The Hidden Evil 3

Chapter VI: The War

     Ronnie slid her sword into its holster before climbing up onto her horse. Rueben looked over to her in confusion.
     "We aren't going to be needing horses anymore, Ronnie. The higher-ups decided we can kill the Lurkers more affectively off of them," said Rueben.
     "Oh," Ronnie said as she slid off of her horse. They looked behind them as Commander Asker walked up with his hands on his hips. He looked at them and narrowed his green eyes.
"I'm guessing y'all know your positions," Asker said.
"Of course, Commander," said Ronnie. A low voice was heard from beside them.
"Don't you think I have my soldiers in line, Commander?" The voice asked. They looked over to see Karma hoisting himself up from a bench beside one of the stables.
"Just good luck on your mission, Karma. Try not to get eaten," Asker grumbled.
"Yeah, I'll try." Karma turned to face his soldiers. "Everybody get ready to leave," he told them all. They nodded and finished gearing up.
     Walking in the forest was peaceful, considering Karma told them not to talk so they could hear if anything was nearby. Ronnie liked the look of the sun shining through the green leaves above. She soaked in the sun, feeling it's heat against her face. She heard someone walk up next to her, and when she looked to see who it was she saw Rueben looking at her.
     "It's a beautiful day out, isn't it," Rueben said.
     "It is," Ronnie agreed. They looked ahead when Karma glared over his shoulder, a signal for them to stop talking. Ronnie and Rueben sighed, getting his hint. After a few more silent moments of walking through the forest, Karma held up his fist and halted. The rest halted behind him, looking around in confusion. Karma turned around to face them and grabbed the handle of his sword.
     "It's behind us," he said. The soldiers all turned around, grabbing the handles of their swords. Sure enough, a big face of a wolf-like creature loomed over them. It's eyes were red and it's teeth bared, ready to kill the humans in front of it. "Remember your positions, soldiers," Karma said. Ronnie looked over to Arran and Isla, who were running towards the back legs of the beast. She looked back over to Rueben and followed him as he jumped up into a tree. They quickly and swiftly climbed up the tree until they were level with the creature's eyes. Ronnie looked to the ground were she saw her captain backing up, getting ready to jump towards them. She tapped Rueben's back and pointed to Karma.
"Down there, Rueben," she said. Rueben nodded bounded into another tree. Ronnie flipped upside down on the tree beach she was sitting on, hanging on by her legs. Karma ran and jumped into the air. He grabbed onto Ronnie's hands and she helped him swing into the tree Rueben was in. He landed on the same branch as Rueben and unsheathed his sword. Ronnie flipped back over and watched as Rueben and Karma landed on the back of the creature. Isla, Arran, and Boo distracted it by slicing its legs and paws. Ronnie jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground as Karma and Rueben made their way to the Lurker's eyes. Karma beat Rueben to the head, and he climbed onto the muzzle of the beast. The Lurker growled and knocked Karma off of its muzzle. Karma was ready for that, however, and Ronnie was waiting for him on the ground just under where he was falling. Taking advantage of the anti-gravity system, Karma was boosted back up into the air by Ronnie. The Lurker didn't expect that, and Karma took advantage of the Lurker's confusion to stab his sword into the eye of the beast. Karma took his sword back of out the bleeding eye and bounded into a nearby tree. Rueben was still on the head of the creature, and he managed to stab the other eye while the Lurker was distracted. Rueben jumped into the tree with his captain, and Ronnie, Faux, Arran, Isla, Boo, and Boris had to move out of the way of the falling Lurker. It's body lied still on the ground, both of its eyes bleeding heavily. Karma and Rueben jumped back down to the ground with the others.
"Good job," Karma praised. Ronnie smiled and wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand. All of a sudden, the sound of a shrilling shriek sounded among the soldiers. They whipped their heads over to Isla, who was standing over the bleeding body of her brother. Ronnie gasped, her eyes widening. Ronnie, Rueben, and Faux stood closely together as Karma walked up to Arran and knelt down next to his body. Isla watched in horror as Karma pulled an arrow out of Arran's chest. "We're under attack," Karma said lowly. Karma ducked as an arrow flew over his head, and he quickly looked over to where the arrow came from. "Isla, take Arran and Cosette home. The rest of us will deal with this," Karma commanded.
"But I want to stay," Boo protested.
"You have to help her with Arran, Cosette," Karma said.
"Cmon, Boo, hurry up," Isla urged, trying to pick up her brother. Boo sighed and helped her carry Arran out of the forest. Another arrow flew at them, but didn't hit any of them. Ronnie, Rueben, Faux, and Boris got in position, ready to unsheathe their swords. Karma stood in front of them, facing in the direction that the arrows were flying from.
