Clouds of Tyranny Read online

  Within seconds a second man burst through the side door and focused his gun on Terra. The inadvertent adrenaline of Terra’s aura lifted her from the couch, but after that she was a wax statue, How can I help, she thought as she glazed down the barrel of the imperial’s silver .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun. All she could do was watch as Locke struggles with the large arm, trying to keep it from his throat. Through the ceiling fell a third man, no weapon in hand, that grabbed Locke by the throat with both hands and flung him to the floor. He looked over at Terra and gave her an evil smile of satisfaction just before lifting his knee up in an attempt to stomp Locke’s skull into mush; luckily, Locke saw this and did a log roll to his left to avoid the critical blow to his skull. Locke proceeded to twist his hips and scissor kicked his way through the back of his attackers knees, dropping him to the floor to where they were now equals. Locke leaped atop him, straddling his thighs and preceded to punch either side of the imperials head; he could feel his temples battling with the bones in Locke’s knuckles. The man was in neverland. However, the front sliding door was jimmying open as Locke looked at it realizing he didn’t bolt it when he returned that morning, then it slid wide open as the Empire employee stood there in the doorway looking at Locke, basically salivating at the thought of ended the life of the Returner. The imperial was obviously very overzealous as he kicked Locke’s sheathed blade toward him in an expression of a blade-to-blade challenge. Locke sat there on the floor with legs flat and a bloody nose and lips as he gripped the blade as he kneeled on a knee and quietly rose to his feet. Unsheathing his sword, a black and white spackled double-edged blade that belonged to his father…the Damascus! He slammed his sheath down to the floor and got ready for a fight.

  Locke wasn’t exactly a bodybuilder, or a military type, or even in decent shape for that matter, but he was an incredible swordsman who didn’t fear death or the afterlife. The imperial made the first move; skipping forward with sword in hand not three inches in front of his own face. Locke stood stoic with sword drawn at his side waiting for his opportunity for a counter attack while trying not to get shot in the back in the process. The man yelled as he swiped the sword at Locke’s head at which ricocheted it away when Locke raised his sword and the imperial continued violently swinging at random parts of Locke’s body as if her were chopping wood. Locke parried and blocked each attack with ease until the swordsman made the dire mistake of attempting an obviously unskilled thrust towards Locke’s chest: Locke merrily sidestepped it and spun around with his Damascus barreling through the back of the man’s neck as his head fell to the floor while the imperial’s body still stood for a few seconds before following. Locke looked down at the man as his headless body dropped to its knees and began flailing on the floor, still being powered by the final reactions of his nerves. The gunman turned his aim upon Locke after a brief moment of shock his forefinger began to pull. “No!” screamed Terra as she pushed the man in his chest with both palms against his rib cage, causing the man to be pushed through the window and through the steel bars: the bars spreading like a welcoming gate made of straw. The man flew through the opening and down the thirty-foot drop as well as thirty feet out like ten men had hit him with sledgehammers. He hit the concrete ground and star-shaped splatter of blood erupted from the back of his skull, as he lay there lifeless and unthreatening. She gazed down at him through the window in awe of his weakness (or her strength), How did that happen? She thought, an adrenaline soaked increase in strength? Locke looked at her in amazement and gave her a look of thanks as he turned to pick up his sheath when the ceiling-dropping imperial had awakened and sprung up on him. He managed to liberate the sword from Locke’s grasp and fling it across the room and was now fight him on all fours. Terra looked around: the gun on the floor, she picked it up and aimed it shakily at the two men wrestling on the floor. Locke was on bottom with the man’s hands on his throat gingerly trying to fight him off, “Don’t shoot,” choppily whispered Locke. She slowly lowered the weapon to her side as she realized that there’s a good probability she might kill them both and that would prevent her from ever escaping this town. Locke was running short of air and knew that he had to do something, so he hooked his right foot behind the man’s knee and rolled him over, suddenly Locke was on top and pounding away on the man’s face with his elbows and forearms before the imperial got a knee up and kicked Locke in the chest with his left foot, pushing Locke several feet away. The man proceeded to reach to his right boot, pulling out a very compact snub-nosed revolver and pulled the hammer back as he aimed at Terra with an bloody face of anger directed at her; she was frozen in fear. Locke laid there on his back watching the potential murder attempt on Terra; hidden in his belt buckle was a very small throwing dagger; the blade shaped like a spade. He pulled the dagger and flung it at the man, piercing the blade into the man’s jugular causing a lapse of aim. The bullet missed Terra and flew through the curtain leading towards the kitchen and they heard glass shatter from within the next room. The man dropped the pistol next to him and tried to hold the blood inside his throat when Locke rose to his feet and slowly walked to his victim. Locke looked down at him, then he kneeled and looked the man in his dying eyes as he quickly pulled the dagger from his throat; Locke could feel the resistance attached to the blade, veins and bones probably, the dagger didn’t want to leave its new home. The man’s head slammed against the raggedy rug flooring as the blade was ripped free and turned to the side as Locke could see the man’s soul vanish from his eyes. He turned to Terra after wiping the blade clean with the blanket that had kept her warm less than ten minutes ago, “We should really go,” said Locke. Terra looked at him as he re-holstered the belt dagger, “Yeah, probably.” She looked at the gun she was holding that formerly was of empire property, “Here,” she said as she handed to him. “Hold on to it,” said Locke as he pushed it back towards her, “I trust you…for now.” Locke walked towards the front door queuing her to follow; which she did after retrieving two magazines filled with bullets.

