Six months of this shit had been taking its toll. Isaac was once a moral, good, honest soldier. That had all changed. He was hardened, cruel and violent. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to go back to the life he once had. The life he had given up in the hopes of doing some good in the world. Now, he feared he had done so many things wrong he would never be able to atone for them, no matter what his reasoning for doing them was.
One was still breathing. It was shallow, but his his highly attuned ears picked it up. Isaac could hear better than any man he'd ever met. It was an invaluable advantage for a person in his situation. He found the source of the breathing. A young girl, not more than ten years of age. She lay bleeding under the corpse of a woman, probably her mother, with a hole in her gut that Isaac had put there. It is for the greater good, he told himself. Though he wasn't sure if he believed that anymore. Part of him was wondering if he was actually beginning to enjoy it.
He knelt down over the body, pulling his knife knife from his belt out on the way, and slit her throat. Blood spurted weakly from the wound for a few seconds while she gargled and choked on it, then her eyes went blank One more corpse in a hundred, two hundred? He'd lost count a long time ago. No point in keeping track now. He did what was required and then put it behind him. If he dwelt on it too much the weight of all that murder, all those innocent lives taken, children orphaned, wives widowed, families wiped completely from the earth, would crush him.
What had these people done to deserve this? He did not yet know the reasons for his orders, but little by little they were giving him information. Trust was being built, relationships made, secrets revealed. He would discover their plans and he would do everything in his power to stop them. Until then he would kill, torture, lie, steal and slaughter to accomplish his goals. Nothing, not even his own soul could stop him. The order was dark, and corrupt and evil to its very core. He knew it; he believed it with all his heart. It was was the only think that kept him going. They must be stopped, and he was the best chance anyone had of stopping them. What he had to do was wrong, but it was justified. He would save thousands, maybe even hundred of thousands of souls, even if he lost his own. It was a price he was willing to pay.
He stepped over the corpse of the man, most likely the father, and left the room. He didn't even spare a glance at the two other children that still lay peacefully in their beds, throats slit wide open. They reminded him too much of his own.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Mirael and Jacob: part 3
Anima knew that she had almost certainly sent her two most promising students to their deaths. It felt like knife wounds in her heart when she thought on it, so she tried against all hope to keep her mind occupied. She had been reading the same page of a book for nearly an hour now. By the time she reached the end of the page her mind had wondered so far that she had no idea what she had read. It was torture for her, and yet she felt selfish for being so miserable herself when Mirael and Jacob certainly were in much more serious distress.
But one cannot go against the will of the elders. Their word is law and to oppose it, treasonous. So she held her tongue when the two told her they had been sent on their first mission. She put on a fake smile and told them how proud she was of them, which was the only true thing she could think to say at the time.
They were such brilliant and good hearted children. What could possibly have brought the elders to sentence them to such a horrible fate. They would die, she knew. As surely as a flower will die once it is removed from its stem, they would die. It would be a slow death. Judicars did not kill their prey quickly. They relished in it. They found ecstasy in the pain of others and they would prolong it for days if the opportunity presented itself. And it certainly would in this case. No one was coming to their rescue. They were going where no one within a hundred miles had magic strong enough to even distract a Judicar. And she could have saved them.
She could have warned them, taken them away from the order. They could have changed their names, their appearances, their accents. It was a big world, and though the order's reach was wide, they did not control all of it. They could have lived. But she was too much of a coward. She was too afraid of losing her own life. If she let them go then she would live. It was a certainty. If she helped them, then they would hunt her down, and she was too old and too weak to be running from the order.
She hadn't realized it until just then, but she was crying. A knock on the door brought her back to the present, but there was no way she could hide the swelling around her eyes or dampness on her sleeve from having hastily wiped away the tears. She answered the door anyway.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" She spat out at the unsuspecting messenger.
"The grand master requests your presence," The young servant girl replied, trying her hardest not to notice the tears that still clung to Anima's chin. "I am to bring you immediately, but if you wish to take a moment to collect yourself I will say you were in the privy."
"Thank you, Child." Anima's voice was softer now. This girl did not deserve her anger, that was reserved for the elders. "But we mustn't make him wait. I will compose myself on the way. What is your name, girl?"
The girl's tension eased a bit and she breathed a visible sigh of relief. "It's Matilda, but everyone calls me Matty."
"One moment, Matty." Anima stepped back into her room, opened up a drawer in her dresser and pulled out a small chocolate. "This is for you." The girl's eyes lit up like stars. Chocolate was expensive, and it was likely that Matty had never tasted it before, but clearly she knew what it was. "I'll give you three more if you do me a small favor."
Anima hated using children to do her dirty work, but certainly the elders would be watching her like a pack of hungry wolves stalking a wounded antelope. She had no other choice.
But one cannot go against the will of the elders. Their word is law and to oppose it, treasonous. So she held her tongue when the two told her they had been sent on their first mission. She put on a fake smile and told them how proud she was of them, which was the only true thing she could think to say at the time.
They were such brilliant and good hearted children. What could possibly have brought the elders to sentence them to such a horrible fate. They would die, she knew. As surely as a flower will die once it is removed from its stem, they would die. It would be a slow death. Judicars did not kill their prey quickly. They relished in it. They found ecstasy in the pain of others and they would prolong it for days if the opportunity presented itself. And it certainly would in this case. No one was coming to their rescue. They were going where no one within a hundred miles had magic strong enough to even distract a Judicar. And she could have saved them.
She could have warned them, taken them away from the order. They could have changed their names, their appearances, their accents. It was a big world, and though the order's reach was wide, they did not control all of it. They could have lived. But she was too much of a coward. She was too afraid of losing her own life. If she let them go then she would live. It was a certainty. If she helped them, then they would hunt her down, and she was too old and too weak to be running from the order.
She hadn't realized it until just then, but she was crying. A knock on the door brought her back to the present, but there was no way she could hide the swelling around her eyes or dampness on her sleeve from having hastily wiped away the tears. She answered the door anyway.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" She spat out at the unsuspecting messenger.
"The grand master requests your presence," The young servant girl replied, trying her hardest not to notice the tears that still clung to Anima's chin. "I am to bring you immediately, but if you wish to take a moment to collect yourself I will say you were in the privy."
"Thank you, Child." Anima's voice was softer now. This girl did not deserve her anger, that was reserved for the elders. "But we mustn't make him wait. I will compose myself on the way. What is your name, girl?"
The girl's tension eased a bit and she breathed a visible sigh of relief. "It's Matilda, but everyone calls me Matty."
"One moment, Matty." Anima stepped back into her room, opened up a drawer in her dresser and pulled out a small chocolate. "This is for you." The girl's eyes lit up like stars. Chocolate was expensive, and it was likely that Matty had never tasted it before, but clearly she knew what it was. "I'll give you three more if you do me a small favor."
Anima hated using children to do her dirty work, but certainly the elders would be watching her like a pack of hungry wolves stalking a wounded antelope. She had no other choice.
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