt pain radiating throughout her skull. She smelled burning and vaguely remembered that their homes among the trees had been set ablaze. Sound was muffled and distant.
Gradually, her eyes opened, allowing light to filter in though it hurt to do so. She felt the leaves and cool earth beneath her body. She was lying on the jungle floor.
Luxana’s eyes opened. Dead eyes stared back at her, causing her to start at the sight. Despite the aching throughout her slight body, she moved to put any distance she could between herself and those eyes.
The dead gaze belonged to a sprite, one of hers, who had still been alive hours ago. Before she could survey the rest of the scene around her, a strong hand grabbed hold of the back of her clothing, hauling her to her feet. Her eyes focused upon a man standing before her.
She did not recognize this person. The one holding her firmly in place was the same blind soldier who had killed her people. But this man was different. He could see her, his eyes already boring into her from ten feet away.
The man wore a dark uniform with a red armband bearing some sort of symbol within a white circle. Luxana did not recognize the symbol. She had been living in this jungle since the sprites had escaped Galidel’s destruction.
He possessed a single square of facial hair sitting on his top lip and a head of dark hair, receding slightly, combed to one side. He scowled at her. Whatever this had been, he was connected to it, and it appeared to be personal.
“Who are you?” Luxana demanded, trying to pull away from the blind soldier.
It was no use. His hand was like a vice, much too strong. Rough calluses grated against her delicate pale skin. His hands and arms—literally his whole body—was caked in dried blood. Looking to the ground where hundreds of her sprites lay dead or dying, she knew exactly where it had come from.
The man in the dark suit did not regard the catastrophic loss of life. He simply stared at her, beginning now to step closer. His hands were clasped together behind his back.
“Why have you done this?” she demanded again.
“Do you happen to remember Anai?” the man asked.
Luxana was bewildered by the question. What could she possibly have to do with this?
“Anai is my sister,” Luxana said. “Have you done something to her? Where is she?”
With blinding speed, the man slapped her across the face, causing her to reel to her left side. Only the grip of iron upon her arm kept her from falling. Luxana could taste blood in her mouth now.
“She is dead,” he said.
Luxana started to cry out, to spit at him, shout or scream—she didn’t know what. Again, his open hand battered her, this time on the other side of her face. She staggered, but the arm held her firm.
“You killed her.” He was attempting to keep his voice calm, but his contempt still shone through.
“What?” she said, the blood in her mouth now staining her teeth. “Anai is dead? But how?”
“Because her beloved sister didn’t bother to warn her of the coming destruction of Galidel,” he said. “You left her and her son to die.”
Then it struck Luxana. A familiarity. “Adolf?”
Adolf grinned. “Figured it out finally? But then you wouldn’t expect to see me, would you? We were meant to die, after all. But you failed.”
Luxana tried to shake off the fog enveloping her mind. Her head was throbbing from the blows she had been dealt. “Adolf, Lucifer has caused this,” she attempted to explain. “He was just here. He probably told you all sorts of lies—”
“Enough,” he said. “Without Lucifer, my mother and I would have died. And now that fate has finally come to you and your followers.”
Adolf raised a Luger 9mm pistol, aiming at her head. Luxana was looking down the dark barrel. She tried to speak, to explain herself, but her mind was muddled now. She couldn’t get the words out.
“Having trouble speaking?” Adolf asked.
Luxana was surprised by this. Did he actually have the power to mesmerize a sprite. She couldn’t focus. Only his words came through clearly now.
Adolf smiled. “This must seem ironic to you,” he said. “I wonder how many times you forced the will of individuals so that they shot themselves. And now it’s you that’s looking down the barrel of a gun.”
“Adolf—”
His smile vanished, leaving only grim determination. He had been waiting a long time for this. Retribution.
Adolf squeezed the trigger. The weapon recoiled a little in his hand with the shot. Luxana collapsed, falling away from the grip of the blind soldier.
He looked at the assassin. “You did well today, Corporal.”
The soldier began to speak, but Adolf moved the barrel toward him. Being blind, the man didn’t notice. Adolf fired again, killing his guinea pig.
This had been another successful experiment. However, the serum still wasn’t perfect. Blind soldiers might have done well enough for something like this operation, but they wouldn’t survive long on a battlefield.
Adolf surveyed the village. Some of the sprites were still alive, but mortally wounded. He left them on the ground. The predators in the jungle had to eat too, after all.
He rose into the air using his power of flight. Some of the sprites had fled into the jungle. No matter. He had come for Luxana. The rest had merely been killed in order to destroy her spirit before she died. Whatever it took to meet his goals. As far as Adolf was concerned, the end justified the means.