Jeki hastily brought Jekaterina some clothes. These were clearly from the girl’s own tent, rather than from the wardrobe of the leader of Soultaker. Jekaterina now wore a skintight black suit that only reached her elbows and knees and was too tight in the chest, leather boots, and a crimson coat. No doubt that clever girl wanted to humiliate her leader, but Jekaterina was used to being uncomfortable. In these lands, comfort was considered a luxury, and Soultaker could live without it. She put on clothes and stormed toward King’s tent, shooting glances at the people around here.
The mood seemingly improved. Instead of the faint spirit of despair around camp, songs now filled the air, people worked more eagerly, preparing for leave and retreat. And yet Jekaterina knew that this was just a fluke. Should she lower her guard, just for a moment, she will get a dagger in her back. So she was on her guard, as always. Who will strike her first? Perhaps this Bento cyborg who was assisting in the movement of the injured? A medic from the Regulators? A Soultaker who was in charge of distributing food? Maybe Jeki and Jonathan were already preparing to strike her from behind? Who will it be? Who will sell her out first? She shook her head, forcing paranoia back. She visited medics, of course, for the mess that she is it was hard to lead an entire nation. Yet without the pills, she had a hard time trusting others.
She wanted to lash out, to strike all these traitors and schemers down, to see them dead. But she held herself back, as always. Striking without provocation was a path to madness. Jekaterina was many things. Failure, monster, tyrant. But her sanity was the one thing that she held dear. One day, one day when her son will unite Bento and Soultakers. On this day, Regulators will have no chance but to integrate into the newly made country. When this happens, laws will be reworked, with the help of King, a new era will come, an era where people will no longer have to starve or suffer. When her son adjusts to his new role, when all troubles will be left behind, when people are secured once more… She will walk back, all the way back to her previous self, and Jekaterina will relearn how to smile and laugh. She will visit new lands and will see so many wonderful things alongside her husband. And all will be well for all people. For this future, she will win this war, for this future, she will keep her sanity. One day it all will be fine again, and she will be human once more.
She reached the King’s tent. Compared to other tents, this one was made of purple cloth, a golden image of a snake biting its own tail was painted on the side. King explained that this was an image from the old world, it was something of a personal goal for him. This is why he took this as his personal emblem.
No guards were posted at King’s tent, meaning that either Chort or Huntsman were around. These two were like shadows, always following their master when he was out of his fortress. Chort could often be seen chatting with people, the gigantic Huntsman was somewhat of a mystery, even to Jekaterina. She never remembered seeing him eat for once. Huntsman enjoyed the company of people, and he was a capable commander, but he never revealed anything about his past.
Soultaker stormed inside the brightly lit tent. In the middle stood a table made of stone, with several maps on it. On the table was a large terminal, one of the few in the entire Resistance that had access to their combined databases. The maps were showing routes to retreat and places to regroup and counterattack. Several jars of wine, some of them empty, were on a table. A massive stone throne sat at the head of the table, one of the few chairs that could withstand the King's weight.
"Yes, retreat further from the Ash Forest and hold your…" King, the leader of the Resistance, fell silent as he noticed her. His enormous form, locked in the armor, turned to face the newcomer. Two lenses of his helmet, one of orange color and another of solid black color, seemingly pierced the very soul of Jekaterina, before King nodded, accepting that it was she. His robes covered him from waist to boots. The golden horns on his helm were moved backward in order not to mess with the ceiling of the tent, "Belay this order, Jekaterina is still alive. Make your stand in the Ash Forest and hunt to your heart's content, forcing them to bleed for every step."
"Expecting me to be dead, huh?" Jekaterina sat at the table, looking at the maps. King was moving fast, new orders for the Soultakers were already sent. Commanders were assigned or promoted to replace those who were dead or missing, defensive lines were to be drawn around Sun City, the capital of the Soultakers and around Moon City, Kurt’s city. Before she noticed something, Jekaterina wanted to make a snark about him acting without her consent. King’s order for Kurt to take Tehuoto and escape to Iterna, should the enemy close on Moon City. Her expression softened at this, noticing all the details, King even prepared a home for them in Iterna.
Oh King. She thought. It was so rare for someone to genuinely care for her.
