Dark Stag Ch. 09

"...About how... you had my dogs taken out, you did everything to cover your tail, but it didn't work. I had dogs all over the city, not just in the lower ring. Some of the dogs tracking Kijus scent, led to this place... You know where he is! I'll give you two options. You either can tell us voluntarily or we'll get the answer out of you." He responded.

"So between now and months ago of which these scents can last in this cold dry climate, you think I know of Kijus's recent whereabouts? He was here but months ago. We haven't seen each other in a long, long time." I said back. The official rolled his eyes.

"You know where he is... You wouldn't have had my dogs killed if you didn't know." The official argued.

"How can you be so sure? There's no way you can pin this on me." I said back, "Is it because we're both Illisians? How discriminatory... Is that the only lead you got? Kijus and I may be of the same race, but we couldn't be any more different! I know nothing of his culture and he knows nothing of mine. Now I'm going to ask you to leave my house and not come back unless you have anything else besides anecdotal evidence."

"We have witnesses that pinned you two together! Witnesses that have seen both of you with dark stags! While you're talking about anecdotal evidence..." The official said.

"Still not concrete..." I said opening my door, "I'm going to need you all to get out of my home!"

"Arrest him. He's not squirming his way out of this..." The official demanded.

I drew both arms, cocking them as the men closed in. Everyone froze.

"I need to see a warrant for my arrest before you take me in! If you have a warrant then I'll surrender just fine, but without a warrant, you're not taking me in alive." I responded. I knew what these people did during interrogation! Their practices were nothing shy of torture and they were not going to torture me!

The official grew angry.

"I am the KING'S GAURD, his most TRUSTED ADVISOR! I don't NEED A WARRANT!" He shouted. I looked at him intently.

"Is that what you really want?" I asked him.

"You won't do a thing! You're soft... a pussy!" He said, confident.

Without hesitation, I aimed my pistol at the official, firing at his head. The tiny pistol's aim was shoddy so it shot him in the shoulder. He screamed out in agony, falling to the floor. His guards rushed forward. One was shot in the head, the other in the neck. I fled the house rushing down the stairs. As I did, it was shocking to see a number of officials already in the stables. I quickly aimed my guns, wishing I had something with more power.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE ME ALIVE!!" I screamed, firing my pistols. I hit several of the guards but these low powered pistols didn't have the lethality I wanted. Many were able to take cover in the paddocks. They returned fire as I hid behind the railing of the staircase.

This was getting nowhere. It was a dance of ducking and returning fire! A round hit the rail just in front of my face. I screamed ducking down, they shot almost killing me.

"He's down..." Someone said. It shocked me! The thudding of footsteps on the stairs made me clench my knife. I dug in, sitting low as the first black silhouette came forth. He was expecting to see a dead body in a pool of blood, but no. I lurched forward stabbing him in the groin then in the shoulder. I pushed him down the stairs onto another man rushing up after him.

A number of guards took aim however my pistols were quicker. I fired, shooting a number of guards in the chest, neck and head. The others took cover. Suddenly an intense pain bludgeoned my back. The force sent me down the stairs head first. I blacked out. After God knows how much time, I woke up in searing pain. My shoulder felt like it was hanging by shreds of skin. I looked down, seeing it wrapped up in gauze.

The lights turned on suddenly revealing I was in an interrogation room. My hands were secured to the chair, my ankles secured to the floor. The light was really, really harsh, a tactic to make it extremely uncomfortable for whoever was being interrogated. The lead official stood in the door, closing it behind himself. He had a cast on his shoulder, looking very upset.

"You better be glad we need you alive." He said, "Allow, me to introduce myself. I'm Sir Socoshian. You," He pointed at me, "Killed quite a few of my men and injured more... You really didn't want to be taken alive, didn't you?"

"I know these interrogation processes. When you don't have answers, you do everything to get the answer that you want..." I said.

"That is because we're always adamant who we bring into this room is guilty... We don't bring anyone in here unless they have evidence stacked up against them." Sir Socoshian smiled. He slammed a folder of paperwork on the desk. It was the original Kijus case files that were missing, "You were on the audit that day several months ago. You discovered Kijus was literate and tried your hardest to get him his freedom. You let him meet your KING!"

