Dread and panic seized Eli as time itself seemed to pause about him; he only heard the songs of the birds outside the building. What? This cannot be! How will we get back?
“How did you ever find out about something like that?” Rachel demanded.
“The Outlaw that confronted our group told us that one of his cohorts had infiltrated the Judge’s chamber and assassinated her,” explained the short Sentinel. “Unfortunately, I’d have to say he wasn’t’ lying. It would explain why we weren’t able to contact the Judge when we needed to.”
“Wait…” Eli interrupted. “You were attacked by an Outlaw also? Don’t tell me the rest of your team was…”
The blonde-haired Sentinel stared at the floor, and his companion began to speak shakily.
“They’re most likely gone. No one in our group is well-versed in combat, so there was nothing we could have done to defend ourselves. Our best bet was to simply flee, but we weren’t all able to escape.”
“I’m so sorry,” Rachel sympathized. “We also had no choice but to flee. We’re still worried for the rest of our team – hopefully, they’ll be alright.”
A voice suddenly interrupted from above. “Hopefully? Hope no longer.” Jack then descended into the room, followed by Victor and Ana.
“Jack!” cried Sarah in glee, rushing over to meet the old Sentinel.
“Glad to see you’re still safe,” replied Jack, bending down to embrace the child.
“What happened?” Rachel demanded. “How did you manage the Outlaws?”
Ana grunted in disdain. “Victor and I engaged in an extensive battle with the one that invaded our camp,” she began. “He was a formidable opponent, but Jack eventually came to our aid. Then, the three of us were able to drive him off easily.”
“In that case,” laughed Jack. “It seems that I was the fortunate one: The Outlaw that impeded our travel was foolhardy and inexperienced. Deterring him was child’s play.”
“You mean you didn’t destroy him?” piped the blonde-haired Sentinel in dismay, who had remained almost completely silent until now. “Why would you waste that opportunity? You implied that he was an easy opponent.”
“Calm down, friend,” urged Jack. “Where’s the fun in destroying him? He wasn’t even worthy to fall at my hands, not to mention I can handle him easily if he returns.” He narrowed his eyes, surveying the two unfamiliar Sentinels. “Who are you guys anyway?”
“They’re the only two remaining members of another team,” Rachel answered. “Their group was victimized by an Outlaw and was forced to disperse. I found them hiding at the edge of the forest.”
The shorter Sentinel bowed his head in greeting. “It is nice to meet you all,” he stated kindly. “My name is Jean, and my companion is Gerald.”
“They call me Jack,” replied the old Sentinel. “My friends here are Victor and Ana.
Now that we’re all acquainted, I believe it’s time to vacate this cramped building. We found it pretty easily, so it probably won’t be long until the Outlaws seek it out, especially with all of us here together.”
Eli noticed that Jack was right: The building had become rather cramped. Everyone had conglomerated into a mass of bodies with very little available space.
“I guess I’ll try to contact the Judge again,” Ana announced. “This mission has taken its toll on all of us. Time to end it.”
“That won’t be possible,” Jean pointed out. “The Judge is deceased; she was murdered by Outlaws.”
Ana’s eyes widened.
“What are you babbling about?” she hissed. “There’s no way any Outlaw could have accessed the Chamber of the Judge.”
“I’d have to side with Ana here,” added Jack, nodding in agreement. “Such an occurrence is completely and utterly unheard of.”
“Well, have you any other explanation?” Jean challenged. “That’s what an Outlaw told us, and it would seem his claim is true. Have you managed to contact the Judge yet?”
“I fear that he may be right,” Victor interjected. “These are unprecedented times - it has been decades since anyone has even seen an Outlaw. Perhaps they have developed new abilities that would allow them to access secluded locations. I’d say they are undoubtedly planning something…”
All shifted uncomfortably within the room.
“Don’t forget what that one Outlaw told us,” Ana reminded her comrades. “He said he wanted Sarah. I’ll bet they killed the Judge so that we’d never be able to return with her.
Instead, we are stranded here - completely vulnerable. I just don’t know what they need Sarah for.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Jack prompted. “They’re Outlaws; they want to see the Living World burn. If they know Sarah will save it, then she is a prime target for them.”
Eli scratched his chin, determining what he should make of all this. But how do they even know about Sarah at all?
“This is all very strange,” Eli piped in. “How does anyone manage to escape Gehenna anyway?”
“That has never been quite clear,” answered Jack. “It appears that only the most malicious and spiteful souls are able to escape, but no one is certain as to how it is done. What’s most unusual is that they have suddenly appeared now. In fact, Ana and I are probably the only ones who have been Sentinels long enough to have ever met one prior to last night – that’s how long we haven’t been aware of their activity.”
He turned to Victor. “That reminds me: We used to provide weapons to all our Sentinels as a means of defense from Outlaws. However, so much time had passed since we had seen one that we eventually stopped supplying them. How come you had weapons? We ceased providing them shortly after I became a Sentinel.”
Victor removed his overcoat and lay it upon the floor, revealing its interior. Rows of steel weapons lined the insides of it, gleaming in the light trickling in from the roof. His companions gaped, with the exception of Ana, who did not appear surprised.
