FLay the heretic part 2

Lo'Ref found Angus' uniform to be nearly unbearable to wear over his person. The harsh Durik wool it was comprised of allowed little room to even breathe without provoking almost rash-like symptoms. The worst of which for him though was the blood-stained gas mask that did not cover enough of his face with his matted hair in the way.

"Hey...Stop acting like a toddler, you barely got grazed by those slugs--IF you mess this up for me; I'll make your life--" The soldier stopped in his tracks, noticing the expressionless gaze in Lo'Refs grey eyes. "Okay, I am sorry. We will get you patched up back at the capitol, 'Angus'." Lo'Ref shrugged, not wanting to upset him further as the man gruffly spat into the chalky settling dust.

The ache made it difficult to perform the action but it was better than showing the man his scarred throat like he had Beo. He wondered if the man, Angus, was just as talkative as this fellow was. They were nearly a half-mile from an apparent rendevous point near the glass-riddled gulley he run from the night before.

They trudged again after there were no other words to gleam from each other in a small moment among the everchanging Buritian foot-trails. Lo'Ref tried his best to breathe through the fractured mask on his face, the device making the scorching Buriti desert feel twice as hot.

His facade cringed as he imagined how much worse the man must have felt in his stockier armor. "Y'know, I kinda think maybe we can make this work...Angus was an ugly fucker--Annoying too, so nobody is gonna want you around either way." He hauled the large rifle to his side as he scanned the horizon.

"As long as you dont take that mask off or draw attention to the tear in your uniform--We should be fine!" Lo'Ref grinned narrowly. He feared the large man, but it was nice to have someone actually looking out for him. The years of loneliness, then daily assault by the SandHounds were not ideal or what he imagined would be his life after leaving Capitol City.

He mustered a low croaking grumble. "To-totek Moro." The phrase hit the soldier's ears, making him ease slightly. It was a Tahul term of endearment that had made its way into the common tongue of the people that directly translated to 'be patient, my friend.'

The wind kicked up as the rumbling of a large tank made them both straighten up. The vehicle whined and came to a stop as the cycling tracks thundered. Lo'Ref gulped, looking down at the massive barrel of the machine of war.

The lid above the weapon flew open. It revealed a short curly-haired runt of a soldier who was missing a single eye. "Boss! Angus, we have orders to head west and break up--" The wide brown eyes of the man fell into a squint, looking Lo'Ref up and then down. "Who the fuck is that boss..."

"Angus--What the hell do you mean?" The soldier only referred to as 'Boss' threw a canteen of water to the slacked jaw of the tank operator. "Unless you feel like something is off...Maybe we can all explain it to King Vasca and General Aiko ourselves--While we're just making sure." The one-eyed man tried to protest but found nothing to say.

Lo'Ref was relieved that even though his disguise had failed utterly, it seemed to be more important that Angus was replaced rather than actually be alive. He did not personally care much for the fact he killed Angus by accident, feeling the bullets he took after were a fee to balance Dhira's scales.

Lo'Ref heard Angus' last heretical words to the northern gods of Svet; He believed Dhira claimed him and would cleanse him. "Are you two just gonna stand there like LoveMates? Get your asses in the tank, gotta head west right?" Boss jumped with a fluid motion to the base of the armored vehicle. His vest and heavy clothing clinked as he rolled his leg over the second hurdle into the entrance of the tank.

Lo'Ref still stared at the massive beast, head slightly tilted. The one-eyed man, who was now standing at the front of the tank, stuck his hand out toward Lo'Ref, seeing the apprehension in his hallow eyes. "I would be ready for some shit...The west is gonna be--Hell." Lo'Ref took the man's hand as he was rocketed into the air by him.

"Not very talkative huh, guy?" Lo'Ref revealed the grizzled scar from when the SandHounds had slit his throat and left him for dead among the burning sands. He twitched as he remembered the agony he felt when the life slipped from his body into the glowing light above. "Oh..." The soldier put a crimson helmet onto his head, clipping the straps under his smooth chin.

"Well, if you survive...My name is Kellog--I'm gonna call you Tahuli, it shouldn't be too racist, right?" Lo'Ref smiled again, finding it charming. The soldiers who were minutes from murdering natives acted as if it was a mere day job and were operating as if it would be more abrasive to be racist in speech.

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Within moments of him entering the tank, they were barreling at top speed past, over, and through dunes Lo'Ref would take hours to cross alone. He looked at the many instruments as Kellog steered them toward a wafting plume of smoke off in the distance. They were silent as Lo'Ref saw Boss clicking bullets into the many magazines placed over his vest.

"Yeah...Sure looks like the SandHounds aren't going down without a fight." The disputed territory Bordering western Buriti-Vasca came cascading into view, the invisible boundary was tangible due to the mass graves and plastic body bags lining the perimeter of a chainlink fence.

The entire periphery of the barrier in most spots was either already blown to pieces or cut to shreds as hundreds of melee-armed combatants stormed from a large cave mouth.

"Boss what do we--" The entire tank bounced as the large man fired the cannon into the maw of the tunnel. The entire frame became molten as combatants exploded into chunky pieces in the grainy footage of the monitor Lo'Ref was watching.

"DIE DIE DIE. FUCKING SANDSKIMMERS!" He yanked the empty shell from the compartment and slammed it into the wall of the vehicle. The action caused both Kellog and Lo'Ref to recoil. "Plow into these little RATS! Forward advance, NOW!" Kellog pushed the mechanisms forward, sweating as he motioned to Lo'Ref.