"You were not responding to calls, we received no visual information that you were alive. Yes, I had to become a busy little worker in order to make up for your absence." King responded, putting a jar of vine before her. Jekaterina usually always tasted such things for poison, but right now she put the head of the warlord on the corner of the table and took a drink without hesitation.
King a visionary whom Jekaterina met some time before Dominion’s betrayal. Back then, he was an enigmatic figure, covered in a cloak from head to toes. He was preoccupied with learning about the local culture and making friends with the locals. After Jekaterina became a tyrant, it was he who ensured that she could still meet with Tlaltzin Bento. King spent hours convincing her not to give up on the man. In the end, she decided to trust Tlaltzin. It was the best decision in her life.
Soultaker and Bento. As far as couples go, this one was unusual, even for Ravaged Lands. She met Tlaltzin during her work as a mercenary. He hired their group to protect him from another elder of the Bento tribe. Back then, Tlaltzin was just one of the blessed ones, the upper caste of the Bento tribe, who replaced nearly all their organs with metal. Kurt saved his life, while Jekaterina was knocked out. Later, during a party, Jekaterina and Tlaltzin became drunk. And on this night, in his chambers, she learned his secret. Tlaltzin lied to his tribe. His skin was made of metal, true, but his insides were still human. Man had a different kind of vision for his tribe, one of uniting flesh and metal, not replacing flesh with metal. It was for this reason that he aimed at the top.
She abandoned him after becoming a ruler, thinking that he was the same as everyone else. Traitor, who waited for a chance to strike at her. And yet, King helped them reconcile. She owed everything to this strange, armored man. Thanks to him, she had two more people whom she could trust. King and Tlaltzin. In time, she might even trust her son, but young Tehuoto was still too young, only four years old. Thanks to King, the dream of uniting Soultakers and Bentos was getting closer by the day. First two nations will unite, then their people will grow and the cruelty of old will disappear.
She nodded at the head of the warlord: "I came bringing gifts." King held his head in his hands. The head, so much bigger than the head of Jekaterina, looked like a toy in the weird gauntlets of her leader, "They die just as well as anyone else. We can thin them."
"We will send this back to Reclaimers," King said softly. She was sure that he was frowning underneath his helmet. Soultaker never saw him without his massive cloak or armor, but she learned to read his mood. Everyone had the right to keep secrets, maybe King was one of the mutants. King carefully held the head, looking at it from all sides, "Kat, show some respect to the dead, please."
"Sure sounds rich coming from mister: "I'll order enemy leaders' bodies stuffed"." She drank the entire jar of wine in one go. Her tongue caught a chemical taste in the wine. This crafty, gentle bastard dropped one of her pills into the wine. He clearly had no idea how many pills she should consume, one barely did anything but dull her distrust of others, yet his clumsy care warmed her heart. Pills that she consumed before the battle were washed away from her body by her power, the moment she healed the first wound.
"This was just to appease the masses." He put the head of the dead enemy back on the table and waved carelessly, "Simple people need a reason for bravery. For a better future, I simply provide our people with one reason they can understand, so a simple person can die fighting and be at peace. I will write an official proposition for a prisoner exchange, will notify the reporters, and you will send someone to deliver this poor thing back to reclaimers along with our terms. Cruel words for bravery, actions to save the living. Call me a liar if you want. But I will not allow us to sink into depravity."
"Speaking of depravity, where is Blaguna?" Jekaterina raised her brow, looking around, "I thought we decided to keep her near you, to limit the number of people she can kill."
"All but ditched us. She took her troops and left for Regulator's lands, along with Yasen, just a few moments before you arrive at the camp," King shook his massive shoulders, "Insanity, but at the very least her betrayal will buy us…" He stopped and turned back, moving far too quickly and silently for such a massive body.
