The Order Of Things - Part Three: Hell's Hot For A Reason
Nov 13, 2015 20:01:50 GMT -5
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Post by Non Compos Mentis on Nov 13, 2015 20:01:50 GMT -5
Adalina Gatti made me see everything. From the moment I met Ezra to the very last. It was impossible to hold back the agony in my soul, but somehow I remained whole when Calder had promised me I would shatter like glass. I lived it over again in images that wedged themselves behind my eyes.
When I closed my eyes I was in the home of The Order, the training rooms, always with him and dominated by our bond... and at the end of every blink I saw him die.
“I've been waiting to see you for quite some time,” The moment I caught sight of Ezra, I felt the bond that defined our relationship for that short time. A shock of silver hair sat atop a youthful, handsome and naïve young man who had known no life outside The Order. With a beaming grin, he glanced over my polar-opposite form and looked into my eyes. “I'm not disappointed.”
“Really? You wouldn't be the first.” Of course he laughed. He thought so much of me even then, he thought me a prince where I saw only a pauper.
“Does he know?” Ezra turned to Calder who, as always, was never far away. This time he happened to be stood ominously at my side.
“Know what?” I'd muttered, confused.
“Sean Rhodes, meet Ezra Colne... your Guardian.” The Eira to my Murdoc, at least that's what I thought at first. I hadn't understood their bond, not truly, but now I didn't just understand... I felt it.
It would have been easy to mistake Ezra Colne for Justin Kaard, if not by appearance then by attitude. Playful on the surface, reckless at times, naïve and impetuous. Yet underneath there was an undoubted determination.
The next memory was the training halls, packed with equipment that defied belief but was expounded for a pair of traditional bokken swords. He took a swing at me, I remember, and didn't seem concerned that he came within a hair of de-nosing me. “Don't hold back, do you kid?”
I responded as I always had; stronger and faster. Ezra was a smaller, nimbler figure though, and he rolled with agility to safety. “And you don't know when to back off. Not very Seeker-y...”
“I'm not a Seeker yet, not until Murdoc's gone.” I kept my guard up in only literal terms, my mind wandered to what my true role was within The Order and Calder's plans. Even now they chased me, wanting me as some illicit backup to Murdoc... or worse, throw me in some black hole of a prison.
“The Heirophants don't trust him, eventually they'll listen to Calder and concede they need another. That's where you come in.” With minimal armour Ezra's perfect smile was more than visible. So confident and irrefutable. Like Kaard, he'd been beaten once, seen his share of human indecency, but he came back for more. I knew he'd be back and believing he could level our little series, and he might just do it, but he was an all-or-nothing kind of guy and there were four matches left.
I could fight a war of attrition with the best of them; Murdoc, Grimm, Ace Anderson... The Order. I'd come out of fights bloody but I'd still have four limbs and a head fully functioning, could Kaard say that? He put too much on the line, and while it might win him a battle he couldn't win the war that way.
“You have a lot of faith in somebody you've only known a few weeks.” I circled Ezra, trying to look threatening but knowing he saw through my pretence.
“The Order found me when I was young, they taught me everything about who I am... and then they taught me about the man I'd be bonded with for the rest of my life.” In his voice I heard the first stirrings of something I hadn't felt in a long time, and didn't know if I wanted to again. Eventually, I gave in. “I've known you a lot longer than a few weeks, Sean. I've been preparing for this for years.”
A cough came from the back of the training ground and we were suddenly aware of Calder, ever present, watching us. I snapped to, sword ready. “Then you know I won't back off anyway.” But he'd been trained to be ready for years and before I could react his bokken cracked against my skull.
“Oh god, Sean...” Ezra cried as I fell to the ground. He tended to me as the blood started to flow, his touch as gentle then as I ever experienced, but he would never take back that strike. He was a member of The Order to the bone.
And then, much later, I remembered Calder's voice, impossibly more official than ever. We were in the open, in the city and well equipped. “That block is the base of operations for a Lycanthrope and his pack of followers. You've trained well enough, now we need to test you in the field.”
“We eliminate them all?” I heard myself speak, but there was no heart in those words. They were cold as night.
“Not getting squeamish are we, partner?” Ezra joked from close beside me, unflinching at the details yet always charming, always willing to put himself in harms way for those he was loyal to.
“Stay behind me, wouldn't want that face getting messed up.” With a sly grin to Ezra we approached the target.
And then darkness. Flashes of crimson, of teeth and claws, of flames. And then... “Sean!” That voice I'd heard before, that chilled me to my core. “HELP ME!” I could have reached out for his hand, but would it have been too late anyway? Ezra fell through the fire to his death, part of a display of Calder's that had gone horribly wrong.
“Hell is hot for good reason, Sean.” And then I was back in that Villa, in Chieti with Adalina Gatti. The spellslinger slumped inelegantly into her armchair, sipping more wine. “To thaw those of us with frozen souls so that we can feel the agony of our sins for eternity. As unwilling as I was, I took part in his death. I stay here in my own purgatory until the end comes.”
“Your Order has a lot to answer for.” I fell exhausted into the leather across from her. The fire was dying now, I doubted that Adalina ever intended to light it again.
“You could end me now, take some form of revenge. At this point it might be... welcome.” Drunk, she relieved the glass of the last of its contents and stared hard into my soul, beckoning death.
“There is no hell to warm your soul, only this world. I see the shame in your eyes... you'll live with the pain of Ezra's death as I will. There'll be revenge, you're right, just not against you. But... I think I know where to go next.” I left, back to America, unsure if Adalina would last the night. I left, and I went to the burnt out housing block in Brooklyn where my Guardian had died.
When I closed my eyes I was in the home of The Order, the training rooms, always with him and dominated by our bond... and at the end of every blink I saw him die.
“I've been waiting to see you for quite some time,” The moment I caught sight of Ezra, I felt the bond that defined our relationship for that short time. A shock of silver hair sat atop a youthful, handsome and naïve young man who had known no life outside The Order. With a beaming grin, he glanced over my polar-opposite form and looked into my eyes. “I'm not disappointed.”
“Really? You wouldn't be the first.” Of course he laughed. He thought so much of me even then, he thought me a prince where I saw only a pauper.
“Does he know?” Ezra turned to Calder who, as always, was never far away. This time he happened to be stood ominously at my side.
“Know what?” I'd muttered, confused.
“Sean Rhodes, meet Ezra Colne... your Guardian.” The Eira to my Murdoc, at least that's what I thought at first. I hadn't understood their bond, not truly, but now I didn't just understand... I felt it.
It would have been easy to mistake Ezra Colne for Justin Kaard, if not by appearance then by attitude. Playful on the surface, reckless at times, naïve and impetuous. Yet underneath there was an undoubted determination.
The next memory was the training halls, packed with equipment that defied belief but was expounded for a pair of traditional bokken swords. He took a swing at me, I remember, and didn't seem concerned that he came within a hair of de-nosing me. “Don't hold back, do you kid?”
I responded as I always had; stronger and faster. Ezra was a smaller, nimbler figure though, and he rolled with agility to safety. “And you don't know when to back off. Not very Seeker-y...”
“I'm not a Seeker yet, not until Murdoc's gone.” I kept my guard up in only literal terms, my mind wandered to what my true role was within The Order and Calder's plans. Even now they chased me, wanting me as some illicit backup to Murdoc... or worse, throw me in some black hole of a prison.
“The Heirophants don't trust him, eventually they'll listen to Calder and concede they need another. That's where you come in.” With minimal armour Ezra's perfect smile was more than visible. So confident and irrefutable. Like Kaard, he'd been beaten once, seen his share of human indecency, but he came back for more. I knew he'd be back and believing he could level our little series, and he might just do it, but he was an all-or-nothing kind of guy and there were four matches left.
I could fight a war of attrition with the best of them; Murdoc, Grimm, Ace Anderson... The Order. I'd come out of fights bloody but I'd still have four limbs and a head fully functioning, could Kaard say that? He put too much on the line, and while it might win him a battle he couldn't win the war that way.
“You have a lot of faith in somebody you've only known a few weeks.” I circled Ezra, trying to look threatening but knowing he saw through my pretence.
“The Order found me when I was young, they taught me everything about who I am... and then they taught me about the man I'd be bonded with for the rest of my life.” In his voice I heard the first stirrings of something I hadn't felt in a long time, and didn't know if I wanted to again. Eventually, I gave in. “I've known you a lot longer than a few weeks, Sean. I've been preparing for this for years.”
A cough came from the back of the training ground and we were suddenly aware of Calder, ever present, watching us. I snapped to, sword ready. “Then you know I won't back off anyway.” But he'd been trained to be ready for years and before I could react his bokken cracked against my skull.
“Oh god, Sean...” Ezra cried as I fell to the ground. He tended to me as the blood started to flow, his touch as gentle then as I ever experienced, but he would never take back that strike. He was a member of The Order to the bone.
And then, much later, I remembered Calder's voice, impossibly more official than ever. We were in the open, in the city and well equipped. “That block is the base of operations for a Lycanthrope and his pack of followers. You've trained well enough, now we need to test you in the field.”
“We eliminate them all?” I heard myself speak, but there was no heart in those words. They were cold as night.
“Not getting squeamish are we, partner?” Ezra joked from close beside me, unflinching at the details yet always charming, always willing to put himself in harms way for those he was loyal to.
“Stay behind me, wouldn't want that face getting messed up.” With a sly grin to Ezra we approached the target.
And then darkness. Flashes of crimson, of teeth and claws, of flames. And then... “Sean!” That voice I'd heard before, that chilled me to my core. “HELP ME!” I could have reached out for his hand, but would it have been too late anyway? Ezra fell through the fire to his death, part of a display of Calder's that had gone horribly wrong.
“Hell is hot for good reason, Sean.” And then I was back in that Villa, in Chieti with Adalina Gatti. The spellslinger slumped inelegantly into her armchair, sipping more wine. “To thaw those of us with frozen souls so that we can feel the agony of our sins for eternity. As unwilling as I was, I took part in his death. I stay here in my own purgatory until the end comes.”
“Your Order has a lot to answer for.” I fell exhausted into the leather across from her. The fire was dying now, I doubted that Adalina ever intended to light it again.
“You could end me now, take some form of revenge. At this point it might be... welcome.” Drunk, she relieved the glass of the last of its contents and stared hard into my soul, beckoning death.
“There is no hell to warm your soul, only this world. I see the shame in your eyes... you'll live with the pain of Ezra's death as I will. There'll be revenge, you're right, just not against you. But... I think I know where to go next.” I left, back to America, unsure if Adalina would last the night. I left, and I went to the burnt out housing block in Brooklyn where my Guardian had died.
