Chapter Eighty-Nine: Sacrifice


    Reza had decided to get through with it today, no matter what came. She knew that what she did would cause unrest in the city, but she’d done enough here for it to manage on its own. Here, no one knew here and that was fine. Except for the murder she’d commited the first day, she''d kept a very low profile. Then, she’d sent Roberto out to spread propaganda. A rumor there, a minor crime here. All to rile the populace. On the outside, the lords would find nothing of interest. On the inside, though, everything was about to erupt, and Reza would be the one to do it.


    With a small grin on her face, she rode out on the street, enjoying the view of the beautiful city that she was sure would soon be in flames. And there were her targets, the Lord’s Peacekeepers, never loved, but always there, like the fly currently buzzing around Reza. One of the Peacekeepers would be Roberto himself. Strange, that she’d actually found a use for him.


    Just two nights ago, she’d had him join the peacekeepers. They would keep an eye on him, so he wasn’t going to betray them. No, he would ruin them another way.


    She rode up to the guards, confident but innocent-looking, catching Roberto’s eye, but ignoring it as she bounced along. As she predicted, as she’d planned, perfect to the minutest detail, Roberto stopped her as she passed him.


    “Oi, mulher,” He screamed. “Stop right there and dismount.”


    “What have I done?” Reza asked, watching as out of the corner of her eye she saw onlookers already waiting with bated breath for what would happen. It was no coincidence Reza had chosen the most-used street for this. The bigger a crowd she attracted, the better. “I’m just here to explore the city. Newcomer, you know?”


    “Oh, are you?” Roberto asked, lowering his voice obviously. Reza groaned and fought the urge to slap her face. “You wouldn''t mind if I inspect you then?”


    “No, sir,” She responded, smiling at him. “I’m as clean as they come.”


    “They don’t come very clean to me,” Roberto scowled, checking her pack. “Mind helping me over here, Miguel?”


    The other Peacekeeper did so, of course finding nothing.


    “See?” Reza asked. “May I go now, sir?”


    “Not until I say so.” With a scowl, Roberto carefully, but none-too-subtly, removed a vial  poison from his pocket and put it in her pack. A second later, he removed it with a shout. “Ah, look what we have here? A criminal as always. Guess you aren’t so clean, eh?”


    “What?” Reza looked wildly around. “That’s not mine, I swear!”


    “That’s right!” Someone screamed from the crowd, tired of the Peacekeeper’s injustice. “I saw that one place it.”


    “Oh, so you accuse us of lyin’, eh?” Miguel asked, turning to him.


    “That’s not mine!” Reza screamed.


    “Shut up, cabra,” Roberto growled, then proceeded to punch her, and, squealing, she fell from the saddle, pitching into the ground, where she stayed squirming.


    “What you punch her for?” The same man from the crowd asked.


    “She attacked me!” Roberto exclaimed, unsheathing his sword. The man, growling, unsheathed his own dagger, and threw it at a Peacekeeper, whose armor just stopped it from killing him, the dagger embedding only an inch inside him.


    “You bleeding man,” Miguel screamed. “I’ll gut you for that.”


    “Not if I do it first,” The man screamed. “Who’s with me?”


    “AYE!” The majority of the crowd screamed, almost one hundred souls now, to the Peacekeeper’s half dozen. They set upon each other.


    “What do we do?” Roberto asked Reza as they mock fought.


    “Now we watch the calamity rise. Next, the Peacekeepers will ask for reinforcements, amor. After that, the riot will escalate, until we have a full-blown revolution for this city. We will free this city from the Revanchist’s control.”


    Sure enough, one of the Peacekeepers was already running towards the castle, no doubt in search of help. Many of the crowd was already wounded on the ground, but three of the Peacekeepers were down too, and the others didn’t look much better. More and more rioters were joining, some with torches, others with rocks. Any possible weapons were used as the riot began to escalate.


    “Ah,” Reza breathed in. “The beautiful smells of calamity. Goddess, I enjoy it.”


    Roberto smiled, still in his Peacekeeper armor. “Now?”


    “Not yet. I want to see this.”


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    Reza waited just outside the riot then, watching as slowly, the radius of the fighting grew. There were now fifty Peacekeepers fighting, one of them even an Ancient, but there were just too many citizens. The mob mentality was enough to fuel them as they razed the Peacekeepers, who took at least three down with them. Flames began to rise through the city.


    “Heaven shall burn;” Reza whispered.


    “Hmm?” Roberto asked from his vantage point.


    “Just a moniker,” Reza responded. “A motto, of sorts.”


    “I like it,” her companion said. “Is it time?”


    “Patience, my disciple,” Reza said. “But yes, it is time. Let us journey to the castle.”


    It was not far away, just ten blocks. Still, it would be ten action-filled blocks. The streets were not empty after all. As soon as they began to journey, they were set upon by a peacekeeper. Roberto had removed his armor, realizing the danger in it. Waving his arms, the man flung the man into the air with his Ancient powers, and Reza threw a knife in his direction, silencing the man’s groans. A second later, the dagger flew back to her hand. She smiled.


    “I think I’m going to like this, darling,” She put simply, and Roberto grinned at her.


