???, Greenland
The black sea waves crashed into the cliff below me.
A storm was coming. One of nature's making and one my own.
I took in the sight around me. Snowy winds swirl around me like a white vortex. The water meeting the cliffside sounded like a faint boom in the screaming of the wind. I turned back to a vast field of snow. It lay undisturbed with no signs of settlement except my footprints.
I exhaled a slow breath to see the mist curl before my face but it was blown away before it could even form. Taking one last look at the churning sea, I turn and retrace my footsteps through the snow.
A dark structure immersed in the distance. I sped up my steps till it turned into a looming compound. My lips twitched into a small smile at the sight of it.
The black walls rose high enough to block out a section of the sky. Black figures patrolled the top like watchful gargoyles. I walked up to the towering gate, once the guards caught sight of me, the gates were thrown open.
I strolled inside and the men on either side saluted me. The snow was constantly being cleared out, so I was able to move at a quicker pace through the ways between the multiple buildings.
An eerie silence hung over the area with the lack of wind. The buildings too were made of black stone and metal and rose like spikes out of the ground. Not a single window marred the walls.
Scarcely anyone except the guards was in sight and those who wore stark white gear and walked briskly. I continued my walk until I reached my destination.
This building was different from the others. For one, it wasn't as tall, rather it was only a few floors high and more spread out. Topped by a dome, it looked like an ancient temple housing bloodthirsty gods.
I walked through the front doors into a large hall with doors and staircases leading to different parts of the building. More people in white moved about and stopped to salute me before continuing.
The White Reapers.
That is what the guards had started calling them. A fitting name, I must say.
I walked up one of the several staircases and moved through several lobbies till I stood in front of a wall lined with elevators. I moved to the last one, the only one that had an eyeball scanner as well as a biometric one.
I put my thumb to it and brought my eyes in front of it. The screen turned green and the doors opened. I stepped in and pressed –F2. The doors closed silently and we started to descend.
I feel my heartbeat start to rise with every inch we drop. I hate underground spaces. It reminds me too much of Moscow.
I looked down at my wrist and found it bare. I rubbed my finger over the skin, at the phantom emptiness there, where an important and inseparable part of me had rested.
Releasing an inaudible sigh, I withdraw my fingers just as the doors open.
A cloud of much-appreciated warmth washes over me. I step out of the elevator into a metal hallway. It was similar to my prison facility on the north Atlantic island. But this one serves an entirely different purpose.
I shrug off my thick wool jacket, leaving me with only my trench coat. I bring up the map of this floor in my head and start forward.
After making my way through this maze of a building, I finally reach my destination. Several voices could be heard shouting. I turn another corner and everything comes into view.
Calling it a cavern would not do it justice but that's the closest word I could think of. The ceiling rose high enough till it was only darkness that could be seen. The space was so huge that even the drop of a pin would have echoed for hours had the walls not been modified to prevent this. What stood in the center made me smile. Several workers and technicians moved about it while White Reapers kept a vigilante eye on them.
One of the White Reapers caught sight of me and quickly whispered something into his walkie-talkie. Soon someone was walking towards me with purpose in their steps. Her practical hairdo and brisk steps spoke of time spent in the military. But what made that even starker was the burned flesh of her face. Reaching me, she saluted sharply.
"Sir."
I nod back. "Dr. Costa-Valle. How are things coming along?"
"Smoothly, at the moment." She said, glancing at her notepad. "Would you like to take a look?"
"Certainly." I follow her to the object and climb the stairs that led to it.
The smile didn't leave my face. Leaving her side, I walked forward and ran my hand over its smooth metal surface. It was ice cold. I could almost feel the power thrumming under it.
I withdraw my hand and turn to face Dr. Costa-Valle. She looked like a ghost in the darkness of the cavern with her spotless white clothes.
"We're ready." She announced, her lips twisting into a malicious smile.
Without another word, I walk down the stairs and move to one of the heavy metal doors to the side. Inside is a fairly large room akin to a space launch control room, one of the walls housed numerous monitors showing the camera feed of the cavern and other vital information. Below it was a console and control panel.
I walked up to it and checked everything to find it perfect. The technician nearby made a few final modifications and adjustments. Once done, she steps back.
On the screen, it asked for High Order Confirmation. On the tiny touchscreen of the control panel, I place my palm. My heartbeat sped up in excitement as the line moved on the screen. As the scan completes, the lights turn green.
On the monitors showing the live footage, the roof of the cavern slides away soundlessly, revealing the dark sky outside.
A seemingly ordinary space between two logistics monitors in the panel pops open and moves aside to reveal a small red button.
I put my finger above it. Time slows down around me and I think.
I think of the world as it is now.
I think of this world that will never be the same again.
I think of all I have schemed and planned and plotted for years. This is but the first step in the grand workings I have in mind for this world.
I think of how my decision will impact each and every creature on this planet.
I think of the heinous monster I am, knowing that this will destroy millions of lives, I am still going to do it.
And I don't feel the slightest of apprehension.
I press the button.
Even in the thick-walled room, the roar was deafening. I flick my eyes to the monitor just in time to see the missile shoot out of the opening in the roof, locked on its target.
