I walk her to her room, put her to bed, and I close the door behind me as I leave her to finish her vision. I quickly run downstairs to the cash register and search underneath the drawer to get my pistol, then I run outside. Just as she said, the air was full of gunfire and screams. Troops are entering buildings and shooting whomever they find inside. I quickly take cover behind one of the abandoned cars in front of the café hoping to stay out of sight to keep from getting shot or drawing attention to the café. Suddenly a tremor shakes the city. It feels as though it came from underground. It is night and I quickly make it to the manhole to enter the sewer without being seen.

Inside I see a flashlight lying on the ground. Next to it I find a body. It looks like Sokon, one of the Brotherhood’s generals. He must have been on his way to a meeting at the base tonight. I quickly run to check on him. He is breathing but unconscious, bleeding from the head. One of the bricks must have fallen from the ceiling and hit him in the head during the tremor. I pick him up and carry him out of the sewer, hoping to get some answers. I take him to the café. I realize I left the door unlocked and there was rustling upstairs. I leave Sokon downstairs as I hurry up stairs, gun in hand.

“We can have fun with this one,” says an unfamiliar voice.

“Yeah. How long before we have to report in?” I hear in the halls as I go upstairs.

These sick, twisted punks have found Fantasia. They have found the wrong house and I’ll make sure this moment will be their last. I get to Fantasia’s door and quickly open it shooting the first man in the head as I enter. The other one leaps behind the bed, but he leaves his gun on the far side. If he reaches to get it he will be an open target. Fantasia takes the opportunity to spring from the bed and runs behind me.

“What the …” the man behind the bed says. “I thought it was only women and children here!”

I’m not going to give him the opportunity to get out of this alive or to call for back-up. He thinks this was the perfect opportunity to grab his gun. He cannot be more wrong. As soon as I see his hand, I shoot it, and before he can let out a yell, I am standing over him ready to pull the trigger. I reach down and pick him up by his hair and force the gun into his face. I make him look up at Fantasia.

“Now say I’m sorry to her,” I demand.

“Bitc…”

I hit him as hard as I can before he can finish. I force him to the bed and press the gun into the bullet hole in his hand.

“Tell her you’re sorry,” I yell.

“Sssorry.”

“Say I’m sorry, Fantasia,” I command.

“I’m sorry, Fantasia. There. Let me go!”

“Fantasia, turn away now,” I say.

I wait until she turns and covers her ears before I shoot him point blank in the back of the head. “May Univer find my soul not tainted with evil, for I’m only doing what I must to protect his Great Oracle.” I pray.

I wipe the splattered gore from my face on Fantasia’s bed comforter before heading to the doorway where she sits crying while singing one of Univer’s hymns. Luckily, I got to her before they could do anything to her; but to think these dogs could have harmed her is more than enough to make my blood boil.

“Fantasia, I need you to be strong a little longer, okay? We have to find Timpuji and Nova.” I pick up one of the Gandole soldier’s M-52 high-powered rifles before bringing Fantasia downstairs. Sokon is waking up. I walk over to him, Fantasia not far behind.

“Sokon, are you all right?” I ask.

He moans for a second before he opens his eyes and rubs his head. He looks at me almost as if to see a ghost. He is stricken with fear.

“What is the matter?” I ask.

“I am shocked at all this,” he says in a sigh of relief. “What’s going on?”

“I found you in the sewer. It looked like a brick had fallen from the ceiling and hit you in the head. How are you feeling?”

“Fine… fine, my boy,” he chuckles. “You did me a great deed saving my life.”

“You’re not saved yet. The Gandole are attacking.”

“Then we must get to the base immediately!” he says.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Hopefully we’ll find Timpuji and Nova safe and sound,” I say as I hand him the M-52.

∞

It is not difficult getting from the café back into the sewers but the tremor made moving through the sewers dangerous. Many of the walkways are blocked off by fallen rubble. Nearly an hour passes before we are able to find the steel gate or at least what is left. By the looks a powerful explosion was set off within the base. One would think there would be no survivors, but Amùsen calls out as we search the wrecked base. He is barely alive holding onto life’s thin thread by the power of his diminishing will. He must have taken the brunt of the explosion and was thrown against a wall with such force his organs must have busted.

“What happened here?” I ask.

“Kai, there is a traitor,” he says almost at a whisper as he coughs up blood. “He set us up and doomed us all.”

“Who? Who is the traitor, Amùsen?”

“Sokon,” Amùsen replies as he closes his eyes for the final time and his body becomes limp.

Sokon is surprised. “What th…th-that’s impossible. Why would I betray the Brotherhood, Amùsen? I have been committed to my people. I have been loyal to the Brotherhood and the great God Univer,” he says as he backs up almost as if he’s getting ready to run.