“When I first became a Sentinel,” explained Victor. “I was mentored by a far more experienced Sentinel who had endured countless battles against Outlaws. After defeating one, he would claim its weapon as a prize; as such, he quickly accrued a large array of deadly tools.
Before he passed on to Paradise, he relinquished all of them to me, hence the collection you see before you.”
“Very good,” Jack observed. “Young folks, I recommend that each of you claim one of these weapons. You’ll need some means to defend yourselves as we move on.”
“Move on?” Rachel said in confusion. “Where are we going? We’re sitting ducks without the Judge.”
“Not quite,” Jack replied.
He reached into his pocket and retrieved a silver, crescent-shaped piece of metal from it.
The other Sentinels gazed on in awe and curiosity as the green gems and golden veins on the crescent glimmered majestically.
“This is what is known as a soul-key,” Jack explained. “Or rather, it is half of one. If a complimentary half is added to the object you see before you, a soul-key will begin to form, which can then be used to open a soul-gate without the Judge.”
The other Sentinels began to rejoice, and even Sarah, who had experienced difficulty comprehending the discourse thus far, raised her eyebrows with curiosity.
“Excellent!” exclaimed Jean. “I presume you have the complimentary piece?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t,” Jack replied in disappointment. “I was hoping that someone else here had one.”
An air of dread descended upon the chamber.
“Are you serious?” Ana scolded. “You just assumed that someone else had the second piece? Of course none of us have it! What good is it if it’s not complete?”
“No need for harsh words,” Jack defended. “It’s certainly possible that someone here could have had one. Besides, I have an alternate plan to claim the other piece. There is no guarantee that it will succeed, but there is still a decent chance that it will.”
“Spit it out then,” Ana snapped impatiently.
“Yes,” added Jean. “Time is of the essence.”
“Alright,” Jack babbled hurriedly. “My plan is to locate another team of Sentinels in the hopes that one of their members possesses a piece. Come to think of it, I recall seeing a team that proceeded through the soul-gate before us, and I recognized one of its members to be a Sentinel who is almost as old as myself. He may very well have the piece we’re looking for; much like weapons, soul-keys used to be distributed to serving Sentinels in case of emergency situations, but they aren’t anymore. In other words, more experienced Sentinels will be more likely to have them.”
“Your plan isn’t as sound as I would like,” Ana objected. “You haven’t pointed out how we are to locate this individual.”
“Oh Ana,” scoffed Jack. “Must you always be so obtuse? We can formulate a rough estimation of his whereabouts by identifying the division name of our friends’ group.”
He gestured toward Jean and Gerald. “Tell me, what title was assigned to your team?”
Gerald paused thoughtfully, staring up at the roof. “Let’s see… I believe we were division C5.”
“Not unexpected,” Jack replied optimistically. “And you were assigned an area just south of here, correct?”
“Correct,” Jean responded.
“I see…” Jack mused. “Your division has the same section letter as ours, it is numbered higher, and you were assigned an area due south. If memory serves, the division of the Sentinel I’m hoping to find was C2. As long as the divisions have been geographically arranged in the way that I believe they have, we should find our target north of here, but we may need to travel for some time.”
“We may not have to travel as far as you believe,” Victor pointed out. “There is a settlement located northeast of the area we explored, and it was rather large. That must have been the location assigned to C3; given the size of the area, that team was probably not assigned any other settlements, which means that whichever city is just north of that one must be where we can find C2.”
“Assuming they’ve survived,” Ana reminded everyone. “And what of the child?”
A grumbling sound emanated from Sarah’s stomach, and Eli’s hope began to dwindle.
She’s right. If we leave Sarah here with someone, she’ll be mostly helpless if the Outlaws discover this location and attack it. On the other hand, it would be very dangerous if we travel with her in the open, not to mention the fact that we still need to feed her.
“Well, I don’t think we can leave her here,” Jack reasoned. “It’s far too close to where we were attacked. If the Outlaws have as much brains as a rock, they’ll be able to pinpoint this place soon.”
Victor stooped and began rummaging about in a pocket of his overcoat.
“Not necessarily,” he stated confidently. “I have this.” He retracted his hand from the pocket, clutching a small cannister.
“Goodness…” muttered Jack. “Never thought I’d see one of those again.”
“What is it?” Eli asked.
“It’s exactly what we need,” Victor answered. “I can’t say I know what it’s called, but my former master explained its function when he bestowed it unto me.”
“It is referred to as instant shroud,” Jack explained. “It’s essentially a can of mysterious dust that renders whatever it is sprinkled upon invisible. That means we can use it to conceal this building.”
“You are correct,” Victor responded. “However, it has notable limitations, namely, the duration of its effects: If applied to this building, it will only conceal it for about 48 to 72 hours.”
“In other words,” Ana inferred. “We can leave Sarah here if we shield this cabin from the Outlaws’ sight. This shielding will only be necessary until we are able to locate another team of Sentinels and construct a soul-key. The only shortcoming of this plan is that the shroud will soon lose its potency if we do not act quickly enough after applying it. In any case, 48 hours should be plenty of time.”
