Angels Ascending - 8. Part Eight

Chapter Sixteen

The Betrayal

When Zophar awoke to the sound of a series of thunderous explosions, it was to a dark room, the torches in his room extinguished. Not even able to find his armor or sword, the general walked blindly until he found the latch to his door. Pressing on it, Zophar found the door jammed. Shouting and banging on the thick oak, he tried to gain someone's attention, even if it was the enemy, hating not knowing what was happening outside. He now regretted the fact that Aegis insisted he sleep in a windowless room to avoid enemy arrows because now he could not even shout out orders to his men.

After the explosions, Zophar heard nothing of what he feared would be his final battle. Crawling on his knees, searching his room with outstretched hands for his armor and weapons, the General found his silver and blue enamel armor but the sheaths of both his sword and knife empty. It suddenly struck him that being locked in his room without a weapon had long been planned and, that one or, more likely, a group of his fellow Centurions was betraying their fellows to the enemy.

Needing to find some sort of weapon, Zophar followed the wall until he found the cold fireplace, where he found an iron poker. It was not the style of weapon for which he had training, but it would do for a club. Feeling a cold breeze, Zophar looked up the shaft and could see the star-lit sky.

Seeing it as his only way out, Zophar stripped off his clothes and began climbing up the narrowing shaft, only wearing his loincloth and carrying the poker. The higher he climbed, the louder the sounds of battle became. Finally reaching the top, the general saw the chaos around him. The east wall was broken in three places and Federation troops were climbing over the broken bricks from barges that were docked against the walls. At the bridge leading to the city gates, he saw half his men trying to push the enemy back while the others were making their escape, retreating back into the city. The result was dozens of men falling off the bridge and sinking under the water.

Turing his face to the bright fire from the north, Zopahr saw his flotilla docked on the piers and afire, the Federation fleet having successfully entered the harbor without much resistance.

Needing to regain control of the situation, Zophar carefully walked across the roof until he reached one of the large windows that allowed light into the domed council chamber. Using the iron poker to break the glass, Zophar made the thirty-foot jump to the circular table below. As he tried to stand back on his feet, he slipped, and fell on his back to the stone floor. Finally looking around, Zophar found himself in the aftermath of a blood bath. All around him the floor was sticky with red blood mixed with blue anima. Stumbling back to his feet, he saw the headless bodies of men dressed in commander uniforms.

The first thing that forced its way into his shocked mind was the image of his lover, Aegis. Somewhere on the floor was his head, one of the betrayed.

Just then, the doors were flung open, revealing the blood-smeared face of Commander Lorish, a decapitated head held in his left hand.

Seeing a man he knew had treachery in his heart, Zophar welded the poker like a sword and charged. "Traitor!"

Lorish snarled on seeing the General charge at him. He threw the bloody head at Zophar, causing the general to almost trip. This gave him time to fit his fingers around his ulus, axe blades held in place by wooden handles with holes for one's hands so the blades lined up with his knuckles.

Recovered and seeing Lorish was still arming himself, Zophar swung the poker over his head, and then straightened his right arm, letting the weapon fling out toward Lorish's head where it made contact with his skull.

The force of the blow knocked the commander to the floor but, before Zophar could make another swing, Lorish rolled away and jumped back to his feet.

The two circled each other, neither saying a word. Both knew what they wanted, so there was no reason to talk about it.

Making a dive with his right blade, Lorish caused Zophar to shift right, where the general's chest received a slice from the commander's left blade. Zophar, though, fought through the pain and slammed the poker down on Lorish's extended left arm, breaking the bone.

Lorish let his left blade fall from his now crippled hand and went down on his knees. Zophar, thinking he could now give a fatal blow, lifted the poker over his head so he could crush the man's skull. But, just as his blow was about to fall, Lorish darted forward, flattening himself to the ground as he cut at the tendons connecting Zophar's feet to his legs. Losing the use of his legs, Zophar fought to keep up the force of his blow, moving the poker so now its tip faced downward where, from shear power, it broke through Lorish's spine and into his gut.

Laying on top of the man he believed betrayed him and his Centurion brothers, Zophar smiled weakly when he noticed he could no longer feel the heartbeat of his opponent.