I put a stop to that quickly and force him to the ground with my gun to his head.

“I would never conceive the idea to betray my brothers, to turn my back on the great nation of Aidon is not possible, not for me,” Sokon says hastily in his defense.

“You deceived your family! You stabbed the Brotherhood in the back, and the Greatest Thief will enjoy sending your soul to Fayták’s Inferno!”

Just as I am getting ready to pull the trigger, Fantasia pushes the gun upwards.

“Now is not the time for him to die, Kai,” she says in a voice that is not her own which means she is overcome by a spirit. “Univer has allowed him to be born again through his amnesia. He will find a new path in life for his time has not come.”

She must have had another one of her visions. I have no choice but to listen to her, though I think it’s a bad idea. I cannot go against the will of a Great Oracle. To do that is the same as going against the will of the God Trinity.

“Fine. He’ll live this time,” I say angrily, letting him up, “but if you step out of line once no one not the Great Oracle or the God Trinity will stop me from ending your life.”

“What is this,” Sokon asks. “She just had a vision is she a…”

Fantasia cuts him off, “I am the Grandest of Pillars, the last Oracle, Fantasia Singularity Tahira. Now let all blessing be to Univer.”

“Of course, of course and thank you, Great One. You have given me life and forgiveness in the Eyes of Univer. May I forevermore serve Him and you my Judge of Order.”

Fantasia returns to normal but has to sit down and rest after being possessed for so long. Sokon and I continue to search through the bodies hoping not to find Timpuji or Nova in the piles of dead friends and dismembered corpses. Fantasia stands off to the side while we search. After an hour passes we manage to find a dozen bodies all of them familiar faces. We can’t get any further inside because of the cave in from the explosion. We lay out the whole bodies in a row and say a prayer for the deceased.

“I do not think there here,” I say.

“Maybe you should kill me, Kai,” Sokon says. “If…if I did this then what right do I have to live.”

“You don’t have any right to be alive right now. If it were up to me, you would have drawn your last breath an hour ago.” I say sharply. “You have only one reason to live now, Sokon, and that is to protect her or die trying. Fantasia, we are leaving.”

“Where are we going,” she asks.

“To find Timpuji and Nova,” I say. “Hopefully Univer spared them this fate.”

When we are out of the sewer, we continue the search for Timpuji and Nova. We carefully walk down the street without being seen ducking in and out of the shadows of the night.

“There is one over here. He is carrying someone,” I hear from around the corner.

“What are you waitin’ for? Shoot them and let’s continue on to the next sector… I don’t wanta be here when da Myrmidon comes through,” says another.

I peek around the corner and see the two soldiers wearing the latest Gandole armor. They are following someone, it is Timpuji and Nova. The man raises his gun and I know it is time to act, but before I can pull my gun from the holster the man on the right shoots his gun and Timpuji plummets to the ground. My heart dives to the darkest depths of my soul. I’ve failed and, just as was foretold by Fantasia, Timpuji and Nova are not coming home. Hope is an odd thing. It can get us through even the toughest times. It is because of hope I find the courage to come out from behind the wall to save my father and brother and protect the only family I have. Because there is a small glimmer of hope they could still be alive.

Because of the Gandole military plate armor they are equipped with the only way to kill them is a shot to the head or throat. Unfortunately I have to get closer to do that. It is difficult enough to shoot them in the head during the day but at night for me it is nearly impossible especially with a pistol. The two men walk towards Timpuji and Nova to see if they are dead. That works to my advantage. I match my footsteps with theirs and am able to sneak up behind them faster. Taking them out is easy enough—a sharp blow to the front of the neck with my gun cuts off the air supply—and keeps the man on the right from screaming. With the man on the right down I have plenty of time to aim at the man on the left and pull the trigger before he has time to react. Amùsen taught me the art of stealth kills. All that’s left is to check on Timpuji and Nova. They are still on the ground and haven’t moved since they fell.

Suddenly the ground quakes from heavy footsteps. I see the A-147 Myrmidon, a large humanoid—shaped machine nearly ten stories tall covered with glistening armor plates that can deflect the strongest of tank fire. Its size is frightening; it’s presents overwhelming; it’s power unimaginable. Only a fool wouldn’t be stricken with fear by the sight of this God of death. This monster stares me up and down with its glimmering red eyes that burn like fire. I am unable to move, not even an inch closer to Timpuji or Nova. Is this to be my final moment? The monster aims directly at me the largest cannon I have ever seen. Sokon quickly comes from behind the wall and grabs me pulling me back beyond the wall. For whatever reason the God-like structure does not fire its cannon as if to mock us or to say that we’re not worth it. What will become of Nova and Timpuji? Will they die today because I failed them twice?