Chapters "You insufferable little. . . niece of mine!" Dèshū glared her pink eyes at Shade, who was currently chained up and laid on her side on the floor, "I love you, Shade, but I owe my life to Grey. He has been nothing but a great brudder to me and a great father to you and you do nothing but give him Hell. Well, I have had enough out of you young lady!"
Shade rolled her eyes, long since stopped listening to that gothic lolita, pink pig tailed, aunt of hers. She was in no mood to listen to her fawn about how "great of a father" that man was. If she were to be in any mood, it would be a good mood: she had finally killed that man.
Dèshū saw Shade's smug little grin, "Oh? You think Grey dead, do you? I have news for you!" She levitated a crystal ball in front of Shades face, where Grey, her uncles, and the other women were walking through the ruins of Heaven. Her eyes flared. Now it was Dèshū's turn to grin smugly, "He is alive and kicking. To be perfectly honest, I do not know how he was resurrected. All I know is: I had no hand in it."
Shade struggled to break free of the chains and she bit at the gag in her mouth.
She suddenly found herself levitated in the air, hovering in front of her smiling aunt, "I have a wondrous idea! Instead of locking you up in the Void," she grinned devilishly, "I will send you to a place much, much more Hellish."
With a flash, a white light her aunt, her throne, and the whole room disappeared and she was enveloped in darkness.
Anarchy. Complete. Anarchy. News spread like wild fire about the sudden disappearances of Equestria's sovereign sisters. When the guards rushed for the counsel of Princess Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville but found her castle void of her as well, panic ensued. Somehow, the Griffins heard the news of the vulnerable nation, and King Gallus all too happily occupied the throne in Canterlot, under the guise of offering his "knowledge of governing", thus electing himself Stewart Governor of Equestria. The ponies were all to relieved to have a new master to follow obediently.
Then, the Diamond Dogs began to pillage and plunder all the towns along the edges of their territory. King Gallus sent soldiers, pony and griffon alike, to immediately quell the mutts, which he did. . . for a few weeks. A new Chief led the Diamond Dogs and fed their ravenous, greedy appetites. The dragons had thought this the right time to invade Equestria as well, and soon Canterlot burned down to ashes, "Stewart Governor" nowhere in sight. Leaderless, the ponies quickly submitted to the rule of the dragons.
Princess Cadance did not want to sit idly by while all of this happened to her friends, but she was with child and had to worry about the safety of her own people. Before the dragons razed half of her army, her city was past capacity filled with pony refugees.
Shining Armor placed a hoof over his wife and pulled her close to him, nuzzling her neck, "We will get through this, you'll see."
"I hope you are right, Shiny," Cadence stared teary-eyed over her sparkling denizens, "I hope my aunties and Twilight are safe."
"Don't worry about them, they are more than capable of defending themselves," he stated confidently, "We need to come up with a plan on how to raise and lower the sun and moon, soon the sun will burn everything."
"Maybe I could be of assistance," a voice hissed behind them.
They turned to face the draconequus who conveniently popped up.
"And how would you be of assistance?" Shining gritted, stepping between Discord and Cadence.
"Out of the goodness of my heart, of course," he stated matter-of-factly, "I will lower and raise the sun and moon for all of Equestria!" He blinked out of existence and popped beside Cadence, "For a small price, that is," he grinned maliciously.
Shining Armor was about to protest but Cadance stopped him, "What is your price, Discord?"
"Why, my dear, world domination," he spoke, his eyes full of glee.
Shining Armor's ice blue eyes glared at him, he sighed and turned to his wife, "What do you think?"
"I think we have little choice," Cadance said defeated.
"Oh, goodie!" Discord chimed. A ridiculously long scroll and a quill popped into existence, "Now, if you would, please sign here, initial here, initial here, hoof print there, initial there, lick here, scratch there, initial here, kiss there, hoof print there," he took a breath, "and finally, sign here." Cadence, much to her displeasure, did all the things he asked and finally signed the dotted line at the bottom of the scroll. "Now, was that so hard?" he smirked.
