Archer Lumen: Earth's Version of Hell (Unfinshed)[Edited Up to Escape]

Chapter 28 | Spoils of the Bane of the Moon

Chapter 28 

He Was Pulled Into A Courtyard. On any other day, Miles could tell that it was beautiful. Despite the fact that it was a city, the surrounding grass had a lustrous green hue. It was as if every blade of grass stood straight, like soldiers waiting for the captain’s orders. He supposed that was the advantage of having the Natural Keeper as your gardener. The field stretched out for yards, getting cut off by the looming wall that enclosed the city. It was a virtually happy place, but the guillotine ahead gleamed in the sunlight, casting his mood into a dark place. They’d lied to her―Sarah Lumen. Even when she had begged, even when Tern had accepted her terms, Miles had known with absolute certainty that he would die.

  So he did what any fairly normal person would do.

  He cried.

  He cried as NK appeared with a man that wore a dirty woven mask that only had two holes for sight. He cried as the guards shoved him onto the tiled square, in front of the guillotine. He lay sprawled on the hard ground, sobbing his Shifter name. “Amandril, Amandril, Amandril.” Like many Shifters, he saw his monkey form as another person entirely. Not exactly like a fractured person, but more like an alter ego. He continued to whisper the name, as an odd prayer while he stared at the boots of the executioner as he walked up to his curled form. “I’m sorry, Miles. You were an okay companion. But honestly, don’t tell me you didn’t suspect anything.”

  The funny thing was, Miles had suspected something. Ever since they’d first met the Keeper with the bi-colored eyes, he’d suspected that NK stood for something terrifying. Most would expect the Garal to be scared of Death, but no. They chose to be terrified of the thing that was tearing their world apart. Weird, right?

  The executioner grabbed a fistful of his dark hair, making him meet the eyes of NK. The Natural Keeper wore a pristine suit―how he got it from Earth without raising red flags was beyond him―a golden watch that wasn’t ticking and a pair of tinted sunglasses.

  “Goodbye.” NK murmured, squatting down to meet Miles’s deep brown eyes.

  He nodded and the man holding Miles’s hair hauled him to the guillotine. Miles thought about what to say. He knew that Rose wouldn’t go out without a grand exit to match her entrance. He knew that Kate wouldn’t go down without a fight. He knew that Lucas would say a joke, or forgive NK. He knew that Archer would have some witty remark, and that was if he didn’t die in the fight like Kate. He knew that Sarah would cuss everyone out. But that didn’t matter, what would Miles do?

  Then he realized what he would do. He settled his neck onto the open half circle, closing his eyes and smiling softly. The tears stopped running as he said four words: “I’ll see you soon.” His glasses had cracked when he’d been slammed into the ground. They weren’t broken, but a diagonal line ran through one of the lens. He reached around the wooden posts and took them off, setting them gently to the side. The executioner was nice enough not to say a word. He merely took Miles’s hands and tied them behind his back. The other half of the circle touched the back of his neck.

  Miles braced himself, biting his lip as he waited for the pain. He heard the rustle as the executioner’s gloved hands grasped the rope. He pulled―whoosh.

  The blade came down, cutting cleanly through the bone and killing him quickly.

  Funny, I always thought that when I died, I’d here the din of New York. But that wasn’t what Miles heard. He’d expected car horns, cuss words, even church bells that sang their loud tune. But there were no church bells, there were no car horns.

  He saw endless black, and now that he thought about it, he’d felt nothing. Suddenly, a pinprick of light appeared. It grew larger, soon engulfing his vision. Then pain, unbelievable pain that faded after a long moment. Miles realized that his eyes were closed. When he opened them, he found that everything was blurry. Cocking his head, he looked around and saw his glasses laying on the stone. He reached for them and put them on, smiling as the world cleared up, everything crisp save for whatever lay in the path of the crack. Then he looked down and gasped.