Rend Hope (4 page)

             
A battle cry to Ebrim's left drew his attention.  The hatchet-wielder was charging at him full speed.  With the skeleton hand occupied by his companions he had a clear shot at the necromancer.  The hammer-wielders were merely to get Ebrim's attention, he was mildly impressed.  These guys were more skilled than the dark-haired villain had originally thought.  The tactic they employed would have worked if a skeletal hand was all Ebrim could do.  Unfortunately for them, Ebrim could do a lot more.

             
Just as the hatchet-wielder was getting into range to strike, the ground beneath him exploded in a shower of sand and dust.  He was knocked back several meters, landing hard on his back.  The hatchet-man grunted in pain as another giant skeletal hand reached up from the ground, grabbing purchase in the sand.  A giant skull followed and soon a huge ten meter high skeleton stood before the men in tanned military fatigues.

             
"Impressive tactics from lowly beings like you." Ebrim complimented, "But all your efforts are useless against my skeleton friend here."  The giant skeleton lifted its right foot above the downed hatchet-wielder.  The man's eyes widened and he quickly rolled out of the way as the foot crashed down on where he was less than a second before.  The impact from the skeleton's stomp sent him tumbling across the ground once more.  Ebrim then turned his attention to the hammer-wielders, who were desperately trying to get away from the giant skeleton, he smiled a sinister smile.

             
The skeleton flattened its hand and drove it towards one of the retreating men.  Its fingers pierced the unfortunate man's back and severed his spine at his lower back.  Blood was everywhere as the sheer force of the skeleton's attack shoved the dying man hard into the ground.  As the skeleton extracted its hand from the hammer-wielder, Ebrim saw that he was dead.  He couldn't help himself, he laughed, it was all so glorious.  Killing people and making them into one of his creations was always the source of his greatest joy.

             
The remaining man had managed to get out of the skeleton's melee range for the moment.  That did not last long as the skeleton took two long strides with its long bony legs and brought its right palm down on the running fool, crushing him.  As the skeleton lifted his hand, the man's corpse was twitching uncontrollably from the sheer force of the impact.  The man's limbs were at all sorts of unnatural angles, to Ebrim, it was a beautiful sight.

             
He was interrupted from his thoughts at the sound of metal whistling through the air, turning to his left he saw a hatchet flying towards him.  The resilient hatchet-wielder was on his knees, his right arm was extended in a finished throwing motion.  Ebrim casually lifted his left hand and caught the hatchet by its blade before it could hit him.

             
"I admire your perseverance, it will be useful when I turn you into one of my undead experiments." Ebrim told the hatchet-wielder, although the man glared at him in defiance, Ebrim saw the fear in his eyes.  The man's fear was as thick as butter, he loved that fear, it gave him sustenance, made him stronger.

             
The hatchet glowed dark violet and disintegrated before the man's eyes.  A moment later a bolt of energy the same color slammed into his chest.  The hatchet-wielder suddenly found himself without breath as he was knocked at least ten meters backwards.  He couldn't even cry out in pain when he landed because the bolt had knocked all the air from his lungs.  The disarmed man tried to rise to his feet, but excruciating pain racked his entire body, he collapsed back down onto the ground.  The man looked up as Ebrim walked up to him to tower over his fallen form.

             
"D-Damn...you..." The man managed to wheeze out.  "Necromancer...scum!"  Ebrim smiled and knelt down on his right knee beside the man.  He reached into his pouch and pulled out his knife.

             
"I prefer to think of myself as a pioneer." Ebrim replied, hovering the knife over the man's chest.  "You and your friends will be the products of my innovation.  With my help, you will become the perfect minions and I will use you to kill as many people in your little city as I can. A pioneer in necromancy has to have a lot of research material to work with don't you agree?" Ebrim asked, his response was only harsh coughing from the man.  "Now hold still, this is going to hurt." And with that, Ebrim plunged the knife into the man's chest cavity.  The injured man's screams echoed across the desert wasteland.

Chapter 4

              David Watkins, Mayor of Midas City, sighed in relief.  The leader of a scouting party he had sent to the North had come back with good news.  They had found a well in a ruined village that was still in working order.  That should solve their low supply of drinking water, for the time being at least.

             
He shuffled the few papers he had on his desk, papers he had handwritten himself.  The documents contained the estimated population count of Midas City and the amount of food and water the city had.  It also held the report of how the new construction of houses was progressing.  He'd have to send another team out to the ancient ruins in the west to see if they could salvage additional lumber and metal for building materials.

             
David was no longer a young man, he was fast approaching middle-age, with greying short black hair and bushy eyebrows.  He did his best to stay on top of shaving, as he didn't like the way a beard made him look even older than he was.  For a middle-aged man he was still in good physical shape, you had to be in this dismal day and age or you didn't survive.  David Watkins was definitely a survivor.  Surprisingly, David had a decent wardrobe, nothing great, but decent.  Currently he was wearing a white long-sleeved button-up shirt with black pants.  The outfit was finished with some steel-toed black leather boots.

