“
It’s over! I can’t believe it.”
Jurek’s face grew stern and his eyes darkened. “Sharra, it’s only begun.”
“
What do you mean?
“
Now Xarrid and Saylan have to face the Xanthians that nearly ruined their lives. My concern is that dealing with them doesn’t ruin theirs.”
“
Oh Jurek, I never thought of that.”
“
I have because I’ve been through it before. I hope it brings them the closure they seek.”
Sharra looked at him and said, “So do I. Can you take me back to Lare-Stell? I need to get this Xanthian stink off of me before I throw up.”
He chuckled and said, “Hey, you were great in there. I’d be proud to fight with you any day Sharra.”
She beamed as he grabbed her arm and they flashed to Lare-Stell.
Wiping her face after completing a rigorous workout, Saylan headed over to the water fountain and took a long, leisurely drink. She had worked out a few of her frustrations, but didn’t come close to getting rid of them all. The anxiety and angst that had plagued her since they had arrived on Lare-Stell had only gotten worse and when she had formulated her plan of attack, it had become nearly impossible for her to sit still.
Even though Xarrid had noticed, she had passed it off as a case of the nerves over what they faced. He was unaware of her plans to take care of those bloody Xanthians on her own and when she’d accidentally discovered the training room filled with weapons, it only cemented her schemes.
The other afternoon, on her way back from exercising, she’d made a wrong turn and stumbled upon a room that was a treasure trove of swords, knives, and other ancient weapons. Why Jurek had such a room here was beyond her comprehension, but she didn’t care about that. What she did care about was the small sword she spied hanging on the wall. She’d slipped it beneath her jacket and prayed no one would see her, as the garment did little to hide the weapon. As soon as she had the thing in her possession, an idea began to form, and as it took root, it grew to the point that Saylan knew it would be her own mission of revenge.
Hiding it in the quarters she shared with Xarrid proved to be a bit tricky, as they were quite small and didn’t leave much space for privacy, but she managed by storing it in a cupboard where she kept her intimate things. He never looked in there because it was her “girly” place. Saylan never knew guilt like she did now. Xarrid was her heart and soul and by not telling him of her plan, she knew she was committing a grave sin against him. However, because of his Vesturion DNA, he would never allow her to proceed with her plans, and this was something she
must
do. Those monsters had taken everything from her. Now, she would return the favor.
********
Xarrid, Saylan and Zander had just finished their evening meal when Jurek and Sharra flashed into the room. The three Vesturions flew to their feet, chairs flying backwards as they raced to the two of them.
All of them started speaking at once, loudly and not stopping to listen. Jurek had to interrupt them, but even that didn’t work at first...until he put a bit of a blast behind his words and the room sparked with his power.
Four heads swiveled in his direction when he dryly said, “It’s about time you all shut up for a minute so we could explain what happened.”
That brought out another burst of chatter until Jurek used a second power blast. “Bloody hell, you all are slow learners!”
Xarrid raked his hand through his long unruly hair while Zander had his hands on Sharra’s shoulders, rubbing her and visually inspecting her to ensure she wasn’t injured.
Jurek looked pointedly at Zander and said, “Damn it Vesturion, I told you she would not be harmed, now let her loose. You’re petting her like a damned puppy!”
“
Well, don’t keep us waiting in suspense any longer! What happened?” Xarrid asked.
Jurek shot him a look that would have withered the heartiest of men, but Xarrid wasn’t the least bit fazed. “Brother, sometimes I could...”
“
Yeah, I know. But now’s not the time. Come on Jurek, tell us what happened.”
“
Xarrid, you never demand...”
“
I already said I know that. Now isn’t the time for your telling me those kinds of things. You can kill me later. Just spill it already.”
Before Jurek could say a word, Sharra piped in with, “Excuse me, but I’m off to take a shower. I have to get that Xanthian stench out of my nostrils.”
“
But Sharra, you can’t leave yet,” Zander whined.
