Surrounded by four soldiers who had used the sacrifices of their comrades to brutally assault the two Terrans, Stefan and Gareth were finally at a loss. Gareth’s merciless slaughter of over 10 Angels ended. Had he not had to call Stefan down from the tree, this wouldn’t have happened. However, he did not blame the boy. He became his responsibility the moment he picked his sleeping body up from the forest in Derban. He had to fulfill his duty.

Maedoc picked Stefan’s injured form up by the neck with a single hand, forcing him onto his feet.

“First Lieutenant Reynders, summon the Light Craft. Call for unmanned drones to recover the corpses of our comrades.”

The first lieutenant obeyed her superior and pulled out her holographic communicator, requesting for resources from the Titan’s Yeupis Headquarters in the south of the continent. Given the speed of Light Pillars, the arrival of the resources wouldn’t even take a second. The two remaining second lieutenants kept their pistols trained on Gareth.

“Terran…” Maedoc said to Gareth as his tight hand remained on Stefan’s neck. “It’s as if you were trained by an older generation of Titans. Might I ask who you are before we handcuff you?”

“I’m not obligated to give you answers, scum.”

“Then you’ll have to speak before the General herself. You’re too extraordinary of a Terran for her to be unaware of you.”

“Your General and your entire bastard species can piss off.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve taken it upon yourself to make us piss off?” Maedoc asked, the Light Pillars descending all around him. The dazzling show of gold around him made him appear like royalty, although in truth he was not even a noble. He was simply a commoner, doing his job as he was assigned.

The light-propelled transport vehicles had long since arrived. The hatch to one of them arrived, and Maedoc was about to shove Stefan through it, when suddenly, an ear-splitting bang rang through the air. A body fell to the ground, a second lieutenant’s blood raining over Gareth. There was no time to process it, as a second raucous shot was fired from far, far away, taking down the other second lieutenant.

“Snipers?” Maedoc gasped, his hand dropping Stefan. “From wh—

A third and final shot cut him off, turning his first lieutenant’s skull into little more than a mangled chunk of flesh and bone.

Stefan wasted no time and used his non-dislocated arm to plunge his sword into Maedoc’s stomach until three feet of the blade jutted out from him. He swiftly drew it out of the still-alive man, swiping it in the air and showering the major in his own blood. The soldier stumbled back, wheezing painfully as he tripped and involuntarily sat on a boulder.

“Well, Stefan… what should we do with him?” Gareth asked, pushing himself up slowly with his fine left arm.

“I… I don’t know.”

“I say we leave him alive. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“To send a message to his general for me. Gareth the Angel-Slayer lives.”

Gareth kicked a lump of wet dirt at the downed Titanian soldier, then calmly walked out of the forest, clutching his injured right arm. Stefan knew to follow him.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t think the man who had saved his life six months earlier was capable of such horrid, cruel carnage. Gareth was a truly extraordinary man. No person should’ve been able to do as much as touch an Angel, but there Gareth was, slicing through them, cutting them down, shooting holes through them like it was nothing. Killing Angels was second nature to him.

“Do…. Do they know you?” Stefan asked as the moonlit Marius once again returned to view.

“I’ve only ever killed a thousand of them.” Gareth said, reverting to his cryptic, mysterious way of speech.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Will I… have to kill that many?”

“Death isn’t the only variable that changes the state of things,” Gareth said. “But it is certainly a large one.”

Stefan stopped in his tracks, his body trembling with anxiety. He dropped to his knees and threw up.

-

“You didn’t have to take the boy with you.” Dr. Bernard grumbled before a shirtless Gareth as he wrapped bandages over his right arm and his torso, having finished suturing up his bullet wounds.

“He cannot fight for his family if he does not witness battle firsthand.” Gareth contended.

“Killing is not the only way to bring peace to a wounded mind, Gareth.” Dr. Bernard lectured.

“It is a way, is it not, doctor?” Gareth said, putting extra emphasis on the third word.

Dr. Bernard tightened the wrappings on Gareth, ignoring his question.

“By the way,” Gareth said as the doctor finished his treatment. “Once Stefan and I are fully healed, we’ll have to leave town.”

“You’ll be better in a week,” Felix said. “Are you returning to your base?”

“Not yet,” Gareth answered. “I’d like to investigate something. I want to find out who saved Stefan and I from those last few Titanians.”

