Justice by R.T. Adams (big ebook reader .txt) 📕

to try and sneak if they were already in combat and on high alert. Right as we entered, we noticed a single person in a torn black cloak and hood fighting a fair-sized group of soldiers. There had also been a pile of soldiers lying dead on the ground. A group of soldiers soon accompanied us, and so we took hold of our weapons. Quickly striking down the soldiers, we moved on to the mysterious figure, who seemed to also have finished their portion of the soldiers. We withdrew our weapons, and so did they. They looked over to us, but their face hadn’t been visible, as there had been a black cloth over their face, except their eyes, which had a dark-shaded visor.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“That should be my question,” they said, their voice deep and hoarse.

“He asked, now answer,” the man froze up for a moment.

“Well?” I said.

“Sorry,” he said, “Just call me Arcanum.”

“Latin?” Randolph said, “Only royal families and nobles ever use that language.”

“I do know that,” he said, not saying any more.

“I suppose we should go destroy that generator,” I said, “Have you scouted the base enough to know where it is?”

“No, I just arrived,” he said.

“I’m going to guess that it’s this way,” I said, turning and going between two buildings without a second thought. Once I reached the end of the narrow area, I was lead to a wide open space where there had been only the generator in the center.

“So that’s it,” Randolph said.

“It’s getting dark, we’d best get this done quickly and head out,” I hastily made my way to the generator and, without pausing, lunged my blade into the generator, feeling hardly any resistance as it penetrated. Soon, a hissing sound came out. I quickly pulled my blade out and began running, watching as steam seeped out heavily, clouding most of the area around it. Soon, the loud explosion came, almost deafening. The lights, as before, shut down, as well as any other things which had been linked to the generator.

“Another base down,” Randolph said.

“So, are you joining us?” I asked directly to Arcanum.

“I have nothing better to attend to,” he said, assuming he means yes.

“Let’s go,” I gestured to everyone. However, just before we could leave, I heard the humming of a ship above us. A Justice ship had caught us just before we could make our leave. Jumping down from it, a man in a white coat, one which hang to his ankles, all fastened to his neck. He had black military boots and a curved blade at his side. His hair was long, to his lower back, and it seemed to be white, pure white. His eyes nor mouth gave off any sort of emotion, purely expressionless. His eyes were a blue, as well as narrow, along with thin eyebrows. He had no facial flaws, not even facial hair. It looked as though he didn’t have any sort of battle scars or such whatsoever. He wore black gloves, as well.

“So, you have succeeded in the destruction of two bases now, have you?” even his voice was entirely expressionless.

“Yeah, and?” I said.

“This will cost you your life,” he said, slowly reaching towards his blade.

“Hands down!” Alicia said, pulling her blade quickly and darting forward. I thought for sure he would have not expected her, as she was close enough to surprise any normal person. However, halting his movements entirely, with what seemed as though he hadn’t moved at all, he didn’t fall. In fact, Alicia didn’t even strike. Instead, she stopped without even being able to strike. Shortly after, she fell. We didn’t even see what happened. He moved as though he was light, or rather, faster than light, itself. His eyes still remained on us, not moving from focus at all. Randolph, Arcanum, and I all drew our swords. I slowly made my way forward, even moving to the left. However, his eyes did not follow my actions. In fact, we each took a different approach. Randolph went right, I went left, and Arcanum followed behind Randolph, but he wasn’t looking at either of us. Could it be he is blind?

“Are you blind?” I said. He slowly turned his head towards me.

“Is this what you would call blind?” he said, “The inability to see?” So he is blind. However, he took down Alicia so easily. This man is much stronger than we think. It would appear that if he had sight, he’d be much stronger than he is now. No, maybe his blindness is an advantage. Without the ability to see, he do not have to focus on anything else other than the sounds of his opponent. Randolph slowly made his way closer to him, but when he got too close, he, too, was struck down. He fell, his heavy body vibrating the ground, even. Suddenly, I thought of a plan. Using his strongest sense, hearing, we could divert his attention elsewhere, then strike. I waved over to Arcanum, who looked over to me. I acted as though I picked something up and threw it, then gestured towards my ear and acted as though I were striking something. Surprisingly, he understood exactly what I meant and grabbed something from inside a pack under his cloak. He pulled it out, a book, and threw it near him. Just before it landed, I ran forward and lifted my blade. The book landed just before I swung and just before I swung, I could see his blade leave the sheath for only a second, slicing at the open air in front of him. I struck down, my blade severing his right arm from his body, along with his sword. He fell to his knees and let out an utterance of surprise, but nothing more. He reached his left arm over to his missing right arm, then pulled it away slowly. Of course, he couldn’t see, but blood had been dripping from his hand. On the ground next to him lies his dismembered arm in a puddle of blood. I walked around in front of him and he looks forward.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let myself die just yet,” the moment I began speaking, he looked up to me, his face as expressionless as ever.