Eli listened on doubtfully, while the continuous pain from his burn granted him no peace.
We’ll be assaulted on our journey, though. And how many Outlaws will strike then? We may not be able to defend ourselves.
Jack crouched down before Victor’s outstretched coat, studying it carefully. “I wouldn’t say we’ll have plenty of time,” he argued. “Even so, I think that’s the plan we’re stuck with.
Can anyone propose an alternate solution?”
The room remained silent.
“I suppose that we now have an objective, then,” Jean observed. “I have one question: Do we leave someone with the child?”
Sarah had curled herself into a ball near the center of the floor and had fallen asleep again.
“Definitely,” Jack decided, inspecting a long knife he had found in Victor’s coat. “Even with the dust, leaving Sarah by herself would be too great a risk. Who will remain here, though?”
The Sentinels all exchanged uncertain glances.
“Eli?” Jack prompted. “Would you be willing? I’m not sure you’re fit to travel with that burn.”
Eli opened his mouth to object but held his tongue upon the realization that Jack had somehow discovered his burn. He had not mentioned the injury in Jack’s presence yet, and it was unlikely that he could have seen it from his position in the room.
“How’d you know about that?” Eli asked, puzzled.
“Your body language betrays you,” Jack answered. “Also, I saw the Outlaw strike you –
those fiends tend to leave bothersome injuries that cause searing pain. At any rate, will you stay behind?”
The room remained silent, save Sarah’s squirming about on the stone floor. How dare he single me out… I won’t be staying here.
“The burn is nothing,” Eli insisted. “I intend to travel with everyone else who sets out.”
“So you do…” Jack murmured in surprise. “In that case, who else would be willing to stay here?”
Eli gazed upon Jean and Gerald, neither of whom volunteered immediately. Why wouldn’t one of those two be willing to stay here? They don’t look particularly impressive.
Then again, Jack did not appear to be powerful, but he had easily defeated the Outlaw that had brought Eli to the ground in a single blow.
Eventually, Jean nodded. “I’ll stay behind just in case trouble arises. Will I be alone, or should we leave one other behind?”
“We’ll probably need to let Ana stay here too,” Rachel pointed out. “She is the only one we can communicate with at this time.”
“Yes, good idea,” said Jack. “Alright. We know what we’re trying to do, we know where we’re going, and we know who’s going. It’s definitely time to set out.”
He rose from his position by Victor’s coat with an array of weapons in his arms.
Approaching Gerald first, he handed him the large blade he had been inspecting earlier, which was about a foot long. He then proceeded to Rachel, bestowing unto her a chain whip with a steel sphere the end. Finally, turning to Eli, he offered him a single shuriken with a strap passing through the opening in the center; the weapon was relatively large – about thirty inches separated the tip of one blade from the tip of the blade on its opposite side. Four blades protruded from it in total, each blade perpendicular to the adjacent one.
“Aren’t these meant to be thrown?” Eli asked.
“Why, yes,” answered Jack.
“It won’t be particularly useful then,” Eli noted. “I’ll have to retrieve it after each throw.
In other words, I’ll be unarmed and vulnerable for prolonged periods of time in combat.”
Jack chuckled.
“That’s no ordinary shuriken,” Victor explained. “It possesses unusual properties. For instance, it will rebound after striking an object and return to its owners grasp without fail – a very powerful weapon.”
“That’s right,” Jack added. “I’ve witnessed them in use back in my day. They are quite effective.”
As Victor retrieved his coat from the floor and Jack knelt down by Sarah for his last farewell, Ana announced that it was time to depart.
“No more lollygagging,” she grunted. “It’s time for you to get going. Be sure to notify me if anything significant occurs.”
“Will do,” Jack replied, pushing the covering on the roof aside. “Time to depart, everyone. Be ready to fight at all times – the Outlaws do not relent.”
With that, Jack vacated the building; he was quickly followed by Victor.
Eli proceeded to the hole tentatively, wincing at the pain from his burn. Going to have to suck it up. He climbed out onto the rooftop and peered up through the overhanging branches of the surrounding trees. The portion of the sky he was able to see was partly covered by cloud, but he could catch a glimpse of sunlight as well.
“The sun is high up already…” Eli muttered, as Rachel and Gerald exited the building beside him.
“Let’s get a move on!” shouted Jack from above the trees. “Victor will quickly apply the powder to the cabin, and then we’ll be leaving.”
Eli slung the shuriken over his shoulder and fastened the buckle at the end of the strap in front of his body. With that, he ascended to the treetops with Rachel and Gerald. As he emerged from the branches, Eli feared that an Outlaw would suddenly appear and assault them again.
Upon joining Jack in the sky, however, he realized that no one else was in sight.
“Three cities north of Johnson…” Jack muttered. “We’ll have some distance to travel until we arrive at our destination, and we’ll still have a good deal of searching to do when we reach it. Distractions could prove fatal for our mission.”
Faint clouds of a purple substance billowed up from the trees, indicating that Victor had applied the shroud to the building.
“We’d best be off,” Jack announced. “Keep your weapons at the ready – we could encounter issues at any moment.”
With no further wording, Jack soared off to the north, with the rest following closely behind.