9/30 - Holy Lands - Fire Wraith HQ - morning

My arm finally recovered after that damn brat broke it with his head. I couldn’t do jack, and since Zell left, no one can heal us! It’s a bit stiff here and there, but at least there’s no pain. Still barred from going out, though; on Scar’s order. Going through my day-to-day is boring as shit without prowling through the wilderness, but that’s gonna change. Scar called a meeting. Those things are mind-numbing, but if it means doing whatever I want, then who cares how drab it is?

Showing up to the conference room, the other Flame Wraith captains are here, eyeing me, varied in tone. Although, the 7th captain is looking pale. Can’t blame her after her screw-up.

“What’s the matter, 7th? Still upset about your shitty op…?” Whoa, her eyes totally have murder in them. Probably wants to gouge out my lungs. “Come on, it ain’t that bad. Now you can show how worthless you are.”

“Says the vagrant who got his hand broken.”

“Least I fought back.”

“Last time I check, being defeated wasn’t a good thing. But who knows, a varmint such as yourself probably considers running away to be acceptable.”

I smack my palm against the war table rippling the impact across the table. “Wanna repeat that?”

“Why not, you–”

“Enough!” A cool voice thunders, invoking an authority over us. “Wildcard, Lexia, I did not call you all here so you two can bicker.”

Lexia leaps at Scar’s biting retort. Those eyes, they’re not giving any of us any special attention, but the tempered flames underneath them train their intensity at both of us. If someone told me they could set a person on fire, I’d believe it.

“Mrs. Lexia, don’t let Wildcard get to you,” Rickter, the 7th encourages her with that dopey face of his.

Heard he was there with her. For a big burly guy, sure is a massive suck-up.

“I called this meeting to discuss our current dilemma,” Scar raises his voice, flexing his authority over us. “...The problem we are currently facing is the group from the south.”

“Heard they got a big ass ride. Cool, but totally slow! Having a ride that doesn’t speed down a road is totally not speed,” Master of speed, or the 5th, says, acting like a dumbass as usual.

“...If they continue their journey here, it will only be a matter of days before they arrive here,” Scar continues. “...Unknown, their current location?”

The sneaky bastard comes from behind a curtain with a map nailed to a board. He circles an eastern part of the map, showing their general location.

“Many thanks, Unknown.”

“My pleasure.”

He retreats to his position next to Scar.

“From here, they can take this route to come to the North, however, that is unlikely. With Zeal and Zell, they will have information on our choke points. No, our chances of encountering them there is minimal.” He points to a part that leads into the west region. “There are approximately two ways to reach the north with a vehicle: our chokepoint, here, and…” He sets his finger on the map again, further up on the map. “...here.”

“That place…ain’t that where Laguna is at?” I point out.

“You are correct. For some time now, we have tried to capture that area, but our efforts are for naught.”

“Someone keeps killing our guys, right?” Speed adds on.

“Yes, even with the aid of Flame Wraith captains, it proves fruitless.” Yeah, I heard the previous 3rd, 9th, and 5th captains went and got themselves killed over there. “...Which is why I want to use this opportunity to flush this man out, as well as attack this opposing force. This mysterious guardian will fight them, giving us an ample opportunity to defeat the victor.”

“Such an elaborate plan,” the 2nd, for the first time since this meeting started, spoke. “...However, what if they were to combine their strength?”

“Then I shall burn down the town.”

I slam my hand against the conference table, bringing attention to myself. “Don’t you dare!”

The 7th backs behind the 6th, flaunting a condescending smirk. “Has he finally gone feral?”

“Shut up! Scar, don’t you dare burn that place down…!”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He eyes me for a little, wondering why I’m exploding over this, but it doesn’t take more than a few seconds to figure out my problem.

Shutting his eyes, he relaxes his body away from his sword. “I see, then I suppose I’ll have to stay my hand.” Good thing he did, or else we were gonna have one crazy battle. “...In case that our enemies work together, we will have to confront them with bigger numbers.”

“...If I may infer, lord Scar?” Unknown, displaying their respect towards scar, asks, bowing to as a gesture of that respect.

“What is it?”

“The army from the South displays an aggressive fighting style, while our foe at Laguna has shown to use traps to take out our men, and with a large mass of people, I doubt it wouldn’t have an effect on their odds.”

Unknown repeats his gesture of respect and returns to his position.

“I see, then all is clear. Wildcard and 2nd, you will face them with your forces.”

“Understood,” the old man affirmed.

“Gotcha.”

“Master of speed, you will be on standby.”