"Show yourselves," Karma commanded, pointing his sword at the bushes. He could hear whispering from inside the bushes before four people crawled out of them. They were young, looking to be only in their early teens. "Drop your weapons," Karma growled. Instead of dropping their bows, they held them up, aiming for Karma.
"Captain," Ronnie gasped. Karma didn't move, he just stared at the kids with narrow eyes.
"Drop your weapons," said one of the kids. Karma put his sword on the ground next to him and turned around, his hands in the air. He nodded to the others to do the same. As soon as the kids stopped aiming their bows at him, Karma spun around, grabbed his sword, and flung it towards the center kid. The sword stabbed the kid in the stomach, making him fall to the ground in pain. The other kids shot their arrows at Karma, but he managed to get out of the way, grabbing Ronnie's sword off of the ground. He charged at one of the kids, knocking them to the ground and taking their bow. Rueben and Boris charged after the two other kids, which were aiming their bows at Karma. Ronnie grabbed the rope off of her belt and handed it to Karma. Together, they tied the four kids against a tree. The kids all had ski masks on, which were taken off by Rueben. They were surprised to see that one of the kids was Rhys Alekhin, Karma's cousin. The rest of the kids weren't familiar. One had black hair, one had blond, and one had white hair. Rhys growled and looked at his cousin in anger.
"What has Shippendale done to make Sightburgh so mad," asked Ronnie.
"Sightburgh and Trance City have allied, now Trance City's problems are Sightburgh's," said the black-haired kid.
"Great," Rueben grunted. "What're your names?"
"The name's Jagger," the black-haired kid said.
"Avara," said the blond-haired kid.
"Twitch," said the white-haired kid.
"I think you know," Rhys growled. Karma knelt down in front of Rhys and narrowed his eyes.
"I can either leave you here to die or take you back to Shippendale's jail," Karma told his cousin. Rhys smirked.
"There's another option, too," Rhys said. Suddenly, the rope was cut and the four kids were freed. In the blink of an eye, the four kids disappeared.
"Those sneaky brats," growled Karma.
"What—where'd they go," gasped Ronnie.
"Back where they came from," replied Karma. Boris looked in the direction of Trance City and narrowed his eyes.
"We should follow them," Boris said lowly.
"No, we need to get back to Shippendale," Karma told Boris. Rueben and Ronnie exchanged glances as they started walking back to Shippendale.
As they approached Shippendale, they noticed extra guards guarding the entrance to the tunnel. When Karma tried to walk into the tunnel, they stopped him.
"It's just me, what's with security today," said Karma.
"State your full name and date of birth," said the center guard.
"Karma Creedovich Alekhin, July twentieth, eighteen-forty-nine," Karma said. Another guard nodded and the center guard looked back at Karma and moved out of the way.
"Welcome back, Captain," said the center guard.
"Thank you, but why is there extra security today," asked Karma.
"There's been an attack in the West Quarter," replied the center guard. Karma stood in place for a moment and Ronnie and Rueben exchanged concerned glances.
"Alright, thank you," Karma said shallowly. Ronnie, Rueben, Faux, and Boris followed their captain into the tunnel. When they emerged from the other side, they saw something strange. Nobody was outside, everyone was in a building. They started walking down the street, deeper into the West Quarter. Soon, they were greeted with blood. Lifeless bodies lied on the ground and blood splattered the sides of buildings and the stone streets. The soldiers stood in shock, not believing what they were seeing before them. All of a sudden, someone grabbed Karma's arm and pulled him into a nearby building. His soldiers looked over, confused to where their captain went.
The person was Captain Augustine. He sat Karma down on a chair and then sat down in a chair in front of Karma. Augustine's usual happy expression was strangely scared and stressed.
"Where have you been," Augustine asked Karma.
"I was on a mission," Karma replied.
"Karma, you're gonna lose your job," Augustine told Karma sternly.
"What, how?"
"Your cousin was one of the people who attacked, and now Commander is blaming this whole thing on you," Augustine explained.
"Of course he is," Karma growled. All of a sudden, the front door flew open and slammed shut. Karma and Augustine looked over to the door to see Commander Asker.
"Speak of the devil," Augustine mumbled. Karma stood up and faced Asker, who was looking at Karma in utter anger and enragement.
"You.." Asker walked up to Karma and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You made this happen!"
Karma looked over to Augustine for help, but Augustine urged Karma to yell back, so Karma looked back over to Asker and tightened his eyebrows.
"And where were you during the attack?! Probably letting it happen so you could have another reason to fire me," Karma yelled back.
"That is no way to speak to your commander, Karma," raged Asker.
"I can speak to you however I want to," Karma rasped.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
"I have evidence of something that'll get you fired."
