[Melas] Chapter 114: Vengeance (Patreon)

The world spun around me. There was a loud ringing in my ears. My head ached— it felt like Gennady was pounding on its insides with a massive warhammer. I blinked as I tried to pick myself up, but my legs were on fire. I grimaced, reaching the scalding marks running down my knees.

The skin was burnt, almost to a crisp. I couldn't stand up. I tried. Only my upper body could move. I reached over to my legs, trying to move it with my hands, only to feel a stinging, sharp pain. A sound left my mouth— a gasp of air.

I crawled forward, trying to get a good grasp of my surroundings. I was half buried in dirt and debris. The Stone Walls I had erected were smashed apart. The only reason why I was still in one piece was thanks to my magic. I had managed to put up a barrier in time. Just before the cylindrical object detonated.

It couldn’t protect the entirety of my body. The Force Barrier wasn’t wide enough for that. So, I focused it on protecting my vital organs. Thanks to that, I survived. My mask had been blown away, and my clothes were torn and tattered. But I was alive.

I glanced over to the bulky machine standing next to me. Gennady’s Tinker Suit was scorched around the arms and the legs. However, it seemed he managed to react and cover himself up. The Golem-like body had taken the brunt of the blast. I didn’t even see a single mark on the Dwarf’s face. There were a few lines, which I initially thought were scars. I only realized a moment later that they were wrinkles.

He was worried.

“—lass!” My hearing returned a moment later. The white noise that had drowned out everything else receded, seeping into the background, making way for all the clamor and chaos around me to overwhelm my senses.

I clutched at my head as I saw another flash of light. Gennady spun around, the beam from his Tinker Suit streaking through the air in a circle. There were screams. Shouts of pain. I knew what Gennady could do, and I almost pitied our assailants.

Perhaps that was a sign of my delirious state.

“Oi, Melas, we’re getting outta here right now!” I felt a tugging on my shoulder. Then I found myself being lifted up into the air.

I blearily blinked my eyes as I saw the ground move away from me. Or was I moving away from the ground? “G—” No words left my mouth.

The heavy, thudding footsteps of Gennady’s Tinker Suit echoed in my ears as I saw the earth shifting around me. We were making our way back to the warehouse— the men and women who had been blocking our paths from behind lay dead. Bullets of both metal and mana shot our way. They impacted the back of the Dwarf’s suit, almost bouncing off, leaving small scratch marks where they hit.

My head lolled back. All I saw was a blur. And yet, when I glanced in the direction of the gunshots, I saw figures— more than before. One of them was short, stocky. He held a large rifle with both his arms, hefting it over his shoulders. The hole of its barrel was wide, and it seemed like the man holding it was lading a massive bullet into it.

I narrowed my eyes. Slowly, I realized what was going on.

“D-D...”

No words came out. But my mind screamed with panic and fear.

Didar.

Did Gennady even know he was there? I wasn’t certain. But the Dwarf was now stumbling into the hallway. The enclosed space that could collapse on us. It would even concentrate the blast on us. I gritted my teeth.

With every bit of strength I had left, I brought my hand up. I pointed in the direction of Didar. The cylindrical object launched out— it hurled through the courtyard towards us. A spell circled unfolded itself on my fingertips. The pleats unfurled, coming to life like a paper crane, creating a complex, intricate pattern of runes and symbols at its heart.

While it shimmered with a dim light, like a thin wire limned in the moonlight, I could sense the power emanating from it. A fissure tore through the air. It wasn’t just a faded spot, like with Fracture Side. No, this was something else.

The cylindrical shell was swallowed by the fissure. And it came right out, spat back where it came from.

There were shouts. Screams. I couldn’t make out what was being cried. It was all unintelligible. With the last of my energy expended, the world went dark.

—--

“It— it wasn’t me…” the words barely left Jack’s mouth. The hands around his neck grew tighter. He felt a cough simmering within him, but nothing came out. He couldn’t even breathe any longer.

Red eyes stared at him. Eyes of pure hatred. Unbridled fury, a range that could never be matched by any man or woman. Because what stood before Jack was a Demon.