A silent whirlwind of darkness was behind him, near the wall of the tent. One moment it was oval, pitch-black darkness moving at rapid speed, the next moment it turned into a straight line, a little longer in height than the average human. Tiny cracks appeared in the air near the line of darkness, and finally reality cracked, revealing a window into some kind of facility. A room of white light, with people in white lab coats working on screaming patients strapped to the tables. Screams were muffled, but Jekaterina gripped the shaft of her weapon, half wanting to jump through this window. One of the patients was in the process of losing his chest, as metal saws were removing bones from his body. Another woman had her lower body removed by several doctors while she was still conscious. At first, Jekaterina could see no reason for such cruel torture. Her eyes widened when she saw glimmering red orbs being placed into the victims' wounds. This was glow, compressed and made safe somehow, but it was clearly a glow. The substance that turns normal people into abnormal ones. But... The barbarism of such a procedure! The chances of surviving glow were already slim, and wounding the people beforehand would simply...
With genuine shock, she saw how the bodies of the patients enlarged, their flesh cracked, and their muscles bulged all the way through, while doctors used some medicine, injecting it with syringes to keep the poor souls alive. They were still screaming, Jekaterina could see that much, even despite the way their bodies self-mutilated themselves upon accepting the glow. The sheer pain of such a transformation should render them mad.
A person came from the other side of the tear in space, a person of the usual size, black-haired, dressed in a white coat, black pants, elegant shoes, and a crimson shirt. His skin looked pale and smooth, similar to the skin of Jekaterina, a rarity in the Ravaged Lands. Countless mechanical tendrils were coming from behind his back, moving around him like tentacles. The whites of his eyes were pitch black, while his pupils were brightly lit with green. He smiled as he saw King.
"Speaking of betrayals, what the hell do you think you are doing, friend?" The man asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"I am afraid, I have no idea what you are talking about, dear Academician." King calmly replied.
"Oh, really?" Academician said in an excited voice, walking around King like a vulture that was waiting for its food to finally die for good. As he turned to the left, Jekaterina saw a massive metal device on his back, the source of his mechanical arms. Jekaterina wanted to kill the newcomer, everything inside her screamed that this one was bad news. But she kept her cool, waiting for the signal from her leader. King warned her not to mess with them, whoever they were. Academician looked at her and nodded, "Signal that will never do you any good, honey. King right here might have a "magic" helmet that hides his thoughts from me. But you, my dear, are but an open book to me, your power included. If you fool around too much, even "immortal" can die…"
"Stop making threats to my people and explain yourself…" King's bombastic speech fell silent the moment one of the mechanical tendrils struck forward like a snake, leaving a dent across his helmet and bashing away one of the gilded horns. It may be just a warning hit, yet Jekaterina started to rise.
Then she stopped, as she felt a hand on her shoulder, a hand that was patting Jekaterina’s shoulder. Jekaterina looked up into the face of the newcomer. Behind Jekaterina stood an attractive looking woman dressed in green. A calm smile was on the newcomer's face.
"Relax, Soultaker, and keep sitting. No one needs to die today." The woman said.
"Remove your hand, or I will remove your arm." Jekaterina calmly replied to this threat, and the woman only laughed softly.
"I would advise you to listen to the advice of Green Valkyrie," Academician was suddenly sounding like a kid who boasted about his latest toy, "If she is at the job, then any person can be removed from existence."
"Removed?" Jekaterina calmly asked, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to be still. It would be so easy to cut off the arm of this arrogant, little…
"I prefer terms buried, since not all of my targets can be killed. Sky burial, cremation, earth burial, chained at the bottom of the ocean, space burial... How do you prefer to be disposed of after your demise, pale girl?" The woman whispered with a silken voice into Jekaterina's ear.
"I've always wanted to see the space," Jekaterina shrugged, reaching for a second jar of wine. She gestured to a seat near her, "You drink?"
"Not that… yes, why not." The woman behind Jekaterina moved the chair and sat near Soultaker, reaching for a cup. Academician looked at this scene with disbelief and threw his arms in the air.
"I am a busy man and have a war on my hands. If you come to jest, then I suggest you find…" King came and sat on the throne at the head of the table.
"Ah, I see. You are a busy man, walking here and there, King," Academician smiled kindly, "As a fellow busy man, I can relate. However, you forced me to take a break from my job, and now you will take responsibility for this."
"Pardon me, but I am not sure if I understand the accusation?" King asked and Academician stopped behind his throne, mechanical arms slid over stone and onto metal plates of the King, slithering across the metal plates with a rattling sound.
