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Hejira: Sanguine Wave

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 25: R.R.O.R.

That night not a single Sahvorai sleeps, and neither do Kelly or Naomi. Sarvah sits at the steps of Gareth's home, one of the lucky few to not be burned in the attack. She looks on as Gareth collects the ashes from Kahlera's funeral pyre. He cremated her body beside her favorite oak tree, where she often sat with him. He buries her ashes closer to the tree, having kept the pyre away from it, lest he burn it down by accident. He erects a strange wooden grave marker that he had made while the pyre burned overnight.

Sarvah gets up from the steps and approaches him. He lashes a board across another and drives it into the ground. The symbol looks like an iron longsword with an exaggerated cross guard, much like the tarnished brass necklace that he wears daily, made from the melted shell casings he had saved. After staking the large marker into the ground, he suddenly brings up a much smaller marker made from small whittled sticks. He stakes it into the ground, just before the larger marker. As he sits under the big oak tree, staring at the markers, Sarvah sits beside him.

“Hey…" He murmurs.

“Hi…" She says, looking to him.

“I didn't know that you had aura talents." Gareth says softly, as though in a daze.

“I've had them the entire time. I simply never needed them as I have had underlings to do things for me; I've had servants since I was seventeen, when I took over the Feather Fingers." She answers.

“Still keeping secrets?" He meekly asks.

“I'd have told you if you ever asked." She says.

“You're right. I never did." He lowers his head.

“What are these markers? They are the same as your necklace, and there are two of them." She asks.

“It's a cross. It's a symbol of my own faith, from back on earth. It's supposed to remind me… As for the little cross, Kahlera had stopped taking her morning-after tea. We wanted to have a child together…" Gareth's voice trembles. “She uh… She missed her cycle and was nearly two months pregnant. We hadn't told anyone besides her mother yet, because… Because we just didn't…"

He hangs his head and weeps, bringing his hands to his face. Lips curling as he bears his teeth mournfully, Gareth struggles to maintain his composure. Sarvah wraps an arm around him, holding him close; she does her best to comfort him. She mourns with him, for his sake, for her friend, and their unborn child. After a moment, Gareth seems to pull himself together, taking a few deep breaths as he looks to Kahlera's wooden cross. He carefully touches the marker as Sarvah watches him. Her eyes well with tears, as devastated by his pain as for the loss of her friend.

He reaches for the brass cross around his neck. Gripping it tightly, his hand tremors as though in a seizure. He tears the cross from his neck and tosses it to the ground at his feet, crying even harder than before. The pain in his chest is indescribable, as though he were being impaled by an icicle. Sarvah reaches down, collecting the cross for him.

“What is this supposed to remind you of?" She asks curiously.

“To forgive… To treat others the way that I would want to be treated…" He says with a sigh.

Reaching into a pocket of his faded and worn cargo pants, he takes out Kahlera's stainless-steel knife, handing it to Sarvah.

“She would have wanted you to have this…" He says.

As her hand takes the knife, Gareth promptly stands. Sarvah stands behind him and reaches out, grabbing his wrist.

“Where are you going?" She asks.

“There is something I have to do…" He answers under his breath.

“Please take this…" She urges, offering him the cross.

“I can't have that right now…" He grumbles.

Gareth walks away and into his home, looking at the large bedroll. He sits at the side where Kahlera would sleep and finds a few of her hairs on a pillow. Clenching his fist tightly, he looks to his pack. He takes out his Kahr pistol and the bags of ammunition, before loading all of the magazines. He slips the magazines into the pockets of his vest, and the Kahr into his waistband. He keeps spare magazines for Vetra as well, in case his aura should lose strength. Putting on the rest of his gear, including his recurve knife, Crusader canteen and pouch, he steps outside where Steve, along with several other Blue Feet, wait for him to emerge.

“What do you want to do?" Steve asks him.

“Why are you asking me?" Gareth groans.

“Because you're the next in line…" A random Sahvorai answers.

“Yes. You are one of our most respected hunters, and the Sahvorai with the strongest aura. You should lead now." Steve adds.

“I'm not fit to lead a horse, let alone the Blue Feet." Gareth snaps.

“We disagree…" Another Sahvorai says.

“So… Where are we going?" Steve asks.

Sarvah walks up to the group as Gareth leads them into the woods, walking in the direction that the humans had emerged from. Naomi leaves her home situated next to Gareth's, followed immediately by Kelly.

“Where are you going?" Sarvah asks.

“Wait here." Steve answers.

“We just have some people to kill…" Gareth mutters.

“This won't bring her back!" Sarvah yells to him.

Standing there, flanked by Naomi and Kelly, she watches as the Blue Feet warriors hike into the woods, disappearing beyond the trees. It is not hard to pick up the trail of the humans. They trampled a large path in an almost perfectly straight line. They follow the path for nearly two miles before they come across a clearing. Down below is a large campsite made up of dozens of tents. Scores of people seem to be eagerly awaiting the return of the men.

