CHAPTER NINE: KILL THE ROGUES
1230 Words
The soldiers were in a circle. Their faces were turned outward, taking their swords out of their sheath and their guns reloaded. Their breathing laboured.
Daemon stood with his hands at his sides, watching the figures appear from the darkness.
The figures became clearer as they neared the bonfire.
Rogues.
They were dirty. Their hair was long and matted with rag clothes on their bodies.
There were thirty of them. Perhaps forty, not scared, hungry and angry walking forward.
Then they stopped…ten meters from Daemon.
Daemon looked at them, scanned their faces and saw the wildness in their eyes.
Wolves without packs. The rogues were scavengers and had lost their humanity.
The rogue in front went forward with a step. He was a large man with a scar that ran down the side of his face.
He grinned, revealing his yellowed broken teeth.
His grin wavered when his eyes met Daemon's.
He stopped and sniffed the air.
The other rogues behind him adjusted their weight. Some of them took a step back.
They felt it. The energy emanating from Daemon. The crushing force of an Alpha among Alphas.
"Who are you?" asked the leader of the rogues. His voice sounded rough.
Daemon turned his head. "I am the one asking the questions here."
The rogue leader sneered. He tried to regain his confidence. "We are the new law in this place. We take what we want."
“You take nothing,” Daemon said. “You are filth.”
The rogue leader laughed. It was harsh and yapping. "You have fancy armor and fat horses. We will take those as well. And we will eat out your hearts."
Daemon's expression stayed the same. He was bored.
“You are arrogant,” Daemon said. “Arrogance needs power. And you lack that.”
"There are more of us you fool. You are surrounded." The rogue leader spat on the snow.
“I am never surrounded,” Daemon said. “I am merely in a target-rich environment.”
Daemon moved a step forward. The snow crunched under his boot.
“Leave,” Daemon said. “Turn around and run. Run until your lungs burn. And maybe I might let you live.”
The rogues glanced at each other. They laughed but when Daemon's cold eyes met theirs they stepped back, ready to make a run for it. However, their leader growled at them.
“Cowards!” shouted their leader. He turned back to Daemon. “We do not run. We kill.”
Daemon let out a deep sigh. He gazed pityingly at their leader.
"I'll give you one last chance," Daemon said. "Release the women you've taken and the children. However many they are and leave."
"The women are ours and so are the children," said the leader. He licked his lips. "They scream nicely. Just like you will scream."
Daemon's eyes went flat. The pity vanished.
“I see,” Daemon said.
He rolled his shoulders. The popping of his joints echoed through the silence.
Daemon turned to his men.
“Kill them all,” Daemon ordered his men. “Leave their leader alive. I have questions and better things in store for him.”
"Get them!" screamed the rogue leader.
The rogues charged, screaming as they ran.
Daemon walked ahead. The first rogue reached him. The man wielded a rusty axe and swung.
Daemon moved, too fast for the rogue and stepped into the swing. His hand shot out and grabbed the rogue by the throat.
Daemon squeezed, a wet crunch sound snapped and the eyes of the rogue bulged.
Daemon threw him. His body soared ten feet and landed on a burning part of the pyre.
Two other rogues joined in. Daemon dodged a clawed hand. He punched his fist into the chest of the second attacker.
The impact ruptured the man's ribs, causing the attacker to collapse on the floor, coughing up blood.
Daemon spun, kicking the third rogue, stomping on his skull.
Daemon cut through the rogue, ripping both arms from one of them.
In minutes, the rogues were dead on the floor, save for the leader.
Daemon saved him for last, letting him watch in horror as his members died.
“Monster!” screamed the rogue leader, and transformed, his bones cracking and rearranging. The fur grew from his skin.
He had shifted, transforming into a large brown wolf.
The wolf snarled, showing its canine fangs.
Daemon halted, smirking as his hands dropped with blood. He looked at the wolf.
"I don’t need to shift to kill you," Daemon said.
The wolf lunged, moving quickly as it targeted Daemon's neck.
Daemon waited then he moved. He side-stepped.
His hand shot out and grabbed the front leg of the wolf.
Daemon pulled, turning the wolf’s momentum against it, and knocked the creature back onto the frozen ground.
The wolf yelped. The blow shook the earth.
Daemon didn't stop, his boot rested on the wolf's shoulder, holding it down and he twisted.
The bone broke with a loud crack that rang out in the square.
The wolf howled, crying as Daemon released his leg.
The wolf scrambled back. It struggled to stand, but it found that its leg was useless.
Daemon walked towards it.
The wolf opened its jaws to bite him but Daemon had gotten around him, breaking his ribs with a kick.
The wolf went flying backward and landed on a stone wall, whimpering.
The form of the wolf shimmered. The pain caused it to shift back to its human form.
Panting, helplessly on the floor, was the rogue leader. He was naked, holding his broken arm.
His leg was turned in a strange position from where he landed.
The fight was over. Daemon's soldiers panted, transforming back into their human form, and picking their swords and guns on the snow.
Daemon pulled out a napkin from his pocket and cleaned blood from his hands.
Slowly, he walked towards the crawling man.
The rogue leader looked up. His eyes were wide with terror while he moved backward with his good arm.
"Please," wheezed the man. “Don't kill me.”
Daemon stopped. He stood over a man. "Killing you will be saved for later. Right now, I want answers and you're going to give them to me. Where are they?” Daemon asked.
The man shook his head. "I…I don't…”
Daemon moved forward and planted the sole of his boot on the man’s throat, applying pressure.
The man gagged. His good hand clawed at Daemon's boot as he kicked his legs.
Daemon watched him struggle. He watched as his face turned purple, the purple veins swelling in his forehead.
“I guess I wasn’t clear enough,” Daemon said.
He pressed even harder.
The man’s windpipe started to constrict, and he tapped Daemon's foot frantically.
Daemon breathed gently and lifted his foot.
The man turned onto his side and coughed violently. He gulped huge amounts of air and vomited on the snow.
Daemon waited. He let the man breathe. “Let’s go over this one more time.”
He crouched down, bringing his face close to that of the man. Daemon’s eyes were voids. There was no trace of humanity in them, or compassion.
“Where were they taken?” Daemon whispered.
The man swallowed as he looked into those eyes and saw his own death.
- Writer
