Book 5 - Chapter 41 - Dawn's Fury (1/2)

They had been ambushed! It was a trap set to lure in Greenland. The Polaris soldiers were not weak, but they could not fend off so many deadly foes at once.

But as they struggled, the whole outpost began to tremble as though their conflict had awakened an earthquake. A surge of power raced through rising up from the ground.

Squall grit his teeth. “She’s still alive!”

The earth split open, and a forest of stony spikes were spat toward the sky.

A number of the Hand’s elite fighters were caught off guard. Too slow to react, they were impaled by a number of these spikes and died in gruesome fashion.

However these men were far superior to the piddling sweepers they’d sent ahead. By feeling the slight changes occurring beneath them, most were able to predict and avoid the attack. If Dawn hoped this alone would do them in, then she was mistaken.

A furious roar rang out from the choking smoke. A nearby wooden house was cleaved right in two.

Dawn’s body ascended from the rubble and into the air. Her long platinum hair flowed behind her like a curtain of light. Though her clothes were tattered, her skin was still smooth and luminous as jade. No mark or wound marred its milky surface. Dawn exploded onto the scene wrapped in an imposing air, like a war goddess seeking vengeance.

Inkspecter had launched that assassination attempt with his foul relic, Death and Decay. This was the same weapon that took the life of Dawn’s grandfather. After claiming the general’s life the relic had weakened, but it was still a deadly tool. Dawn’s aegis mirror was similarly powerful, but it had been unable to protect her from the bite of her grandfather’s former adviser.

By all rights, even if that sneak attack hadn’t killed her, it should have at least taken her out of the fight!

However the aegis mirror wasn’t her only Temple-derived source of protection. She bore another relic, from another temple, gifted to her by Cloudhawk. Because it was from him, she wore the silver armor all the time and never took it off. Today it’d saved her life.

“We’ll hold them off.”

“Miss, get back to the city and warn Cloudhawk!”

Surprise and relief painted the face of the Polaris soldiers when they saw Dawn emerge. They cried out to her while fighting off the Hand’s advance. They were smart enough to know that not everyone would be leaving the ravine. At least they could give their lives to make sure their mistress did! If they didn’t, they would be dishonoring the General’s memory.

Dawn did not reply. She cast her eyes over her men, then the encroaching members of the Hand of Gehenna. Finally, her gaze met Inkspecter’s. The anger that bloomed on her pretty face was like a smoldering volcano on the cusp of eruption. If looks could kill, Inkspecter would be ash.

This black-hearted traitor had lived among their family for twenty years! He’d watched Dawn grow into a woman. He had been her grandfather’s most trusted friend. Even to this day, she found it difficult to believe that this man would be responsible for betrayal and murdering Skye Polaris.

But the facts were there. There was the proof, standing right in front of her. She couldn’t ignore the reality.

Mr. Ink – no, Inkspecter. He was one of the devils responsible for Skye’s death. In fact, aside from Arcturus, he was the main culprit!

Dawn wasn’t there on that day. She didn’t know what happened. But it wasn’t hard to guess. If Inkspecter hadn’t used grandfather’s trust to lure him into a trap, Frost and Clay would never have succeeded. As strong as Skye was those, two fools would have been pummeled to paste by his fists. Killing him without some underhanded trick was out of the question.

He was the one who murdered her grandfather. He was the reason the Polaris family fell apart. He was responsible for ruining Dawn’s life!

“Despicable traitor!” Dawn no longer had control over her anger. She had to fight through the fury to form the words. “Why did you do it?! When had my family ever treated you unfairly?!”

Dawn’s hysterical questions boomed across the ruined outpost. The faintest trace of regret flitted across Inkspecter’s face.

“Day after day, I warned the General that he was getting old, that he had best step down. The world of the future wasn’t one he could grasp. He was a hero, but one of a bygone age. Unfortunately your grandfather was a stubborn man. He never did learn when to back away. If he had only listened, we wouldn’t be here now. His doom was one of his own making. It would have all ended the same, even if I never lifted my hand.”

Twenty years meant a lot in the life of a man. It was impossible that he would have no affection for Skycloud and the Polaris family after so many years. No, he was not heartless. He felt for his former home. Even if he was completely cold-blooded, even if his ambitions ran deep, he was still human.

As for how he felt toward the old War-God?

He carried great guilt with him, deep inside his heart. Skye Polaris had been a forthright, honorable, transparent man. Unfortunately, in this day and age it was common for the stubborn and righteous to meet with grisly ends. The only reason Arcturus hadn’t moved against him sooner was because there had been no need. The Master Demonhunter had any number of ways to eliminate the General, whenever it pleased him.

His regret passed quickly and the stony expression returned. “You call me a traitor? Then you miss the point. I have never been loyal to the Polaris family. My loyalties have always lain with Gehenna. The people of Skycloud are my sworn enemies. Once my identity was revealed, I performed the mission I was sent to achieve and killed the Elysian general!”

Dawn was quickly starting to lose control over her emotions.

“Hey, hey. Don’t you think we’ve talked enough?” Ravenous Tiger muttered from the sidelines. “We aren’t far from Greenland City. We need to wrap this up quickly, otherwise we’ll have their whole army on our heads. Cloudhawk isn’t an easy sort to deal with, to say nothing of the people he’s surrounded himself with.”

“Then get to work!”