VII – Welcome to Srynn

Travis eyed the package carefully. Requests of this sort usually took some time, but the fact that the specifications had arrived so quickly only reminded him of the Willers’ personal interest in the pursuit. Travis was serving a direct mission for them and them alone. He had the entirety of the Union’s forces at his disposal. Failure would bring the Willers’ personal wrath. Nervous? No. Travis learned time after time to deal with stressful and uncertain situations. At the most, the unique situation made him… cautious.

The Scout, uniformed in the typical Union deep blue, stood idly by as he waited for Travis to review the information. His silence spoke volumes. The Scout had been specifically told that no one was to see the contents of the delivery, not even himself. Even worse, the Scout was then to be placed under the command of this Frank Travis indefinitely, and only given enough information to complete the mission. This Scout exuded frustration like an oven gave off heat. Scouts only ever answered to the Willers.

The large silver box lay open on the Commander’s desk. Inside was several thickly bound stacks of paper and a smaller container that was locked with a thumbpad. Travis was familiar with those: it would open only for him, and its contents would be erased after a short amount of time. It was the information meant only for his eyes. He left it closed, for now.

“Heir,” Travis began. Upon hearing his name, the short-haired Scout sharply turned and stared. Travis cleared his throat. With that deep gaze, the Scout did not seem as young as he looked. Travis lowered his eyes, and felt no shame in it. “We begin by modifying one of the Scout’s crafts with two new pieces of equipment.” He picked up one of the stacks of paper, and placed it on the desk closer to Heir.

Heir moved to the desk and picked up the tablet that was offered to him. Glancing at Travis briefly, he quickly shuffled through the pages.

Travis continued. “First, the craft will need to be fitted with the shielding. It’s nothing we have not seen before, but it is a special configuration in both its placement on the craft, and of the frequency of its resonance.” Travis waved a hand while explaining. “The shield plates will be arriving soon, and they’ll need to be bolted on and tested to make sure they each transmit the proper frequency to each other.”

The Scout turned one of the papers on its side, studying a specification drawing. “My own craft will do for this configuration, and it seems to use relatively little additional power draw. It should be no chore to accomplish.”

“I’m to take that to mean that you’ve selected yourself as the pilot?” Each of the Union Scouts’ crafts were custom made for its Scout.

Heir nodded.

“Good. That’s out of the way.”

“What about the engine? How will I catch up with Tailz?”

Travis reached and picked up the small locked box, turning it over in his hands, studying it. “That, I still need to read up on.”

Heir made a face. The Scout also had dealt with this type of security box in the past. It was apparent that Heir knew he would not get the answers to those questions.

“Dismissed.” Travis watched as the Scout saluted and exited the room, just barely not slamming the door behind him. The Commander stared blankly at the closed door. For a moment, he felt pity for the young man. Will he be able to handle it, once he realizes what he is for?

The thought reminded him of Tailz. Though, there was no guarantee that Tailz knew the true reason the Willers had called him in that day. Oh yes, he was to be removed from service, and the elaborate ploy would have all involved thinking he had been executed. It was possible that Tailz might have sensed that, known what he was going to be made into, though the Willers believed that he had no idea, and fled only to escape his own demise. It was almost ironic. As much as he might not have liked it, he would have lived on, had he stayed.

Travis looked down at the box, and placed his thumb on the pad. It beeped, a lock whirred, and the top sprang open. Inside was a small vidscreen, containing a readout of information. Two smaller buttons allowed him to scroll through the text, and he read it quickly, knowing it would not last very long.

The readout contained descriptions of the engine, and how it was used. Apparently, the device was not even an “engine” at all. Interacting with the frequency emitted by the thick metal plates of phasic shielding, it opened a “rift” that theoretically had no limit to its range. This rift created the opportunity to move from one end of the galaxy to the other, in no time at all. The craft then traveled through the rift on its own standard thrusters.

The theoretical part hinged on the amount of energy needed to create a rift. Tests showed that with a standard thruster-engine setup, two rifts in succession allowed the test prototype to reach a close neighboring star system, albeit the three day cool-down reaction process between opening rifts. Unfortunately, according to the captured readings from the rift that Tailz had created with the stolen craft, he had used much more power than that, and quite possibly reached halfway across the known galaxy. In theory.

Reading through the material, Travis came to the end, which detailed how the engine was able to use and withstand such energy. A special casing was constructed within the supplemental device to harness and channel energy directly into the rift emitters. The power source—

The box dropped from Travis’ fingers, and he recoiled as if burned. It landed on the floor beneath his desk, and he stared at it from where he sat.

It would seem the Willers have additional surprises for me yet. He could not take any chances. If Tailz, or any Scout, were to find out what was in there, the Union would be in serious danger. And Tailz has had this ship in his possession and been utilizing it without Union supervision for too long.

Then he realized, how could the secret be kept secret? He reached down and picked up the security box. Scrolling to the very bottom, he saw the final directives.

Rift to matched specs from prototype rift

Retrieve prototype power source

Terminate Terra Scouts Tailz and Cerberus

Rift to Union space

Terminate pilot

He stared at the directives for half an hour, but they were crystal clear. Again, he found himself thinking of the irony of it all. Tailz would have at least lived, had he not gone rogue in the first place. The directives were etched in Travis’ mind. Tailz, he could understand: there was no way he could come back. Cerberus is out there with him, alone, so there is no telling what information he had picked up. Probably better if he died, too. Then, only a Scout could hope to stand his own against another Scout. Two other Scouts. So another Scout had to be sent to recover the power source. Finally, Heir would eventually need to know what he was looking for, even if he did not realize the same device was what was strapped to his own craft. It bothered Travis. After losing several Scouts to Tailz in their initial confrontations, killing the best three of the remainder seemed a heavy price to pay.

