CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
While watching Adamus in his Imperial Legion officer armor, I stood sheepishly in the dark entrance of the closet. I was frozen in time, unable to think, let alone move. All I had on me was my rusty knife that I have kept all this time, and quite frankly I wasn’t exactly in the best shape to be fighting. My arm was about to fall off at any given moment, and my back made me feel as if I were an old man. But he kept coming, he wasn’t about to let his guard down just because I was injured. He knew what a major threat I was to Mankar’s plans.
His long claymore glistened in the light of the torches. The blade was extremely sharp and looked as if it had not killed in quite some time. I figured Adamus was foaming at the mouth for this opportunity. And just when I thought Jena was going to simply leave me there to die in the hallway, I saw that she had let Velvus go, for now at least. She charged toward Adamus with her blade held in front of her. Adamus turned around to face his challenger, and the battle commenced.
Adamus swung his sword mightily at Jena and she just barely dodged the attack. His blade hit the side of the wall, causing a huge tear in the wood surface. Jena then slashed at him with her own blade, but Adamus caught her wrist before she could deliver the blow. Using his strength he greatly outmatched Jena and slung her into the wall. She hit her head violently but she fought on anyway. Adamus again swung with his claymore again missed by mere inches.
It was weird seeing him handle a heavy weapon in such close quarters. The hallway was barely wide enough for Jena and I to walk through. But then again this didn’t seem to bother Adamus a bit. Of course he was after all an expert fighter, given the fact that he was an officer in the Imperial Legion. Now he is a traitor just like Lex once was. And look where that treachery got him…..
After dodging the attack Jena swung quickly with her blade and this time connected slightly with Adamus’s right shoulder. She caused a small tear on his arm but he merely shrugged it off and backhanded Jena with his free hand. She fell back, hit her head hard on the wall, and then fell to the ground after dropping her blade. It appeared as if Adamus was about to win the battle, but before he could make another move I jumped entered the fight. I knew I really couldn’t do that much, since I was injured and everything, but I was willing to do whatever it took to help Jena. I wasn’t about to let her die.
I leapt at Adamus from behind and tackled him from behind, leading the way with my healthy shoulder. He landed on the floor and I landed on top of him. Swiftly I took out my dagger and was about to jab it into the back of Adamus’s head, but he was too quick for me. He rolled to the side and threw me into the other wall. I was extremely light compared to him so it didn’t take much for the muscular Imperial to overtake me.
Adamus then raised his sword high into the air and was about to bring it down on me, but while losing his focus on Jena this also led him to lose the battle as well. Since he was not paying any attention to Jena, she was able to get up from the ground, pick up her sword, and shove it through Adamus’s back. The tip of the blade come through the front and blood began to spout from the wound. I had rolled to the side and thankfully avoided the mess.
Adamus fell to one knee and just knelt there for a second. Then Jena pulled the blade from his body and brutally slit his throat. Adamus’s body crashed to the ground and that was the end of him. His blade lay still on the floor beside him and a large pool of blood was already forming around his motionless corpse.
I looked at Jena and the fury was still in her eyes. It was almost scary in a way….she almost looked insane. I didn’t really know what to think of that, but now wasn’t the time to be thinking.
“Are you okay?”
I asked her this only because her body was trembling, and also because there was a small stream of blood was gushing from her nose.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” she said while wiping away some of the blood with her sleeve. “My nose doesn’t feel too good though, and my head is pounding. But don’t worry, I’ll live.”
“You’d better. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you,” I said, attempting to brighten the atmosphere up a bit.
“Thanks, Rayden, but I have to say the same for you. If would not have foiled his attack I would be dead as of now. But enough talking, I’m sure Velvus has alerted the guards.”
Jena helped me up from the ground and then handed me a clean and new silver short sword.
“You should have told me all you have is that awful knife!”
We were about to walk away from the area, but then Jena asked, “Rayden, how do you feel? I mean, do you think you could handle yourself if I left you here to take care of Goldwine?”
“Well, I guess so. Goldwine isn’t very young and I doubt he could take me even if I’m injured.”
“Are you sure? I can go and take on the other guards, there really shouldn’t be that many of them. The outside of this ship is misleading to how large this vessel actually is. I can deal with them myself and I don’t think you’re healthy enough for battle against someone who is actually trained in combat. But I also don’t want to leave you here if you don’t think you’re up for the challenge.”