Her brain pounded against her skull. What the fuck did that loli whore do to me? Shade felt grass caressing her body and a soft breeze blew over her. She whimpered uncharacteristically, wishing for the pain in her brain to go away. She brought her hand up to her forehead only to feel something hard protruding from her head and not able to feel her fingers. Opening her eyes, she saw an ivory hoof in front of an ivory snout. Panic coursed through her body. She tried to stand but failed miserably, her new legs buckled under her and did not want to cooperate. She felt her head again and felt two smaller, pointy nubs on her forehead, one on either side of her horn. She turned her head and saw that she, much to her distaste, was in fact a horse. A unicorn had one horn right, so her having three made her a. . . trinicorn? Tricorn? Whatever. She noticed her short cropped, dual colored tail and mane. I need a mirror. No. I need to get out of here.
She was surrounded by tall trees and thick shrubs. Her ears flicked and rotated to every tweet and shrill of the birds in the trees, which only aggravated her more, since she could not control her ears.
"Ugh!" she grunted. None of her new body parts wanted to cooperate and her frustration grew. Her ears focused on the sound of chuckling behind her.
"Look at the stupid pony!" a shrill voice commented.
She continued to struggle to her feet.
"Like a baby deer!" another voice mocked, this one a little deeper and not as sharp as the first.
The wind blew over her face which carried the scent of dog.
"What do you mongrels want!" she hissed.
"What's a mun-grul?" a third piped up.
"I think she's making fun of us!" the first concluded.
"How many brain cells did it take for you to figure it out?" Shade berated.
The first Diamond Dog growled and charged at her from behind. Shade bucked her back legs as hard as she could and connected with the dog's jaw with a satisfying crack. She heard the dog fall to the ground. The other two jumped at her. Shade kicked her back legs into the ground to spin her body around, and brought them up to smash the face of a large, dark gray dog. She slammed her left forehoof into the face of a tiny light gray dog. She used the momentum to jump onto her hooves and snort victoriously over the three dogs.
She went to the smaller dog, who was the least injured, and kicked him in the ribs, "Where am I?"
"Equestria!" it yelped.
Shade snorted, "No kidding?"
"No! No!" it sniveled in agony and fear.
"Where is the closest town with 'ponies' like myself?" she interrogated him.
"T-Two days," he began to turn himself on the ground and pointed in the trees, "that way!"
"Are there any more creatures like yourself?"
"Yes!"
"How many?"
"Lots!"
"Thank you," Shade sneered before crushing its head under her hoof. She sniffed the blood on her hoof and took a curious taste at it. "Hmm, not bad," she admitted to herself after cleaning her hoof of the sanguine liquid.
She examined the first dog she hit and saw that its neck had snapped. The second dog did not fare any better: with a crushed face, the bones and force acted like a shotgun blast to his brain.
"'Two days that way', eh?" Shade spoke aloud and began her trot through the woods the opposite direction the dog had said.
Princess Cadance sobbed. She watched her baby through her crystal prison. If only Flurry Heart was born other than an alicorn. . . how was such a thing even possible? Long since her eyes stopped producing tears, yet the tears of her heart filled the hollowness inside her. One day, somehow, she was going to get her revenge on Discord.
He stole her baby from her mere minutes after her birth; which only gave Princess Cadance and Shining Armor the chance to name her. Discord immediately sealed the baby away to be used as his "recharge station". She knew her husband hurt but he could never comprehend the pain, anguish, and sorrow that clouded her heart.
She pulled herself away from the prison and climbed the forlorn steps to her chamber. On her immaculate desk sat a single stack of papers. Reports of the latest casualties at the front lines. Queen Chrysalis was growing bolder. If anything, Discord's selfishness in wanting to be the only villain to rule made sure that he kept the Changeling numbers in check as well as keep the others at bay. She climbed into her bed and planted her face into a pillow. She needed her aunt Celestia and Luna back, not just her, but everyone.
Shade panted and spat a chunk of flesh out of her mouth. A manticore hissed angrily at her.
She smirked at the frightened beast, "You fucked with the wrong pony!" She charged at the cornered beast with her horn leveled with its heart. The beast struck out with its stinger and missed. Shade stabbed its paw and when it lowered its head in suffering, she bucked her back legs into the jaw of the beast, which knocked it on its back. She maliciously bit at its jugular, sinking her four overly sized canines deep and ripping its throat out. The beast gurgled and blood spurt out of the new hole, showering Shade.
