Chapter 64 - Rebuilding the Team (1/2)

There were few in the Wastelands who could kill this way – ruthlessly efficient and completely silent. Mantis was one of them. Only, Mantis had disappeared after they escaped from Blackflag Outpost. After days of being hunted by sweepers and deadly sandstorms, how could he show up here?

Mantis had tailed the sweepers, even managed to infiltrate their airship. It brought him to Greenland Outpost.

This revelation confounded Cloudhawk. Mantis followed the sweepers and snuck on their ship without being detected at all? The size of the brass balls on this guy was unthinkable. How stealthy was he? Cloudhawk didn’t dare think about what else he was capable of.

“Come with me.”

Sweepers were everywhere and oasis guards were in the hundreds as they combed the area. Hydra had let Cloudhawk and the Queen go, but his subordinates didn’t know that. If they were caught the consequences would be bad.

Luckily Mantis was a master assassin. Assassins weren’t just adept at killing, they had to be experts of stealth as well, and the night was Mantis’ playground. As they crept through the darkness Mantis picked off the weaker hunters, ending their lives and leaving no trace. One by one he ambushed their pursuers and ushered their spirits to the afterlife.

The small crew escaped through the opening provided.

Greenland Outpost was large and boasted over fifty thousand souls. Finding three people in that press of humanity was like trying to find a needle in an ocean. Mantis led them to a basement below one of the common residences in the outpost, without the owner knowing a thing. Cloudhawk helped the Queen to a corner and settled her against the wall. She wasn’t doing well, her condition was less than optimistic.

Cloudhawk turned to Mantis. “Help take a look at her.”

Mantis obliged, stretching out his hand but the Queen glared back at him. Her right hand shot out with lethal intent and pale fire undulated around the burning angels.

Cloudhawk hurriedly made to put her at ease. “Hold on, Mantis is a doctor. He can check your injuries!”

Mantis paid her no mind. He grabbed her wrist and after a moment spoke in his typical detached tone. “She has less than a day.”

Cloudhawk gaped at him. “Mantis, c’mon stop screwin’ around. You just touched her wrist, how do you even know where she’s hurt?”

Mantis had diagnosed the condition of her internal organs by feeling her pulse . His knowledge came from an ancient and exquisite source, far superior to what anyone found in the ruins these days. How could a yokel like Cloudhawk possibly understand? The Bloodsoaked Queen had more than a few external wounds, but they were not of much concern and would heal on their own in a few days.

Her internal injuries were far more serious. After days of running and fighting, the strain of the demands she’d put on herself had deteriorated her condition. It was miraculous she still lived. Switch her with any normal person – even someone like Grizzly – and she’d have been dead already.

Despite his impatience Cloudhawk knew Mantis wasn’t one to play around. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Aren’t you a doctor?! Think of something!”

“I am a doctor,” Mantis affirmed patiently, “I am not a god.”

Without tools or medicine there was nothing he could do. Was he supposed to use magic?

Cloudhawk fidgeted restlessly, wracking his brain. “Can’t we think of anything?”

“Enough, begging won’t serve anything.” The Queen’s time was short, but she was calm – the demonhunter did not fear death. She closed her eyes as she spoke. “You have the potential to be a demonhunter, you aren’t like this wastelander.”

Mantis pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. “Everyone has their own path. Hunting demons doesn’t suit him.”

The Bloodsoaked Queen opened her eyes again and looked at Mantis with a glint of curiosity and surprise in her eyes. “Who are you?”

He didn’t answer.

Cloudhawk had always been interested in Mantis’ story. He had been a part of the Tartarus mercenaries, and yet different. He was a mercenary leader like Mad Dog and Slyfox but no one dared give him orders. There’d been some sort of unspoken understanding he wasn’t aware of.

Mantis also never directly participated in missions. He always remained behind and did logistics work.

Cloudhawk was a hundred percent sure Mantis had always known the Queen’s identity. This fact alone meant Mantis wasn’t your typical wastelander.

Yet Cloudhawk didn’t care about any of that, the Queen’s critical condition was most important. Despite her shitty temperament, she was the strongest fighter Cloudhawk knew. At peak condition the demon’s three lieutenants together couldn’t stand against her. What was he going to do if she died? Those fucking freaks would hunt him to the ends of the earth!

Mantis asked, “How did you escape the dungeons?”

He answered honestly. “We ran into someone named Hydra. He helped us escape.”

“Hydra?”

“You know him?”

Mantis didn’t answer. He turned and made as though to leave.

Cloudhawk shot to his feet. “Where are you going?”

Mantis didn’t stop. His soft voice hung in the air as he vanished out into the streets. “Stay here.”

By now the hundreds or sweepers and outpost guards had put down the dungeon rebellion. Yet even with all of these soldiers, no matter how rigorously they searched, the two escapees had vanished like smoke on the breeze.

The demon’s servants were understandably furious.