Protectors- Consequence

Chapter Nineteen: The Fourth Reich

Noctum crashed into the earth, hard, his hypersonic speed turning against him as he crash landed outside a rural village, just close enough that a group of small children who were playing nearby surrounded the injured man, muttering in German. Adam wanted to tell them to piss off, but couldn't find the strength to move properly, so he merely lay there, until one of the children came back with an older woman who possessed a face of iron and eyes that glimmered with light. She grumbled half heartedly, before lowering the ironing board she had clasped in her large hands and rolling Noctum onto it, ignoring his grunts of pain,

"Keine Flecken," She muttered, looking down at his cauterised wounds, "auffassen,"

Noctum knew very little German, but he got the gist of 'don't stain my ironing board', and nodded painfully, closing his eyes as the children assisted the woman in carrying him to the village. He felt the jostling as they took him inside a small cobble building, setting him beside a fireplace that warmed his soul alongside his body. A light snow had begun to fall, and a pleasant heat from the fire prompted Noctum to sit up,

"Welche Sprache sprechen Sie?" The woman asked, as an equally old man strode in, a powerful build and long blonde hair pairing with his wrinkled face well,

"I'm sorry," Noctum replied tentatively, "I don't speak much German,"

"I speak a bit of English," The man answered with a thick accent, "but my wife only speaks Russian and German, so it would be a problem if I were not here,"

"I hate to ask," Noctum interrupted, "but I need to know if you are known by John Frederick,"

The sound of the name sent a dark shadow down the man's face, but his composure did not waver. He gestured for Noctum to sit at the small dining table for three, but realised that Adam Oughton did not possess the ability to stand at that moment. He helped him up with powerful arms, setting him on a comfortable chair as his wife set a bowl of soup in front of him,

"Schwein," He smirked, "I'm a schweinbauer,"

Noctum knew this to mean a pig farmer, and smiled as he sipped the pork broth, smiling in appreciation,

"I'll pay you back for this," He said, "thank you,"

"You were half naked in the snow," the man replied, "think nothing of it, but do not support Frederick, that's all I ask,"

"I've killed his entire army already," Adam replied, "there's only one guy left, but he's too strong for me right now, that's why I needed some time to rest,"

"You are Noctum, then," The man smiled, before his face fell into darkness, "Frederick's men came to our village, took our daughter. There was nothing I could do as I watched them do unspeakable things to her before burying her body,"

Noctum's guilt over the killing of all of those men subsided instantly, before being replaced with a burning, absolute rage that tore through his body, leaving fire in its wake. His eyes burned slightly, confirming his identity as Noctum to the man, who nodded in response to Adam Oughton's rage,

"The worst of them was that giant man," He darkly spoke, "My bullets bounced off him, and he just laughed. He crushed my daughter alive with his bare hands,"

Adam put his hand on the man's shoulder, despite the amount of pain it caused him to move. The pig farmer stood, grabbing his shotgun from the house's wall and loading it with two rounds,

"If he is after you again, we will protect you with our lives," he held the gun like a child, rocking it back and forth, "for my daughter,"

"I'll recover my energy, sir," Adam said, "and once I have, I'll burn their so called Fourth Reich to the ground,"