As much as Shade loved to kill things, she wanted to know more about the place her runt of an aunt sent her to. Her tally of kills so far would be ten, in just two days, which she considered to be a slow week. Her kills include those three dogs, now two manticores, three wolves that looked like trees, and two huge bats that just would not leave her be.
She emerged from the trees and the bright light blinded her sensitive eyes. She continued her walk but rested in the shade of tree every couple minutes to close her eyes. I wonder if they have sunglasses. After twenty minutes of walking, she saw a settlement up ahead. Before heading into town, though, she looked over her dirty, blood caked body and decide a bath was in order first. A long dip in the frozen river refreshed her coat, skin, muscles, and bones.
She walked down the cobblestone street and noticed how quiet the town was. The buildings did not seem kept up and most were already collapsed. The sound of her hooves echoed off the stones. She stopped in what used to be a market: broken stalls and scattered goods were the only survivors of some conflict. It was weak, but the scent of dog and fear clung to the ground. A bitter wind blew through the street. She tightened the tattered vest around her which she scavenged from a dog.
Shade shuffled through the disheveled town. Maybe she could find a library or map or. . . a castle. . . set atop a gnarled, dead tree. That that had to be promising. She trotted a little faster towards her new goal.
The doors creaked and groaned open. Her hoof steps were the only sounds she heard through the desolate castle. Stained glass windows were shattered and glass covered the floor; tapestry was shredded and faded from its original colors. She searched through all the empty and disheveled rooms and only found rotted, ruined books and parchment.
She opened one door and was immediately blinded by white light. She reared back and her horn caught a banner which fell on her. She bucked and flailed wildly.
"Wh-who are y-you?" she heard a young male voice squeak.
"Who are you?" she countered and stopped her thrashing.
"I . . . a-asked you first!"
She saw light filter through the threadbare fabric and sighed, "Valkyrie."
"What are you doing here?" he questioned and shuffled closer to her.
"Just trying to figure out how to get home."
"I'm going to take the drape off you," he said hesitantly, "Do you promise not to hurt me."
"No."
She heard him gulp audibly, "P-Please?"
Shade huffed and rolled her eyes, "As long as you don't flash that light in my eyes."
"Sorry!" she heard a click and the cover was removed from her head. She saw a thin, emaciated looking drake standing before her, about the same height as her, with a wry grin.
Spike saw the alabaster white unicorn mare, with a short, wild, black and crimson mane, with fierce hay colored eyes. He cleared his throat and waved at her, "H-Hi. My name's Spike."
"Where am I?" she asked brusquely.
Spike stepped back from her advance, "M-My h-home."
"I don't care about that," she huffed, "What planet is this?"
"Oh! Uh. . . Equus?"
Shade stared at him dubiously, "Is that a statement or question?"
"Equus," Spike nodded.
"Do you know of a way to get to other worlds?"
"Yeah, I know of one way. . ." the drake said.
"If you haven't noticed: I'm not from around here."
"I thought as much," he replied, "Not many unicorns have two smaller horns. What are you? A trinicorn? A tricorn?"
"The Hell if I know. I wasn't born this way," Shade commented.
A long, awkward silence passed between them. The drake shifted nervously under the murderous gaze of his new guest.
"What happened here? I figure this place didn't always look like this, right?" Shade questioned and sat on her haunches.
"No," the drake answered crestfallen, "It all happen "
"This isn't going to take long is it?" Shade interrupted.
"Do you have somewhere more important to be?" Spike cracked.
". . . Touche." She crossed her forelegs and rested her head on them, "You have my full, undivided attention."
Shade gasped in horror at the hilt protruding from her abdomen. She clutched the worn, crimson leather grip with her left hand and rested her right hand on the purple sapphire pommel; she turned her confused cymophane eyes at the woman who smirked devilishly at her. The woman whom Shade looked up to, the woman whom Shade respected, the woman whom Shade loved: her mother.
Valkyrie impaled her second dagger beside the first. She lifted the light Shade by the blades which slashed her up to her diaphragm. Shade gasped for air.
"I have come for what is rightfully mine!" Valkyrie hissed.
"Mo. . ." Shade choked and spat up blood. She felt her extremities growing cold.
