Of The Sea : John Murphy

Reapers Revealed

"This way!" I uttered, pointing my ax down the left tunnel.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Chief?" Adrian asked.

I shot a dark glare over my shoulder and he immediately snapped his mouth shut.

"This way." I growled, keeping straight instead of breaking off to the right.

Growls and howls echoed down the tunnels and I held a hand up for silence as we all came to a halt.

Weapons were drawn and the five of us crept low and lightly through the darkness.

The growls grew louder and louder until they were just around the corner.

I spun my ax, warming up my swing for a fight. A hand grabbed my arm and I turned to see Thore shaking his head. I yanked my arm out of his grip and sat tight, crouching down into the shadows.

The small group of reapers, that we could have easily taken out without a sweat, stumbled past and vanished down the path pushing a large metal cart that seemed to run along a strange sort of track.

They finally passed and the five of us padded back down our path.

"Harvest."

"Harvest."

I widened my eyes and sped up the pace.

Down the far end of the tunnel, there were strange and artificial lights that flickered weakly. There stood several heavily suited men and woman. Along the ground was my people along with a few others I did not recognise lined up and on their knees, stripped down to the minimum.

"Attack!" I announced, running ahead.

The masked figures stumbled back startled and reached for their guns.

I pulled out a knife from my belt and tossed it through the air, nailing one of them square in the face, knocking him straight to the ground.

A loud bang erupted and I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I groaned aloud and clutched my leg while my men ran forward in attack. The masked people immediately retreated, pulling an injured member back in while shoving two familiar faces through the thick metal door. "No!" I screamed, limping as fast as I could after them.

The door slammed in our faces and I pounded on it, pulling the handle and trying my hardest to kick it in but there was no such luck. "Aki!" I yelled through the door, punching and slamming against the metal surface. "Return him this instant!"

"Chief, please..." Thore grabbed my arms and yanked me back, dragging me along the rocky ground as I thrashed and faught. "We have to retreat."

"No! They have Aki!" I screamed. "We can't leave them!"

"They have my wife!" Samuel bellowed. "I will not leave my child motherless!"

"We can not." Thore turned us down flat. "You both know full well what happens once people enter the mountain. They don't return."

"We have saved some, at least not all is lost." Another warrior added. "The mountain men are too dangerous of an enemy to have."

"If you don't mind me saying, your people are right." One of the two woods clan members that had also been captured intervened. "Our people have tried for decades, but we have only ended up losing more members. You are the first to come this far alive, please do not lose more than you already have."

A warm tear rolled down my cheek and I clenched my jaw. "But he is my friend, my second in command."

The man nodded understandingly. "I have lost many to the Mountain Men, most who were close to me."

"Come on, chief." Thore guided me along with a hand on my back. "We must return."

"If you know what's best for your people, you will go home and build your defences stronger. It would be a shame for Trigeda to lose a trading partner like the Boat People."

I nodded, feeling an ache in my chest. But I understood what they were saying. I had to put my people first, especially at a time like this. "I understand." I muttered. "But if a chance presents itself, I will return to bring Aki back home." I looked to Sam. "And Corrie."

Teary eyed, he nodded, pulling out his knife and helping free the remaining prisoners.

Leo stood, looking a lot more down that he had ever been. "I knew you would save us, Thank you T."

I pulled him in for a hug and whimpered silently into his shoulder.

I could not believe it. Aki was gone. I couldn't save him this time.

I took the gun away from the dead body and threw it over my shoulder, walking silently back out of the cave.

I dipped my head and slumped my way towards the way we came, occasionally pointing in the right direction with a grunt or mumble.

We heard the same feral grunts coming from ahead and my men stood in front of me with their swords drawn to protect me. I made no effort in defending myself while they came charging. I reached into my pocket then pulled the gun out and up in the air, pulling the trigger.

A loud bang filled the tunnels and everyone went silent, the Reapers resulting to grunts and focusing all of their attention on me. "I have something you want!" I growled at them.

They watched me with intent while I revealed the red vile. "You want the red?" I tempted them with it between my fingers.

They stared further, their grunts growing excited.

"Return with one of these, and I will give you enough red to last a lifetime." I twirled the vile in front of me and gestured to the gun.

"Red..." They muttered, passing us wearily then letting out loud hoots of excitement.

"We best leave quickly." I sighed, leading the rest out.

"How did you do that?" One of the Trigeda members asked. "I've never seen them heel to anyone or anything before."

"I have my ways." I growled, keeping my eyes forward.

We pushed out in to the sunlight and I turned to the two strangers. "This is where we part ways." I told them.

They nodded. "We thank you with our lives."

Rudely, I turned on my heel and stalked off to where we tied the horses.

I heard my people exchanging words with them before following after me, Leo not far behind.

He pushed on to the back of my horse and held on. I gave my horse a gentle kick and we were off.

In the silence Leo leaned over my shoulder, "Hey."

"Yeah." I breathed.

"I'm truly sorry." He whispered. "About Aki, he was a good man."

"Is." I hissed defensively. "He is a good man, he's not dead just yet."

"You're right." He agreed, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "He isn't dead, you'll save him, you're the Platinum Princess after all."

I let out a brief chuckle and pat his hand. "Not quite a Princess, Leo."

I wanna write a new fic after this one but idk about what :/ hmmm.