50 BILLION REASONS FOR REVENGE

LONELY PATH

The dusty plains outside the city were silent, but it was the silence of a graveyard. Instead of marching toward the city gates to face Gabriel, Toby had ordered the army to halt in a secluded valley, miles away from their target. His mind was no longer on the throne or the gold. It was consumed by a poisonous jealousy.

Toby stood on a raised limestone rock, his face twisted. In his hand, he held a heavy repeating crossbow. Before him, lined up in the dirt, were the twelve servants and soldiers who had refused to lay hands on Zeus back at the camp.

"You lot think you’re loyal?" Toby screamed, his voice cracking. "You think Zeus is your master? I am the one who feeds you! I am the one who gave that servant a name!"

"My Lord," one soldier pleaded, "we only feared his strength. We are loyal to the Iron Raiders!"

"Lies!" Toby roared. "You saw a man I gave a name and you bowed your heads. If I march on Gabriel now, with a traitor like Zeus breathing down my neck, I’ll be stabbed in the back before I reach the palace. I have to clean my own house first."

Without warning, Toby pulled the trigger. A bolt hissed through the air, striking the soldier in the chest. The man fell without a word.

"Who’s next?" Toby yelled, reloading the weapon with shaking hands. "Who else wants to pray to the God of Zeus?"

The other soldiers trembled, frozen by the madness in their leader’s eyes. Toby aimed again. Thwip. Another man fell. He was systematically executing his best men, fueled by the fear that he was becoming invisible in his own army.

"Stop it, Toby!"

The voice didn't come from a man in hiding. Zeus emerged from the tree line, his black stallion lathered in sweat. He leaped from the horse, his boots hitting the ground with a heavy thud. He looked tired, his face still pale from the poison, but his presence was like a mountain.

Toby turned the crossbow toward Zeus, his finger twitching on the trigger. "You! You should be sleeping in your vomit! How are you here?"

"The poison failed," Zeus said, walking forward slowly, his hands open and empty. "Toby, look at what you’re doing. These are your men. Gabriel is the enemy, not these boys. Put the weapon down."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Toby shrieked. He dropped the crossbow and drew a heavy iron mace from his belt. "You took everything! You took my authority! You took the woman I wanted! Even my servants won't touch you because they think you’re a ghost!"

Zeus stopped a few feet away. "I want nothing but Gabriel’s head. Take the money back. Take the lead. Just stop the killing."

"It’s too late for talk!" Toby lunged.

He swung the mace with all his might, catching Zeus square in the ribs. The sound of the impact made the surrounding soldiers wince. Zeus gasped, the air leaving his lungs, but he didn't raise his hands. He didn't even move to dodge the next blow.

Toby was a large man, and his rage gave him the strength of a bull. He dropped the mace and began to use his fists. He rained blows down on Zeus’s face and stomach.

Thud. Crack. Thud.

"Fight back!" Toby screamed, slamming a fist into Zeus’s solar plexus. "Show them how strong you are! Hit me!"

Zeus took the hits. His lip split, and blood began to leak from the corner of his mouth. He felt his ribs cracking under the pressure. He knew that if he fought back now, the army would see a civil war. He wanted Toby to exhaust his rage so they could refocus on the mission.

"I won't... fight you... brother," Zeus wheezed, doubling over as Toby landed a brutal kick to his midsection.

"I am not your brother!" Toby cried. He grabbed Zeus by the hair and punched him repeatedly in the face. "You’re just a floor-scrubber! A slave! Die like one!"

Toby’s eyes were bloodshot, his mind completely gone. He drew a jagged dagger from his boot. He wasn't trying to vent his anger anymore; he was going for the kill. He aimed the blade at Zeus’s throat.

Zeus saw the steel flashing in the sun. He saw the intent in Toby’s eyes. He realized that if he let Toby kill him, Gabriel would rule forever, and Maria’s death would go unavenged.

In a movement so fast the soldiers barely saw it, Zeus reached out. He didn't use a weapon. He simply delivered a single, focused strike with the palm of his hand to Toby’s chest, right over the heart.

It wasn't a blow meant to kill, but it carried the power of a man who had cleared 500 hectares of forest. The shockwave sent Toby flying backward. His head hit a stone as he landed, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He went limp.