She saw her mother's eyes ablaze. They were unfamiliar to her. Instead of the hard amethyst eyes, she had grown up with seeing, her mother's eyes were demonic red with yellow irises; they were filled with hate and fury. She suddenly found herself on the ground. Her mother had been tackled by someone. She laid there on the hard pebbles lamely and numb.
Shade saw her father, Grey, wrestling with the demon. After a short squabble, he got off of the limp body of the woman and walked over to her. Her eyes swelled with tears.
Grey knelt beside her and lifted her into his arms. He pulled the daggers out of her and began to heal her with a yellow aura.
"Don't worry, sweetie, daddy is here," he smiled warmly down at her.
"Dad," she coughed up blood.
"Shh, not yet, sweetie."
I'm so sorry , she thought and drifted off to sleep. Before she could close her eyes, she was rudely awakened by him dropping her. She opened her eyes and watched in terror as her mother lifted Grey up off the ground, her arm sticking out of his chest.
"Oh, don't look so surprised, darling," Valkyrie cooed in his ear, "You learned this from me, remember?" His body went limp and she tossed him to the side.
"NO!" Shade roared and jumped up with renewed vigor. She ran through Valkyrie, using her mother's own daggers to stab her diaphragm. Shade threw her to the ground and pounced on top of her. Valkyrie brought up her hand but Shade sliced off her arms with her daggers. Shade plunged both into the woman's chest repeatedly, yelling at the top of her lungs.
Shade watched the fire die from her mother's eyes. Panting, she got off her corpse and stumbled over to Grey's body. She rolled him over but his eyes were glazed over.
"No. . ." she sobbed, "Nononononononononono!" She hugged him tightly, "No! You can't leave! Not again. . ." Hot tears streamed down her face, "D-Daddy. . ."
Shade sat up. She examined the dusty room and saw the adolescent dragon standing before her.
"What?" her voice cracked.
He held out a white dish rag for her in his claws, "You were crying. Are you okay?"
She swiped his hand away and got to her hooves. She turned her back to him, wiped her cheeks, and answered brusquely, "Just my mind playing tricks on me."
Spike rubbed his injured hand, "R-Right. I found some books that will help me teach you our language."
"Good." Shade cleared her throat, "Make a fire and I'll go get our breakfast, as I said I would."
"Thanks!" he replied happily, "I am down to my last sapphire and. . . I can't hunt. . ."
Shade cast a glance back at the thin dragon and snorted, "I keep my word."
She used the time walking to the woods to sort through her mind and dream. Ever since she woke up in the hospital, the scene of her father murdering her mother would play every time she went to sleep. She had not seen her mother since then. The only thing she had to go by that said she was alive was the amulet her mother presented her two weeks before her death.
She heard her mother's voice through the amulet, but in her dream. . . her mother looked and sounded much different. Then there was Grey. He looked exactly the same only older. How many years has her immortal blood kept her alive? How many years have passed by since she stopped aging? Was Grey the only source for her answers? She stopped talking to her uncles because they would always say the same thing, 'Why don't you ask your father'? It irritated her the most.
A scent drifted across her nose, sent by the wind. A scent she would know anywhere: blood. She shook the thoughts out of her head and followed the scent into the woods.
"Help!" she heard a male voice cry.
Yeah, draw more predators to you , Shade thought. Shade broke through some bushes and a voice above her caught her attention.
"Oh, thank Celestia's royal butt!" She turned her head up to see a light colored, winged-pony stuck in a tree. A branch poked right through one of his wings. "Would the pretty, kind mare, kindly help me down?"
"I don't know, when I see one I'll ask her," Shade deadpanned.
"I happen to have a mirror in my saddlebag!"
"What makes you think I am 'kind'?" Shade questioned and sat on her haunches.
"The fact that you even bothered to come out here," the stallion chuckled nervously.
"Blood and cries always draw predators," Shade grinned which exposed her canines.
She heard the stallion gulp, "Well, then, please get me down before any predators arrive."
Shade tapped her chin in mock thought, "No."
"Please! I've been here since the morning!" he pleaded.
"Live bait always draws out bigger game," Shade replied and hid in the bushes beside her.
"Come back! I don't want to be bait!" he cried.
