Chapter 153: - The Catch of the Rye
The storm raged outside, striking the ground with waves upon waves of water, flooding the mountains side as the mud poured down streams and into rivers. Thunder crashed along the sky and pounded its fist against the gods' door, demanding to be let in. But their eyes were elsewhere.
Deep in the tunnels of mountains, hiding away between the sleek rocks dripping with pools of water and calm sounds that echoed form the rain clouds outside, the gods watched as one woman made her way through the darkness without fear and without worry.
The pillars of stone and puddles of water that decorated the cavern and tunnels passed this woman by, like they were nothing more than the dirt beneath her feet where others would marvel at their sight and size. Wide expansive ponds and underground lakes, pillars of stone that reached up like mountains bone.
It certainly was a sight to behold, yet Lia said nothing as she made her way past it all, trekking and trekking through the puddles of water and dirt, rough stone that scratched her sides and smooth skin, but her face betrayed her determination.
She could see before her the ground ablaze the grass burning in piles of ash and embers as she walked triumphantly through it all. She didn't care if she was going to lose, she didn't care if she was going to die.
'So long as they're safe, the only bloodline that needs to end is mine.'
As she walked the faces of those she loved and knew flashed before her eyes; Rian, Lukali, the Master, Wallace, Randolph, Carlena, Totlac, Lori, Voln, Malkova - they were all there like pillars of support that drove her faster down the tunnel until she found by the sound of the puttering of her feet along the stone, she was running full sprint down the raceway.
As she walked, her shadow began to talk, morphing its shape into that of a man, who stood poised and elegant against the stone, his mouth moving and his voice coming in deep and echoing droves.
"Arnold is your main fight but don't look down on the others. Abigail is a sounder so Bluey is a risk, one that will have to be dealt with."
Lia saw Abigail's face flash across her mind, her thoughts flooding back to the time on the farm when she fought hand in hand, side by side the girl against the Salamander. Or the time when she first met Abigail in the shop, no doubt the shopkeeper was in on the ploy as well, paid off somehow.
"Gilbert is also a risk. In terms of strength only Arnold bests him by a mile. But that is a mile you will never be able to notice once you fight him. He wields a great sword so fighting within the caves can work to your advantage."
She could see Gilbert's face now, as he stood in the Master's living room, watching Lance with pride but also regret, as if he felt he had done well in teaching him, yet it was his teachings that would prove fatal for Lance.
Did he view him as a son? As a successor? If not one or the other than what? No, it didn't matter to Lia, she kept walking, running down the tunnel until she was out of breath leaning against a stone stalagmite for support.
"Olivia and Emma are deadly as well. One wields a Mace, the other fights hand to hand with martial arts. Both are deadly and in close range can prove more fatal than the risk you're taking now."
"How so?"
The shadow formed at her side like a living stretch of darkness one could only faintly see through.
"They won't kill you, but they will make you wish you were dead."
"Haa…great."
Lia picked herself up again and threw herself back into a run, fighting off the memories of Emma's calm and innocently caring defense to the Fire Drakes, while Olivia's rant echoed in her ears.
It was all a front, and Lia needed to remind herself that. These weren't people, they were men and women who left hundreds if not thousands of people to die in a city burning alive before their own eyes.
'They aren't people. They aren't people. They aren't…'
She was out of breath again, leaving against a stone wall for support as she spit out the bile stinging the back of her throat. Cain's image appeared on the opposite wall in the same shadow form he had taken while down here. She knew he was somewhere up top, out in the open rain with thunder, hail and lighting striking down to the very ground he walked on.
"Are you sure you can do this?"
His voice sounded like mockery and at once Lia set herself out into another run, wanting his shadow to fade away in the darkness that swarmed behind her. But she couldn't lose her own shadow, to which he was only hiding within.
"I've never known you to back away from a fight!"
Her voice echoed down the tunnel loud and clear as she ran on for miles down the long and seemingly endless tunnels of stone and sleet water puddles that dripped and echoed on and on.
"I've never known you to throw yourself into one."
She shook her head as the images came flooding back; her parents, her friends, the people he loved and the ones she loathed. It was all there jumbled together in one single image. One single thought.
A spear through her heart.
'Stop. We're here.'