“I’ll be fine. Just kill some guards for me…”
She smiled and then took off down the hallway. I watched as she rounded the corner with her blade in hand, and then I turned my attention to Goldwine’s door.
I hadn’t heard a peep from inside since the battle with Adamus had started. No doubt he was hiding in there hoping Adamus had taken care of Jena and I. But of course that wasn’t the case, and soon he would meet the same fate as Adamus.
I walked up to the door and jingled the knob even though I knew out of common sense that it was locked. So I took out a pick and fumbled around until I heard the familiar click that I had come accustomed to some years ago. When I opened the door I saw something that totally took me by surprise. Goldwine lay on the ground in a dark pool of blood with a knife to his side. I walked up to his body to examine him a little closer. It appeared to me that he had slit his own throat, rather than let me get to him. Odd really, but I guess he didn’t want to take a chance of letting information slip from his mouth.
I walked out of the room and made it down the hallway. To my right was the door to the outside, and to my left were two doors. I poked my head into one of them and realized it was a storage place, and also what looked like a barrack. Then I entered the other room to find a small kitchen. A pot of warm stew was still brewing on a nearby table. So I closed the door and stepped outside. Jena had already dispatched the remaining guards, which looked to be only three. She was now holding Velvus by the collar and was screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Why did you betray my trust? Did you really think you could get away? We’re in the middle of the sea, you fool! There’s nowhere to run!”
“No, you are the fool,” Velvus said while laughing insanely.
“Master Mankar knew Rayden would be coming to assassinate Count Goldwine. That is why we set you up!”
He began to laugh loudly and Jena kicked him in the groin.
“What do you mean we were set up?”
“Mankar knew Rayden would sooner or later come after Count Goldwine, just as I have already said if you were paying any attention.”
Then I butted in. “But…if that’s the case and we were set up, why in the world would Goldwine kill himself?”
Jena and I were both facing Velvus and our backs were to the cabin door. Then I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“Goldwine didn’t kill himself…I did.”
I turned around and there, standing right in front of me, was Mankar himself.
On to the next chapter
While watching Adamus in his Imperial Legion officer armor, I stood sheepishly in the dark entrance of the closet. I was frozen in time, unable to think, let alone move. All I had on me was my rusty knife that I have kept all this time, and quite frankly I wasn’t exactly in the best shape to be fighting. My arm was about to fall off at any given moment, and my back made me feel as if I were an old man. But he kept coming, he wasn’t about to let his guard down just because I was injured. He knew what a major threat I was to Mankar’s plans.
His long claymore glistened in the light of the torches. The blade was extremely sharp and looked as if it had not killed in quite some time. I figured Adamus was foaming at the mouth for this opportunity. And just when I thought Jena was going to simply leave me there to die in the hallway, I saw that she had let Velvus go, for now at least. She charged toward Adamus with her blade held in front of her. Adamus turned around to face his challenger, and the battle commenced.
Adamus swung his sword mightily at Jena and she just barely dodged the attack. His blade hit the side of the wall, causing a huge tear in the wood surface. Jena then slashed at him with her own blade, but Adamus caught her wrist before she could deliver the blow. Using his strength he greatly outmatched Jena and slung her into the wall. She hit her head violently but she fought on anyway. Adamus again swung with his claymore again missed by mere inches.
It was weird seeing him handle a heavy weapon in such close quarters. The hallway was barely wide enough for Jena and I to walk through. But then again this didn’t seem to bother Adamus a bit. Of course he was after all an expert fighter, given the fact that he was an officer in the Imperial Legion. Now he is a traitor just like Lex once was. And look where that treachery got him…..
After dodging the attack Jena swung quickly with her blade and this time connected slightly with Adamus’s right shoulder. She caused a small tear on his arm but he merely shrugged it off and backhanded Jena with his free hand. She fell back, hit her head hard on the wall, and then fell to the ground after dropping her blade. It appeared as if Adamus was about to win the battle, but before he could make another move I jumped entered the fight. I knew I really couldn’t do that much, since I was injured and everything, but I was willing to do whatever it took to help Jena. I wasn’t about to let her die.