Zophar did not know how long he remained alone on top of the corpse. He just waited, waited for either his men or the enemy to arrive. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he was shaken to his very core, shutting his eyes tight against what they saw.

"You should not have left your room. I locked you in there so you would not get hurt," an all too familiar voice whispered into Zophar's ear.

"Aegis... How could you? How could you betray me?"

"I knew you would see it that way," the voice whispered into Zophar's ear. "I knew you would see it that way. That is why I could not tell you of the plan."

Now exhausted emotionally as well as physically, Zophar was only able to whisper his question. "What plan?"

"The plan to save your life."

"My life?"

"It was my brother's last order. He wanted me to make sure you survived the war, and I have to tell you, you did not make it easy by volunteering to defend this city." Aegis chuckled lightly.

Zophar could not believe what he was hearing. "You killed the other commanders just to save my life?"

"They were going to die anyway."

"But how...you helped me lead the men? It was your quick thinking that forced the enemy back dozens of times."

"I had to prove to the Federation that it would be in their best interests to deal with me rather then fight me," Aegis explained.

"But how were you able to negotiate. I never saw you leave the city."

"You forget, my dear general. All the swimmers came from units under my control."

"But Field Marshal Lukas...your oaths to serve?"

"To Lukas? None of my men have any regard for him."

"Why?" Zophar demanded. He wanted to know why Aegis and his men would betray the empire.

"Eb" was Aegis's one word answer as he left Zophar, so the general could be lifted onto a stretcher and taken back to his room.

On the way back Zophar saw more of Aegis's men working hand in hand with the Federation troops to remove the dead bodies. Around each of the Centurions' arms was a red cloth. Zophar guessed that with all the Centurions dressed in the same armor, the red on silver had been their way to tell friend from foe. Soon he was back in his bed and deep asleep.

Zophar did not know what time he awoke, but his room was empty and the fire lit. Seeing a crystal pitcher on the table, he tried to slide out of the bed, only to fall to the floor when his feet would not support him.

The sound of him falling must have alerted the people outside. Two Centurion guards were quickly helping him back into bed. As soon as they saw him settled, they left, leaving only Aegis in the room.

"Would you like some water?" Aegis asked.

"Yes, please."

Aegis poured water from the pitcher into a wooden bowl he brought to the bed. "Here, drink."

After he had wetted his throat, Zophar felt ready to ask more questions. "You said the reason you betrayed the Field Marshal was Eb. Was it because it was such a disaster?"

"Yes, but more so," Aegis replied as he ran his fingers through his general's brown hair.

"More so how?"

"I do have more then one brother."

"He was involved at Eb?"

"Yes, but right now I don't know if he is alive or not. That is why I had to force the Federation to make a deal with me. Not just to save your life but to save the lives of the survivors on Eb."

"And what is the deal?"

"The deal is that I give them the city of Sol and they let the survivors of Eb go free."

"I see..." Zophar nodded, it was hard to argue with his lover's reason, but he could not live with knowing how it was accomplished."

"Why did you not include all of us in your conspiracy? Why did my men have to die?"

"None of them had family on Eb. Issa was ready to die. Lorish's only goal was to be the last to survive so he could make sure it would be he that history would remember. It was Cillis who posed the real threat. He knew about Krave, my brother on Eb, and that I blamed Lukas for him being there. The only reason he challenged your leadership was because he knew how close I am to you. That is why I had to get rid of him first."

Zophar suddenly realized that during the battle, with smoke thick in the air, he could not have seen where Aegis's swimmers directed the fire barges. "You had him killed."

"Yes," Aegis replied, without emotion.

Zophar suddenly felt he no longer knew who his lover was. "I..."

"Zophar, before I was your aid, I was my brother's because I could always decide what needed to be done to survive and win. If I had been in the Field Marshal's tent with you when you volunteered to defend Sol, I would have stopped you. Lukas was asking you to throw your life away. It has been his decisions that have killed your men... neither you nor I. If someone has to die, I say let it be the Field Marshal himself!"

"But the Empire...what of Domus?" Zophar replied, feeling almost as if he was begging his lover to not be the man he was showing.

"If men like Lukas and Xavier can be Field Marshals, then maybe Domus deserves to fall, or at least that is what I am willing to accept. What I will not accept is you dying for no reason.

"Aegis..."