I looked at him as though he were full of shit.

"Lies..." I said plainly, "And you think just because I was close to the case that I was responsible for him going missing?"

"You..." Sir Socoshian began, trying to find the right words to say, "Are so caught in this, I don't even think you can see the truth anymore! Just tell us where Kijus is before this get's ugly." I looked at the man defiantly, "Very well... Since Kijus met the king... You will!"

He left. Moments later, he returned with a number of others, including the king. The king didn't look happy either. He looked at me as though a revelation hit him.

"Oh yeah, he definitely knows where he is!" The king said without hesitation, "Look at him... They are the same! He wouldn't have went through all this trouble for someone who is different... I want you all to get the answers out of him anyway you can! I have to get back to the brunch, tell my kids what's going on."

Sir Socoshian smiled at me as he followed the king out. Minutes later, officials came in. They didn't look happy to do what they were about to do. However, they were ordered to do it. They beat me, and beat me bad, demanding I tell them about Kijus. However, I couldn't reveal Kijus's whereabouts to these people! They'd most certainly kill him and despite his selfishness, I couldn't live with that.

The torture lasted for a long time, the sun arcing across the sky into the night time. The torture changed from beating, to rag and bucket drowning, to slashes. The interrogators were growing frustrated. However, at this point, I wasn't cooperating because I was just exhausted. I couldn't even hold up my head any more.

"Speak..." An official said, grabbing my face.

"Is he going into shock?" Another asked.

"I'll make him go into shock..." The official holding my face said. He left. The other one paced, around.

"This is ridiculous... It's clear you didn't do it. We're going to end up killing you, Mercury." He said. I couldn't even look up. I knew this man, not by name but he worked in my department. I filed his cases quite often.

The other official returned, looking excited.

"They found him..." He said before looking at me, "You thought that we wouldn't, that we were that incompetent..." The other one looked at me, shocked at all of this seemed to be true. It shocked me too, my stomach twisting into knots at the thought of being confronted with this. They couldn't have found Kijus.

"Wait what?" The other asked.

"This kid just walked into the headquarters and began flinging toxic darts at people! He gutted quite a few of us but we put a bullet in his shoulder. They're wrecking his ass right... as... we... speak!" The official said, giddy with anticipation. He turned to me, seeing the shock written across my face, "Oh no... Maybe he'll spill without me having to remove some parts..."

"Don't hurt him..." I said.

"So now you speak..." He responded.

"Don't hurt him..." I repeated.

"Mercury, what's going on?" The other official asked, shocked that I was involved with this.

"Please... I'm begging you." I continued.

"He should have thought before he killed our men. He's getting what he deserves. You want to see him?" The other official asked.

"Let him go... He doesn't need to be here." I demanded.

"But he obviously did this for you." The official smiled. I looked at the man menacingly.

"Don't you dare..." I said through the grit of my teeth. He left, leaving the door open.

Horrible sobbing filled the halls as distant footsteps became louder. They brought the boy in. Preston was in rough shape. He looked up at me, seeing I wasn't better.

"I tried..." Preston cried, "I heard they took you..."

"You shouldn't have..." I said, disappointed with the boy.

"I knew what they were going to do to you!" He said back, not upset with the way things turned.

"But look at you now!" I said, the boy having blood pouring down from his shoulder, blacked eyes, a number of bruises, bumps and swells. He was barely recognizable.

"Yes... look at him now..." The official said, "So sad what happened to him. At least I know what'll make you talk now..."

"You leave him out of this..." I said through the grit of my teeth. It was what the official wanted.

"Or what? What will you do?" He said, grabbing his knife. He began peeling layers of flesh off of Preston's gunshot wound. The boy screamed out squirming in the arms of the guards that held him.

"HE'S A CHILD!!" I begged, unable to bear the boy's screaming.

"He's a child that did some very grown up things..." The official said back. Even his colleagues could see he was pushing things.

"Okay, okay OKAY!!" I said, unable to bear it anymore, "I'll tell you..."

"No...NO! NO!!" Preston said through the grit of his teeth, "We're both here for a reason! We can't do that Mercury..."