  After exiting through the front door they made a left to a narrow alley behind Locke’s shack: Terra traversed first and trotted a good thirty paces and waited for Locke to catch up. Locke took a deep breath and squeezed himself into the small crawl space: the metal edge of his safe house grazing against his puffed stomach. Ahead, he spotted an overhang about shoulder level at which he and Terra would have to do a kneel-crawl in order to make it through. He dropped to his knees and pulled himself with his hands as his legs pushed along the rock-covered ground for several yards. At last he sensed no restriction above his head and could finally rise without bumping his head. He planted his right hand, palm down, against the ground and rose from his knees only to see a glistening gun pointing at his head. He stared down its barrel for a few seconds before looking past it to its owner; Terra. He stared into her face as she shivered; she was frightened but not afraid to kill. All Locke could do was kneel there and wait… “What do you want from me?” whispered Terra, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are people trying to kill me?” Locke sat there with his weight rested on his knees and threw up his hands like a villain caught in the act, “ I’m not trying to kill you. I’m trying to save you. Please…trust me.” Terra stood there for many moments thinking to herself…

  She envisioned the previous day, the last time she saw her pond and cottage, when the imperials took shots at her and attempted to apprehend her unprovoked. She stared down at Locke; his face was of a man with no fear of death but his features were sincere. “Terra,” he said, “I can protect you from the Empire…please let me.” He reached his hand up towards her, knowing that all she had to do was squeeze and he would be no longer of this realm (she knew it too), but then she would be all alone and that scared the both of them. She lowered the gun but didn’t fully let her guard down, “Tell me,” she whispered, as to not arouse suspicion because she could hear movement in the center of town and faint discussion of a malicious nature. “What do you want to know?” said L
ocke as he looked into her eyes. “What do they want from me?” “Your powers to use for their own corrupt plans of holding the entire continent prisoner. Then, when they’ve finished with you…” Terra looked into Locke’s dark brown eyes and saw only truth inside them, “Then…?” “They’ll dispose of you like a piece of wood that wont burn.” Locke began to rise to his feet, no longer feeling a risk of being shot by Terra, he knew that she knew that she needed him and that he was of no threat to her. He stood there looking into her eyes, eyes filled with dread and fear, he wanted to hold her just in an attempt to give her ease, but didn’t and simply walked past her. “Can we go now? Smith will tell you more when we get to HQ,” said Locke turning his head to look at her. Terra was staring down at her shoes, then raised her head and nodded an affirming yes. “Who’s Smith?”