“It was obviously the Black Shield,” Felix answered matter-of-factly. “What’s there to investigate?”

“People fight the Angels, but not for the same reasons. I’d like to see if the Black Shield and I have common interests.” He said, getting up.

“I see,” Dr. Bernard said, following Gareth to see him off at the door, who would return to the inn. “Please, get some rest. I’ll visit you tomorrow night.”

Gareth waved a hand without looking as he stepped out the door. The sky above the Bernard house was a myriad of orange, red and pink, a sign of the new rising sun.

“…or tonight, I should say.” Dr. Bernard corrected himself.

-

“You fought the Angels? And killed them?” Leon asked in awe as he and Stefan sat in his sister’s old bedroom.

“Be a bit quieter,” Stefan reminded. “We’re well into the morning, but Anwen’s still off dreaming away.”

“Oh, sorry.” Leon smiled. In truth, he wasn’t very excited that his new friend had killed some of humanity’s oppressor. Rather, he wanted to cheer him up. Like his grandfather, he believed that life was a precious gift, and that murder was only something people should be driven to when backed into corners. He knew that Stefan didn’t want to murder anyone, even if they were Angels.

“Hey, Leon,” Stefan said, his mood still uncertain. He had only been able to sleep after the previous night’s chaos due to a tonic created by Dr. Bernard which aided in treating insomnia. “I... have something to ask.”

“Hmm?”

“You know that resistance group your grandpa was talking about yesterday. The… Black Shield?”

“What about them?”

“What do you know about them?” Stefan asked.

“Not much, really. Most of the town’s lads have joined it and gone, been that way since last year. Man… it’s been really lonely, to be honest. I’m really glad you and Anwen and Gareth came around; I probably would’ve died from boredom.”

A smile finally returned to Stefan’s emotionally exhausted face.

“What would you say if… Gareth, Anwen, you and I were to join them?”

Leon was taken aback. Joining them would only cause Stefan to kill more, hurt more. He’d give Stefan an answer, but one that would keep him off the topic of death.

“Well… I’m sure you and Gareth would be useful to them. Maybe Anwen too, since she’s an engineer. I’m not sure where I, a doctor-in-training, would fit in.”

“A self-taught engineer is not a real engineer.” Stefan scowled.

“You don’t know what I am capable of!” A young feminine voice said proudly.

“You woke her up…” Stefan sighed.

“Nuh-uh!” Anwen said, sliding off the edge of the bed, only for her feet to stop her from falling onto the ground as they pushed against the adjacent wall. “I woke up a long time ago. I just wanted to see how long it would take you guys to notice.”

“So… you heard everything we said?” Stefan asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “We can talk about it later, if you want. But not now. My head’s killing me, and I’m hungrier than a pig.”

“A-Anwen!” Leon exclaimed as his eyes set on the girl’s legs, exposed up to her shins as the previous night of tossing and turning pulled her pant legs up. “I thought you’d keep your leg a secret!”

“I am keeping it a secret, but I know both of you guys now. I don’t need to, anymore. I couldn’t hide it from you even if I wanted to, otherwise I’d never leave this nice, cozy bed.”

‘At least she isn’t keen on keeping things hidden forever, like Gareth.’ Stefan thought to himself. The idea put his mind at ease. She might not have always gotten along with him, but he could finally say that she had trust in him.

“That’s fair. Let’s go to the bakery and get us something to eat, shall we?” Leon offered with a smile.

Anwen stepped forward, using the wall to guide her as her head felt like it would burst, and her vision was less than clear. Unable to perceive the ground ahead of her, her real foot stumbled over her artificial one, causing her to topple to the ground. Before the floor could shatter her nose, a strong pair of arms caught her.

“You have to be more careful!” Stefan scolded. “You blacked out last night.”

“Did I?” she asked.

Stefan frowned.

“…You did.” He confirmed. She didn’t remember a single event that occurred the previous night.

“Okay, well… I don’t need you to worry about me. But thanks.” She spoke.

She pulled away from Stefan’s support, quickly hurrying to Leon’s side and holding his arm. The boy was confused and simply allowed himself to be her support.

Stefan did nothing, relieved of the duty of babysitting. However, the fact that she couldn’t recall his care for her continued to frustrate him.