Disclaimers: See part 1
Fortunatus Light of Dark
by AJ Marks
Part 9
Ami made her way over to a small patch of trees that would provide cover from the sun. They had heard nothing about how the battle went so far. Of course the main army had only left two days ago. Janice thought they were at Navatown by now and the battle was probably underway.
Ami sat down on a fallen tree, before taking a bit of her food. She ate in silence, as it seemed the preferred way for Janice. The older woman had been pleasant company despite being quiet. Ami had learned a little bit about her but did not push.
She was fiercely loyal to the Empress who had been loyal to her. Ami had discovered a common theme about the Empress that she liked. If you were loyal to her she was loyal back. She had the feeling that most in the Royal Guard were like Janice, highly loyal to the Empress.
Ami looked up in shock at the loud crack sound that reminded her a lot of gunfire. She spotted Janice who slumped down from her sitting position a red stain flowing out from her chest. Ami sat frozen in shock stunned at what happened in front of her.
Several more loud cracks occurred, as she finally turned seeing a several people walking towards her. She spotted one as a servant from the palace, a brown-haired man with shoulder-length hair, which he currently had tied back in a pony-tail. They were holding crude looking metal sticks in their hands with burning rope attached to them.
“Ha, worked just like planned eh Ben,” one said.
“Yep,” the one Ami assumed to be Ben replied who was the servant. They walked right up to her. “You are coming with us.”
Ami stared in shock at them wondering what they were talking about before finally replying. “I don’t want to.”
“You belong with us, the Zero-Mages, instead of being with them,” Ben said. They way he said ‘them’ with such venom made Ami want to run away as quickly as possible.
“Are you sure she’s one of us?” another one said looking to a bald man.
“Yeah, she’s the one terrorists, killed ten thousand with a single bomb blast,” the bald guy said.
“That wasn’t me!” Ami replied back.
“Oh, don’t be so modest,” Ben said. “Gregory has plans for you. And being a slave to the Empress isn’t like one of us, we are destined to rule this world.”
“Yeah, you could be queen if you wanted,” the bald guy said to her. The thought of being queen did go through her mind but just as quickly she imagined her king not as some guy but Tess. She was the one she wanted to be beside.
“Come on, time to get out of here,” Ben said picking up Ami rather easily. She tried to fight a bit as they reached what looked like a wagon with wide wheels.
“All right,” the bald guy said.
Ami watched as the group position two people near the wagon putting their hands on it. Ami stared in shock as the men pointed the crud guns at the two people and shot them.
“All done,” another guy said.
“Damn useless bags,” the bald guy said. “Are you sure we have to use these magic cars?”
“At the moment yes, doesn’t attract as much attention,” Ben replied.
“I won’t go,” Ami finally said with some determination.
“You don’t have a choice,” Ben replied.
Ami readied herself to fight when she felt herself hit from behind and blacked out.
*****
Tess walked into the town quickly seeing General Russell make his way towards her. The town appeared in good shape and the defenses looked good but waited to hear any information from Russell himself.
“Empress, it’s good to see you in one piece,” he said to her.
“Looks like the town is in good shape,” Tess said, looking around then at Russell who nodded in agreement.
“The defenses are stout, checked them myself,” he said. “I expect we’ll have another visit from the Grunts?”
“Perhaps, I have a message to their king,” Tess said, thinking about what information she had received during her attack. She had then sent off another message to the king informing him that he would have her sole attention in any war.
“How is he going to answer you?” Russell asked, knowing that without direct knowledge of where she was a reply could not come back.
“Lycos had instructions to send any messages here,” she said. “So I’ll need to get to the town’s offices to check it out.”
“It’s this way,” he said leading her into the town.
She walked in silence for a moment taking in the town and how it had changed form when she conquered the town about five years ago. People still looked at her with a bit of fear but this time they also had a bit of relief that she had actually come. She entered the town office seeing the mayor walk up to her quickly.
“Empress, glad to see you,” he said. Tess looked at the man who was short, bald and a beard with brown eyes. He did not seem like a warrior type but a merchant instead.
