GENESIS - THE BEGINNING. Book 1

CHAPTER 23 ... Honour

"What now?" asked Tobor as they walked towards the grave Katya had been digging.

"Now?" Katya stopped and watched as Tobor grunted and picked up a corpse by its hands and dragged it away to one side. "Now we finish this grave and then grab a flitter. I want this over and done with as soon as possible and of course you can answer some questions like what is the contract Hades has that the normal rules of The Month of Reckoning does not apply to its people."

Tobor swung the pickaxe. Her muscles were tired and she desperately needed to rest but knew that the quicker they were done, the quicker rest would come.

"Our world is unique Katya. So unique that bush drums are actually still in use. It is not a lame joke. We still have thousands of years to go before it will be safe for human habitation. It is a cruel world where we are the intruders. A world still evolving. A world that gives no second chances. Nature has run riot. Animals, creatures big and small change or evolve almost from one generation to the next. It is hot. It is humid. It is cold and wet and sometimes all in the same day. It is the youngest member of the Galactic Empire." She stopped and wiped her forehead of sweat and blood.

"You realize that you look dreadful. And you smell," said Katya wrinkling her nose.

"Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately?" Tobor smiled.

"True. We need to get cleaned up."

Tobor leaned on the pickaxe handle and looked her up and down critically. "I would suggest not. It would be more intimidating this way."

"Are you crazy?" Katya asked lifting her arms away from her body. Bits of dry gore and blood flaked from her skin.

"Think about it for a second ok? The survivors are going to be good. They have survived due to training and skill. Let us not forget trickery and downright fraud. They want to win and don't care what or who they have to walk over to get the ultimate prize. What you want is for them to think twice about confronting you. You are small and comely. A prize for any man who wants to wet his dick, what with that leather skirt and blouse you like wearing." Katya gave her a look of disgust. "Don't act the innocent girl. You knew what you were doing when you chose that outfit. It worked for you all the way, but now it is time to change once more. These men are going to be the worst of the worst. Scum. Survivors. You will need every weapon you possess to outwit them. Hide your figure. Hide your beauty and become what you look like at this moment; a walking horror right out of a nightmare. In fact," she thought awhile and looked about at all the corpses. She nodded and grinned at Katya. "I have had a brilliant plan."

"I don't think I'm going to like it."

" I guarantee your opponents will like it less."

"If you say so. It is that you still have not told me about the contracts. Let me take over while you talk." Katya was trying not to think or look at Adelia's corpse while she climbed into the shallow grave.

"The contracts are basically simple agreements," began Tobor. "Because of our exceptional training and skill, we from Hades who volunteer, go through a rigorous and intensive selection program. It is so bad that only the best are chosen and it has been known for some to die. The elite, always women, may not exceed a total of ten. At any one time there should be on average seven to ten woman available for The Month of Reckoning," she said. "We were caught off guard I think. We did not have enough time or not enough well trained women. Men may not enter as they are prohibited from lifting a hand to any woman."

"And Wyatt?"

"I do not know. I believe the Princeps Margareta knew what she was doing and that the Sigal would withdraw from the Contention as soon as he realised what it required him to do. It is a strange situation, as I believe it has never happened before. This time there were only three of us that succeeded the selection. I'm not sure how many applied but I know it was in the thousands."

"Why have a selection so stringent and difficult," Katya asked as she shoveled dirt out of the grave.

"Because our job is to thin out the competition as soon as possible but not too soon. The possibility of having hundreds or thousands of Contenders arriving en mass in Signature on the last day and destroying the Capital of Overlord in their eagerness to become Emperor is unthinkable."

"I'd say," Katya said, taking a breather.

"Yes. That is something all the higher-ups agreed on. For that reason, the elite of the Hades warriors are sent out to reduce that possibility. We have the opportunity to hone our skills against an almost never-ending foe although we may not become Emperor. We have to step aside and leave Overlord when the tally of Contenders reaches ten. Ten armed and dangerous people in Signature at one time is something easily handled. Ten thousand?"

Katya frowned at Tobor, "The obvious question is why you haven't left yet?"

"That was the Sigal's doing." She held out her hand for the shovel and jumped into the hole, taking here turn. She worked a few minutes without speaking then took a breather. "We, the Sigal and I, believe you will be the next Emperor," she said.

"You do?"

Tobor nodded. "For that reason I have accepted the honor of being your bodyguard. The first of five thousand."

Surprise registered on Katya's face, "Five thousand!?"

"Yes. We will all swear blood oath to you and deliver it to the Princeps Margareta within ten days of the oath, or sooner."

"I don't understand. Deliver what?"

"The blood oath consists of us slicing off the tip of our left hands smallest finger and handing it to the Princeps as proof of one's commitment."

"Now I understand. But why a blood oath?"

She waited while Tobor started digging again. When it looked like she was tiring, Katya took over.

"Why a blood oath? Because all that we do, we do with honor in mind. I have been honored by the Sigal to start my own clan of warriors specifically for your protection. Protection not only for when you become Emperor but also when war is declared."

"War? You believe what the blacksmith said?"

"We do."

"But why so many?" she asked after a while. She stopped to gaze at her hands. She could feel the blisters forming.

"How much do you think your life is worth?" grinned the Tobor.

"You have a point. But five thousand bodyguards?" she shook her head at the enormity of it all.

Toborsmiled thinly, "That is only the beginning.";fontܟ