"I will speak more plainly, then. Grug was sent to retrieve the KM-file for me. He found someone who knew about the location of the item, then your man, Yasen, killed an informant of Grug. At a first glance this could be a coincidence. But now you have used a weapon from the past," All jokes were gone from the face of Academician, the strange man used some of tendrils to lift himself in the air behind the throne, bending his body and looking upside down into the lenses on the King's helmet. Academician face now resembled the face of an angry snake, waiting to devour prey before himself, "KM-file, hand it over please. Or should Miss Green put an end to your lovely "resistance" right now? To be honest, at this point, I am fine with either way."
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King froze in place as the Academician put his hands on metal shoulderpads. The lenses of King's helmet suddenly became dim, giving the frighten impression to the massive figure of steel… Only for the leader to let out booming laughter and reach for something on his waist.
"My apologies, my apologies!" He lifted an old-looking flash drive, a thing that was barely bigger than Jekaterina’s finger. King threw it in the air and Academician caught it with his right hand, "It was just something I picked up on accident. Please, forgive me, I would have handled it over to you, but you were so hard to find…"
"Pray that it continues to be so. Because only my patients can easily find me," Academician smiled, his rage disappearing in a flash, as he looked at Jekaterina, "You have such great potential inside you, girl."
"Potential?" Soultaker frowned, taking a sip of wine. She was unsure of what he meant. You can only evolve your power once. She reached her peak a long time ago. Ever since Dominion betrayed her, this body has never aged a day. Her hair was the same length, her muscles remained the same. Her power allowed her to get drunk and obtain new memories, even taking in the medicine... right until the moment when she was too badly damaged. Then her power removed all drugs from her body, leaving just the memories. She was worried sick bearing her son, avoiding any danger. A single thought was in her mind. What if her power decides that her child was unnatural to her body?
"Oh yes. Your emotions are bottled down, ready to explode in a flash of violence and madness!" Academician allowed his tendrils to carry him to the ground, stepping away from King. Enthusiasm was in the weird eyes of the man as he gestured with both hands wildly, "Just imagine such a moment, that you no longer need to pretend to be a perfect ruler who tries to improve the lives of everyone around you in vain. You can be someone you always meant to be, a flawed monster that tears others down. My dear, I will keep my eyes on you. If you ever decide to abandon your humanity, just call my name. I am sure we can be of use to each other. You will provide the spectacle and I will provide the means. "
Still smiling, Academician whistled as he walked back to the tear in reality. He stepped inside the room, casually throwing the flash drive up and catching it. Green finished her cup and stood up, lazily following him as Academician was looking impatiently at her to join him.
"Should I find Grug?" Green asked, stretching her arms, unafraid of the metal tendrils of the man.
"What’s the point? The fool was tasked with finding KM-file, let him die here in vain search for it for all I care." Academician caught the flash drive once more. Not a moment later, Green stepped inside the tear, and the distortion was gone in a flash, leaving not even a trace that someone was here.
"Creeped me out all right. Who was this freak?" Soultaker put away the wine and looked at her leader. Everyone has their past. But if there was a new foe for the Resistance, she had to know who they were.
"Elder from something called Organization. No idea who they are," King touched a place where metal was bent on his helmet because of the hit of the strange man, "But this is not what is important. Now I know that the KM-file is legit. Our victory is at hand."
"KM-file?"
"KM stands for "Key members was speaking with a glad voice, reminding Jekaterina of his past self, when he was busy teaching the youths on his journeys. He saw the expression on Jekaterina’s face and hurried to explain, "It keeps records of the movements of all the important people of a certain, now long dead, country. During the Old World, they paid visits to towns, city halls, military bases, and research facilities. The world might have suffered a reset, yet these places are still out there, waiting to be plundered. Of course, this thing is now in the hands of our "allies", but… I have made a few copies. Imagine the weapons that we will find."
King stood up, spreading his hands widely. His voice changed, now it was a booming shout:
"Enough of the dilly-dally for today! Use everything, but stall the reclaimers' advance. Do not waste too many resources trying to save Regulators, if Blaguna wants to be alone, so be it. Pull our people out there at the first opportunity. I will provide you with everything and everyone that I can possibly spare. Meanwhile, Bentos and I are off to do some treasure hunting. It is time for us to dig out something else that will put reclaimers into graves."