“Glad the town’s in one piece,” Tess joked giving him a smile. “Wasn’t sure when I heard the reports.”
“Ah, well we have General Russell to thank, his dedication to defense,” the mayor said, patting Russell on the back who looked slightly uncomfortable with the praise.
“Exactly the reason I put him in charge along this border,” she said earning a shocked looked from Russell. “You are level-headed, not one to attack and focus on defense first. The Grunts are easy to anger so the last thing I needed along this border is someone equally hot-headed.” Tess replied to him quick logically. She watched two sets of shocked eyes look at her. “What?” she finally asked, at their shocked expressions.
“Pardon me Empress, but I had no idea you were so well-educated,” the mayor said.
“I study my enemies for their strong and weak points, Grunts are easy to anger, it’s both a strong and weak point,” Tess replied. She used that exactly strength and weakness to manipulate the Grunts in this battle to dictate the battle her way.
“I shall have to reevaluate my ideals of you then,” the mayor said not blinking a bit. Tess laughed slightly seeing Russell almost shocked at the bluntness of the mayor to Tess’ face.
“I think I like you,” Tess said. “However, there is still work to do, any word from the palace?”
“Hmm, don’t think so, I’ll go check Empress,” he said walking away.
“How are the defenses, can they withstand another attack?” Tess asked.
“I have no doubt Empress, what was damaged was taken is already being repaired,” Russell said.
“Good,” Tess stated having expected nothing less from the general. She had been honest when she said Russell had been appointed due to his defensive abilities and not offensive.
“How about you, did we have many losses?” Russell asked.
“No, lost a couple and a half-dozen injured who are headed back to your HQ. I do want to ask you about Eric,” Tess said, Russell made a thoughtful face, thinking the question over.
“Ah, him, confident, strong, perhaps a bit too aggressive but completely loyal,” Russell said.
Tess nodded with the assessment of the captain. “I might want him transferred to the Royal Guard,” she stated, watching his face for any reaction.
“He would be thrilled,” Russell said. “A bit of training under you and he would make a great general for when one of us finally retires.”
“Then I’ll talk with Becca on transferring him over,” Tess said, as the mayor came back with several notes in his hand.
“These are for you Empress,” he said handing them over.
Tess noticed several scrolls and quickly opened the first one. It had arrived last night and stated they had still not received any word from the Grunt king. Tess frowned at that not liking that one bit. The second one she had read twice before completely understanding, a large group had come out from the Shadowlands attacking towns. She quickly went thought he others which were additional reports stating that a human force had attacked and that Carrie had currently taken control of the 2nd Army but would need additional troops.
Tess quickly pulled out some parchment replying that the 1st army, under Becca’s control, would head out and coordinate with Carrie and the 2nd army to beat back this intruder.
“Problems?” Russell asked when she had sent the note off.
“You could say that,” Tess said. “We have an invading force from the Shadowlands attacking towns of the Empire.”
“Does it have anything to do with the Grunt attacks?” Russell asked.
“Yeah, I think it does,” Tess said quickly, thinking about the situation. She needed a full headquarters to figure out what happened.
“General,” an out of breath soldier said walking up to them.
“Report,” Russell said.
“A Grunt army is approaching, they’ll be here tonight,” he said.
“That didn’t take long,” Russell said. Tess had to agree. The Grunt army had quickly turned around marching back to the town. However this time she had the advantage in this battle. The Grunt army would be between two forces which is what they were trying to do. She hoped that with the defeat of the siege army that they Grunt king would back off. That had not happened and as she had learned somehow they knew she would be fighting a two front war.
Tess would have to trust Becca and Carrie to do their best until she could reach the front lines.
“Prepare the men, we’ll attack at night after they get here,” Tess said surprising Russell.
“You won’t wait for them to try attacking the town?” he asked.
“No, I can’t, this other situation, I have a feeling I know who it is,” Tess stated recalling the conversation she had with the Segic not long ago. Gregory wanted something and he finally thought he had the forces to move on it. She had no idea if this ancient evil was real or not but she decided not to take the chance. She did not need a raging monster attacking her Empire.
