* * * *
The door to The Sheik
’
s Tavern exploded into thousands of tiny splinters. Fire and smoke filled the main hall where hours before, girls were dancing, men were drinking, the bartender was entertaining, and laughter had filled the air. Where only hours before, Zarfa had stumbled in almost dead and caught everyone
’
s attention.
When the explosion went off, the women took arms and stormed into the main room to make a defense, along with the bartender and all of the
commanders
of Legion Nine. Now, smoke and heat from flames filled the room. Faraza were dropping like flies, but they weren
’
t the only ones losing lives.
Sarah had seen a well-known member of Legion Nine step into the tavern. She waited for things to die down a little then planned the assault. She had set a detonator on the entrance and commanded all thirty-eight of her men to storm in and take no prisoners the moment the charge blew. They were fulfilling that command. Upon their entry, they managed to kill the bartender and several of the dancers who were fighting back with gauss pistols and minimal cover.
Once-living bodies were falling to the ground in chaos and horror. Even one of the commanders of Legion Nine was reduced to nothing more than a cold, lifeless object after catching a bullet in the head. Zarfa was enraged and found a plasma katana before making his way into the main hall.
His body ached and some of his wounds that weren
’
t quite sealed re-opened, and blood poured down his shoulder from the bite he had sustained from the Ilithid
’
s beak earlier. By the time he made it into the main hall where all of the gun fighting was going down, most of the smoke had cleared. There were roughly twelve of the Faraza raiders left alive.
His men were firing back or trying to advance for hand-to-hand. None of the other fighters had the strength, dexterity, agility or grace that Zarfa had. He rushed head on into gunfire. Focusing on the streaks of the bullets, he swung with his sword and vaporized them. He made his way to a table that had been upturned with three raiders taking cover behind it.
He leapt over the table and assaulted the three. Before his feet even touched the ground, he had cut them all to shreds. Before one of the unfortunate raider
’
s arms had even hit the ground, he snatched a gauss pistol from it and turned. Taking aim, he shot dead four more raiders. By the time his heroics had ended, his other men managed to clear the other raiders.
From out in the dark, they heard a single pair of hands clap and a woman
’
s voice.
“
Bravo, bravo, dear brother. You did well,
”
she said. She sounded happy.
“
Sarah?
”
Zarfa screamed with intense rage as he exited onto the street.
He saw her standing in a combat suit in the middle of a deserted street, still clapping, staring at him with a steely gaze. He marched over to her and glared at her face to face.
“
Why don
’
t you flee? We killed your men.
”
“
And why do you hesitate to kill me?
”
Zarfa punched his little sister in the face so hard it broke her nose and dropped her to the ground. Without hesitation, he placed his boot on her neck and screamed a
s
blood flowed down her face.
“
I won
’
t if you prefer to go quickly.
”
Sarah began to laugh as she used to when they were children. When his job
had been
to protect her, to keep her safe. Back before she
had been
cruelly snatched away from his life.
“
I really would rather keep living. I didn
’
t come here with the intent to die tonight,
”
she said, still giggling a little and squirming under the pressure of Zarfa
’
s boot.
The remaining eight of Legion Nine had surrounded the event in a semi-circle. They were watching the event like it was a high school brawl between two rivals.
“
Why did you do it? Why did you come for me to kill me? Why aren
’
t you a brainwashed drone like the others? It would make this much easier,
”
Zarfa said as tears filled his eyes.
They were streaming down his face and dripping onto Sarah
’
s. His tears were causing the blood from her nose to be washed away. The dust in the air was clinging to Zarfa
’
s face and making it look as if two great rivers flowed from his eyes.
“
Because I had to make it look real, because we need to stop Father. That is why. I am sorry about those that died tonight, but I couldn
’
t be found out.
”
Zarfa stepped back, shocked. He removed his boot from his sister
’
s throat and bent down on one knee to be beside her face. The rest of the members stepped back; some kept their weapon
’
s drawn on Sarah.
“
What did you say?
”
Zarfa asked. He sounded stunned and
angered
at the same time.
“
We have to stop Father. He wasn
’
t taken like we thought; he
’
s in control. He still loves us in his own sick way, which is why he had me taken. You were supposed to be with me, but you were too damn stubborn. They didn
’
t brainwash me or condition me by his command. I pretended to want to be a part of his cause, to be loyal. I did everything right. At times, I even fooled myself, but it was all for one moment. Either the moment you saved me, or I saved you,
”
she said with her eyes full of tears.
She wasn
’
t crying because of the pain of having her nose broken. She was crying because she had never seen her brother in this much pain. Not the physical sort, but emotional. The kind of pain that ate at one
’
s very soul and could rend even the strongest man made of iron in two like a wrapper of rice paper. His body was trembling and his eyes went blank at the news of his father still being alive.