He arose from his desk and lifted his jacket from the back of his chair. It would be several more days before the scientists of the Antirades arrived with the power source and assembly. Regardless of the Willers’ plans, the Union needed the Scouts. It took too long to select and train new ones. Maybe if he thought about it long enough, he would be able to come up with an alternative the Willers would accept.

The security box whirred again and went dark as it erased itself at the designated time limit.

* * * * *

Reaching the point he would diverge from the highway at a tangent, Cerberus closed the scanner and replaced it in his pants pocket. He considered for a moment pulling his pistol from his holster, but the soft whir and warm blue glow of the phasic capsule would give him away. Cerberus had to expect that Tailz, if he was in league with some kind of bandits, would leave a guard on his most vulnerable asset: his craft.

Cerberus considered and discarded a number of different ways to destroy it, but he came to the same conclusion each time: that would leave both of them stranded on the planet. This craft was Cerberus’ only way back to the Union. He dared not disable it, even temporarily. It was a prototype with experimental hardware he may not be familiar with. Beyond that, even if he could repair what he damaged, this planet may not have the materials necessary to attempt it.

Moving quickly away from the highway, Cerberus moved into the thick tree cover. He slowed his pace, and scanned his surroundings as he dashed from tree to tree. He simultaneously watched the ground for quiet footing, and the clearings for anyone who might see him. He kept an eye up on the tree branches as well. Many soldiers died from an unseen attack from above. All in all, the combined cover of night and thick treetops made seeing too far difficult, even for him. Cerberus felt confident that if he could not see anyone, no one could see him.

Cerberus decided his main objective: he needed to ascertain the capabilities of Tailz’s craft. Knowing what your enemy could know about you is very important. Once you learned the type of information that the enemy received, you could work on spoofing it, giving the enemy false data to go on. That was usually more productive than destroying the equipment, because if you did it right, it would take a long time and several mistakes before they realized what was going on. Destroyed equipment would be repaired or replaced, or, even worse, would force changes in tactics. Then you were back in the boat you were in before: not knowing what your enemy is finding out about you.

Cerberus slowed and crouched low beside a thick tree stump. A well-muscled man was stomping loudly through the brush somewhere ahead of him. Listening long enough to gauge his direction, Cerberus quietly crept to circle behind him. Watching him walk, the Scout sized the man up. Dressed in dirty, drab clothing, he looked to be what Cerberus would expect of one of Tailz’s outfit: a hired strong-arm. From the way he walked and kept a keen eye, he might have had some military background. He was well-built, with a shortsword held still with one hand, and a small wooden contraption in his other. Cerberus moved sideways several paces to get a better look, and saw a thick rod a foot long tipped with a metallic arrowhead attached to the device. A number of additional bolts were attached to a backstrap he wore. Cerberus remembered similar weapons from the Fongen Rebellion. Primitive projectile weapons, but extremely effective. And relatively quiet, compared to phasic weapons.

Cerberus approached within arms-length, and cleared his throat. The patrol jumped a foot before swinging around, crossbow first, as expected. Cerberus was prepared, and threw an arm upwards under the man’s hand, causing the loosed crossbow bolt to fly harmlessly into the air. Cerberus swiftly wrapped both hands around the patrol’s free hand to prevent him from reaching for his sword. The strong-arm’s mistake came when he hesitated to drop the crossbow the moment his sword-arm was restricted. With no threat of being grabbed, Cerberus stepped closer and, in one fluid motion, side-kicked the man’s shin and spun to twist his arm. The patrol flipped sideways, landing squarely on his chest. Then, in the moment of breathlessness from the landing, Cerberus swiftly drew the shortsword from the big man’s side, and drove it down into the back of his neck.

Cerberus froze and listened. The idiot decided to not yell out for help, but he listened to be sure. In war, there were the cautious, and the dead. When he heard nothing, he grabbed the crossbow and unfastened the backstrap around the dead patrol’s torso. He rose, placing a bolt in the harness of the bow and locking it into place. He glanced down at the body, considering. Deciding, Cerberus wrenched the shortsword free and wiped it clean on the rough’s shirt. Then he cut the sheathe loose and strapped it onto his own belt. With his phasic pistol on his right side, the shortsword on his left, and a loaded crossbow in his hand, Cerberus crept forward once more.

Time was always marked from the first kill. It was only a matter of time before the next patrol would find the dead body you left behind, and alert everyone. Those on the outskirts of an operation took longer to locate, but then, you still had the longest distance left to travel at that point. It came out to the same thing, regardless of where you made your first kill: the clock began ticking.

The trick, was when that happened, give your enemy an arrow to follow. Traveling north for a short distance, Cerberus came across another dirt-clad man armed with a crossbow. Armed with a quiet projectile, Cerberus stood in the man’s path. Unfortunately for the patrol, Cerberus could see farther in the dark. With one quiet ka-chunk, a bolt stood out from the man’s chest, flooring him instantly. Waiting only long enough to load his crossbow using a bolt from the dead man staring up at the thick trees, Cerberus turned direction and moved southwest.

Cerberus quietly slipped past two more armed patrols, solidifying his misdirection. Now, if either body was found, they would search the area, locate the other one, and draw a line in that direction to search for the trespasser. However, with the changing of direction combined with no stars to guide by, Cerberus decided to check his path. He crouched low and consulted his scanner momentarily before continuing west. He was right on track, but again: cautious or dead.

