My Hero, My Enemy

INTRODUCTION: The End?



Silas looked at the man who had so recently and dramatically entered his life and the lives of those he had come to think of as his friends, and he felt a twinge of unease. The man in question, Zethos, had saved them, apparently at great risk to himself and his own followers. However, Silas was concerned about how quickly he seemed to be establishing himself as someone others, particularly the fighting men, looked to as their leader.

Zethos seemed too good to be true, and Silas had learned long ago to be wary of things that seemed too good to be true.

Silas thought back on the events that had led to this situation, and wondered if his concerns were warranted.



CHAPTER 1: The Desperate Journey



Lord Harland was leading his people to the hoped-for safety of a secure installation, based upon Silas' promise that it lay within reach. Unfortunately, some of the vehicles that they had been forced to use in order to transport so many people and supplies were unreliable. They would break down on occasion, requiring the entire group to come to a halt wherever they happened to find themselves until repairs could be completed.

With such a large group, stealth was all but impossible, and Lord Harland elected to use scouts to detect and avoid trouble, while employing such speed as they could muster, rather than attempt to move in secret.

Thus it was that they attracted unwanted attention all too soon.

It appeared that a nomadic group of raiders came across and captured one of the scouts, and in this way learned of the convoy. They then began using probing raids and quick strikes to test the convoy’s defenses, quickly learning that those defenses were not overwhelming.

While Lord Harland and his people had some weapons and weren’t unfamiliar with having to defend themselves, they weren’t really a military force. They had depended upon the hidden nature of their prior home as their main source of defense, and it was only when they had grown too numerous to remain hidden that they knew they must find another place to live, and thus had to leave themselves exposed.

Silas felt some measure of responsibility for their plight, and didn’t want to abandon them if he could avoid doing so. Unknown to Lord Harland or any of his people, Silas was a Seeker, in all probability the last one. The Seekers had existed for centuries, since the time that the old world had died and a new, brutal one had risen up in its place.

When man’s technology had outstripped his wisdom, people had engaged in genetic engineering to such an extent as to play with life all too recklessly. The secrets of the human genome had been unlocked and then, following that discovery, the DNA structure of various animals had been mapped as well. With this knowledge, pieces of animal DNA had been grafted onto human DNA in order to cure disease, extend the human life span and increase people’s physical gifts. It had seemed like the holy grail of human development.

But then the process unleashed hideous viruses that wiped out almost all of mankind. Those who remained descended into barbarism, with only a relative handful retaining their grip on civilized behavior. Lord Harland’s people were among the civilized, and had to constantly be on guard against those who weren’t.

Now people lived in a curious mix of high technology situated next to low technology. Devices from the old world remained and were often very useful. However, the means of production for such sophisticated items had long since been lost, so these incredible devices were often placed side-by-side with crude implements fashioned by hand.

Silas also knew that the viruses had continued to mutate and develop, and would someday become lethal enough to wipe out the remnant of humanity that had so far held on. Some people were more likely to be carriers than others, and Silas knew how to administer tests to determine who was a danger to those around them. It was an unfortunate reality that all who were potential carriers had to be sent away and left to fend for themselves, but the alternative was to let everyone die.

As a Seeker, Silas had been charged with the task of finding a secret, hidden away long ago, that he’d been told could lead to humanity’s salvation. His long quest had moved him from clue to clue, and ultimately to Lord Harland’s people, who he had chosen to remain with. Thus, when he had deciphered the latest clue, the one held by Lord Harland himself, he had convinced them to come with him to the facility whose location had been revealed. He had proven himself intelligent and wise, so Lord Harland listened to him and agreed to trust in Silas’ promises of a safer place to live.

And so it was that Lord Harland turned to Silas for help. “Silas, we can’t lead these raiders to our new home if we want it to be safe, nor can we hunt them down and destroy them without leaving our people undefended. Also, too many of our scouts no longer return to tell us what lies ahead, which could allow us to ride into a deadly ambush. My friend, if you have any ideas, now’s the time.”

