Prologue of "Mercy"

          Reality is a terrible thing.
          Honestly, there was nothing I could do. No way I could help him. I just watched as Deputy collapsed to his knees, shaking his head over and over, silvery trails of tears running down his cheeks. He lowered his head when he realized he was crying, his thick brown hair hanging low over his eyes - limp and shaggy, as if every aspect of this man was just gradually falling apart, right down to the way he looked in that instant.
          Two agents, dubbed with the codenames Search and Trailblazer, grabbed his arms, trying to help him onto his feet. Though none of us wanted to believe what we'd just seen, we had to get out of here as soon as we cold. Who knew when the Shadows would be back?
          'NO!' Deputy howled, fighting them the whole way. 'NO!'
          'Deputy,' Search said quietly, 'it's okay. It's all going to be okay -'
          'For God's sake, Search, it is not okay!' Deputy roared. He stared, ashen-faced, at the scene of horror before him. He shook his head again, his breathing shallow.
          'Crasher,' Search said, looking at me, 'help us. He has to be moved.'
          I swallowed fear. It was something I never liked to express - hell, my codename was Crasher, that had to mean something! Even if it only referred to that incident with the party we weren't invited to, it had to mean something about me.
          I was meant to be the strong, enduring, brawny-but-funny one. I was practically meant to be the stereotypical black guy, wasn't I? And I didn't mind living up to it, that was actually my personality. I liked to laugh. But hell, if I lost it here like Deputy was losing it, would it mean the patrol was falling apart?
          'ASGEIR!' Search didn't even bother calling me by my codename that time. He was panicking.
          'Leave him be,' I heard myself say. 'Just let him grieve for a bit. Vermund won't come back.'
          Search eyed me for a while, then he gave the word to Trailblazer to release Deputy. Trailblazer was the newest to the patrol. At fifteen years of age, he was also the youngest. He was wide-eyed, his whole body shaking in terror. He couldn't take his eyes off of the scene before him.
          I didn't want to look at it myself. Trailblazer and Deputy might be falling apart at this, but they were the youngest in the patrol. I glanced at Search, the other senior agent. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and gave a short nod. We had to hold in our emotions until we were safely back at Headquarters.
          I didn't even want to make the journey back. The whole idea of going home to the Pack sickened me. I didn't care what happened to us after this. It was a stupid idea anyway, we tried to tell Captain that it was too risky! We should have fought harder against him, instead of placing our faith in him like this! He was only eighteen, why did we let him do this?!
          I forced myself to look at the body that was causing all this grief. Captain was lying on his back, his handsome face tilted with back so that his bright blue eyes stared at the ceiling, but saw nothing. Scarlet blood glistened in his clothes, his blonde hair was a mess.. He didn't move an inch. He couldn't.
We should have fought harder, I thought solemnly. We shouldn't have let him do this.
          But it was too late to take it back now. Captain was dead.
          Deputy wasn't in control of himself anymore. His cries echoed through the dark tunnels as he laid his head on Captain's cold chest, ignoring the blood. His arms wrapped around his head as if he wanted to shut out the rest of the world, as if he just wanted to be left completely alone with the corpse of our leader.
          'Deputy...' I started, but didn't know what else to say. Addressing him by his codename somehow didn't seem right in this situation. Perhaps I'd get a better response if I called him by his real name. 'Ananias?'
          Still no response. Deputy was breathing deeply, trying to slow his tears. He didn't seem able to talk.
          'What happens now?' Trailblazer asked nervously.
          'Ananias, stand up. We have to get out of here,' I said.
          Deputy's head snapped around to glare at me. 'Not without Captain.'
          'We can take him with us,' I agreed.
          Search shook his head. 'Asgeir, Headquarters is still a week's walk away. Do you really want to take a body that far?' he asked in a whisper.
          He was right, as usual. And the last thing Deputy needed was to see Captain's body starting to...go off.
          Deputy already seemed to have a plan. 'T-Torrak's not far,' he managed to say, his eyes red from crying.
          The Captain's hometown. I exchanged a glance with Search and he nodded. 'Okay,' he said. 'We'll bury him at Torrak.'
          He tired again to ease Deputy away from Captain's body, but Deputy refused to move. 'He shouldn't be dead,' he said to me, his voice shaking. 'Asgeir, he shouldn't have died. He's...he's only eighteen.'
          'I know. It's not fair.'
          Deputy shook his head, his eyes alight with rage. 'I'll kill him,' he spat. I knew him well enough to understand who he was talking about. 'He killed Captain. I'll murder him, I swear I will.'
          Search gritted his teeth. 'Listen to me,' he said firmly to Deputy. 'Captain wanted to kill him, too. That's how we got into this mess. If you're thinking you can take Lord Vermund on all by yourself then you'll end up no better off than him.'
          Deputy stood up quickly. He was almost as tall as Search, though a good three years younger. 'I'll die then!' he spat. 'I don't care, as long as Vermund knows he can't get away with this!'
          'Don't be an idiot, Ananias!' Search growled.
          'YOU DON'T GET IT!' Deputy roared. 'VERMUND KILLED MY BROTHER!'
          'I know that, but it's no reason to act like a fool!'
          'Stop fighting,' Trailblazer said quietly. He was standing back, all color drained from his face.
          Search and Deputy both stared at him. Search sighed. 'Okay,' he said to Deputy. 'I'm sorry. I understand this is rough for you. But I need to know that you're not going to do anything stupid, Ananias.'
          Deputy shook his head. 'It's not stupid. I'm getting Vermund back for this. Don't you want vengeance?'
          'It never solved anything.'
          'How do you know that?' Deputy demanded. His expression darkened. 'I don't care what you think, Search. No matter how long it takes...no matter what it takes...I'm getting my revenge.'
          'You can't mean that.'
          'I do!' Deputy spat. 'I swear to you, on my brother's grave, I'm going to avenge him. I'll make Vermund pay for everything he's done - not just to me, but to everyone. When Vermund dies, it will be because of me.'