Rain... It has been a while. The rush of blood running through his veins. The tensed muscles and clenched fists. The teeth grit so hard his jaws creaked. The taste of anger on his lips...
Death!
This body called him...
Burn! Burn!
Burn! Burn!
Burn! Burn!
Burn! Burn!
This body needed him...
Pain! We Burn!
This fire that burned him…
Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill!
All of them!
An ax came falling amidst frozen raindrops, aimed at his neck. He sidestepped into the blow and rammed his elbow into an unsuspecting face then grabbed the outstretched arm and pulled, tossing his victim over his shoulder, following the throw with a knee rammed into the victim’s chest. It sunk quite deep with a pleasing squash of breaking bones when more irritants came.
More! More! More!
A woman charged him with a... Sword? More like a steel beam with a welded handle. He ducked underneath the blade and slammed his palm into her exposed knee, bending her leg all the wrong way round. She screamed until an uppercut closed her mouth, teeth spilling away from her smashed jaw. And there were more. More irritants.
An explosion tossed him away. Were they using grenades?
He rolled, got up and cleaned the woman’s innards from his face. Did he see it right? A man with a stick began drawing glowing symbols in the air. It gathered blue light around the sing and rushed him as if the man had thrown something. Moving too fast to avoid, the light reached him and splashed against an invisible barrier.
Annoying.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
He jumped towards the mage, grabbed his head and brought it down against his knee then twisted around with a crack.
Someone came running with knives, he grabbed them by their wrists while a kick to the chest sent the now armless torso flying away.
One arm he used to slap a warrior away, his shield buckling under the merciless blow. The second arm, still gripping the knife, he tossed at a woman chanting something behind his back. She did not finish and fell with a limb sticking out of her chest.
And yet more irritants came. Why wouldn’t they just piss off?!
Kill!
His girly arms were sticky with blood while rain boiled off without reaching his milky skin, marred with cuts and bruises.
And yet, more irritants came.
What would he give to have his gun or at least a good knife…
A woman thrust her spear at his heart. Was she even aiming? The tip went so wide he felt no need to step aside. He pulled the shaft then throw a punch at the woman’s stomach. She wore no armor; his fist came out the other side.
And yet, more irritants came.
“Enough!”
The most annoying one came himself and made the others stop and gather at the edges of a plaza. This one… familiar.
They all were…
They hurt us!
No. They will not.
“Silly girl, you had your chance to run. Now, you shall die for the glory of the true one!”
The annoying one spoke, a grim blade, veiled in black smoke shone in his hand. Then he jumped.
And he moved quite fast.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
But, not fast enough.
Piss off, all of you.
King! The King! You shall answer before the King!
So bothersome…
Fuck you all and fuck your king.
He pushed the lot beyond the mist, his mind clear, his red eyes burning. It took him a moment to free his arm from the corpse. Still covered in gore, he raised that hand in a mocking gesture.
Fuck you all.
***
Alarius
That gesture?! A spell?! He jumped sideways to avoid potential blast and rushed toward her side, the elven assassin the empire sent. How could she be alive after all those wounds he gave her? What kind of blasphemous magic that creature used to cheat death? No matter. He will not repeat the same mistakes. Be praised the true one!
Strength surged within him; his eyes focused on his target's. Yes, this animal shall become the perfect sacrifice!
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Yet, among the frozen raindrops hanging in the air, something peculiar happened. The woman covered in blood, with her eyes of glowing rubies, made a step towards him and reached for his outstretched arm. Her bloodied, talon alike fingers closed around his wrist and squeezed. Squeezed as if his arm was not made of flesh and bone but of slime. Squeezed until his hand could no longer hold his knife. All of that she made faster than he could move his eye.
Intercepting the falling blade, she twirled it in her palm and pulled him closer into a hug, her lips tickling his ear while his very own knife entered his gut.
“I am… Rage.”
Her whisper rumbled like a distant thunder while the knife made a full turn inside his gut.
“I. Do. Not. Run.”
Like a butcher opening a pig, in one fluid motion, she sliced him open from his abdomen, up through his chest and ripped the knife out along with his jaw which she too, cut in half.
Alarius fell backwards, spilling his insides out.
How could this be… He belonged to the true one, he…
The woman’s heel was the last he saw as she crushed his skull.
***
Rage
He screamed, anger boiling out of his lungs. The taste of mist hung heavy in his mouth, memories rushing back along the numbness in his palms and the voice… why had he not killed that voice. It is all because of him… his words.
“…It is my biggest shame that I have found you only now… you are a remarkable young man… your mother would be proud… no, let me rephrase that. Your mother is proud… yes, I believe she is still out there… certainly, with her skills… she has no equal… why won’t you join me? Together we may find her… “
Those lips that spoke what one wished to hear, why had he not bloodied them when he had a chance? Why had he not put a bullet through that liar’s head? Why did he dance on his strings? All the whispers told him.
Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!
Why did he believe?
Death! Death he brings!
Why?
“…That is beyond our wildest dreams… your talents… what a splendid asset you have become…”
Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies!
Why he wished to be praised more?
“…What is wrong with his eyes?”
“Side effects of the new formula. Perhaps we should consider toning it down?”
“No. Increase the dosage as planned… he moved? Is he conscious? Can he hear us?”
“Involuntary spasms. Another minor defect to address. At this concentration he won’t remember his name in the morning.”
“Minor defect? Should I remind you of your minor defect that wrecked level C? I lost six fucking platoons to get rid of that bitch! You better address all your minor defects before I put you brain on the wall! We can’t have another one…”
Pain! Pain! It Burns!