A smile spreads across my face.
I gave you all the time you'd need to wall up your fragile fortresses, world. The storm is here now.
★★★★★★
???, Sahara Desert
Blaire's POV
To be diplomatic or not to be.
The rhetoric question swirls in my mind just as the dust swirls around us.
Even with my eyes thinned to slits, it felt like every gust of wind pierced my eyeballs with sand.
"How much further!?" Elliott shouted over the howl of the wind and immediately started coughing as sand got into her mouth.
I didn't grace her with an answer. The sun beat on our necks like a red hot hammer. I flick my eyes down to the tiny GPS monitor in my hand.
Following the directions, I turn right, tugging at the rope tied between Elliot and me. My boots sink into burning sand with every step. Each swallow felt like sandpaper against my dry throat.
Still, I trudged on.
I had started to feel Elliott's steps slow down when a dark structure immerged through the sandstorm. Elated, I hastened my steps and soon we were touching the walls of the boulder.
I turned back to see Elliott look like half her foot has already crossed the threshold of death. But we didn't have time for a break when we were so close. Keeping my hand on the wall, I resumed my walk.
The dust and sand were so thick that I couldn't even make out my own feet. With this sweltering heat, I was realizing that I don't appreciate Europe's cold enough. My mind had started to wander to cookie dough ice cream when the wall disappeared from below my hand.
I turned and let a smile spread on my face.
In the hillside was a small opening. The gap was just big enough that I was able to slide in. Wiggling through the crack with Elliot behind me, I finally emerged into a small space. I switched on my torch and looked around.
The sandstorm still howled outside, fierce as ever yet an eerie still hung in the air. The place was no bigger than a room and surprisingly cold.
Detaching the line between me and Elliott, I put my hand on the wall and walk till I find what I am looking for. My fingers dip into the crack and I swirl the torch to get a better look.
Bloodweaver
Inksword
I smile faintly at the distant memory these words bring up. I turn back to see Elliott looking at the carvings with a mixture of awe and fear.
"You are smart enough to have figured out why you are brought to the Field," I stated.
"You want me to be your successor." She met my eyes, "but what if I refuse?"
"Then it won't be me who will be dealing with you. While you are alive, that is. I'll only be asked to take care of the body, or what is left of it." I replied in the same tone.
She grimaced. "Yeah yeah, I get it. I am in my right mind, for the time being, so I won't be refusing."
I smile, before turning back to the wall. "I learned a very important lesson here. One I am going to teach you too. One you should never forget."
I ran my finger through the cracks, reminiscing.
"Never let yourself get a Name."
I finished tracing Inkswork and turned to face Elliot to see confusion written on her face.
"But why? A name like Inksword would have made people fear and respect you more." She said.
I shake my head.
"They would have feared and respected Inksword, not me." I meet her eyes. "When you let yourself have a name like that, you create an entity outside your control."
Inksword. It was a fitting name, I must admit, but that is not what it would have stayed. It would have become a Title. A title that holds power that is not my own. A title anyone else could have taken up and weaponized after my death.
"I too stood where you are now, held the same apprehensions as you. And I too was taught this much-needed lesson." I spoke into the quiet of the cave.
"So...that means...she was....Bloodweaver?" She said, trying to connect the dots.
"Silver Death, The Bright-eyed Monster, The Last Memory, Irongaze, The Warmonger......Bloodweaver." I chuckle dryly. "Many names came her way, yet she took none, for she had learned her lesson. She was gracious enough to teach me too and in a lot less harsh way than she was taught."
Elliot looked at the words with something akin to wonder and calculation.
I walked to her and knelt before her. From my bag, I took out a packet wrapped in brown paper and handed it to her. She looked at me with confusion before ripping off the paper. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
It was a dagger. She pulled it out of the sheath carefully. The black metal shone even in the faint light of the torch. The grip was wrapped in dark leather. Elliot turned it over delicately, her eyes filled with awe.
I smiled.
"One day, you too will get a name. I want you to hack it off at its roots before it can grow into something dangerous." I straighten up and walk to the wall. "The day you do, I want you to come here and carve it below ours, knowing this is the only place where that name exists, where it won't hold any power that can be turned against you."
Our eyes meet and she nodded.
I let a smirk spread across my face. "You know, she does like you, Bianca."
Elliot snorts. "As if, her eyes silver eyes had gone dark like a thunderstorm when she had looked at me, it was kinda scary, to be honest. And she had called me nothing."
My smirk grew wider. "And Bianca Relicta cares about nothing in this world."
I turn back and walked to the opposite wall of the cave, deaf to Elliot's flabbergasted words. Reaching the spot, I bend down and use my hand to brush away the sand from a section of the floor till it revealed a trap door.
"Of course, we are here for some work. You wouldn't bring me all the way out hear in the middle of fucking nowhere for just a lesson." I heard Elliot mumble.
Ignoring her, I grab the handle of the door and pull it up. Inside was a steel ladder that descended into the darkness. Putting the torch between my teeth, I grab the edge of the rung and step down till only my head was above.
