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A Life In Chains

Chapter Ten: The Sanguine Circle

The flames, the smoke, the smell of charred flesh, burnt hair and fur- none of it seemed to affect the man; he simply sat there, still as a statue whilst I lay in the street, the stinging pain all over me now lessened as the rain began to pour down. I sat, stunned, staring into the gaping maw of that inferno, my eyes blurry with smoke and water, coughing and gagging as the burning stench flooded my nose. As the ringing in my ears died off I could hear booming sounds off in the distance, I looked up and down the street.

Explosions engulfed buildings one by one, the streets swarming with bare chested men clad in red robes, all chanting or fighting with the Antt Vedn. But it all seemed to be happening far away; I turned back to the roaring flames before me. I watched as the man rose; his movements were off somehow, they were to fluid, effortless. His arms pulled back behind him as he made slowly for me, his foot falls sounded like metal scraping on stone and there was some faint ticking sound, like the gears of a pocket watch.

The roof of the building groaned heavily, the rafters screaming as they finally gave out just as the man stepped out onto the street. Fire bellowed outward, licking at the adjacent buildings. I scrambled backward across the street as he approached. I couldn't see his face; I couldn't see anything under that hood or between those tattered remnants of his long coat. Shadows jumped out from the flames, dancing across the street, shrouding the man before me almost as if beckoned to do so. Then I heard that voice. Empty, dead; it was as if it came from something that didn't have a soul.

"Behold the jewel of the sea. Watch the land you Advent filth stole; burn, watch as we right the Gods greatest mistake" That voice caused a knot to form in my stomach, or perhaps it was the stench of burning flesh.

I scrambled to my feet, still backing away slowly, I unsheathed my daggers and swallowed- two weeks of training was all I had, all I had to prepare me for my first real fight, for this. Two measly plain daggers against whatever was under that charred coat; with my confidence absent I took up a stance and readied myself.

"How amusing. The mistake knows how to fight, does it? We'll see about that, now bow." At once my body seized up, I watched on helplessly as the man raised an arm toward me. It was clad in some sort of gauntlet from what I could make out; the fire glinting along its surface toward me. My lips trembled as I tried to fight whatever invisible force slowly pushed me to my knees and wrought the daggers from my hands.

"Yes that's it, kneel, bow to your executioner and beg." The words stung my ears, my jaws now locking up and moving of their own accord, forcing words through them against my will.

"Please...Kill...Me!" I was forced to stutter, I couldn't even form a single tear of my own volition; I was like a puppet on strings. The man tilted his head under the hood slightly, hesitating, pausing for some reason.

"...So you're the one..." I heard him mutter, I didn't know what he meant by it and I didn't care; I fought desperately against whatever power held me. I wanted this to stop; it was horrible; a thousand times worse than the torture I endured in Aldoran, a thousand times more insidious. The man pulled back his other arm, holding it out to his side as if waiting for someone to pass him something. Instead I watched as the shredded shrapnel of the former tavern arched through the air toward his hand. They all seemed to meld together and inch by inch, a sword was formed with jagged, uneven edges, cruel and a grim visage.

"May your foetid blood salt the soil, you vile mistake of creation." I somehow managed to force my eyes closed; I waited.

The Man pulled back his arm, readying the point toward my chest; where I expected to feel agony I only felt a sharp jab. The sound of metal shattering like glass rang in my ears; confused I peeled open an eye. The Man stood there with nothing but the pommel left, he seemed at a loss, surprised and just as confused as me. The pommel was tossed aside with an Irritated grunt; it exploded into sand as it hit the street and his arm rocketed back toward me. His hand caught my neck and I was retched into the air effortlessly as if I weighed nothing to him. I could feel the cold metal against my hide now, the fire revealing the truth of the limb; not a gauntlet or armour but the very limb itself. Some sort of enchanted replacement perhaps; The Man was clearly versed in at least one school of magic.

His arm drew back, jerking me with it; at that moment the invisible strings that bound me fell away; I kicked and struggled. I brought my claws up to grip his hand, trying to pry it loose; my tail whipping back and forth trying to strike at him. Next thing I knew I was tumbling along the polished sandstone slated street a few dozen feet away. Sharp throbbing pain drove the breath from my lungs as I slumped there on my side, blood pooled in my jaws, poured from my nose, it tasted sour and only just faintly coppery, almost like a candy of some sort.