Flame! Flame! Poison!
Red, dense liquid dripped down into a tube that pushed it through a needle stuck in his arm. It dripped, dripped, dripped…
It kills us!
Why would he bother, the ceiling seemed so far…?
“…you with us boy? Got me worried for a moment…”
Faces he did not know hung over him as his body burned. The ceiling looked familiar; he must have been here before. Drip, drip, drip… His arm burned while the clock spun. Did he sleep? Did he dream? Pain came and went, bruises faded and appeared all over his body. Bandages change their position and color. His feet felt as if he run all over the world, yet his mind told him he had not left that bed in a long, long time…
Did he?
“…Good morning beautiful. Did you have a good dream?”
New, almost feline voice whispered beside him. Jade eyes watched him from behind purple glasses, surrounded by a black, thick mane. She hovered over him, flashing light into his eyes. Her scent tickled his nose. He had no idea what can smell like that but, he found it… pleasing.
No less pleasing than her oriental beauty and the curves peeking at him from a cut in her blouse.
“Naughty boy.”
She bopped his nose with her finger but did nothing else to stop his eyes. Her lab coat remained unbuttoned.
“... you have a lot of work ahead of you so be a good boy and go back to sleep for now and when you'll wake up, we shall have…”
Whatever she injected into his IV made his eyes close while her voice drifted away.
Yet, her scent remained.
“… unacceptable…”
Again, the voice he should have snuffed… but why should he… why he could not remember. He felt he should but…
“Have I not made myself clear, General? You wished me to fix what your people had broken. I cannot do so when you hinder me at every turn…”
“You had two years to play house, I need a soldier not a broken child!”
“Humans are not toys to be fixed with spare parts! His mind is…”
“I don’t give a fuck about his mind! You have three weeks, make him mission ready or the deal is off. “
Kill.
But the sleep came first.
“…it is a simple reconnaissance… go in and out…”
Even on the plane their lies continued. He jumped into the night wrapped in a web of lies and landed knee deep within the mist…
…And death. The entire place seemed dead. Not even mosquitoes came to pester them.
Their headsets hissing with static, his gun slung over his back. Readings were negative. No radiation, air showing no known contaminants. Aside from those unlucky fellas that died of acute lead poisoning, long before they reached this point, nothing else seemed noteworthy.
There were no guards either. Alive, that is.
“…Charlie Mike”
Orders came and his body moved as it was taught to. His gun took place of binoculars in his arms and he run down the slope for the next cover, mist swirling with each his step.
He did not like that mist. Whispers always hid within a mist but, not this one. This one brough unspoken, dead silence.
Just mist. Their tech said. Tested it for a whole day before they jumped and got nothing. Just mist.
If it were just mist, they would not be sending them in full NBC…
“…The hell happened here…”
Pools of sweat sloshed underneath his rubber suit as they run past another emaciated group in a getup like theirs.
“…Russians?”
By the look of their gear, probably. Just… whatever killed them, did so from behind. They were running away. No weapons.
“Delta, get your ass here…”
He ran to the one calling and joined the rest of the squad, staring at a hatch…
“Chinese?”
The characters sure were Chinese but the language used… Mandarin? It did not make sense in Japanese so, probably.
“Movement!”
As one they rushed for cover and waited yet while the time crawled, nothing occurred. If there were hostiles out there, if there were people out there, none tried to make contact.
“There’s nothing there… Clear on all sensors.”
“Must been the mist…”
“Delta?”
“Mandarin, something about the mist. Don’t know. Never seen those characters before.”
Something important since she spent her last moments writing it. The upper portion of the messenger remained at the end of the sentence while her lower parts were gone somewhere in the mist.
He saw people and animals cut in half but… something tore that woman in half. Something that made her drag her torso away, organs spilling…
“A warning.”
Not much of an insight, given the circumstances.
“Uplink?”
“No change. Either the radio’s fubar or something in this mist is killing off the signal. We get twelve feet range and that’s it.”
“Echo, Foxtrot, secure the exit. Rest on me.”
They had to cycle the airlock by hand and pry off the inner hatch. Something bent it out of shape. Pressure? Smoke… not smoke, more mist rushed into the airlock restraining their visibility. Their googles hardly cut into a foot or two of that thick veil while somewhere beyond the edge of the bulkhead a siren wailed.
And the whispers came.
Leave, leave! Now! Must leave! Now!
Do not go! Get out!
Fear. Paralyzing, fear crept through his whole being. Even veiled with mist, he knew.
It stood before him.
Others started firing. Tracers rushing past his head.
Pointless.
He knew.
They found death and it stood before him.
“… wake him up.”
“I strongly advise against that…”
“Wake him up, that’s an order.”
Something clicked. What a familiar sound… where…
Pain.
Her hands shook today for whatever reason. He felt it through the needle. He felt it in her grip.
Voice.
“…hear me?”
His arms and legs were cuffed.
“… happened? …where… others? …report…”
Words he had no care for passed through his mind. The ceiling he knew. It comforted him while tubes running down his nose pumped oxygen into his lungs, clearing out mist…
He had to run away, away from the mist he had to run!
“Hold him!”
“… what is going on?!”
“You send those men to hell and want me to patch them up… it’s a miracle he survived!”
More needles one after another jabbed into his arm, closing his eyes.
The mist… he had to run.
The eyes were still there…
He ran…
The eyes saw.