The sound of Lia's pattering footsteps along the stone ground subsided and while it took her a moment to catch her breath, she came to realize she had just run more than a mile's distance alone since she last spoke with Cain.
Before her the tunnel opened up into a small chamber, one the size of a large hall that would adorn inside someone's house. Small pillars of stone stalagmites reached up to the ceiling, as a small warm glow of a fire reached out into the darkness beyond.
Lia was quiet, she was calm, but the other thing that wouldn't stop raining was her heart as it pounded against her chest,caged by the very bones meant to keep it safe. Many times she worried they could hear the pounding of her heart, but the thought was soon cast away as she drew close to the warm glow, her ears flooded with the sounds of rain and thunder crashing in the distance.
She peeked around the corner and saw the signs of a small fire burning and the sounds of the wood popping. Five people sat around the fire, casting shadows along the wall where Lia sat watching them from the cracks of stone.
Arnold was sitting with his back turned to the fire, watching the rain as it poured yonder beyond the entrance to the cave. They must have just found it, for both Gilbert and Olivia were soaked while Emma was snuggling herself against Gilbert's side with a blanket wrapped around her body.
"Who knew this rain would come out of nowhere. We should have been more prepared for the storm."
Olivia raised a small stick from the fire, poking it through the members to fight her boredom.
"Who knew the rains were coming this way? I'm just glad we found a cave to hide in until dawn. You know-"
"Be quiet."
Arnold's voice echoed through the cave and all five people turned to his back watching as his head turned slowly over the horizon.
"Arnold, if you spend all this time over there, you'll get sick just watching the rain fall."
Lia could hear the slight sound of Abigail as she laughed from her place beside Oliva, draped in another blanket to battle the cold.
"I'm watching."
The group looked at one another around the fire, some frowning, while some sighed and shook their heads. This seems to be a recurring theme since they left the marsh.
"Watching for what?"
Arnold was silent for a moment, and though Lia ducked back down behind the stone to keep from being spotted, her heart racing at every thought, at every breath she took, she could feel his body tense up from afar. How did she know?
Because the sounds of chatter and talking silenced themselves in mere moments as the sound of footsteps leaving the cave echoed through the chamber. Then, more sounds, the sounds of heavy footsteps crunching through the dirt and the gravel of stone and rock beneath their feet as the group slowly left the cave.
Lia took a chance and peeked from behind the rock and found the cave empty and still glowing with the warm fire. Only Abigail was seen as she stood at the entrance to the cave with her back to Lia. She wore on her face a look of fear and awe, a sign that told Lia she needed to hurry up, her heart already beating with fear..
She placed on foot outside of her hiding place and was just about to take another when the sound of a muffled gas filled her ears. Her heart froze for a moment - only a moment as she drew her blade with such lightning fast reflexes that not even the sound of the steel leaving its sheath was heard.
Then her heart dropped and soared at the same time, her mind racing with his face and all the memories of this time together.
Lukali sat bound just behind the rock she had used to conceal herself, and relief flooded her body like a cool wave of water splashed across her skin.
But she didn't have time to react. Quickly er ind snapped out of it and, doing a quick turn around to see that no one had heard a thing, pulled Lukali's bounded form through the gap and into the open chamber.
She pulled the rope and the gag from his wrist and mouth, and in the same motion pulled him into a tight hug, tears threading to stream down her face as his warm arms wrapped around her back to embrace her.
"Lia, Lia I can't belie-"
"Shh."
She held a hand to his mouth and quickly made him drop his voice, stealing a glance back at the open crack in the walls.
"We have to go. Now."
Lukali didn't argue, he didn't fear anything anymore as she took his hand and they both ran deep within the caves and down the tunnels, the darkness swallowing them up as though they were merely shadows. But even as she felt her heart pounding and her mind was racing with questions and thoughts, concerns and ill beliefs in hope.
But one thought strayed far too close to reality and logic for it to be safe.
'Why was that so easy?'
The commotion, the sounds of the people she had once believed she would die at the hands of fleeing out of the cave as though the sky was crashing down around them. The timing as too perfect, too planned.
But it didn't matter. He was safe, and that was all she wanted.
If death called, she would answer, and it wouldn't.
***
Hearts pupped like furnaces ablaze with fire roaring out in flames, spitting smoke and ash as they chugged on. Beating like drums they caged themselves within the walls of flesh and bone, yet sometimes the heart has a tendency to be heard, far below the mind control.
