Two Halves: chapter 27

chapter 27 :D

"You think I had a choice? I ran to keep others safe. I drew Salex's focus from the guerrilla forces in Earth-2 and-" Nicolas was cut off in mid-sentence by the rasp of Kanzil. He had looked up, a thin drip of blood rolled down his disfigured flesh from where the syringe had pierced the skin.

"And onto us. When you ran through the dimensional wall. When you used some kind of magic to rip that hole between dimensions. Do you know what you did?" asked Kanzil, and waited. He really wanted Nicolas to answer his question, and his eyes were almost pleading for Nicolas to speak.

"No, no I don't know." answered Nicolas in a slightly deflated voice.

"Of course you don't, you weren't here. They started the biggest man hunt in this town's history. Ever rock was overturned, no crevice left unchecked. Thousands of us died. Thousands of citizens who were employed to work were left for dead among the rubble when you proved elusive. That is why we exist. That is why Sixteen Surgeons came to be. That is why I have this!" he gripped his raw red flesh and pulled it. Scabs broke and splintered, while red blood gushed from the wounds. The skin stretched taught where he was pulling, hidden folds were revealed and old almost healed wounds reopened. When he let go the folds slowly sagged and fell back into place; while his throat was stained with blood.  Several flecks had splashed onto his collar.

"What do you mean?" asked Nicolas, when he had fled from Earth-2 to Earth-1 he never considered repercussions here. He thought of the entirety of humans on Earth-1 to be enemies then. He didn't know that most of them didn't even realize the conflict was going on. He hadn't even needed to come to the non-dimensional space. He had used some very ancient magic buried deeply within the library in Cloudtop. With the help of several arch-magus of the Academy he had made show of his leaving. He had wanted Salex to know, so that the other could be safer while Salex pursued him.

"Well well... Looks like you really don't know." said Kanzil sarcastically; his voice now barely above a whisper. "When you didn't turn up Salex got bored. They simply stopped supplying the expedition teams into the deep lands below the city. We had nothing, expeditions lasted years in this place, and when you go on one you give up everything. We had nothing, literally nothing except the ever diminishing supplies they had left us. There were accidents, oh so many accidents." he rubbed his neck thoughtfully, and looked down to see his fingers were stained with blood. Then he sighed. He pressed his hand against the wound and whispered something, scabs reformed and the flow of blood ebbed away.

"We became the first of the Surgeons. I keep this wound as a reminder of who we were. Who Salex made us. I could go to one of those fancy clinics where they could make me pretty again, but why? I have respect now, real respect. I don't need looks to slowly work my way up the corporate ladder. I fell off the ladder a long time ago." the fleshy protuberance that once was his ear wobbled dangerously as he drew his face into a manic smile. His teeth were a blinding ivory against the redness of the wound. A whimper came from Heather, both the men had forgotten her presence in the heat of their argument.

"Ancient history doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we are here, and that we are going to fight Salex. I am sorry, but I get very angry when thinking about the injury. It holds a lot of unpleasant memories, but with what you have seen on the rebellions front I am sure you have your fair share of bad memories. " Kanzil said with a sigh. He walked over and slid his stiletto under Heather's bond, and started to saw through them slowly. When they had been severed she frantically removed her gag and ran over to Nicolas. She his behind him for safety.

"Did they hurt you?" asked Zeckle soothingly, but she did not answer and simply shook her head frantically in response. Heather's tears rolled down her face in droves. She suddenly gasped a sob and buried her face in Zeckle's shoulder. Zeckle looked at Nicolas with a slight distaste, but Nicolas gave her a look and shrugged. She stood and let Heather cry into her shoulder with huge racking sobs.

"I have no reason to hurt a friend of a ally, and although she came close she didn't jeopardize this mission. Though I can not allow her to stay on the outside. I must ask for her to be put into my custody." said Kanzil beckoning to Heather, but when she saw him doing so she simply turned away in disgust.

"Does this mean you are accepting us as a ally?" asked Bestalel, speaking for the first time in minutes.

"Yes, of course, but I need the girl in order to keep the mission safe."

"I can't allow you to do that, she will be just as safe as a refugee among the Rust River Raiders. Would you allow her to stay there instead?" asked Bestalel taking a slightly aggressive stance.

"It does not matter to me, in fact it would be preferable. The triple R is a very powerful organization. She will be safe with them, and I will not have to expend resources to keep her." said Kanzil, acting as if he was completely oblivious to Bestalel's body language.

"Then we are agreed, let the Alchemist take her out of here for now. We will discuss our plan, and I will explain the operation's tactics in full." Bestalel sat down and then turned to Nicolas. "Take her to the bar for a while, and when I am finished I shall escort you back to Darris's base."

Zeckle led Heather away while she still cried into her shoulder, and Nicolas followed solemnly. He never realized just how cruel Salex could be. Not only to his people, but to their own as well. He looked back into the room where Bestalel was taking a folder out of his bag, and slid it across the table. A tiny flame of pure rage had been born in Nicolas's heart. He not only wanted to break Salex's connection of Earth-1 and Earth-2. He wanted to completely annihilate them.

Author's Note

I am going to be competing in a short story contest. So my chapter flow might be interrupted for 1-2 days. The subject matter is a drug trip. I will be doing one about a boy taking hallucinogens, so it will be rather strange. I will post it here for all your enjoyment.

I just realized how evil I am making Salex. Turning kids into cold blooded killers, Killing millions in the blaze war for resources, and now simply abandoning their workers in the muck.

Reviews

[Daniel Gardner]

I agree with your thoughts on Salex! But it makes him all the more intriguing. Your readers will either love him or hate his guts. Nice work so far.

[Miss Coral]

Some errors, but you can clean those up later. Just remember to use "an" rather than "a" when the next word starts with a vowel. Overall, a good write again.

[Aggie Skeleton]

I don't like Salex. He annoys me. Then again a lot of people annoy me. This story will be far beyond excellent when you revise.

[James Watts]

I enjoy the story and that it is moving along at rather nice pace. I agree that Salex sounds a bit twisted. Other that, not too bad, a few of the things I have noticed before, but once you get to the revision stage you will be able to clear that up.

[Dutch Jr.]

Yeah, your character development has gotten sort of interesting. Nice write, though.