Cerberus kept low, crossbow in hand, but with luck, there would be no more need to kill until he reached the craft, then only whoever was watching it. Weighing the number of thugs he had passed so far, he estimated a guard of at least three on the ship itself. It was hard to believe Tailz could have achieved much more than that, though his current allotment of manpower was impressive. Cerberus curiously considered where the necessary coin had come from. He could not see bandits in league with anyone, including Tailz, unless they brought them some kind of profit. Since guard duty in itself did not pull profit Tailz had to have supplied his own, as payment. Where did he get it?

As he continued, he caught small flickers of light ahead. It was difficult to tell at first, but as he got closer, the light he could make out confused Cerberus. Deeper in the forest, from the direction of where the craft lay, a fire was definitely lit. That did not fit the bill of the “secret guarding of the secret item” operation. Slowly, Cerberus crept towards the light.

Coming to a clearing, Cerberus stayed hidden between two large tree trunks, and peered between them. Sure enough, the prototype craft lay in the middle of the clearing. Surrounding it were nearly two dozen men, all covered in mismatched bits of armor. Two campfires were lit, and most of the men in the clearing were at one or the other.

Cerberus tapped his chin thoughtfully; he had seriously miscalculated. Tailz had the equivalent of two squads in the clearing alone. Watching the men interact, lounging around the fires, Cerberus tried to find the connection he had overlooked. There had to be some way to ascertain how Tailz had amassed such a force. This was suddenly more important than the craft.

As he surveyed the clearing, he watched as two men conferred with each other, one speaking, the other nodding and pointing. Reading the mannerisms, Cerberus decided one was in charge, the other a close subordinate. The subordinate then went to the other campfire, and the men there all looked attentively, all nodding in obedience. Not a standard structure for bandits. Then one saluted. Cerberus’ eyes widened. He smacked his forehead as the final piece of the puzzle locked into place. All of the men, wearing random patches of clothing, all mismatched and dirty, each had a crossbow and shortsword. The same exact standard-issue bows and swords. This was not a random coalition of bandits; this was a structured military complement that was dressed to look like a random coalition of bandits.

It had to be the local guard. With the lack of travel packs, they were not on a trip from any far off town or city. They were from Srynn. Tailz had control of Srynn’s local militia. Jumping upright, he remembered the guards posted at Srynn’s gate. Xia and the others were in danger. He spun to leave immediately.

Cerberus froze staring at the man holding a large crossbow in both hands.

“Move, and you will die.” Tailz said.

* * * * *

Fear. Hate. Sadness. Spite. Betrayal. Revenge. Anger. Rage. Desperation. Each seemed to take its own color, and they ran across the sky like a rainbow that was unsure of where its end would be. Some were brighter than others, some hidden for a time altogether before growing larger and blotting out the rest. The colors came from the sky, and dwelled within the people.

Xia looked at his hands, and they seemed to have no color at all. Looking around, he saw everyone he knew, filled with vibrant colors. His hands wanted that, to drink it in. He reached out and touched a passerby, filled with white-hot Rage.

Xia howled as it flowed into him.

“Look he’s awake!”

“Xia? Xia!” A hand stroked his face.

Pain replaced the darkness, but the light was still thin. Focusing in the dim twilight long before dawn, he recognized Danni peering over him. She smiled at him as he looked at her. “Wh-what happened?”

Danni’s head shook, her blond hair swaying back and forth. “We are not sure, Xia. But right now what matters is if you are okay.”

Blinking, he nodded, then winced, wishing he had not. The back of his head pounded with pain if he moved even slightly. He was laying on a hard surface; he had to raise his head slightly from Danni’s lap to realize he was on the floor. They were in a plain, white room, empty save for themselves. He lowered his head carefully and glanced back up at Danni. “How about you? And Deia?”

“I’m okay,” Danni answered, “but we don’t know where Deia is. They separated us when they took us in.”

Xia blinked again, the world still coming into full focus. “We? Not Deia?”

A familiar voice answered him. “Hello, Xia.”

Turning his head, painfully, to glance at the source of the voice, he felt Danni’s hands tighten on him slightly. A young woman, beautiful save for the broken lip and chaotic hair she was sporting, sat in the corner of the room, hands on her knees. Her eyes were bloodshot, though from crying or lack of sleep, Xia could not tell. The way she looked at him, either was possible. “Cheryl?”

She nodded. “I am glad to see you, even if it’s in here.”

Xia tried to sit up, but needed Danni supporting him to make it work. “What is going on? Where are we?”

“Srynn Hall. There was a whole squad of them, Xia.” Danni said with a sob. “They took the horses, and Deia.”

“Deia?” Xia glanced around, now fully realizing she was not in the room. “Where is Deia?”

Cheryl spoke up. “Calm down, Xia. Danni, start from the beginning.”

Danni explained the long line of Guardsmen that exited the gate late last night. The lead was who knocked Xia out, and the others were armed. The guards quickly enveloped Deia and Danni, binding their hands together behind them. Xia was hefted over a large man’s shoulder, and the horses were led away. When someone realized that Deia’s dagger held the blood of the Guardsmen she killed, they bundled her up and whisked her away elsewhere. Danni had not seen her since. Danni and Xia were taken to the Srynn Hall, up to one of the higher floors, and deposited here, in this room. Cheryl was already here, and was surprised to see them.