“Very well Empress, I shall have my men ready,” Russell said.
“You, I’ll need you to deliver a message to someone,” Tess said, over at the scout. She quickly took another parchment wrote down what she wanted Lisa and her troops to do and watch for before sealing the paper and handing it to him. “There will be a group of Royal Guard troops just to the north, about right here,” she pointed to a spot on a map before continuing, “and give this to Captain Lisa.”
“Yes Empress,” the scout said, taking the note then looking once more at the map then his map and took off at a run.
“Tell the town folk to stay behind the walls, there is another Grunt army out there,” Tess said to the mayor.
“Oh dear, doesn’t help our markets, but it’s better to be alive I suppose,” he said, before heading off to warn the town.
*****
Ami slowly came to with a headache unlike anything she had ever had before. She reached up touching the tender spot n the back of her head. She figured she might have a concussion or something with where she was hit. She then recalled what had happened.
She glanced around the room knowing hoping to see something familiar, but realized she had no idea where she was. The guys who kidnapped her had taken her somewhere else. She wanted to reach out and somehow inform Tess of what happened, and to rescue her.
The door opened allowing a man that stood a bit shorter than Tess walked into the room. He had blue eyes and short brown hair with a long moustache. Ami recalled they would be called handlebars they were so long. His blue eyes looked at her for several minutes causing her to shrink back slightly. Those eyes were dead and uncaring giving her a chill.
“So this is her?” the man said looking over at Ben who had entered behind him.
“Yep, that’s her all right, doesn’t look like much, eh, though easy on the eyes,” Ben said.
“Probably part of how she managed it,” the bald-headed one said.
“Who are you?” Ami finally asked, gathering some courage. She had to figure out how to get out of this area and back to the Empress.
“Surprised you haven’t heard of us, considering you are one of us, from Earth, tried and convicted of life, sent though the god damn wormhole,” the man said. “We’re going to be heading back home,” he told her with a smile. “I’m sure you want to go back, get revenge.”
Ami opened her mouth and then closed it thinking about what they said. She missed some things of her old life but her new life here had been quite different.
“And while doing that we gain revenge on the idiots here, after all we are the Zero-Mages,” the man said with a smile.
Ami had heard that name and knew that the people thought them to be evil. She could see why with this group. Of course she understood who they were, murders and the worst scum of her society.
“Come on Gregory, you said you needed a demolitions expert and this is her,” Ben said. “She took down that building and killed thousands.”
Ami’s eyes went wide at that. Ben had come here after that happened and she had been charged. She knew she had nothing to do with that attack, but they seemed to be under the idea she had done it. She looked at the men who looked back at her with some sort of excitement. She realized they cared nothing about life and that they loved to kill. Would they believe her if she told them she was actually innocent? Would they kill her if they thought she was worthless or perhaps even worse? She swallowed slightly wishing she could somehow run away.
“Come on Gregory,” the bald man said to the man with the moustache. “We’ve got a lot of work left to do, let’s get going. I have a date to pay that bitch back.”
Ami watched as his eyes grew dark and his features crew cold. Ami wondered who he was talking about before another man walked into the room.
“Gregory, is she really needed?” the man said. He stood tall, about six-six Ami guessed with red hair tied back into a ponytail as his green eyes looked at the group. Ami watched as Gregory turned to look at the man.
“Yes, she is needed, because she is a Zero-Mage,” Gregory said. Ami wondered what was so special about being a Zero-Mage. She wished again that she had some sort of magical power so she would not be put into the Zero-Mage group.
“If you say so, though she looks like nothing to me,” the bald man said after a few seconds.
“Here, put this on, it’s better than what that witch had you wear,” Gregory said throwing some clothes towards Ami. She caught it recognizing a pair of pants and a shirt. “We’ll be outside.”
Ami waited a few moments after the men left before changing. Perhaps she was not some sort of prisoner as she thought when she first woke up. She did think they thought of her as someone different than she was. All of the men who had been in the room were convicted criminals who had probably murdered men and women for little or no reason at all.
