World of Io

29. The Mark of a Hand

The evening was silent, uneasy. It felt like every single soul in the castle and village knew what they had done, but that they waited for a sign to mount their attack. Through some remarkable stroke of luck they left the castle undisturbed, and that made it much more disturbing for some reason. Milo didn't like it one bit. There was no such thing as luck in this world. On top of it all, he was still angry with Vigilante for her recklessness. It had been so totally unnecessary. She could have been harmed.

He watched her confident strides as they stepped out onto the courtyard, and couldn't hold back his irritation. How could she be so sure that they wouldn't be noticed? Looking away he saw Sarah and another kind of anger suddenly knocked on the door. They didn't need the extra baggage. Maid, really? He couldn't believe Vigilante's audacity. Her lack of explanation also got on his nerves. Everything seemed to get on his nerves at the moment.

He had been like this since Vigilante had left him there, standing alone with his emotions in a jumble while she walked off... and it didn't help that he had the picture of her naked body burning in front of his eyes every time he closed them.

He forced himself to shut off his thoughts: they weren't helping him or them at the moment. They were vulnerable out here in the open quiet courtyard so there was no room for mistakes. The moon was covered by heavy clouds, giving them a dense darkness to hide within; but that was the only positive thing he could think of. He took a deep breath and cast his shroud to become one with the night, determined that they would get out of this alive.

As they turned a corner he saw two guards standing at the gate in the light of their torches. It made him smile. He wouldn't leave anything to chance this time. Sprinting ahead of the others he approached the guards silently. Had he been less angry he would have done things differently, but he was angry; and he needed an outlet. When he was close enough to hear their breaths, he let go of the dark and appeared before them. He smirked as the scent of fear hit his flared nostrils. He relished in it, soaking it in before he attacked. He reached took hold of their arms, intending to twist the two men to the ground, but he never got that far. Upon his touch the two men started to shake uncontrollably until they slumped to the ground, lifeless. What happened?

He stood there in shock, unable to move as the Destroyer came to collect the two newly delivered souls. For the first time ever he welcomed the dark sensation as it overwhelmed everything else. For this brief moment he would be on his own, unreachable by petty annoyances. As the vileness embraced him his heart started to beat fiercely within his chest, and suddenly he couldn't see. Everything was cold, sinister, then joyous...

Thank you

The whisper together with that strange feeling of twisted bliss sent a wave of nausea through his body, strong enough to make him retch. The foul-tasting acid burned in his throat, but that wasn't enough. The retching didn't stop, it continued until he felt a hand on his back, prodding carefully.

"What happened?"

The sound of Sarah's voice in his ears and her unwelcome touch made him so full of vicious anger again that he spun around grabbing her fragile little neck. He saw terror in her eyes, then they went blank.

He dropped her, and she fell to the ground; the sound muffled by her dress. He stared at his hand, then her neck and saw a black mark spreading around it, chocking her slowly. He stared at his hand again, wanting to rip it away. A terrible feeling of dread and repulsion soared within him and he panicked. He started to run, like he always did. 

As he reached the gate he gathered his strength to leap over it, but as his feet left the ground he was tackled, crashing down on the cobbled stones. He tried to get up, but he couldn't move. Qumo had him pinned beneath his legs.