He had skin, black as the night; crooked horns, pointing towards the sky. His armor— the gray plate armor— was covered in spikes. It was on his bracers. His pauldron had horns, just like his. But despite his menacing appearance, the name he was given by the Church was demeaning, it belittled his accomplishments.

It was the Imp.

The Imp— the leader of the Shadow’s Evangelium. The same group which defied the Church itself. And now, his anger was directed towards Jack.

“You traitor!” His words itself forced the Human man to choke.

Jack struggled to speak. He wanted to protest, but the Imp had refused to hear what he had to say. It was simple: before Jack could even say anything, someone else had talked to the Imp.

Didar, you traitor, he thought, cursing the Dwarf. It was not a whim— it was not an accidental betrayal. It had been planned for months.

In a single night, every spellcaster— Goblin, Dwarf, and Human— that had been under their protection was handed over to the Taw Kingdom. Jack didn’t even realize what was happening until it was too late. The Shadow’s Evangelium was already after him. And after a single night of running, trying to flee, they caught him.

The Imp. The Reaper. The Nuckelavee. The Fiend. The infamous members of the Shadow’s Evangelium— the most dangerous and evil of them all.

I knew we should never have worked with them. It was a pointless thought. Jack should have blamed Didar, but he could only focus on what was in front of him at the moment. He was going to die.

The grip around Jack’s neck went loose. He was dropped to the ground with a thud. He erupted into a fit of coughs. He looked up, confused, surprised... almost relieved? That was until he saw the girl walking forward.

An Elf— maybe a Half Elf— took a step towards him, drawing in the air. Her pointed ears twitched as a savage grin spread across her face. “Is it my turn now, Hajax~?” A black pole appeared on her hand. An ethereal blade came out of its end, creating a scythe.

The Imp paused. He craned his neck every so slightly, facing her. “Make it hurt,” was all he said.

The Reaper clapped her hands together, almost giddy with excitement. She skipped forward with the mannerisms of a child— except, sending far more terror down Jack’s spine than any other brat with a mouth.

Jack scrambled to get up, but a foot pressed down against his chest. It forced the air out of his lungs— he gasped, wheezed for air as the Reaper cocked her head.

“Aw~ don’t you just love it when they struggle?” She raised her scythe, and Jack’s eyes grew wide.

He tried to scream. He thought nothing would come out. But the most terrified, fearful cry left his lips just as the Reaper swung down. The guillotine fell. The executioner's blade came for his neck. And he was saved.

Black hair. A woman— young, younger than even him. She stood before the Reaper, stopping the descent of the scythe.

The Fiend.

“Hey— Valeria, what are you doing?” the Reaper sputtered.

The Fiend ignored her words. She shook her head, facing the Imp with a defiant gaze. “That is enough.”

The Imp glanced back at her. He said nothing. He spun back, leaving Jack behind. The Fiend— the others— followed after him, none of them speaking. None but the Reaper.

“Wait, are we seriously going to let him live—”

—--

Jack would never forget that woman’s face. The black hair she had— so unique to Humans. Some said it was a product of interbreeding with Elves. Yet, that was not what he remembered about the woman.

It was her face that was burned into his memories. He didn’t find her particularly breathtaking— perhaps others would, but he was not concerned about that. It was the determination. The look of defiance, even when she went against her group. That was the same face which he now saw, unconscious, carried by Gennady as he ran down the hallway.

“Oi, Dwarf, what happened out there?” Jack stopped him, swords already drawn.

Gennady gently placed Melas down as Lisa rushed up to her. She immediately began tending to the girl’s wounds, while Sevin stepped forward, glancing out the large hole ahead, rifle aimed at the ready.

“We got surrounded,” the Dwarf said, face grim. “She put up barriers all around us, but then—” He looked out, back where he came from. “I think Didar is out there, somewhere. Melas did something, and there was an explosion. A big one. Thanks to that, I managed to make it back inside.”

“Didar is out there?” Jack narrowed his eyes.