“
Mother?
”
“
Killed. Father had gotten what he wanted from her…children, strong children, and he had her put to death. He is sick; he is making an army of mutants. You
’
ve seen them. He plans to not stop at Ilyeion. Ilyeion was just an experiment
. H
e has already moved on to Alexarien.
G
athering
people as
raw materials. He is going to go further, push to the ends of the world. He wants to be in control or to watch it all burn
.
“
I know I have acted as a monster. You
’
ve seen me on raids. I came with a squad under the guise tonight of killing you. We haven
’
t spoken in years, but ask yourself, do I sound like I am lying to you, brother? Why wouldn
’
t I flee and save myself after you killed my minions? I sent them in so there would be no witnesses of me changing sides. Take me with you, brother, and I shall lead you to their base.
”
Zarfa stared at her long and hard. He mulled over the things that she said, the tears that she shed, and how pathetic she looked on her back with her nose broken, staring up at him in the light of the run down streetlamps. He was still crying and trying to sort all of his emotions out. He never dreamed he could save his sister. He always thought he had to kill her to free her.
Is this for real? Is she intact? She isn
’
t crazy, brainwashed?
Zarfa lifted his gauss pistol and aimed it at her head.
“
Brother, no! You have to believe me! Brot—
”
A shot fired from his pistol and the loud noise ended her sentence. A bullet struck right near her ear, causing a loud ringing and dust and debris to fly into everyone
’
s faces.
“
On this day, the Faraza are to think you are dead. Welcome back, sister,
”
Zarfa said as he extended his hand to help her up.
She stood and hugged Zarfa tightly, pushing her face into his good shoulder. The blood from her nose soaked his shirt and the blood from his re-opened injury stained her clothing. They held each other for minutes as the others watched. They cried and laughed together simultaneously. It was the happiest Zarfa had ever felt. But all moments in life have to end at some point, whether good or bad.
“
One more thing, brother. Ghast is about tonight. He is certainly nearby. He wouldn
’
t return without me. He has thirty-eight more raiders with him. Highly trained and seeking your head.
”
“
So I guess the fight hasn
’
t ended yet, has it?
”
“
Nope.
”
“
Sarah, why did you let me hit you? Why didn
’
t you explain sooner?
”
“
I had to know you had the resolve to do what needs to be done.
”
“
That is?
”
“
Kill Father. You knew him better than I did. You were older when we were orphaned. Over the last couple of years, I had the chance to three times. I hate him; he
’
s a monster…but I couldn
’
t do it. I knew you could handle the minions thrown at you, but I could never have killed you either.
”
“
I see, don
’
t worry about it, sis. I
’
ll take care of any monster that goes bump in the night.
”
“
You demonstrated that,
”
she said with a wry smile,
bringing
her face
to meet
his.
Her eyes were already forming big dark circles from the broken blood vessels in the bridge of her nose. In the morning, she would look like a raccoon. Zarfa would continue to feel regret for having laid her out on the ground like that. But to Sarah, it was a symbol of the complete trust she had in her brother to do what needed to be done.
“
Let
’
s hunt Ghast down,
”
Zarfa said, giving his sister one final hug and a kiss on the cheek.
His body was wracked with pain and it hurt to move. He was feeling woozy once again from the blood loss. But he would not stop until he hunted his final prey of the evening.
“
Zajifa, Sofronio, I
’
m tired
, but I want to see this through. Send out a rally cry. Call the entire Legion together. We will show them what being caught off guard feels like. We will not only kill Ghast; we will crush him into dust.
”
A Call
t
o Arms
“
‛
Give me your t
ired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…
’
It is a good ideology and a nice concept. Poor Ms. Lazarus would be turning in her grave. These words of an ancient poem spoken on the shores of an ancient civilization many years ago inspired people from all around to flock to a land of hopes, dreams, and promises.
“
The promise of a better life, of better things to come. The promise of new technologies, care, comfort, and a life that many would dream of and envy
others
for. Only when many landed on the shores of the promised land of freedom, they were sold into slavery.
“
Slavery on the docks,
on the rails,
and if it wasn
’
t that, it was a slavery to things. A slavery to existence, a slavery to living up to the dream that everyone around
them
wanted for
them
. The times moved on and industry revolutionized. Automobiles were produced and sent out to rove across the countryside.
“
Soon, many of the railways that people lost their lives for to build were dismantled. The hopes and dreams of one generation became something to be destroyed by another. Those hopeful immigrants of every nation went from one form of bondage to another. All of which has been forgotten. It was forgotten a thousand years ago, and never is it brought up now. But if you look hard enough, you can dig up the skeletons of the past anywhere.