Chapter 21 Paxton's End

Chapter 21 Paxton's End


Clop. Clop. Clop.

The caravan horses kept moving, but something was wrong with the air ahead. The road felt like it was tightening around them.

A shout came from somewhere down the line. Then the clatter of wagon wheels. Then horses snorting, already smelling what the men hadn't figured out yet.

Jarek heard it first.

He wasn't worried. Peasants screamed all the time—hungry, scared, or just stupid. That was their natural state. But then a name came through the noise, and his face shifted.

Alex.

Jarek smiled. The type of smile with edges.

He sat more erectly on the caravan bench and listened like a cat when a small thing is moving in the grass.

Then he laughed at himself.

So the little bastard crept away.

He fell out of the caravan without even considering it.

Thud.

His feet struck the dirt road and he walked on--loose, unhurried, as though he were the owner of the road and was now considering whether to trouble himself with what was on it.

He came near enough to see. Paxton was already there, with his stiff shoulders, and the particular anger of a man who is personally offended by the existence of another.

And before him.

Alex.

The orphan. The one they had tossed out like rags.

Jarek's smile widened.

He stepped next to Paxton and crossed his arms, easy, as though he had come to see a street show. His eyes wandered over Alex--read the stillness, the relaxed expression, the little smirk on his face that he was withholding a personal joke.

Jarek did not like that smirk.

It was not something that ought to be on a face like that of Alex.

He chose to take it off.

He ensured that his voice was heard all the way down the caravan line.

Well, well, Jarek said, and every word he said was steeped in mockery. Look what came out of the mud. We meet again, bastard orphan.

Paxton shook his head slowly, anger smouldering behind his eyes like a long-smouldering fire.

He came forward and pointed.

What the hell are you doing here? Paxton snapped. You were kicked out of the village. You are not one of us any more. So get out before this gets any worse on you.

Alex didn't flinch.

He wasn't scared. He was not even tense. The smirk deepened, as it were,--as though he were observing two dogs barking at each other, and asking themselves whether they were worth the trouble.

He spoke. Even-voiced, nearly amused.

I am not here to stand in your way, Alex said. I came to take a debt.

A moment of silence.

Then both Paxton and Jarek laughed.

Not politely. Not without reason. The type of laughter that people employ when something is so absurd that it seems to be an insult to their intelligence.

Paxton leaned forward, his hand on his stomach. Jarek wiped the corner of his eye as Alex had just made the funniest joke in the whole Falcon Region.

"Revenge?" Paxton said it again, still laughing. "On us?"

He straightened up. Something inhuman came into his eyes.

Do you hear yourself, Alex? Paxton said. We have woken up. We are beast tamerers. And you—"

He stepped nearer, his voice rising.

You can not even tame a beast. You are a talentless nothing.

Jarek was nodding like a dog that had been trained to nod.

He is correct, Jarek said. What are you going to do? You are a waste of space. A parasite. You ought to be on your knees begging, not threatening.

Alex heard like you hear wind.

As they completed it, he sighed and smiled a bit more.

Not nervous. Not forced. The type of smile that is of a person who has read the final page of the story.

I did not think idiots like you could understand, Alex said, calmly. "But that's fine."

His eyes were a little narrowed.

At least you will not know how you died.

The laughter stopped.

Paxton flushed. Jarek's expression hardened. Both of them turned in that little manner that men have when they are about to attack.

However, Alex put up his hand before either of them could move.

Slow. Almost lazy.

He raised two fingers.

Then he flicked.

Flick.

That was it.

No glowing circle. No summoning chant. No thunderous bellowing in the darkness. A flick of the finger, as though he were sweeping a crumb off a table.

Paxton blinked.

Then he sneered.

Jarek laughed, this time more loudly, more meanly.

Paxton indicated Alex.

"That's it?" Paxton spat. "A finger flick? You believe that kills us?

Jarek bent forward, dripping with contempt.

