Clouds of Tyranny (8 page)

Ruthie’s eyes were glossy with forming tears from
the memories of their past. “I was very little, but I remember
thinking she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen; I
wanted to be her. She had blonde hair as gold as stardust, glowing
green eyes with thick eyelashes, and a firm slender body that would
make any man’s flesh emit steam. That part was out of Locke’s
character, he enjoys a ‘meatier’ gal,” giggled Ruthie, winking at
Terra. “But it wasn’t Alisa’s physical beauty that captured Locke’s
heart. They just had a magnetic attraction to each other; they
could talk about nothing for hours or… do nothing for hours.”

Ruthie’s nostalgic smile faded, “Then, with four
weeks till the wedding, it happened.” “What? What happened?” “Locke
and his would-be bride went for their usual afternoon walk along
the northern shores of Listka. A short time later Locke returned to
Listka with Alisa cradled in his arms unconscious from a sting from
a sand mantis. The stinger rose from under the sand and spiked her
through the back and into her heart. The doctor couldn’t bring here
back, she was in a comma till the day he left. It was a sad day,
but what made it worse was that Locke was banished from the town by
the blacksmith. Jorgan who was also the town’s founder. Locke left
the next morning.” “But, I thought you and Locke…” questioned
Terra. “Yes, I ran away a week later and found the camp Locke had
made for himself. After a year of exploring the entire island we
decided it was time to see more of the world; we had had enough of
the island of Listka. ‘How big is our world?’ I asked Locke. He
simply smiled and said ‘Lets find out’. So, we made a boat and
sailed north to the southern point of this continent.” “Wow, poor
Locke,” said Terra shaking her head from side to side. “So, you’ve
seen a lot,” said Terra. “Yup, and a lot more to see. I’d like to
see the western continent one day. I’ve heard stories of large
ruins made of steel and glass.” “Hmm, weird.” Said Terra.

Terra rummaged through the pile of
folded clothes on her bed and found a teal blue nightgown with
short sleeve. Terra, being a shy girl went to the bathroom to
change, then washed her face. She got into bed and read a few pages
from the book Ruthie had given her. She read about the INO
(Internal Neuron Osmosis), which enabled people to use their mind
to alter the elements to their advantage. As she read on she
learned that the INO started with the ‘cloning’ of living
beings.
My ancestors weren’t born into
this world? They were created?,
thought
Terra confused. She folded the book and laid herself down on her
bed and felt the soft pillow under her head and slowly fell
asleep.

Terra was awakened the next morning by the sound of
the women’s dorm’s inhabitants moving about the hard cold floor.
Terra had rolled to face the wall that stood against her bed in her
sleep. She let out a long-winded yawn and rolled to face her
friend, who was in her pajama pants and nothing else. “Oh god!
Sorry sorry sorry,” exclaimed Terra as she attempted to cover her
eyes with her sheet. Ruthie giggled aloud, “Wow, you really are as
shy as you look.” Ruthie pulled on her tube top underwear followed
by her shirt. “Okay, it’s safe,” laughed Ruthie sarcastically.
Terra turned to look at the now fully clothed Ruthie who was
wild-eyed and giggling at Terra’s red tomato-like face. “You look
like a radish Ter,” exclaimed Ruthie, “I’ll be in the dining room;
breakfast in ten. If you want you can change in the restroom over
there. Make sure you check in the cupboards for people waiting to
see you naked,” laughed Ruthie slipping her leather gloves into her
pockets as she left for the dining room. Terra emerged from her bed
and began rustling through the stacks of clothes left on her bed
the night before, which she placed on the floor before retiring.
She loves dresses and skirts and ribbons and anything girlie, but
was disappointed at the pile of clothes consisting of nothing she
normally wore; fatigues, vests, gloves, hats, and boots. Terra
sighed and grabbed random objects then headed for the bathroom to
change. She entered, closed the door behind her and locked both the
knob and the security bolt. She stripped down to nothing and
grabbed a piece of underwear bottoms and slipped them on. “Okay,
what to wear?” said Terra looking at the pile. “This isn’t too
bad,” Terra held up a pair of dark green Capri pants with zipped
pockets on either side. She continued rummaging through the
articles of clothing until she found something girlie; a purple
wire bra. “Hmm, too bad no one will ever see it,” sighed Terra as
she slipped her arms through the straps and closed the clasp. She
went back to the clothes and just stared intently at it. “Really?
No bright colors at all?” sulked Terra. She angrily grabbed a black
tank top and slipped it on before going over to the mirror to model
for herself; she looked at herself in the mirror. “Hmm, not bad. At
least I look thinner in black.” She grabbed the hair tie from
around her left wrist and placed it between her teeth while she
gathered all her long hair in her right hand and slipped on the
hair tie with her left. “There!” The ponytail really made
everything else work in her eyes. She went to the sink and washed
her face. To the left of the sink was a shelf with folded towels
and toiletries. After brushing her teeth she returned to her bed to
retrieve her weapon and the two magazines and placed them on the
bed next to her as she sat down to put on the big military boots.
She looked down at the boots hoping they would transform into cute
little sandals magically.

