I decided it was best to have our new group lay low for a while. Obviously if I were to start another incident like the liberation of the slaves, I would have been easily caught. Instead we hid and proceeded to act normally. At least as normally as people like us could. It quickly became apparent that we needed to find shelter for ourselves, and it was not in a tiny run down inn that could barely hold the likes of Brutus.

When we were able to, we would do smaller jobs. After all this time it's hard to imagine myself taking on the work of a bodyguard for a rich noble in the city compared to where I am now, but everyone has to start somewhere. I was not one of those sickly soft kings who only earned the position because my father bedded my mother and they happened to be royalty. I worked hard to get to where I am today.

Brutus was very good at getting jobs to be a bodyguard with me. It almost felt like I was offering him up as a prized bull. Not that he cared of course. Brutus was more than happy to have an excuse to knock some heads and show his strength off. The giant of a man knew exactly how to make himself look like the most formidable opponent.

Cao Tzu became my closest confidant. Thanks to our unique method of communication, any secrets we had were strictly kept between each other. Though I could sense that she was getting somewhat restless. Since I met her, I had the feeling that something had crippled her. Not just the nails going through her wrists, but something else was done to her that she couldn’t —or wouldn’t— elaborate on. She had been handicapped in some way as far as abilities went. Aside from her lack of ability to speak, she was perfectly functional as a warrior.

Mil’Tuk seemed to have a natural affinity towards animals. Stray dogs and cats gravitated toward him. He quickly trained the local dogs to be our guards. They proved to be every bit as loyal as a dog could ever hope to be. He had a closer kinship to animals than those of his fellow men. Men were complicated creatures that backstabbed and quarreled with each other. You know where a dog stands if you train and raise it right.

Straden was the eldest among us and knew the insides and outsides of battle. He was a man after my own heart. When the time came to recruit new members of our legion, I would task him with training the new blood in the art of war. At that time however it was only the six of us. In those days he provided military advice and support during combat. For an old man he was very spry and fully capable of fighting any of us one on one. Even Brutus had slight difficulty in defeating him in a sparring match.

And then there was Octavian Gallus. Octavian showed his skill right away as being a man of strong conviction and loyalty. He was a perfectionist in all things and skilled in combat. I admired him. He proved himself in many difficult situations in our time in Akari. He showed no fear or hesitation when it came to doing a mission. I asked him to carry out an order, and he did so without question. Very quickly he became something along the lines of my right hand. If our situation were to change, then Octavian would step up and take care of the problem.

Our lives became more complicated one day when we encountered a grisly scene. We were on our way to gather food and supplies for our small gang when we witnessed a crowd gathering. Curiosity struck and I ventured to get a better look. Joining me was Cao Tzu and Octavian. We waded through the crowd like a thick jungle and managed to get a decent enough view of what was going on. Three men were bound, stripped naked and bound by their arms and legs. They were severely beaten as evident to the bleeding scars from whips on their backs and more personal beatings on their faces. Their eyes swelled and some might have even been missing teeth. Keeping the crowd from interacting with the men were the guards from the temple of Ys’Tar. Behind the men were the true muscles of this force.

They were taller than average men. As tall as Brutus even. Their armor covered every inch of their bodies in darkness. Their plate armor was silver with hints of bright blue. The tips of the fingers on their gauntlets were in the shape of sharp claws, and their helmets almost resembled lions. Around the back of the helmets and their necks was a thick black mane. They each carried large two handed swords that they pointed downwards in a guard pose.

A priest of Ys’Tar stepped up to the front of the stage and held his hands out. He spoke with a voice that I would imagine would belong to a worm.

“Citizens of Akari! A great evil has been committed and must be corrected. There are some within this city who have sinned greatly against mighty Ys’Tar, and her holy prophet: the high priestess of Ys’Tar; the most holy of holy; the queen of kings; our fair lady, Lak’Ashara. Her grace has been greatly displeased with this city's lack of willpower to enact justice upon those responsible for defiling our temple and murdering our worshipers!”

I could feel my stomach wretch at every syllable that spineless old cur said. If I had my way I would have slit the man’s throat right then and there for the lies he was spewing, yet that would be just as useful as slitting my own throat. He continued to prattle on.

“These men you see here today have failed their holy lady. Because of their carelessness and their incompetence, they allowed barbarians to flee into the night without any form of punishment. Because of this blunder, great and mighty Ys’Tar has gone without the correct amount of sacrifices. To rectify this, we must punish those that failed their lady.”

The old man lifted up a gnarled warped finger and then pointed down in a quick motion towards the first condemned. The armored warrior raised his sword in the air and plunged it in the first man right in his spine. The man screamed violently as the sword ran him through and pinned him as one would pin a butterfly. The sword began to glow and siphon the blood out of the man like a leech. He screamed all the way through as the blade greedily drank from him until he was a husk. Then he burst into blue flames as the warrior pulled his sword out and resumed his position. All that remained of the man was a burnt skill that glowed with a strange blue light. I could swear I saw the man's eyes in those empty sockets and felt his undying fear.

The priest pointed at the second man and the abhorrent scene began all over again. He turned to address the crowd.

“Their life’s blood quenches the thirst of Ys’Tar, and their souls feed our blessed lady! But one thing is left to appease our anointed queen! There must be a proper sacrifice to appease the goddess. It is with a heavy heart that we must begin a mass sacrifice!”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

That last sentence was punctuated by the death of the third prisoner and his screams. The crowd around us murmured in fear, knowing that any one of them would be selected to be the next victims of this death goddess.