Jekaterina lifted herself from the chair, taking her weapon over one shoulder. Walking outside, she gave one last quick nod to her leader, saying her farewells. She made but one step before sensing a presence to her left. Someone tried to conceal himself from her. The steel of the Reaper of Lies gleamed as she slashed in the direction of a strange person.
The movement of her scythe was stopped dead, as two palms gripped the top of the shaft, stopping the blade a few inches from the body. Chort, breathing heavily, looked at Jekaterina:
"Heh, had to try a new trick. It seems I can’t crack the idea of how to replicate it yet," He joked. The man was acting strangely. His left hand was thin, showing bones underneath the paper-thin skin. His right leg was shaped in the form of a tentacle that was now slithering across the ground. Two traces of someone’s armored boots were on his face, large red bruises that ran from his jaw to his weird eyes. Chort released the blade and touched the bruises with his left hand, "After a certain chick nearly killed me, I kept markings on my face until the day I would settle the score. Anyway, sorry for the scare. My power changed and I can’t wait to..."
"You look like hell. Go and have a rest, you are no use to us dead." Jekaterina calmly said, turning around. She had no interest in listening to his boasting all night. Chort was a capable person and was willing to risk his life for King even now, but his vanity was his worst enemy.
All around her was chaos. If King leaves, command will fall to her. It was time to instill some order. She called the commanders to her.
****
After the war council, Jekaterina walked inside the tent meant for the abnormal prisoners. King prepared several such tents, all of them equipped with technology to prevent both dimensional and spatial hopping, technology that he discovered in the ruins of the Old World. Alas, because of their defeat, all this now was for naught, most tents were taken apart by Bentos. All, aside from one.
"Here is this bitch." The prison guard, a woman from the ranks of regulators, dressed in their regular uniform of gold and black, her face hidden behind the stupid silver mask and black cowl. She held a chain in one arm and pointed at the prisoner locked to a pole in the middle of the room. Several other poles were put in the room, all empty now. The machinery inside these poles negated the ability of the prisoners to escape via teleportation, and the guards within were able to shock the prisoners with the press of a button. Steel chains were made from a special metal, one that not even Jekaterina could break with her bare arms. A medical kit was on the ground near the tent's northern wall. At all times, there should have been a medic from the Bento tribe here and five guards, no matter the number of prisoners.
The abnormals were precious prisoners. Reclaimers paid generously for their release. After Jekaterina and her husband rescued four abnormals from the clutches of Blaguna and delivered news about the death of the last one, the Reclaimers let go five captured Soultakers and five Bentos. And not just the lower ranks, no, they let go of the shock team members and abnormals from the ranks of Soultakers. Whoever they are, the foes intend to abide by the rules of war and treat their prisoners well, even if they remove imprints from the Soultakers.
The prisoner, one of the doggies that was captured by the Soultakers during their battle against the warlord, had her arms locked behind her back, a long metal collar was put around her neck, ensuring that she wouldn’t escape this place. Her power armor and underarmor were taken away by Wohali, leaving her just covered by her fur. Two amber eyes looked furiously at the Soultaker. Only one guard, from the ranks of the Regulators, was here, instead of the standard crew.
"Who dared to touch her?" Jekaterina asked in an icily tone, noticing slashes made by the chain on the body of the prisoner. She walked around the captured foe, counting the damage, while the prison guard stood aside. Long lacerated wounds run across the hide of the prisoner. The person who was beating her tore entire chunks of flesh from her, leaving the doggie bleeding like a pig. There were wounds across her ribs, nose, snout, between her legs, on her shoulders.
Even now, the prisoner looked dangerous. Despite the impressive amount of blood lost, this doggie looked strong. The fire still burned in her eyes, the blood was clotting itself in her wounds, the prisoner breathed hard, metal collar that was too small for her neck, bit deep into the flesh. Judging by the scratched wrists and relaxed muscles, the doggie tried to pull out a trick. Before she was handcuffed, she probably forced all her muscles to their max size and, when left alone with a guard, tried to pull her arms out of metal handcuffs. Admirable idea, but the Soultakers were not that incompetent.