“Excuse me,” said a small voice a few feet away,
“Here, these might be of some use to you.” Terra looked to her left
and saw a young girl about the same age as Ruthie with pitch-black
hair and bronze skin. The girl handed Terra athletic jogging shoes
and a pistol holster that would simply slip into her belt making
her .45 easy to access. “Thank you miss-“ asked Terra. “Jojo, nice
to meet you,” said Jojo just before walking away and leaving the
dorm; Terra was now the last one in the room. She tied the shoes
and stood up to attach the holstered gun to her hip and placed the
refills in her side pockets zipping them up.

When Terra finally got into the
dining room, she went to where Ruthie was sitting; the same spot as
the night before with the same people. She sat down at the vacant
seat where a steaming bowl of oatmeal was sitting and looked around
at the familiar faces. Clyde’s bowl sat next to his shining spoon
with his face buried in it while Pearl, Ruthie, and Ray ate with a
little more dignity. “Uh, where’s Locke?” asked Terra. “Mission in
Pan’dier,” said Pearl. “Yeah,” added Ray, “Reconnaissance. Chuck
and Lars are in Cormire getting supplies.” Terra’s face was blank.
“Locke is gathering information on the empire,” explained Ruthie in
a non-derogative way. “Why is everyone else here? Shouldn’t he have
help if the Empire’s involved,” asked Terra. Ray just glared at
Terra as he chewed his slop, “He didn’t have help to retrieve you.”
“Hmm,” said Pearl with a sharp grin, “I see what’s going on.” Clyde
finally lifted his face out of his bowl, “What?” Ruthie smiled,
“It’s a girl thing.” Terra was worried,
I
hope he’s okay,
she thought. Pearl slammed
her spoon into her bowl and stood up, “Alright! Clyde, Ray, let’s
go.” Ruthie stood and hugged Clyde, “Be careful.” “I will,” said
Clyde kissing Ruthie on the cheek. “Where you guys off to?” asked
Terra standing up out of respect for their trip. “Turklane,” said
Ray adjusting the collar of his trench coat, “We have gotten
reports that the imperials have removed a good percentage of their
men from Turklane; so now is our chance to liberate the town.”
Terra nodded and noticed a metal gadget protruding out of Ray’s
sleeve attached to his arm, “How do you know they left?” “We have a
reliable source, let’s go!” said Pearl urging Ray and Clyde to go
quickly. “Well, good luck,” said Terra waving goodbye as they
headed for the door guarded by the same boy that received the
password from Locke the day before. The boy opened the door for
Pearl, Clyde, and Ray as he nodded ‘good luck’ to them, “Shamshir.”
Pearl nodded as she walked through the door,” Got it!” she said
assuring the boy she now knew the daily password.

