Ascended

I didn’t know what to do.

It was supposed to be easy. The humans were supposed to give us food or shelter while we were in their cities. Whatever we asked for, they were supposed to provide and then leave us alone. In return, we killed zombies and they were safe.

I thought my life as a Bokor was going to be simple. So far it was anything but simple.

I needed more time to come up with a plan. I decided to stall.

“Why were you trying to kill Val?” I asked.

“Like her father, she was becoming a hassle to deal with. The brawl at the tavern would’ve been much more devastating if either of you had been actual Bokor.” The mayor said, “Eventually, her luck is going to run out and we will be the ones who have to pay for her mess.” He shrugged, “So I told Darren to take care of it.”

“What about us?” I pointed at Max, “Why risk trouble with the Bokor?”

The mayor tsked, “As I’ve already said, you aren’t Bokor.” He flashed an evil grin, “I don’t think anyone here will lose any sleep over stopping you from becoming one of those monsters.”

“We aren’t – ”

“You’ve stalled long enough.” The mayor interrupted, “Drop your weapons.”

“Never!” Val lunged.

I was torn between backing her up or trying to rescue Max. Not that I’d figured out a way to do either. There were too many guards for us to win.

I moved towards Darren. Val was never going to reach the mayor, even with my help. The best I could do was free Max. After that, I didn’t have any ideas, but I was hoping an opportunity would present itself.

Darren backed away as I charged forward. The guards beside him rushed forward with shields raised. I could’ve gotten around one guard, but two blocked the whole walkway. I jumped back a step to give myself more room, and ran into another guard. Too many hands grabbed me and pulled my sword out of my hand. I was slammed into the stone floor and a knee pressed into my back as my hands were bound with a rope.

The whole fight was over in just a few seconds.

My dagger was taken as well as my papers. Val was thrown down next to me.

“I’ll kill you!” She screamed, “You aren’t going to get away with this!”

A guard kicked her in the stomach, silencing any more threats.

I craned my neck so I could look up, “What now?” I asked, “Are you going to kill us?”

The mayor started to answer, but Darren spoke up.

“Killing you would be too boring.” Darren pulled Max over to the rail, “Let’s have some fun.”

I watched in horror as I realized what he was going to do. Max didn’t understand until his feet left the stone.

“No!” I screamed. I struggled against the man on top of me, “Throw me!”

“Byler!” Max’s voice trailed as he fell into the pen. The growl of the zombies mixed with my partner’s screams.

The guards laughed and chuckled until it was quiet.

“That didn’t take long,” Darren snickered and turned towards us with an evil gleam in his eye. “Who’s next?”