She felt darkness surrounding her. The suffocating yet calm and soothing feeling of being able to lie down was nice. There is no longer any need to fight or struggle. Just let yourself slip further into the dark and have a well-deserved rest…

"ENOUGH!" She will never surrender, she will never give up, and she will never yield. Being pushed on at the edges of imaginary darkness, striving to break free from boundaries and return to the light.

She suddenly understood that she couldn’t open her eyes. Yet she was not afraid. It has happened before. She knew it, felt that, went through that. In just a moment, she will revive yet aga…

"Wait," Another thought came, "Who am I? What am I to begin with?"

The being pushed deep into her own mind, trying to regain memories and her personality once more.

****

"Mom?" She whimpered as they put her on the cold stone.

The woman turned away, knowing what would happen next. Only the young boy still tried to run toward her but was held back by the priest. A woman in a jade mask walked forward, raising a dagger made of onyx over her head.

The edge of the blade pierced her belly and she screamed as blood poured out. The woman in the jade mask reached her hand into an open wound, reaching all the way to the ribs.

"No! Mommy, please, it’s hurt! It’s hurt so much!" As the woman tore the rib, it cracked. She cried and cried, but the chains held her in place. She jerked her limbs with all her might, resulting in cruel metal biting deeper and deeper into her skin with each attempt. She cared little, her entire world had become a pillar of pain and she wanted out of here! She screamed into the jade mask over her head while the priest continued to mutilate her body.

The priest raised a bloody bone triumphantly, an offering to the sun god. As the day began, she felt pain when the blade sliced through her neck.

And still she lived. No matter what the priests did to her, she lived. Meanwhile, sunlight was falling on her body. For the first time in her life, the cruel sun was the only thing that was nice to her.

In the end, they tried to burn her alive.

****

"No, that happened too many years ago." Being went deeper, trying to crack the darkness.

****

"Leave them!" A man with white hair shouted as she looked behind.

Countless people were locked in the cells. Some were wounded, some were malnourished. The priests cared little about the wellbeing of the workforce. They gave them just enough to live and not enough to die. If someone did die, there were always more unworthy caste members in the land. Knocked out guards were lying on the floor, three of them, just enough for her, Kurt, and Dominion to change clothes and finally run away from these mines. And yet, leaving people behind…

Kurt looked at her and she nodded. Dominion grabbed his head in anger.

"You idiot! If you die here, then all your dreams will be for naught! Did you really waste so many years of your life in this miserable shithole, just to throw your life away? To ensure that your dreams come true, you need to sacrifice something!"

"Something, yes. But not someone. Because their happiness are also part of my dreams," She replied, smiling apologetically as she picked up rifle and a sword, "Kurt, open the doors. Release both unworthy and worthy prisoners, no one is going to be left behind. Dominion, lead everyone away. I will pay with pain and with life if needed. But the unhappiness of people who were locked here ends up today."

Guards were shouting, coming from above. She smiled sadly. She hated taking lives away. But this time, she was finally fighting for someone else.

Blood flowed as countless bullets hit her. And then their blood flowed as well as she walked forward. She tried to spare as many enemies as she could, but sometimes her aim was off.

This was the day when she killed human beings for the first time.

****

“Still wrong.”

****

"But… why me?" Dominion asked, tilting his head and looking at how she was sharpening her scythe, "You are the one who is more beloved by people…"

"Phhh, I just get them to drink with me," She laughed, looking out the window of the makeshift command center, "But let's face it. I am no leader, far too dumb for it. You know from whom to buy, whom to trust, who will not abandon us without paying for job…" She smiled and lowered herself to one knee, "Dominion, you told me that you wanted to be a leader. Allow me and Kurt to be your swords. Please lead us all to a better future. We will help to shoulder any burden."

The man with white hair smiled and helped her stand.

"Never lower yourself before me. I will do my best, but I need friends, not slaves. With our hands we will make our dreams come true."

****

“Ah… happy delusions.”

****

"Dominion, what is the mean…" A shot came from the back, and she fell on her knees before the soldiers and the priests. Half of her world was gone. The woman in the jade mask smiled as Dominion knocked out Kurt. She tried to stand and felt something was running from her eye socket, onto her chin, and down onto her chest. The same strange sensation could be felt from behind her head, fluid was leaving her from a hole in the back. The Reaper of Lies fell on the ground near her. The sun was settling down.

"Sorry, Kat. There was no truce. They offered to make me worthy if I just sacrificed something," Dominion walked up to the woman in the jade mask and handed over the gun to her, "Why live as a beggar if you can live as a lord? I will make up some beautiful story about your demise, don’t worry."

She could not stand up. Whatever he used, her healing was not working. She sweated and cried as priests dragged her brother away, placing him on a nearby stone tablet. It was all lies. The priests never intended to make a truce with them. Her mother sold her. Dominion had been like a father to her, he had always looked after them both in the mines, and now he had sold her as well.

"You lost, heretic," The woman in the jade mask intoned, lifting her onyx dagger, "Take small solace that by paying with your fresh and life, your sins will be absolved."

In this moment, her will cracked. Her belief in people, her dreams were shattered. She wanted to cry, but instead she just bit her lip. No more crying. No more laughing. Had she been better, she would have noticed the betrayal, Kurt would never have had to suffer again. Never again will her brother be in trouble because of her.

And yet, as before, she lived. And this time, through living, she gained strength. The hole in her head closed and the picture of the world was restored. She was always nearly unkillable. But this time, she felt truly immortal for once.

"How is this… You told me that this virus stops regeneration!" Dominion asked the priest, stepping back. He gestured for the soldiers to advance, while he himself walked back, his eyes wide and lips trembling. One of his arms found a rifle behind his back. 

" Don’t you know that the past belongs to the past, you stupid ghost?" She grabbed her scythe and stood up, speaking her words to the priest. The world itself was slowing down around her as she knocked bullets aside with the shaft of her weapon. She looked at Dominion and said, "You wanted to sacrifice someone? Fine, be it your way, Dominion. Ciao."

Her first slash took away both hands of the old hag, stopping her before she could bury the dagger in Kurt’s chest. She tore away the jade mask and crashed it in her hand, looking into the face of the scum that tortured her for so long. Surprisingly, she was just an old looking woman, covered by wrinkles, her eyes looking around for a way out. She never tortured her, simply splitting the priest in two with an overhead slash, ending this miserable life immediately. She turned to the soldiers. Some, the ones who dropped their weapons, she spared and allowed to run off. Others, the ones who chose to stand and fight, she slashed asunder. Dominion pleaded and shouted, but by now she knew that he was not to be trusted. Still, she wasted no time enacting any vengeance on him, one slash was enough to end his thread of lies.

By the time she was done, Kurt had awoken, and the sun was rising. She looked at her brother, the only person who had never lied to her, who had never betrayed her. She was standing on the pile of bodies, the blood of her foes was covering her from head to toes.

"I am going back. They will never stop trying to impose their lie on us, so I will impose my truth on them and will see if they can reap it asunder. Tell everyone… Tell them that we are disbanded. Our dream was just a lie. I will try to make a home for them all on my own. Time to bring changes by force."

"Jekaterina, you don’t have to go alone! We can fall back, regroup with others and…"

"We don’t have the luxury of playing nice anymore. We lack supplies to endure a guerilla campaign. Dominion made sure of it by leading us back here. We can’t just return, because Soultakers will follow us. And if I lead our people to battle, more of them will die," And more of them will betray this, but she omitted this part. Kurt still had his delusions. She knew now that she couldn’t trust anyone but Kurt, "Kurt, unless we bring change with our own two hands, nothing will ever change. No more betrayals from others, no more lies. I am sick of it all, I am sick of trying to persuade others. Change cometh."

She walked down from the hill made of dead people, crushing the head of Dominion underneath her feet. Had he just pretended to be loyal, he would have lived. She found a mask of a monster to her liking.

When this monster walked into the capital and took control over Soultakers by force, she was in horror as she reviewed records. So many people have died in mines or been sacrificed in vain on altars. All those years she denied the truth, all those years she tried to be nice...

