Diamond Wings

Chapter 12 Unanswered Questions and Unfinished Business

   "Are you sure that there is nothing else we can do for you?" John offers.
   "No, thank you," Sarena responds. "You all have been more than helpful, and could not of come at a better time."
   "Likewise, we really cannot thank you enough for saving us. If you ever need anything, you know where to find us. Good luck in your journey ahead. I hope you find the answers you seek and right the wrongs you intend to."
   And with that, the three guests set off, leaving the gracious family. They head towards town, after being pointed in the right direction. All wearing hooded cloaks to avoid drawing too much attention, gifted from their thankful and generous hosts.
   Through the trees they march, hopefully to find answers and free this world from her oppressive family's tyranny.
   "Hey, you guys got any more of them walkie-talkies?" Max inquires, as the other two give puzzled looks. "The communicators?" he clarifies.
   "You call things funny names," Glik says, as he rummages around his pack. "I think I have some extras some where in this thing," he claims, digging in his bag of gadgets. "Here we go. It's also a universal translator as well as a communicator," he says, handing the device over and explaining how it works.
   "I call things funny names? You're such a nerd." Laughs Max. "And this whole time I thought we just kept gettin' lucky to be speakin' the same language. You two been holdin' out. What else you got in that bag o' tricks?" he asks, reaching for Glik's pack and trying to look in.
   "Stop," Glik whines, as he wrestles his bag away from Max and clutches it. "You wouldn't understand how they work anyway, your not nerdy enough."
   Sarena laughs at her unlikely friends as they traverse the trees. The hike across the forest lasts for several hours, before reaching the tree line. The woodland gives way to grassy hills that stretch far. A town leading up to a grand castle lay in the distance.
   "There." She points towards the castle. "That's where we will most likely find my brother," she declares, wasting no time before beginning to descend the first of many grassy mounds.
   "Sarena, what happens when we find your brother?" questions Glik.
   Max, quick to answer. "We kick his ass and take his throne, livin' like kings and queens for the rest of our days." Smiling as he dreams.
   Sarena smiles and chuckles before correcting him. "Close. He was not always like this. Hopefully we can reason with him to change his ways, and get some more answers about what has been taking place since I've been locked away. We might have to dethrone him, but not just so we can take it from him."
   "Aw, your no fun," Max complains.
   "I kinda like the kings and queens idea too," Glik adds.
   She laughs. "Maybe we can save that for plan B or C."
   "Now we're talkin'," Max exclaims. "Let's go kick some purple . . . grapes? Grapes are purple right? I don't know too many purple things. Ya, that works. Let's go squash some grapes!"
   Laughing, they continue to cross the hills, as the sun peaks in the sky.
   Finally, the town lay before them.
   They pass the first of many presumed guards, with only a few curious looks. Thankfully, none of them look familiar, and the three seem to pass off as a family, with one small child and a large mother, as Sarena tries her best to tuck her wings in.
   The three take in the many sights, sounds and smells, as they move through the town. Multiple inns and taverns spread throughout the buildings and houses. Hustling and bustling people moving to and fro. Various aromas coming down the street from a market up ahead, with assorted meats and breads. So many distractions as they try to stay focused, and move towards the castle.
   In their distraction, they fail to notice an equally distracted family of three, as everyone runs into each other. Apologies get thrown around from all parties, as everyone moves around each other and back to their original paths.
   All seems innocent enough until Glik notices that his translator device is gone. He turns around to see the innocent family of three split, the larger two darting right, and the smaller one who ran into him, darting left into an alleyway.
   "Hey, that kid stole my communicator," Glik claims, as he begins to give chase.
   Sarena and Max quickly follow him down the dark alleyway. The small thief sprints to the end and around a corner, with Glik hot on their heels.
   "Glik wait," she beckons, as he rounds the corner before they can catch up.
   The glint of the sun, reflecting off of the cocked arrow's head, through the dark shadowed alleyway from the rooftop above, makes it's way to Max's trained eye.
   He tackles Sarena from behind as the arrow flies, barely missing them both.
   "Get down!" he yells.
   Sarena pulls her shield rod, spinning around, making a large shield to cover them both. The blue barrier appears just in time to cover them from the arrowstorm raining down onto them, as they lay there. Steel pointed tips creating blue sparks, as they ricochet off the blue canopy.
   As the arrows stop, two cloaked figures repel down from the roofs above, one on each side of them, blocking their escape.
   Sarena and Max both stand, as she carefully maintains the shield cover above their heads. She pulls her sword, as he pulls a large combat knife, and a pistol for the close quarters.
   The two shadowy figures each pull two daggers, as they charge in a pincer attack. Both spinning and twirling the daggers fluently with great skill and speed, as they converge on the pinned down pair.
   Max blocks multiple stabs and slices with the pistol, and uses his own short blade to parry and deflect, until he pushes the attacker back slightly. He attempts a few counter slashes as he pushes foward, before an arrow from above lands next to his foot, sending him back under the blue protection.
   Sarena attempts to use the greater range of her blade as an advantage, keeping her attacker back with quick and numerous slashes and stabs. A couple more arrows come down in an attempt to distract her, and keep pressure on from multiple angles, as she struggles to keep the protective barrier in position, and also fight off a skilled opponent. The shadowy figure struggles to get in close, but finally manages to parry the blade with one dagger, and lunge with the other, only to receive Sarena's powerful foot in their midsection, sending them back.
   "Enough!" a woman yells from the back of the alley.
   Max keeps his gaze on his assailant, but Sarena looks past hers to see another, holding Glik at knife point.
   "Drop your weapons and lower your shield. We only want the one with wings, Amir's sister, is it?"
   Max grits his teeth, angry about their predicament.
   "I'm sorry guys," offers Glik, for putting them in the predicament.
