Chapter 26: Last of the Traitors
Viking and I went through the sewers together alongside some other brothers and sisters. Neither of us said any words to each other, but I could tell that Viking was itching for a fight. He was anxious to drive his axe deep into some traitor's head.
The only sounds I could hear were our own footsteps marching around in the filth and sewage. I assumed General Kull wanted me to take this mission only because I was familiar with the layout of the sewers. None of the others knew where to go, so I had no choice but to lead.
We first searched the area around the terrorists' original hideout, but nobody has been there is a long time. We just kept patrolling around until we'd find at least one clue, but there didn't seem to be any. I felt fortunate that there weren't any rebels, and even moreso that we wouldn't need to fight. However, the time to celebrate was too early. We still had plenty of space to search. And I noticed that General Kull's bat was following us all the way. But that made me wonder why he needed us to do reconnaissance. His undead bats could have done it much more efficiently.
Everything was going smoothly. There didn't seem to be any problems. But then I saw someone or something. It was absolutely still hanging along the walls. It was similar to KR-01 as it wore bronze armor. There was also a magical collar on it. However, whatever it was, it looked dead. But there was something about it. It was very familiar. Its eyes were dead, but when I squinted to get a better look, I could tell that it was looking right back at me. Before I could react, it took out an electric crossbow and aimed it at me. I was lucky. Its hand shook and hesitated.
It whispered in a hoarse voice, "I thought Hell was hot. It is cold. Kill me. Kill me."
I shouted to my siblings, "Look out!"
A bolt of lightning zipped right past me hitting one of my other brothers. From underneath the filthy water, more beings crept up. Dark elves and roaches alike. A few of them were mushroomfolk and other races.
"Yes! More bodies to the slaughter!" Viking yelled as he charged in.
They held blades in one hand while holding an electric crossbow in the other. They fired their electric crossbows. They swung their blades. We retaliated. The sound of lightning and steel echoed throughout the sewers. As I looked back, we were surrounded on both sides. As General Kull's bat perched itself near me, I pleaded, "General, you were right. There are traitors in the sewers. We need backup. We need reinforcement."
"I know," the undead bat said in the general's voice, "Die well, Roach."
I didn't understand. "Wait!"
But the bat flew away.
Damn it, I thought. I didn't know why, but I assumed that he must have been working with these traitors, too. How could he abandon the Queen like this?
But it didn't make sense. When I looked at the enemy roaches and dark elves, they all had magical collars on them. And not only that, some of them looked to be already dead. Not even their rotten stench was covered up by the sewage. When I fired my electric crossbow at one of them, the skin on his face peeled back revealing maggots and moths. All of their eyes looked dead as they continued to fire. When one seemed to go down, it immediately and swiftly got back up.
"Viking, we've been betrayed," I shouted to him, "General Kull betrayed us. He betrayed the Queen!"
As Viking's axe split open one of the enemy's head wide open, he replied, "General Kull - a traitor? Didn't like that guy anyways."
As the fight ensued, I knew we couldn't hold them off. We had to keep moving.
"Everybody, we have to keep moving. Don't let them surround us!" I ordered. I couldn't just worry about Viking. I had to worry about everybody else in my command, too.
It was fortunate that when we began running, Viking followed. He came by my side while slaughtering the hordes in front of us, "What do we do, Roach?"
"We have to get out of here," I replied, "None of us can hope to stop General Kull. He's too powerful for any of us - even combined. But if we can escape and let the Queen know what has happened here, she will be able to help us. She can and will help us. Follow me. I know where the exit is."
It was the first time in a long time that I talked to Viking. Although I wished it was under different circumstances. He seemed to be in control of himself. If he had gone completely berserk then nothing would have stopped his rampage. As we kept moving, it felt like Viking was protecting me. It was like he was try to control himself. It seemed that he too didn't want to lose another brother. But I didn't feel like I deserved to be protected. I felt like I should have died rather than anybody else. It should have been me.
The battle continued as we sprinted through.
Most shots didn't kill them. However, they weren't invincible. A good decpaitation worked. And a couple of good shots to their magical collars seemed to do the trick.
We finally reached a clearing where there didn't seem to be any of General Kull's zombies. They were all behind us, but there weren't many of us left. They gargled up blood as they came at us. There were so many of them coming at us.
Most of us were already dead. But we eventually came to a clearing straight out. By that time, it was only us two. None of the general's monsters were in front of us, but there was an army behind us. We just had to keep going straight and we'd reach the exit.
"C'mon, Viking! We're almost there!" I shouted.
As soon as I did, he stood his ground and faced the enemy as they were coming.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Go, Roach. I'll hold them off," he said.
"No. I won't leave you here."
"Go!" Viking yelled as I was dumbstruck, "I'll give you time to escape. Those traitors will die. Dark elves. General Kull. All of them. Go!"
He was willing to give up his life to protect mine. I didn't want that. Not at all. A perverted sense of sacrificing oneself for another. I hated it with all of my heart. I had to tell him what happened to his brother. I had to.
"Viking, you're brother. He..."
Even at this time, I was frozen. I still didn't know what to say. And there was so much to say at the same time.
"I know," Viking replied.
"Wha-?"
"My brother. His body was fresh. His knife in his eye. I know. But I'd rather blame the dark elves."
"Viking..."
Viking grabbed and threw me far back as the creatures approached. He was between me and the undead abominations.
"Go!" he yelled as he struck the sides of the wall with his mighty axe. The sewer was about to collapse between me and Viking.
As he faced the horde, another bronze being approached him. It was smaller in stature. This one was also familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.
"Viking, promise me you'll live. Promise me!"
He was silent knowing that he couldn't make that promise. Either that, or he had lost control of himself in preparation to fight. As the walls collapsed, I saw him smile with a violent intensity. But all I felt was so much frustration. Damn it, I thought. Not again. I couldn't bare to have this happen again.
"You better live, Viking. When I come back, you better still be alive," I said knowing that he couldn't hear me. But I could hear his battle cry echo throughout the sewers.
I began running away. I had to get out of this place and quickly. Time was of the essence. I had to get back to the Queen. She had to know what was happening. She needed to know. It was just a couple more steps and I was out. The ceiling dripped with ooze. The lightning and blood was behind me.
I had to run faster and faster.
And I was out of the sewers. The air wasn't any more fresh, but I was out. My breath was heavy, but I had to keep going. No matter what happened, I had to keep going.
As I took one more step, I saw something come out of the shadows - General Kull.
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