She could have stopped it all sooner. No more. With her own hands, she will change reality, no matter how hard it will be. Castes were abolished. People whined when she outlawed faith and imprisoned priests. She ignored them. She saw no reason to kill or torture prisoners. The look on their faces was amusing, when she ordered the priests to be locked up in the prisons for life. They expected to be tortured or die. She instead simply locked them up, assigned some guards to watch over and feed them, and forgot all about them. Even their families were allowed to live. The youngest of the priests were allowed to return to normal life, when they publicly denounced their faith. She prohibited eye for an eye punishment, compensating former slaves from the Soultakers' coffins but forbidding them from venting their rage on the nation's former overseers and solders.

Because revenge is a waste of precious time. She found that cruelty was not something that she liked. The new world that was about to be born was far more interesting to her.

****

“Moment of our truth, but still not what I am looking for. Remember further.”

****

The Resistance has lost today's battle. Jekaterina found some rag, a former cloak of a dead soldier, to wrap around herself. Running around naked was embarrassing. Aside from that, she still lacked any kind of communicator or even basic armor. Although she was hesitant to admit it, being in the wastes all alone, with her trusted weapon, was a soothing and calming experience. No duties, no worries, no expectations from others. Just kill or be killed. A few animals tried to feast on her, and now their sliced forms lay behind.

But that was a life worthy of an animal. Humans always live for someone. And she still had few people to live for, so she was returning to the Resistance. Any heat-related burns on her body were instantly healed, heat of the Ravaged Lands could not put her down. She only held back her power during the duel with the metal jaw doggie. Here she could finally go all out. Running over the overheated stone surface and feeling the burns appear on your legs, on the other hand, was vexing.

While she ran across the rocky plains, Jekaterina heard the sounds of the fighting. She stopped and turned her head in the direction of these sounds.

To the right of her was a big stone, almost five times her size. She jumped on the stone and lay down, blending in with the moonlight from the moon in the sky behind her. Jekaterina looked at the scene before her.

Several dead resistance members were lying on the sand. A large doggie, whose armor resembled the armor of the weird-eyed doggie, was standing in the open, while other doggies were staying behind her, on a stone slope of a hill. Underneath the stone on which Jekaterina was hiding were four doggies in brand new black armor. The engine loudly screamed as the armored car of the Resistance, a four-wheeler troop carrier, charged to ram the doggie in black armor. Doggie had six blades behind her and several grenades on her belt, yet she faced the incoming car with bare paws. Two arms pressed against the charging car, slowing it down as it attempted to push Reclaimer up the hill and smash her against the stone. All-terrain vehicle, which weighed over twenty-five tons, only managed to push back the enemy a meager two steps, before she stopped the movement of the vehicle dead. The car ended up being bent in the place where enemy grip took hold of the car.

"To my right, in the shadows, four targets," The large doggie said, still holding the vehicle in her paws. She was speaking in an almost bored voice, sounding like someone who was used to immediate obedience. No strain from holding up the vehicle in place could be heard in her voice. Shots came from the hill, killing four resistance soldiers who tried to ambush the massive doggie.

The front window of the all-terrain vehicle slid down, and a gun appeared, taking aim at the face of the doggie. Before the driver could open fire, the doggie reached to her belt with one hand, using her single left hand to hold the vehicle in place and threw a grenade inside. The driver's door opened in panic and a black line ran on the sand away from the car. The doggie jumped back and the front of the armored vehicle was gone in a bubble of disruption explosion, roughly two meters in radius. Bonds between molecules were gone, and steel itself was reduced to mere ashes.

"All around me, underground, eight targets. Males only, prepare to fire. Worry not about accidentally hitting me, we're in training," she said calmly, standing relaxed. Doggie’s group behind her became nervous. As Jekaterina understood, males were considered to be "unworthy" in their tribes, much like how they were treated before in Soultakers. It made sense that they had less training.

The ground around the doggie erupted and eight creatures, fighters created by Chort, charged forward, aiming their claws at the enemy. Fire came from the hill, red beams that hit the creatures. Seven were killed instantly, one left a scratch on the doggie's armor and was shot by shardgun fire before the red beam could reach it. Jekaterina grudgingly admitted that the shots were good. They hit creatures straight into knots of muscles that controlled their bodies. The reclaimers sure did their homework.

"Wolf hag Annie, you are inducted with a disciplinary charge for disobeying my order and interfering with the training of the pack," The large doggie calmly said without looking back to see who was shooting, unbothered by being hit, "Next time we are in the city or camp, you are to clean restrooms for a week. Males are to be congratulated upon returning and rewarded with two additional rations for their success in mastering energy weapons. All of them are permitted to rest upon returning, aside from Dig, who is to be given additional lessons. His speed and reaction are lacking."

"Acknowledged, warlord Dragena." A warrior in black armor replied, coming from the hill. Jekaterina frowned, the enemy's name sounded familiar.

"My apologies, warlord…" A male warrior started talking, but went silent when the warlord growled. Jekaterina had heard the growls of other doggies before. There were emotions in them, they used such growls to convey information or mood. This one here sounded outright fake, like the doggie growled out of a sense of habit.

"Did my words in any way, shape, or form indicate that I wanted your opinion, Dig?" Dragena asked in the same calm voice, standing with her back to the speaker.

"No, my warlord." The soldier quickly replied.

"Then shut up, male, and keep your eyes on the surroundings. As a punishment, you will assist the wolf hag in cleaning restrooms for two days. We are still in the battle zone, keep your head cool." The warlord's voice clearly indicated that the lesson was over.

Jekaterina finally remembered where she heard the name. Dragena, the one who killed that bastard Jack a few years ago. Dragena, one of the top doggies of the Wolf Tribe. According to reports, this particular warlord apparently ranked low on the totem pole of warlords and was not as much of a threat as the other warlords. Important and yet easy prey. Capturing or killing her now should aid the Resistance in the future.

Before she could move, a black line ran across the sand, as if trying to take advantage of the warlord's speech. Jekaterina cursed silently, the presence of the Young Guard here could only mean that the commander of forward forces was killed. Jekaterina gave strict orders not to use the Young Guard in this battle.

"We still have a stray dog to take care of," Dragena spoke calmly as the line ran behind her. It was a thin line, barely bigger than a rope and less than a meter in length. The warlord was not looking at the ground, so it made sense for the fighter to try and ambush her. It was just stupid for this particular fighter to hope that this plan would work. Jekaterina trained her better.

When the tip of the line ran behind the warlord’s back, the line disappeared, and instead a human figure, armed with two curved blades, appeared in the air. Unless someone else was born with the same power, this had to be Jeki, a member of the Young Guard, the regiment made from solely of abnormals who also had power. Jeki's power allowed her to transform into a thin line of darkness, allowing her to sneak under any door, into any crack, or surprise the enemy with the attack from behind. She was dressed in a special thin power armor model. Normal power armor was almost twice the user’s weight. Jeki’s power armor weighed barely thirty kilos, it was only meant to enhance her speed and provide a minimum of assistance in terms of communication. Even though her helmet had armored lenses, they lacked night or heat vision, so designers decided to keep them dark. The curved swords of Jeki were made in accordance with ancient technology, their cutting edge could pierce even the thickest armor. But they were also quite brittle, one-time use weapons at best. Such weapons were saved for the most dangerous of opponents, in other situations, Jeki used guns or planted explosives.

Jekaterina shook her head at this sight, preparing to dart ahead to save her stupid subordinate. The Young Guard was Kurt's idea, Jekaterina herself hated the very idea of elevating one type of person over the other, in her mind, this was just another name for caste. But the plan had been made and had to be carried out, forcing the Soultaker's leader to take matters into her own hands, instilling the values of her own way into her subordinates, by force if necessary. Jeki was meant for greatness or proper service... Just not right now. She needed more time to mature and get ready.

Blade was aiming between shoulder blades of warlord, but large doggie stepped aside and waited until flying body of Jeki move forward, before grabbing her by wrist and throw her on the ground. Jeki rolled around and jumped up.

“Correction, stray cat to take care of,” Jeki made a feint, as if she wanted to hit with right hand, only to make thrust with left hand. Warlord utterly ignored feint and grabbed left wrist of her opponent, “Correction, we can’t take care of her. She is only sixteen? Seventeen? Hard to tell with this armor,” Warlord flicked her wrist calmly and Jeki flew onto ground again, her blades landing nearby. Warlord kicked them away, “Get ready people, we are leaving.”

