"No Life 'Til Leather"

Phantom Lord

Into the flame, into the fire – with no regard for a thing – Fuck that , I'm the lord of the game, I rule this empire. I am the God of hellfire.

That's what he kept telling himself, the very least. Human stupidity had its limits as any thing conceived, ones that began where the forefront bravery bordered downright insanity the likes of which not even Anton Newmaker would breach. The woods bore a silent stigma to the echoing ambiance of deep breaths exchanged past every bark and sloping root. The wind stilled even. Moonlight guided the fickle way onward, the vining and squirming change with each step.

The mantra continued. The lord of the game bravely tore through the foliage and litter, slayed cobweb after cobweb with a ten ton steel behemoth. No matter where – and how hard – he looked, he could never spot the native perps behind the entanglements. That's what worried him most in all honesty, the absolute lack of living fodder to rule over in these woods.

"..."

Behind his back, the proles were beginning to step awry. Andy and W knew the guy, they knew what he was capable of as well as what his many, many weaknesses were. At least some of them, the more forgetful and unmemorable ones like the lack of eyes on the back of his overgrown fringe.

"... Why's he walking like that?" She asked.

Andy gave a shrug. "Worried? I don't know. He's a bit off today in general."

"Less of a dick?"

"Much less of a dick."

"Wow." W blinked away awe. "Means we're all gonna die here. Wow."

"What're you blubbering about?"

Neither heard the nimble footwork sneak up on them. Ines emerged – seemingly from nowhere – to press her perky ears into both their mouths and drink the worried whispers.

"Nothing." W shrugged. "No, nothing. Just chatting."

"Yeah. Discussing today." Andy added. "We closed one hell of a merger with Anton earlier. Should probably celebrate, no?"

"You're both terrified." She cut, simply through the thin veil of a lie. "Your shadows are all over the place, trembling."

"No, they're not." W adamantly protested. "You're just paranoid. It comes with age though, not like I can really blame you..."

"Look." Ines scoffed. With a sharp motion, she grabbed Andy by the wrist and propped for the girl to see. "Look at his fingers. I've seen him nail a guy's head in from half a click and I've seen him peel a potato far rounder than you'll ever be able to."

"Hey..." W couldn't help a pout. She always tried her best during dinner prep time.

"... And look at his hand now. Look." Ines continued. The grip on the boy's wrist had him being tugged around like a doll, one that couldn't object much. "It's trembling."

"Yeah? He trembles." W raised a brow. "He's a pussy by nature, of course he trembles. What's your point?"

"I think her point's simply adequacy to the case."

Another voice, lower and strangely more firm. A fiery red head of tangled locks emerged far above their horn-tips.

"You're keeping something from us for whatever reason." Hedley spoke calmly. "And I – as well as Ines, clearly – feel like right now might not be the best of times to play cat and mouse with intel. Our mission leader's clearly lost his wits and now we're being led into the heart of a foreign forest."

"He's actually done way worse with us two in the past." Andy muttered a demurral. "That's why we were talking. We were wondering what is it that's got him acting like this."