Sorrow's Fall Chapter 1

Chapter 1 
Blood and Agony

I hate blood.  The sharp metallic taste and the way the smell seems to linger in the back of my throat.  It makes me want to gag.  Right now, it was everywhere.  My uniform and hooded cloak splattered with the dark blossoms of another man's life.  I took a deep breath trying to ignore the stench and the warm slick spots on my exposed skin.  The body slowly slumped to the ground as my blade slid clear.  Amplified by the stone walls, the gurgling of the man's last breath echoed in the courtyard.  The thonk of his helmet on the ground vibrated up my legs.  My fingers tightened around the hilt of my sword, the leather protesting with a soft squeak.  Another death and how many more before the night ended?

I closed my eyes and sheathing my sword returned to my waiting stance.  Centering myself, I opened my eyes seeing the murky aura of the dying men like a low-lying mist at my feet.  Moonlight glowed on the pools of blood turning them molten.  Fear wrapped in agony wound its way up my legs, slimy noxious tendrils that threatened to break my concentration.  I resisted the urge to brush it away.  Anyone seeing me do so would have questioned my sanity.  I knew from experience that no one else could see it.  I dismissed it from my mind.  My job was not finished.

My next target stood at the end of the courtyard.  I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet waiting for the command.  They were dead, I was alive, that was all that mattered.  Or so I told myself, but the nagging in the back of my head was not appeased.  It knew that deep down I lived for these horrific moments.  These brief interludes when I actually felt something, anything, even if it wasn't mine.  Even when it meant I was nothing more than a monster. I did not look at the man standing just a few steps to my right, the man who had brought me here and ordered me to kill.  He was always with me on these forays into death and despair.

"Are you certain these were your elite guards, Yusik?  It took them less than five minutes to die with out even managing to counter attack.  You are either lying, or stupid."

Yusik stood at the far end of the confined space.  Even at this distance, I could see his hands trembling as he clutched the wooden staff.  His hate and indignation out weighed his fear, writhing around him like lethal serpents of green and bronze.  He shook his head a pained look on his face.

"What . . . what have you done to him, Drake?"

"It is a weapon.  The promise and the threat of sorrow will begin and end at the tip of its blade."

I glanced over at him.  Lord Drake Fall, the most powerful man out side of the Hyperia, smiled.  Triumph glittered around his large form.  He was not usually so blunt about his view of me; his contempt cutting through me like a laser through fog.  I was nothing but a weapon, his weapon, his creature.  I shivered but tried not to let it show.  It was unnecessary and wasteful movement.  I shivered again and caught myself as he glanced over at me.

"Calm down." He growled.

With a nod, I acknowledged the command.  The gurgling at my feet had finally stopped.  Drake glared at me for a moment longer and with a grunt turned back to face the other man.  I stifled a sigh, looking back to Yusik.  I remembered him as a hard but fair man with a rare gentle smile.  It had been years since he had been at the Manor on planet Belarus where I lived.  His reaction at seeing me was no different from what I expected.  Many things had changed in the last seven years.  I just never would have believed he would turn traitor, selling information to one of Fall Intergalactic's major competitors.  My interaction with him had been limited to training sessions, but I knew he had admired Drake.  Or maybe I had misinterpreted what was actually jealousy.  My experience with other beings was severely limited, so it was entirely possible I was wrong.  But this wrong?

"Now are you ready to admit your mistake, Yusik?  Or shall I have it start on the members of the household?"

"No, I alone am to blame.  They knew nothing of my plan."  His voice was strong and sure now his eyes never wavering from us, as if he had made up his mind about something.  Had he resigned himself to death?  Surely he wouldn't go down that easily.  I flexed my fingers as the joints began to ache from holding the hilt of the sword too tightly.  The movement didn't release the tension as it normally did and the ache seemed to spread up my arm.

"You admit you have been helping the rebels on Byne."

"Yes."