“
Oh yes I can Zander. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Sharra turned and headed out, leaving Zander looking like a lost puppy. Jurek wasn’t going to let that go. “Carrying that puppy thing a bit too far Zander. You’d better toughen up man. That woman of yours is made of damn hearty stuff. You’re not going to impress her by acting like a damn wimp.”
Zander stiffened his spine and started to say something but then thought the better of it.
“
So?”
Jurek grinned. “It went off like clockwork. Stupid bastards. You would’ve loved to have seen the looks on their faces when we all popped in there. It was damn priceless.”
“
Where are they now?”
“
We have the two main leaders together in the interrogation room and the others are in separate cells. Do you want to see them now or later?”
Xarrid looked at Saylan and then said, “I think we’ll let them stew and then pay them a visit in the morning.”
“
Fine. That should make them a bit nervous too.”
“
My thoughts exactly.”
********
Saylan and Xarrid were coiled around each other in bed, their fingers laced together. He had spent a blissful hour with her, trying to make her forget about what they faced in the morning. Now, he kissed her cheek, her temple and her neck, whispering sweet words of love the whole time. Her fear cut through to his very core, but he wasn’t sure of what else he could do to ease it.
“
Would you like to talk about it, love?”
“
I don’t think there is much else left to say. I want it to be over.”
Xarrid raised himself to his elbow so he could look at her.
“
You’re sure about this? This is what you want?”
Her body trembled but whether it was from fear or anxiety, he could not discern.
She turned to him and smiling sadly said, “What I want Xarrid is to be like Sharra or Maddie, without these horrid memories, without this burning hatred inside of my soul. What I want is to go back, when I was innocent of all of this...when I was pure and didn’t know of true evil. What I want is to be that happy go lucky girl again, when I believed in fairy tales of knights in shining armor on their white horses.”
Xarrid raised himself to his elbow and held her cheek in his palm. “I’m your knight Saylan. I’ll take you away from all of this, on a white horse if you’d like. Right now sweetheart.”
She reached out her hand and slid her fingers in his hair near his temple, tracing his cheekbone with her thumb. “I know you will. But the monsters will still be here, waiting for me Xarrid. They won’t ever go away until they’re dead. They need to be slain. All of them.”
“
Then that’s what we’ll do, love. We’ll slay them so they can’t ever hurt you again.”
He pulled her against him, tightening his hold on her and they lay that way for a very long time.
Sleep never came to Saylan that night and in the wee hours of the morning, she slipped out of Xarrid’s arms and quickly dressed. She went to her secret place where she had hidden her weapon and headed to where the Xanthians were held.
********
Saylan hurried toward the interrogation room, as she wanted to waste no time in getting her plan accomplished. There was only one guard present when she arrived and she explained to him that Jurek okayed her visit. He wanted to clear it, but she insisted it was fine. After going round and round with him, he finally let her in. When he unlocked the entryway, and the doors slid open, the Xanthian stench that hit her, brought unwanted memories slamming into her mind and sending her reeling.
She was back on Earth as a minion, naked and covered in filth, being held down and raped by several of them. Bile rose in her throat and she began gagging. The sound awakened the prisoners and one of them spoke, “Well look who we have here. I believe it’s Number Five, isn’t it?”
His voice jolted Saylan back to the present and what she was about to do. She jerked her head toward the officers and scowled. Their ugly faces came into view and she immediately gagged again. Her response only made them laugh.
“
You Vesturions are so weak. Just a tiny thing can bring you to your knees.”
Something clicked in Saylan’s mind then, solidifying and bringing her into that place where she needed to be. Everything became abundantly clear to her then as she glared at them.
“
Tiny? You think implanting a nanochip, without anesthesia I might add, into someone’s brain and turning him or her into a minion is tiny? You think forcing them to endure being raped repeatedly by putrid vermin such as yourself is tiny? Well, how about this? Do you think this is tiny?”
She pulled the small sword out from behind her, swung it with all of her might and severed his arm off as he watched in horror. He was so shocked at what she’d done, he didn’t scream until moments later. “How’s that for tiny? That’s just an arm...a ‘tiny’ arm.”