Sevin poked his head out, and gunshots rang out. The young man quickly ducked back in, scurrying away from the metallic bullets. “There’s at least a dozen of them still out there!”

“A dozen is nothing,” Elda snorted. She walked past Gennady, patting the back of the suit with a clink. “Take care of Melas and Lisa, will you, big guy?”

The Dwarf rolled his eyes. “Not much I can do out there. They did a number on my Tinker Suit.”

She grinned, gesturing for Jack to follow. “We can take care of just a handful of idiots, can’t we?”

Jack nodded, feeling his grip around the handle of his swords tighten. “Yes.”

“Give us covering fire, Sevin. Mason, Avery, come on.” The two former-pirates followed after her.

Jack was a step behind them. He entered the ruined courtyard at their heels, immediately faced with a barrage of gunfire. Elda tossed a throwing knife forward, jamming it straight into the barrel of a rifle. Mason fired back with dual crossbows, rapidly loading and loosing the bolts across debris and burnt grass at them.

Avery wielded an odd-looking spear. It seemed like the kind used by Beastkin in combat. She moved like a dance, twirling and spinning around the hail of gunfire, avoiding their golden light with the grace of a noble.

Jack was not trained in any kind of martial art. He was only backed by experience. Decades of combat. He had fought all his life— whether it was in the streets, or out at sea. He wasn’t a pirate, but he had been a smuggler. He had gone through the grinder, walked through broken rocks, and pushed past the flames all for this.

Didar.

The Dwarf who betrayed him.

His old friend.

Jack was going to kill him.

The bullets whizzed and flew past him. Was Jack deflecting them? Or did the attackers just have bad aim? He couldn’t tell. The world was nothing to him. All he wanted was to find Didar. He tore through their ranks, moving even faster than Avery.

He spun and spun, slicing apart guns and body parts. He took them apart, and when there was only one standing, he grabbed him by the collar, eyes filled with rage.

“Where is Didar?!”

The man, a Human, squeaked. “I-I don’t know! He was up on those rooftops— but there was blast, and—”

Jack let the man go. He marched past him, heading in the direction pointed out. It was a warehouse adjacent to theirs. There were a few men and women guarding the first floors. But once they saw what Jack did to the others, they fled.

Only a single spellcaster tried to stop him as he entered the stairway. Jack made quick work of him. He knew of all the tricks spellcasters had. He worked with many of them in the past. When he saw a Fireball in an enclosed space, he knew it was just a distraction.

He slid under the flames, going straight for the Dwarf spellcaster before he could conjure his snare. Jack went for his legs, and he fell, tumbling down the stairs.

No one else tried to stop him. They either ran when they saw him, or they had already run. Jack reached the last floor— just before the rooftop. But all he saw was a collapsed ceiling. Bodies lay in the rubble, from the fallen roof.

He narrowed his eyes. His relentless approach finally stopped. He dug through the corpses and the other bodies. What happened here? Was it done by Melas?

His thoughts were cut off as he saw a figure sticking out of the rocks. A Dwarf. One he would recognize anywhere.

Jack pulled Didar out of the debris, a sword aimed at the Dwarf’s neck. Didar coughed, panting and looking around in a daze.

Was he even lucid enough to know what was going on?

“J-Jack?” he asked, wide-eyed. “What are you… doing?”

Jack pressed the blade against his throat, only for him to back up.

“W-what?”

“Do you think I’d really let you live, after all you’ve done?!” the Human man snarled.

“After what I’ve done?” He had a blank look on his face. Rubbing his head, he snapped his eyes shut. “I… Jack, where’s the others? Why are you doing this?”

Was Didar delirious? Did he really strike his head that hard from the fall? Jack gritted his teeth.

“You…” He took a deep breath. “After all you’ve done to me, how dare you forget what you’ve done? You’ve taken everything away from me!” His words were full of venom and vitriol. It was like he had swallowed poison and held it in for the past two decades of his life before finally letting it out.

Jack stabbed one of his short swords down, just barely missing Didar’s neck. It sank through the stone as the Dwarf panicked and made a sound.