I leapt at Adamus from behind and tackled him from behind, leading the way with my healthy shoulder. He landed on the floor and I landed on top of him. Swiftly I took out my dagger and was about to jab it into the back of Adamus’s head, but he was too quick for me. He rolled to the side and threw me into the other wall. I was extremely light compared to him so it didn’t take much for the muscular Imperial to overtake me.
Adamus then raised his sword high into the air and was about to bring it down on me, but while losing his focus on Jena this also led him to lose the battle as well. Since he was not paying any attention to Jena, she was able to get up from the ground, pick up her sword, and shove it through Adamus’s back. The tip of the blade come through the front and blood began to spout from the wound. I had rolled to the side and thankfully avoided the mess.
Adamus fell to one knee and just knelt there for a second. Then Jena pulled the blade from his body and brutally slit his throat. Adamus’s body crashed to the ground and that was the end of him. His blade lay still on the floor beside him and a large pool of blood was already forming around his motionless corpse.
I looked at Jena and the fury was still in her eyes. It was almost scary in a way….she almost looked insane. I didn’t really know what to think of that, but now wasn’t the time to be thinking.
“Are you okay?”
I asked her this only because her body was trembling, and also because there was a small stream of blood was gushing from her nose.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” she said while wiping away some of the blood with her sleeve. “My nose doesn’t feel too good though, and my head is pounding. But don’t worry, I’ll live.”
“You’d better. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you,” I said, attempting to brighten the atmosphere up a bit.
“Thanks, Rayden, but I have to say the same for you. If would not have foiled his attack I would be dead as of now. But enough talking, I’m sure Velvus has alerted the guards.”
Jena helped me up from the ground and then handed me a clean and new silver short sword.
“You should have told me all you have is that awful knife!”
We were about to walk away from the area, but then Jena asked, “Rayden, how do you feel? I mean, do you think you could handle yourself if I left you here to take care of Goldwine?”
“Well, I guess so. Goldwine isn’t very young and I doubt he could take me even if I’m injured.”
“Are you sure? I can go and take on the other guards, there really shouldn’t be that many of them. The outside of this ship is misleading to how large this vessel actually is. I can deal with them myself and I don’t think you’re healthy enough for battle against someone who is actually trained in combat. But I also don’t want to leave you here if you don’t think you’re up for the challenge.”
“I’ll be fine. Just kill some guards for me…”
She smiled and then took off down the hallway. I watched as she rounded the corner with her blade in hand, and then I turned my attention to Goldwine’s door.
I hadn’t heard a peep from inside since the battle with Adamus had started. No doubt he was hiding in there hoping Adamus had taken care of Jena and I. But of course that wasn’t the case, and soon he would meet the same fate as Adamus.
I walked up to the door and jingled the knob even though I knew out of common sense that it was locked. So I took out a pick and fumbled around until I heard the familiar click that I had come accustomed to some years ago. When I opened the door I saw something that totally took me by surprise. Goldwine lay on the ground in a dark pool of blood with a knife to his side. I walked up to his body to examine him a little closer. It appeared to me that he had slit his own throat, rather than let me get to him. Odd really, but I guess he didn’t want to take a chance of letting information slip from his mouth.
I walked out of the room and made it down the hallway. To my right was the door to the outside, and to my left were two doors. I poked my head into one of them and realized it was a storage place, and also what looked like a barrack. Then I entered the other room to find a small kitchen. A pot of warm stew was still brewing on a nearby table. So I closed the door and stepped outside. Jena had already dispatched the remaining guards, which looked to be only three. She was now holding Velvus by the collar and was screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Why did you betray my trust? Did you really think you could get away? We’re in the middle of the sea, you fool! There’s nowhere to run!”
“No, you are the fool,” Velvus said while laughing insanely.
“Master Mankar knew Rayden would be coming to assassinate Count Goldwine. That is why we set you up!”
He began to laugh loudly and Jena kicked him in the groin.
“What do you mean we were set up?”
“Mankar knew Rayden would sooner or later come after Count Goldwine, just as I have already said if you were paying any attention.”
Then I butted in. “But…if that’s the case and we were set up, why in the world would Goldwine kill himself?”
Jena and I were both facing Velvus and our backs were to the cabin door. Then I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“Goldwine didn’t kill himself…I did.”
I turned around and there, standing right in front of me, was Mankar himself.
On to the next chapter