The Brikeng

 

       It had started raining again when Feirce exited the hideout. He mumbled about the stupid weather as he removed his cloak from his satchel that he had slung on his back. He kept the items with him at all times because both the satchel and the cloak had once belonged to his father and he treasured them above of all of his possessions.   

        Feirce traveled down the road to a street corner where he snatched a loaf of bread and two apples from a street vendor with his back turned. It had taken a while for him to get over his hatred of stealing, but with his current condition of being on the G.O.D.s most wanted list for two years, he couldn’t risk being seen buying food or even having a job. Instead, he slipped quietly in and out of the shadows as if it were in and out of existence.

       Feirce hid out in a alley to eat his meal. He relieved himself by a nearby sewer drain, (after extensively making sure that nobody was in sight) then used his enhanced strength to climb atop a nearby building. Even in the gloominess of the rain, Invena always looked beautiful from this raised few. The pale blue glow of the buildings that stretched on as far as the eye could see gave it the feel of an endless ocean.

         And then, something strange happened. In the main part of the city, there was a large gathering. He could see the dark shapes moving against the blue of the buildings behind them. Something was going on. Feirce walked to the edge of the building in order to get a closer look, but there was too much commotion. He had to get a closer look.

          Feirce walked back a little, then got a running start to leap to the next building. The gap was a good fifteen feet, but Feirce made it with ease. He jumped to the next one and the next one and so one, until he was only a block from the center of town. Feirce looked out and drew in a sharp breath at what he saw. G.O.D.s, hundreds of them, all gathered in the city square. As Feirce watched, all the G.O.D.s in the square began to march out along the main road that led from the center of the city to the outskirts of Invena. The stretch of roadway was nearly fifty miles long, but it looked like there were enough G.O.D.s to line the entire strip, and it looked like that was exactly what they were doing. As he thought about it, the soldiers moved out and took up positions along the road. It would have taken normal humans a long time to make it to the end of the road, but the G.O.D.s moved as swiftly as anything Feirce had ever seen, even in full armor. He watched curiously as more and more soldiers came out from side streets to join their brethren. Feirce crouched down lower as he heard the sound of more G.O.D.s moving in the street below him. ‘It must be every unit in the city’ he thought in utter amazement. ‘What could they be gathering for anyway?’

      His question was answered as a large man with tied back white hair and a matching thick moustache approached a podium that was set up in the center of the square. Feirce listened intently as the man broke into a speech. His voice rang throughout the city from thousands of loud speakers. The man spoke in a deep and humble tone, apparently this was a big day for him.

     “Good people of Invena! I come to you today, to tell you that you are witnessing a grand event! Long have the Hands of God protected and served this great city!” Feirce rolled his eyes. “And today is a great day, why? You ask! Because our great leader Brikeng, who sought peace in a time of great strife, who brought down your enemies when they stood against you, who protected you when you were vulnerable, and who purged those unworthy spites from your homes!” Feirce clenched his fists and ground his teeth. Not only was this man telling complete lies, but he knew that these ‘unworthy spites’ were the Quitake’. “But some of you have tried to resist great Brikeng in his efforts to heal a terrible disease from your population!” Feirce wanted to scream at the man, to cry out that the Quitake’ weren’t a disease, the G.O.D.s were, but he held his tongue and listened to the rest of the speech. “I ask of the one who leads these blasphemies to come forth, into custody, and you will not be harmed.” Feirce realized with an angry feeling that the man was talking about him, not only that, but he was telling Feirce to give himself up.

        The man paused for a moment as if expecting Feirce to jump up and yell “HEAR I AM!” with a big goofy look on his face. After apparently deciding that Feirce wasn’t dumb enough to come out, he continued. “The great Brikeng is coming today, in order to wave a new banner of Peace!”

     As he said it, Feirce noticed a large caravan of vehas were coming into view along the central road. He realized that the battalion of G.O.D.s were being used as a welcome wagon.

      The vehas moved slower and apparently took more time to approach than the man on the podium predicted. He compensated by filling the void with incoherent ramblings of how great and powerful Brikeng was.

            As the caravan approached, Feirce could make out the image of a large man standing atop one of the vehas; waving to a crowd that had begun to gather along the streets to see what all the commotion was. Feirce could see that some had the look of fear for the G.O.D.s that stood guard, while others had a look of hatred.

           Everyone stood well away.

           Finally, the caravan made it to the podium.

          The man who had waved at the people from the veha made his way up the platform and motioned his hand to the other man; who bowed and stepped down from the podium.

           The man who now stood on the podium was a giant, standing at least two feet taller than Feirce and near a foot wider. The man spoke with a deep voice that had a touch of malice. His eyes were cold and dark and his face was covered in scars. He wore battle armor that was shiny, clean and the same red-black color as the rest of the soldiers, only there were many more intricate designs and pieces than a regular soldier.