Slowly, agonisingly I forced myself up onto my feet; my right arm hung limp to my side, the slightest nudge or movement sent agony through it. I cradled it as gently as I could, the street swaying dizzily but the scene was still clear. The attack was failing, the robed men clad in red fell like flies; fires raged on here and there, controlled only by the rain. Through the dull throbbing pain that rattled around in my head I could hear the sound of gunfire and cannon fire.

Siricuse held the secret of their 'guns' under rather tight lock and key but their sound was distinct. With a stumble I looked up; Zeppelins now swarmed the skies, spotting and picking off the attackers one by one. I turned slowly, wincing and swallowing a thick glob of blood; the Man still stood there up the street, it was just the two of us now. Panicked, I looked around for an escape; I spotted a narrow side street between two houses and quickly made my way down it.

My breath came sharp and shallow; I knew he was following me, I could hear those heavy foot falls from somewhere behind me. The side streets were like a maze; they twisted and turned somehow looping back into one another with no clear sense of direction. It was like a whole other city hidden away inside Caprii; I soon found myself lost and afraid. I stumbled blindly down every turn I found, praying I would find my way back to somewhere familiar; as it would have it luck seemed to be against me.

I stumbled out of the maze only to find myself gazing out over the ocean and the reef; the shallow waters surface ablaze with glowing corals and fish. Painting a serine view that contrasted the chaos behind me. I was back out on the streets now, one of the ones that followed the curve of the cliffs that defined the edges of the island. I looked up and down the street, looking for someone or something to take sanctuary with. I saw nothing, not a soul and nowhere to hide.

"Just like you filth to turn tail and flee like the cowardly vermin you are." I turned on my heel; the Man stood there at the exit of the narrow alley I'd come from. The rain began to pour down now, heavier and heavier with thunder booming high above.

"Who are you...?" I asked as I backed away slowly; he didn't move, he just stood there slightly hunched over; staring from the shadows.

"I am the one whom shall purge the Advent from the world, I am the one who will reclaim the lands rightfully meant for man; I alone will usher in the Eden the Gods envisioned before your kind polluted it with your presence." He raised an arm slowly as he spoke; something began to form in the air before his hand, a bright ball of dark red flame.

"The gods intended the Advent to serve their greatest creation; Man, they made the mistake of allowing you filth free will. I shall right there mistake one soulless Advent scum at a time till the world is washed clean of your existence." I stumbled back further, coming to a stop against the stone railing at the edge of the street. The air began to scream around the growing ball of fire as it turned faster and grew brighter.

"Your history, your relics, your culture; All of it is a mistake, a vile affront to the purpose the Gods intended for you." I braced myself; claws gripping the short stone wall behind me tightly, readying myself to jump. I'd rather die of my own accord then be murdered by some sonorous madman.

"Be still, bow and accept your true place, be spared so we; The Sanguine Circle, may cleanse you of free will, cleanse you so you can assume your rightful purpose as the Gods intended." The ball in his palm now pulsed, it yearned to be released; I felt my lips peeling back, I heard myself snarling defiantly. I'd only just been given my freedom; no one would ever take it from me again.

"Fuck you!" I growled as I turned, vaulting the railing and the ledge beyond it, I hadn't actually looked over the edge until now. I gulped as I realised just how high up I was, the rocks below were a welcoming sight, I'd die quickly; at least I wouldn't suffer.

"Perish!" with that there was a thunderous boom; I felt searing heat against my body as the fireball detonated and sent me flying. I was flung well out and over the rocks below with a sharp screech; I now rushed toward the water. Deep in the back of my head I prayed there was something sharp or solid just under the water, something that would make quick and painless work of me. But all I could see was the moonlit darkness of the water below; somehow I managed to flip myself over so I faced the sky. My body curling up into a ball like shape as I took one last breath.

The water was freezing but deep, there was no sharp rocks, no coral no anything; the biting cold of the water and the agony that issued from my arm once again forced the breath from me. Desperately I thrashed and kicked; the sad thing was, no one had ever taught me to swim; my father's farm had been on the bank of a river yet I had never learned. My fingers broke the surface just barely as my lungs began to burn. The fire high above me was the only thing I could see; bubbles escaped from my jaws as I fought desperately. Darkness began to gnaw pleasantly at the corners of my eyes; I felt tired and heavy and I didn't even realise that I was already drowning until the bubbles stopped.

The last thing I saw as I hung there suspended calmly in the water was a blurry silhouette; something with huge wings and a long tail looming over me. I witnessed something break the water's surface and I felt my waist grasped tightly; with that; I surrendered contently to the darkness.