She heard the stallion try to free himself which only led to cursing and crying. A couple minutes passed and a new, familiar scent wafted into her nostrils. The stallion must have smelled it, as well, since he stopped making a ruckus. A manticore broke through the trees and eyed his catch. He stalked closer and licked his chops, wanting to take his time with his meal. Wood-like wolves jumped out of the bushes behind the manticore and attacked the beast. Shade used this distraction to move to the bushes in front of the tree to get a better view of the battle.
Within a matter of moments, the wood-wolves were overwhelmed by the veteran manticore. With three of the five already destroyed, the other two high-tailed their selves away. With a noticeable limp, the manticore continued his journey across the clearing to his treat. The manticore stopped right at the tree and looked up to gaze at his hard fought prize. Shade struck.
She leapt up in the air and clamped her jaws on the neck of the manticore. It roared and swiped the pest off him. He growled in pain. His action caused her to remove a mouthful of black mane and fur. The stallion watched in awe at the fight in front of him. The manticore charged at her and Shade dodged under the lumbering beast, kicking back her legs, which unbalanced the beast and made him tumble into trees. Shade charged at the exposed belly of the beast. The manticore saw this and swung his scorpion stinger at her. Shade latched onto the tail and bit it in half, removing his main method of attack and defense.
The manticore roared and charged at the white hellion before him. Shade stopped his paw from crushing her and stabbed his pad with her horn. He pulled back his paw and Shade lunged at his throat again. She sank her canines in the bald spot she made seconds earlier. She twisted her head and tore out a chunk of his throat. The ferocious beast moaned and fell to his side. Shade thrust her snout into the cavity she created and crunched through his spine, ending its suffering. Shade jumped off the beast and licked her chops victoriously.
Lime Flyer could not believe his eyes: that mare killed a manticore. Not only did she kill it but she bit it and drank its blood. Her glowing yellow eyes locked onto his frightened sapphire pinpricks. She trotted to the tree.
"How am I supposed to get you down? With the ladder in my ass?" she said.
"You can use your magic to release me, too! Though, I would like to see this ladder you are hiding!" he joked.
"I don't have magic," Shade stated.
"That's like saying a pegasus can't fly!"
"If I had magic, do you think I would've attacked that manticore bare. . . hoofed?" Shade remarked.
"Uh. . . yeah?" he replied matter-of-factly.
Shade smirked up at him, "Yeah. Yeah, I still would have." She jumped with all her strength and was able to reach the lowest branch of the tree. She continued to jump from limb to limb to reach the pegasus.
Lime Flyer saw her hooves and heard her grunting as she pulled herself up. He waved to her casually. She snorted passed him and examined his wing closely. The branch had impaled him through his left humerus; it did not look pretty.
"I don't think you'll be flying anytime soon," she commented.
"So, it's as bad as it feels?" Lime asked weakly.
"Afraid so. I'll be able to remove it when we get back to the castle," Shade answered. She punched the base of the branch and cleanly chopped it from the tree.
Lime Flyer cried in pain when he tried to move it. Shade hopped off the branch and down to the next one below. Lime Flyer followed her down. Shade walked over to the manticore, bit its tail, and started dragging the corpse. She motioned with her head for him to follow her.
Well, at least she won't eat me soon , Lime Flyer thought optimistically as he followed the capable ivory tricorn mare.
Spike examined the lime green pegasus stallion in front of him then turned to question Valkyrie, "We're not going to eat him, are we?"
Shade chuckled, "No, not yet. Breakfast could not fit through the door. Do you have a knife so I can cut it up?"
"Yeah. . ." Spike answered slowly, "I'll go get it."
"This is Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle," Lime Flyer stated as he walked around the stone table and thrones.
"Spike said she disappeared along with the other Elements of Harmony, whatever that means, and the diarchs of Equestria," Shade informed him.
"Oh!" the stallion zipped over to the ivory mare and extended his hoof, "Lime Flyer."
"Good for you," she replied coldly and walked passed him to sit on a throne with an apple on it.
"Okay, Trinity, suit yourself," Lime Flyer began to walk away but was stopped by a pull on his tail. He turned and smirked at the ivory mare.
"What did you call me?"
"Well, since you wouldn't tell me your name, I made one up for you. Since you have three horns, 'Trinity' seemed fitting," Lime Flyer explained.