"Then there is nothing more to say.  Finish it." Lord Fall growled at me.

I started forward. Something didn't feel right, there was a strange prickling along the base of my skull.  Yusik's confident manner was gone.  He scowled at me, air rasping in and out of his open mouth.

"Drake, you fool.  What have you done?"  He growled under his breath, "I am sorry child, I was hoping that I would be able to rescue you at some point, but it seems that you are no longer a child.  Only a monster exists there now."

I blinked and stopped a few steps from him.  He knew that I had been chosen for this life, he had been there the day they discovered my abilities.  He had taken an active part in my training, and he was calling me a monster.  His anger was palpable, making the air around him quiver with unreleased energy.  I took a step back, preparing myself for him to attack.

"You are an abomination and if I am to die, I will take you with me."

I moved to the side to avoid his headlong rush feeling sluggish as if I was trying to move through water.  The ache had spread rapidly and my joints were on fire, my vision blurring.  Disoriented I was unable to avoid him as he whipped around slamming his cane into my leg.  Down on one knee I parried his next hit, the blow vibrating through me.  His hate wrapped around me, digging into me with sharp claws making it difficult to concentrate.  I shoved him away and drew my sword ready to end it.  With a leap, he drove me to the ground.  The sword clattered on the stones, knocked from numb fingers.  I barely managed to grab his arm as he stabbed down with a dagger.  Where had that come from?  I should have been able to sense it.  Even now, with it only inches from my face I could sense nothing.
That and the prickling sensation was spreading, sapping my strength.  Something seemed to be clawing at my stomach, a cold hollowness that sent shivers through me.  Looking up into his dark, bloodthirsty eyes for just an instant I saw what he saw.  A monster in the guise of a child.

"Get up!  What the hell are you doing?" Drake's shout echoed through the courtyard.

I ignored the shout focusing on keeping the knife from my throat.  Yusik growled as he bore down with all his weight, his eyes glowing unnaturally in the moonlight.  My arms were shaking with the strain of keeping the larger man at bay.  I grimaced as the tip of the blade pricked my skin.  Desperate, I brought my knees up to my chest and put my feet in his stomach.  Shoving up with all my strength, I sent him flying over my head.  I staggered to my feet, the ground seeming to tilt under me.  What was this odd feeling?  It was growing stronger as it spread.

Yusik clambered to his feet and a low mirthless chuckle reverberated around me.  The coldness burst in my middle making me shudder and I fought to keep my breathing even.  I couldn't be loosing control.  I never lose control.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy, to draw you out.  Leaking that information seems to have done the trick.  It is a shame that so many of us had to die.  But, if it means that we can achieve our goals, then the sacrifice is worth it.  You deserve worse than death for what you have done Drake."

The tingling intensified until it was a buzzing; I shook my head trying to get rid of it.  I could feel my control slipping.  I took a step forward and stumbling, went to one knee.  What was going on?  I looked up.  Yusik was smiling, his teeth glowing white in the moonlight.  He had seen his death, it showed in his eyes and in the flickering blackness that was steadily creeping over him.

"You were our objective the whole time.  This had nothing to do with the information leak.  We just wanted an opportunity to destroy you and now, we have.  You should be feeling disoriented about now.  My men had been treated with a special compound for the last several months.  Each drop of blood on your skin is laced with a powerful neurotoxin that specifically targets your nervous system.  By killing these men you sealed your own fate." He shook his head, the smile fading, "I didn't want to kill you outright.  Is it just to kill someone who doesn't even realize they are evil?  But now there is no time to debate the matter.  I will finish you now, there is no need to let it drag out."

I lurched to my feet, my whole body was tingling painfully.  I gasped as pain erupted behind my eyes.  He had allowed his own men to be killed just to get to me.  I knew people loathed me, but this was beyond that level into the realm of insanity.  The coldness was gone replaced by hollowness; a strange piercing ache seemed to linger at its core.