             
The sound of his door opening roused David from his thoughts.  Walking in at a sedated pace with a lazy look in his eye was Kendal Wallace, sheriff of Midas City.  In the sheriff's left hand was a dead doe, probably caught it in the small stretch of forest to the north.  The deceased animal was trailing blood onto David's whitish-grey carpet.  The mayor was not amused.

             
"Did you really have to drag that thing in here and get blood all over my carpet?" David asked, Kendal smiled.

             
The sheriff sported a brown cowboy hat, which was in stark contrast to the rest of his outfit.  The denim trench coat he wore was blue, while the shirt he wore underneath it was red.  Dark blue denim pants and brown steel-toed boots completed his wardrobe.  Kendal's hat hid his long brown hair, which went to his shoulderblades, he kept it in a ponytail with a rubber band.  Dark brown whiskers also covered his jaw and upper-lip.

             
"Just showing you proof that I’ve actually been out hunting boss." The sheriff replied, dropping the dead animal to the floor with an unceremonious thud.  He quickly found the nearest chair and plopped himself down on it, interlacing his fingers and placing his hands on the back of his head.  Then with a satisfied sigh he slouched in the chair, put his feet up on David's desk and crossed his legs.  Although David's face remained impassive, his right eyebrow did twitch slightly at the display.

             
While the sheriff was an amazing man with amazing abilities.  He tended to be a tad lazy, usually procrastinating important things like hunting for food for the city, keeping the bandits at bay or dealing with a domestic dispute.  While his deputies did their best to keep him on track, it seemed only his girlfriend and vice-sheriff, Janine Garlow, could give him the kick in the ass he needed sometimes.

             
"While I appreciate that sentiment Sheriff Wallace, could you maybe just leave it outside the building next time?  This office is already dirty enough as it is, I don't need a dead animal bleeding out on the carpet to add to my cleaning problems." The mayor told him, Kendal shrugged.

             
"I thought it'd give the place more character, make you look tough.  How intimidated would an outsider be if he came into your office right now and saw this dead deer?  He'd think you were a complete bad ass!" Kendal exclaimed, being a little more animated than usual, David shook his head.

             
"I don't want to scare people, I want to help them." He responded, Kendal waved his hand dismissively in reply, returning it to the back of his head after finishing the gesture.

             
"Yes yes I know boss.  Now, you said you had something else you wanted to talk about?" The sheriff questioned with obvious disinterest.  Mayor Watkins nodded, placing his hands on his desk and making himself comfortable in his seat.

             
"Deputies Teivon and Henry have reported that Lady Marie Livingston has returned." He told the sheriff, who was shocked.

             
"Really?  Well shit! Finally some good news!  I thought she was dead for sure." Kendal said, David sighed.

             
"Glad to see you were so optimistic." He said sarcastically, once again Kendal shrugged.

             
"Just being realistic.  She was out in the Desert of Despair to the east for over three days.  A small group like the one Marie had with her is usually eaten by either the wildlife or the roaming bands of cannibals that like to wander around there." The sheriff explained, David had to admit he made sense.

             
"Yes well, she is in fact alive, however, she didn't return alone." David continued, Kendal sighed in exasperation.

             
"Of course! She was with a small team." Kendal replied, David shook his head.

             
"Lady Marie's team was killed, she was the sole survivor." This got Kendal's attention, he uncrossed his legs, put them on the floor and put his hands on the armrests of his chair.  He was giving David his full attention now.

             
"Really? So then who came back with her? How many?" The sheriff asked, David put a hand up to stop his questioning.

             
"We of course don't know who this person is that came back with her.  From Teivon and Henry's report, it appears that this person rescued Lady Marie from a band of cannibals.  The report also says that Marie and the stranger encountered a ghoul." The Mayor explained in a serious tone.  Kendal put a hand to his chin, thinking.

             
"A ghoul huh? Well another necromancer running around really puts a shitter on things."  Kendal said out loud, voicing his thoughts.  "This mystery person got a name?"

             
"He called himself Markus according to the report." David answered.

             
"Markus huh? Looks like I'll have to have a chat with Markus..." Kendal announced, rising from the chair slowly.  "...Right after I take a nap.  I'm pretty tired." He finished, making his way to the door.  David was sorely, sorely tempted to bang his head onto his desk at that moment.

             
"No sheriff Wallace, I need you to take care of this now.  If Lady Marie and this Markus encountered a ghoul, I want all the information about it that I can get out of them.  Also, I need you to find out more about Markus, see if he's going to be a danger to the city." David ordered, the sheriff of Midas City yawned.

             
"Can't all that wait?  I do my best work after a nap you know." Kendal replied, David grit his teeth in frustration, rubbing a hand through his greying hair in an attempt to calm himself.

             
"Fine, but if you do not do this by tomorrow night Sheriff Wallace, I will have your vice-sheriff assigned to the task instead.  I will also definitely be sure to inform her of your lack of initiative as well." The mayor informed Kendal, whose eyes widened.  In truth, David was bluffing.  He needed Kendal's partner for a different mission.