The valley went silent. The soldiers looked from their fallen leader to Zeus, who was coughing up blood and clutching his shattered ribs.

"Is he dead?" a captain whispered, stepping forward.

Zeus knelt beside Toby, checking his pulse. It was thready but there. "No. But he’s badly hurt. Help me get him to the wagon."

"Why?" the captain asked, confused. "He just tried to murder you. He killed our brothers."

"Because he is a man lost in the dark," Zeus said, lifting Toby’s massive frame onto his shoulders despite his own broken ribs. "And because I do not settle scores with friends. We go back to the camp. Now."

The march back was somber. Zeus refused to sit in the wagon. He walked beside it, his hand on the wood, guiding Toby back to safety. When they arrived at the camp, Agnes ran out, screaming when she saw the blood on Zeus’s face.

"Get out of the way, Agnes," Zeus said firmly. "Bring me clean water, bandages, and the healing salts."

For the next several hours, Zeus didn't rest. He sat by Toby’s bedside in the main tent. He cleaned the wound on Toby’s head. He set the man’s dislocated shoulder. He acted not as a commander or a rich man, but as the servant he had been for twenty years. He served his enemy with the same dedication he had shown Lord Mathew.

As the moon rose, Toby’s eyes flickered open. The lantern light was dim, but he immediately recognized the man sitting in the chair beside him. Zeus was bandaging his own chest, his face a map of bruises.

Toby tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his head sent him back down. "Where... where am I?"

"You’re in your tent, Toby," Zeus said quietly. "Drink this. It will help the swelling."

Toby looked at the cup, then at Zeus. Memory flooded back—the executions, the fight, the single hit that had ended it. His face hardened, the jealousy returning even stronger than before. To Toby, the fact that Zeus had saved him was the ultimate insult.

"Get out," Toby whispered, his voice trembling with hate.

"Toby, listen to me—"

"I said get out!" Toby yelled, clutching his head. "You think you’re a saint? You think because you washed my wounds, I’ll forget that you took my men’s hearts? You’re a traitor, Zeus! You undermined me in front of my own army!"

"I saved your life," Zeus said, standing up slowly. "And I saved your soul from killing more of your own men."

Toby laughed, a jagged, ugly sound. "You saved nothing. You’re a virus. As long as you’re here, I am nothing. But I have a plan for you, 'Lord' Zeus."

Toby reached out and grabbed Zeus’s cloak, pulling him close. "I know Gabriel’s messengers are looking for you. I know the price on your head. If you don't leave this camp by morning, I will send a rider to the city. I will tell Gabriel exactly where you are. I will hand you over in chains and watch him peel the skin from your bones."

Zeus looked at his old friend. He saw no trace of the man who had offered him a cup of ale and a chance at revenge. He saw only a hollow shell of envy.

"You would side with the man who killed my children?" Zeus asked, his voice thick with disbelief. "You would give the city to Gabriel just to be rid of me?"

"I would burn the whole world just to stop seeing your face!" Toby screamed. "Now get out of my sight! You are no longer a Raider. You are a dead man walking."

Zeus stood in the center of the tent for a long time. He felt the weight of his 50 billion dollars, his armor, and his sword. None of it felt as heavy as the disappointment in his heart.

"I am leaving," Zeus said. "Not because I’m afraid of your threat, but because I cannot lead men who are followed by a ghost. But hear me, Toby: I am going to that city. I am going to finish Gabriel. If you stand in my way, or if you send those messengers... I won't use my palm next time."

Zeus turned and walked out of the tent. Outside, the soldiers were gathered, watching him. They had heard the shouting.

"Commander?" the captain asked. "What are the orders?"

Zeus looked at the thousands of faces. He saw the hope in their eyes, and he knew he couldn't take them with him. If he did, Toby would hunt them as deserters.

"The war is postponed," Zeus announced, his voice carrying through the camp. "Go back to your families. Keep your gold. The debt of the city is mine alone to pay."

He walked to his horse, mounted it, and rode out into the night. He was alone again—no master, no family, no army. But as he rode, the pain in his ribs seemed to fade, replaced by a cold, crystalline focus.

The servant was coming home.