If he wanted to kill the person truly responsible, he should put that dagger through Drake's heart, not mine.  I gagged, agony ripping through me.  Part of me that I rarely allowed to voice itself was screaming at me to kill him.  But that would not change my situation.  It had been a trap from the start and I had walked right into it.  I couldn't control the trembling that was quickly becoming a violent shaking.  It took all my will power to remain standing.  The screaming in my head was getting harder to ignore.  Yusik chuckled, the sound slicing through me.  It felt as though my heart was going to burst under the strain of keeping my body upright.  How long had it been since I had been at someone's mercy?
 
"So this is your ultimate weapon, Drake Fall.  It is no wonder you bed a Barendi, you are just like them, wicked and conniving.  How pathetic that you hide behind a wretched twisted child."

His words sent heat rushing through me.  Wretched?  Twisted?  It was not my choice to be this way.  Nothing was ever my choice, the voice in my head screamed.  Shoving at the darkness that shrouded the screaming I tried to regain control.  To shut it back behind the barriers.

Something slammed into my chest throwing me back.  I bit back a yelp as my head bounced off the stone pavers.  I blinked several times trying to focus through the pain.  It hurt to breathe, my chest on fire.  What was that?  What had he hit me with?  I was able to focus enough to see what looked like his cane sticking out of my chest, just under my right collarbone.  I went to pull it out, but as soon as my fingers touched it, agony swept through me.  What was this thing?  A non-energy based weapon?

"Now I've got you." Yusik's voice was low, and carried ominously through the night as he strode towards me.  I struggled to get up, but my limbs wouldn't move. 
"Drake you are an idiot.  The Revolution will overthrow your corporation and without him, you will lose everything.  You can kill me, but you will never stop the Revolution."

My despair overwhelmed me, the screaming in my head drowning out all other senses.  I felt as though I was falling.  Forever falling into a deep void where nothing but pain and suffering awaited me, the hopelessness that lived there was a terrible desperate force.  It swallowed me whole.  Fear, rage, hate and misery combining to create a force that I could not control.  A white-hot sphere of light enveloped me for an instant and then was gone.  I lay trembling trying to comprehend what had just happened.  Yusik was gone; all that was left was dark stain on the stones.  My poison addled mind took a moment to realize the gravity of what had just happened.
I had lost control. 

The screaming had abated somewhat but still made itself known.  Footsteps rang across the courtyard vibrating painfully through me.

I made it to my knees feeling light headed and nauseous.  Lord Fall strode toward me his eyes shadowed.  Apprehension wrapped around me.  I was not supposed to release my full power with out the command.  The screaming in my head was getting harder to contain as the poison clouded my mind.  He would never accept such excuses, even if I could voice them.  He stood over me, without warning reached out grabbing the cane sticking out of my chest.

"What the hell were you thinking, you stupid little shit.  I did not tell you to use that.  If you can't control it, you are useless."

I gasped as he yanked the cane free, my hands going to my chest as if it would stop the pain.  Blood oozed in warm rivulets from between my fingers.  More blood dripped from the spiked end, gleaming in the moonlight.  He held it up inspecting it, but was careful not to let any of the blood get on him.

"Huh, simple but effective.  I thought it was just his cane.  Oh, well.  I guess we better get you to the ship and see about an antidote.  Although, I've got half a mind to let the poison run its course."

The end of the cane connected solidly with the side of my head and the courtyard faded from existence in a flurry of stars.


Awareness returned in bits and pieces.  First the pain, then a dull glow and a low humming at the very edge of perceptible sound.  Voices hovered around, flitting from one side to the other.  I didn't try to comprehend them, just let the sound wash over me.

"Vital are stable."

"Inhibitor is within acceptable parameters.  Spiking at seventy-five percent of
maximum containment.  Capacitor is nominal, bleed off of kinetic energy is at point oh nine."

"Increase to one point zero and hold."