Spike walked into the room with a large knife. He saw Valkyrie glaring at the newest guest.
"Dragon," she addressed him.
"Spike," he answered annoyed.
"Do you know how magic works?" she turned and saw him holding the knife.
"I think there are some books around here that could help," Spike said while rubbing his jaw.
"That is appreciated," she reached down to take the knife in her mouth when she stopped, "Since you are being so trusting of me. . . I am called Shade. Valkyrie is my mother's name."
"Aw," Lime Flyer interjected sadly, "So it's not 'Trinity'?"
"No," Shade stated and took the knife from Spike, "I'r vee vak."
Fifteen minutes later, bag after bag of meat, Shade tossed the bloody knife in the sink.
"I," Spike cleared his throat as he entered the kitchen, "don't want to sound rude, but you should probably shower after your bath in all that. . . blood. . ."
"Alright. It will give you time to cook anyways," Shade stated.
"Yeah, just follow me. The castle can be quite confusing at first."
Lime Flyer searched through the fridge and frowned. Not a single fruit or vegetable in sight, nor any oats nor grains. He sat at the empty table and rubbed the bandage on his wing. Shade had been kind enough to remove the stick, although he was a little concerned that she licked it clean. As a resident of Ponyville, he knew a lot about the Elements of Harmony and Spike. Why they disappeared along with the Princesses, he did not know. Nopony knew. Claws scraped on the marble tile and he saw Spike walking in.
"Where can I find some food?" Lime Flyer asked.
"I dunno," the adolescent dragon shrugged his shoulders, "I've been living off gems and mice."
"What did you do when they disappeared?"
Spike was adding spices and herbs to the chunk of meat Shade had cut from the manticore, "I woke up and Twilight wasn't here. So I went to find Rarity. No Rarity. I went to find Pinkie. No Pinkie. I went to find Applejack. No Applejack. I went to find Fluttershy. No Fluttershy. I sent letter after letter to the Princesses and did not get a reply. So I went to Canterlot. No. Princesses." The adolescent drake heaved a sigh and put the roast in the oven.
"What's your story?" Spike inquired as he took an empty seat across from the pegasus.
"I was looking for food and this griffon attacked me out of nowhere! She just clipped me in the air! She would have chased after me but a dragon had his sights set on her to eat," Lime Flyer motioned with his hoof how he went spiraling down into the trees, "And then I feel a stabbing pain in my wing. Lo and behold, a branch stabbed my wing."
"How long has it been since you last ate?"
"About a week," Lime Flyer chuckled weakly. "I had escaped from one of the work camps set up by the griffons. I should probably try and rescue as many of the others as I can. Hey! Do you think you and Shade could help me?"
"I can only speak for myself. I just met Shade yesterday," Spike said. "I think in order for Shade to help she would want something in return and/or want to be more prepared. She seems. . . brutish, but she is highly intelligent."
"So you are helping her with magic?"
"And with our language. She is from a different world," Spike informed Lime Flyer.
"I thought as much. Have you noticed that she doesn't have a cutie mark? I would guess she is a few years older than twenty yet still has a blank flank."
"It doesn't surprise me; she is from a different universe," Spike reinforced. "Her lack of a cutie mark may also be the reason she doesn't know any magic."
"Or there was no magic in her universe," Lime countered.
"I wonder what her world was like," mused Spike.
Two wet towels slapped the two males on their face, "You two are worse than school girls," Shade commented. She sat across the drake, "Alright, I'm ready for my first magic lesson."
"I think we should start with the language. You already seem to know how to speak it so learning how to read and write should be easy," Spike spoke aloud as he went around collecting the workbooks he gathered from the school.
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Chapter Number Three - From A Time Long Since Pass
Chapter Number Three - From A Time Long Since Pass
"Tell me what I want to know, and all this unpleasantness can be left behind," Shade demanded in a calm tone. The subject before her hung from meat hooks which ripped through his shoulder blades and hooked under his clavicle. His fresh wounds bled profusely, creating little rusty streams that ran down his fully exposed, body, down the metal chain, and over the concrete blocks, which pooled beneath his feet. Gravity and his weight conspired against him.
He saw her eyes softly glow pale yellow as she slowly circled around him. Through the cracks of the dark shed, he saw her lick the dagger clean of his blood, "I'm a KNIGHT, bitch, I'm never going to tell."
