"But I will."
Unknown POV
A week prior.....
The streets of Lehra were always packed during the day , I mean how could they not? Everyday in Lehra was market day. With most traders waking at the crack of dawn to set up shop and a handful to add a few more zeros on the item prices of goods that were on high demand. The market was divided into streets for different items. In case you were looking for home items, they were found on Evenham Streeet, and so it was for the rest if the commodities . At the market , you could find anything and everything , at least in the market at Lehra. From Nuttoms, odd looking cookies that are made to taste like your aura , to little everyday things like fountain pens, mostly for the average students and quill pens, for those looking to make a statement. There is a very large range of farm produce, from milk got from cattle fed on Alster, to apples fresher than day and even rare fruit that could make you hallucinate for hours on end. If you knew your way around the traders , you could even find your self things from the Offcast world. But those sooner rather than later often lead to ugly things like let me say , imprisonment for , quite a while. Yes , harsh the law is but without it , justice can't prevail. I personally , the fashionable god I am ,like to keep to the garments side of the market. Looking for the best leather jackets in the city? ,or happen to want a Tèlèna 9 ,then am your guy. Only when am not working.
Lehra's nightlife however , is not as charming, I would say. Sure there are bars , night clubs the circus once in a while ,but it doesn't feel as free as during the day .Ever since the Krel's declaration for independence was met by opposition from Queen Everlyn who is at the moment acting regent for the King who is in a coma. The reasons for his current condition have been withheld from the public , which it in itself has caused quite the unrest in not only Lehra but the nation as a whole. Frequent riots and demonstrations have really eaten up the Enfiem's resources. And when the Krel started using their magic to go to the Offcast world which was off limits to recruit what everyone knew were offcasts to work in their army , the Queen ordered us to put them behind bars.
Well,well,well, that was easier said than done. I don't think even she knew how much the Dues depended on the Krel . From the important stuff like growing larger harvest and for medicines that aren't easily accessible , to little things like the performing arts . Their expressive emotional culture enabled them to perform better than most Dues .Long story short , no more entertaining Rom-coms. Sure the Dues can act fine enough but....it just isn't the same. Sometimes I can't help but wonder whether King Titus would have let us come as far as being on the brink of a full blown war.
I deeply inhale the cool night air as I try to focus on patrolling the streets of Lehra. I look to Finneas at my right who is more scared than he will let on, busy using the cold as an excuse. Dressed in the Enfiem official uniform which is just black cargo pants and a black shirt that fits like a glove, mainly for camaflouge. He would look belittling to most people if it wasn't for his goofy personality. Donned with green eyes , a strong block of a jaw ,silky brown hair that looked a shade between woody brown and sandy yellow. And boy was he tall,a good two inches above my 6 foot five and all round lean from daily training routines. "A lady killer" his late mother called him. I turn back and look at the rest of my five _man patrol team. After spending less than three months with these guys , they feel more like a family of sorts to me.
"Hey Matthew , take a picture . I guarantee it will last longer than your brain's shit memory",said the sassy mouthed Gregory as the rest of the guys chuckled."I don't have a shit memory Greg and in fact I can prove it. Who remembers the time Greg got caught with Sergeant Phiona during training, mmmhh?" The guys broke into full out howling laughter. All except for Finneas who looked more and more on edge the longer we patrolled."Oh come on Matt , I was just poking for some fun , I don't appreciate you making fun of the soon to be love of my life." "Yah right. How old are you again?",snickered Bart making the rest of us laugh even harder.
"Shhhhh. Guys , do u smell that?",asked Finneas who had been unusually quiet during our banter."Yes , I do. And damn that is some good cologne Matthew ,where'd you get it from? Am sure Phiona would find you irresistible." "Rik shut up. I think i smell Krel." Everybody went on high alert as they reached for their automatics. Although we had been laughing just a while ago , all traces of laughter had now disappeared. Even the cool breeze felt chillier. Fear was now etched clearly on each of my men's faces."Where did you smell...."."Ambushhhh!!!",cried Ryan. His aura quickly becoming lethal as he tried to channel his night vision. I looked around and i saw that it indeed was an ambush , as we quickly became surrounded by masked black cloaked figures. An ambush that I hadn't seen. " OK men , fire at will. This is for your survival not training. We have been attacked , and we need to retreat", I yelled as loud as I could to be heard over the now flying bullets. Liam watch ou...". I lost my balance as I was lifted up in the air by an invisible force . I looked around and saw a figure with raised arms chanting in a language I didn't know or just couldn't identify over my men's terrified screams. I angled my body so that I could get to my dagger that I always kept in my belt. Dagger in hand I inhaled deeply knowing that I only had one chance, I positioned myself so that i could aim for the neck of the figure which I hoped to be it's vulnerable spot. Three ,two ,one....release.It sliced clean through the air and soundlessly punctured the figure. The figure hit the ground with a thud and the hood of its cloak fell away revealing a red headed girl , who looked no more than 18.Time stood still for a moment as I realised I'd just killed a child. Gravity soon took over as we were now falling.