"We are not done, murderer!" Jeki shouted in a high-pitched voice, her arms trembling. The stubborn girl stood undaunted before the massive mountain of muscle before her.

"You are quite done. Find something to cover the crack, or the morning sun might blind your eye." The warlord said, waiting for her soldiers.

"Should we not capture the girl?" Wolf hag Annie walked to the sentries underneath the rock.

"We can’t because of the condition of Soultakers. You know what happens to them when they are captured. We can’t keep her alive, nor can we…" Jeki turned to the line, moving to her blades. Dragena ignored the line and walked close to the blades, waiting for the opponent to reappear. The moment Soultaker appeared once more, the warlord grabbed her by the head with two fingers and lifted her small body in the air, looking at the struggling body, "… kill her. We have standards, people, we do not kill underage. No matter the new breed or normie, standards are what set us apart from barbarians. We can’t take her in, we can’t kill her, the only option left is to let the stray cat run off."

"I am not a stray cat!" Jeki shouted, kicking with her leg. The warlord caught her by the feet, stopping the hit before it could reach her shoulder pad.

Jekaterina jumped from the stone, landing behind sentries. Her scythe slashed through the necks of two of the closest doggies as they began to turn. Their armor failed to protect them, and the Reaper of Lies left two headless bodies behind. Allowing the weapon to move, Jekaterina slammed the lower end of the shaft into the chest of the next doggie, cracking his armor and puncturing his heart. Wolf hag Annie was unusually fast for someone of her rank, her leg kicked the ground, sending sand into the eyes of Jekaterina while both hands were lifting the shardgun. Jekaterina ignored the sand and swung her weapon again, pressing the blade to Annie’s neck and forcing her to step back to the last doggie, using the large blade of her weapon to pose a silent threat to both of them. Jekaterina allowed her blade to bite the skin of Annie, but otherwise made no effort to kill the last two enemies, feeling content to keep them as hostages. Maybe the enemy was willing to let Jeki go. But it would do better for the soul of the warrior, if she was saved, rather than spared. That, and Jekaterina had her own prey to hunt tonight.

The warlord turned into a statue, still looking at the struggling Soultaker in her fingers. Jekaterina kicked stone underneath her feet into the warlord, and Dragena let go of the Jeki's leg, catching the stone with her free paw, crushing it into dust, before turning to pay attention to a new foe.

"Case and point, you never know when the enemy will attack," She said to the rest of her pack, before gesturing to her troops to keep calm, "Three lives you took from me. Two more lives you have in your possession. I only have one life."

"You have two. Trade?" Jekaterina asked.

"Of course. It appears that we will be able to fulfill black wyrm's orders tonight," The warlord accepted the offer of a duel calmly. She lifted her head to the skies, hearing how a loud noise pierced the silence of the night, "Artillery strike, into cover!"

Shells fell around the battlefield, and Jekaterina had to push the captured doggies forward, saving them all, before an artillery shell could turn them all into a bloody mist. The wolf hag used both of her arms to try to push the blade aside as her right leg kicked Jekaterina in the knee and into the side once. She sure was packing quite a punch for someone of her low rank. But Jekaterina's opponent was simply too weak, her blows left bruises rather than broken bones. This did not break the concentration of Soultaker. The wolf hag tried to kick her again, but Jekaterina never let the blade away from doggie’s neck, instead she grabbed the remaining doggie with her free hand by the neck. Noticing that the weapon bit her neck a bit deeper, Annie finally gave up. Soldiers on the hill retreated from the sudden rage of artillery. The strike ended as quickly as it began, leaving a large crater where Dragena stood. The Warlord herself stood some distance away from the crater, holding Jeki underneath her shoulder. The warlord nodded, seeing that her captured troops were still alive, and put the prisoner on the ground. Jekaterina released her own hostages, showering them in the back with a shaft of her scythe.

"Listen up, people! Watch and record everything. But you are not to lay even a paw on the enemy leader her. A deal has been made, I will finish her myself or will perish trying."

"Jeki, you are to leave the battlefield right now and rejoin with our forces. I will finish off the enemy and join you soon enough." Jekaterina casually walked toward the warlord, using her weapon as a walking stick. Jeki wanted to disagree, but the imprint took hold. Whatever she wanted, the commands of the ruler were paramount, she could no more resist them and live than survive a nuclear explosion. The member of the Young Guard turned into a line of darkness moving to the north.

The warlord spread her legs wide, lowering herself. The handles of two of her blades ended up looking at the ground, yet the blades did not fall from their sheaths. Jekaterina soon noticed the unusual shape of the sheaths. Magnetic locks hold the blades inside the sheaths, similar to those used by dogs to secure their weapons on their backs Each blade had a ring at the end of the handle, the claws of the warlord were released while she slid one claw into the ring.

"I bested Janine and made Valerie give up. You have no chance of winning. If you wish to live, surrender and I will provide you with food and shelter until the war is over, then when we win, I will let you go back to your tribe." Jekaterina said calmly, taking the Reaper of Lies in her left hand and lovingly running her right index finger along the blade, feeling her skin being sliced all the way to the bone. She liked to sharpen this weapon, but this was merely a ritual to calm her nerves. The ancient weapon never lost its sharpness.

Instead of responding with words, the warlord gave an answer with actions. Her body charged like a cannon ball, her hands tore two blades from their sheaths. With the weapons in her paws, the claws of warlords moved back into her fingers. This one appears to have placed more trust in her blades than in her claws. Jekaterina spun her weapon around, taking the first hit on her blade.

"This was a mistake." She coldly said into the face of her opponent, baiting her to try and bite her. The warlord instead slammed her second blade against the shaft of her scythe.

She blinked in surprise, feeling how the pain raced across her fingers, the shaft of her weapon vibrated underneath her hands, causing the skin on her fingers to crack. It took Jekaterina a second to understand what was going on, and in that second, she and her opponent exchanged six strikes, strikes which caused Soultaker to step back, frowning from pain. The second blade of her enemy was shaped in a wave-like formation. Such an unusual shape gave this weapon an uncanny resemblance to the flamberge, a weapon tailored and made to send violent vibrations down the length of Jekaterina's weapon and into her hands. Dragena slammed her wave-like dagger again, and took advantage of the Soultaker's pain, using her second blade to slice off fingers from the right hand of Jekaterina. The doggie was slower than she was. Her reaction time was slower. However, she was the one in power armor here, and this made all the difference. Enhanced by her armor, the doggie proved to be an annoying opponent to slay.

"Not once in my life have I made a mistake," The warlord calmly said, pushing her normal blade into the neck of Jekaterina, slicing through bone, and letting her wave-like blade slide under the left breast of Soultaker, piercing through flesh, muscles, and bones. Jekaterina spit blood, feeling how it flowed from her mouth and nose, "Now then. How many times must I cut you, before you lose your mind from pain?"

Jekaterina hit her right hand into the chest of the warlord, her fingerless palm slam produced a strong enough push for her to unhook herself from the blade in her neck. With her left hand, she made a swing, and Dragena tore her wave blade free, using it to block the attack. Once again, vibrations ran across the shaft, but this time the warlord’s blade was shattered. The warlord spared no glance for her ruined weapon, instead using the remaining blade to block the incoming attack and pierce Jekaterina's side with the shaft of the broken blade. Hearing the beeping noise, Soultaker tore the remains of the weapon from her body, throwing it aside while the warlord quickly took out another blade. The shaft of a broken weapon exploded on the ground nearby.

"You will die of old age before I ever break." Jekaterina responded. Half of her words were mangled, the ruined throat was still healing itself. The rest of her words were crystal clear, muscles reknotted themselves and skin regenerated before the very eyes of the warlord. This, all this here, was a result of her weakness. She was too used to fighting in armor, she forgot the danger of going melee against the stronger opponents.

"I guess we will have to test this theory." The warlord responded, looking for weakness. Bones hit from stumps, muscles shot from still wet wounds, knotting around the white bone fingers, skin soon followed, and Soultaker was able to take her scythe in both hands. Soultaker took her weapon in both hands and made an overhead slice. The warlord spun to the right, closing on her opponent, and piercing the side of Jekaterina with a blade, reaching all the way to the lung. The blade twitched, but Jekaterina only gritted her teeth in response to the pain.

