The God Reborn

Chapter 11

Just then the door to the cell that Naomi and Ben shared opened, its hinges groaning loudly before it slammed into the cell wall. Through the door came six heavily armed acolytes. Their arms and armor were bright green and gold, not the dull colors of the warriors that had captured them.

Ben tried to spin to meet the men as they poured into the room, but his legs were still bound, slowing him down and keeping him off balance. Three of the guards pulled him away from Naomi. Two more guards grabbed Naomi around her shoulders, immobilizing her.

The final guard sauntered up to Ben, and casually drew a dull black object out of a leather pouch on his belt. He pointed one end at Ben's head and there was a sharp banging noise, so loud that Naomi instinctively winced and closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a large circular pattern of red blood and tissue spread on the far wall of the cell. Ben hung limply in the arms of the guards who held him, a hole the size of a fingernail leaking a thick trail of dark red blood from between his eyes.

Naomi screamed and struggled, but the guards holding her were too strong. The man with the black object grunted something and the three guards holding Ben let his body drop to the ground. A pool of gore quickly began forming behind the back of his head. His eyes remained open, and his head settled at an angle where he seemed to be staring up at the circular pattern of his blood, as if surprised to see his life dripping down the wall.

The man with the black object turned and faced Naomi. He pointed the weapon at her as he looked her up and down slowly. Naomi's eyes fixated on the metal. It was a black cylinder, which the man held by a handle attached to it on one end. The end pointing towards Naomi had a small black hole leading down its length, a hole the same size as the one in Ben's forehead.

After a long moment the man sneered and walked out of the cell. The two guards holding Naomi let go of her and she fell to the ground next to Ben.

***

High Intermediary Julius Sophos of the Pen put down the report on Sanctuary's stores of salt pork and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Two captives. He only needed to interrogate one. He had already set a plot in motion, a plot that might help resolve both of his problems at once.

There was a loud knock on his study door. He grunted and the visitor walked in. It was Claudius, the muscular head of the Household Guard. Aside from his impressive physical strength, Claudius also had the advantage of being exceptionally dim witted and therefore easily malleable.

"Is it done?" asked Julius, looking up from his desk at Claudius.

"Yes, father," replied Claudius, bowing slightly as he spoke. "The male heathen is dead."

Julius's eyes traced across Claudius's belt to the holstered pistol. He had given it to Claudius as a gift recently. Now he suddenly became worried. "How did you kill him?"

Claudius grinned and pointed to the pistol. "It worked just like you said it would, father."

Julius rested his head in his hands for a moment. "Does Fabian Fortis of the Shield have a pistol?"

"No, father. You said mine was the only one."

"How am I going to blame Fabian for the murder if he doesn't have a pistol?"

Claudius's grin disappeared. "I don't know, father. I am sure lord Vinicius will provide."

"You're not very smart, are you?"

"My mother said I'm smart," said Claudius brightly. But his face soon became crestfallen again. "But my wife disagrees."

"No, of course you're not smart," said Julius as he lifted his pudgy frame out of his chair and stood to stretch his legs. "None of you are, at least not the adults. No boy or girl of Sanctuary makes it to adulthood without having the ability to think leached out of them by the corrosive Pens of my intermediaries."