"Spike at eighty percent."

"Adjust accordingly."

"Spike at eighty two percent."

"Increase dosage of napro."

"Increasing to 2 mils per minute."  The pain faded to a tolerable level, no longer a blinding agony.

"Spike has dropped three percent."

Something began beeping, a soft yet irritatingly insistent sound.

"He's conscious."

"Get all non essential personnel out of here.  Bren, adjust inhibitor for emergency containment and raise the shield."

"Adjusting.  Shield up at one hundred percent."

I opened my eyes.  Drake was standing on the other side of the shield, the two medics working at a station behind him.  His expression did not change as he looked at me.  I tensed, restraints biting into my arms.  The table I lay on was tilted so that I was nearly standing.  Bright white antiseptic light flooded the area with its coldness.

"I want a full work up done on that compound.  Are the preliminary results back?"  He crossed arms bigger than my thighs over a massive chest.

"Yes.  It was transmitted by osmosis and immediately began attacking the nervous system.  Muscle control and coordination where the first to be affected."

"That was obvious from what happened.  Tell me something I don't know."

"It has already caused some minor brain damage."

"Is it reparable?"

"Chances are excellent with the proper treatment."

"Go ahead with treatment.  Otherwise keep him under observation.  No contact."

"Yes sir."


It was two days before they let me out of sick bay.  I shuffled down the corridor between the two brawny Sentinels sent to escort me, bound, to the IC.  The IC was what they called the isolation chamber where I stayed during these longer trips.  It was a small room insulated and shielded to keep me from messing with any of the technology on the ship.  I had never tried to take over the ship, but apparently they thought I could.  Nothing like being treated as a dangerous criminal before even committing the crime.

The deck seemed to tilt under me and I stumbled knocking into the Sentinel to my right.  A cold fire blossomed in my gut.  I could not be this weak, he wouldn't need me anymore.

"Gods and demons, can't you walk, stupid little runt."

A heavy fist clubbed the side of my head and the deck reached up and smacked me.  I lay there for a moment; blinking slowly, trying to control the spinning.  The Sentinels argued above me.

"Lay off Tamik, he just got out of sickbay."

"Who the hell cares?  It's because of him that we're delayed getting home.  My wife's going to be furious."

"Let's just get him to the IC.  We can go grab a drink after, how's that sound."

Tamik grumbled something unintelligible.  I managed to roll to my side, my hands still cuffed behind me. 

I flinched as the guard reached for me.  He laughed, a short derisive bark.  With one hand under my arm, he hauled me to my feet.

"Come on co-tac, I bet you could use a good stiff drink too, not that you're going to get one."  He snorted.  I shot a glare up at him.

"All he's going to get is punished for what happened dirtside.  I heard that Drake just about blew a thermal coupler.  I guess he wanted that rebel alive and our trusty little co-tac here burnt him to a crisp."  Gerad patted me on the head, almost sending me back to my knees.

"Lets just dump him off and be done with it.  This kid gives me the creeps."

Part of me was glad I was medicated.  It takes the edge off, blunts the colors and dulls my perception of others emotion's.  They all hated me to varying degrees.  It gets tiresome feeling nothing but hate and fear.  We hadn't gone very far when Drake appeared in the corridor striding toward us.  At the sight of him my legs got weak and a chill ran through me. 

"I'll take him from here, Sentinels."

He grabbed my elbow, whipping me around in front of him.  A flash of alarm seared me, his anger raking through the drug induced haze.  He was in a murderous mood.  Gerad looked back and forth between the two of us.  I didn't look him in the face, focusing instead on the front of his uniform.

"Yes, sir."  They both saluted and started off at a crisp trot.

I glanced sideways up at Drake.  His blue eyes narrowed to slits.  I sucked in a startled breath as he backhanded me across the face.  The blow stung right through my mask.  With out a word he turned dragging me along with him.