Xia shook his head. “I should not have given her back the dagger. I just wanted her to make the guard back off, not kill him.”

Cheryl frowned. “You cannot blame yourself Xia. Me personally, he had it coming to him, trying to just grab you guys like they did. How could you know what their intentions were?”

“Help me up.” Xia said, and Danni helped to bear his weight as he stood. She wrapped an arm around him, to help him balance. “Srynn Hall?” He looked at the window. “How high up are we?”

Danni shook her head. “We’re four stories up. That, and the grounds are watched.” Helping him along, Danni moved to the window, and pointed at the men visible below. “Srynn Hall is both the town center, and the Mayor’s residence. The town guards watch this place.”

“Why did they kidnap us?”

Danni shook her head. “I don’t know, Xia. No one said a word to us.”

Xia stared out the window, thinking. Without looking back, he asked, “What about you, Cheryl? You have to have been here a couple days at least, since you did not make it back to Tel.”

Cheryl bowed her head from her spot in the corner. “I’m sorry, Xia. I did not mean to let you down.”

Waving it off, Xia said, “Just tell me what happened.”

“I came straight here.” Cheryl said. “The gates were closed. The guards said that they were instructed to not let anyone in, but when I explained what had happened in Tel, they opened the gate for me. One of them even walked up the path with me and opened the door to the Hall.

“It was strange, when I came in, because there was no one there. The whole bottom floor was empty. I figured the guards would have told me if the Mayor was gone, so I went upstairs. I heard voices behind one door, so I went up to knock, but before I did, I heard yelling. I heard Lord Mensch’s voice, yelling. Then I heard Mayor Taugen yell back.”

Xia turned and looked at Cheryl. “What were they yelling about?”

“They were looking for someone. Lord Mensch wanted the Mayor to write a warrant for whoever it was, but the Mayor said he would not arrest an innocent person. Lord Mensch pushed, and the Mayor said that even if he did, the guy is not even in Srynn. Mensch said to find out where he is, and then he must have pushed the Mayor into the door, because he hit it pretty hard, and it swung open and knocked me over. That’s how they found I was listening. Then they put me here. That was two days ago.”

Xia frowned. “So, did they think we were here for you?” He looked at the floor, thinking. “But why do that? Why not just say they did not know where you were? Why attack us the way they did?”

“I don’t know,” Cheryl answered, “but something is going on, something I was not supposed to find out about.”

“So they’re looking for some guy, big deal.” Danni said. “I don’t see what the big secret is that they would lock us up.”

Xia looked at the door from where he stood, and raised an eyebrow at the doorknob. The door was made to lock from the inside.

Cheryl nodded when he asked. “They keep two big guys out front.”

“Are you sure?”

Cheryl pointed at her lip. “They gave me this when I checked.”

Sighing, Xia sat back down. “All we can do then, is wait and see what happens.”

“Wait?” Danni and Cheryl said together.

Xia nodded. “We cannot overpower the guards, and then everyone between here and the ground floor. We cannot escape out the window. When Cerberus gets back, he’ll go to the Daggerpoint and see we are not there.”

“Do you think he can find us?” Danni asked.

Xia leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. “I hope so. Besides, Tailz is in Srynn too. If anything, we are relatively safe here.”

Cheryl blinked her eyes between Danni and Xia. “Cerberus? That guy you brought home? And wasn’t Tailz the one who burned down Tel?” Her eyes darted back and forth, and she licked her lips. “What is going on?”

Xia kept his eyes closed, and said nothing. Sighing, Danni filled Cheryl in on what had happened in Tel after Cheryl was sent to Srynn.

* * * * *

Deia hated the darkness. She was not weak; she did not mind the dark. But this deep, dank, darkness, where she could not even see her hands as she held them up in front of her, far too well amplified the hollow feelings of emptiness and hopelessness in her chest. When she thought on the emptiness, she thought of her parents, lying in a jumbled pile as Tailz rolled away in that damned carriage.

She forced herself to move again, gritting her teeth at the jarring pain. She did it each time her thoughts mirrored the darkness, and each time, it fanned the blackness into flaming rage, anger at what they did to her. They took turns, cuffing her head, smacking her with the flats of their blades, nicking her with the tips of their daggers. They dragged her by the hair, and laughed at her pain. They had singled her out as the “murderer,” and took it upon themselves to teach her a lesson. She was no murderer. They were trying to take away her hope of killing Tailz for murdering her parents. Tailz was a murderer, killing for no reason. Deia was only protecting herself.

If you keep telling yourself that, you might start believing it. Deia scowled at herself in the dark. Cerberus had warned her, the things he taught her, they were not for play, or even for self-defense. These were meant to kill.

“Now remember, this is not for playing around. It is not for fighting to win. It is not even for self-defense. These moves are to kill a man.”

Deia thought about this, but something he said puzzled her. “But what about when killing is the only way to defend yourself?”

In one of the few odd moments where he showed a hint of emotion, Cerberus looked at her sadly and said, “You have a responsibility to those you kill. You change the future of the universe for each person you take from it. And, you have to live with those consequences.

“You see, at some point, you have to consciously choose to kill your attacker. Then, instead of looking for chances to run, you do the opposite of protecting yourself. You turn and fight, and you become the attacker. You risk your life, and put your all into ending his life.” Cerberus shook his head. “If you must live, you cannot take action to further endanger yourself. In self-defense, there can be no killing.”