Ami paused putting on the shirt at that thought. If they realized she was innocent would they consider her as part of her group? She understood she had to figure out a way to get out of this mess she now found herself in.
“I still say we don’t need someone like her, she doesn’t even look like she knows what she’s doing,” a voice said causing Ami to pause at the door.
“She is a Zero-Mage, I don’t care if she knows the stuff or not, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to blow something up. Put enough explosives on anything and you’ll knock it down,” another voice said, that sounded like Gregory.
Ami frowned at that. He did not care about her situation at all but only wanted her there for some reason. What was so important that this man needed so many of them with him? Did this have anything to do with her strange visions and the meeting she had been in a week or so ago with the Soulviers and the Segic? Ami took a breath and stepped through the door determined to appear one of them. She wanted to help her new world and friends, especially seeing how the other world hated her.
She looked around seeing a dozen people standing around. She noticed two other women standing off to the side while the man she recognized as Gregory stood facing off with another man she did not recognize who had short brown hair.
“Ah, put a fork in it Paul,” one of the two women said.
“Be careful Mary,” Paul said back to her.
“I’d be careful what you drink, if you catch my drift,” the woman called Mary replied back to him.
“Enough!” Gregory said his face red with rage. “If you want to kill each other do so after we’re finished, got it?”
Ami remained where she was watching the group look at him for several seconds. She felt the tension in the air, knowing that they all were not in agreement with Gregory, but made no move to say otherwise. It seemed he had some sort of power over them all at the moment.
“This is our newest member, freshly rescued from that bitch,” Gregory said walking towards Ami. She thought the way he walked reminded her of some sort of predator stalking its prey. “She was sent here for a terrorist attack killing some ten thousand people, isn’t that right?” he asked her.
Ami nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“A woman after my own heart,” Mary said. “You didn’t bomb the Trans-Villa tower did you?”
“Um, no,” Ami said hoping they would move on to something else.
“That’s something, awesome,” the other woman said. She was younger with short spiky red hair.
“So, when do we finally make our move, you’ve promised me this for years now, a way to getting out of this hell-hole,” Paul said, kicking at a rock.
“And I told you, the timing has to be perfect,” Gregory said. “It took a while to get this together but we finally have things going the right direction. The army is moving forward as we speak.”
They were interrupted by another person entering the room, a tall thin person. Ami recognized the person as a female Soulvier. That thought caused Ami some concern, were the Soulviers allies of the Zero-Mages somehow?
“Gregory, things are about ready, we should begin our preparations at once,” the Soulvier said, not bothering to look around at the group.
Ami looked at her seeing long gold hair and gold eyes. Ami wondered what she was doing here in this group of killers? And what did she mean by preparations?
“Be patient Teniv, we’ll be there for this, I promise. How about our distractions?” Gregory said.
“Not as good as you hoped,” Teniv replied. “Our spies report the Empress will defeat the Grunt army today, the 1st army is already mobilized and moving out.”
“And what of your empire? Were they not to help out?” Gregory said.
“That idiot Jarkal got to the Emperor first. He apparently agrees with the Empress, nothing going on to warrant an invasion. I told you to dress your men differently,” Teniv said.
“It’s done, water under the bridge. We can still do this, all we have to do is get to the place first, you do know where it is, right?” Gregory said.
“The general location, we know a few people who know, and where to find them,” Teniv said.
“If we don’t know the location then all of this is for nothing,” Gregory said twirling his moustache. “Don’t betray us Soulvier.”
“I’d pray for your own souls if I was you,” the Soulvier said twirling on the spot and stepping out of the room.
“I hate magic users,” Bens aid after she left the room. “They think they know so much. Prey for our souls, like I believe in any god.”
“Ugh, yeah, but just wait, we’ll only have to deal with them for a bit longer,” Paul said. “Then it’s back home and time for revenge.”
“That I can’t wait for,” the girl said. “Daddy, I’m coming home,” she said in a sing-song voice, causing Ami to shiver slightly. The danger around her definitely rose since she arrived.
End part 9
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