I inclined my head for her to follow and started to descend. The ladder went on and on. With every step-down, the darkness grew thicker. It felt like several eternities had passed before my feet met the ground. I moved my torch around but it didn't prove to be of much use. I heard Elliot land behind me.
"Stay here."
Not waiting for a reply, I picked a random direction and moved forward. After several steps, my extended palm met wall. Keeping my hand there, I started walking.
Cold metal surface bit into my hand. My hand bumped into something. Turning my torch to it, I smiled. It was a box fixed into the wall. I put my thumb to the biometric and the lib popped open.
Inside was an electric grid. Recalling the manual I read in the morning, I flip two of the switches. The light blinded me as the whole room lit up. After a moment when my eyes had adjusted to the glare, I looked around.
It was a large circular room entirely covered in metal and illuminated by harsh white light. The walls were lined with metal doorways.
I counted the doors and moved towards the right one, gesturing for Elliot to follow me. The door read my thumbprint and corena. We were met with another door after a short corridor. Opening it with the same procedure, I stepped aside.
"Wh...what is this place?" Elliot asked as she spun in a slow circle.
To our side were several computers and equipment spread across a large table, but what was truly remarkable was what lay beyond it. Shelves upon shelves, rows upon rows that all held black boxed. They went on and on till they blurred into the distance.
I walked to the table and sat down on the chair. Elliot came to stand next to me but remained quiet. Good. I turned on the computer. Once it was alive, I stared at it for a moment before sighing and reaching into my bag.
From it, I produced Bianca's bracelet.
Carefully, I grabbed the tiny rectangular charm hanging on it and detached it with a tug. Placing it into a chip reader, I insert it into the computer.
There are many things I don't know about Bianca Relicta. It would make others furious. But not me.
She is a terrifying entity. A maze where each turn will lead to a horrid monster or a bloody scheme, each more frightening than the other.
I look down at the bracelet and remember her calm voice as I told her about Harley. Each day as I encounter a new monster or scheme, I feel relief.
Relief that those monsters and schemes will never be turned against me. I feel relief, that I made the right decision when I agreed to work for her.
She will change the world. For better or for worse, she will change it.
A window popped open on the monitor asking for a password. I smiled sadly.
'Heather_ Mason-14/6/2022'
Another window opened.
Server-II
Activate
Destroy
Take that Harley Relicta. I think as I click on activate.
Like a chain reaction each of the hardware on the endless line of shelves turned on.
I tuned in the chair to face an openmouthed Elliot, smiling brightly.
"Sever-II is up."
★★★★★★
London, United Kingdom
The meeting was stretching on for too long. There is only so much you can discuss the concerning influence of Rel and Co in geopolitical matters before the conversation starts going in circles. There is essentially nothing we can do about it.
The finance minister suggested for what seemed the hundredth time to cut off our weapons contract from them. I was barely keeping myself from pulling his hair out.
Luckily, the defense minister stepped in. "That is out of the question." She said. "If we were to do that, even if we have a huge stock hidden away, it would anger Rel and you can bet anything on it that they have more weapons than our stock."
The financial minister opened his mouth to retort, no doubt something foolish and I turned my attention from them when my personal phone rang. Excusing myself, I walk out of the meeting room and pick up without looking at the screen.
"Prime Minister. Remember me?"
I flinched.
Cold sweat broke out on my skin. How would I not remember that voice, the voice that echoed in my nightmares?
"Yes. Samantha Sky." I hissed.
"Such anger. I'm going to make good use of it." She said, her voice mocking.
"What do you want?" I growl.
"I remember telling you to think about them the next time we speak, your wife and son."
Terror coursed through my veins at the thought of something happening to them.
As though she could feel my emotions through the phone, she chuckled.
"Good. Now I want you to remember these words and do everything in your power to make others believe them as well, 'it was America'."
Confused was an understatement for what I felt.
"Repeat after me Prime Minister, 'it was America'." She urged.
When I didn't repeat, she takes.
"Think of your beautiful family Prime Minister and the equally stunning corpses they will make. Repeat."
Anger and fear rose in me but I stomped them down.
"It was America," I said through gritted teeth.
I could almost feel her grinning. "Good."
BOOM
Existence itself shook. It was the sound of the earth cracking on. I was knocked back into the wall by a shockwave. My ears rang with an eerie silence.
Then the screams started.
I pushed myself off the wall and rushed into the meeting room that looked over the city. Every minister was standing in their seat and looking out open-mouthed. A moment later I too joined them.
The sky was ashen with smoke as London burned.
Once skyscrapers were now rubble with fire consuming everything it could. The flames reached higher than the buildings ever rose. Screams and sirens filled the void like a horrifying symphony.
No emotion rose to the surface, as though anything I could feel would be a farce in comparison to this. Yet my hands shook and tears clouded my eyes. I had to look away. Look anywhere but at the horror humanity was capable of committing.
So I looked down at my phone, which surprisingly was still connected. With my mind numb, my hand moved on its own and placed it on my ear.
"It was America." Samantha Sky said in a singsong voice.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Thank you for reading.💙