She learned, oh how she learned, that her body could still work even with the most grievous wounds. Pain will last only for the moment, but even despite having her spine broken or her bones snapped, it rarely impacted her strength. She made a fake attempt to slice the warlord and, tricking her foe into making another dodge, and hit the warlord with the shaft of her scythe in the shoulder, following it up with a diagonal slice. She wanted to advance on the warlord, yet her enemy stood her ground, and both of them turned into a storm of steel. Twice more, Jekaterina broke the weapons of her foe, and still the warlord refused to allow the enemy to advance even a step. Slowly, step by step, Jekaterina adapted to the combat style of her opponent, learning to expect the quick cuts and slices. There was a pattern in all this. As the fight was going on, the warlord was making her move back, into the shadow cast by the stone behind. But why? What could she possibly gain…

The blade in the right hand of Dragena shattered upon contact with a blade of the scythe, yet the warlord simply slammed her elbow into the chest of Jekaterina, knocking air from her lungs and pushing her back, almost into shadow behind her. Jekaterina made a round slash with her scythe, leaving a diagonal cut on the warlord’s chest armor and driving blood from the foe for the first time, baiting the warlord for a counterattack. But she only sliced through skin and had to parry the next hit from Dragena, the warlord refused to act rashly and made a very careful thrust. Like the warlord, she also had her pride. She could take a hit, but this would not make her a better warrior. She must overcome her foe without getting sliced again. 

The ground beneath the warlord exploded, and a blue creature emerged from it. The creature's palms caught the blade in the left hand of the warlord, the spiked leg kicked the warlord in her chest, forcing Dragena to step back. The creature lifted itself from the hole. It had blue skin and was taller but leaner than the green creatures of Chort. Like his other creations, this one had claws on its hands and feet, sturdy skin covered the upper part of the head, leaving only a wide mouth filled with fangs. Yet as it turned to Jekaterina, she felt a shiver across her spine. The creature smiled and spoke:

"Got yourself into a bit of a problem, eh lovebird? Don’t ya worry, we will help haul you out." The speech of the being was distorted, as if three people were trying to speak at the same time. Seeing how the left brow of Jekaterina rose in surprise, the creature flashed its fangs in a wider smile, "Big boss Chort got an upgrade after getting his ass kicked today. Some of us can think and talk now. Now, back to killing."

"Warlord!" Wolf hag Annie jumped from the hill, racing to her commander after seeing how the warlord took a step back. The blue creature turned to leap on the enemy. Dragena calmly turned away from the creature and sliced across the empty air. A wind shot away from the warlord, hitting the left side of Annie's body. The wolf hag stopped, when the arc of air crashed into her, leaving a slash mark on her armor, the lens of the left eye cracked, showing the intact amber eye beneath. The wolf hag reigned herself in, blinking away the blood from the cut.

"Take everyone and leave at once. They must be informed of the new threat." A loud sound once again screamed through the air, and the warlord kicked Annie all the way to the hill, then put both of her weapons into sheaths, lowering herself down. The creature was almost on her, as the ground around the warlord once again exploded, unleashing three more green creatures.

Jekaterina tried to warn her new allies about the enemy's unusual sheaths, but the sound of an incoming artillery shell silenced her voice. Sheaths spat blades, allowing the warlord to catch them and use the force behind their movement to spin herself around, slicing through greenies and the blue creature. In but a moment, each creature was sliced into several parts. The parts of the deceased creatures were still falling to the ground when the doggie moved once more. The warlord threw her hand up, using the blade in her left hand to redirect the incoming shell. The blade cracked and fell apart, but the deadly projectile changed direction. Jekaterina expected the shell to fly at her, but the warlord instead sent it at the stone behind, causing the tip to fall off and land right behind Soultaker, covering her and the warlord in shadow.

"Good enough," The warlord said and slammed her last blade into the ground. Ropes of darkness run from the ground around Jekaterina, running across her skin, freezing her in place. She tried to break free and found that this strange darkness had merged with her very bones, she could actually feel the chill cold inside her body. Cold was a luxury in the Ravaged Lands, and Soultaker felt herself as if she was submerged in the favorite playthings of the rich—ice pool, "Who said that I only have one power?" Dragena asked, before charging forward.

The left arm of Dragena unleashed claws, tearing into the chest of Jekaterina, leaving a hole big enough for a fist to come through. The right hand of the warlord reached for a grenade on her belt, taking it and pushing it deep inside the wound on Jekaterina's body, pushing aside and rupturing organs in its way.

"Boss! Hold on!" A red beam of energy, far larger than anything used by the Reclaimers in this battle, struck stone rubble behind Jekaterina, melting it away. Dragena only let out a single sigh upon seeing how the molten stone reached the legs of both opponents. Ignoring the searing pain around her ankles, ignoring how heat was reaching to her very bones, Jekaterina moved her hand and the blade of her scythe sliced through the right hand of the warlord, cutting it off cleanly. The molten stone slowed the damned doggie just enough for Jekaterina to launch one final attack. She threw the Reaper of Lies after the one-handed opponent, and the blade of the spinning scythe reached Dragena's neck, causing her eyes to widen in pain and shock as her head left her body.

And then the disruptor grenade in the chest of Jekaterina exploded, and her body was turned to dust. The pain, stronger than anything that she felt up to this point, lasted only a moment. Darkness fell.

****

"Ah, so this is how it is. I see now. I am Jekaterina, the leader of Soultakers. And I still have reasons to live!"

The dome of darkness around the being exploded, and the consciousness broke free.

****

Her eyes were finally opened, and she found herself riding in the back of the truck. Her body was covered by a dark jacket, she could feel the shaft of her weapon underneath the fingers of her right hand. She stood up, feeling weak all of a sudden. This was strange. Never before had she felt herself weak. Her power always sustained her, no matter the condition.

"Commander! Please, lie down, I..." The speaker went silent as Jekaterina looked at her. Jeki, without her helmet, was sitting next to her. She bowed down, pressing her head against the metal of the truck, "My apologies for having you involved in…"

"Why were you in the battle? Are you trying to deprive me of a potential warrior?" Jekaterina demanded to know. Jeki was the daughter of a priest, who preached his faith in secret. After the man was found, he was placed in prison. Jekaterina half expected that Jeki would try to avenge him, but instead the stupid girl joined the Young Guard. She never trusted her, of course, but Jeki accepted the bindings, the mental shackles that Soultakers placed on every military member, that forever ensured that girl would serve the government. Ever since, Jeki was content with visiting his father in prison and working as a soldier to provide for her mother. Jeki's short black hair was tied in a knot behind her head, her face was covered by a few scars that she got during training, her nose was a bit too small for her round face. Her skin was pale, no matter the heat of the Ravaged Lands, some of the abnormals just never became tanned.

"After the regiment commander was killed, we received confusing orders. I was not sure that to…" She fell silent as Jekaterina grabbed her by the back of her head and pressed her to herself. Heartbeat was normal, meaning that the girl’s bindings were not activated. Jekaterina knew this, because her own bindings were broken, from time to time, her heart just stopped, "I am sorry, commander. I am sorry for being scared and…"

Jekaterina listened to her in confusion. What game does she lead? Everyone lies and plays their game. But for the life of her, Jekaterina could not get what the end game of this girl was. When was she going to betray her? Was she truly this stupid to think that this stupid act could trick Jekaterina into believing her? Obviously, the girl waited for a moment to strike, but Soultaker was ready, and precautions were in place. Jeki would have no choice but to obey.

"Your true battles will be in the future." Avoid the enemy's abnormals as much as possible. The future will be forged by your hands as well. Please stay alive." Jekaterina said, pushing the girl away gently. It hurt Jekaterina to play this stupid game, but words of encouragement were expected. Before the betrayal, she even believed in them. Now she was speaking words to her future enemy, no doubt. It was all just a game, and at the end, everyone would betray her. But she will win. For her brother, for her son, for her husband, and for her king, she will prevail. A better world will come, a world in which she will finally be able to lay down her weapons and live like a normal human.

