SOL

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rayna had no answer, but the young man's gaze did not waver, and it felt colder every second it stayed on her. She was not trembling, but her muscles tightened to the point of pain, and her mind was totally blank.

"I told you to forget about me." The man said. "Why are you here?"

Rayna did not answer. She started to open her mouth, but she could not muster any form of an answer. She began to see the room around her, what was formerly a nice hotel lobby. The lights were destroyed, the grafstone walls and wooden decorations were unrecognizably covered in bullet holes, broken glass, and blood, and the large mahogany check-in desk in the back was broken in two, with more bodies on top of it, and the furniture was only splinters.

The man started to slowly walk towards her, making sure to not step on the bodies of the Catral soldiers.

"I'm sure you've seen the town." He said, almost softly. "It's sad. Still, I don't know why you're here, but you should go back to your village-"

"There is no village!" Rayna snapped without thinking, quickly realizing that might have been a mistake and freezing up again. The young man stopped walking, but her comment did not faze him, he only nodded as if he understood. He looked down at the soldiers he had killed and sighed.

"Was it them, Enforcer?" He asked and looked back at her. Rayna gritted her teeth.

"Yes," She growled, all her anger from before began to come back. "They were looking for you." Adding a tone of disgust as she said it, her body starting to shake with rage. "If you never came through my home no one would have DIED." She shrilly yelled, and without a second thought, she charged at the young man, fixing her gun on him as he only stood there.

Rayna fired a shot at him, which he effortlessly dodged and the bullet hit the back wall. She fired at him again as he continued to dodge the bullets, his face unchanging. As Rayna was close to having to reload, she charged him again, preparing to hit him with her revolver. She swiftly charged him, getting close to his left side. As she swung her gun at his neck, she felt her legs swept out from under her by the man, and landed flat on her back with the point of the young man's large sword only inches away from her face, the blood of the Castral soldiers dripping onto her Enforcer's jacket.

"You done?" He said calmly. Rayna clenched her teeth.

"Why?" She cried "Why do these monsters want you?" Tears started to form in her eyes. He only stared at the emotional Enforcer, then threw his sword over his shoulder again.

"They probably heard you." He said. "You should leave."

"No!" Rayna's voice became shrill. "I want revenge! They killed everyone I love and destroyed my home. I want them dead!"

As Rayna exclaimed this, the young man's head snapped towards the broken door, and the sound of running became louder.

"Dammit." He grumbled. "They did hear you. Get up." He grabbed her arm and hoisted Rayna to her feet. "It'll be the rest of the soldiers in town, so don't do anything stupid."

Within moments, a group of Castral soldiers flooded the doorway and the rest of the hotel lobby, rifles set on both the young man and Rayna. Her fear returned at the sight of them, and she did not want to die.

"The Celestian has his Key drawn." One shouted. "Fire!" In an instant, the man pushed Rayna back, and the storm of bullets she expected to kill them both was deflected by the side of his sword.

"He stopped the bullets!" A soldier yelled. "Reload and fire!" Before the soldiers could make another move, the young man kicked the soldier closest to him in the side of the head, sending him flying into the others next to him. The other soldiers moaned in shock and the man raised his sword and cut them down, blood splattering on the other dead soldiers.

Rayna stared at him in amazement; his speed was astonishing, and to be able to wield such a large sword with a single hand so skillfully is something she had never seen before. As quickly as the soldiers arrived, they lay on the floor dead. The man flicked the blood off his blade and put it in the sheath on his back, then turned again to Rayna, who was still in shock.

"I am going to say this again," His gaze still cold and the edge in his voice still present. "Forget about me and leave." He started to turn away and Rayna jumped forward onto her knees, tears starting to stream down her face.

"I'm all alone." She said loudly to the floor. The man stopped and looked back at her. "These animals killed my family, my home. I don't have anything. All I have is my goal. I want them to suffer." She sobbed.

"You know..." He started. Rayna looked up from the floor and he was right in front of her. "Revenge can be cruel to you as well, and it may not end well."

"I know," Rayna said quietly, the tears stopping. "But that's all I have now. That's the purpose I'm giving myself."

"Your purpose, huh? Is that really what you want?"

Rayna nodded, and the two looked each other in the eyes, their gazes firm.

"Fine." He said, and put out his hand. "Let's go then. You're not the only one with a purpose." Rayna looked at it for a moment, and felt like strange, like taking his hand would be something unlike anything she had ever done; something would come from this. She took his hand and stood up.

"What's your name, Enforcer?" He asked.

"Rayna Elassan. Who are you?" She replied. He hesitated for a moment.

"My name is Van." The room somehow felt lighter, like the tension had disappeared. "We need to leave here." He turned and hastily walked out the destroyed lobby, Rayna following him.

"You should leave that." Van said, pointing at her Enforcer's jacket.

"What? No!" Rayna said. "This is part of who I am." She pleaded.

"It's also a way to identify us." Van shot back. "Castra will know exactly who to look for." Rayna felt that was ironic for him to say, given how odd and easily spotted he is, but nonetheless she reluctantly complied and took off he jacket. She held it tight in her hands, before deeply inhaling and releasing it onto the blood and corpse riddled floor.

"Now let's move." Van said as he walked out the door. Rayna took one final look at her Enforcer's jacket, her source of pride and family for years, then chased after Van.

Once the two had left Murdole, on a dirt road similar to the one that leads into the town, Van noticed Rayna was shivering.

"There should be another small town less than a mile ahead." He said flatly. "I have some money so you can buy a coat there."

"Wait," Rayna said, walking behind him. "Where are we even going?" She decided to join Van so she could fulfill her self-proclaimed purpose, but she had no idea who he was, or his own ambitions.

Van looked back at her. "We're going to Pordece," He voice became tense. "So I can get my revenge."