Story #192 - The Four

The Four

Only one of them was left; but it had taken all he had to kill the first four. Number five might prove his undoing.

The cord-thin man in front of him smiled, dipped his sword slightly in recognition, and then disappeared into the cold night. Only a curling fog was left to mark his passing in the small town square; that, and the bodies.

Rez had never considered himself a murderer, but the label had begun to fit him well of late – too well. Fields and roads, towns and cities had seen the cut of his blade, and men both young and old had fallen before it. The four he had been seeking hid themselves in the shadows, away from the eyes of mortal men and behind the power that cloaked monarchs. Such was the hold they had on those in their employ that it took violence of the killing kind to shake their attention to their masters and break the grip in which they were held.

He had killed sixty-two men – some depraved and unkind, some in their homes with their families – in search of the four. Each one had provided him a piece of the puzzle, let him move a step closer to the targets he sought.

The third had been the most difficult – it had taken forty-three kills before he found the town the man was hiding in, and he was forced to burn the entire thing to the ground to prevent an escape.

He was not proud of what he had become.

Now, as gentle flakes of snow began to settle over the town, Rez wondered for the first time if he had the strength to continue. Killing the four men who served the Dark God had been trying enough, but to discover that a fifth, more powerful man stood behind them all had drained him of all desire to continue, all hope for his soul. He could not kill any more.

“Rez…” the voice floated through his head, soft and gentle as it always had been. “You must go on.”

“I can’t!” He cried out, sinking to his knees on the cold ground. “It hurts too much! You ask too much!”

“Shhh, shhh,” the voice soothed him as he wept, broken and shivering. “I know your pain. I endured it myself, once. But Rez, you must continue. You cannot give up now. Not when we are so close. The fifth one is more than simply a hidden leader for the other four – what they have lost, he has taken on.”

“What?” Even broken and on his knees, Rez felt what was left of him wilt. This could not get any worse. He had spent years tracking the four and then administering the justice they deserved, and now it appeared that he had only been making the man they served more powerful.

“Do I fight the Dark God himself, now?” He wailed into the night. Rez had never been one to weep, but he could feel the tears building behind his eyes. These men and their ilk had killed many innocents and many who meant more to him than he had words to express. Anger had helped him move forward, to do as the quiet voice asked him, but he was only a man. Even he had limits.

“Yes,” came the soft reply. “The fifth is the embodiment of the Dark God on mortal soil, and you are the only one who can defeat him. You are my champion here.”

“Your...” Rez trailed off, confused. He had always wondered about the origins of the voice that had come to him, but immediate circumstances had never allowed him time to ponder it at length. If he was not being chased by men who wanted his blood for killing their masters, then he was searching out another master to kill. Pondering and intellectual pursuits were time-sinks that offered him only the opportunity for a quick death.

“Yes, Rez,” the voice went on, “I am exactly as you think I am. For each darkness, there must be light, and I embody and supply that light.”

“But you're -” the voice spoke over him.

“A legend? A myth? A tale told by fools and kings of better days? Hardly. My power wanes in this world, but that does not mean that I am powerless. The Dark God can affect many – his power is far greater than mine – but I can affect one, can give him all that I possess so that he may act in my name.”

“Me,” Rez said, “and you want me to kill my opposite, the man who has been given the Dark God's gifts?”

“Yes.” The voice was fading, and Rez felt a sudden stab of panic. It couldn't leave him now – he had no idea what to do next! “But he is more than that. He is the avatar of the Dark God, just as you are mine. He is more than the four you have killed, just as you will now be more than simply one.”

A warmth spread through his chest, expanding down along his legs and arms and up his neck into his head. He found himself standing, arms spread wide, as the energy of the Light ripped through him, filling him with a radiance that burned down to his bones. He screamed, agony and pleasure melding into a single, unified force.

***

Rez woke in home he did not recognize, in a bed that was too soft for his taste.

“Welcome,” a woman's voice said from the corner of the room, and he sat up. The speaker was pretty and young, with dark curls that cascaded down around her face and green eyes that shone in the candlelight. “We have been expecting you for some time, and now here you are, just as He told us.”

“He?” There was an inflection in her tone that set the word apart.

“The Light. He is gone now, and we know it is because he has passed his spirit on to you. You are the one he chose, and we serve you now. The fate of our world rests in your hands.”

Rez let himself fall back to the bed. Four should have been enough.

- D