He hesitated, looking up at Jack. His mouth bobbed open like a fish. “Th-this…” he trailed off. He took a deep breath as Jack’s gaze bore into him. And he smiled. “Of course I didn’t forget.”

With a kick, Didar sent Jack stumbling back. He knocked the first short sword out of the Human man’s hand and drew it himself.

Jack scowled, annoyed at himself for falling for Didar’s trickery once more.

“You were always such a fool, Jack,” Didar laughed, stepping forward. “Did you seriously think I ever cared for you?”

“You used me,” Jack said, his one remaining short sword in hand.

“Since the very beginning.”

The two clashed blades. The pair had sparred many times in the past— it was never serious. They had never gotten into a serious fight. Jack always assumed that meant they were close; he never once considered it was because Didar wanted it that way.

“I thought of you as my brother. I left my family because of you!”

Sparks flew, spraying off the sliding metal. Their strikes echoed in the silent building. Their duel was even, although Jack was winning. He was always the more skilled fighter.

“And what a stupid decision that turned out to be.” Didar grinned, backing up against a wall.

Jack thrusted his blade forward, but the Dwarf stepped around it. He grabbed for a large rock, and flung it at Jack’s head. Deflecting it with the flat of his blade, Jack let his guard down for a mere moment.

And Didar threw himself at the Human man. It knocked Jack off balance. Both men dropped their swords, the weapons sliding off to the side as they wrestled with one another.

Jack struggled to get back to his feet, but was dragged back to the ground. The Dwarf was heavier— stronger. His thudding blows felt like they could break Jack’s bones. His body screamed in pain as Didar continued hammering at him.

“You—” Didar’s fist crashed into Jack’s head. “You never could think like me. You never saw the world like me.” Jack tried to punch back, but was beaten back down. “Every direction you took, you only saw a straight line. I didn’t. I could see the many diverging paths. I was never simple-minded like you. That was why you were left behind, all alone to rot.”

Left behind? Jack exploded in anger. He tossed Didar back, the Dwarf hitting against the wall. Stumbling forward, Jack reached for his swords.

“I wasn’t left behind. I was betrayed by you.”

“No,” Didar said, getting back to his feet, almost relaxed. Jack spun around, only to see the Dwarf standing over a corpse, holding a gun in his hand. “You were a burden. A horse with a broken leg. And that’s why you had to be put down.” Didar squeezed the trigger.

Before Jack could even pick up his blades, a gunshot rang out. Something dropped. And Didar clutched at his bleeding abdomen. “W-What…?”

Jack looked past the Dwarf. At Lisa who was standing by the stairwell, one of the guns used by the Humans from the Puer Kingdom held in her hand.

“Jack!” she called out, running past the falling Didar. She hugged Jack as he stood there, caught off-guard by her appearance.

“W-when did you get here?” he asked, in shock.

“Are you stupid?” She shook her head. “Obviously I just arrived. I ran ahead of the others. They went after those that fled. I came here after you.”

“But what about Melas—”

“Right here,” a voice cut him off. A girl stumbled up the stairs, steadying herself against the railings. Her black hair was a mess, and her robes were singed black. Whatever enchantment she had prevented them from burning off completely, already they were still tattered from the explosion she was caught in.

“And I’m here too,” Gennady said, following behind her, his Tinker Suit no longer equipped.

“You—” Didar croaked, looking at the three newcomers as if he hadn’t seen a person ever before. “W-w…” He was at a loss for words.

And so was Jack. The pair had been so caught up in their battle— lost in their own little world— they had almost forgotten others were around.

Jack didn’t say anything. He just hugged Lisa back. He had thought he was going to die. That after all these years, he was going to die just as he found Didar once more. To the Dwarf himself, no less.

So, Jack felt relieved. He didn’t even realize how much time had passed until the young woman made a sound.

“Uh, Jack, can you maybe… let me go?” Her face burned red.

He blushed, and quickly took a step back. “S-sorry.”

The pair stood across from each other, embarrassed for a moment. Then a voice interrupted them.