             
"Aw come on Boss!  You know Janine is already not happy with me for lounging around my house for three straight days last week instead of spending time with her!" Kendal whined, David shook his head.

             
"I'm not budging on this.  I want a report on my desk with information on this Markus character by tomorrow night or else I have vice-sheriff Garlow do it.  Understand?" The Mayor ordered, Sheriff Kendal waved his right hand dismissively, his back towards David.

             
"Yeah yeah I get it.  Sheesh no rest for the weary." Kendal complained, exiting the Mayor's office.  Once he was gone, Mayor David Watkins let out a weary sigh.  If Kendal wasn't so good at what he did, there could be no way he would be Midas City's sheriff right now.  Fortunately for the denim-wearing cowboy, his pros outweighed his cons.

**********

              Vice-Sheriff Janine Garlow could see that her team was tired.  They had just spent the last couple of days pillaging the ruins west of Midas City for food, water, and some scraps of metal and lumber for building materials.  They were now lugging their cargo back home.  The vice-sheriff had to admit she was looking forward to getting home and lying down on her nice soft bed.  Perhaps if she was really lucky, Kendal wouldn't be napping and could spend some time with her.  Knowing him though, he was probably at the bar or sleeping, his two favorite hobbies.

             
Janine took a moment to stretch out her limbs.  She was a young woman in her twenties with chin-length brown hair and a slender build.  A red eye patch covered her left eye and despite the heat she wore a lot of black.  A short sleeved black shirt with a long sleeved white shirt underneath.  Black leather pants, and black steel-toed boots completed her outfit.

             
She was currently in charge of three men and one woman, all of them carrying huge backpacks.  They were stuffed with as much supplies as possible from their mission of scavenging, the sight of Midas City's west gate brightened their expressions. 

             
"Almost there boys and girls, just hang on.  We'll be home before you know it." Janine told her team.  They nodded and voiced their assent.  As they came up to the west gate though, they were intercepted by the guards there.

             
"Vice-Sheriff Garlow." The first guard said curtly, nodding towards her as she stood in front of him.  "I apologize, but the southern scouting team has not checked in, Mayor Watkins wants your team to investigate ASAP." He informed her, Janine heard a collective groan from her team members behind her.

             
"What happened?" The vice-sheriff inquired, the second guard chimed in.

             
"The southern scouting team was supposed to be back in the city by noon.  It is now heading towards the evening and still nothing.  The Mayor fears they may have run into trouble or worse." The second guard informed her, Janine nodded at the new information, something worse meant a feral magi or necromancer.

             
"Got it." She told the guard.  The slender vice-sheriff turned to address her team.  "All of you head to HQ and get another team together to join me.  I'll go on ahead." She ordered, one of her men stepped forward.

             
"Are you sure vice-sheriff? You're probably just as tired as the rest of us.  And there's no way we'll have a team prepped and ready to head out until tomorrow morning." He said with a concerned tone, Janine shook her head.

             
"I won't be able to rest anyway until I know there isn't a definite threat to the city.  Go on, get to HQ." She reiterated her order.  Producing a deck of cards, Janine pulled one out of its pack and threw it on the ground.  If this was indeed the work of sorcery then Midas City would need to be prepared.  Scouts disappearing was never a good sign.  She only hoped that it was something trivial like they got lost or something.  Deep down however, she felt it was more than that.

             
The card magically grew until it was roughly the size of a human being, a glowing red glyph appeared in the center of the card.  She stepped onto the glyph and disappeared.  The giant card turned to ash soon after and the grey powder drifted off into the air.

**********

              Benjamin Carmichael had finally tracked his target down.  He had failed in the past, but this time he was sure he'd get the kill.  The person he was looking for was currently hiding in an abandoned house located in the West Coast Ruins.

             
If there ever was a grave reminder of what civilization before The Great Purge was like, the West Coast Ruins was it.  Along its shores were countless destroyed buildings, homes, vehicles, and other things from centuries ago.  When the Great Purge happened, the ground around the ruins became unstable and the ocean tore it apart.  What remained was only a fraction of the dry land that was once there. 

             
Judging from the ruins, the western coast used to be an area where the wealthy resided.  One could pick up quite a number of valuables there.  Dangerous groups of bandits also liked to call the ruins their home for this reason.

             
But a bandit was not who Benjamin was looking for.  He stepped into the abandoned house, which was quite small compared to some of the other houses that could be found among the ruins.  Those houses tended to be magnets for attention, something that Benjamin's target did not want.  Currently he was in what was once the living room.  There was a three-seat couch along the east wall that had a cushion missing and had obviously seen better days.  And a strange device in the southwesteren corner.  It was big, about fifty inches, flat and covered in dust.  A number of black cords were inserted into the back of it.  Benjamin's grandfather had said that people before the Great Purge once watched moving pictures on devices like those.