Finally. Finally, it is done. Finally, my family can rest in peace. Finally, my brother and sister can smile above. Finally, my vengeance is here. Finally, Fa Fumerunner, the generational killer, is dead. I thought it would be more dramatic – he bleeds red and his body collapses on the ground as any other would. As a corpse, he is completely unremarkable. The world spins – I cannot move my body. It does not matter, nothing matters anymore. My mission is complete! I promised them I would come back when I found help. I promised my family that their sacrifice will not be in vain. So much training to become a guard, so much pain and agony to even comprehend what that man, no, that monster – no, that corpse did to them. The torture he put them through – if there was one regret, it’s that I couldn’t torture him myself. Bring him to a slow and painful death, just like what he did with each victim. I am a hero! A hero to humanity – a hero to the very fiber of our society. Oh, how Wol’zarath allowed me to be the one in charge of unloading the cart and thus gave me the opportunity to grab the knife… the knife… it feels so light, so perfect in my grasp. It feels so perfectly weighted, and it is so very sharp. I didn’t even need to put that much pressure into the slice. There is a click – cuffs have been put on my wrists. Wait, I am being arrested?
“Why are you arresting me? I did what you all lacked the balls to do. I served him justice!” I look around, unable to fathom how this is an action worthy of arrest.
“Guard number 3812, Gan Galeweaver, do you know what you have done?”
“I served justice.”
“You killed someone on Death Rows march.”
“Who gives a flying fuck if he was on Death Rows march or on an afternoon stroll!? That is one of the, if not the most prolific killer of all time, and he fucking escaped because of the potential guards' incompetence. Thank Wol’zarath he was found before more victims but it was only a matter of time. Why did he even have a Dreg weapon with him when not on the road?!”
“Gan, you speak out of order. I am your Captain-”
“Not anymore! I have done my part, I have made this world a safer place. I have gotten revenge for my family. For every family that Fa Fumerunner split apart – for every soul, he left destitute. I quit-”
“GAN!” the captain is a terrifying person when they get angry, the sheer force resonating from their shout sends shivers down my spine. I cannot help but shut up and stand to attention, with restrained wrists. The captain takes a step closer. I can smell the morning coffee on their breath. I am painfully dragged away by the captain as medics run into the room, trying to resuscitate Fa. Good-fucking-luck bringing a disemboweled person back. The stomach is a remarkably deadly place to be slashed open. I learned that fact from you, Fa Fumerunner. I hope you enjoyed tasting your own technique – the same one you killed my family with. If only I had time to string you up like they were. If only…
A door slams open and I am thrown inside. I almost fall over but manage to stay standing.
“Gan, you don’t realise what you have done.”
“I told you, I know exactly what I have done. I have done justice. I have gotten my revenge – everyone’s revenge.”
The Captain just shakes their head and sighs, “Who are you to make that call? We have a justice system for a reason.”
“I am the one who got away. I am the one who led guards to find Fa Fumerunner finally. My family – parents and siblings – all died at his hands. I, and only I, should have the right to kill him. And I have.”
The captain rubs their temples, deep in thought, “While I do not know your pain, I can understand your frustration. I have seen many criminals on the march who should have met their end sooner, but there is a reason to all this. Besides, killing is one thing. You do not realise what you have done, it seems.”
“The fuck you mean?”
“What is that blades name?”
“Savra, of course.”
The captain looks at me, their eyes filled with a deep sadness. The sorrow of watching a loved one die in their arms. It almost makes me tear up. “How did you learn that name?”
“I… I heard it somewhere?” fuck, how did I hear it? When did I hear it? How do I know this name? Savra? What a weird name. I would never have thought of that. “What about it? Its poetic that I killed that fucker with his own knife!”
“The knife you are still holding.”
“Why would I ever keep holding such a filthy blade-” There is something light and cool in my grasp. It feels so right, I can never let go. I am holding onto the joy of vengeance, and it is delicious.
“You cannot let go of that blade. By killing with dreg, you have bonded to it. You have become a dreg of society. I'll let you in on a secret – do you know why we don’t use dreg weapons as guards?”
“I… hadn’t really thought of that before. Now that you say it, I can’t remember ever seeing a Dreg weapon.”
“Because Dreg weapons will always end up killing. There has never been a Dreg weapon in history that hasn’t been lethal. Those who can make dreg weapons should all be put to death but alas, there are positives to them. Hunters can use them to great effect when it comes to killing monsters and beasts. Dregs as currency is important to continuously create.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
I nod along, as the captain talks, they get calmer and more relaxed. It's kind cool, they are opening up for the first time ever and it's like we are just friends chatting. These cuffs are probably just for show, huh?
“Yeah, yeah, that makes sense and I agree. I always hated Dreg weaponry, especially after one killed my family. It is still surreal to me that I killed Fa. I am shocked that he bleeds red blood, I thought for sure it would be black or a putrid green.”
“Gan, you are listening, but aren’t understanding anything. You have bonded with a Dreg weapon, that makes you a loose cannon, a potential killer. No one knows how Fa let go of the dagger – such willpower is beyond anything I have ever seen before.”
“Are you really complimenting that fucker in front of me?!”
“I am stating facts. Facts about a man who was on Death Rows march. A man who is now dead.”
“Boo hoo, those rich fucking merchants can send their deliveries like everyone else now.”
“Gan. Shut up.” I stop myself from responding. Wouldn’t want more fuel added to the fire. “Come with me. We must return to the road. You must step inside for but a moment and talk with the Watcher.”
“The who now?”
“Come.”
I am led back to the door he came out of. It has regrown, but nothing a few quick slices can’t fix. I am still cuffed annoyingly. Once at the door, the captain takes my cuffs off. Damn things have been rubbing on my wrists all day.