He heard her rustling through a couple metal tool boxes behind him. He gulped and thought about ways to escape. He heard knobs squeaking open and a clicking sound and realized she was trying to light something. Her leather boots echoed as she stepped in his vision. She wielded a cutting torch in her left hand and a cattle prod in her right.
"Ha! If you think you can make me talk with that, you must really be an amateur!" he mocked.
"Good, keep up that bravado. I don't want you passing out on me," Shade stated apathetically.
She poked him the cattle prod and giggled as the man's body jolted with seven million volts of electricity. Poke. Scream. Poke. Scream. Poke. Yell. Poke. Cry. Poke. Gurgle. Poke. Scream. She repeated the process for a couple of minutes. The KNIGHT's body jerked and twitched involuntarily and his hair smoked.
"Where. Is. Grey. Zamanova. Whulphe?"
"I," he began and labored, "I won't tell."
"Goodie!" Shade chimed and discarded the cattle prod behind her. She opened up the valve on the torch and the small orange flame grew four times in size. "I like my men," she grinned devilishly, "well-done!"
She set the flame on his toes on his right foot which started to cook instantly. He screamed howled in agony. With all his strength, he tried to remove his feet from the hot flames, but the cement blocks impaired his movement.
Shade inhaled the intoxicating aroma of cooked meat, pain, and fear, "Where. Is. Grey. Zamanova. Whulphe?" she questioned again.
The man choked on his tears and foam in his mouth, "Fuck you!" he spat.
Shade picked up the chained hooks from the ground and impaled them into his hips. He cried out in pain. She tightened the ratchet lever hoist of the chains. She grabbed his right leg, and in one motion: unsheathed her dagger, sliced off his leg below his knee, and sheathed the dagger. The man howled, not only from the slice but also from the concrete blocks pulling his leg out of socket from his hip. Shade cauterized the wound to keep him from bleeding to death.
"Is keeping him alive worth your life?" Shade inquired. She noticed the man start to loose consciousness.
She rolled her eyes and pulled a syringe from her pocket. She placed the needle in his neck and depressed the plunger to keep him awake. Adrenaline fueled through his veins and with it came the pain.
"No sprecken," he laughed weakly, his bloodshot blue eyes glazed over.
Shade sighed. "Well, I guess it's on to my new toys."
He saw her disappear into the darkness and a few seconds later, a light turned on to illuminate another section. He stared in horror. His wife and ten-year-old daughter were bound and gagged on the floor; their cheeks wet with tears.
"Don't! Don't you fucking touch them!" he shouted, "I'll tell you!"
"Love," she crouched beside the whimpering brunette woman who looked no older than Shade, "Love always baffled me. Before you came into the picture, he was strong and brave, but now that you and she are here, he crumbles like cheese." She placed her dagger in the woman's hands. "Now, for wasting my time, you kill her your daughter or yourself."
"He's in Portland! Portland, you bitch! Leave them alone!" he blurted.
Shade turned to him then returned her attention to the woman, "You can save yourself or save your daughter. Your daughter, she would have to live with this scar for the rest of her life or you, you who could start a new family." Shade stepped back and let go of the woman's hand.
The woman hesitated for a couple of moments, closed her eyes, and stabbed the young girl. The little girl screamed in pain.
"Whoopsie!" Shade exclaimed, "You kinda missed her heart. It is probably a good idea to keep your eyes open where you can see where you're aiming."
The woman was crying and through blurred vision found the heart of the little girl. The woman stabbed her through the smiling sun on the girls shirt.
"No!" the man howled.
Shade removed the blade from the woman's hand and cut the woman's gag, "Why did you kill the girl?"
"She. . . she wasn't my d-daughter. . ." the woman cried.
A smiled cracked Shade's confused expression, "That's cold hearted."
The man hung limp and lifeless. "Just kill me," he begged as Shade approached.
"Nope! It will be much more fun to let you live your life in regret, agony, and hatred! And when you kill yourself, that just adds one more soldier to my mother's army." Shade walked passed him, opened the warehouse door, and left down the sunny alley.
The sound of sirens in the distance filled the KNIGHT's ears and a single tear rolls off his cheek to mix with the pool of his blood.
