Authors: Brian Terenna
In a flash, I grabbed the front of his plaid shirt before lifting him over my head, with a growl. I shook him. “You’ll tell me,” I yelled, feeling the world reel around me. He wouldn’t deny me.
“No, no, no,” he said, while shaking his head furiously, as if that would stop me.
I screamed and threw him into a sidewall, driven by fear and rage. He smacked into the wall with a crack and fell limp on the ground. I gasped before hustling over and nudging him. His head rolled over, revealing the side of his crushed skull. What had I done? I’d just lost my only source of information. Pain blossomed in my chest, and my hands went numb. I fell to the ground in a ball, losing control. I’d failed her.
No, I shouted in my mind, erasing my worries. I wouldn’t give up. I’d find her. Slowing my breathing, I reasserted my control. I leapt to my feet and surveyed the territory, looking for any sign of her or trail to follow.
Anxiety twisted my stomach until I saw a scrap of her purple tank top, down the alley to my right. I sprinted toward it, feeling hope again. A stone cat lay next to the scrap, Sofia’s cat. I pocketed it, then scanned the ground. A trail of blood led off in one direction. I followed the breadcrumbs.
After following the trail down several streets, it stopped in a dead end. My brow furrowed as I scanned the wall for clues. Footsteps sounded behind me, and I whirled around to see soldiers pour out of a side door. I sensed talent wielders amongst them. My stomach sank as I scanned the squad for Goldwater. I exhaled slowly when I didn’t see him. Now I’d get some answers.
A man with steel claws attached to his hands, stepped forward. “Surrender or be destroyed.”
I lowered my head, shoulders sagging. Lifting my hands while motioning downward I said, “I surrender. Everyone put down your weapons.”
The clawed man smiled before glancing over his shoulder to his men. “Hear that boys? Pathetic.”
I leapt into the air, a green burst trailing behind me and whipped Peacemaker off my back. The squad members behind the clawed man gasped and pointed. The lead man spun, lifting his claw in defense, his eyes darting around. I hefted my mace high and growled. His head jerked up, his eyes bulging. He tried to dart away, but fell to his side, since his glowing feet were affixed to the earth. He threw his hands up with a scream just before my mace crashed into his chest. Peacemaker’s flanges carved through his steel armor like paper and crushed his heart.
I straightened and lifted my huge, black mace. Blood dripped off its surface and pattered on the ground. An instant before I struck again, the strength left my legs as talent assailed me. I fell on my back, my head bumping off the stone ground. A throwing knife cut into my shoulder and another skimmed by my face. Sensing the direction of the bio, I jerked two fingers toward the man. A steel claw ripped from the dead leader’s hands and soared toward the bio’s chest like a glowing comet. He managed a half turn before it sliced into the steel of his breastplate, ripping him off his feet.
The strength in my legs returned. I slammed the ground with a glowing fist, propelling myself upright. I dashed forward in a blur. When I reached the squad of men, I whipped my mace around in a wide swath. It struck the entire front row, crushing bones and knocking them backward. A telekinetic blast burst from my mind at the rest of the squad. Men grunted, and metal armor clattered on the ground as everyone was knocked off their feet.
With the entire squad lying on their backs, I drew heavily on my talent. I sent a wave at the left side of the squad, tossing my arm into the air. The screaming men flew up and over the three-story building, their arms flailing. Out of the twenty men that remained, I lifted another fifteen into the air. I crossed my arms, then whipped them in the opposite direction. Each man’s body tore in half, spraying blood into the air. I threw their dead, broken bodies into the sidewalls that read,
Liberty Kingdom: The Happiest Place on Earth
. I laughed, feeling giddy with power.
Three of the remaining men still lay on the ground, scrambling backward. Two others gathered their wits and ran. I nodded at them and they exploded, spattering the walls with blood. Turning back toward the remaining three men, I leapt at them, flying through the air. When I landed, my mace whooshed toward one of the men. It crashed through his armor and his chest, slamming into the ground behind him.
I turned on the last two men with my hand raised. They floated into the air, bathed in a green glow. I slowly looked into both men’s eyes, eyes as wide as could be. My cold gaze settled on the man on the left. His body shook.
“Where did they take her?” I asked.