“I see,” he said, “I was most certain this day would come, sooner than later. It just so appears you were the one to stand in front of me on this day.” Without even a chuckle or a slight move of his mouth, or much anything to signal his passing, he simply lay his body down and closed his eyes. It is likely Justice will come and kill him, or he will bleed out before they arrive to the scene. After all, he wouldn’t be useful to them considering he can no longer fight.

As we drove off, two Justice ships made their way to the now useless base which suddenly went down in the middle of the night. The lights had been shining all around the base, likely looking for someone down in the base. Without even landing, one of the ships fired twice into the base, likely annihilating him for good. As usual, Randolph was reading a book. Alicia was just staring forward in the seat next to me, and our newest member, Arcanum, was just sitting in the seat, staring out at the open land. I had a few questions in mind, but I kept them to myself, as I was more focused on the road and keeping us alive, or out of trouble, in the least. Ahead, I could see lights, likely being emitted from a city or rest spot. Randolph, noticing it, closed his book and sat it in a slot on the door. Arcanum turned his head and sat upright. Soon, we arrived at the light. It appears it was a rest spot, rather common. Here, though, there was no motel or anything, just a convenience store, a garage, and a hangar. Next to the garage were a few scattered tents, all likely people who came here to keep safe during the night. It appears we have no choice but to set up a tent, as well. However, I don’t have a tent with me. I turn to Randolph, who shakes his head. Alicia shrugs and Arcanum just sighs. It appears none of us have a tent with us. We all get out of the car and Randolph immediately goes over to the garage. When I follow him, I noticed a small building come into view. A sign above it would tell that someone could rent a tent here. We paid a fee for two tents, one for me and Arcanum, another for Randolph and Alicia. We found a wide open area and set up the two tents. We each crawled into our tent and fell fast asleep. Slowly, something drifted into view in my mind, a dream. I found myself lying on a cloud-like object. I stood up and looked around. Around me, white walls and columns which seemed of Greek origin. I found an opening and walked over to it, admiring the beautiful structure around me. I was lead into a wide hallway, each with statues of bare-chested men and women. As I reached the end of the hall, a big, circular room came into view, a white marble throne at the top of a set of stairs. I climbed up the stairs to the throne and stood in front of it. Suddenly, a bright, blinding light appeared and I shielded my eyes with my hands. When the light vanished I looked again to find a woman in a peplos, an ancient Greek outfit. She suddenly began speaking, but in a language I didn’t know. Her voice echoed, as well.

“I’m,” I paused, “I’m sorry, but I cannot understand your words.”

“I see,” she said, her voice still echoing, “You may seem of fine fettle now, but you shall later struggle a great deal with a powerful opponent.”

“Who are you?” I asked her, “And why do you give me this information?”

“My name is of no significance,” she said, “The purpose of my actions are of sympathy.” A sympathetic dream woman seems strange. However, before I could say anything else, I’d suddenly been forced out of the dream and woke again to the real world. Though the feeling was short, it was already morning. I felt completely rejuvenated. I looked over to the other sleeping bag, but Arcanum wasn’t there. When I left the tent, he had been sitting next to the entrance of it. Randolph was already folding up the tent they were in and Alicia stood watching. I grabbed the two sleeping bags in our tent and rolled them up, then began folding the tent. Soon, we finished and went back to the small building returning the tents. We went to the convenience store and bought something to eat as a small meal for breakfast. Quickly, we finished and I resumed driving.

We passed through many places in which had ruined buildings, mostly made of woods and scrap metal. It was likely they were previously owned by poor people who could no longer afford even the cheapest homes in the slums of the cities that they lived in. They were probably murdered by Justice as punishment for obtaining free services in their own accord. However, we soon came across a large city which had been destroyed. I turned to park, then looked around at the city. I hopped out and the others got out, as well. I walked across the street to the opening of the city’s paths. Large portions of buildings had collapsed onto the ground in front of us, even forming a likely unsturdy archway. I slowly made my way under the ruins, hoping it wouldn’t fall and crush us. I soon emerged into the center of the city, or so I guess, and look around. It’s a wide open space with a fountain in the center, without water and