He believes he is some sort of legend, Jarek said. The fool must have bumped his head on the exit of the village.

The smirk of Alex did not move.

It simply sat there, which was somehow more annoying than anything he could have said.

No, no, no, said Alex, relieved. I never imagined that the flick would kill you.

He shrugged.

I simply wanted to look cool first.

Paxton's face twisted.

Jarek's jaw tightened.

They both looked at him as though they were trying to digest the fact that Alex had just openly mocked them to their faces, confessed it, and was smiling about it.

Then their anger burst forth.

"You little shit!" Paxton growled.

Jarek took up his weapon.

They both did not have an opportunity to move.

There was a sound that tore through the air.

A roar.

Not human. Not anything normal. It was profound and fierce and so great that the caravan horses screamed and reared.

ROOOOOOAAAARRR!

The earth shook beneath their feet. The dirt road trembled.

Something huge broke out of the trees.

A boar.

No. Not a normal boar. This was constructed as a wall of muscle on the move, its body huge and massive. Its tusks were like blades curved upwards with old blood staining them brown. It had red wild eyes, the sort of eyes that indicated that the thinking part had already been lost.

It rushed upon the caravan.

BOOM!

The initial shock raised the front wagon in the air. Wood shattered. Metal screamed. The whole caravan tipped over on its side as though it were light as air.

People screamed inside.

Their shrieks were less than a second.

The boar tossed the wagon up in the air and trampled it all to pieces.

Then another roar.

ROOOOAAARR!

A second boar emerged out of the shadows, larger than the first, with hooves striking the ground like hammers.

It struck the upset caravan.

CRASH!

The wagon came apart. The tusks went through wood and flesh without slowing, tearing everything open with disgusting ease. The people inside had no time to crawl out.

They were shredded. Torn. Impaled.

Blood poured from the broken wreckage like water from a cracked barrel.

The smell hit immediately—thick, metallic, wrong.

Paxton went still.

Jarek went still.

Both of them stood with their mouths open, watching the massacre like men trapped inside a nightmare they couldn't shake themselves out of.

Then Paxton gagged.

He bent forward and vomited hard onto the dirt.

Jarek's face had gone white. His lips were trembling. His stomach followed.

He also vomited.

Neither of them had ever been this close to death before. Not this messy. Not this fast. Not this real.

Paxton wiped his mouth with a shaking hand, eyes darting everywhere as panic finally broke through.

"What the hell is happening?!" he shouted, voice cracking. "The beasts were supposed to be hitting the village right now! Why are they here?!"

Jarek's breathing went ragged. His eyes moved left and right like he was expecting more things to come out of the trees at any second.

"This is not right, Jarek whispered. This is absolutely false. What are the beasts here? How did they come here at all?

Alex was standing in the same place as he had been standing.

Still calm. Still smirking. This was just what he had ordered off the menu.

The shattered caravan lanterns flashed firelight in his eyes, and made them appear flat and cold.

He threw back his head.

Are you certain, said Alex, with a smooth voice, that all the beasts are of that tide?

Paxton turned his head to him. Jarek did the same.

Their faces had changed to shock, and then to anger, but the fear that lay beneath the anger was plain. Fat enough to feel.

Paxton stepped forward.

What did you do?!" he screamed. How do you tame animals?

Jarek's voice shook.

"Answer us! What hast thou done, thou bastard?

Alex laughed softly.

Not loud. That was the issue with it. It was silent and effortless, as though it were really having fun.

"Control them?" Alex repeated.

He shook his head.

No. I cannot tame beasts. I'm talentless, remember?"

The fists of Paxton were so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"Then how?!" Paxton screamed. Why are you standing there? You're a nobody! A poor orphan!"

Alex's smirk sharpened.

His eyes were frozen, as metal.

I can not tame them, he said. But I can do something.

Paxton breathed more loudly. Jarek stepped back without knowing he had done it.

Alex lifted his hand once more, but this time he pointed--at the smashed caravan, at the blood, at the broken bodies that lay on the road.