“Thanks, cap.”
“You won’t be thanking me soon.”
“Ominous. So, I just go in and chat do a dude there?”
“You are chatting to the watcher so watch your tongue. Also, do not walk away from the door. While you are next to the door, you are safe. One too many steps and you will be gone. I expect you back in a few minutes.”
“Yessir.”
“And Gan”
“Yes?”
“Be careful.” There is a sincerity to their voice which is… heart-wrenching.
“I'll be very careful, don’t you worry!” I lift my hand to open the door – Savra is in my grasp. I am still holding onto her – her? No, the fucking blade. Fuck it, ill hold onto her. I open the door with my other hand and walk in. The door slowly creaks close and with a thud, I am here on Langnet’s road. The road itself is a long and windy black road – a dreg road? I haven’t heard of this before… Pretty cool.
“Oh, I am happy you find the road ‘cool’, Fa.”
Fa? What's this voice? The watcher? It sounds so strange – it is as if every person I’ve ever heard is speaking at once?!
“Fa, have you gotten dementia or something?”
“Who are you? Is this the watcher? I am here under orders of the plane of pastures captain.”
“Speaking to me – wait, I thought you were Fa because of Savra. Who are you?”
“I am Gan Galeweaver.”
“Gan Galeweaver? Wait… there is something – did you kill Fa Fumerunner?”
“Yes.”
The air boils with malice and rage.
“You… you killed him. That is why – everything is murky outside this damned road, that is why I heard a faint plea. That is why – why? Why did you kill him?”
The question comes across a lot more of a rhetorical one than anything, like regardless of what I say will actually change anything-
“No, no, please, explain yourself. I promise you, what you say will change what is about to happen.”
It fucking reads my thoughts?
“Yes, I can. Now hurry up – chop chop! I haven’t got all day.”
“My family is the last one that monster killed. I was the one who got away, the one who got him arrested and sent here. I had hoped for execution but no such thing occurred, so I became a guard. I waited until the right moment to strike. I killed him with his own blade.”
“I… was THIS close to breaking him. I was SO close to finishing the deed – to transforming him but NO!” a wall of burning purple eyes burst into existence a few meters from me. They don’t give off heat – no, they give off a rage so primal it is almost incomprehensible yet makes the hairs stand on my body. “And this absolute IDIOT decides to take matters into his own hands. You DARE meddle with my work?! I should be thanking you for giving Fa to me but now I am left empty-handed – do you have any idea how rare a soul like that is? A body like that is? An individual like that is?”
How dare you compliment that slaughterer. That killer. That beast. That monster-
“How dare I?! YOU destroyed my work. YOU gave him a way out. Now Fa Fumerunner is gone, released from my curse. Able to just move on. He is not trapped, he is not tormented for the rest of his existence and I cannot make any more dreg.”
What?
“That does not matter. What matters is the fact that there is no one on the march now. So, what are you going to do, hmm? You have taken Fa from me, now what?”
The burning eyes disappear and, in a blinding purple flash, a 9-foot-tall being stands before me. Its body is a cruel twisted mesh of eyes, fabric, and flesh wrapped together in putrid symmetry. The face is… monstrous. My throat hurts. I can hear another man screaming nearby, wait… my throat is hurting from screaming. My chest is aching from fear. There is a clattering – Savra falls from my grip.
“No, pick the blade up. You have committed a great grave sin. You have stopped a cursed person from completing the march. Do you know what you have done?”
“I… I don’t think I do anymore.”
The morbid figure of the Watcher leans close.
“You have moved my ire from one man to humanity as a whole. You have one hour. You return to me or find a replacement. If you do not, I will leave this place.”
I… the march… its-
“Yes. Just to let you know how much you fucked up, I made a deal with humanity as a whole. I am a monster born to bring your end. My very purpose is to drive humanity to ruin. While I could physically slaughter many, that is not a just punishment for the many sins against nature and Wol’zarath itself that have been committed here. No, I will take people on the march, torture and torment them, turn them into dreg, and let that dreg run the world, slowly destroying it from the inside out. I was promised, people. A steady stream of people to destroy. The worse the person, the better the quality of dreg.”
“A…and why are you telling me this?”
“Well, if you tell others, they will think you are insane. Spouting the same words that a killer did – they will think you have lost it. Even if they don’t, there is no proof. No, I am telling this to you as a warning. As a threat. One hour. If I leave…”
The threat hangs heavily in the air. My knees shake. By heart races. I tear up. I slam the door open and dive back into the plane of pastures.
“What did the Watcher say?” The captain looks at me, a recognition in their face. They have seen that monster before. Why are they so courteous to it? To our doom?
“One hour. We must give the Watcher someone else in one hour or else…”
“Or else?”
“The Watcher leaves.”
The captain’s face goes ghostly pale. Sweat pours. They start hyperventilating.
“Y-you find someone within 45 minutes, Gan, or you will have to go. No other guard has killed someone out of vengeance and bonded to a Dreg weapon here. I can't think of a criminal who has either. Find someone, fast, or you will be the next one on the march. They must be truly awful.”
No… that can’t be.
“One hour. I look forward to it.”
My head snaps around to see one hairy purple eye dimly glowing from behind the door.
Watching. Staring. Hungry. Haunting. Judging. Starving. Waiting. Salivating. Watching. Staring. Hungry. Haunting. Judging. Starving. Waiting. Salivating. Watching. Staring. Hungry. Haunting. Judging. Starving. Waiting. Salivating. Watching. Staring. Hungry. Haunting. Judging. Starving. Waiting. Salivating.