"Nice words, boss," Jonathan Redhorn jumped into the back of the truck and gave Jeki a pat on the head. He was a former member of a mercenary gang. Jekaterina saved him from the mines when they were all escaping. Like most others, after the death of Dominion, he followed her. Jekaterina wondered why they were waiting so long to betray her. What game could her former comrades be playing? She gave them positions in the military and in the government, relying on them to make the Soultakers accept the outsiders and get used to working with the former slaves. But each time she looked at them, she remembered Dominion. He too smiled at her. And then he shot her. Deep down, she wanted to strike him down, but lashing out first was a first step to madness. No, she will wait for his move.

Redhorn was called this because of the shining red bone that was rising from his left side of his forehead. This red horn was almost a full meter in height. The man had a badly shaved beard, he was too lazy to properly shave it away. His dark eyes looked at Jekaterina with obviously fake worry.

"After you turned to dust, wolfkins descended on us, almost in mad charge. Bentos were with us, so we won. They took the body of the warlord away, her hand was disintegrated, but we still have our prize," He showed the head of the warlord. Her tongue was out, dead eyes were rolling in the eye sockets as Jonathan threw her dead head on the floor of the truck. Jekaterina looked at her with half pity. She was probably considered to be beautiful in life, her snout lacked scars and her fur was clear. Now she was dead, "One of the doggies got too greedy and Bentos knocked her out. Jeki and I tied up our sleeping beauty and sent her ahead to the camp with the rest of Bentos. We noticed that you are reforming and collected your flesh. Boss, you sure have scared us, never before have I seen you regenerate for so long!" He put his hand over Jekaterina’s shoulder.

Fakery, all of this is fakery. She desperately wanted to believe that she could trust him, but she knew better. Trust leads to betrayal, always. He only serves her because of the pay.

"Your brother called, wanted to know how you are. Tlaltzin Bento sent a message, informing you that he will be leaving further north, no idea why. And your mother called as well..." Redhorn fell silent as he saw her face. Kurt had forgiven his mother and was living in the same city as her. She made sure that her brother was well protected. Jekaterina herself never wanted to see this woman again.

"Where are we?" She stood up and saw the answer.

They were riding through the middle of the temporary camp of the Resistance, toward the tent of the King. People around them were down, fear and anxiety were on their faces. This could not stand. Despair was a poison, let it stay, and in time it would blossom, devouring a person whole. Ignoring her subordinates, Jekaterina picked up the head of the warlord, picked up her weapon, and jumped off the truck, landing before a large gathering of people. The soldiers, civilians, and even some reporters from Iterna, all looked at the fully naked leader of the Soultakers in surprise. She walked toward them and jumped on a table, knocking away the food and maps from it.

"What are you all mopping down about?! Back and forth is the nature of war! They knocked us down, will you lie down and take it?!" She showed the head of the dead warlord, lifting it high above her head, "Look! They die as well. This beast right here was their warlord, she lived over a century and now she died in the middle of nowhere! If a naked chick like me can cut a warlord down to size, what are your excuses?" She pointed at the faces around her with the scythe, more and more people flocked to listen to her. Regulators, cyborgs of Bento, mercenaries, volunteers, and Soultakers, all stood side by side, "We all lost fellows today! Friends, family, comrades in arms! Will you taint their memory by wallowing in sorrow helplessly, or will you grab the future by the neck and change it with your own two hands! Will you accept the lie that we must submit ourselves to the rule of the Reclaimers?" Shouts were surrounding her now, shouts of angry people, inspired once more, "We live upon this land! The price of freedom is always harsh, but I will always pay it! The Ravaged Lands are ours, even if I stand alone, I will fight to the last drop of blood, to the last broken bone, but I will never give up and will never surrender my homeland to invaders! Will you surrender?!"

"No!" A roaring answer from the troops. Jekaterina always wondered why such fake camaraderie inspired people. Yes, she will always risk her life for her allies and troops. But they were all betrayals, they always waited for a moment to stab her in the back. Why do they act inspired by her words if they hate her?

"Then we will fight, and we will win!" She shouted to them, jumping off the table and walking toward the tent of her leader. She found Redhorn and Jeki with her eyes and said, "Fetch me some clothes and fast."

****

Bonus chapter part 2

Jeki hastily brought Jekaterina some clothes. These were clearly from the girl’s own tent, rather than from the wardrobe of the leader of Soultaker. Jekaterina now wore a skintight black suit that only reached her elbows and knees and was too tight in the chest, leather boots, and a crimson coat. No doubt that clever girl wanted to humiliate her leader, but Jekaterina was used to being uncomfortable. In these lands, comfort was considered a luxury, and Soultaker could live without it. She put on clothes and stormed toward King’s tent, shooting glances at the people around here.

The mood seemingly improved. Instead of the faint spirit of despair around camp, songs now filled the air, people worked more eagerly, preparing for leave and retreat. And yet Jekaterina knew that this was just a fluke. Should she lower her guard, just for a moment, she will get a dagger in her back. So she was on her guard, as always. Who will strike her first? Perhaps this Bento cyborg who was assisting in the movement of the injured? A medic from the Regulators? A Soultaker who was in charge of distributing food? Maybe Jeki and Jonathan were already preparing to strike her from behind? Who will it be? Who will sell her out first? She shook her head, forcing paranoia back. She visited medics, of course, for the mess that she is it was hard to lead an entire nation. Yet without the pills, she had a hard time trusting others.

She wanted to lash out, to strike all these traitors and schemers down, to see them dead. But she held herself back, as always. Striking without provocation was a path to madness. Jekaterina was many things. Failure, monster, tyrant. But her sanity was the one thing that she held dear. One day, one day when her son will unite Bento and Soultakers. On this day, Regulators will have no chance but to integrate into the newly made country. When this happens, laws will be reworked, with the help of King, a new era will come, an era where people will no longer have to starve or suffer. When her son adjusts to his new role, when all troubles will be left behind, when people are secured once more… She will walk back, all the way back to her previous self, and Jekaterina will relearn how to smile and laugh. She will visit new lands and will see so many wonderful things alongside her husband. And all will be well for all people. For this future, she will win this war, for this future, she will keep her sanity. One day it all will be fine again, and she will be human once more.

She reached the King’s tent. Compared to other tents, this one was made of purple cloth, a golden image of a snake biting its own tail was painted on the side. King explained that this was an image from the old world, it was something of a personal goal for him. This is why he took this as his personal emblem.

No guards were posted at King’s tent, meaning that either Chort or Huntsman were around. These two were like shadows, always following their master when he was out of his fortress. Chort could often be seen chatting with people, the gigantic Huntsman was somewhat of a mystery, even to Jekaterina. She never remembered seeing him eat for once. Huntsman enjoyed the company of people, and he was a capable commander, but he never revealed anything about his past.

Soultaker stormed inside the brightly lit tent. In the middle stood a table made of stone, with several maps on it. On the table was a large terminal, one of the few in the entire Resistance that had access to their combined databases. The maps were showing routes to retreat and places to regroup and counterattack. Several jars of wine, some of them empty, were on a table. A massive stone throne sat at the head of the table, one of the few chairs that could withstand the King's weight.

"Yes, retreat further from the Ash Forest and hold your…" King, the leader of the Resistance, fell silent as he noticed her. His enormous form, locked in the armor, turned to face the newcomer. Two lenses of his helmet, one of orange color and another of solid black color, seemingly pierced the very soul of Jekaterina, before King nodded, accepting that it was she. His robes covered him from waist to boots. The golden horns on his helm were moved backward in order not to mess with the ceiling of the tent, "Belay this order, Jekaterina is still alive. Make your stand in the Ash Forest and hunt to your heart's content, forcing them to bleed for every step."

"Expecting me to be dead, huh?" Jekaterina sat at the table, looking at the maps. King was moving fast, new orders for the Soultakers were already sent. Commanders were assigned or promoted to replace those who were dead or missing, defensive lines were to be drawn around Sun City, the capital of the Soultakers and around Moon City, Kurt’s city. Before she noticed something, Jekaterina wanted to make a snark about him acting without her consent. King’s order for Kurt to take Tehuoto and escape to Iterna, should the enemy close on Moon City. Her expression softened at this, noticing all the details, King even prepared a home for them in Iterna.

Oh King. She thought. It was so rare for someone to genuinely care for her.