It was at this moment that Arnold learned this fact through the living experience of it all. His heart beat like a drum within his chest, warning him to run and hide, flee deep within the night, yet his mind told him to trek on.
Rings formed around his eyes from long sleepless nights where he sat away with the faint remnants of embers hidden within the ashes of the fires they lit. He watched the darkness for any signs of life, for any signs of death crawling from over the hills, through the forests and across the rivers they left behind.
But nothing could compare to this feeling that he felt, blurring his vision with ideas and dreams, fears and wonders - questions unanswered. Who was it? How did they get here? Can I take them? What will happen…?
The thoughts flooded his mind like rivers of water that streamed down his face, charging forward without courage but fueled by fear. Behind him his team was ready and waiting, watching as they slowly left the comfort of their cave, stalking their unseen enemy through the gray sheets of rain.
Finally, those questions were answered as the sleepless image of a figure appeared just beyond the rain sheet of blur. Arnold raised his spear, and the others behind him stopped in their tracks, reading themselves for the fight they believed would begin.
But, just as their hearts reached a peak in their chests, the rain around teme subsided and calmed. It still raged against the wind and ground, falling into the large puddles of mud and rock that formed the earth beneath their feet, but with the sound that made them afraid. The sound of the water changing, shifting and morphing with their touch, as the figure's image became more defined, more real.
More terrifying.
"Arnold the dragon slayer. I hope I didn't wake you."
His concern was only met with the tip of a spear, long and narrow with signs of years of use, both worn and chipped at the tips.
"You. Why are you here?"
Arnold's eyes were filled with an anger that fueled him, encouraged by fear, guided by the emotion as if leading him along like a dog on a leash. But his voice was dark and unsettling as though he threatened to bring the world down around him with every word that escaped his lips.
The figure only smiled, sending a shiver and a trickle of cold down their spines like the streams of water that soaked into their clothes. His face was hidden and blurred by the rain's curtain, but his eyes chased away the darkness that surrounds him.
"I thought I would come to warn you."
"Warn me? How? You've fiddled with our minds since the day we left the Marsh, all day and all night long. No one's gotten any sleep because of you."
"Your friends seem to be fine."
He gestured to the others behind Arnold, who approached with caution and light hearted steps.
"Perhaps it's just you who can't sleep. You aren't one for dreams, are you?"
"Stop that."
The man tilted his head to one side, his red eyes glistening in the cold rain that fell to the ground like a sheet of fragile ice that threatened to break, a slight frown of innocence and confusion decorating his face.
"You act like you know me, but you don't. You've been using us, messing with our minds, granting us illusions, sending us around in circles until we go mad!"
"It seems like you've already reached that breaking point, haven't you?"
"Shut up!"
The others flinched at the sound of Arnold's harsh voice, but they didn't judge him. In their eyes the man before them hiding behind the raging storm was much more frightening. It was one thing to be angry, it was another to be deathly silent.
"You just want to use us for your little game, don't you? That's all this is to you, isn't it? A f*cking game where you can watch us kill one another from afar, laughing at us. Well I won't stand for it!"
He tossed his spear to one side after a moment's hesitation, opening his arms wide before the man as if welcoming him into a hug, leaving himself wide open.
"If you're going to kill us, then just do it! Or else why send us through this torture?"
But what answered his call of violence was not the slicing of a weapon against flesh, nor the feeling of cold steel against his skin. There was no red, nor was there a parting in the air, or the iron smell against the wind and rain.
It was far more unsettling than death.
Laughter.
"Hahahaha! Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
His laugh was deep and booming, a sound that filled the open air with a feeling of loneliness, a feeling Arnold did not believe could come from a simple laugh. It was short, not violent yet composed, as if it the situation was more humorous that it was comedy.
"Kill you? Arnold, I don't want to kill you."
He smiled a devil's smile, one that highlighted the whiteness of his teeth within the dark expanse behind him. He looked like a devil, and laughed like one too.
"No~. Arnold, I have plans for you, and I need you alive to fill the role I've granted you. I can't kill you now, you've only just begun to live."
Arnold didn't know what to say, his arms fell to his sides and hung there loosely as if his mind had finally given out with all the sleepless nights he had endured. His eyes were hollow and his breath was thin as the sight of the man before him gave way to his heart falling, falling deep within a chasm of helplessness.