Aegis climbed on top of Zophar in the bed. "I might keep secrets from you. I might disappoint you in the choices I make for the good of both of us, but never doubt my love."

"I need to be left alone," Zophar replied as he pushed Aegis off him.

"I understand. We will have plenty of time to talk later. It might seem bad right now, but when we board that ship for Freen it will all make sense."

"Why Freen?" Zophar asked as he watched Aegis leave.

"I want you to be there when Lukas is finally defeated. I want him to see that he could not throw away the lives of his men without facing the consequences."

"Alright." Zophar sighed. The journey would take weeks to complete. During that time he could try to put together the Aegis he had loved, and the man that had just been presented to him, and find the whole person.

Chapter Seventeen

Kidnapped

When three Inquisitors came for him, Kyle was sure that he was going to be led directly to a bonfire and be burned as a heretic. Instead, he was taken to the High Inquisitor's flagship and led directly into Warren's office. As soon as he was inside, he was pushed into a high backed chair in front of an oak desk bolted to the floor.

"You may go now," Warren said from his throne, waving his men off.

To his surprise, Kyle found himself alone with the most feared man in all of Jadoor, if not the known world. The man was actually quite handsome, having a look that most people did not see, as he was without his billowing black ceremonial robe with its peaked black hood and mask. The tall man's head was topped with black hair only broken by streaks of gray on the sides. The narrowness of his head made his violet eyes appear large and all seeing.

"Thank you for coming." Warren smiled, greeting Kyle as if he had been invited to tea instead of grabbed off the street by three of his thugs.

Kyle could not help but say, "Thank you for inviting me," knowing that any other comment would get him into more serious trouble than he was already.

"Good...good, I see you understand where you stand. That will make things much easier." Warren grinned sinisterly before continuing. "I have offered Admiral James the opportunity of a lifetime, yet he has not accepted it. He has not told me no, but he will not tell me yes."

"I am sure the Admiral is doing what he thinks is best," Kyle said in hopes of not getting caught in a fight between the two powerful men.

"That is the problem... I doubt the Admiral knows what would be in his best interests. That is why I am turning to you for help."

"Me...why me?" Kyle asked, feeling a noose drop around his neck.

"I think you know why I am asking you. I dare you to tell me you don't."

"I don't see how that allows me to change the Admiral's mind," Kyle said evasively.

With a sudden jerk, Kyle was lifted out of his chair by the rope around his neck, strangling him.

"You are his lover...his first male lover. You are closer to him than anyone else," Warren said before he waved with his left hand, and the rope was released, letting Kyle fall back down into the chair.

"I can't use that relationship to give you what you want." Kyle gasped for breath.

As soon as Kyle finished saying the last word, the rope was pulled tight again, this time for a longer period of time and Kyle's face changed from red to purple. Then Warren waved his hand again and the rope was released.

"Are you sure about that?" Warren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeeeessss..." Kyle stuttered.

"How about I tell you what will happen if you don't agree to help change James's mind? I find a little motivation very helpful," Warren said as he got up from his desk and moved to a bolted trap door in the floor. He opened it to show dozens of men chained to the wet bilge of the ship.

"See these men? I think you would recognize most of them. They are nearly all of the men who were at the baths with you. We collected all of them last night, except for the ones James would have noticed gone, like you."

"What are you going to do with them?" Kyle asked, clearly scared.

"That is up to you..." Warren grinned just as he slammed the trapdoor shut again.

"I can't change his mind!" Kyle insisted.

"I think you can. In fact I will prove it to you. You see, the moment you stepped on board this ship, one of my men left to tell the good Admiral about the men down below and especially you. All of you have been arrested for heresy, to be burned in front of the Temple to the Mother in a grand fire.

"No..." Kyle said, the color leaving his face.

"I am sure that your life being in danger will get the Admiral to weigh anchor and sail the fleet back to Jadoor, which is exactly what I asked the Admiral to do for me in the first place. Of course, if I'm wrong, and he does not value you so, then there will be a nice fire waiting to warm you up when we get back to Meltor."

Just at that moment Kyle felt the boat lurch as it began to move out of the bay. Soon, a pair of black-robed guards had him shackled and dropped through the trapdoor with the rest of the captured men in the cold wet water. It would be a long journey.