Blood Oath of the Shadow

Chapter 7

𝘒𝘳𝘳𝘳𝘬𝘬𝘬... 

A deafening burst of static tore through Axel’s earpiece then cut away to silence cold as ice. He pressed the control beside his ear again and again but all he heard was empty hum like wind whistling through a sealed cave.

"Grandmaster Henderson this is Axel. Do you read me?" he shouted trapped between closing lines. His voice bounced off tight brick walls tangled with rain falling harder by the second. There was no answer. Only silence growing thicker and heavier with every heartbeat.

The digital display on his wrist flashed pure black then showed one line of glowing red text blinking slow 𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗. 

"What is this supposed to mean?" he snarled. He tapped the screen over and over trying to reboot but the glass stayed dark. No signal. No response. A tight ache clawed at his chest. For years this link had been the bridge between him and the Order between him and the only home he had ever known. And now that bridge was burned down cold and without a single warning.

One of the hunters at the alley mouth stepped forward and shouldered his weapon without hesitation. Behind the steel mask there was no flicker of doubt none of the respect once shown to the Order’s strongest fighter. The eyes visible through the slits were hollow. To them Axel was no longer a brother who had fought beside them. He was simply something to be erased.

"You have lost your minds!" Axel cried out to the men he had once called kin. "I have served for decades! Will you not hear me out? I am not contaminated. I am the same man I was yesterday. You all know who I am!"

His gaze locked on Galang hoping to catch even a spark of doubt in his old friend’s eyes. But Galang did not look back. His focus stayed fixed on the sight aimed straight at Axel’s heart.

"The Order does not ask for explanations from a mistake" the squad commander replied through flat mechanical tone.

That betrayal hit harder than any blow to the body. It felt as though his ribs had caved in all at once and his breath caught sharp in his throat. Every choice he had made every brutal training session that nearly killed him every lonely night spent clinging to the Order’s sacred doctrine all of it was dismissed in seconds. No trial. No chance to speak. No mercy.

He remembered his very first day. The Old Commander had clapped him on the shoulder and said soft and sure "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘈𝘹𝘦𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯." And now that same family stood ready to put a bullet through him without blinking.

Rena watched him closely her expression hard to read but brimming with understanding. "You see it now don’t you? They never wanted loyal soldiers. They only wanted obedient pawns. Pawns who do not question who do not think who get thrown away the moment they are no longer useful."

Axel closed his eyes for a moment. Behind his lids faces rose unbidden. Comrades fallen at his side. The Old Commander speaking of honor. His mother gone when he was small taken by demons according to the Order. And suddenly every story felt like a riddle woven to keep him blind.

When he opened his eyes something had shifted. All hesitation was gone replaced by cold sharp purpose.

He curled his fingers around his silver spear. The blistered skin burned but he barely felt it. His heart hammered fast not with fear but with fire that burned through every old rule. Surrender and he would die a blind loyal dog. Fight and he might spill blood of those he once called brother. But if he fell today he would fall with his eyes wide open.

"I will not die like trash" he breathed.

He lifted the spear into guard stance left foot sliding half a step back weight balanced perfectly ready to spring any way he needed. The hunters tensed further. They knew his style. They knew how fast he moved how deadly that spear was up close. To them this was no longer a brother’s stance. It was open war.

"Target is confirmed contaminated" the commander’s voice rang off the alley walls. "Destroy him without mercy. The Grandmaster has given full authority."

At that title the hollow space in Axel’s chest grew wider. The leader he had trusted as wise and protective had already signed his fate without hearing a single word.

He drew a deep breath gathering every last scrap of strength in his grip. Behind him he felt Rena’s presence small and wounded yet unbroken.

"I will not let them kill you" Axel whispered not sure if he spoke to her or to himself.

"Do not die for me" Rena answered quiet but firm. "We still have so much to uncover."

He glanced back. Her face was pale in the dim light but a faint steady smile touched her lips.

"Ready to get out of here?" he asked.

Rena nodded. "I was born ready."

"Fire!" the commander shouted.

A storm of holy charged rounds tore loose shattering the night and racing to tear them apart. Axel spun his spear in a blur weaving a shield of silver light between them and the attack. Bullets slammed into the barrier ringing loud and throwing sparks through the dark.

But there were too many coming too fast. He felt the shield strain and crack his energy draining fast. One round slipped through and drove hard into his left shoulder. White hot fire shot down his side and blood seeped thick under his jacket.

He dropped to one knee on wet stone gasping for air. Behind him Rena cried out and reached for him.

"Rena run" he rasped. "I will hold them here."

Before she could answer something surged from the shadows along the wall. A massive shape crashed through the hunter line with brutal force flinging men against brick and sending weapons skittering across the ground. In the chaos Axel felt that familiar weight that power he had always been taught to fear.

"I am not leaving you" Rena whispered right against his ear and this time her voice carried no weakness. "We have a long road ahead."

Axel looked up at her through rain and smoke. For the first time he saw something new in her eyes. Beneath the exhaustion burned the same unyielding resolve that now lived in him.

The hunters pushed themselves up and scrambled for their guns. But Rena moved first. Shadows pooled and solidified rising into a sloped path that led up and over the rooftops an old tangled web of buildings that meant freedom.

"Take my hand" she said.

Axel caught her outstretched palm. In the next heartbeat they launched upward leaving the alley of bullets and betrayal far below.

"Pursue them!" the commander roared. "Do not let either escape!"

But the voice faded fast swallowed by wind and rain. All Axel felt was Rena’s grip tight around his hand and far above the gray sky over Jakarta beginning to bleed pale red at the edge of dawn.

He did not know where they were going. He did not know what waited beyond the rooftops.

To be continued.