"YOU EXPECT ME TO SIT HERE AND LET THEM TORTURE YOU?" I asked him.

"What's more important to you, the sanctity of what you stand for or this?" He said back, weeping through the pain.

"You! Before there was Kijus, there was us! We've been brothers for years... YEARS!! I'm sorry but I can't let them do this to you..." I said, unable to hold it in anymore.

"So it's true?" The other official asked, the one I had worked with previously.

"Yes... He's inv..."

"The WINDOW!" Someone said. I was confused.

Suddenly, glass shattered. A white hooded figure flipping in, swinging combat batons. He dispatched the officials. A number of reinforcements rushed in however they were followed by a black hooded figure holding a falchion and scimitar. The black hooded figure moved with shadow like speed, spinning and flipping around with the blades.

It was a bloodbath, the black hooded figure not wasting any time in killing the officials. There was so much angst with his strikes, so much hatred brewed in his attack. Yet, he remained fluid, moving like a flash flood through the large interrogation room. The fight ended, with blood everywhere. The black hooded figure broke my chains, helping me to my feet.

The white hooded figure helped Preston up, toting the boy on his back as he combined his batons into a staff. He looked at the black hooded figure, both wearing red masks that concealed their faces. They seemed to talk but without words, as if this was rehearsed. The two began to walk us out the interrogation room, down the hall where the door was canted open. It then hit me! These two were busting both Preston and I out.

Pain had me delirious as we inched our way out. The hall was very long, or maybe the agonizing pain made it feel so. As we neared the halfway point, more guards had come in the defense of the head quarters. They took aim with firearms, telling the perpetrators to freeze. However, the two masked men leaned us against the wall, gearing to face off with the guards.

The black hooded figure wore a barbary turben wrapped around nearly his entire face. His torso was covered in a black gauze like fabric that made him look like a living mummy. Around his waist were thin sheer robes that showed, powerful, dark thigh and calf muscles. One red slipper stood in front of the other as he extended out his falchion with his left hand. His right hand held his scimitar which he held the butt of facing down over the falchion. This was an ancient style of swordsmanship, only very few knew.

On the other end, the white hooded figure wore a white trench coat that stopped just at the ground. He had white tights, a utility belt and armor plating that made his look seem regal in comparison to the black hooded figure. The white hooded figure had boots, that seemed to be made of metal. He had his staff hanging to the side, his leg stance firm as he stared back undauntedly at the guards at the other end of the hall.

Suddenly the lights went out. The hall was pitch black. All that could be seen was the muzzle flash and the occasional silhouette of the whole hooded figure. Bullets bounced off his armor as he walked towards them. As he did, the sound of meat being cleaved and screams of the guards rang out in the darkness. Soon, the sound of the staff striking and breaking bone made a sickening and bludgeoning contrast to the gorey sounds of meat being punctured.

Minutes later, Preston and I were again picked up in the darkness. We were being toted towards the door, it becoming brighter and brighter as we came closer. Soon we were out, two dark stags waiting on us there. This couldn't be a coincidence. One was big and mature, the other young with two white stripes running down the length of it's spine.

We were tied, secured and hoisted up on the back of the older stag. The two hooded figures mounted the younger stag. It was now a race through the city, heading towards the outer perimeter. It was getting hard to tell what was going on, hard for my eyes to stay open. Everything went black.

The next time I woke up, I was lying in a bed. Everything part of my body was hurting and moving was out of the questions.

"I'm sorry I don't have the medical supplies you need..." A thin male voice said, "You'll just have to heal the old fashion way..."

"What..." I began, unable to see who talking, "What happened?" I tried to prop myself up but the pain kept me laying there.

"Easy... Don't tear your stitches. I'll explain to you what happened." The man said, coming into view. He was an easterner, a gorgeous easterner who seemed to float across the floor. He wore white robes of the finest silks, his hair slicked back into a neat knot. The man sat down next to the bed, "You were in a grave state. I and a friend saved you after receiving information that you were indicted. Your friend, the young one, is okay. My grandmother has been taking care of him. You have people in high places looking out for you."

"What?" I asked, unsure what this meant.