  Locke and Terra stealthily traversed through the tight corridors and beneath the crawl space of the shack until they could see the western tunnel of Sangrohl; a tunnel short enough that they could see the light peeking through from the other side. However, two imperials were blocking their access. Locke leaned back behind the wall that was concealing their presence and began to think as the imperials stood around the corner. Terra stood there gripping her gun, “Locke!” she whispered, “Here, just shoot em.” “That would be very stupid, the sound of the discharge would echo through the town. Hell, the old couple living on the top of that mountain would hear it. Think before you act, Terra,” he said sternly and quite rudely for that matter. She sneered and leaned her back against the wall, waiting for him to come up with something. He turned toward her in an attempt to apologize for his arrogance, but before the words were spoken he noticed a change in her appearance. “What happened to your scratch?” said Locke as he noticed that the large cut that had once lain below her left eye last night was now gone and only a smidge of dried blood remained in its absence. “Oh,” she said rubbing her cheek, “I heal incredibly fast. Heh.” He gave her a look that said I’m not stupid! “Locke,” whispered a choppy voice from several feet away. Locke and Terra looked around in all directions. Terra elbowed Locke and pointed to a house adjacent to them where an elderly woman in a wheelchair slightly waved. “Old Mag,” said Locke explaining to Terra as he waved Old Mag over. “Who?” said Terra into Locke’s ear. “Just be quiet and follow my lead.” “Kay.”

  Old Mag’s physical appearance made it appear as if she was the one that tried to eat Hansel and Gretal with her pointy nose, bony fingers, and wrinkles that seemed to be inside of wrinkles. The elderly disgusted Terra. She was glad that she didn’t have to see her mother like this: ugly and helpless. Old Mag rolled herself in front of Locke with her rusted, squeaky chair. Upon her approach Locke leaned down to whisper with her; Terra couldn’t hear a word, but they obviously were good acquaintances. “Good luck,” said Old Mag as they hugged each other tightly. Then she did a quarter turn, nodding at Terra as she made her way toward the imperial guards. Locke gripped Terra’s hand tight and said, “Get ready to run…quietly.” She nodded affirmingly and got in a sprinter’s mark. They watched as Old Mag talked with the guards waving her arms in the air and crying. “Fine!” yelled one of the guards as he took his rifle and hung it around his back so he could have the use of both hands. He began pushing her in the opposite direction of the tunnel and the escapees as the other man began calling out with hands cupped around his mouth, “Saaaaaatch! Come on cat!” “No no no,” said Old Mag annoyed, “Like this: here Satchy Satchy!” “Are you kidding?” said the guard. “Just do it!” ordered the guard that was now here valet. “For the love of…Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere Satchy Satchy!!!” Old Mag couldn’t help but giggle under her breathe as Locke stood there smiling. Terra kneeled against the wall waiting for Locke to say ‘Go!’ He watched for the perfect opportunity, “Way to go Mag.” Finally, the three feline pursuers were out of sight, “Go!” whispered Locke to Terra. Terra ran as Locke followed by a nose making sure that, above all else, she made it safely. She ran into the shadows of the tunnel and Locke followed after he took a last look around for spies, and then entered the tunnel. Inside Terra was standing waiting for Locke to explain their destination, “Well,” she said with arms crossed against her chest waiting for some sort of explanation. “Well…you look nice…I guess?” said Locke puzzled. “No, why are we going to HQ, or whatever? Am I just gonna hide from the empire forever?” He walked past her as he explained, “Okay, I’m just a commander of the Returners. You’re my mission and when I get you back to headquarters I will have another mission. So just save your questions for the boss. Never order me around, your just a job, this is not personal for me.” “You put a blanket on me!” “Yeah. So you’d be rested and strong enough to travel! Cant have you getting sick; you’ll just slow me down That’s all!!!” Locke stopped and realized that she was no longer walking and that he was yelling at a frightened little girl. He stopped and turned around to look at her, “Look, you’re a very gifted per-“ he stopped mid sentence to see her looking at him through a blurry window of tears that filled her eyes. He felt awful, but just stood there staring; he wasn’t good at apologies and worse at sensitivity. Terra could no longer contain her emotions and dropped to her knees and began weeping into her hands blabbering about random things, “I’m supposed to cook potato soup and pull the cabbage today. I’m dirty and cold and and…” her crying was so intense she couldn’t muster any more words. Locke rolled his eyes, he knew he had to make some kind of physical contact with this girl to show her she may not be home but she’s not alone. He walked over and kneeled in front of her and put his right arm around her lightly rubbing her back consoling her. She responded by wrapping both of her arms around the back of his neck and burying her wet face into his left shoulder crying even harder now, trying to get it all out so they could move on. If it were up to Terra, she would cry all day, but Locke wanted to go and it would be smart to get as far from the empire as possible. Locke had saved her life so the least she could do was wrap it up and get moving. She pulled her face from his body and placed her arms at her side as she stood as Locke helped her up by holding her hands. “I’m okay now.” Said Terra as she wiped her tears from her face with her long skirt. Locke felt as if he should say something…”Uhhh, I can make you some potato soup tonight.” Stupid, he thought, but she smiled at the kind gesture. “Thank you.” Oh crap, thought Terra, We’re having a moment. “Lets go,” said Terra. “Yeah!” said Locke unusually loud making her flinch.