   "How do you know that I'm Amir's sister?" Sarena asks, confused and shocked.
   "We're not as stupid as the guards in this town," explains the woman holding Glik captive. "The chatter and rumors started as soon as those loud mouth soldiers returned. Our lookouts spotted you coming over the hills. Nice try, but those cloaks aren't fooling us. We've all lost too much to your tyrant brother to allow another like him to stand at his side."
   "Amir might be my brother, but I am nothing like him. At least nothing like he is now. We've actually come to stop him. Sorry you didn't hear that rumor."
   "Hmm, how do we know your not just saying that now to save your skins?"
   "Think about it," explains Glik. "Why else would we be hiding? Why wouldn't we be welcomed by him? She can also use those wings to just fly to him, instead of trying to sneak in."
   "Hmm, you do have some good points. Pretty good for a goblin," she declares, as Glik is released.
   "I'm not a goblin! Whatever a goblin is anyways."
   Everyone else lowers their weapons and relaxes.
   Glik's captor lowers her hood, revealing a head of red hair at a medium length. A scar across the left cheek of her attractive face. She approaches Sarena, extending a hand.
   "My name's Scarlet, you say you want to stop your brother, Amir?
   "Hello Scarlet," she responds, shaking her hand. "My name is Sarena, this is Max, and the one you took captive is Glik."
   "Um, it's Sergeant Max, to be correct. How do you do m' lady?" Max butts in, brushing past Sarena, as she gives him a strange look, to extend a hand and properly introduce himself.
   Scarlet raises an eyebrow and gives a curious look to the strange grinning soldier, as they shake hands.
   "Hey!" a man yells from the street. "What is going on in there!"
   A pair of guards enter the alleyway to investigate.
   Scarlet gives a nod to the dagger wielding pair, as she moves to retreat.
   "Come on, this way." She motions, leading the strange trio down the alleyway in escape, as her cohorts stop the guard's advances.
   They round the corner into another alley, where the small child who robbed Glik, holds open a manhole. Scarlet crouches down and starts to descend the ladder, before quickly retrieving a small purse from her belt, and tossing it to the child. The sound of coins can be heard as the young one catches it, and throws her back a device in return. She tosses the translator device back to Glik, before sliding down the ladder.
   "Hurry, down here."
   Max rushes down, before Glik, and then finally Sarena, as the child drops the cover, sealing the manhole.
   "Ugh, it smells down here," Glik complains.
   "These are the sewers, we'll be safe down here," their new friend explains.
   They begin to hear the child crying from up above.
   "Hey kid, did you see which way they went?" coming from the guards up top.
   "Thanks kid, come on hurry, we can still catch them!" Sounds of the guards running down the alley and away, as the child's cries stop.
   Their guide to the sewers, starts walking.
   "Come, this way."
   They all start making their way through the dank and dark sewers, as Scarlet leads.
   "We've been planning something for a while now. We have guards on the inside. They keep us informed and hopefully will be able to get us inside. Amir is currently away, but we will get word as soon as he returns. And with a little luck we can sneak in and assassinate the bastard while he sleeps."
   "Hmm, I just don't think I'm ready to go down that path yet," Sarena replies. "I want to try and talk some sense into him first. I have been imprisoned for hundreds of years. I know alot has changed in that time, but the Amir I once knew was kind and gentle. I want to believe that he is not too far gone."
   "I'm sorry Sarena. The brother you once knew does not exist anymore, he can't. We all unfortunately know how cruel he can be now, and someone who is capable of those things, cannot go back to being kind and gentle. We cannot afford to lose the element of surprise."
   "I just don't know, I need to try. You said you have lost alot because of him?" she hesitantly asks.
   "I have lost everything because of him.
   "It was a long time ago, we were poor and starving. My father had lost his job, and was out looking for another one. I could not bare to see my mother and little brother suffer. I was only ten years old at the time, but I went out anyway, and tried to steal a loaf of bread.
   "The guards followed me home. They locked up my mother and brother with me. Amir deemed that we would be made an example of. All three of us would be executed, as a warning and message to any who would consider stealing.
   "The day quickly came. It would be a public execution carried out by Amir himself, for all to witness. He would start with me. As he raised his sword to take my head, my father appeared from the crowd and saved me. He broke past the guards and tackled Amir, as he swung down. The strike that was meant to take my head only scarred my face, as I turned to look at my father.
   "He cut my bonds with his last act, as Amir ran him through, right in front of me. He told me to run with his last dying breath, and I'm ashamed to say that I did.
   "I managed to slip through the crowd and escape, as he murdered my entire family and whole world that day. It haunts me everyday that I didn't try to save my mother or brother. I wasn't thinking straight and was scared. He said 'run' and I did, barely getting away."
   Scarlet tries, but fails to hold back the tears and finish her horrific and traumatizing story. She clenches her fists, as her face turns red, as her anger and rage grow.
   "I couldn't save them, but I swear on my life, I will avenge them, and not rest until I make that bastard pay."
   Tears come down Sarena's face, as her heart breaks for Scarlet, and for her once good but now evil brother. Max and Glik hang their heads low in quiet sadness, as they walk behind them.
   "I am so sorry Scarlet. I could not imagine the evil that Amir was capable of."
   "Thank you Sarena. I am not the only one with a tale of your evil brother. He forced many of us down here to hide, and take refuge in the cold dark underbelly of the kingdom."
   As Scarlet speaks and they walk, the sewer tunnel spills out into a large open area. A massive underground room, with tunnels and pipes on many levels, leading into many different directions.
   Sarena, Max and Glik peer around in awe at the sewer hub, filled with hundreds of people. Men, women and children all clinging to life, hidden from the society that shunned them.
   "Welcome to the resistance," Scarlet says. "And the revolution."