He was just a tool in another man's game.
"You're insane."
"Insane? Now where did a harsh word like that come from? I came here to warn you, out of the kindness in my heart, yet you treat me like this?"
Now, even as the others looked on at the scene with their bare and tired eyes, they never once heard the laugh until it was forced out in a violent chuckle, mumbles and breathless words hindered in each laugh like decoded messages waiting to be opened.
It was Arnold's laugh or irony as he grabbed his face with one hand, a smile forming on his lips as he looked to the man before him and laughed again.
"Treat you like this? I treat you for who you are- a fool."
Now the smile on the figure's face, pearly white and haunting in the night, vanished as quickly as it had come, fading back into the darkness of the night, leaving only two red glowing embers as eyes.
"A fool? Now that's harsh. Why do you call me a fool?"
"Because, you side with Lia of Endless. Because you want me to fight her face to face in the 'battle of the ages' as you've said."
He slowly shook his head as he looked at the two glowing embers that chased away the night's darkening abyss, aided by the storms raging fury above. He was mocking the man, and he loved every moment of it.
"You warned us. You sided with her in all this. You gave us everything when you told me she would be coming, and she would eventually gain on my tail. So all we have to do is wait for her to come to us…"
He gestured around him to the pouring rain and the mud soaked ground as if it amused him.
"...in an environment that suits us. What do you say to that? Hm? You gave everything away from the moment you thought you were above us, from the moment you thought you could use us!"
He wanted to continue his angry fit of rage and triumph over the man before him, but when he looked deep within those two burning red eyes, past the fire and the ashes that hollowed them inside, he saw nothing. No fear. No surprise.
Nothing.
And suddenly, all that victory, all that triumph and pride he felt rushed out of him, leaving him hollow and empty inside.
"You called me a fool before. I find that funny in many ways, because the only fool here…is you."
Arnold blinked past the water that streamed down his face, blurring his eyes and his senses as the faint image of the man before him grew more and more denied with every word.
"You haven't even realized it, have you?"
"...what are you talking about?"
The features of the man became more visible past the rain, as if he was slowly approaching, yet he was not moving. He was not soaked by the same waters that soaked his clothes or his companions' clothes.
He was not cold and shivering, alone yet unwavering before him as if his defiance before his control was nothing more than the jolt of his puppet strings.
"You never realized it. When your son slipped through your fingers…"
Suddenly the fear that staked and poisoned his heart came back like a virus that neve went away, his blood now racing to all corners of his mind and body, his feet digging in the mud as she stumbled back to the entrance to the cave. The warm light flooded his face filled with fear and denial, the fires touching, warming his skin from afar.
But he couldn't see it. He couldn't see him.'
Lukali was gone.
And then it hit him like a bull ramming him full charge, knocking the air from his lungs as he fell to his knees with wide eyes, his lips quivering with the slight sound of a mumble that echoed through the silent space between them.
"...you used us. You used us and we fell for it all…"
Suddenly that fear and denial was gone, replaced by a surge of hatred that had been building up inside him from all the sleepless nights he wasted away from his dreams and nightmares, from his peace of mind that still to this day avoided him.
"You bastard!"
He ran full stretch, his mind rushing back to the moments of his past memories. His wife in his arms as young ones, their marriage as they kissed on the altar, their son's hand in theirs and…
The day his wife died. The day he looked at his son's hollowed eyes filled with the trauma of a boy who had seen it all and more.
The day he, the boy's father pained by grief, turned his back on the son he loved more than life itself.
Time moved slowly as the mud beneath his feet kicked up behind him, the rain splattering itself across his face as the image of those two burning embers were seen clearly through his tears.
He reached out in one final motion, attempting to tackle the man before him with all the rage and fury he had stored within his chest. But in his final moments before he touched the ground, he no longer saw the face of a man.
He saw himself as his hands combed through empty air, and he landed in the mud.
The only difference between him and the figure, was now Arnold was alone, filled with regrets and pain he realized all too late. Even as he sat there hunched over in the rain, violently sobbing with no one to tell the difference between his pain and the storm's rage, he was alone.
All alone, except for the man who watched him from afar, his eyes cold with fire in the embers, and a smile on his face.
There truly was no man like Cain.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone