Chronicles of the Uprising (Trilogy 1): Trilogy 1 (42 page)

Chapter 20

“Guards!” Natasha shrieked as Mira stepped through the shattered door.

A hand appeared in front of Mira’s face. On instinct, she grabbed and pulled its owner down and threw her free elbow hard between the soldier’s shoulder blades. Before he crumpled, she fisted a hand into his hair and yanked his head up. “Stop wasting others’ lives and deal with me directly.” She looked into the frightened soldier’s eyes. “You don’t want to fight me, do you?”

The soldier did not respond verbally, but his eyes screamed, “No!”

She threw him down, hoping he’d be smart enough to stay there.

Two other soldiers in the room halted in their tracks. Smart, Mira thought. Her reputation had its perks. No one wanted to fight with her.

“You’ll deal with me one on one, Natasha.” Mira fisted her hands, readying herself to fight. “I’ve come to collect on your blood oath.”

Natasha’s eye twitched ever so slightly. There was fear there that she did not want to admit.

“And when I am done with her,” Mira said, “I will deal with the rest of you.” She purposely made eye contact with the remaining members of the Council.

“Now, let’s not be too hasty.” Michael held his hands up in surrender, but took a step toward Mira.

“The time for talk is over. You’ve done nothing but lie and plot this war, using me and my people as chess pieces to your end.”

“Wars have casualties…” Michael continued to slowly step closer.

“You’re about to learn that firsthand.” From the corner of her eye, she caught a shadow move on the wall. Michael’s movements had only been a distraction, and Niko was suddenly at her side, arms raised with a table knife held like a dagger. She tilted backwards away from his swing and caught his hand, turning it on his own body, plunging the knife deep into his chest. She dropped him and returned her focus to Michael.

“Take Natasha,” Mira ordered to Stryker. She took no time in lunging toward Michael.

Years of inactivity had not dulled his reflexes. Still, other than brute strength, he was not skilled in the art of combat. She had him pinned to the ground in moments.

“Please…” Michael pleaded.

“Say something stupid. Give me more lies to rally to your cause and continue this war.” She spat in his face.

“I only did what I thought was right to save our people. You don’t know what it was like when the humans took over.”

“That doesn’t matter. I will not see the other side repeat the same mistake.” She dove at his neck, sinking her teeth in deep. She shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. Fresh blood called to her, and she gulped down what she could in the few seconds she had before ripping Michael’s throat out. His blood pooled around them, staining everything in its path. Mesmerized, she watched it for a moment before finishing Michael off, removing his head like she’d done so many times in the arena.

She must have looked crazed, or maybe it was the act of ripping another being’s head from his body that gave the others the true sense of what she’d had to do as a gladiator, but after that the room fell silent.

“Yes, this is what happens to losers in the arena…” She spat a chunk of flesh on the ground and stood, meeting the eyes of all in the room in turn.

Roseanna, Natasha, and Katerina were all that remained. Male or female, it didn’t matter to Mira – she was prepared to kill.

Natasha stopped struggling in Stryker’s grip. “Release me,” she demanded.

“You promised no harm would come to my friend. You gave your blood oath to it. Now I collect payment. ” Mira turned on Natasha with all the quickness of her race. “Let this be a lesson to those of you that remain.” She snapped Natasha’s neck, and then took a deep breath before fully removing her head. The room was soaked in blood, and Mira’s face was drenched with it when she turned around to face the last two on the Council.

“You.” She pointed to Katerina. 

The redheaded woman, despite the fear in her eyes, stood calmly and stepped up to Mira. “Do what you must.”

She hadn’t expected that.

A quick glance at Stryker stayed Mira’s hand. “Are you planning to cross me?” she asked the shifter woman.

“It was never my intention. I am only here to speak for my people’s needs.” Katerina’s voice waivered some. Genuine fear. But Mira also sensed truth.

“You will step down. Stryker will speak for your people from now on.”

“As you wish.” Katerina nodded, taking her eyes off of Mira for the briefest of moments to look at Stryker. “I will follow you both.”

That went much more easily than she’d anticipated. Though she sensed the shifter was honest, she’d keep an eye on her in the future.

“And Roseanna…” Mira licked her fangs clean as she addressed the final member of the council.

“If it’s all the same, I do not want to die.” She held her hands up in surrender.

Roseanna had been unusually quiet in all her dealings with Mira. Each time she had appeared to simply agree with her male counterpart, Alec. Mira wondered how much of that might have been controlled by the former Otherkin leader. Just as with Katerina, Mira sensed honesty in this Otherkin woman. For the moment, she’d let her live too. “Then don’t give me a reason to kill you.”

“Understood.” Roseanna sighed with relief and lowered her hands. “What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing for the moment. But you will answer to my every order while we deal with the fallout.”

“Understood.”

Mira looked to Stryker. “Stay here with them.  I have to end these games.”

Chapter 21

 “Stop this madness!” Mira shouted as she stormed into the arena.

Tegan turned back from his prey, the shivering blob of frightened human that had once been the proud and cocky Magistrate. His face had been beaten so bloody he was hardly recognizable.

The crowd above, a mix of human and Otherkin, called out from the stands. Mira could hardly tell if they were for or against her interruption. She looked to the large screen and saw herself magnified as she had so many times in the past in its HD display.

“This is not the way,” she shouted again.

“Kill him.” A loud voice rang out through the crowd.

Mira could not tell who had said it, but she looked up again and addressed the masses. “What will killing him solve? Will it get back any of the others who died under his rule?”

“He deserves death. Make him pay for his crimes.” More shouts, more angered cries.

“Death is too quick a payment. Too easy. He’s lived his life on the deaths of others. Wouldn’t it be more just to make him work towards the opposite?” Mira shouted up to the crowd. “Make him a servant of peace.”

Tegan stood from his attack stance and turned to fully face Mira. “Give it up. This one is a lost cause. The people need to see him pay. And I need my revenge.”

“Don’t you see? You’re just continuing the cycle. After his death, who next? There are so many who have been responsible for our suffering over the years. We could end them all and feel vindicated, but what trail of hatred would we leave behind? Friends and family of those we killed would eventually want revenge. The cycle will never end unless we stop it ourselves. Yes, they’re guilty of horrible atrocities. Yes, they have hurt our kind for generations. Yes, they deserve some retribution. But let that be justified. Let it be working toward peace and an end to hostility. Let that be their punishment rather than ending their existence.”

“Kill me.” The Magistrate struggled to his feet. “I’ll never allow this peace. You and all of your kind are abominations. Monsters!”

“You see, he deserves to die. He can be our example,” Tegan said with an evil smirk.

Mira shook her head. “Don’t you see? That’s exactly what he wants. You kill him and his suffering ends. And, you prove to all the rest of the humans that we only know how to deal with things by dishing out death.”

“Do it. You know you want to.” The Magistrate limped forward and threw himself onto Tegan. “Smell that blood. You know you can’t resist.”

Tegan closed his eyes and inhaled slowly. “We can make examples of others. This one is mine.”

“Over my dead body,” Mira said, and lunged toward Tegan. She ripped the Magistrate from his grasp and tossed him to the ground. “Don’t make me fight you, Tegan.” Mira warned.

“I don’t want to fight you. I want to kill him.” A feral edge took over Tegan’s voice.

Mira crouched low, pulling her sword from its sheath, ready to fight if necessary.

The crowd roared with excitement above.

“You see? All they want is blood,” Tegan said, his voice dripping with “I told you so.”.

“Because that’s all they have been told to want.” Mira replied. “You know you cannot win, Tegan. I’m stronger and a better fighter. We’ve danced around this arena many times. Stand down.”

Tegan let out a growl of frustration that could rival that from any feral wolf, but afterwards, he relaxed his posture and lowered his fists. “I hope you’re right about this. Because I have my doubts.”

Mira rose to stand, dropped her sword to the ground, and extended her hand in friendship. “I have my doubts too, but we have to at least try.”

Tegan took it and nodded. “You’ve always had my respect as a fighter, but now I see in you the makings of a wise leader, too.”

“And I always thought you hated me.” Though she and he had always been enemies on some level, Mira had also respected him for his abilities. To hear that the feeling was mutual was a compliment of the highest regard.

“No one likes being beaten by a girl,” Tegan said under his breath.

The crowd above displayed a mix of emotions – some people cheered, some shouted. Mira noted a few fights breaking out in the stands.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” she said to herself, though she knew Tegan could hear. Before she could call out for assistance in the stands, she saw members of the wolf pack already heading to break up some of the fights.

“Mira, look out!” someone called from the stands.

Mira turned in time to see the Magistrate lunging toward her with the sword in his hand.

“This is what I think of your peace,” he shouted. 

Mira sidestepped out of his clumsy path. The Magistrate went down hard on to the ground, impaling himself on the sword.

“So much for leaving him alive,” Tegan smirked.

