Jasmine and I had run into the woods using her explosions as cover to escape any pursuit. Her ambush utilized confusion well, and much of the Jihadian contingent was scattered and without direction. Their pursuit had little spine to it, as once her people stopped attacking they were happy to sit back to not risk further battle.

Her people were a motley crew, with no identifying insignias or uniforms. They were also far less in number than I first anticipated. Only a couple dozen of them ran through the trees with us away from the ambush, but I suspected there were more soldiers hidden out of my sight.

Now we stood facing each other as my adrenaline seeped away with my burning rage. There were no immediate threats in sight, but it was hard for me to trust a random girl who popped out of the forest and claimed to be my ally. It was all a little too convenient.

“What do you want with me?” I asked.

She slyly eyed me up and down. “I want whatever you do.”

I turned to leave. If she wouldn’t divulge any information, it was time for me to make myself scarce. Not to mention her attitude was fraying my nerves. I had just escaped from captivity, and I wouldn’t let her run circles around me with empty words.

“Wait!” She held a hand out as if to grab me, but quickly let it fall when I tensed.

“Come on, I’m only playing around. We risked everything to get you outta there. At least hear me out?”

I hesitated, looking around at the crew that surrounded me. It was beginning to feel like another prison with them at every side. One big man in particular was eyeing me like trash.

Perhaps noticing my anxiety, she shooed her men away and said, “let’s take a walk. If you don’t like what I have to say, we give you a few supplies and send you to fuck around in the forest again.”

A walk wouldn’t get me out of her power, but she had set off the chain of events that allowed me to escape Kavon.

I nodded at her, “a walk then.”

“Yay!” She clapped her hands, trying to take my arm to skip away. I turned my body to avoid the contact. She pouted, but kept her hands to herself and began walking into the forest.

Her personality and mood swings were wild. It felt like she was balancing on a precipice and falling off whichever way the wind blew.

“Now tell me why you spent all this effort to get me out of there.”

She turned, flipping that explosive knife in the air.

“Well, it’s simple really. I’m Chaos’ Champion you see, and you my fiery friend are creating a lot of chaos,” she said with a manic gleam to her eyes. “I couldn’t leave you to those stuck up Champions with their fancy armor and boring morals.”

“Creating chaos? All I’ve done is knife some soldiers and get in trouble with a vile Jihadian general” I said.

“Oh! You haven’t much down here,” she stopped and patted the ground. “But up there,” she threw her knife high to the sky. “Up there you’ve caused a spectacular amount of unrest.”

“Why!?” Some anger showing in my voice. I was so lost. How could I garner so much attention?

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She paused to look up at me, standing on her toes to study me in the eyes. Her body was very close.

“So you really don’t know?” She breathed out, hot breath hitting me in the face. Suddenly she twirled and skipped a step back, bending at the waist.

“Wrath’s Champion! Hear me now, given the chance you can raze this world, establish a new order and upset the balance.” She was suddenly very serious. “You could change everything!”

I was caught off balance. So that was what her soldier was referring to me as before Kavon exploded his head. Wrath was my mysterious God. The one who had contacted me.

“But who is Wrath? Why is he so important? What does he want with me?” The questions flew from my mouth. I knew so little.

“Wrath’s true name has been forgotten with time. So long has he been locked away.” She began tossing her knife from hand to hand, stating a name for each catch. “He is known now as The Red River. The Mad Priest. The Scourge of the Heavens. Among many others.”

I could feel myself paling. Who’s power had I taken in that room? These titles were foreboding to say the least.

“Why was he locked away?” I asked.

She shrugged, “nobody knows. Something to do with the Eruption.”

The Eruption. Little was known about that scorching mark on our world when history ended. Some say demons roamed the lands during that time. Others claim it was simply a string of horrific geological events that devastated civilizations. Whatever the case, nothing survived to give hints.

This God lent me his power. I could feel it now, dancing in my core and behind my eyes, giving me strength and filling the void. The Scourge of the Heavens.

I looked to the sky. This power came from a horrible being, one who caused unthinkable suffering.

My fist clenched. Chaos’ plans were a mystery to me, but he had granted me control of my life. The power to choose my own path. I could use his terrible power to cleanse evil from this world. To remove those who burned villages and ravaged the innocent.

My jaw tightened. I could be the sword that sliced diseased flesh from the healthy. It was something to strive for. Maybe I could change something about this brutal world.

Jasmine stood silent watching me with a satisfied smile on her sharp face. I looked her in the eyes.

“Ok. If chaos is what you want, I can make your dream come true.”

She cackled, nearly vibrating with excitement.

“Follow me then! Let me introduce you to my friends!”

It turned out her ‘friends’ were a group of grizzled mercenaries who normally worked for Styria. They were actually on their way looking for work when Jasmine ordered the ambush that freed me. She didn’t tell me anything about her background as we made our way to camp, and I didn’t press. Her history could stay as shrouded as mine.

Communicating with her was like a dance, each step leading to different responses from the person across from you. But she had control of the music and changed the tune for every move.

All eyes were on me as we made our way into camp, my presence sending a heavy ripple of silence through the men. A huge man, a few years older than myself, approached me with a stern look. I recognized him as the man who was trying to glare a hole through my head from before. He was wearing two small axes attached to his belt along with a massive waraxe strung on his back.

He got real close, towering over me as he tried to stick a finger in my chest. I held a hand out, not allowing him to shove me around. Luckily, I was stronger than I looked. To his credit, he took a step back when he realized I wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t know who you are,” he pointed at me, then switched his finger to Jasmine, “or why she felt the need to break you out.” He somehow glared at Jasmine and I at the same time. “We lost a lot of good men today, so you better be worth it.”

He didn’t wait for a response from me, instead turning to Jasmine and saying, “we need to talk,” and pulling her away.

As she was dragged off, Jasmine turned to me and said with a wink, “don’t worry about him. He’s just protective.”

With my only ally in the camp of glaring mercenaries gone, I sighed and took a seat with my back to a tree to keep everyone in front of me. This would no doubt be an exhausting day.