The Godsfall Chronicles

Cloudhawk had hoped he could leave the outpost before his enemies caught up with him . He didn’t want to get them caught up in his troubles . Unfortunately, danger came with the night . He could feel it gathering to strike . Although he couldn’t be sure, his premonition told him foes were lying in wait for him to show himself .

It was all so strange . These were not typical wastelanders .

He was at a loss, and before he could puzzle out what all of this meant Cloudhawk heard the sound of a door opening from behind . A group of people surged in from the outpost, but what really caught his attention was the tell-tale sound that came with them .

A relic? Demonhunters! But why would demonhunters appear here? Were they the ones here to kill him? He didn’t dare underestimate them . The only demonhunter he’d met was the Bloodsoaked Queen, so he didn’t know how capable others of her order might be . If they were as strong as the Queen – no, if they were half as strong as the Queen, Cloudhawk was in serious trouble!

With the situation unclear he couldn’t just break past them . Nimble as a monkey he pulled himself up onto the roof and found a hidden spot to watch from . No sooner had he hid himself than he witnessed the demonhunter and a dozen soldiers begin rounding people up . The Lighthouse Point’s citizens were herded toward the center of the town, too far for him to see what was happening . But he could hear the screams . It’d started .

Cloudhawk covered himself in his cloak and vanished, reappearing several dozen feet away . He was silent as a ghost, slipping through the night with the dexterity of a cat . He slipped an armor-piercing round into the chamber of his gun and peered through the sights until he found the two demonhunters .

These soldiers were outfitted in superior equipment, far better than anything a wastelander could manage . Along with the demonhunters, it wasn’t hard to guess where they’d come from . Cloudhawk couldn’t remember offending any elysians, though .  

Perhaps something had happened to the Bloodsoaked Queen? Unlikely . She had a background of strength and experience, nothing would happen to her .

Whatever motivated these elysians Cloudhawk didn’t know, but he could see over a hundred dead civilians through the scope of his gun . It didn’t matter what their aim was, the wanton murder of innocents wasn’t something Cloudhawk was willing to accept . He was still trying to decide what to do when they singled Coppertooth out from the crowd .

“We’ve done nothing to sully the name of the G.o.ds here!” Panic had set in when Coppertooth saw who’d come for them . Their lives were forfeit the moment the demonhunters arrived, but he tried one last gambit . “We’ve lived our lives in reverence of the holy lands and its people . We have never dared disrespect your righteous doctrines . Never! I was once a soldier in the Skycloud army, I made a mistake and was exiled but I have always remained loyal . Always!”

“A soldier of Skycloud?” Raith approached Coppertooth and trampled on his left leg . The sound of snapping bone and Coppertooth’s screams mingled in the heavy air . Raith’s face was a hideous mask of ruthless loathing . “You filthy worm . You dare call yourself a Skycloud soldier?”

He pulled Coppertooth up from the ground, then slammed his fist into the crippled veteran’s face .

Coppertooth hit the ground hard . Half of his face had caved in from the blow and several teeth tumbled from his mouth . He sputtered through a mouthful of blood and his limbs twitched erratically . Raith’s punch had broken his neck . He would never stand again .

“No . No!”

Asha scrambled out from the huddled crowd . Tears cut streaks through the dirt on her face as she ran toward Coppertooth . He saw her and gurgled through his ruined mouth . “Go back . Stop!”

Two soldiers grabbed Asha before she could get far . One slapped her hard across the face . What frail child could withstand a strike from a trained soldier? She crumbled to the ground unconscious .

The sound that came from Coppertooth was something between a roar and a wail .

Raith pinned Coppertooth’s head to the ground with a foot, while fifty wastelanders were chosen from the crowd . They were shoved into a line – old men, women, children – trembling as grim soldiers towered behind . Calloused hands gripped their glaives tight and brought them high, waiting for the order .

“Coward! I know you’re hiding somewhere!” Raith dragged his eyes around the camp . “If you have any shred of honor, then show your face!”

He didn’t hesitate . Raith waved his hand, and in an instant fifty innocent lives were snuffed out .

Luna didn’t even bat an eye at Raith’s murderous rampage . Her eyes were closed as she searched for any sign of the traitor they’d come to kill . Her companion’s actions were bait to lure out their prey, to anger him so that he would act rashly . The moment he did she would know where he was hiding .

“Are you watching? These innocents die because of you! Coward! How long will you let this go on?”

Raith raised his hand again and snapped his fingers .

Cloudhawk struggled to quell the rage burning inside of him .

