Threads of Vengeance

Part 1 Chapter 11

Syral, Underground sewage tunnels

Kanth and Keto ran through the dark and musty sewers, their footsteps echoed and water, mixed with human waste and mud splashed all over them. They had to run with their heads bent for the tunnel was too short.

“Tell me why, we're running through shit and spit to chase after-,” Keto took a short breath and finished “-a goddamn monster that popped outta some kinda fairy tale?”

“I don't know,” wheezed Kanth. The pain in his shoulder was agonizing. His breath was ragged but he continued running anyway.

“You...You don't know?!” sputtered Keto.

They arrived at an intersection. Keto raised his bow and shot several arrows into all the pathways at superhuman speed. A cry of pain came from one path. They entered that one and continued running.

“You don't know why you're risking your life and chasing that thing?!” Keto's voice echoed through the tunnels.

“....no. I know I have to kill it. I don't know why...” He broke off and tugged at the back of Keto's clothing and signaled him to stop.

“What?” asked Keto, but the sound came muffled as Kanth's hand quickly covered his mouth.

Dim voices echoed through the tunnel, barely audible over the sound of the flowing water. The two mercenaries stood with dirty water sloshing around their ankles, straining their ears for a hint of whether it was a friend or a foe. A loud shout echoed through the tunnels followed by a fearful cry. Kanth and Keto sprinted through the tunnel. In the distance, a small light appeared and slowly grew larger as the mercenaries approached closer to it.

The light, belonging to a torch was held by a man, dressed in finery that was discoloured by sewage water. His face was a mask of pure terror and it was easy to see why, for all around him were dead men. Most of them were men, wearing armour that reflected the colours of Syral but for one that belonged to a young boy.

The light of the torch revealed the walls of the tunnel to be blood spattered and the stench of the blood overrode that of the dirty water. In front of the terror stricken man was a soldier. He too wore the armour of Syral. The terror stricken, well dressed man saw Kanth and Keto approaching. His face lit up with relief.

“Help!” he cried.

And then, the soldier moved. His hand transformed into a spike and elongated towards the well dressed man.He gave a cry, or tried to. It hit him in the throat and blood spurted out. The spike returned and a red tentacle shot out of the soldier's eye and entered the wound in the man's throat.

The soldier then collapsed and the expression on the well dressed man's face changed. He let out an inhuman snarl and the lantern in his hand fell to the ground,. The lantern died and the only illumination in the tunnel was Keto's crystal, a far from adequate source of light. Keto lifted his bow and then swore.

“I'm out of arrows!”

Kanth rushed forward with his Aara ready. “Get back!”

“Wait,” cried Keto. “Here,” he ripped his crystal off his bow, tossed it to Kanth and then back away. The moment Kanth caught the crystal, the tunnel became pitch black.

“Dammit! You dropped it?” Keto yelled, his voice echoing through the tunnel.

“...No...” Kanth put the crystal, dull his hand into his pocket. He blocked out Keto's voice and swung his his Aara slowly. The pain in his left hand was agonizing. He stopped spinning the Aara and using the thumb of his right hand, pressed several places around his shoulder. Nerve clusters, his master had called them. The pain did not however go away, though it was vastly reduced.

Once more he started spinning his Aara. They rebounded from the walls and moved at incredible speeds around him and yet, even in darkness, Kanth controlled them perfectly. He moved slowly, feeling glad that his master had made him fight blindfolded during training. He heard a splash to the left and he crack his Aara towards the sound.

A short cry of both pain and anger echoed through the pitch black tunnel. He attacked at the sound and heard the satisfying crunch of his Aara embedding themselves into flesh. He pulled them back and once more lashed them in the same direction. This time, he caught air.

Kanth stepped back with a spin and listened carefully. A small sound came from his right. He attacked towards it. A yell of pain came as his Aara caught flesh. The voice was that of Keto. He felt something hitting his leg and a feeling of pain shot up from his left thigh. He grunted with pain and collapsed to the ground. He was going to die, he realized. An image of a woman flashed across his mind. With the image, a long forgotten word, a name, came to his mind.

“Meil,” he whispered, to the darkness.

His thoughts disappeared, forced away by the strongest thing in his mind, anger. A feeling of rage took over his body. He pushed himself up and snarled wordlessly. Blood pounded in his ears and his heart started beating faster. Something pierced his stomach. It hurt, but he didn't push the pain away. He welcomed it. He welcomed it with a laugh, a laugh of a man lost, to insanity and swung his weapons ferociously. They caught something.

Kanth attacked and kept at it, attacking recklessly with no regard for himself. All he sought was the death of his enemy, at any cost. A bright light suddenly flooded the tunnel, blinding him in the process. He closed his eyes, and continued swinging his Aara, but they hit something other than flesh. Something more solid.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. All around him were walls, made out of frozen dirty water. He hit out at it, angry that it stopped him from killing his prey. He banged against it, he kicked at it, but it refused to cave in no mater what he did. He stepped back from the wall, feeling weak and dizzy. He teetered and then collapsed into darkness.