Chapter 16 The Mob

She was just as beautiful as I remembered. More perhaps, her heart-shaped face, her tumbling blonde curls, illuminated by torchlight. Iris held the furs to her body, in a way that made me sure that beneath them, she was naked.

There was a flicker of fear in her eyes, but it quickly dissipated.

‘Thank God, it’s you,’ she said. She wiped her eyes as though there were tears in her eyes, but I didn’t need keen eye to know there was nothing there. ‘I was worried Adrian had killed you.’

I engaged perception. There was no one around, any guards were some distance away, at least as far as I could tell. Her beauty was aching. It physically hurt me, remembering her lingering touches, her offer for me to share her bed that night…

‘Where is he?’ I said. My voice was gruff, and didn’t sound like my own. My hand tightened against the bone blade. ‘Where is Adrian?’

‘He’ll be back soon,’ said Iris, sitting up as she gathered the furs around her body. They slipped slightly, and I caught a sight of her bare leg beneath. My heart quickened. ‘Are you here to kill him?’ Her features darkened. ‘Good. He killed Raymond, he killed so many people, he deserves to die.’

‘Is that why you’re here? Sharing his bed? Is that his punishment?’

She looked as though I’d slapped her. ‘You don’t know what it’s like. I’m not a fighter, if I didn’t join him he’d have killed me too. I didn’t have a choice!’

There’s always a choice. A memory came back to me. A woman asleep, hooked up to the life support machine in our living room. Her eyes closed, so thin, her skin almost translucent, her bones jutting out. The curtains drawn. The medicine in my hands, the man opposite staring at me with fear and disgust.

What did you do, Felix?

What I had to.

‘Kill him,’ she said, drawing me back to the present, to these savage lands. She was on her feet now, still clutching the furs around her body, that same body now pressed against me. She was close, I could feel her warmth against me, her hand pressed against my face, my resolve faltering with every moment she was close to me.

‘Take his place,’ she said, her voice, her scent alluring. ‘Adrian doesn’t deserve to lead us. You do.’

I heard a growl. Larry. Except it wasn’t here, it was in my mind, our mental link was still intact. He was warning me. Warning me? Everything felt muddled. Where was I? Why was I here?

That’s when I saw it. Her hand was moving at her side. Channelling. She was a shaman. Casting magic. Befuddling me.

The growl in my mind again, louder than before. More urgent.

‘Reaver, we can-‘

I plunged the bone blade into her chest, as the world came back into sharp focus, like someone had turned my vision from 360p back to 1080. She clutched at me, confusion in those eyes. I wanted to tell her I was sorry. That I wished it hadn’t come to this, but as I slowly lowered her to ground, no words came.

‘You’re one tough son of a bitch aren’t you?’ I turned around, blade in hand to see Adrian; with three avatars behind him. He glanced at Iris’s body and then to me. ‘No hard feelings, of course. She didn’t mean anything to me.’

I looked to the other avatars. ‘None of you need to get hurt tonight,’ I said. ‘I’m here to kill Adrian, and Adrian alone. The rest of you just walk away, and this is over.’

They didn’t move, though I did see a flicker of hesitation from one of them, an older woman with greying hair. But none of them moved.

Adrian smiled, running a hand through his hair. ‘You really thought it would be that easy? You’ve been here what? Two weeks? I’ve built these guys up over half a goddamn year. Not that I’m not impressed,’ he said, eyeing my armour. ‘Bone, huh? That puts you a clear level above me. But even the toughest boss falls to a raid party.’

So he did understand the game. I stowed the bone blade, and retrieved my spear. ‘I’m not the boss here, you are.’

‘No?’ said Adrian. He paced forwards and I took some steps back. ‘You’re the monster who’s been stalking and killing avatars in the jungle, aren’t you? You who killed poor defenceless Iris. If you’re no monster, then what are you? You’ve taken to killing like a fish takes to water.’ He knelt, carefully closing Iris’s eyes. It was bullshit tenderness. None of their lives mattered to him.

Stolen novel; please report.

‘Maybe it isn’t your first time? What were you before all this? A killer? A criminal? Maybe you’re finally happy to be somewhere where someone like you, with all of your monstrous instincts can survive. Is that it Reaver? Finally, happy to be in the place you belong?’

Apathy was death. Hesitation was defeat, and I refused to die for this asshole. I raised my spear. ‘Maybe I am.’

Now.