"You were not responding to calls, we received no visual information that you were alive. Yes, I had to become a busy little worker in order to make up for your absence." King responded, putting a jar of vine before her. Jekaterina usually always tasted such things for poison, but right now she put the head of the warlord on the corner of the table and took a drink without hesitation.

King a visionary whom Jekaterina met some time before Dominion’s betrayal. Back then, he was an enigmatic figure, covered in a cloak from head to toes. He was preoccupied with learning about the local culture and making friends with the locals. After Jekaterina became a tyrant, it was he who ensured that she could still meet with Tlaltzin Bento. King spent hours convincing her not to give up on the man. In the end, she decided to trust Tlaltzin. It was the best decision in her life.

Soultaker and Bento. As far as couples go, this one was unusual, even for Ravaged Lands. She met Tlaltzin during her work as a mercenary. He hired their group to protect him from another elder of the Bento tribe. Back then, Tlaltzin was just one of the blessed ones, the upper caste of the Bento tribe, who replaced nearly all their organs with metal. Kurt saved his life, while Jekaterina was knocked out. Later, during a party, Jekaterina and Tlaltzin became drunk. And on this night, in his chambers, she learned his secret. Tlaltzin lied to his tribe. His skin was made of metal, true, but his insides were still human. Man had a different kind of vision for his tribe, one of uniting flesh and metal, not replacing flesh with metal. It was for this reason that he aimed at the top.

She abandoned him after becoming a ruler, thinking that he was the same as everyone else. Traitor, who waited for a chance to strike at her. And yet, King helped them reconcile. She owed everything to this strange, armored man. Thanks to him, she had two more people whom she could trust. King and Tlaltzin. In time, she might even trust her son, but young Tehuoto was still too young, only four years old. Thanks to King, the dream of uniting Soultakers and Bentos was getting closer by the day. First two nations will unite, then their people will grow and the cruelty of old will disappear.

She nodded at the head of the warlord: "I came bringing gifts." King held his head in his hands. The head, so much bigger than the head of Jekaterina, looked like a toy in the weird gauntlets of her leader, "They die just as well as anyone else. We can thin them."

"We will send this back to Reclaimers," King said softly. She was sure that he was frowning underneath his helmet. Soultaker never saw him without his massive cloak or armor, but she learned to read his mood. Everyone had the right to keep secrets, maybe King was one of the mutants. King carefully held the head, looking at it from all sides, "Kat, show some respect to the dead, please."

"Sure sounds rich coming from mister: "I'll order enemy leaders' bodies stuffed"." She drank the entire jar of wine in one go. Her tongue caught a chemical taste in the wine. This crafty, gentle bastard dropped one of her pills into the wine. He clearly had no idea how many pills she should consume, one barely did anything but dull her distrust of others, yet his clumsy care warmed her heart. Pills that she consumed before the battle were washed away from her body by her power, the moment she healed the first wound.

"This was just to appease the masses." He put the head of the dead enemy back on the table and waved carelessly, "Simple people need a reason for bravery. For a better future, I simply provide our people with one reason they can understand, so a simple person can die fighting and be at peace. I will write an official proposition for a prisoner exchange, will notify the reporters, and you will send someone to deliver this poor thing back to reclaimers along with our terms. Cruel words for bravery, actions to save the living. Call me a liar if you want. But I will not allow us to sink into depravity."

"Speaking of depravity, where is Blaguna?" Jekaterina raised her brow, looking around, "I thought we decided to keep her near you, to limit the number of people she can kill."

"All but ditched us. She took her troops and left for Regulator's lands, along with Yasen, just a few moments before you arrive at the camp," King shook his massive shoulders, "Insanity, but at the very least her betrayal will buy us…" He stopped and turned back, moving far too quickly and silently for such a massive body.

A silent whirlwind of darkness was behind him, near the wall of the tent. One moment it was oval, pitch-black darkness moving at rapid speed, the next moment it turned into a straight line, a little longer in height than the average human. Tiny cracks appeared in the air near the line of darkness, and finally reality cracked, revealing a window into some kind of facility. A room of white light, with people in white lab coats working on screaming patients strapped to the tables. Screams were muffled, but Jekaterina gripped the shaft of her weapon, half wanting to jump through this window. One of the patients was in the process of losing his chest, as metal saws were removing bones from his body. Another woman had her lower body removed by several doctors while she was still conscious. At first, Jekaterina could see no reason for such cruel torture. Her eyes widened when she saw glimmering red orbs being placed into the victims' wounds. This was glow, compressed and made safe somehow, but it was clearly a glow. The substance that turns normal people into abnormal ones. But... The barbarism of such a procedure! The chances of surviving glow were already slim, and wounding the people beforehand would simply...

With genuine shock, she saw how the bodies of the patients enlarged, their flesh cracked, and their muscles bulged all the way through, while doctors used some medicine, injecting it with syringes to keep the poor souls alive. They were still screaming, Jekaterina could see that much, even despite the way their bodies self-mutilated themselves upon accepting the glow. The sheer pain of such a transformation should render them mad.

A person came from the other side of the tear in space, a person of the usual size, black-haired, dressed in a white coat, black pants, elegant shoes, and a crimson shirt. His skin looked pale and smooth, similar to the skin of Jekaterina, a rarity in the Ravaged Lands. Countless mechanical tendrils were coming from behind his back, moving around him like tentacles. The whites of his eyes were pitch black, while his pupils were brightly lit with green. He smiled as he saw King.

"Speaking of betrayals, what the hell do you think you are doing, friend?" The man asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I am afraid, I have no idea what you are talking about, dear Academician." King calmly replied.

"Oh, really?" Academician said in an excited voice, walking around King like a vulture that was waiting for its food to finally die for good. As he turned to the left, Jekaterina saw a massive metal device on his back, the source of his mechanical arms. Jekaterina wanted to kill the newcomer, everything inside her screamed that this one was bad news. But she kept her cool, waiting for the signal from her leader. King warned her not to mess with them, whoever they were. Academician looked at her and nodded, "Signal that will never do you any good, honey. King right here might have a "magic" helmet that hides his thoughts from me. But you, my dear, are but an open book to me, your power included. If you fool around too much, even "immortal" can die…"

"Stop making threats to my people and explain yourself…" King's bombastic speech fell silent the moment one of the mechanical tendrils struck forward like a snake, leaving a dent across his helmet and bashing away one of the gilded horns. It may be just a warning hit, yet Jekaterina started to rise.

Then she stopped, as she felt a hand on her shoulder, a hand that was patting Jekaterina’s shoulder. Jekaterina looked up into the face of the newcomer. Behind Jekaterina stood an attractive looking woman dressed in green. A calm smile was on the newcomer's face.

"Relax, Soultaker, and keep sitting. No one needs to die today." The woman said.

"Remove your hand, or I will remove your arm." Jekaterina calmly replied to this threat, and the woman only laughed softly.

"I would advise you to listen to the advice of Green Valkyrie," Academician was suddenly sounding like a kid who boasted about his latest toy, "If she is at the job, then any person can be removed from existence."

"Removed?" Jekaterina calmly asked, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to be still. It would be so easy to cut off the arm of this arrogant, little…

"I prefer terms buried, since not all of my targets can be killed. Sky burial, cremation, earth burial, chained at the bottom of the ocean, space burial... How do you prefer to be disposed of after your demise, pale girl?" The woman whispered with a silken voice into Jekaterina's ear.

"I've always wanted to see the space," Jekaterina shrugged, reaching for a second jar of wine. She gestured to a seat near her, "You drink?"

"Not that… yes, why not." The woman behind Jekaterina moved the chair and sat near Soultaker, reaching for a cup. Academician looked at this scene with disbelief and threw his arms in the air.

"I am a busy man and have a war on my hands. If you come to jest, then I suggest you find…" King came and sat on the throne at the head of the table.

"Ah, I see. You are a busy man, walking here and there, King," Academician smiled kindly, "As a fellow busy man, I can relate. However, you forced me to take a break from my job, and now you will take responsibility for this."

"Pardon me, but I am not sure if I understand the accusation?" King asked and Academician stopped behind his throne, mechanical arms slid over stone and onto metal plates of the King, slithering across the metal plates with a rattling sound.