The air was cool and brisk as we walked down the extended ramp.  It was a perfect autumn evening.  The stars hung close and brilliant.  Taking a deep breath I reveled in the sharpness of the air, how it bit into my throat.  It had rained earlier and everything seemed to glisten in the floodlights.  I winced as my guard shoved me forward.  Even after three days, I was stiff and sore from the beating Lord Fall had given me.  He could be unforgiving at best and ruthless at worst.  I sighed and looked up at my home.

The vast manor sprawled on the hillside like some great spiny beast.  The tall spires were dark, lit only by the exterior floodlights.  Fall Manor was one of the oldest buildings on the planet.  Originally built by the first family to incorporate the planet, each successive generation had expanded the grounds, until it overran the hillside.  It still housed the Fall family, owners of Fall Intergalactic, the largest family owned conglomerate in the galaxy. The family I had served since I was a small child.

Lord Fall would no doubt already be in his wing of the manor.  I looked up as I walked across the pavement.  The light was on in his study on the top floor of the main tower.

I slowly climbed the steps up to the servant's entrance on the main level.  I suppressed the heat that was building in my chest, Lord and Lady Fall owned me, owned my abilities.  I shook my head, it was a waste of energy to allow myself to be upset.  More than that it was forbidden for me to feel anything.

We descended to the sublevels where my chamber was. I hesitated at the entrance to the lower barracks.  The stone archway glistened with condensation in the low light, the corridor stretching away into darkness.

The Sentinels, guardians of the Fall family for generations slumbered in their chambers.  Each chamber housed four guards.  The day guard was already in their chambers.  The night guard was on duty.  I was neither.  As the covert tactical operations specialist, or co-tac, I specialized in offensive maneuvers carried out off planet.

My guard stopped at an empty chamber.  This Sentinel squad had been wiped out last month during a mission.  They had been trying to infiltrate and sabotage a Yamagata Shipping space platform and had tangled with the Yamagata corporate militia.  There were no survivors on either side.  The rest of the squads had been subdued for several weeks afterward.  I watched her say a quiet prayer for the dead, touching fingertips to her lips.

Danger and imminent death were part of the job, we all knew that, but it was still hard to take.  They at least had the comfort of the close-knit squads.  I had no one.  No one comforted me, or asked how I felt, most of the time no one even looked at me.

I ran my fingers over the smooth place where their names had been, the burnished metal glinting in the low light.  There had been no funerals.  When they had not returned, they had ceased to exist.  I had been scheduled to go with them, but had been severely injured during a training session the day before.  I let my fingers linger for a moment longer wondering if things would have been different if I had been with them.  Or maybe I would have died along side them.  Would anyone have said a prayer for me?  The Sentinel gave me a dark look and for a moment I thought she was going to hit me.  Instead she shook herself and turned away, her sadness laying close about her like a shroud.

We continued down the corridor the cold hollowness in my chest seeming to grow stronger.  My chamber waited at the very end of the hall, apart from the others.  The locked door sprang open at her touch, the lights glowing dully in the small space as if the room wasn't worthy of their effort.  I glanced at her as I walked past, but she wasn't looking at me.  She was looking at my room.

The only things in the small space were the few things I was allowed.  My pallet was one I had salvaged.  My spare pair of boots stood at the end of the pallet, closest to the door.  A small pile of rations and water containers huddled in the far corner.  She cocked an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything, shutting the door instead.

Flopping down on the pallet, I unbuckled my boots and eased them off.  Next, I peeled the sweat and blood encrusted uniform off.  I had not been allowed out of my room on the ship, further punishment for my failure, and it had only a toilet no shower.  Lastly I untied the headband and mask laying the black fabric next to a spare uniform.  My fingers lingered on the metal attached to the headband.  It was dented and scuffed, testament to its harsh treatment and mine.  Sighing I sank down on to the tattered pallet, too tired to bother getting permission to go down to the bath hall.