Games Reapers Play

Chapter 8

THE GONG TOLLED in the distance as the wind began blowing through the vacant town. Doors creaked as the wind pushed against their rusted hinges. Sebastian leaned, weak against Annalysia's shoulders. Sweat beaded his forehead as a fever ravaged through him. He picked his head up. "There, the tavern on the left with the symbol of a dragon is where he lived." The woman looked at him as he spoke. There was a pang of worry on her face.

"You don't look so well."

"Of course not," the gamekeeper spoke with glee. Annalysia looked into his face terrified as he pushed past them, "the bullet I shot into his leg was laced with a special mixture that I created to end the Undertaker once he had used up his usefulness. Just like the Seer. Though, I must say, it's taking its time working on him. I wonder if I didn't put enough wolfberries in. Doesn't matter. I will have him on my slab in no time. Then all my questions will be answered.

The man stopped and faced them. "Still, I will be surprised if he survives the next ten minutes." Annalysia went to lay him down. He dug his untrimmed nails into her arm and stared into her eyes. He couldn't find the words, but he silently begged her to continue. The Seer was the only one that could help them. She nodded understanding his plea.

"I assume this is the place?" Rowell inquired as he stared at the tavern. "I heard the seer frequented here when it was a thriving city. I must say, at the beginning no one believed that this game was punishment and tried living peacefully. Not even in this society were they free from rebels."

The man took Sebastian's silence to mean he was right about the hideout. His heart dropped as the man in white entered the tavern first. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled away from her, rose to his feet with great effort and limped inside.

The air was smokey and burned his eyes. He glanced around the darkened cavern. The round wooden tables were tipped on their sides and the matching chairs laid broken and scattered. Many bones set about from fatal brawls from fifty years ago when the arena first opened. Sebastian shifted his eyes to the counter where a man sat with his legs crossed in deep meditation.

"So this is the legendary seer?" hissed the man in white.

The orical opened his milky eyes."I hear the voice of a man." He spoke with a raspy voice. "I haven't heard this voice in a long time." The seer turned his head towards the man in white and furrowed his brow. "It couldn't be Rowell Mc Manning, could it?"

The man in white took a step back. "Yes, it is. I have had a promotion since they placed you here many..."

"Aww, you were the man that flew me in on the helicopter and placed me in this wretched town. It was also you who drugged his wife so she could kill your only son in the name of science."

Rowell strengthened his back.

A smile pulled at Sebastian's face. Although the seer was blind, he could see into the heart and soul of every human being. He was what one might call a seer. If Rowell did all the wicked things they accused him of, plus who knows how many more, he deserved what was to come. The seer picked up a rod that rested against the countertop. The orb that sat atop began glowing. "Rowell Mc Manning, I see you are unfit for life. I sentence you to death."

A storm cloud appeared hovering over Rowell. He dropped his syringe and fell to his knees. "I'm sorry, I can change." Rowell held up his hands as lighting began dancing on clouds. "Look, I can free everyone. If I can go back to the capital..." He trailed off.

Lighting sparked out of the cloud and shot downward toward Rowell. Rowell's body jerked from the voltage and his hair stood up on end before he fell face down onto the dirty wooden floor. The seer placed the staff back on the counter before turning toward Sebastian and Annalysia.