Deia shivered, pulling her knees up to rest her head. She could not tell whether the shiver that racked her body was from the damp coldness of the darkness, or from her own guilt. She knew now, what he meant. She knew, when she dropped the dagger, what she was doing. She did not think about who she was killing. She did not think that he might have a family, might just be following orders because he had to feed them. He might have friends or others who care for him, or children who look up to him. A tear ran from Deia’s eye. She could have taken someone else’s parent.

She might have killed some child’s adored parent. And she was still alive. That thought echoed in her head, chasing all her other thoughts away. It was just her and the darkness.

In the distance, she heard metal creaking. A door opened, and then slammed shut, but the echoing in the empty dungeon made it hard to tell where it was coming from. Deia waited, listening. The echoes faded away to silence, and for a short time she could hear nothing. Then footsteps sounded, shuffling in the dust that lined the old corridors of Srynn’s prison. All she could make out was that it was definitely more than one person.

An orb of light blinked at the end of the corridor. It seemed a small amount for a lantern, but the darkness here seemed to suppress the light. As it approached, she could make out two figures, one tall and wide, the other short and thin. She peered at them as they strode up to her cell. They came close enough for her to make out their faces, and when she did, she threw herself against the bars. They rattled violently as she shook them. “You!”

“Well, look here, Jif.” The smaller man said, his crooked-nose seemingly twisting along with his snarl. “It was the wench from Metson.” He laughed and pointed. Deia growled deep in her throat, and thrust her arm through the bars, intent on breaking that finger.

Jif nodded and grinned, several teeth missing. “She made us look pretty dumb in front of the boss.” He chuckled.

Tears came to her eyes, but she did not know it. “Boss? Tailz? That bastard murdered my parents! And you helped him!”

Skippy replied, ignoring Deia. “When they said there was a girl from Metson with them, I was hoping it would be her.” She froze as he flashed her a murderous grin. “We was gonna be nice and let her go, but no, we got to feel what her teeth felt like.”

The large man smiled. “Well, there do be a price for messing with us.”

Deia backed from the bars slowly, her eyes widening. Skippy pulled a key from his pocket and placed it into the lock. Deia winced as it turned over, and the metal door swung wide. Replacing the key in his pocket, he stepped into the cell and unsheathed his dagger. Behind him, Jif smacked a fist against his other hand. Deia put her hands up in front of her. “Please…” she started.

Skippy moved across the cell floor towards her. Deia cried out in pain as she flashed a leg forward, kicking at the bandit’s dagger hand. He jumped back a step, letting her leg swoop by, but, as Cerberus had shown her, she followed the movement by bringing both hands down on the wrist above his dagger. Instinctively, Skippy, intent on keeping his dagger, bent slightly forward to keep a grip on it. She smartly kicked her other knee straight up, and connected squarely with his nose.

Skippy yelled as he fell backwards. Jif caught him with one arm, and kept him from falling onto his back. “Cute, girl. Real cute.” Skippy said angrily, nursing the blood streaming from his nose. He waved off Jif’s arm, and turned the dagger point-up. “Enough playing.”

Deia’s attackers froze as the door that had admitted them into the dungeon was heard creaking open again. When it shut with a loud clang, the two bandits looked at each other curiously. “Well,” Skippy said, motioning with his dagger. Go on, see who it is.” Jif walked to the edge of the lantern’s light, and peered back the way they had come, but, of course, no one could see anything beyond that point. Skippy retreated into the corridor cautiously, closing the cell door behind him. “Well?”

“I don’t see anyone coming.” The lumbering bandit replied.

Skippy picked up the lantern and moved towards his partner, moving the light ahead of him. Before going two paces, the light revealed a figure in a dark hooded robe within arms reach of where Jif was standing. “Who are you? What do you want?” Skippy demanded.

“I’ve come for the girl.” The hooded man answered. The shadows from the lantern seemed to make him darker still, as if he had no face under the hood.

Jif pulled the broadsword from his back. “I’m afraid she belongs with us, you get it?”

“Very well.” From within the robe, the man drew two longswords, and flourished them. “Come then.”

Jif growled and swung his broadsword down. The robed man leaped back as the sword came crashing down. The bandit stepped forward on the upstroke, and slashed at him again, each time avoided by jumping further back. When the hooded man finally drew both swords above himself to meet Jif’s strike, they were fighting on the edge of the light.

The smaller, more agile fighter started flinging arm after arm at Jif, a flurry of strikes that Jif found himself unable to counter. With his attacker swathed in darkness, the bandit had a hard time keeping track of his strikes, barely moving his broadsword in time to parry the strikes as they relentlessly rained down.

Skippy was two paces behind Jif, his dagger drawn, but the passageway was not wide enough to allow him enough room to fight alongside his partner without being struck by his own sword. Mainly, he ducked left and right, trying to watch from behind Jif. When Jif yelled “I need more light!” Skippy jumped as if goosed, and leaped to where the lantern sat. Picking it up, he brought it closer.

But with the light source behind the huge Jif, it only changed the angles of the shadows painted on the dual-swordsman. His arms were spinning like windmills, striking down on Jif’s sword like smith’s hammers on an anvil. Jif started to bend his knees under the weight of it, struggling to inch forward and find some way to counter the assault.

Suddenly, the attacker changed posture, and his two swords leaped up from below. Jif managed to spring up and lower his sword desperately to block the strike, but blinked as the swords were casually knocked aside. He only had a moment of surprise before the fist struck him in the face, followed by an elbow to the side of the head. Jif slumped to the ground like a very large sack of grain.

In a flash, the man leaped over Jif and was in front of Skippy. His jaw dropped, and he looked up, baffled. “You?” He had only a moment before he too crumpled to the floor.