"I will speak more plainly, then. Grug was sent to retrieve the KM-file for me. He found someone who knew about the location of the item, then your man, Yasen, killed an informant of Grug. At a first glance this could be a coincidence. But now you have used a weapon from the past," All jokes were gone from the face of Academician, the strange man used some of tendrils to lift himself in the air behind the throne, bending his body and looking upside down into the lenses on the King's helmet. Academician face now resembled the face of an angry snake, waiting to devour prey before himself, "KM-file, hand it over please. Or should Miss Green put an end to your lovely "resistance" right now? To be honest, at this point, I am fine with either way."

King froze in place as the Academician put his hands on metal shoulderpads. The lenses of King's helmet suddenly became dim, giving the frighten impression to the massive figure of steel… Only for the leader to let out booming laughter and reach for something on his waist.

"My apologies, my apologies!" He lifted an old-looking flash drive, a thing that was barely bigger than Jekaterina’s finger. King threw it in the air and Academician caught it with his right hand, "It was just something I picked up on accident. Please, forgive me, I would have handled it over to you, but you were so hard to find…"

"Pray that it continues to be so. Because only my patients can easily find me," Academician smiled, his rage disappearing in a flash, as he looked at Jekaterina, "You have such great potential inside you, girl."

"Potential?" Soultaker frowned, taking a sip of wine. She was unsure of what he meant. You can only evolve your power once. She reached her peak a long time ago. Ever since Dominion betrayed her, this body has never aged a day. Her hair was the same length, her muscles remained the same. Her power allowed her to get drunk and obtain new memories, even taking in the medicine... right until the moment when she was too badly damaged. Then her power removed all drugs from her body, leaving just the memories. She was worried sick bearing her son, avoiding any danger. A single thought was in her mind. What if her power decides that her child was unnatural to her body?

"Oh yes. Your emotions are bottled down, ready to explode in a flash of violence and madness!" Academician allowed his tendrils to carry him to the ground, stepping away from King. Enthusiasm was in the weird eyes of the man as he gestured with both hands wildly, "Just imagine such a moment, that you no longer need to pretend to be a perfect ruler who tries to improve the lives of everyone around you in vain. You can be someone you always meant to be, a flawed monster that tears others down. My dear, I will keep my eyes on you. If you ever decide to abandon your humanity, just call my name. I am sure we can be of use to each other. You will provide the spectacle and I will provide the means. "

Still smiling, Academician whistled as he walked back to the tear in reality. He stepped inside the room, casually throwing the flash drive up and catching it. Green finished her cup and stood up, lazily following him as Academician was looking impatiently at her to join him.

"Should I find Grug?" Green asked, stretching her arms, unafraid of the metal tendrils of the man.

"What’s the point? The fool was tasked with finding KM-file, let him die here in vain search for it for all I care." Academician caught the flash drive once more. Not a moment later, Green stepped inside the tear, and the distortion was gone in a flash, leaving not even a trace that someone was here.

"Creeped me out all right. Who was this freak?" Soultaker put away the wine and looked at her leader. Everyone has their past. But if there was a new foe for the Resistance, she had to know who they were.

"Elder from something called Organization. No idea who they are," King touched a place where metal was bent on his helmet because of the hit of the strange man, "But this is not what is important. Now I know that the KM-file is legit. Our victory is at hand."

"KM-file?"

"KM stands for "Key members was speaking with a glad voice, reminding Jekaterina of his past self, when he was busy teaching the youths on his journeys. He saw the expression on Jekaterina’s face and hurried to explain, "It keeps records of the movements of all the important people of a certain, now long dead, country. During the Old World, they paid visits to towns, city halls, military bases, and research facilities. The world might have suffered a reset, yet these places are still out there, waiting to be plundered. Of course, this thing is now in the hands of our "allies", but… I have made a few copies. Imagine the weapons that we will find."

King stood up, spreading his hands widely. His voice changed, now it was a booming shout:

"Enough of the dilly-dally for today! Use everything, but stall the reclaimers' advance. Do not waste too many resources trying to save Regulators, if Blaguna wants to be alone, so be it. Pull our people out there at the first opportunity. I will provide you with everything and everyone that I can possibly spare. Meanwhile, Bentos and I are off to do some treasure hunting. It is time for us to dig out something else that will put reclaimers into graves."

Jekaterina lifted herself from the chair, taking her weapon over one shoulder. Walking outside, she gave one last quick nod to her leader, saying her farewells. She made but one step before sensing a presence to her left. Someone tried to conceal himself from her. The steel of the Reaper of Lies gleamed as she slashed in the direction of a strange person.

The movement of her scythe was stopped dead, as two palms gripped the top of the shaft, stopping the blade a few inches from the body. Chort, breathing heavily, looked at Jekaterina:

"Heh, had to try a new trick. It seems I can’t crack the idea of how to replicate it yet," He joked. The man was acting strangely. His left hand was thin, showing bones underneath the paper-thin skin. His right leg was shaped in the form of a tentacle that was now slithering across the ground. Two traces of someone’s armored boots were on his face, large red bruises that ran from his jaw to his weird eyes. Chort released the blade and touched the bruises with his left hand, "After a certain chick nearly killed me, I kept markings on my face until the day I would settle the score. Anyway, sorry for the scare. My power changed and I can’t wait to..."

"You look like hell. Go and have a rest, you are no use to us dead." Jekaterina calmly said, turning around. She had no interest in listening to his boasting all night. Chort was a capable person and was willing to risk his life for King even now, but his vanity was his worst enemy.

All around her was chaos. If King leaves, command will fall to her. It was time to instill some order. She called the commanders to her.

****

After the war council, Jekaterina walked inside the tent meant for the abnormal prisoners. King prepared several such tents, all of them equipped with technology to prevent both dimensional and spatial hopping, technology that he discovered in the ruins of the Old World. Alas, because of their defeat, all this now was for naught, most tents were taken apart by Bentos. All, aside from one.

"Here is this bitch." The prison guard, a woman from the ranks of regulators, dressed in their regular uniform of gold and black, her face hidden behind the stupid silver mask and black cowl. She held a chain in one arm and pointed at the prisoner locked to a pole in the middle of the room. Several other poles were put in the room, all empty now. The machinery inside these poles negated the ability of the prisoners to escape via teleportation, and the guards within were able to shock the prisoners with the press of a button. Steel chains were made from a special metal, one that not even Jekaterina could break with her bare arms. A medical kit was on the ground near the tent's northern wall. At all times, there should have been a medic from the Bento tribe here and five guards, no matter the number of prisoners.

The abnormals were precious prisoners. Reclaimers paid generously for their release. After Jekaterina and her husband rescued four abnormals from the clutches of Blaguna and delivered news about the death of the last one, the Reclaimers let go five captured Soultakers and five Bentos. And not just the lower ranks, no, they let go of the shock team members and abnormals from the ranks of Soultakers. Whoever they are, the foes intend to abide by the rules of war and treat their prisoners well, even if they remove imprints from the Soultakers.

The prisoner, one of the doggies that was captured by the Soultakers during their battle against the warlord, had her arms locked behind her back, a long metal collar was put around her neck, ensuring that she wouldn’t escape this place. Her power armor and underarmor were taken away by Wohali, leaving her just covered by her fur. Two amber eyes looked furiously at the Soultaker. Only one guard, from the ranks of the Regulators, was here, instead of the standard crew.

"Who dared to touch her?" Jekaterina asked in an icily tone, noticing slashes made by the chain on the body of the prisoner. She walked around the captured foe, counting the damage, while the prison guard stood aside. Long lacerated wounds run across the hide of the prisoner. The person who was beating her tore entire chunks of flesh from her, leaving the doggie bleeding like a pig. There were wounds across her ribs, nose, snout, between her legs, on her shoulders.

Even now, the prisoner looked dangerous. Despite the impressive amount of blood lost, this doggie looked strong. The fire still burned in her eyes, the blood was clotting itself in her wounds, the prisoner breathed hard, metal collar that was too small for her neck, bit deep into the flesh. Judging by the scratched wrists and relaxed muscles, the doggie tried to pull out a trick. Before she was handcuffed, she probably forced all her muscles to their max size and, when left alone with a guard, tried to pull her arms out of metal handcuffs. Admirable idea, but the Soultakers were not that incompetent.