Turning to the other officer, who was now staring at her in panic, she asked, as she pointed the sword, “And that hand, isn’t that fairly tiny too?” In a perfect arc, the sword came down and separated his hand from his body. “Now, what else is here that’s tiny?” she wondered aloud. “I think both of your heads are because they each house tiny brains,” she screamed.
They knew she had lost her mind, but then again, how could they blame her. They had never studied the after effects of nanochips on the brain so it was highly likely that the end result was insanity. Both officers knew she would kill them, they just didn’t know how.
It wouldn’t take long for them to find out. She jerked the first one’s chair back and taking her sword, held it against his gut. “I think right now, I’m going to make a ‘tiny’ cut.” She pushed the sword in and jerked it upwards, slicing through bone and tissue. Saylan was now covered in Xanthian blood as that wound must have hit an artery of some sort. She watched as the Xanthian’s body contorted in his seat while blood gurgled in his throat. “Was that ‘tiny’ enough for you?” she taunted.
Turning to the other one, she grinned. “Wonder what’s in store for you, don’t you?” Kicking his chair out, she rapidly sliced into each of his legs and watched him squirm. The cuts were so deep she severed clean through to the bone. Noticing how his foot was twitching, she reminded him, “Uh oh. Someone’s being a very bad boy! You’re not supposed to move. Remember? You’re supposed to act like you’re enjoying this. But since you’re breaking the rules, I believe you need to be punished.” Taking the tip of her sword, she drove it with all her might straight down into his foot, going through his boot, and all the way into the floor. When he started screaming, she taunted him, “Oh no, you’re a very bad soldier now. You were supposed to stay quiet. Now you’re in serious trouble.” She pulled a dagger out of her pants and walked up behind him. Bending down, she put her mouth next to his ear and shouted, “Now, I think it’s time for another ‘tiny’ lesson.” Then she dragged the dagger across his throat and watched him die as he stared at her.
The doors burst open and Xarrid and Jurek were charging into the room.
Xarrid took in the scene around him and didn’t know what to do. Saylan had orchestrated it all, down to the last wound. She was covered in blood and stared back at him defiantly.
“
Saylan, put the dagger down.”
“
There are others.”
“
Yes, there are, but not like this, sweetheart. Please, put the dagger down.” He walked toward her, but she backed away, shaking her head.
“
I need to do this...to make them suffer as I did.”
“
I know you think this is the way to do it, but Saylan, you’ll have these memories too. I don’t want that for you.”
“
Do you know what they said to me? They said we were weak and that one tiny thing can bring us to our knees. I showed them tiny, didn’t I?”
“
Yes, you did. Now please, Saylan, come to me.”
Xarrid looked at Jurek and nodded. Jurek had Saylan in a flash, unconscious and they took her to the medical facility.
“
What the hell, Jurek? Where did she get these weapons?”
“
From one of the training rooms here. She must’ve found it by accident.”
“
Is she going to be okay?”
“
I think so. I’m sure she just felt like this was her deal.”
“
She’s a mess. She mutilated them. It was so bloody gruesome.”
“
Think of what they did to her Xarrid. I understand her motives. She most likely felt it was fair retribution.”
“
Damn!”
“
She’s coming around.”
Saylan opened her eyes and looked around. She began trembling and tried to sit up but couldn’t quite make it. Xarrid held out his hand and she grabbed it.
“
I think I’m crazy. I lost it in there.”
“
Yeah, it appears so.”
“
That I’m crazy?”
“
No! That you lost it in there.”
She rubbed her face and looked back at Xarrid. “I only wanted them to pay for what they did to me and the others. When I went in that room, that awful stench hit me and all those memories of being raped by them came flooding back. For a while, I thought I was lost. But then one on them called me Number Five and started making fun of my weakness, something in me snapped and I lost it. I wanted them to pay so badly. And not just for me, but for everyone that had suffered at their hands. Those bloody bastards. I’m so sorry Xarrid.” Then she broke down and cried.