“Smith, you dirty son of a
bitch,” mumbled Locke to himself as he trudged through the
underground sewers that led to secret entrances to a dozen small
towns in the area surrounding the Returners HQ. This particular
tunnel led to the smelly sewers under the town of Pan’dier; a town
known all over as a place to buy rare and hard to find items such
as adamantine metals, ore, and some of the most expensive garbs in
the world. The black thick water was up to Locke’s chest while he
slowly traveled through the sewers with his father’s Damascus sword
held high above his head as to not get it tainted with the
excrement of Pan’dier’s inhabitants. He was working the time of day
through his head,
Okay, I left just before
sun up…three hours in the mine rails…hmm, almost four hours in this
smelly cavern…or does it just seem that long? Noon sounds about
right.
Just then Locke saw what he had
been waiting to see ever since he stepped foot into the sewer
system; the small exposed window leading to rear of the town from
the sewers. He speed walked to the opening and looked out for
witnesses and saw no one in sight. Locke pushed his sword through
the opening and sighed, “Hope I didn’t gain any weight since last
time.” He sucked in his stomach and jumped up into the opening and
began pulling himself out to the light of day.

He crawled out on his
stomach and looked around before coming to his feet. He stood up as
he grasped his sword. He had only been to Pan’dier once before;
last time it was a peaceful town. But now it was under the rule of
the empire. He had made friends before, but they could be dead now
or have fled the town in attempt to hang on to their lives. He saw
the wooded area to the rear of the town; a large backyard for the
small house he looked at. Locke slowly strafed along the outer
walls of the house and crept slowly by the window and peeked in
with a single eye. He saw an elderly man standing two feet from a
dining table while an imperial soldier ate.
This is what I’m good at!

Locke kneeled and crawled under the view of
the window so the soldier wouldn’t see him. He passed the window
and stood up and approached the back door. He reached for the small
throwing dagger in his belt and pulled it out; the handle was
sticky with the sludge he had traveled through, yet the blade
itself was shining and razor sharp. Locke took a step back, lifted
his right foot and kicked the middle of the door with all his
anger. The door flew open and the hinge housing the locks broke
into several pieces. The soldier turned and saw Locke, then kicked
back his chair and stood with his mouth full. He reached for his
automatic rifle that lay on the table; his fingers wrapped around
the butt and trigger. He lifted the gun and before he could aim
Locke’s hand was clasped around the dagger with it behind his right
ear and flung it forward. The knife sailed quickly through the air,
so fast he could hear the air parting as the tip of the blade cut
through the warm air of the room. The silver blade pierced through
the soldier Adams apple; the imperial released the gun
involuntarily and fell to his knees holding his throat. He fell to
his side and his body went through violent convulsions trying to
cling to his now short life. Locke casually walked to the fallen
soldier and kneeled down to him. He saw the man’s eyes begin to
grow dark and could hear a gurgling sound from within his throat;
he was choking on his own blood. “Here,” said Locke malevolently,
“Let me get that for ya.” Locke gripped the dagger and pulled it
out quickly; skin peeled with the knife and blood poured out of his
neck; a small puddle forming around Locke’s boot making the ground
sticky. The light in his eyes went out and his hand stopped
grasping his throat and fell to the floor.

The elderly man stood
there looking at the two war-seasoned men. Locke looked back at
him; he was shivering with fear.
Obviously, this was the first death the old man had
seen,
thought Locke as he wiped the
dagger’s blade clean. The man was upwards of eighty years old with
salt and pepper colored hair. “Are you going to kill me?” asked the
old man frightened. “What?” said Locke. The man looked at Locke
waiting for death. “I’m with the Returners, sir,” said Locke
assuring the man that his life was safe. The man’s eyes widened
with a ray of hope. “Are there more outside?” asked the man as he
looked out his window hoping for an entire army of Returners to
take back his town. “Actually, no. I’m here to gather information
so we can properly infiltrate the towns under imperial control,
including this one,” said Locke as he looked around the organized
and quaint house, “I need two things from you: first, an estimate
of their numbers, how man soldiers and how many lieutenants and
generals. And second, a bath; imperial soldiers don’t smell like
dirty garbage.” Locke motioned to the dead soldier implying he
intended to dress as an imperial. “I’ll get the tub ready, but it
might not be very hot,” said the old man. “That’s fine,” said Locke
as he kneeled down and began undressing the soldier trying not to
get the sewage, which was dripping from his clothes, on the
soldier’s uniform.

After stripping the soldier down to his
undergarment, Locke dragged the lifeless corpse to the corner and
shed his own clothing. The old man came into the room, “It’s
ready…my name is March by the way,” said the man. “Locke. And thank
you for your help,” said Locke as he picked up his Damascus and
walked into the washroom nude, “Come with me.”