Tick.. One hundred and eighty seven thousand, four hundred and sixty three.
Tock.. One hundred and eighty seven thousand, four hundred and sixty four.
Tick.. Three thousand one hundred and twenty four point four one six seven minutes.
Tock.. Fifty two point zero seven three eight nine hours.
Tick.. Two point one seven days.
The sound of a door opening very suddenly broke me out of my counting. As the room began to be filled with the sound of footsteps, I strained myself to hear as much as possible. I found there to be one set of footsteps precisely. Being bound, gagged and blindfolded prevents many of my senses from being used though so I could not pick up much more.
“Well looky here; if it isn't my old friend Jesari,” I perked up a bit at the sound of a man's voice, but didn't make a single sound or give much indication to having heard him, though I think this upset him. The man's voice was gruff and full of venom as he continued, “Father was quite displeased with you abandoning the family four years ago.. All for what? To start your own mercenary group? You know they are all dead because of you. We slaughtered all of them like the pathetic pigs they were.”
I started thrashing against my bindings, rage filling my heart as my mind screamed for vengeance over the death of my men and friends, the people I lead...my friends...my family.
“Oh my, looks like I hit a soft spot,” the venom of his laughs filled me with an unquenchable fire of pure hatred, wishing I was free so I could take my vengeance, starting with this man.
I felt the blindfold being ripped from my face as I looked into the eyes of the man beside the table I was bound to. What surprised me was the man that stood next to me was none other than my old friend Marques, though these five years have not been kind to him. His black hair was no longer there; in its place a large burn mark covered his scalp and half of his face. His two brown eyes had become only one as the other was now milky white. The only thing that remained the same was his tall stature and his hulking mass. It felt like the world shattered around me as memories of the past filled my mind.
_______________________
“Hey Jesari you are spacing out again.”
Shaking my head a bit I looked up to see Marques looking at me, a hint of worry in his eyes, “Sorry man, I am just nervous. This is my first time in the field, you know?”
Chuckling, he patted me on the back before speaking, “It’s all good man just stay behind me and you will get through this fine.”
I smiled at him before nodding as I cocked my SCAR-H Mk17. I always loved this gun, seven point six two millimeter rounds, twenty round clip size, suppressor option, and so much more. I went over all my equipment before we deployed. I have been training for years for this day. My first mission. My first step to gaining Father’s trust. My first step towards freedom.
Looking back at Marques I saw a worried look in his eyes as he stared at me almost like he knew what I was thinking. “What’s wrong Marques?”
“I just want you to be careful out there, this isn’t like thepit,” as he said that word I shivered, memories of the past cropping up a bit as he continues on, “This isn’t a fight where you can see your opponent, this is about stealth, we go in, take out the target, leave. Father is trusting us with this and it is our mission to make him happy.”
Marques… How can you be so devoted to that man? He took everything from all of us. Our innocence, our families, our future, even our past. I just don’t get it. You have taken care of me since I was first thrown into that accursed pit, you raised me like a big brother would in that painful place, but if Father asked you would you be willing to kill me? Looking out the window of the Humvee, I watched the night pass us by, as we prepared for our first mission.
_______________________
He must have seen my demeanor change upon seeing him as his face grew a snide expression, breaking me from my train of thought. “Don't look at me with that pathetic expression. This happened to me because of you!” he screamed in my face fury burning in his eye. “You abandoned me on that mission and disappeared without a trace! Father said I get to choose your punishment. I can let you live, or skewer you like the rest of those pigs,” his expression grew distant for a brief moment before looking back at me; he seemed troubled and hurt for just a brief moment before anger replaced it. “I have decided that your life comes to an end brother. You have killed many of our brothers running from us, so blood for blood was my decision.”
He looked me in the eyes as he drew the bastard sword my real father gave to me while on an extradition in the United Kingdom. The blade was long with golden vines crawling along the center of the blade's flat, while the hilt of the blade was designed in the shape of a dragon with its silver wings making up the guard. The tail of the dragon wrapped around the handle of the blade where it ended in a lovely ruby.
“I thought it fitting that your most treasured possession will be the thing that ends your life.” Marques laid the simple onyx black sheath of my blade on my chest.
I looked into his eyes, as a sadness began to overwhelm me. I knew I deserved this, because of me, my friend was hurt, but what I couldn’t accept was the fact he killed my friends, my family, my men. They did not deserve to be punished for my sins. This was all Father's fault. He is the one that made this outcome a reality. I just wanted to be free of his tyranny. He may have been called Father, but he was no parent, he didn’t care, or love us. We were his tools, we were his toys, we were his property.
He pressed the blade on my chest, but what truly brought me fear was where he aimed the blade. No vitals were in the blade’s path. He wanted me to die slowly of pain and blood loss. Taking a deep steady breath, trying to quench the fear in my heart as I prepared myself for my imminent demise.