"Roi and Brija, two of the king's children... Roi arrived first. He couldn't take any more of his father's antics. Brija came with yesterday morning with the news that you had been indicted. Roi wrote Kijus but we couldn't just stand by. We had to get you out out of there so I prepped, planned, thought it all out. Then we got a letter from Kijus..." The easterner responded.

"He was the one in the black hood..." I said. The easterner smiled.

"You're a smart one..." He chuckled.

"How'd he get out the brothel?" I asked, confused. The easterner shrugged.

"It's a story for another time." He responded.

"I can't believe it," I said clenching my head, "He was lethal with those blades... I thought he was lying about his past..."

"No..." The easterner responded, "I know Kijus's family. They're nomadic but his father was the third youngest prince of a great dynasty in south Tanzania. It's a warrior tribal tradition. His father was a trading partner with my grandmother and we knew he trained Kijus well. Kijus was doing very, very mature things since he could think on his own..."

"Where...Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in a trader outpost in Northern Mesopotamia, a long way from the Ziggurats. You're safe, very, very safe." The easterner responded.

"Wait, what about Kijus's money?" I asked.

"It's here. We made sure of that..." He responded, "You are free now... Free of everything that kept you bound to the Ziggurat. You can start over, now."

"And this is supposed to make me feel better, because?" I asked, unsure what he was getting at.

"This has become bigger than you and Kijus's relationship. This is an issue with the Southern Ziggurat, one that Kijus's actions brought to light. Even though it might not make you feel better, it is the truth..." The easterner said back.

"The truth? The truth made me realize that Kijus is full of shit! He put everyone else in danger for his own selfish reasons. One of my best friends, a child, was about to die last night because of him! I'm not putting up with that any more! I could have lost a brother over him and my relationship with my brother is far more important that whatever Kijus and I had! Everything Kijus is doing, is for himself and himself alone!" I responded.

The easterner looked heartbroken, but he knew my point was unwavering. He nodded, leaving before returning with a tall, dark urn.

"It's rum. It's the only pain medicine I got but I have some good medicine on the way..." He responded. He left, not wanting to make me upset any more. Poured some of the rum into a cup, drinking it. It was strong, burning everything on the way down.

Eventually, the room started spinning and I was off to sleep. Hours later, I woke up even more sore. I had to get out of this bed, though. With every ounce of tolerance I had, I moved the blankets off me. The pain was incredible, the most I had ever felt! I stood, the room spinning. The buzz from the rum was still in my system. The stitches also were tight around the gunshot wound on my back.

"Oh fuck..." I moaned out.

I took a step. The ground still was spinning but I refused to fall. Then I took another step. It wasn't easy but I made my way across the ebony hardwood floors to the door.

"Hello?" I called out.

This home was gorgeous. All the floors were black, the walls a warm cream tone. The stairs were equally as gorgeous but brutal to travel up and down in this pain.

"Preston? Hello? Is there anyone here?" I said out once again.

"Why are you out of bed? Do you know how hard it was to get you up the stairs?" The easterner asked.

"Where's Preston?" I asked.

"Sleeping... Like you should be!" The easterner scolded, fetching water in a jar. He rushed towards the door. I followed, "Oh my god, go back in the house..."

He walked down a flight of stairs that were carved into the cave side. I didn't know where we were but I followed. The easterner arrived at the bottom of the staircase. He headed across a wide open group of paddocks to an open space. There a rather tall young man was saying commands to a dark stag.

"What is going on?" I asked, continuing to watch. The young man had a hand book, stating words in a foreign language. The dark stag listened to him, going around in a circle. It would pause, take a step, back up and continue on in a circle. Every repetition of the event resulted in the stag being rewarded with dry grass pellets.

"This is not easy..." The young man said. He had a face somewhat obscured by his hair but freckles were discernable under the curls. He looked familiar but, I couldn't figure out who he was.

"Roi, take it easy out there!" The easterner warned. Roi! He was the eldest of the King's sons, the extremely perverted one... He and Kijus were working together? I would have assumed Richard would have been the one to risk it all for Kijus rather than Roi. This situation just seemed all the more twisted and I didn't want to be a part of it any more.