Rustling around in the smaller man’s pockets, the robed man found the key and moved to open the cell door. “We have to hurry, I don’t know how long the guards will be gone.” The key turned, and he pushed the door open. He turned around and gathered his swords. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, who are you?” Deia asked quietly.

After sheathing his swords, the man removed his hood.

Flooded with relief, Deia wept.

* * * * *

Cerberus counted again. Ten. It had yet to change, but the reflex made him check again anyways. Ten crossbow points aimed at his chest. No matter how swift he was, Cerberus could probably disable half of them before the others launched, but just one of those at such a point-blank distance would be deadly. Even Scouts were not immortal.

The Srynn Guard meticulously surrounded Cerberus at Tailz’s command. There were the ten with crossbows, instructed to fire at the first notice of escape. Then more surrounded that ring, twenty paces out all around. That was just in case Cerberus somehow got out of the loop of metal transfixed at his chest. Then, even further out, another squad of men encircled the entire parade, to ensure another line of defense if Cerberus single-handedly defeated the first two. At the very least, that gave Cerberus the advantage, that Tailz felt it necessary to take such precautions. The more your enemy thought you capable of, the more over-cautious they became.

Cerberus flexed the chains that bound his wrists together. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s working. He knew that he was useless like this, and he could think of no course of action that would not end with a bolt in his back. Cerberus had no choice but to continue on and see what it was that Tailz truly wanted.

Looking ahead, Cerberus glimpsed the flame-haired traitor at the head of the march. He had kept Cerberus under a similar guard most of the night, and decided to go back to the town at first light. The only part that confused Cerberus was that after going through all the trouble to capture him in the first place, he was rather quiet about his plans. As a matter of fact, Tailz had not said a word to him beyond telling him to sit down and shut up. Instead of killing him outright, Tailz held him in this elaborate ploy. Tailz wanted something, or needed something, from Cerberus. Cerberus just could not discern what that was.

Credit was due, however; Cerberus fell into the trap blindly. He had become so reliant on the scanner that he did not realize that Tailz had intentionally left his phasic rifle and Spheric in Srynn. Cerberus growled softly to himself. Tailz should have killed him on the spot. Which just looped Cerberus back around to his original train of thought: why was he still alive?

Marching out of the forest and into the grassland leading to the path, Cerberus could see further out. The gate had been opened for the morning, as horse-drawn carts were just starting to leave Srynn. Several had already began rolling down the path, the kicked-up dust reflecting the early morning light. As Cerberus’ escort was recognized as guards by the approaching carts, some raised their hands in greeting or salute. Cerberus was just another caught criminal.

Cerberus eyed the carts as he approached the path. Each had a driver directing their horses, some had a woman walking alongside, and one even had children playing, tagging behind the cart as it rolled along. He thought of several ways to use the passing carts as a distraction, but as before, each idea ended with him sporting several new holes in his skin. Gritting his teeth, he made no attempt to do anything but walk as directed past each cart. He would bide his time until he capitalized on Tailz’ mistake of not killing him. There was no sense getting killed at a time where his enemy clearly did not want him dead yet.

Tailz also eyed the carts in between glances at Cerberus. It was clear Tailz saw the same opportunities Cerberus did, and was concerned that he might attempt to take advantage of it, as if the amount of steel pointed at him was not deterrent enough. He expected such a reaction from Union men outside of the Scouts, given the Scouts’ reputation of near-gods, but he found it interesting to see it in Tailz, much less any Scout. Not only did Tailz need him, Tailz was worried about something. At least, he was concerned to the point that even the smallest chance of losing Cerberus was not worth the risk. Chuckling, Cerberus realized he was interested enough in what Tailz was up to that he was willing to ride this through, just to see what it was.

Arriving at the opened gates, Tailz waved off the salutes given and turned to wait for the rest of the escort. Glancing aside, Cerberus noticed a patch of stained dirt off to the side of the gate. Careful to not seem to take much notice, Cerberus looked elsewhere. He had seen enough fighting to know that blood had been spilled during the night. His thoughts quickly touched on Xia and the others, but from his position, he could only hope that none of the Telians had been hurt.

Frowning slightly, Cerberus began to wonder at what point he began to truly care for those people. He had been in many a situation in close quarters with allies and enemies alike, infiltrating secured buildings and protecting innocent citizens. He felt a kinship with the Xia boy that he had not felt since…

His eyes touched on Tailz as he passed him under the gate tower. …since Tailz. He had considered Tailz a friend once, and that was a mistake he was still paying for. Cerberus hesitated to apply it to anyone else. Blinking, he looked around and focused on his surroundings, cursing himself. Here he was, chained and under guard, and he was thinking on whether he should call a man a friend or not! He thought too much, as of late, and it would cost him one day; Cerberus knew it for fact.

His escort compressed around him, and made for an impressive sight. Without the open space to spread out around him, a full complement of fifty soldiers walked packed around him through the town streets. Townspeople pushed aside to the sides of the street, gawking at the man in chains who required half of the full Guard’s force to take in. They pointed and stared, but they moved aside, and the train of men flowed quickly through the maze of buildings.

Hustled through the town roads, Cerberus quickly found himself at the foot of the taller building he had glimpsed on his earlier foray into Srynn. He was rushed through the gates and up to the double-doors. The torrent of Guardsmen to his sides remained as they entered the building, crossbow bolts practically resting on his skin. At that close range, one of those bolts would sear completely through his body and likely strike someone on the other side. Oddly, Cerberus found the thought humorous. He shared a smile with his captors, wondering who would be the one to be shot by his own side. Uncertain, the guards glanced to one another uncomfortably, which only made Cerberus laugh out loud.