He began to babble Goldwater’s name repeatedly, as if he’d materialize to save the man.
“There is no Goldwater. There is only me. Now where is she?”
“I can’t tell you,” he said. “Goldwater will kill me.”
I laughed at the ridiculousness of what he just said. “Look around,” I said, waving my other arm.
The man’s trembling increased. “I can’t,” he said.
I threw my arm forward. The man flew a hundred feet down the road before the edge of a stop sign sliced into him. Apparently, the long pointless stop signs had uses other than preventing negative emotions. After I saw the road sign at the intersection, I laughed. It read,
Tranquility Road
. Not today, I thought.
Turning toward the last man, I demanded, “Where is she?”
“No, I’ll never tell you.” He was the tough one. “There’s nothing you can do to make me.”
That was unlikely. I glanced down at his hand and winked. His pinkie finger sheared off. The man screamed, his eyes bulging furiously.
That should do it. “Where is she?”
He shook his head, but as I looked back down at his hand, he shouted, “Wait! She’s being held at an interrogation camp, about two miles north of here. Just please let me go.”
I shook my head. “You all made a choice to support a corrupt government bent on eliminating human rights. You oppress and enslave your people. You destroyed my life, and I won't let you destroy other's lives.”
Stepping back from him, I sent my remaining talent at a concrete balcony three stories above us. After a loud crumbling noise, dirt and debris pelted the man’s once pristine military issue beret. In a flurry of action, tons of life ending concrete fell before me, slamming into the man. Plumes of dust wafted around us.
When the dust cleared, his limbs could be seen sticking out of the rock pile at odd angles. His beret sat on top of a rock, the red fist of Goldwater still visible. My aura dimmed followed by my blood lust. What was I becoming? I shrugged off the thought and ran north into the waning sunlight.
☼☼☼
When I reached the outskirts of the camp, I snuck closer under cover of night. There were ten canvas tents surrounding five glowing gas-fed braziers. At the side of the camp, Sofia was chained to a wall. I gritted my teeth until a spike of pain shot through my jaw. Her clothes lay in rags exposing ample skin. Her back was marred with ten long, bloody lines.
Empathy washed over me. I knew what it felt like to bleed, to feel pain. I would have gladly embraced it to spare her from learning its insidious touch. A little more torture wouldn’t break me. My mind flooded with guilt. I would never let anyone hurt her again.
Wait... didn’t I make that promise to Lilly?
A man stood behind her with a leather whip in hand. When he pulled the whip back, I froze his arm in mid swing. His muscles flexed as he strained to pull it forward, but my will would not be undone. After he glanced back, his eyes shot open at seeing me. He whirled around, his mouth open as if to yell. My heart leapt at the threat, but my mind was quicker. The whip smacked the back of his neck, wrapped around several times, and instantly cut off his breath and the shout.
His hands shot to his neck as he struggled to pull the whip free, but I held the leather around his neck like a vice. His face blued, and then he flopped on the ground. No one shouted a warning in the camp.
Sofia glanced back over her shoulder with a grimace. She mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
I looked into her eyes, and my guilt resurfaced. She was everything to me. I’d always love Lilly, but I needed to be happy. I thought that Sofia would be safe as long as she wasn’t near me, but no one was safe in Liberty; no one was safe from Goldwater. I rushed to Sofia. Her chains glowed faintly green, then snapped cleanly. She glimmered as she floated down to the ground. When she landed, she stood firm, the muscles in her bruised legs taut. She turned toward me, and my faced reddened at her partially exposed breasts. I quickly removed my hooded cloak to wrap it around her.
She clenched her fists and ground her teeth. “Jaden, let’s destroy these people. I want blood,” she said with fire in her eyes.
I nodded. She was right; they had to die.
Walking over to the corpse, she reached down and commandeered his knife. The muscles in her arm flexed as she gripped the weapon. “Ready?”
I raised my palm to her. “Wait.”
For a moment, she frowned before I pointed toward one of the braziers. She watched. I focused my mind on the tank of gas under it. Slowly peeling away the side, I pulled the gas out in a floating blob. I glanced back at Sofia, and she smiled.