“At least we didn’t kill him,” Mira said.

“There’s still time…”

Mira nodded at Tegan’s unspoken suggestion. Poetic justice for the man responsible for so many of her kind’s death. The same fate she’d condemned Olivia to as well.

Tegan bend down low and pulled the flabby dying man up into his arms. Like a viper, he went for the carotid artery, severing it with his teeth. Minutes went by in slow motion. Every second of what was happening was being played out on the big screen. Humans had always wondered how it was done – and now they would witness it firsthand. Tegan drank his fill and then ripped open his own flesh, biting into his wrist, and fed the Magistrate his blood.

Unresponsive at first, Mira wondered if Tegan had waited too long, let too much blood be lost; but then the Magistrate swallowed. His heart picked up beating again. He was turning.

Mira looked up and addressed the crowd. “Bad blood has torn our people apart for centuries. Rumors, prejudices, and unnecessary fear have all fed into our races this outright hatred of one another.” Silence filled the arena. She knew she had their attention. Never really being good with words, however, she felt at a loss as to what to say. “We are all creatures of this earth. Each and every one of us deserves to be here.”

To her left, the door to the stables opened. George entered the arena, carrying Lucian in his arms. Worry stole Mira’s attention. Was he still alive? She dared not move or speak until she heard the beating of his heart. Lucian was awake, but still very weak. He smiled, seeing Mira. “Go on. Tell them. You can do it.”

His encouragement gave her confidence.

“From this moment on, we must make a change.” She addressed the crowd again. “We must learn to co-exist.”

Murmurs of agreement came from the crowd above, but no one was brave enough to say it outright.

Mira hoped they were really listening. Taking in her message. Seeing the truth.

Lucian reached out and put a hand on Mira’s shoulder. For the first time, she didn’t feel the need to shrug it away. She turned and smiled at her friend.

“If we cannot learn to live with each other, the cycle of violence and death will continue. You’ll be condemning your children and your children’s children to a future of bloodshed.”

She hadn’t heard the doors open but Stryker, Katerina, and Roseanna strolled into the arena with them. They joined Mira in the center. She was never more grateful for the show of solidarity, something she’d honestly never expected to see happen.

“The reign of terror is over.” She looked up to the crowd again. “We all stand here before you: Human, Otherkin, Shifter, and Vampire. United by a common goal… peace. Will you join us in this cause?”

Mira looked up to the stands, watching the people sitting there. All that remained of this human city were women, children, and a few old men, incapable of fighting, but hardly any others. The rest of the spectators were Otherkin.

Long silent moments went by before one person stood and began clapping. Then two, and finally one by one the arena grew to a roar of applause.

Mira let out a long sigh of relief.

“You know, pretty speeches aside, there’s a lot of work to be done to realize your dream of peace,” Lucian said.

He was right, and that worried her. What had she taken on?

Before the worry could take root in Mira’s mind, Stryker hugged her from behind. “Lucky she has us to help her.”

Normally she’d have shied away or reacted violently to such an intimate gesture, but at that moment, she needed his arms around her. He made her feel whole, complete. More than just a friend, he’d become a companion to her during their short time together.

Mira turned to face Stryker, smiling as she saw the shock in his amber eyes. “I do feel lucky.” She planted a quick peck on his nose before squirreling out of his grip.  

Stryker’s jaw almost hit the floor, and Mira wasn’t the only one who caught the shocked expression.

George snorted, almost dropping Lucian on the ground. “Told you she liked you,” he snickered.

Mira would neither confirm nor deny that, but she smiled all the same.

Lucian wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t appear as surprised as the rest. He nodded at Mira and whispered, “Somewhere deep down, I knew it could never be me.”

“You and I have a different bond,” she replied just as quietly. “But no less strong.”

She turned from Lucian, meeting each pair of eyes surrounding her. “And we all need to be strong in the coming days. It will be our bond of friendship that sets the tone for what is to come.”

Seeing everyone there, in the arena with her, Mira felt a weight lift from her shoulders. They’d been through hell, but here they stood, former enemies, smiling and standing together as one. A shining example of what could be.

“All I have ever wanted was an end to the fighting.” Mira continued. “Hopefully with your help, as representatives of each of your kind, we can truly create peace for all of our people.”

“To peace!” Stryker called out and held his arm up in the air.

“Peace,” the others chanted.

Above them, the chant echoed in the stands. “Peace!”

Mira knew it would be tough to hold on to, but for the moment, she’d finally found it.