While Harland had maintained a brave front for his people, when he and Silas were alone he showed the strain that was all too great for a basically peaceful and caring man. And so Silas had come up with a plan.

In the dark of night, when the moon waned to almost nothing, Silas had gone out alone. He moved swiftly and silently, and his keen senses allowed him to detect raiders who lay in wait to pick off anyone trying exactly what Silas was doing. Silas bypassed them with skill picked up over decades of hard living. He then found what he had been looking for, and planted several devices in a half-circle several days travel from the convoy. These devices were rare, highly advanced, and extremely compact. Silas had hoarded them for an emergency, and this certainly qualified.

In order to complete his complex trap, Silas next found a small encampment of the raiders, from which they sent patrols to monitor Lord Harland's convey and kill its scouts. Creeping past inattentive sentries who saw themselves solely as hunters and not prey, Silas found a few of them sleeping in make-shift tents. Drawing a laser-scalpel, he went about his grisly task.

The next morning a well-hidden Silas watched as the Sergeant in charge of that particular camp found three of his men not responding to roll call. “Here now,” he yelled as he stormed into one of the men’s tents “and you think you can lay about all day do you!!!” He stopped when he saw what Silas knew lay within: the man’s head had been cut clean off, the wound cauterized instantly by the laser that had done the job, with a note lying on his severed head which said “leave us alone, or all of you will suffer this fate, one by one.”

Silas the watched as the rest of the raiders tightened up security at their camps and kept a more watchful eye on the convoy. Nonetheless, over the next two nights 7 more men were found murdered in their camps, some in their sleep and some taken despite being on their guard, with similar notes promising more death if they didn’t leave the convoy alone.

Silas had hoped that this would cause the Raiders to melt away from the apparent wraith who was killing them. Barring that, he felt the other option that would be open to the leader of these raiders, would be to take action immediately to end this.

Therefore, when the largest of the transports began to emit greasy smoke and those aboard it were seen jumping out, coughing and running about in apparent panic and confusion, the Raiders went on the attack.

This decision seemed to be a good one, with the convoy stopped in an area that provided no real cover. The vehicles were arranged in a line, offering protection on only one side at a time. The leader of the Raiders, a man by the name of Crassus, made the predictable decision to assemble his main force to assault the convoy from one side, which was designed to herd the defenders behind the vehicles. His plan was to then send a second force, consisting of about one-quarter of his men, to hit them where they had no protection.

The convoy appeared to be doomed.

Crassus’ battle plan seemed to be unfolding flawlessly. Fortunately for Lord Harland’s people, Silas and Lord Harland had worked things out to be a step ahead of him. The “break-down” was nothing of the sort, with a smoke bomb creating the illusion of a major malfunction. When Crassus’ forces were spotted, the civilians and their defenders moved smoothly into pre-arranged positions and prepared for the attack flawlessly.

Silas had a lap-top computer open and watched the screen carefully. The read-out he was watching was keyed to the sensor that he had planted right where he knew the raiders would come in an attempt to hit the convoy on its unprotected side. At precisely the right moment he hit a control that activated the devices he’d planted a few days ago.

The signal moved at the speed of light, and the laser mines lashed out just as quickly, chopping the attackers coming at the rear of the convoy’s defensive line to bloody shreds. Their screams reached the rest of the Raiders just as their main force came into weapon’s range of the convoy.

The main force was designed to draw the convoy’s attention, allowing the attackers from behind to let loose on the exposed defenders. Without the second prong of their attack, the main force found itself without cover and under attack from warriors whose focus could remain undivided. The Raider’s losses were high in the first exchange of fire while the convoy’s were minimal.

Unfortunately, what Silas and Harland had not counted on was how ferocious the Raiders were. Like ancient berserkers, they seemed to have no regard for self-preservation and hurled everything they had at the convoy, leaving nothing in reserve.

The attackers continued forward despite their losses, and as they closed the distance they were able to zero in and begin scoring hits of their own.