"Put your fucking seatbelt on!" Kellog's voice came through terrified, his hands now trembling. The closer they got, the more SandHounds met their end to either the swiveling fire of the tank, crushing treads, or even artillery fire that came with their entry into the fray.

They drifted to a halt as Boss racked another shell into place before aiming it, his teeth gritting against each other. As they let loose another incendiary round into the charging SandHound warriors, the men heard the scratch of daggers and other sharp weaponry scrapings at the locked cabin door above. "Shit..." They had advanced far past the pushing line of infantry.

Boss swung the barrel skyward, allowing the incoming Vascan forces to gauge how badly they were overrun by their assailants. The squelch of the bodily liquids jamming the tracks became even more apparent than the native speech that arrived through the metal lining of the tank. Lo'Ref heard mention of 'firesticks' and ducked his head down while shielding Kellog.

The top blew off the vehicle of war within seconds. Blasting Boss inward on top of the other two men stationed below in a violent collision. Lo'Ref remained conscious but the entire lower half of his body was now pinned by the heavy weight of the military officer.

SandHound warriors peered into the vehicle, stopping to let the smoke clear from their entry. With the remaining might, Lo'Ref had he took the rifle that had fallen next to him from the now-sleeping Boss. Its heavy weight was foreign to Lo'Ref.

He fired on the whites of their eyes, spewing brain matter everywhere and caking the interior in blood. He heard the other scream as they backed away. Lo'Ref fired more rounds into the open gap, finding glancing targets of the ones not fleeing the altercation. Lo'Ref listened to the sounds of more Vascan tanks getting closer and closer as the gun clicked out of bullets.

The adrenaline finally wore off, he felt the pain of his own bullet wounds and the pressure of the large man almost crushing his malnourished bones. Twighlight took his eyes, finding himself sleeping with them popped clean open under Angus' gasmask.

He was transported to a tremendous yawning chasm that illuminated with a transfixingly stunning green glow. The sounds of battle were gone. The goosebumps that prickled his skin faded into a euphoric feeling on his forehead. Lo'Refs pineal gland wiggled and squirmed within, tickling behind his eyesockets and nasal cavity.

The setting before him shifted into a large womb-like dome that encased the entire landscape of Buriti-Vasca in his bird's eye view from the cliffside he was resting upon. It churned upon itself. Sands brewed like simmered water in a large vegetable soup below.

The cauldron was beckoning him, calling his name almost...But it was not his name, it was more of a buzz in his essence that he was drawn to more than life itself; As if he was not the only one privy to this display in its pervasive hum.

He wasted no time and dove headfirst into the sands below. Clouds passed him while the sky became black, his body only finding ice-cold water in place of what he expected from the plunge. He spun for a time, allowing himself to relax in the grips of the dream world. Lo'Ref would have stayed inside the fantasy forever.

"Hello..."The abrupt entry of a sinister energy led him to now fear the place he was drifting through, hearing the same voice as the one Beo's spirit had used. "Supping the profane grace of the one of the waters? How unbecoming of you..." Lo'Ref flung his arms out fruitlessly into the darkness surrounding him.

"Du'Esh permeates what is meant to be MINE! Oozing her filthy spindles into my people and their lowly subjects, do you even recognize my holiness?" Lo'Ref covered his ears and eyes. The dread did not allow him to ascertain anything from this mind-skinning encounter with an outer being.

He kept them firmly closed to anything around him; Until his eyelids were burnt to ash and his ears blasted to the core with superheated waves of power. Lo'Ref screamed out, anticipating pain. He felt nothing. The sound of his voice after so long caused him to flinch from how high it was.

When he was able to obtain information through his seared eyeballs once more he saw the scene before him had deviated into a blazing mountain of molten wrath. The mountain bellowed over Buriti, exploding into a large crimson throne that melted and then cooled with each passing moment.

It was almost as if it could not determine the exact nature of itself. The people below bowed in reverence to the giant peak throne, Vascan, Buritian, and all other creeds of Izmar wept in the presence of its domain.

Their prayers coalesced into a loud moan that swept the wind toward the center of the volcano. Lo'Ref witnessed in hysteria as it detonated into an earthshattering detonation. The entire plane rumbled and shook until the seams almost ripped from the fabric of reality.

"I AM DHIRA! I AM THE GIVER OF SANCTITY AND CLEANSER OF SOULS!" Lo'Ref snapped awake, seeing only the dust-covered tank still in its place. The dream rendered him to a convulsive sob as he still was pinned down. Lo'Ref croaked, seeing the gloved hands of someone entering the tilted top of the vehicle.

He glimpsed the rifle first, and then the soldier connected to it. A little boy, no older than 12, came peaking his head into the ruined tank body. "OH, MAN! That was awesome! You killed like 9 of'em! just sent 'em straight to Dhira! BAM BAM BAM BAM" He laughed while looking down toward the other two men lying motionless.

The boy was gripping a large bloody machete fixed to his slightly gimped right arm. "You saved Boss too!" He hopped down and clasped hands with Lo'Ref excitedly, the smell of state-sponsored fig shampoo heavy on him.

"Commands gonna love this...Wait--Why are you wearing Angus' stuff?" The boy removed his helmet, revealing the almost toothless and grimy face under it, beaming with bliss. Lo'Ref still was left shuddering. he was completely unresponsive due to his premonition of Dhira himself.

End part 2