Gareth draws Vetra, gripping her tightly. His fingers repeatedly squeeze and release the handle as he grits his teeth. Steve and the others wait patiently for his order. Without a word, Gareth stands and walks out of the forest, approaching the small village. His chin fur and flowing black hair flutter in the wind. His men quickly rush behind him, walking casually towards their victims. An elderly man turns to see the Sahvorai and begins to call out, halted by a round piercing his chest. The golden tipped barrel of Vetra smokes, and he fires another holy bolt into the man.

He falls with a thud as a woman screams. She picks up a child and begins to run into the village, crying out for help. The Sahvorai rush throughout the camp, killing every human they encounter. Gareth rushes the woman, grabbing her and pulling her down to the ground. His rage is uncontrollable. The child screams as he picks up the girl, who couldn't be older than six or seven years old. He plants a foot on the woman's chest as he throws the little girl into a tree with considerable force.

She screams as Gareth fires several holy bolts into the child, killing her in front of her mother, before turning the weapon to the woman and ending her with a single shot to her forehead. An old man charges him weakly with a club. Gareth steps aside and grabs the man by the throat. Rather than kill him with a pull of the trigger, he drops Vetra onto the ground and forces himself atop the old man, straddling his chest. He strangles the old man for a moment before grabbing his chin and violently twisting his head, snapping his neck. He hears a click behind him.

He turns to see a teenage girl holding Vetra. Having pulled the trigger on the empty firearm, she stands defenseless as Gareth pounces on her like a wild beast. He grabs the gun and rips it from her grasp, simultaneously biting her shoulder. As Steve kills a man with a slash of his bronze sword, he turns to see the savage attack. For a moment, he genuinely pities the girl as Gareth pulls away, blood dripping from his lips as he claws her face. He gouges out her eyes as she screams in agony, then stands and stomps on her throat. The look of satisfaction on his face speaks volumes.

A boy barely ten years old charges him with a spear, screaming at the top of his little lungs. Gareth smiles, bearing his crimson teeth as he holds out his right hand, blasting the child with a purple aura flamethrower. As the child flails and falls to the ground, his flesh turning black and hair singed, Gareth sweeps his hand throughout the camp, torching every tent within range. A middle-aged woman rushes from a burning tent, running right into Gareth. He slashes her with his claws, cutting her face and dropping her into a quivering mass on the ground.

“Scream for me…" He says with a sinister grin.

“Oh no! Please! My children! Plea-"

He interrupts her with several shots to her head. He turns and looks around, admiring the chaos for a moment, while his men slay every last villager. He turns and sees a single teenage girl fleeing the camp. She appears to be the only survivor left. He holsters Vetra and rushes her with considerable speed. Tackling the girl to the ground and sitting on her back, Gareth pushes her face into a pool of mud. He suddenly stops, realizing that he could do better. Looking back at his men, they gather around him and watch in silence.

He climbs up and off of the girl and holds her by her hair. She weeps, pleading as he leads her to the center of the village. Steve and the others follow behind. Gareth finds a long rope in the dirt, probably used to erect a tent that had yet to be placed. He throws the rope over a tree branch that hangs roughly three meters above the ground. As the girl flails and screams, he loses his patience and backhands her as hard as he can. She seems to calm down as he ties the rope around her neck.

“Get over here." He orders Steve.

Steve doesn't hesitate. Grabbing the rope, the two men pull the girl into the air by her neck. Her legs twitch and her arms flail as she struggles to grab the rope with her hands in a feeble attempt to free herself. She struggles for a minute as another soldier wraps the other end of the rope onto a lower branch, locking it in place. Gareth and Steve let go of the rope. The soldiers watch the girl writhing, hanging from the tree branch like a morbid decoration. She slowly strangles to death as Gareth sits back, watching with a twisted smile.

The soldiers look around at the burning tents, and then to each other. They watch Gareth, who wipes his bloody maw and claws on the wool skirt of the hanging girl. He turns back to them and looks at the soldiers, as though confused.

“You can loot the village now…" Gareth remarks.

The soldiers act as though given an order, and quickly begin looking through the remnants of the village for any valuables and supplies. After they have finished, they gather around Gareth who begins to walk away. Steve looks at the swinging body of the lynched girl, feeling badly for what they have done.

“Shouldn't we cut her down?" Steve thinks aloud.

“Fuck her… Let that be a warning to all of the others." Gareth grumbles.

They march back home, returning to the remains of the Blue Feet village. With their home nearly entirely demolished, and both Gishner and Kina dead, everyone looks to Gareth. Immediately upon returning, they gather around him. With women and children before him and the battle-scarred men behind him, he can feel their eyes burrowing into him. Off to the side stands the Feather Fingers, with Sarvah, Naomi and Kelly at the front. They too watch intently.

“What do we do now?" A Shavorai woman asks.