Augustine immediately looked at Karma in confusion.
"Do you now..?" Asker let go of Karma's shirt. "What could you possibly have that'll get me fired?"
"A letter," Karma said.
"A letter?"
"A letter from Stormidia," Karma added. Asker froze and stared at Karma in shock.
"How—how did you—"
"My soldiers provided me with it. You're in that clan, aren't you?" Karma narrowed his eyes.
Augustine looked from Asker to Karma in confusion.
"Why would it matter if I was," asked Asker.
"Having a Stormidian in Shippendale is just like having a spy," Karma explained. "Plus the endangerment you're putting the Russian and German soldiers in."
"So you plan on getting me fired just because I'm part of a silly group? It's far better than killing innocent people," argued Asker.
"I didn't kill them, our enemy did. It's not my fault, I'm on Shippendale's side," Karma uttered. "You, however, are not."
"Get me fired and every Russian and German in this city are dead, Alekhin," Asker growled. Karma looked over to Augustine.
"Are you hearing this, August?" asked Karma.
"Loud and clear," replied Augustine. Asker clenched his fists and looked over to Augustine.
"You may not be Russian or German, but we'll slaughter you too, Fischer," Asker threatened.
"Alright, that's enough. Me and Augustine are obviously not safe here, so we'll be leaving," said Karma. As soon as Karma was about to walk out of the door, Asker grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back into the building. He threw Karma against the wall and watched him fall to the floor. Augustine watched in horror, not knowing what to do.
"This is your fault, it's all your fault!" Asker hoisted Karma up by his shirt and pressed him against the wall. Augustine shakily watched as Asker punched Karma in the face, blood splattering against the wall from Karma's mouth.
"Commander, stop," Augustine shouted. Asker ignored him and kneed Karma in the chest. Karma squinted in pain, swallowing blood. "Karma, fight back," yelled Augustine. Karma looked up to Asker, but didn't do anything. Asker then grabbed Karma's shirt and thrusted Karma into the kitchen counter. Augustine panicked as Asker pulled a knife out of one of the drawers in the kitchen. He knew he had to intervene. Augustine ran in and pushed Asker into one of the kitchen cabinets. While Asker was recovering from the push, Augustine grabbed Karma and ran out of the building. Ronnie, Rueben, Faux, and Boris were still waiting outside. They saw Augustine come out of the building with Karma under one of his arms. They rushed over, concerned and confused on why their captain was heavily bleeding.
"What happened," asked Rueben.
"Commander Asker," replied Augustine.
     "Where are you going now," Ronnie asked.
     "King Rey, and if you're coming hurry up," Augustine said. They hurried into HQ and towards the King's Quarters. When they bursted into the king's room, the king was on his throne talking with a group of guards. King Rey immediately looked over to them. When he saw Karma, he dismissed the guards and got off of his throne. He walked down the steps and over to the soldiers.
     "Was he a victim of the attack," the king asked immediately. Augustine shook his head.
     "He was a victim of Commander Asker," said Augustine. King Rey looked at Augustine in disbelief.
     "What do you mean," King Rey asked shallowly. Karma pushed Augustine away and stepped up closer to the king.
     "Commander Asker is secretly in the Stormidia Clan, and all this time he's been working here, he's been planning to kill all the Germans and Russians behind our backs," explained Karma, his voice unusually unstable. King Rey looked at Karma, his eyes wide and his mouth half-open, obviously in utter shock.
     "Alekhin, you need a medic," King Rey mumbled slowly.
     "King Rey, he's telling the truth," Augustine said. "I was there when Asker beat him up."
     "I'm not saying I don't believe him," King Rey uttered.
     "Then what are you going to do about Commander Asker," asked Ronnie. King Rey stood in silence, rubbing his face with his hands.
      "Alright, this is the plan," King Rey started. The soldiers listened closely. "Fischer, take Alekhin to the medic. Bauer, Novikoff, Carmin, and Oblonsky, go to the cafeteria and help with the wounded victims. I'll take care of Asker," said King Rey.
     "Yes, Your Majesty," Augustine replied.
     Ronnie, Rueben, Faux, and Boris made their way to the cafeteria that was usually used to eat in, but was now being used as a place to take care of the wounded victims of the attack. Ronnie and Rueben started caring for a wounded woman who had a head injury. Ronnie sighed, digging through a box of medical supplies.
     "I hope Arran's alright," Ronnie uttered.
     "I don't think the outcome's good for him, Ronnie. He was hit in the chest, right around the heart area," Rueben explained. Ronnie sighed and looked back at the wounded woman.
     "But we haven't lost a team member yet. Why now," mumbled Ronnie.
     "Times are changing," Rueben replied.