  CHAPTER 4: SOJOURNERS TRAVEL ALIKE

  Locke emerged from the tunnel first with Terra trailing behind him; he gazed upon the green moors leading to the home of the Returners, within the Wayfarer’s Wall. Terra exited the shadowy tunnel out into the green pastures with the sun beaming down on her face. They took a minute to admire the view: not a house in sight, fluffy green fields leading to the Ire River in the distance to the west. Just barely inside her field of view she saw the legendary Wayfarers Wall; this ten foot high wall not only bordered in between two countries but travelers used this landmark to decipher where they were in the continent, every three miles or so was a staircase ascending one side of the wall and draping over the other for easy passage over the top. Upon each set of steps was marked by an emblem indicating whose territory it belonged to such as Velxeer, Cormire, etc.

  Terra’s face beamed as she looked at the beautiful scenery and gazed upon the crystal clear lake where she saw a family of saber wolves drinking from the cool water to replenish their energy. Less than a hundred feet from the pack were two rabbits having a thirst quencher as well, but the wolves didn’t bother to attack the delicious and helpless rodents. It’s like the water brings peace and kills hate, Terra thought to herself. Locke looked over at Terra and saw her smiling away at its beauty, this was the first time Locke had seen her really smile, she was gorgeous when she was happy. Locke hated to break the mood, “Come on, that’s our destination…” said Locke as he pointed to the Wayfarers Wall. “Hmmm?” said Terra, “The other side of the wall
?” “No. The wall itself.” They began walking toward the wall across the grassy plains; finally they could let their guard down seeing as how there was no threat of predators here in addition to the fact that the Empire couldn’t step foot in this land for the penalty would be war with Velxeer; this area of land was officially Velxeer kingdom. If the empire so much as went for a stroll on these plains, King Luther would consider that an invitation to wage a full-scale war.

  “Do you even know how to use that?” said Locke looking at her left hand as it gripped the silver .45 caliber pistol. She bent her elbow bringing her hand up to her view, “It’s rather simple isn’t it?” She pointed the gun into the air and gripped it with both hands and turned her head away as she tightly shut her eyes in preparation to fire the weapon. BANG! BANG! BANG! She fired the weapon three times and with each discharge it kicked her hands back a full foot almost causing her to lose the weapon to the ground. She opened her eyes and looked at Locke who was wide-eyed at her fear of an inanimate object. “See…” she said as she snickered at Locke. “Yeah, easy as pie…” said Locke as he rolled his eyes, “but just to be safe, maybe you should practice when we get home.” Terra felt rather insulted by this and the thought of ‘home’ didn’t feel her with joy. She tightened her grip on the weapon, turned and fired; this time no struggle between the weapon and her hands. The bullet pierced through the left side of a sunflower spreading half of its petals in different directions. She turned back to Locke with an angry look and started walking towards the wall. Locke shook his head from side to side and chuckled, Thinks she’s a marksman, thought Locke to himself as he hustled to walk along side her.