Looking at the prisoner, Jekaterina felt naught but disgust. There were standards in the Resistance, and she will remind all who dare to degrade themselves with torture that there is a price for breaking them. For too long, she tolerated Blaguna and her madness. The rot of this bitch began to spread, tainting all around.
"Yasen had a little bit of…" The woman choked on her words when Jekaterina grabbed her by the throat, pulling her closer to herself.
"She belongs to us. What part of treating prisoners with care do you filth not understand?" She tore off the silver mask from the face of the woman and looked into her green eyes, which were open wide in fear. She noticed blood on the gloves of the prison guard, "You too? You dared to touch our prisoner?" Soultaker demanded to know. Everything was falling into place. A single guard instead of a full team. Blood on her clothes. Jekaterina promised herself that the next time Yasen appeared in her presence, she would flay him. And to think that, at one point, she was thinking of replacing Blaguna with him! No, one rot just as bad as the other. She will tell Katriana to take away the promising boy before he too becomes tainted. Then, after the war is done, she will marry the boy to someone from the ranks of Soultakers and cleanse the lands of Regulators with fire if needed, restoring order once more and merging two countries into one.
“If you had just seen what they had done to Lalo and how many of our people had d…" The woman opened her mouth, jerking with her legs when Jekaterina lifted her in the air, choking her out slowly. The regulator tried to tear away fingers from her neck, but with the same luck, she could have tried to lift the car. This woman was no abnormal, just a trash with grandiose delusions, and Soultaker had had enough of the regulators and their childish disregard for basic rules. Jekaterina looked at the doggie.
"Do you have a name?"
"What do you care?" The doggie asked in a rasped voice, and Soultaker noticed traces of the chain links on the neck of the doggie when the creature lifted her head to look into Jekaterina’s eyes. Still bleeding wounds right above the metal collar. Someone tried to choke her.
"I am planning to let you go," Jekaterina said, "We need someone to deliver something to reclaimers. A token of good will and our terms, to pave the way for a future prisoner exchange"
"You sure treat your prisoners well." The doggie laughed, coughing out the blood.
"I assure you, this right here is my fault and my fault alone," Jekaterina paid no mind to the weakening whizzing sounds of the woman in her arm, the regulator’s eyes were about to jump from the orbit, her movements slowed with each moment, "Rest of the prisoners are under the protection of my forces and are treated well. You will be able to see them for yourself. " This was true. The Young Guard and Wohali did exemplar job. Chort helped as well.
"You gonna kill her?" The doggie asked, nodding at the regulator.
"Yes." Jekaterina said sternly, pressing the fingers around the throat a bit more strongly, causing the woman to spit water out of her mouth and jerk weakly. Tears and snot ran down the face of the regulator, and Jekaterina reached for the woman’s cape, using it to wipe out her hand. She frowned upon sensing that the woman had just pissed and shat herself. No dignity, not even in death.
"Seems like a waste," The doggie said carefully, "Sure, punish her, but why kill?"
Jekaterina nodded and dropped the regulator in front of the doggie. The woman deserved death, but after such cruel treatment of their prisoner, a gesture of good will was in order. While the prison guard lay on the dusty floor, gasping for air, Jekaterina untied the arms of the doggie, leaving only the metal collar on the long chain. The doggie clenched and unclenched her fists, checking to see if she was still able to move her arms. Her snout frowned, blood dropped from her long arms. Jekaterina reached for another pole and took out another metal collar, chaining the regulator to a pole next to a doggie, well within reach of the other prisoner. Let the doggie decide her fate.
"Name’s Kayleen," The doggie looked at the chained woman and she pressed her back to the metal pole, her face turning from red to white while horror filled her eyes at the sight of fangs in the doggie’s jaws, "What’s the catch? What about my armor?"
"No catch. We need our people back and we are willing to negotiate. Your armor is our trophy. Either agree to be our emissary and deliver our terms, or spend the rest of the war in the prison of Soultakers." Jekaterina ignored the pleading look of the prison guard.
"Deal then," The doggie said, straightening herself up. She looked at the guard and bared her fangs, "This place stinks."