Tailz called irritably from behind. “Shut up, Cerberus.” Then, to the others, he barked out, “Get him into the back room.” With that, the stream carried Cerberus through a long corridor, depositing himself and his immediate circle into a large empty room. Several of the guards took up positions near the two large windows. The rest kept poking Cerberus with metal.

Tailz stepped just into the room, and from the doorway stared into Cerberus’ eyes. Having nothing else to do, Cerberus stared back at him calmly, and waited. It looked like he might learn what was going on here. He would wait Tailz out. If he did not get an opportunity to escape, he was good as dead anyways, so what little defiance he could show, he would, even in the form of not demanding Tailz explain himself.

Apparently, Tailz realized he would not get the satisfaction from Cerberus, and scoffed quietly. “All of you, you are dismissed.” He said to the guards outside the room. Then he surprised Cerberus by motioning to those still holding bolts to his chest. “You too, get out of here. Call for Mensch, tell him I have Cerberus here.” The guards backed slowly away from Cerberus, keeping their bows trained on him until they had backed clear out the door. The last one shut the door behind him, and it was just Cerberus and Tailz. Together. Alone. Cerberus’ eyes narrowed.

Tailz put up his hands. “Come now, brother.” He said. “Don’t try anything funny. You have not heard me out yet. I know you want to hear what I have to say.”

Cerberus tilted his head, and left his eyes narrowed and focused on Tailz. “I’m not your brother.” But, he crossed his arms and waited for the former Scout to continue.

Tailz smiled. “You are, in spirit.” He stepped forward slowly, approaching Cerberus. “Put out your hands.” When Cerberus complied, Tailz undid the lock on the chains and dropped them to the floor. Cerberus calmly placed his hands at his sides and waited. “What?” Tailz asked. “No thanks?”

Cerberus’ mouth twitched, the only sign of impatience he showed. “Get on with it.”

Shrugging, Tailz walked to one side of the room and leaned against the wall. “You’re not as friendly as you used to be.”

Cerberus shrugged slightly. “After someone tries to kill me once or thrice, I tend to forget to send them invitations to my birthday parties.”

Tailz barked a laugh. “That’s what I always liked about you, Cerb! You always were a funny man, in private at least.”

“Come on, man!” Cerberus growled. “Get to your point! I’m not here to talk about the old days. You killed the others! You ran from the Willers! You threw away everything the Union ever gave you, and for what? To come to this forsaken place and burn down a village?”

Tailz closed his eyes and seemed to listen. After a moment, he reopened his eyes and smiled. “Ah, yes, Tel, was it?” He shook his head. “An unfortunate accident, that.”

“Accident?” Cerberus said.

Nodding, Tailz answered. “I found the Spheric, and through it, I can touch so much energy.” His voice filled with awe. “It filled me, Cerberus. It was magnificent.”

“So you used it to murder innocent people.”

“No!” Tailz practically spat. “I could not control it. I tried to send the energy back from where it came, but it seems to be a one way ticket. You take energy out of it, and you have to do something with it, or it stays in you, and burns.”

Cerberus considered carefully. “You have the Spheric, Tailz. What do you need with me?”

“Do you know why I ran, Cerb?”

Cerberus shook his head. “No. We never knew.”

“They were going to kill me.”

“…What?” Cerberus blinked.

“Yes. They were going to kill me, for what I could do.” He looked at Cerberus sadly. “What we can do.”

Cerberus closed his eyes. “We?”

Tailz’s voice burned his ears. “You already know what I’m talking about, don’t you, Cerberus?”

Cerberus did not answer.

Pain. Revenge. Fear.

“…”

“You can hear me, can’t you, Cerberus.”

Cerberus growled and opened his eyes. “What do you want, dammit?”

“Think back to when our minds merged, Cerberus.” Tailz said. “Remember when our memories overlapped, yours, mine, and that other one’s. Xia’s. Remember?”

Cerberus frowned. The words seemed to rip from his throat. “You had been able to hear others’ thoughts for some time. You had even used it to complete some of your missions. Then, the Willers, they…” He shook his head. “But why, Tailz? It makes no sense!”

“I thought the same thing!” Tailz exclaimed. “It made no sense, so I ran. I was not going to die uselessly! What would you have done? Laid down to die like a dog?”

Cerberus did not answer.

“I found records, Cerberus. I broke into the Union database, and looked up the previous Scouts who had been called to sacrifice themselves to the Willers.”

“There were others?”

“Yes, but, Cerberus.” Tailz shook his head. “After they were marked as dead, their prints and security access were still used regularly. Whatever happened to them, they were not actually killed. They were made to look that way. They were never seen again, but their clearances were used regularly at some secret base called Station Zero.”

Cerberus held a hand to his head. “This is all so confusing.” He shook his head. “But what does this have to do with me?”

“The Spherics, Cerberus. They are a great power controlled by our ability. We reach out to them like we can to people’s minds, and they give us extraordinary power.” Tailz’s voice grew fervent. “If we stop fighting one another, and come together, we could gather them here, and control the greatest power that the Union has ever seen!”

Cerberus’ mouth dropped. “Are you crazy? Earth’s Sin was caused by these, and by people who did not know what they were doing! We stand about the same chance of surviving, Tailz!” Then a thought returned to Cerberus, one that he had pushed aside for some time. “Wait… That’s your plan, isn’t it? You are going to trigger another Earth’s Sin and wipe out the entire Union!”