I removed the fuel from the other braziers, then nodded. The balls split and bathed every tent in gas. A few men murmured as they woke. I focused back on a brazier and then shot red-hot charcoal at each tent. The glowing charcoal hit, and flames soared upward. Men shouted or screamed.
Sofia’s fear talent struck next. Immediately, the men screamed louder, their voices shrill and inhuman. Most, too afraid to move, burned alive. A single man burst from his tent, throwing off his blazing shirt. Sofia whipped her knife through the air. The point sank into the man’s back, dropping him.
A woman in rags darted out from behind the wall that Sofia had been chained to. I raised my glowing hand, ready to strike out.
“No,” said Sofia, grabbing my arm. “Let her go. She was nice to me. She snuck me water when the guards weren’t looking.”
“She could tell.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want her to die.”
I nodded, lowering my hand and feeling disgusted with myself. Where had my compassion gone? Besides, we’d be long gone before she said anything. “You’re right. Sorry. Let’s get back to camp.”
☼☼☼
Sofia and I entered the fallback headquarters. Finally safe, she wrapped her arms around me, throwing me against the wall. “Thank you for saving me and killing those bastards. They deserved it.” She shook her head. “I lost my mom’s stone cat when they captured me though. I know it’s silly, but it means a lot to me. Do you think we could go look for it?”
I pulled back and reached into my pocket. “No need,” I said and handed her the cat.
Her full lips stretched into a smile. “Aww, thanks.”
I returned her smile, feeling good to be with her again. “I found it while looking for you,” I said, then looked down. “What did they do to you at the camp?”
Her smile faded, and she gritted her teeth. “You saw the worst of it. First they beat me and then whipped me, questioning me the whole time.” She stood straight, her chin up. “I told them nothing,” she said with a smile. “I can take pain, but I can’t stand feeling helpless. I want revenge, Jaden.”
I nodded, gritting my teeth. “We’re going to get it... for us and all of Liberty Kingdom. I promise.” I looked away, dreading my next words. “Sofia, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“After you were captured, they killed Kevin.”
Her jaw dropped. “No. Damn them.” She covered her face.
“Goldwater was commanding the attack. If not for Kevin, Goldwater would have killed all of us.”
She jerked her head up, slamming her fist into the wall. “Damn, Goldwater. Let’s go after him right now.” She spat on the ground, lifted her sword, and marched to the exit.
I wanted to, but there was no need to rush out now. I hovered an inch off the ground, illuminating the dark hall, then sped through the air in front of her. “Wait.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m going to kill him.” Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists tighter.
I hugged her tightly, and she went limp in my arms, her body yielding against mine. “We will. Let’s do it together... with a plan.”
☼☼☼
When we entered the main hall, Barid, Val and Pavel stood before us. Barid came running over. “Sofia! You did it Jaden. Thank you.”
No thanks to you, I thought.
Val looked at me with icy eyes, scowling. Then she faced Sofia and smiled. “Welcome back, Sofia.”
With a growing sense of dread, I asked, “What happened at the prison?”
Sofia looked back and forth between Valleri and me, frowning.
Valleri lowered her head while shaking it. “They’re all dead.”
I winced and shivered, a chill running through me.
“What? Who?” Sofia asked.
Valleri turned toward Sofia, stone faced. “After you were captured, one of our spies reported that the Goldwater planned to kill every prisoner in Capital Prison. He did it.”
Sofia gasped while taking an unsteady step backward. “What? There are thousands of people held there, including children.”
Children? I didn’t know that. What had I done? I’d have to add them to the growing pile of deaths that I was responsible for. I hit the top of my head with my palm. I thought they’d save them without me somehow or that Goldwater’s threat was a bluff. Now, they were all dead. Could we have saved them if I was there? Would Sofia still be alive?
“You saved me instead of them.” she said. “You idiot. You let all those people die.”
“I... I...,” I said, feeling acid rise in my throat. “I couldn’t let you—”
Before I finished, she shook her head and strode away. It wasn’t the response I’d hoped for after saving her. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach at her anger.
“You’re wounded,” Pavel said from my left.
“What?” I asked, looking over at him.
He pointed at my arm. I looked down at my blood soaked sleeve. I hadn’t even realized that I’d been holding it shut with talent all this time. I must have lost control during the last exchange.