I can hack them, Alex said.

Paxton blinked.

"Hack... them?" Jarek said the word again as his brain had never heard it.

Alex nodded.

I can rewrite them, he said. Bend their instincts. Angrier, more reckless, more stupid.

His voice remained informal, as though he were discussing the replacement of his shoes.

I can make them savage and unleash them on a frenzy till they are nothing.

Paxton opened his eyes. His mouth was open and nothing came out.

Then Alex looked back at the trees.

The shadows moved.

Growls were in the dark.

Grrrrrr...

One wolf came out.

Then another.

Then another.

Their hair was shaved off and their eyes had been taken away--red, blind, hungry. Their jaws dripped with saliva. Their ribs were visible beneath their skin, but their muscles were drawn in, wound up, on the alert.

They did not look at Alex.

Did not even enroll him.

Each of them was fixed on Paxton and Jarek.

Paxton stumbled back.

Jarek gasped.

Alex continued, his voice light, almost cheerful.

One more thing, he said. I can hack them to make them not notice me at all.

His smile widened.

"Now do you see?"

Paxton's mouth trembled.

His entire world was falling apart before his eyes. Talent, awakening, beast taming--these were the laws of the world. These were what determined who was important and who was not. And Alex was standing there rewriting it all like it was a bad joke.

Paxton wheeled and looked at him with a curdling accusation.

You struck a bargain with the devil! Paxton yelled. That is what this is, right?

That one made Alex laugh.

"Hahaha!"

He did not wipe his eye. He simply laughed as Paxton had really amused him.

Whatever you think will help you sleep, Alex said. Devil, curse, miracle--choose one.

He stepped aside, already turning away.

"But right now..."

He was waving his hand as though he was chasing a fly.

Good luck to the beasts I hacked.

His voice had fallen to a colder.

"Bye bye."

Paxton's pupils shrank.

His legs shook.

"No..." he whispered. No, this is not possible. This is not happening to me!

His voice broke into a scream.

I discovered a talent! I was to be special! You can't—!"

Alex had already disappeared.

Not slowly. Not running.

Gone into the shadows just now, as he was meant to be.

The wolves moved.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

They charged.

Jarek attempted to run but he was not fast enough. One of the wolves struck him on the side and its jaws clamped on his leg.

CRUNCH!

Jarek fell screaming on the ground.

"AAAGH!"

His nails tore at the ground, attempting to pull himself along. The wolf shook its head, tearing deeper, ripping as though the leg were cloth.

"No! Get off me!" Jarek screamed, kicking with his free leg. "Get off!"

The wolf held. It growled lower. It pulled harder.

Paxton saw it all.

And his body decided him.

He ran.

He dropped Jarek on the ground and fled, kicking the dirt road with his boots, gasping out in rough gasps.

He got four steps.

The wolves were already all around him.

One struck him on the left and struck him hard. Paxton pitched, and his arms fluttered, and his face was in the dirt.

Get away! he screamed. "Help! Someone help me!"

No one came.

The occupants of the caravan were dead. The road was empty. The village was distant. The wolves did not care about his awakened talent or his silk future or his plans he had made about himself.

They had two things only to interest them.

Meat. Blood.

Paxton screamed high and desperate, his voice shattering.

Then the claws fell.

RIP!

One of the wolves struck him on the back and flattened him. Another struck his shoulder. Teeth sank in deep.

Paxton's body jerked.

Jarek was no longer screaming--now it was only wet, choking noises.

The wolves were fast workers.

And in their last moments, when all was dark and red, both Paxton and Jarek heard their voices one ast time. Rough and full of hate.

"YOU BASTARD ORPHAN!"

Alex was in the trees, and was far enough away that the shadows concealed him.

His face had not changed.

He merely stood and looked, with cold and contented eyes, as a man who had just struck two names out of a very old list.

Now that the two are taken care of, said Alex to himself, time to take care of the village.

His smirk returned.

He walked away to it.