I didn’t see where she appeared first, but I felt something brush past me. Her shoulder brushed against mine. It grabbed my attention and I saw her for the first time. She stood next to me for a fraction of a second, but I felt as if time stopped. She wore a red hood over head and a black face mask that hid everything below her nose. She wore a type of head cloth that concealed her hair and had a fashionable jewelry design of silver and gold chain linked beads that went down her forehead and split into two rows of beads that loosely hung on her cheeks and wrapped around towards the back of her head.

Her eyes were marked with dark eyeliner to accentuate the beauty of her eyes. Her eyes were a brilliant violet color that dazzled and sparkled in the right light. The longer I stared the more entranced I felt as I lingered at her gaze. Not only were they the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen, but I could see the intellect behind them. The very act of being caught in her sights was enough to command respect, and even now I must admit that in that brief moment of contact, I was intimidated.

Her skin was a gentle sun kissed light olive color. The clothes she wore revealed that much. Her clothes were practical and yet showed much of her body. It was tight around her and allowed her to move freely. Her boots and leggings reached only up to her upper thighs. The rest showed off more of her skin. She wore a belt that had several pockets attached to it as well as a long cloth that covered her front and her backside, yet left very little to the imagination. Her midriff was revealed and showed off her alluring curves and well toned muscular body. Her chest was covered up with armored hip gussers that kept her modesty, and her shoulders were bare as opposed to the bracers she wore.

For the moment it appeared that the world melted away and the only ones in the black void of nothingness were the two of us. I focused on her eyes and she on mine. Was there some sort of connection at the start? It was hard to say, but I’ll never forget that moment.

She gracefully walked up the steps to where the old man was, her hips swaying and entrancing me. I almost felt like Brutus for a moment when he saw a good looking woman, and I was fascinated by the woman with the violet eyes. She walked up to the priest and whispered in his ear. He regarded her with a sense of awe and respect. The priest raised both hands in the air and spoke again.

“The gracious lady Ys’Tar shall take the lives of all who are chosen. You will be selected by a lottery. However, If one were to find the perpetrator for the terrible atrocity that occurred, then his or her soul would be all that is required to sate Ys’Tar’s terrible hunger.”

As the priest continued to drone on, the woman stepped down and walked past me again. We locked eyes once more and I swore I could see a sly smirk behind her mask. I did of course see her winking at me before she continued walking and soon vanished within the crowd of people. With just a few words in whispered tones, she bought time for Akari and its people. I was impressed. “Who was this woman?” I thought to myself and kept looking to where I had last seen her. My eyes returned to the stage before I gestured for my companions to leave.

Octavian spoke to me once we were out of earshot from the guards and cultists.

“Sire, I have no idea what game that woman was playing with you, but I don’t trust her.”

Octavian clearly witnessed the small interaction between the woman and myself. I continued to walk and kept my voice low.

“Keep your voice down, Octavian. We don’t know who may be watching.”

“That woman, obviously.” Octavian stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“She obviously knows about us yet she didn’t point us out.”

“There is a reason for that.”

“What possible reason could there be? She had plenty of opportunities to turn us in, yet she didn’t.”

“I have no idea what her motives are, but I don’t trust that they are entirely for our benefit.”

“I understand your caution, Octavian, but we have few allies as it is right now.”

“Forgive me my lord, but not when they have the best chance to plunge a dagger in your back.”

Stopped dead in my tracks and looked at Octavian.

“We will discuss what to do about this woman later. For now, we must figure out what to do about our present situation.”

Octavia raised his finger in the air. “Perhaps that is the reason.”

I cocked my eyebrow and tilted my head.

“What?”

“It is very obviously a trap, my lord. We go to stop the sacrifices before they begin only to get captured ourselves.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic. Octavian was no fool and I had to agree that it did seem like a trap meant to goad us and see us all captured.

“See? I speak the truth, do I not?”

“I won’t deny that it's all too convenient. But suppose we do nothing, what then? We simply allow people to die for us as we hide away in the sewers like rats?”

Octavian was about to argue when Cao Tzu raised her finger up in the air. She signed to me and Octavian was left in the dust.

“What is she saying? Can this not wait?”

I listened intently to what Cao Tzu had to say. My eyes lit up at the idea.

“Do you think it will work? Do we even know where they will begin their next sacrifice?”

She shook her head no, but she did have an idea that would cripple the temple and save the citizens before anyone were to suffer. I looked at Octavian and smirked.

“Gather the others. We need to get our plan ready to be put into motion. We have limited time, but if Cao Tzu’s plan works out, then no one will have to see us coming.”

Octavian nodded, now knowing that a mission had truly begun. As for me, I figured that I would be easily recognizable should I pull another stunt like we were about to. So I decided to change my appearance for a short time. My long shoulder length hair had to be trimmed short. My thick full beard also needed to be cut down. I cut it back to be a goatee, clearing my cheeks up and separating my mustache from the hair on my chin. I instantly looked younger compared to what I had previously. I felt like a new man and was ready to take on the next challenge.

I stepped out of my room and told the group about Cao Tzu’s plan. We had to be prepared for the worst because it was both dangerous and foolhardy. But what type of man would I be if I allowed others to die in my place? A coward. We had a small time frame, but I believe we had what it took.