Tailz held his hands wide. “After the Union is gone, there will be no one to persecute us, Cerberus. We can fully develop our power, and have anything we want, anywhere in the galaxy!”

“Do you hear yourself with your rule the universe talk?” Cerberus asked, flabbergasted. “Do you see? You are insane!”

“What is the alternative, Cerberus? When you go back, they will find out you can do it too. They will know, Cerb. The Willers, they can do it too, that’s how they found me.”

Cerberus’ mouth dropped. “The Willers… they… how…?”

“They’ll kill you, Cerberus. Or suck you into whatever secret prison they have for weapons like us.”

“Weapons…” Cerberus clenched his eyes shut tight. “It… I mean, we have always acted as weapons for the Union.”

“Not locked up in a cage for the rest of your life, Cerberus.”

“I… I don’t know, Tailz. You are asking me to betray the Union. I cannot do that. I am sure that if we go back, and explain, maybe there is a reason for what they did. We’ve done covert before, maybe with this, this is something that not even we get to know. That they have to fake our deaths to get us off the active Union radar.”

“I’m not willing to risk that, Cerberus.”

“And I am not willing to risk treason, Tailz.”

Tailz sighed softly and turned towards the door. “I was afraid that you might decide that route.” He put his hands on the door handle. “Then, so be it. In that case, I have another proposition for you.” He turned the handle, and pulled the door open wide.

Behind the door, Lord Mensch stood. He briefly nodded to Tailz before entering the room. In his hands, he carried a thick rope that dragged behind him three people, each bent over awkwardly. Their hands were bound together, and then tied to ropes leading to their feet. They had gags tied around their mouths. As they entered, their eyes each widened as they recognized Cerberus. Mensch closed the door behind them.

“Xia!” Cerberus said, and took a step forward. “Danni! Cheryl!”

“Not a move, Cerberus!” Tailz said, motioning to Mensch. In a single fluid move, Mensch had his sword drawn and under Xia’s neck.

Cerberus froze in place. “Damn you Tailz. What do you want?”

“If you refuse to help me, you have two choices, Cerberus. One, is you can take your friends here, and leave, and never bother me again. You live out your life on this planet here, far away from the Union, and never see me again. My fight is with the Union, not you.”

Cerberus growled. “And the other?”

Tailz shrugged. “I kill you all now.”

“You son of a bitch.” Cerberus glanced between Xia and Tailz, and licked his lips. Xia and the others just stared. Tears ran the girls’ faces. All three of them had been roughed up. Cheryl had a busted lip, and Xia had several bruises across his face.

“Well, Cerberus? Which is it?”

Cerberus frowned. A single tear slid down his cheek. He turned sideways and assumed a fighting stance. “Letting you gather the Spherics to destroy the Union would be just as bad as helping you do it. I cannot let you do this.”

Tailz shrugged. “Kill them.”

Mensch nodded, and drew back his sword. “Forgive me, boy.”

Cerberus leaped forward, reaching his hands out. “Noooo!” The world slowed down. He watched as the sword began its descent from where Mensch held it. There was no way he could reach Xia from where he stood. His mind flailed about for ideas, blood pounding in his ears. He silently begged for anything, to help his friend. Friend. Friend. Friend.

Cerberus felt a familiar feeling wash down his being, and he remembered. The room was bathed in crimson light, and his entire body was enveloped in a translucent sphere. His hands burned like fire, fueled by Rage. He remembered clearly the events of Tel. He remembered his body full of energy, unable to do anything with it, until Xia stepped in. Cerberus did not want to hurt the man, and forced the energy into the ground to save them both. He was angry at Tailz, angry for the death in Tel, and he had to put that elsewhere, for it fueled the fire that had threatened to consume them both. And in the haze, Cerberus found out how. “Burn, you!” Cerberus screamed, and just as before, forced Rage from his soul.

Flame spouted from his fingertips, quickly rushing across the room. Mensch screamed as he was drenched with fire, dropping his sword, and began flapping at himself, struggling to remove his cape and jacket. The captives fell backwards from the shock, but, thankfully, none of them were touched by the stream of flame. Cerberus lowered his hands in relief.

He had only a moment to recover before he was sent sprawling to the floor. The crimson light disappeared, leaving only the morning sunlight to beam in from outside. Cerberus slid to a stop against the wall, and his head rang. Blinking, the burning sensation he felt was gone, as was the energy that had surrounded him moments ago. Looking up, he saw Tailz just standing upright from the kick that had floored him. Tailz looked down at him with a look of pure fear.

Mensch groaned loudly behind him. His cape and jacket were on the floor, still smoldering from the flames. His face and arm was blistered, and he stood with a twisted sneer on his face. Growling, he reached down, and snatched up his sword. “Damn you, you vermin!” With that, he raised the sword over Danni’s head.

The window crashed and rained down glass over Lord Mensch. A robed figure flew through the window feet first, driving them into Mensch’s back. Mensch growled loudly as he was knocked forward. The robed man released the rope he had rode in on, and dropped to his feet on the floor. Mensch kept his balance and turned to face the newcomer.

“Bah!” Tailz said, turning away from Mensch and towards Cerberus. “You kill them! Kill them all! I’ll take care of my friend over here.”

Mensch raised his sword obediently. The robed man lowered his hood, and drew two swords from under his robes. “You bastard,” Fenix announced, angrily flourishing his swords. “Let’s see how good you are now.”