Ven: Part 1

Ch. 5: Get Ready, Fight!

We stand in the shade of a comically large, red brick wall. The humour is lost on me as Jacob grows vines from his fingertips that creep up the wall.

"It's a bit of a climb, but it's the safest way in." He claps his hands together to knock the last hanging bits of vine off.

I look up the wall. The top is completely out of sight from here.

"Stay here, boy," Jacob gently strokes Horse Friend's mane.

"Yeah, nah, that's not gonna work for me," I point at the thin vines snaking their way up the wall.

"We can't very well storm the front gate! It's fortified like you wouldn't believe! This is our best option." He says quickly, his words tumbling over each other.

"If you insist," I shrug. I grab him by the collar and the seat of his pants, lifting him up to sling him across my shoulders.

"Ven... What are you doing?" He kicks his feet weakly in the air.

"Expediting," I say simply.

I bend my legs so that my butt nearly touches the floor.

"What does that mean?" His voice quivers.

"I think you'll be able to figure it out from context," I reply.

I jump.

Wind screams past our ears, the red bricks become indistinguishable from each other as we tear past them. The screams escaping Jacob's lips are whipped away by the wind.

We easily clear the top and I land us gently.

"What the hell, Ven!" His fists weakly beat at my back.

"Don't be like that, we're totally fi..." the bricks beneath my feet come loose and we slide off the wall, beginning the plummet to the bottom.

"Huh, the houses look like little toys from up here," I peer down at them, my stomach doing flips.

Jacob screams in my ear.

"Very loud, Jacob!" I cover my ear, "I thought this was supposed to be stealthy!"

"We're gonna die!" He screams, his voice cracking every other syllable.

"We'll be fine! I've fallen from further!" The houses look a lot bigger now.

And a lot sharper.

And a lot scarier.

You're going to die.

Nope.

Not listening.

We clear the tops of the houses, the roughly cobblestoned ground rushing up to meet us.

I wave my hands and there's a flash of brilliantly purple light. We slow tremendously and touch down gently.

"See? We're all good," I put Jacob down.

He shivers in place.

"H-h-how...?" He's drowned out by the heavy clattering of metal footsteps.

"No time. Running now," I say, slinging him back over my shoulder.

I run, my soft leather shoes barely making a sound on the cobblestone. The clatter of footsteps gets quieter and fades into silence.

"That should do us," I put Jacob back down.

His face is frozen in a silent scream.

"C'mon, let's go," I gently push him, his feet slowly moving into action.

As we walk the dark back streets, I see gaunt faces staring out of even darker houses.

"Jacob...?" A young girl, her voice is weak.

"Annette?" Jacob snaps out of his stupor, staring around wildly.

"Down here..."

We both look down, tucked in a small alley is young girl, impossibly thin and even more so gaunt, bloodied, and bruised.

Like a bolt of lightning rage cracks through me.

"What happened?" Jacob whispers, growing some grapes from his forearm as he kneels down.

"They... got me," she smiles weakly.

I move closer, the anger raging inside of me threatens to burst out.

Gold bracelets hug her wrists tight, small pink crystals adorning the outside.

"Why? They had no reason!" Jacob carefully feeds her grapes.

"They... didn't... need one," her voice is fading. "I'm sorry Jacob... thank... you..." a tear rolled down her face as her head falls forward. I feel the flames of her soul go out.

She's dead.

Jacob had started rocking back and forth.

"C-c-can you really d-d-do it...?" He stammers.

I grit my teeth, "Yes."

"Son?" A familiarly gruff voice draws my attention. "Well now, isn't that a scary look."

Greg gives me a weak smile.

I can't unclench my jaw to answer.

"I can't believe I sent people here." He gently lifts her limp body. "I told myself it can't have been that bad, that I was protecting my family... and now here I am. It's worse than I could have imagined."

His wrists bear the same golden bracelets with pink crystals.

"I'll see to her burial, she deserves a real one, you do whatever it is you need to." He slowly begins to walk off. "I'll stay out of your way."

"No." My voice quietly booms through the space between us. "No more hiding, Greg. Help them. Make up for what you did. Do better."

His shoulders tighten.

"I'm going to change everything. Don't make the same mistakes." I glare into the back of his head.

He gives a slight nod and strides off.

I storm out of the alley. Jacob slowly stands and follows behind me shakily.

A guard appears before me. I punch clean through his armour, and he falls to the ground in a heap. I follow the street until I come out into what looks like the town square.

I take a deep breath in through my nose.

"GET OUT HERE!" My voice booms through the town. Guards swarm the small-town square all with weapons drawn. I hear hurried whisperings labelling me as 'the foreigner'. "Jacob, stay close," I say to him, his arms wrap around my waist. "Maybe a little too close, but whatever."

I lift my hands above my head and clench them into fists. All my hair stands on end as I gather my power. I splay my hands and lightning arcs to every armour-clad body in the square. They fall and lay in smouldering heaps. There's a whoosh and a bang as two figures land before me. One is tall and bears a tight-fitting suit of armour that only shows his mouth. The other a simple tank top and pants, his yellow eyes boring daggers into me, a golden crown with pink crystals sits atop his head.

"So, it's you." We both say through clenched teeth.