Looking at the prisoner, Jekaterina felt naught but disgust. There were standards in the Resistance, and she will remind all who dare to degrade themselves with torture that there is a price for breaking them. For too long, she tolerated Blaguna and her madness. The rot of this bitch began to spread, tainting all around.

"Yasen had a little bit of…" The woman choked on her words when Jekaterina grabbed her by the throat, pulling her closer to herself.

"She belongs to us. What part of treating prisoners with care do you filth not understand?" She tore off the silver mask from the face of the woman and looked into her green eyes, which were open wide in fear. She noticed blood on the gloves of the prison guard, "You too? You dared to touch our prisoner?" Soultaker demanded to know. Everything was falling into place. A single guard instead of a full team. Blood on her clothes. Jekaterina promised herself that the next time Yasen appeared in her presence, she would flay him. And to think that, at one point, she was thinking of replacing Blaguna with him! No, one rot just as bad as the other. She will tell Katriana to take away the promising boy before he too becomes tainted. Then, after the war is done, she will marry the boy to someone from the ranks of Soultakers and cleanse the lands of Regulators with fire if needed, restoring order once more and merging two countries into one.

“If you had just seen what they had done to Lalo and how many of our people had d…" The woman opened her mouth, jerking with her legs when Jekaterina lifted her in the air, choking her out slowly. The regulator tried to tear away fingers from her neck, but with the same luck, she could have tried to lift the car. This woman was no abnormal, just a trash with grandiose delusions, and Soultaker had had enough of the regulators and their childish disregard for basic rules. Jekaterina looked at the doggie.

"Do you have a name?"

"What do you care?" The doggie asked in a rasped voice, and Soultaker noticed traces of the chain links on the neck of the doggie when the creature lifted her head to look into Jekaterina’s eyes. Still bleeding wounds right above the metal collar. Someone tried to choke her.

"I am planning to let you go," Jekaterina said, "We need someone to deliver something to reclaimers. A token of good will and our terms, to pave the way for a future prisoner exchange"

"You sure treat your prisoners well." The doggie laughed, coughing out the blood.

"I assure you, this right here is my fault and my fault alone," Jekaterina paid no mind to the weakening whizzing sounds of the woman in her arm, the regulator’s eyes were about to jump from the orbit, her movements slowed with each moment, "Rest of the prisoners are under the protection of my forces and are treated well. You will be able to see them for yourself. " This was true. The Young Guard and Wohali did exemplar job. Chort helped as well.

"You gonna kill her?" The doggie asked, nodding at the regulator.

"Yes." Jekaterina said sternly, pressing the fingers around the throat a bit more strongly, causing the woman to spit water out of her mouth and jerk weakly. Tears and snot ran down the face of the regulator, and Jekaterina reached for the woman’s cape, using it to wipe out her hand. She frowned upon sensing that the woman had just pissed and shat herself. No dignity, not even in death.

"Seems like a waste," The doggie said carefully, "Sure, punish her, but why kill?"

Jekaterina nodded and dropped the regulator in front of the doggie. The woman deserved death, but after such cruel treatment of their prisoner, a gesture of good will was in order. While the prison guard lay on the dusty floor, gasping for air, Jekaterina untied the arms of the doggie, leaving only the metal collar on the long chain. The doggie clenched and unclenched her fists, checking to see if she was still able to move her arms. Her snout frowned, blood dropped from her long arms. Jekaterina reached for another pole and took out another metal collar, chaining the regulator to a pole next to a doggie, well within reach of the other prisoner. Let the doggie decide her fate.

"Name’s Kayleen," The doggie looked at the chained woman and she pressed her back to the metal pole, her face turning from red to white while horror filled her eyes at the sight of fangs in the doggie’s jaws, "What’s the catch? What about my armor?"

"No catch. We need our people back and we are willing to negotiate. Your armor is our trophy. Either agree to be our emissary and deliver our terms, or spend the rest of the war in the prison of Soultakers." Jekaterina ignored the pleading look of the prison guard.

"Deal then," The doggie said, straightening herself up. She looked at the guard and bared her fangs, "This place stinks."

"Probably because of this filth. I will be right back with the item that you need to deliver. She will treat your wounds." Jekaterina reached for the med kit and threw it to the guard. The guard screamed in a rasped voice, trying to charge after Jekaterina. Soultaker heard the tingling of the chain when the collar pushed the guard back.

"Wait! You can’t leave me with her! She will kill me! This freak will…" Jekaterina ignored the panicked shouts and left the tent, nodding to two guards outside to keep the place secured. The regulators in charge of this place were already relieved of their duties, proper soldiers came to replace them.

She walked to the King’s tent, took the box and terms for the future prisoner exchange. Before coming back, she made sure that the item within the box had some dignity to it, removing dust and cleaning it from dried blood. By the time she came back to the prisoner’s tent, the vehicle for the doggie was already being prepared, a simple buggy with a white flag mounted on it. Soultaker stepped inside the tent, noticing that the guard had a black eye, a trickle of blood flowing from her nose, her cape was torn in several places, the cowl of her cape was removed, showing short hair bleached by the sun. The doggie sat with her back to the pole, holding the crying guard in a tight cross-legged hold before herself. The guard was treating the doggie's wounds with trembling hands.

"What in this box?" Kayleen asked, and Jekaterina opened the box.

The head of warlord Dragena was inside the box, her eyes closed, her tongue placed back into her mouth. Kayleen threw the guard aside and stood up, breathing heavily. Her muscles bulged, her amber eyes looking directly into Jekaterina’s eyes. Soultaker prepared to knock her out when Kayleen took the box out of her hands, pressing it to her chest.

"Revenge is a fool’s game," She whispered, a single tear running down from her left eye, "I won’t denigrate her memory by indulging in this impulse. What should I…"

"Our terms are in the car. She will drive you to the Reclaimers’ positions." Jekaterina nodded at the prison guard.

"No! They will kill me! Mercy! Please, show mercy!" The woman fell on her knees before Soultaker, her arms reached for the leather coat of Jekaterina and grabbed it, "Please, I don’t want to die! Look at these freaks, they are cannibals, all of them! I will do anything! Anything!"

"Just drive me to our positions and all is forgiven," Kayleen silently said, "Who cares about a few scars." She closed the box, stroking the lid.

"The Resistance has no need for filth like you," Jekaterina spit into the guard’s face, kicking her away lightly. She will ensure that King will no longer have poison from either Yasen or Blaguna being poured into his ear. King was a visionary and an effective politician, but he was a poor warlord. He allowed Regulators to convince him that they could beat Reclaimers head on, and the Resistance paid for this with their weapons. No more. To win this war, you must know your foe. And Jekaterina was familiar with Wyrm Lord, she had studied his habits before the war. By returning one abnormal and the guard to his care, this will prompt him to release twice as many abnormals. His honor would demand nothing less. A trash for two hardened soldiers, the choice was obvious, "You are to serve this Kayleen as a slave here until the war is over. You will cook her food, clean her clothes and do other chores. My people watch the road all the way to the positions of Reclaimers, if you try to run, you will be shot. Obey and your crime will be forgiven, upon the end of the war, we will permit you to come back. Dare to disobey and I will give you to Blaguna." The threat was sufficient, the prison guard bit down on all her protests, bowing madly to Soultaker. This threat was a fake, of course, Jekaterina would never lower herself so much to give up prisoners to fucking regulators. But a ruler uses all tools to build a better tomorrow without excessive bloodshed.

She escorted the prisoner and the guard outside. Despite her distress, Kayleen demanded to see other prisoners, and Jekaterina allowed it, sending her own guards to escort the doggie. Meanwhile, she called Jeki to come closer.

"Take two members from the Old Guard, someone who can teleport. Ensure that they..." She nodded at the car, "...Will reach reclaimers safely. If regulators even as much as dare to come close, let the Old Guard finish them off." She put a hand on Jeki’s shoulder, "I am relying on you. Do it and leg it back here, we have our own land to protect."

"Yes, my lady!" Jeki saluted her, running off to join the forces. It was unusual for a member of the Old Guard to be under the command of a youngster like Jeki, but the confidence of the young fool was shaken. For her to be a proper knife in Jekaterina’s arm, this confidence must be restored.

She turned around and saw Chort. The mercenary brought new dire news. Something attacked their forces during the night.