A Despot's Redemption

"Serena, I'll let you have control for now."

Emily's sphere flashed in response as the floor rumbled under their feet. A blue swirl of energy began to surround her followed by a bright aura that lit up the entire room. Ferric's clothes fluttered like a sail as a powerful wind swept through the room. The wide grin on Emily's face along with her glowing pupiless eyes shook Ferric to the core.

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light filled the room. Ferric raised his hands to his face and closed his eyes. 

The flash technique. I've only seen Rapturians use that once. That can only mean one thing.

HIs heart raced. He yelled for Timothy to leave the room as soon as possible. The building was about to blow.

Ferric sprinted back to the window and leaped back onto the outcrop towering above the forest. He took a deep breath and slid down the slope. He followed Timothy

and chased after her.

As they ran stones and branches were hurled in their direction. Ferric winced in pain as the objects cut through his skin , leaving gashes on his arms and legs. 

Ferric reached for Emily's wrist and tackled her to the ground. He attempted to snatch her orb but got tossed aside. Timothy found it hard to reach without getting struck by the flying branches. The two continued to exchange blows , their fists and kicks landing with force. The metallic taste of blood filled Ferric's mouth with each strike that he received. Emily seized the oppurtunity and slammed Ferric's head against the nearby pine tree.

Ferric screamed in pain as his temple collided against the tree's bark.

Timothy had finally evaded all that Emily had thrown at him and tackled her to the ground.

Despite his disorientation , Ferric assisted him in restraining her as Timothy attempted to snatch her orb.

As Timothy seized the orb from her grip, he felt its heat searing his palm, the sizzling growing louder in his ears. In a decisive move, he shattered it against the tough bark with the shards spewing small columns of acrid smoke that rose into the air. Emily let out a final scream before passing out.

"Are these orbs really that easy to destroy?" Timothy asked while collecting the sphere fragments.

"Yes, if you can get close enough but it will just reform and fly back to the wielder. Emily connected herself to it so she won't be getting up for a while." 

Ferric ripped a piece of his shirt and pressed it against his bleeding temple.

" Welll that's great and all but where do we keep it?"

 "Somewhere where she won't have access , but we'll have to get our superiors first."

Timothy knelt down to pick up Emily and carried her on his shoulder. Ferric and Timothy made their way back to the fields and encountered two drill sergeants sprinting towards their direction. 

Both wore colonel badges on their chest with their names etched onto its surface. On it was written George and the other Faraday.

George inspected the dark burn on Timothy's palm. It was nothing that the doctors couldn't fix but what piqued his interest was the blue shards that he held.

"Where did you get these from and what happened to Emily?" George asked

"From your captain. She wanted to leak our digital files to the enemy. But don't worry, we were able to stop her from doing so.

Timothy reached out for his pocket and pulled out a black hardrive which had a symbol on it that resembled an ant.

"But how did you know about this?" asked Faraday

"It was me. I told him." Ferric replied

"Who are you?"

Ferric checked the stitching on his uniform

"My name is Lloyd, sir. 

"Alright Lloyd thanks for helping us. We'll take you to the clinic so that the meds can patch up your wounds. As for Emily, we're going to take her to a resting room so that she'll be ready for interrogation tomorrow."

Two weeks later

Timothy and Ferric stood by the hallway as they waited for George and Faraday to arrive. Ferric glanced to the window beside him and watched the recruits practicing their battlefield drills. Everyone else had gone off for training except for him and Timothy whose burnt hand was still wrapped up in bandages. 

The walls , ceiling and floor were painted in white and right beside them was a metallic door that had been locked.

Suddenly, loud footsteps echoed through the hallway. Faraday had finally arrived with his keys strapped beside his waist.

"Have you been waiting for me this whole time? I thought you two were doing drills with the other recruits."

"You told us that we would be going to meet up with Emily. So we waited here."

Faraday sighed. He reached for his pocket and took a silver key which he inserted into the door hole. With a firm grip he clutched the handle and opened the door.

Ferric followed Faraday into the room with the walls, floor and ceiling coated in black hues. To his right, stood a metallic table with Emily seated beside it whose long hair had been cut short.

"So what did you get from her?" asked Timothy

"Well we know that her real name is Chloe and she was sent by the Rapturians to steal our data , just like how Ferric described it."

"But why do you need us?"

"You two were the ones who stopped her so I wanted you to have time with her as a reward."

Ferric went to the chair adjacent to Chloe's and sat down. Shivers ran down his spine as he hugged his arms with a faint mist spewing from his mouth. A nearby soldier offered him a jacket which Ferric quickly put on.

"So, Chloe, is there anything you would like to share with us."

She remained silent.

"Here's a remote." said Faraday

"And what is this for?"

"You see those restraints on her wrists, you can increase the tightness on them."

"Is that how you've been getting information from her?"

Faraday nodded.

"Alright fine, I'll talk."

"Good, I want to get some knowledge of your past."

"You mean when the Rapturians raised me."

"No before that. Back when your parents were still around."

"I don't remember that far back. The Rapturians abducted me when I was little."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been a rough childhood. I can't imagine being raised by insects."

"Not really. There were some people of my age who I would spend time with. But it's just not the same. The Rapturians seek to abduct every young human , going from town to town in order to achieve that goal. We are not seen as just a species to be nurtured.They see us as weapons that need more work in order to make them useful. Even if you try to escape they will always find a way to bring you back in."

"But what for? We're not even a threat to them?"

"It's not about us Lloyd. There's another race out there, one coming to finish them off. They've been on the run for years, from what I don't know but it is definitely something that might threaten us in the future. The Rapturians want to control humanity and make ourselves their main army. They are not doing this out of a desire of power , this is all driven by fear

Timothy intervened and slammed his hand against the table.

"Alright , enough talk about the past. What did you do to the real Emily?"

Chloe chuckled "Emily never existed. It was just an alias to help me infiltrate the base."

Without warning, the door beside them swung open, bringing rays of light that made them squint. Once their eyes had adjusted they noticed George standing by the entrance with a submachine gun in his right hand.

"Sorry to disturb you, but the camp is under attack!"

"By whom?!" Ferric asked

"Mercenaries."

The floor shook violently as the windows behind them shattered. Ferric raced to the table to evade the shards flying towards them. His heart raced as he heard a projectile cutting through the air.

A burst of orange flame erupted from the wall followed by a blinding light that illuminated the room. 

The sound of ringing echoed in his ears as he squinted. Ferric gritted his teeth and painfully opened his eyes. The pain equivalent to his eyes being dipped in acid.

With his blurred vision, he noticed a military jeep with a mounted machine gun towering above the heap of rubble.

Ferric recognised the white scorpion markings present on the vehicle. hThey were the marlkings of the mercenary gang that raised him after the death of his parents. Chloe emerged from under the table and climbed onto the jeep. 

She glanced at the table where Ferric and the others were hiding.

"I'm sorry Lloyd. I hope we meet again sometime."

The driver revved the jeep's engine and began to reverse. Ferric sprinted up to the rubble heap as the car drove off into the forest. 

His heart sank at the sight of the base. The field was scarred with craters and bullet holes along with large flames that ate away at the last remnants of grass and tents. He wrinkled his nose at the horrid scent of smoke and gunpowder that filled the air.

He checked his pockets for the hard drive but couldn't find it.

"She must have taken it while I was still under the table."

Ferric clenched his fists .Chloe had gotten away with the info on the base and was now heading towards the Rapturian colony.