He looked into my eyes as a single tear ran down his cheek, “I'll see you in Hell… Brother Jesari.”
Slowly he used his strength to press the blade between my lungs; cutting threw my ribs as if a hot knife through butter. I could feel every millimeter of my flesh being sliced through as blood quickly began to flow from the wound. I writhed in agonizing pain fighting to break free of my bonds. My screams were muffled by the gag. As he pierced the blade through me and the wooden table I was strapped to I could feel the world becoming dark as my blood left my body.
The faint echoes of footsteps was all I could hear as a bright white light encompassed my vision as I felt myself fade into oblivion.
_______________________
I opened my eye only to be greeted by a blinding white like. Why is it so bright? I can’t feel anything. I felt like an eternity passed me by with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company. There was nothing here to ground me to reality, no sound, no feeling, no taste, no sight, just this blinding light that never seemed to want to leave my view. It was frustrating to say the least. That was until a voice changed all of that.
“Jesari it's time to wake up. You can't sleep for an eternity,” a very motherly voice whispered into my ear, causing the void of white to shatter around me.
_______________________
The soft murmur of voices was the first thing to greet my ears. Am I blindfolded again? I can't see a damn thing.. Wait.. I'm supposed to be dead right? Marques had pierced my sword through my chest did he not? The sound of a door opening pulled my mind from my innermost thoughts.
A very beautiful, almost motherly voice began to speak in a worried tone as the sound of high heels on tile resonated in my ear, “Doctor Whooves, how is he doing?”
Another set of high heels entered the room, but the thing that threw me for a loop was a male's voice that followed it, “ I am not quite sure Princess Celestia.. His body suffered from a lot of damage, without taking in consideration of the large magical flux that had originated from his core. He had a sword jutting through his chest, many lacerations across his body, malnutrition, and dehydration. This.. Human in all honesty should be dead. Whatever magic was keeping him alive has long since faded. After all that we have done it is now up to him.”
What the hell are they talking about? Princess Celestia? I have been around the world and never heard of such a name! Was I dumped into some back water kingdom in Europe? Why is he referring to me as ‘this human?’ There were too many questions I had, all causing me to get a pretty bad headache trying to weed through all this information.
Feeling kind of frustrated at the bleak outlook the doctor had I decided to speak up. “H-hey, it's… Rude-,” before i could finish i started coughing profusely, almost like I hadn't spoken in weeks.
What happened next was pure unadulterated chaos. Voices started yelling, more loud footsteps. Loud equipment being moved around. To say I wasn't worried would be an understatement. The cold feeling of what I could only assume was a stethoscope greeted my chest, causing me to flinch, which proceeded to cause me to shudder and cry out in pain as I started to feel the extent of damage my body has received.
I yelled in frustration at the pain that continued to wreak havoc on my nervous system, “Oh son of a flying fuck, that's cold!” Of course I only complain about that, but in the process of yelling, I only caused me to break out into another fit of coughing.
Damn, I am so thirsty. I thought as I tried to get my coughing to subside.
“Sir, I have to ask that you remain still. Most of your wounds have been healed, but your nervous system is still suffering from an aftereffect of the spell we used to hasten the rate of which your body healed.”
There was an awkward silence that fell over the room before I spoke, “Doctor the fuck are you talking about "the spell"? Is this some hippy spiritual healing medical office? Also, on another note, are you wearing high heels man? I mean, if that's what you are into whatever, but clopping around on the hard tile is brutal on my headache.”
“I'm going to need you to quiet down a second and take some slow deep breaths.”
Sighing deeply, I did as he asked kind of annoyed at being ignored, but they are helping me out so I can't be mad. Doctors always like that anyways.
A sigh of relief graced my ears as the doctor removed his stethoscope, “Well, besides some mild side effects from the spell you should be alright in another day or two.”
“Really doc? That quick? I had a damn sword in my chest, and I'm good to go?” I asked him sounding like I didn't believe a single damn word of what he just told me.
Clearing his throat a bit, an awkward silence permeated the air before he spoke, “Um, I don't know how to put this lightly, so I'll just say it. You have been unconscious for six days.”
“Again? My luck sucks. So doc, what's with the blindfold?”
I could tell I caught him off guard a bit with that comment as it took him a second to collect his thoughts, “Oh the spell causes light sensitivity. You will be free to remove the bandages tomorrow. For now, get some rest. You are going to have a very big day tomorrow.”
Before I could reply that motherly voice spoke up again, “Doctor, may I speak with him first?”
“Sorry Princess, but right now he needs to rest more than anything.”
I heard the clopping sound of them leaving, the door closing quickly following suit. The hell is wrong with these people talking about magic and spells. I can't stand this natural healing b.s, but at least I can get some sleep I'm fucking beat. With that final thought I decided to get some sleep.
