Threads of Vengeance

Part 2 Chapter 2

Syral, underground tunnels

Maya strode along the long, narrow tunnels that were the sewers of Syral. In front of her were four soldiers, two of them bearing torches. Behind her footfalls sounded, accompanied by heavy breathing. A tall man with delicate features caught up to her. With him were two more soldiers, carrying a long haired man between them. He had several wounds across his body. Strips of torn clothing were tied around the larger ones.

“I’m called Keto,” he said.

His voice echoed down the tunnels. She made no response.

“Where does this lead to?” asked the man called Keto.

She glanced at him. He favoured his left side. A strip of torn cloth barely covered the vicious cut across his body.

“The castle,” she replied.

“Oh,” He bobbed his head. “You’re quite strong. We couldn’t kill that Pisacha or whatever it was, no matter what we did.”

The soldiers started laughing. Maya felt a small smile creeping across her face.

“That ain’t a Pisacha, boy. ‘t was a man,” said a soldier. Keto shook his head vigorously.

“It was a Pisacha. We chased it into the tunnels and it took over his body,” Keto said, frowning.

The soldiers roared and fell over themselves laughing. One of them put his hands in front of a torch and twisted his fingers till the shadows of his hands became something close to that of a ghost.

He took a deep breath and said, “Boo,” in a stage whisper. The soldiers held their sides and laughed even harder. When they had finally calmed down a little, one of them spoke up.

“t’was a crystal user boy. ‘e had powers. Close enough though, they’re strong as monsters. No offence yer majesty.”

“I know crystal users. I am one myself. That thing was something different,” said Keto insistently.

Maya raised an eyebrow. “Can I see your crystal then?”

The man shook his head. “I gave it to him. He dropped it somewhere,” he said, gesturing to the long haired man.

“Of course he did,” said Maya, smiling. The man was obviously overwhelmed by what he had seen and thought it was a monster. He sighed, looking dejected and then suddenly stopped walking.

“Someone is coming,” he whispered. A small splash echoed through the tunnels, highlighting his words.

Maya stared at him. Despite being a liar and an idiot, he was quite sharp. He had sensed someone approaching before she had. The group stopped and waited in silence. Slowly, the footsteps grew louder. Eventually, a group of men stepped into the light of the torches from the shadows. There were about ten men, she estimated. She looked at them warily until realizing they were in the uniform of the empire.

A bearded man removed his helmet and knelt. “Your majesty,” His deep, gruff voice bounced off the walls.

“We came to assist,” he continued. “But it seems, we’re too late. It would be my pleasure to escort you back.”

She nodded. He rose and turned around. With a smooth motion, he drew his sword and lashed out backwards. The blade was aimed at Maya but it hit a soldier in front of her. The force of his blow chopped off the man’s arm cleanly.

To the man’s credit, he punched the bearded man in the throat before a second swing of the sword lopped his head off. The bearded man coughed and spat a red gob phlegm. She took the chance and drew power from her crystal. It coursed through her veins and her body became light.

Maya knew she would regret it later. She had exerted herself far too much already, but now was the time to fight. Survive first and suffer later. She shielded herself from the oncoming blow by ducking behind the headless corpse of the soldier that had just been attacked. She touched the stump that was the neck and the blood that spurted out of the arteries froze. A flick of her hand and shards of frozen blood impaled the bearded man, killing him.

Black spots covered her vision and threatened to grab her into unconsciousness. She shook her head and forced it away. She felt a shove and her head struck something, presumably the tunnel wall. Her vision returned and she found herself staring at a man. He grinned, showing yellow teeth stained with black. She tried to move her arms, but found that they were pinned to the walls.

“Gotcha, yer highness,” he said, his breath a mixture of rotten meat and alcohol washed over her. “You can’t move yer ice without moving yer hands can ya?”

He was right. How he knew, she did not know, but he was right. What he did not know was that she could still make ice. She smiled sweetly and spat in his eye. It turned into ice and embedded itself deeply. He howled in pain and she slipped out of his grip. She viciously kneed him between his legs and he collapsed onto the ground.

She pulled out the battle axe slung across her back and brought it down on his head. She turned around and whipped it around the tunnel. The size of the tunnel meant she could not use it to it’s full potential. On the upside, there was no room for anyone to dodge it.

She killed two more, one by using the ice and the other by crushing him between the axe and the wall. A large flame suddenly illuminated the tunnels. She turned to see that one of her guards had set an attacker on fire using using a torch. The man yelled and fell into the dirty water, hoping to get rid of the flames. It worked, but he found himself face first in the water and the man that went by the name Keto, planted his foot on his head till he ran out of breath and died.

The fight, like all real fights, was over very quickly. And, like all fights felt far longer than it was. They had one casualty. The man had died saving her the highest honour her bodyguards could achieve. She knelt and touched the ground as a mark of respect and rose.

“What in Yama’s name is going on here?” said a voice. One that she had never heard before.

The source turned out to be the long haired man that had been unconscious. He rubbed his head and slowly got up with the help of the walls. From the looks of it, the men carrying him had dropped him unceremoniously and rushed into the fray to help her.

He glanced at the surroundings and then at her. It was not the kind of glance that she caught soldiers and on more than one occasion, Proahn stealing when they thought she wasn’t looking. This man’s glance did not sweep across her body and pause at her breasts like theirs did.

His was cold, calculating and devoid of any emotion whatsoever. It seemed to analyse the best way to kill her should the need arise. She shuddered, as it brought back memories of her father. She forced it away with all her effort. The mere thought of that man sent shivers down her spine and made her want to crawl into a deep cave. While there was no cave, she had the next best thing.

“I need some rest I’ve used up too much energy,” she said and let go her hold on the crystal. She immediately sunk to the ground. She had no energy left to even stand or stay awake much longer. Maya closed her eyes and embraced sleep.