          The man opened to the crowd much in the same fashion as the first, only this one introduced himself, “Invena! I am the great and noble Brikeng!” ‘Finally,’ Feirce thought. So this was the Brikeng. This was the man who was responsible for all the horrible atrocities that had happened to Invena, for all the people who were kidnapped and killed. . . For his parents.

          Fierce quickly committed everything about the Brikeng to memory. His voice, his appearance, even the way he stood.

       “My organization; the Hands of God, has become aware of an growing unease in this city. We have decided that it may be in Everyone’s best interest, if the Hands of God were to become the official government for Invena.” There were a few gasps from the crowd, many people began murmuring nervously to one another. Even Feirce; crouched low on the roof, listening to the whole event was taken aback. “Rejoice in the union of all people, for the New Age Republic!”

      Nobody clapped. Nobody cheered. All was silent. If the Brikeng had expected anything more he didn’t show it. The Hands of God have always looked out for your wellbeing, while weak and ignorant nobles sat on their thrones! Now, however, with the formation of the New Age Republic, we will be able to grasp this cities affairs, and turn Invena back to the glorious and shining city it once was!”

      The Brikeng’s words rang; unanswered, throughout the entire city. Feirce imagined all the families that were now cowering in their homes. What they had just heard was the shocking truth that the one shred of hope that remained with their government and their city was lost. He knew more than anyone that the Hands of God, or the New Age Republic, or whatever they would be called, wouldn’t be Invena’s salvation, but its downfall.

       Feirce thought about what all this would mean, when he felt a vibration in his leg. He had barely noticed his com going off. He took it out and pressed the little black button on the oval device, “Feirce.” He spoke calmly into the device. The voice he heard back was not so calm. “Feirce! Feirce! Did you hear what their gonna do!?” It was Tick. “Yeah, I did. What do you know about it?” Feirce asked. “What do I know!? I’ll tell you what I know! Their gonna make the government give up their power! I was listening to the security capsules and heard a bunch of G.O.D.s laughing about it!” Tick was freaking out even more than usual.

     “But wait,” Feirce started, “they can’t do that, can they? Isn’t the only way a government  can change its power by�"“ “Failing to pass it on to a succeeding government before they died!” Tick finished. Then reality struck Feirce. “No! Their gonna kill them!’ Feirce squeezed the com so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Those b******s!” He yelled. Then, surprisingly, Tick calmed down and spoke quietly and purposefully, “Feirce, you need to find out what’s going to happen, the security capsules don’t go into the throne room, so I won’t be able to hear what’s going on. The only way we’re going to find out what’s up, is if someone goes in there and checks it out.” “I understand.” said Fierce. “Sneaking into the capital  is gonna be dangerous, but if anyone can do it you can.” “I know.” He said. “I’ll give you a buzz when I get there.” Tick sighed on the other end. “Be careful, you know what’s at stake if you get caught right?” Tick asked, “I’ve lost sleep over what’s at stake if I get caught.” Fierce answered. It was true. He had gone to bed for two years with the knowledge that if he died, so did his race.

       Feirce turned off the com and launched himself smoothly and silently from the rooftop. He landed lightly in the alley below the building  and raced through the streets with all haste. He through caution to the wind as he sped through the dark alleyways and streets towards the capital. He knew that the only threats to him in the entire city were safely miles away, still listening to the horrible speech that was spreading fear throughout Invena. The rain was still coming down heavily, and Feirce’s mind was on how best to entire the castle when “Ooof!”

    Feirce had run head on into another person. Dazed for a moment, but quickly getting his bearings straight, Feirce looked down at who he had run into.

     It was a girl. She wore a pale red dress, her hair was a light auburn and fell a foot past her shoulders. She looked up at Feirce. His black hatred-filled eyes met her kind, light brown ones. “Um, sorry.” Feirce said awkwardly as he helped her up. “Oh, it’s ok.” She smiled. Then Feirce noticed something else, around her neck. It was a pendant, but not just any pendant. It was in the shape of a sun and gave off a pale blue glow, the tall-tale sign of something Quitake’. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her dress. “Feirce had absolutely no idea how to end this conversation, so he did what he always did when he was in an awkward situation: rub the back of his head and casually walk away. At the end of the street however, he heard the girl say something behind him. He didn’t want to ignore her, but he needed to be somewhere. A voice in his head told him to turn around, but he passed it off and disappeared around the corner.

       ‘That was strange,’ Feirce thought. ‘Why was she running? Especially in a dark alley when no one else was around? And that pendant. It had to be something Quitake’, nothing else glowed like that.’       

          Feirce pushed it all from his mind. He had more important things to attend to.