“Oi, I don’t want to interrupt your lovey-dovey moment,” Gennady said, much to the annoyance of Jack and the embarrassment of Lisa. “But what do we do about him?” He gestured at the fallen Didar.

Blood was pouring out of Didar’s stomach. Lisa didn’t strike a vital spot, but it would have killed him soon enough.

Jack looked at Didar, then at his two blades. This was his chance. He could exact his revenge right now, and no one would stop him. I can finally get my revenge— He picked up his blade. He walked slowly towards the bleeding Dwarf, coughing and trying to crawl away from Jack.

All it would take was a flick of his sword. Jack could end it right here, once and for all. Yet, the rage he felt from before was gone. The anger from being betrayed was gone. Why?

Was it because he discovered the truth? That Didar had never cared for him? Or was it something else?

Standing over Didar with a sword raised, Jack glanced over at Melas. He fixed her with a curious look, and she cocked her head.

“Are you going to stop me?” he asked her, blinking, as if he surprised himself with the question.

“Stop you?” Melas shrugged. She wore the same face as her mother. She truly looked like a younger version of the Fiend. But perhaps, she was slightly different. “This is not my fight. I would be a hypocrite to tell you not to kill someone, after I’ve murdered many myself.” The words almost caused her to wince.

Jack had hoped she would ask him to stop— stand before him with defiance in her eyes. But she didn’t. Yet, that was enough for him to understand what he wanted. Jack nodded.

“I see.”

He tossed his blades to the side. Didar stared at Jack. “You’re… not going to kill me?”

“I will not,” Jack said simply.

“But— why?” Didar let out a nervous laugh. “Is it because you’re too scared? Scared to get your revenge? Or are you feeling sentimental?”

“No, it’s none of those reasons.” Jack grunted, shaking his head. “You’ve done a lot of wrong. More than just to me. And now, you’re working with the Puer Kingdom to sabotage Jahar’taw. I shall let the House of Or’taq decide what happens to you.”

“You’re going to turn me in?”

“I am,” Jack agreed. “All this time, I had thought you did what you did for some reason. Whether it be because you felt threatened by me, or because you wanted more for yourself. But it’s because you never once cared for me. You never thought of me in the same way you did. You didn’t care about me. So now, I shall do the same.”

The man walked back towards Lisa, not facing Didar.

“No matter what fate they decide for you, I do not— will not— care.”

—--

Gennady explained the situation to the Golemguard and the other enforcers of Jahar’taw when they arrived. I stayed mostly out of it, back in the warehouse, trying to recover.

My body ached all over— even after receiving some medical treatment, I was far from fully healed. At least it gave me an excuse to stay away from most of the questions. I didn’t want to even think of trying to come up with a fake reason about why I, a kid, was caught up in this mess. Nor would I want to elaborate on how I contributed.

Sure, I was under protection by the King of the Taw Kingdom. However, that didn’t mean knowledge about me was commonplace.

When Gennady returned from the long talks, he visited my room to check up on me. I sat up on my bed, raising an eyebrow.

“So, what’s going to happen?”

“They’ll be bringing Didar and the other survivors in for questioning. Especially those who came from the Puer Kingdom.” Gennady plopped himself on a chair with a large mug of ale. “I’m not gonna lie, lass, but that was quite the mess. If the House of Or’taq can get what they want from them, then it may even lead to war.”

I sighed. “That doesn’t sound very nice.”

“It ain’t.”

“Then what happens next?” I asked, trying to change the topic. “To Didar and the other prisoners?”

“That lot?” He downed a large gulp before continuing. “Most of them will probably be given a lenient sentence depending on whether or not they speak. But for Didar and those in charge— they’ll probably be sentenced to death.”

“Mhm, thought so,” I murmured.

"Don't ya have anything to say about that?" Gennady asked, a curious look on his face.

I rested my head against a pillow, pulling my blanket over me as I closed my eyes. "Nope."

Author's Note:

FINALS OVER. 4,000 word chapter. I'm back and stronger than ever. Werds are gonna go brrrrr.