Then all of a sudden I saw my mens' necks break before I could do a thing as an ear splitting scream was unleashed upon us.Crunch ,after crunch, after toe curling crunch. And I couldn't do a thing as all I could see were stars after hitting the concrete head first. I felt a thick liquid at the top of my head , blood. I couldn't tell up from down as I tried to gather my bearings. A hand grabbed me by the shirt and pinned me against a wall. Pain shot up my spine as I made contact with it." I would kill you but that is too good for worthless creatures like you. Seeing your dead men on the other hand is much much more form fitting." Form fitting,I'll show you form fitting.I head butted the man and he let me go. I struggled to get up and reached for one of my men's pistols that had fallen and fired at him. He fell with groan as I fired at another cloaked figure behind him. I was tackled to the ground by a cloaked figure I hadn't seen behind me. He wrestled the gun out of my hand and I elbowed him on the head. He loosened his grip on me and I regained hold of the pistol and fired.
While I had been caught up with the other three, one of the Krel had opened up a portal further down the street and the last and the last of them were getting in. I didn't have time to think through my choices. All I felt was pain eaw and ugly tearing me from the inside.I wanted revenge, I wanted for the Krel to pay for my mens' deaths. I ran straight for the purple glow and jumped in after them.
Present day
Matthew's POV
It's been a week since I came to the Offcast world and I haven't found any trace the of the Krel group I followed through the portal. And any Krel for that matter. It's like they just disappeared , blended into this world like it was theirs. "More coffee?" , asked Mindy the old lady who has been regularly serving me breakfast in her cafe during the past week. "No thanks , Mindy. Even if I take another cup I don't think I'll have the energy to find who I want to" , I say with a sigh. It probably won't lead to much but heck I've got nothing left to lose." Say Mindy, where would you hide if you were a fugitive in a foreign country which didn't know about your criminal past?" She lifts her head from the table she's cleaning and turns to face me. She gives me what I would call a questioning look then ,deciding I was either too young or too nice to be a wanted criminal, she answers my question."Depending on what age I am, if I were young and beautiful , I wouldn't hang out with the old and ugly. No offence but I would stick out like a sore thumb. I mean have you seen my eyes?" ,she asks genuinely. I smile and thank her for her advice and compliment her warm brown eyes as I get back to finishing my third cup of coffee.
That's when an idea pops in my head. The girl I killed didn't look much older than 18 ,which means they could be in a school somewhere." Umm...Mindy how many schools are in this area?" "There is only one in school per dustrict" , she answers." "Do you perhaps know what it is called? I think my mother would let my sister come live with me if she knew I could take her to school somewhere nearby" , I add just so that she doesn't get suspicious. "Oh how sweet. It's called Quinxton High. It's a really nice school , at least that's what the academic results say", as she looks up and offers me a smile. "Mam ,may I have a refill on my coffee?", asks one of the three other customers in the cafe. "Oh, I'll be right with you dear" , she replies. " Duty calls Matthew,"she says to me then recedes to the kitchen to get for the customer his refill.I set a 20 dollar tip beside my half eaten muffin and make straight for my new destination. Quinxton Academy.
It didnt take me long to find the school on foot which was just a few blocks away from Mindy's. Having found a janitor's uniform at the school bins ,I took it as my sign from the heavens. Under normal circumstances I would never have worn such a get up ,but these were not normal circumstances so I had to go with the next best thing. The moment I entered the school itself, my nose was bombarded with Krel stench. I knew I had reached the right destination , now all I had to do was follow the scent to its owner and voila I have a Krel to interrogate. It sure would look weird though for a janitor to man handle a student , so I settle for finding the locker to which the owner has a scent similar to a Krel. I wait my time out to the end of the school day where I go about pretending to be a janitor. Hours pass by and it is soon time for the students to depart for their homes.
I get up from the stool in the janitor's closet and head for the lockers. As I'm about to get there though, I hear arguing coming out of the girls' lavatories. I get with in hearing range and I am almost knocked out by the smell of Krel. Honestly ,even with my super hearing I can't hear much so I get closer and put my ear to the bathroom door. I hear the words Fenaie and I'm assured I've found them.
"Whoever you are come out I will not kill you",says one of the voices inside. You won't kill me? Is that supposed to make me feel better? Oh no forgive my manners , I am so happy that you won't kill me. How about my men though, you didn't really give them time to surrender , did you now? I could feel my blood boiling as I remembered Finneas , my best friend and I lost it. "But I will", I said as I stormed into the bathroom. Saying I was shocked would be an under statement of what I felt when I entered the bathroom. A weeks worth of search I had under taken to find the group of Krel that killed my men and all I get was a couple of 12 year old Krels. Both had brown eyes except that one was a tall blonde and the other, a short brunette . I couldn't make much more of their appearances as the tall blonde started chanting. I stepped towards her to try and stop her but the other girl raised up her hands and suddenly , I couldn't move." Wait don't....",was all I could get out before I hit the cold bathroom floor.