    “Me too, duckling.”


    “Don’t do that.”


    “Sorry.”


    They kept moving towards the castle. Reza ducked under a blow of a Peacekeeper and stabbed up, right where the breastplate met the helm, and the man gurgled to the floor. Another Peacekeeper waited for her, but she kicked him in the crotch. Grunting, the man flew back, only to fly forwards once more and hit a wall with a crunch where his head exploded, smattering Reza in blood and brains. The streets were red, and Reza could almost feel the blood flowing on them. They’d killed three Peacekeepers almost without even drawing a breath.


    Now, they were in full view of the palace, and Reza was careful to step over the dead and groaning bodies as they called out to her. One was missing an arm and a leg, and blood was gushing freely from both wounds. The woman, for so it was judging from the swelling on the chest, was even drinking her own blood in an attempt to quench her dying thirst.


    “Please,” she begged. “Can you do something for me?”


    “It’s too late for you,” Reza grimaced, scooting out of her touch. “But you served a good cause. May Eva look at you well.”


    “What?”


    “I’m sure you will see soon enough,” She said.


    “Then can you end my misery?” The woman asked. “Please, I want no more pain.”


    “As you wish,” Reza lifted her feet and it was soon encased in the armor Eva had afforded him. Then she brought it down, squelching on the woman’s head as it burst, spreading the gore everywhere. Roberto screamed as it happened.


    “Did you have to do it so horribly?” Roberto asked.


    “It was quick,” Reza shrugged.


    “What about the painless part?”


    “Maybe she felt it, maybe she didn’t,” the champion responded. “Either way, she’s dead, so it doesn’t matter, right?”


    Roberto shivered. “I think I’m going to puke.”


    “Do it over there, I don’t want to soil my clothes.”


    “Take a look at yourself, Champion. Your clothes are already soiled.”


    “The blood and guts fit,” Reza told him. “The puke would not. Now, if you’re done, I would love to keep going. We have a mission to complete after all.”


    Sounds of battle echoed throughout all the city now, and it seemed all the Peacekeepers had joined in, although reza was sure she would find much more dangerous enemies inside. It seemed that the citizens were losing the battle now, but Reza was sure they would win. They had the overwhelming majority, even if they didn’t have the power.


    The entrance to the castle was now unguarded and open, so Reza assumed even some citizens had entered by now.


    As they entered, Reza willed her armor appear, and so it did, the armor that was now black and purple encasing her completely, and she grinned like a madman as it fueled her.


    “I’m done playing. “Now it’s the real deal.”


    “Let’s do this.”


    They strode into the welcoming gardens, surprisingly peaceful compared to the noises outside. Reza was intent on killing anyone here, innocent or guilty. She knew that whoever worked here would know about its problems, and that made them guilty to her.


    A garden keeper gassed as he saw them.


    “Who are you?” He asked, eyes widening in fear. He backed away slowly, until he hit a wall. “Please, I know nothing.”


    “You know enough!” Reza spat, unsheathing her knives, and brandishing them threateningly. “Where is the Lord of this place?”


    “Third floor, I think,” The garden keeper replied. “Although he may have changed, considering the riot. Can I go now?”


    Reza stabbed into his gut and he gasped again as she cut downwards, until his intestines spilled from his stomach. Pawing at them, he stared at her uncomprehendingly.


    “Why…” he wondered.


    “You’re a disciple of the enemy. All must be slain,” Reza responded, and punched him on the jaw, shattering it, killing him instantly.


    Turning around, she walked to the door to the entrance of the castle proper, where Roberto was already waiting for her.


    “Did you have to kill him?”


    “The Goddess’ will is my own. Those who are my enemies shall die.”


    “And who are your enemies?”


    “That is for me and the Goddess to decide,” Reza responded. “If you want to leave, you may do so.”


    “You’ll probably kill me if I do.”


    “You are not an enemy, merely an inconvenience” Reza stated.


    “A cute inconvenience?”


    “An annoying and idiotic one.”


    “I was hoping for something more endearing.”


    “Endear this,” Reza lifted a finger in his direction, and he grinned.


    “Have you always been so happy?” He asked.


    “Mmm,” Reza grunted as she kicked the door open, shattering it. “Are you done with your useless tittering?”


    “My useless what?” Roberto asked, incredulous.


    “Oh, come off it, you insolent prick,” Reza groaned. “Amor, if you don’t shut up right now, I will bash your head in, and no matter what Ancients come to clean this bleeding place, they will never be able to wipe your filth from these halls as I decorate this place with you insides and blood, and then I shall eat you heart while it is still beating, and I will savor the taste of your death. Are we clear?”


    “Very,” Roberto gulped. “I will shut up.”


    “You’re still talking.”


    “Sorry.”


    Fogo. “Still talking.”


    “I’ll sto–I mean,” Roberto closed his mouth and closed his eyes.


    “Bleeding Ancients,” Reza groaned. “Never know when to bleeding shut up and obey. Shall we go in then?”


    “Yes.”


    “SHUT THE HELL UP! PLEASE!”


    “Sorry.”


    “AAAAGHH!”