“I can’t speed off!?”

“I need you to prepare a parameter defense on both ends of Laguna. You shall be the last line of defense.”

He hangs his head like, moping over the decision. “Totally not speed.”

“Lexia, Rickter, you two are to remain here until further notice. I had decided not to punish you two, yet…”

She puts on a fake cutesy, innocent girl facade. “O-of course! You’re far too kind, lord Scar. Some would even say generous.”

“Save your breath.” Lexia flinches from his cold as ice rejection of her facade. Say what you want about Scar, at least he’s not easily fooled. “That concludes the meeting. If any of you wish to speak, now is the time…” Not a peep leaves any of us, letting the silence ride on for a while longer. “...Then you are all dismissed. Those of you heading to Laguna, gather your forces, then head straight there. As for who will be in command: 2nd, I leave it to you.”

“Thank you, but if I were to kill them all by myself, would you face me?”

“I suppose so.”

That old fart always wears a pleasant smile, coming off like he’s the nicest guy in the world. But when he throws that away, you can see all the evil a man can have in them. An evil that’s not born of deceit, but of pure excitement.

“Then we’ll make quick work of them…”

He follows the others out of the room, leaving me, Scar, and Unknown.

“Wildcard,” Scar calls. “...I doubt I need to relay this to you, but failure is not an option.”

I already do. Last time, I ran, so I got off with a light punishment. But this time, getting defeated or running away is gonna get me killed.

“Gotcha.”

“Good luck.”

So this is my last chance, huh? Fine by me. Stakes make the hunt much more thrilling.

…

The morning sun is rising, marking a new day for us. Cade, wrapped in a gray cloak, tattered and dirtied with dirt, sits in front of a campfire with a couple of our allies as they eat the remains of an animal we hunted.

“Puck, you’re back! Come sit here.” A wave of excitement courses through me, pulling me toward him. “...So how it go?"

"It went well. Our path to Laguna is secure."

"Good. Let's head back to the others later in the morning.”

"Okay."

"...But did anyone follow you guys?"

“Yeah, but he’s taking care of it.”

“Good. Last thing we need is bandit trash following us.”

Ever since our fight with Proxy, Cade changed; his approach to things changed. Before, we used to just kill the bandits that wronged us, but now, we’re disposing of all of them. While I want to help him, I really do, but I think that he’s becoming aggressive, more violent…

“Cade, can we talk about…‘him’?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know if he’s a good fit for us.”

His joyful face turns to confusion. “He’s not that bad, and besides, he’s helping us fight the bandits. Isn’t that good enough?”

“But Cade, haven’t you see how he fights, he’s like a–”

“Oh my, am I the topic of interest?”

A gentle voice intervenes in our conversation. From the forest, a boy, appearing to be 17 years old, stands in front of the thin trees behind us, staring us down with a pleasant smile on his face, holding no worries in this world behind his oddly pretty face. His build is light, packing enough muscle to lift medium-sized weapons. This man, who sends nothing but chills down my spine, is Jed.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious,” Cade says.

“Ah, how serendipitous. I thought I was nothing but a nuisance.”

“Nah man, you’re great. Right, guys?”

Everyone starts singing his praises, hailing him to be the best thing we have to defeat the bandits.

“Oh my, how lovely. No one has ever sung my praises before. I’ll keep doing my best, I swear.”

Cade brings his head close to mine. “You think he’s so bad now?”

“Cade, I’m just–”

For a moment, a bush behind our new ally rustled around. If it were the wind, then I’d ignore it, but the wind is tame right now. So that means he’s been followed.

I aim my gun behind Jed. “Someone’s here!”

Everyone goes on alert, wary of our current tail in the forest. I’ll just shoot them from over here and…

“No need, everyone. Allow me…”

Jed, along with the spear in hand, heads into the forest alone. The silence of the early morning plays out, waiting for a sound to fill in the void. Then, noise associated with death dawn from the forest; a scream that’s muffled under the sound of flesh being torn apart while something constantly rips into it accompanied by a sound of a car engine, growing louder the longer it goes on. Eventually, the screaming stops, the sound of flesh shredding ceases, and the only thing audible is that engine, satisfied by the kill.

Treading past the bushes obscuring the sight of the slaughter, he enters our view, his clothes soiled in blood, masked in the liquid’s fresh color. All the while, he’s smiling as if nothing happened. “Sorry. A rodent was behind us. All is good..”

I hate the bandits, they’re monsters in human skin… But even they pale in comparison to the monster we have with us, and to the depths of my being, it horrifies me.