The defenders were now hard-pressed, with no retreat possible. The battle hung on a razor’s edge, and could have gone either way. Regardless of who “won,” losses on both sides promised to be heavy so that even the victorious side could well be so reduced as to be easy prey in the future to others in this brutal world.



CHAPTER 2: Rescue



It was at that moment that the attackers were themselves attacked, for having left nothing in reserve meant no rear guard, and thus no warning when they were ambushed. A relatively small force, but well-armed and well-organized, had set itself into a flat, broad wedge that plowed into the raiders. These new attackers had waited until they were within clear range of Crassus’ men and then let loose with a devastating volley of lasers and bullets that killed many and gave even the frenzied remainder pause.

Lord Harland seized the moment and led his own men on a short but fierce charge, careful to pick their shots so as not to hit their mysterious benefactors.

Caught out in the open in a withering cross-fire, Crassus and his forces were annihilated to the last man. None survived.

Once the battle was over, the leader of this new force, stepped forward, hoisting his rifle over his shoulder on its strap, and approached Lord Harland.

“Ho,” he said, “and well met. I am Zethos," he said with a flourish and a smile. Zethos was broad-shouldered and sturdy, shorter only than Lord Harland himself. He held himself with obvious strength and self-assuredness. Had he not just won a great victory at no cost to his own side the expression on his face would have seemed the height of arrogance, but as it stood this could be seen as well-justified pride in the accomplishments of his forces.

Lord Harland stepped forward as well, holstering his own weapon and extending his hand. “Our thanks,” he said with a broad smile, “your timely arrival saved us.”

“I am glad to have helped,” Zethos said, taking Lord Harland’s hand in his own and shaking it as an equal. “These raiders have been a scourge, and we were fortunate to have come upon them at such an opportune moment.”

“But who are you, and who do you serve?” Lord Harland asked, his face and manner open and friendly.

"Alas, we serve no one now but our own sense of what is right. While we were away from our people hunting yet another group of raiders, they were ambushed and murdered, possibly by these same monsters you just helped us destroy.”

“My condolences,” Lord Harland said, “but it is fate that has brought you to us. Will you join my people, helping to protect us while we return to you the purpose your lives once held?”

Zethos appeared to ponder this, though in truth he’d known his answer even before the battle started. “Yes,” he said, “we will join you.”



CHAPTER 3: Serpent In Their Midst



Unknown to Silas and Lord Harland, the first of the convoy’s scouts had not been captured by the raiders, but by Zethos, who had killed them once he learned about Lord Harland’s people. He had then sent Henry, who had attached himself Zethos long ago and proven to be fanatically loyal, to inform the raiders of these easy pickings. Zethos had kept his men well back from Crassus’ so that Silas did not detect them during his one-man raids. Zethos had then encouraged Crassus to send his entire force into battle, promising to protect the raiders from any potential rear assault.

Now none but Henry and Zethos knew of the treachery, and neither of them ever told a soul.

Thus it was that Zethos joined Lord Harland’s people as an obvious hero, a serpent pretending to be a dragon.

Zethos shouldered the responsibility of maintaining Lord Harland’s military forces, learning enough about each one to gain his or her personal loyalty, some to such a great extent that they would be hard pressed to choose between Zethos and Lord Harland.

For his part, Lord Harland remained loved by the civilian population, and respected by the military forces. He did not suspect that he had just secured a rival, seeing only a protector for his people.



CHAPTER 4: Silas Unsuspecting



As Silas’ thoughts returned to the present, only now did it occur to him how little it seemed to upset Zethos to turn loose those few of his men who did not pass his more discerning battery of exams. Perhaps this was the source of his disquiet.

Nonetheless, as the convoy at last reached sight of their destination Silas put these thoughts to one side. He decided to give Zethos the benefit of the doubt. For now, Silas had enough to handle with meeting his responsibilities to Lord Harland’s people while having to pursue his own agenda in secret. With thoughts of how best to balance these responsibilities he chose to allow Lord Harland to handle politics.

It was a choice he’d come to bitterly regret.