The Bloodsoaked Queen was one of the harshest people Cloudhawk had ever known, but compared with what he witnessed she was a saint . To her the lives of wastelanders were a trifle, but she at least loathed killing indiscriminately . These monsters killed for the sake of killing .

They do this to get to me, eh? He knew their ploy, but Cloudhawk couldn’t sit by and watch . He wasn’t from the elysian lands . He didn’t believe in their bulls.h.i.+t code of honor or pretend respect . He only felt the wrath and indignation that came from a wastelanders’ heart, from hearing people like him scream and die .

Fifty more people were lined up and forced to their knees . They swayed and cried and begged forgiveness .

Raith turned a blind eye to their tears and blood . He would kill them one batch after another, their lives held no value . If their pitiful deaths drew out his prey then he was killing two birds with one stone .

“Kill them . ” Fifty soldiers raised their weapons .

Cloudhawk could hesitate no longer . He glared through the cross-shaped aiming reticle at the female demonhunter . Disgusting as her male companion was, she was more dangerous . All this time the relic she’d been channeling resonated threateningly .

It was probably some sort of probing relic, or something that empowered her perception, Cloudhawk guessed . In other words, she was the eyes and ears . If she got a lock on him, escape would be almost impossible . He was in an inferior position, both in numbers and in strength . In a position like this, he had to make the first shot count .  

His gun was special . Blackwater Base had had only one and it was picked out for him by h.e.l.lflower . In addition to firing conventional ammo it was also capable of accommodating special rounds . The armor-piercing bullet nestled in the chamber could punch through a sheet of iron several inches thick . No fleshy human body stood a chance . Even Roste’s freakish skin wouldn’t have been able to withstand a shot!

Raith raised his hand to give the order, then Cloudhawk pulled the trigger .

The moment his finger moved, the female demonhunter’s eyes popped open . She slid to the right . Bang! The bullet exploded from Cloudhawk’s gun and half a breath later struck one of the Skycloud soldiers . His jade-like armor shattered into a thousand pieces and he hit the ground screaming . The bullet kept going, piercing through a second man before ultimately lodging itself in a third .

f.u.c.k! Missed!

Even the Bloodsoaked Queen would have found it hard to dodge this attack if she wasn’t looking out for it . The woman’s demonhunter skills alone didn’t account for her ability to dodge the shot . She had to have a high level of perception to do that .

Her abilities were similar to Cloudhawk’s . The sense of danger leveled her way had tipped her off with enough time to get out of the way . Killing her at a distance was a challenge .

Luna’s azure blue eyes fixed on the shadow in the distance . “Raith, to the north!”

Raith lifted his bow and stretched back the string . An arrow appeared out of thin air when he released, which soared toward the shadow almost a thousand feet away . Running along the hotel roof Cloudhawk could feel the power closing in . He threw himself to the side, suddenly changing directions . The place where his foot had just left exploded into splinters .

“Where are you running!”

Raith’s face bore a vicious scowl . Without another word he leapt onto the roof of a nearby six foot building .

His talent was agility . He jumped across the rooftops so quickly that half the distance between himself and his prey was covered almost instantly . As he soared through the air Raith drew his bow again and released an arrow no less deadly than Cloudhawk’s gun . If it hit the consequences were unbearable to contemplate .

Thud!

The arrow was stopped by a s.h.i.+eld of sand, but the impact also blew the s.h.i.+eld apart .

The air became choked with yellow dust that impeded the demonhunter’s vision . Raith waved his hands in front of his face to try and dispel the cloud . When it was gone, so too was his target .

Escape was going to be difficult . Cloudhawk knew the soldiers were waiting to ambush him nearby . Although they couldn’t compare to demonhunters, Skycloud soldiers were nonetheless capable fighters . Their weapons were as deadly as sniper rifles .

When the soldiers saw him they burst into action, but before they got far Cloudhawk threw a round object in their midst . The explosion that followed shook the whole area . The blast wasn’t lethal, but the sound and light incapacitated his attackers – another toy Cloudhawk had brought from Blackwater Base .

Luna and Raith gave chase, followed by a contingent of soldiers . However, by the time they got to where the blast had been, Cloudhawk was gone without a trace . Neither demonhunter had antic.i.p.ated he’d be this cunning . He’d slipped pa.s.sed both Raith and the soldiers left in ambush .

Raith’s expression was both savage and infuriated . The turncoat had escape from right under their noses, killing two Skycloud soldiers and wounding several others . It stung worse than a slap to the face .

“He’s injured . ” Luna dug her fingers into a patch of blood soaked soil, then brought them up to her nose to take a sniff . “The traitor won’t get far . ”

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