"Probably because of this filth. I will be right back with the item that you need to deliver. She will treat your wounds." Jekaterina reached for the med kit and threw it to the guard. The guard screamed in a rasped voice, trying to charge after Jekaterina. Soultaker heard the tingling of the chain when the collar pushed the guard back.
"Wait! You can’t leave me with her! She will kill me! This freak will…" Jekaterina ignored the panicked shouts and left the tent, nodding to two guards outside to keep the place secured. The regulators in charge of this place were already relieved of their duties, proper soldiers came to replace them.
She walked to the King’s tent, took the box and terms for the future prisoner exchange. Before coming back, she made sure that the item within the box had some dignity to it, removing dust and cleaning it from dried blood. By the time she came back to the prisoner’s tent, the vehicle for the doggie was already being prepared, a simple buggy with a white flag mounted on it. Soultaker stepped inside the tent, noticing that the guard had a black eye, a trickle of blood flowing from her nose, her cape was torn in several places, the cowl of her cape was removed, showing short hair bleached by the sun. The doggie sat with her back to the pole, holding the crying guard in a tight cross-legged hold before herself. The guard was treating the doggie's wounds with trembling hands.
"What in this box?" Kayleen asked, and Jekaterina opened the box.
The head of warlord Dragena was inside the box, her eyes closed, her tongue placed back into her mouth. Kayleen threw the guard aside and stood up, breathing heavily. Her muscles bulged, her amber eyes looking directly into Jekaterina’s eyes. Soultaker prepared to knock her out when Kayleen took the box out of her hands, pressing it to her chest.
"Revenge is a fool’s game," She whispered, a single tear running down from her left eye, "I won’t denigrate her memory by indulging in this impulse. What should I…"
"Our terms are in the car. She will drive you to the Reclaimers’ positions." Jekaterina nodded at the prison guard.
"No! They will kill me! Mercy! Please, show mercy!" The woman fell on her knees before Soultaker, her arms reached for the leather coat of Jekaterina and grabbed it, "Please, I don’t want to die! Look at these freaks, they are cannibals, all of them! I will do anything! Anything!"
"Just drive me to our positions and all is forgiven," Kayleen silently said, "Who cares about a few scars." She closed the box, stroking the lid.
"The Resistance has no need for filth like you," Jekaterina spit into the guard’s face, kicking her away lightly. She will ensure that King will no longer have poison from either Yasen or Blaguna being poured into his ear. King was a visionary and an effective politician, but he was a poor warlord. He allowed Regulators to convince him that they could beat Reclaimers head on, and the Resistance paid for this with their weapons. No more. To win this war, you must know your foe. And Jekaterina was familiar with Wyrm Lord, she had studied his habits before the war. By returning one abnormal and the guard to his care, this will prompt him to release twice as many abnormals. His honor would demand nothing less. A trash for two hardened soldiers, the choice was obvious, "You are to serve this Kayleen as a slave here until the war is over. You will cook her food, clean her clothes and do other chores. My people watch the road all the way to the positions of Reclaimers, if you try to run, you will be shot. Obey and your crime will be forgiven, upon the end of the war, we will permit you to come back. Dare to disobey and I will give you to Blaguna." The threat was sufficient, the prison guard bit down on all her protests, bowing madly to Soultaker. This threat was a fake, of course, Jekaterina would never lower herself so much to give up prisoners to fucking regulators. But a ruler uses all tools to build a better tomorrow without excessive bloodshed.
She escorted the prisoner and the guard outside. Despite her distress, Kayleen demanded to see other prisoners, and Jekaterina allowed it, sending her own guards to escort the doggie. Meanwhile, she called Jeki to come closer.
"Take two members from the Old Guard, someone who can teleport. Ensure that they..." She nodded at the car, "...Will reach reclaimers safely. If regulators even as much as dare to come close, let the Old Guard finish them off." She put a hand on Jeki’s shoulder, "I am relying on you. Do it and leg it back here, we have our own land to protect."
"Yes, my lady!" Jeki saluted her, running off to join the forces. It was unusual for a member of the Old Guard to be under the command of a youngster like Jeki, but the confidence of the young fool was shaken. For her to be a proper knife in Jekaterina’s arm, this confidence must be restored.
She turned around and saw Chort. The mercenary brought new dire news. Something attacked their forces during the night.