Gunblade - The Rebellion of Cain

Chapter 5 - Defense at Esai's

The pawn shop always seemed to have a thick and oppressive atmospheric pall to Esai. It was more of a palpable mood of eerie silence and reverence that he deliberately worked to maintain. It was easy, considering most of the surrounding residents of the neighborhood never frequented his shop as patrons. They knew enough about the purpose of Esai's storefront to never stray near it or the dilapidated stores surrounding it. Thus, when Esai received visitors, it was for one of two purposes. The first being the issuance of the Sword's weapons and the second being the return of the weapons to their ceremonial storage berths in his shop. It was seldom, if at all, that anyone visited the premises for anything else, which made the next sequence of jarring events extremely novel.

The harsh scathing headlights of a midnight passenger sedan pierced the storefront unexpectedly, jarring Esai from his contemplative reading. The car, now easily recognizable as a Triumvirate sedan, recklessly jerked up onto the curb, almost angling to ram itself into the store's plate glass display window. Esai rounded the glass counter just as the chirping of tires ceased and the swirling smoke of burned rubber passed in front of the sedan's high intensity headlamps.

Esai easily recognized the silhouetted shadowy figure that raggedly stalked toward the front door of the shop. He noticed a considerable departure from Cain's surefooted and purposeful stride. Esai's distinct powers of observation allowed him to immediately interpret Cain's rage and anger from just a few seconds of watching him. The store's door violently flung open as if a storm had made landfall against the shore. A blood soaked and hunched Cain stood in the doorway, his muscular frame heaving with every frantic breath. His fury was apparent, such that Esai didn't even need to meet his white-hot gaze to understand his state of mind.

"Do you know," the figure rumbled ominously.

The edge and anguish in his question eked through the space between them. In all of Esai's experiences, he recalled few that could penetrate the confident, firm exterior he presented to foes and allies alike. Cain's eerily quiet whisper was in direct contrast to his visibly homicidal appearance. It was the quiet, murmur-like question that warned Esai to tread lightly. Even though Esai was a Triumvirate Elder, he had no interest in provoking a legendary Sword who was already in a questionable state of mind. Esai responded with a measured tone in his voice. His intent was to express earnest honesty to Cain.

"I know you've taken the lives of at least two Swords. They brought all three blades back to me less than two hours ago. Is there truth to what they told me? Have you rebelled?"

Esai chose to probe passively, watching Cain's body language with intense scrutiny.

Cain didn't respond immediately. He was visibly attempting to deal with the series of events that shattered his life and led him to this point. He felt if he were to tell Esai what transpired, his remaining anger and rage would flee him, and he would be left a vulnerable sobbing mess. However, from a behavioral standpoint, there were inculcated values that were ingrained in him for as long as he could remember. An Elder had asked him a direct question, and he was obliged to answer. Even before he realized it, he was talking.

"Yes, I killed them. I killed them all," he choked out.

"They took her from me Elder... They took the only thing that had meaning in my life and destroyed it. So now," he paused as the frustration and rage welled up in his throat, making it difficult to finish the sentence.

"So now, you will exact your revenge by taking everything they value," Esai finished for him.

"It's a common theme that occurs in the lives of many in your line of work."

Cain, his gaze affixed on the wall behind Esai for their conversation thus far, now raised his head to look him in the eye. This act was a swift departure from his training. Swords were inculcated with an almost instinctual deference to their superiors. Thus, the Elders were revered as godlike entities, to be addressed with reverence. Now however, none of that seemed to matter to Cain.