Page 39 of Amaros
Camriel woke up when he crash landed and was surprised to find himself immersed in salty water.The reality of suddenly finding himself no longer in the Void always took a few seconds to shake off.The knights’ magic cushioned them from the impact, but the journey left them disoriented.At least he hadn’t been knocked out for long.Drowning wasn’t a fun way to die.
Getting his bearings, the knight kicked his feet to propel himself towards the fading sunlight.His head broke the surface and he cautiously looked around.“Things have changed dramatically since the last time I was here,” he murmured, still feeling groggy.
Tall buildings loomed in the sky on one side.They were shorter, but no less numerous on the other side.The information Fate had imparted before she’d ejected him from the Void began to fill the gaps.“They’re skyscrapers,” Camriel said in wonder, naming the towering edifices.The name was fitting.
Shouts and screams reached him now that his senses had returned.Smoke rose into the sky from numerous buildings that were on fire.He continued to tread water as he turned in a slow circle.Amaros was nowhere in sight and he couldn’t sense his commander nearby.He knew the warrior was alive, but he was too distant to pinpoint.
Camriel knew what to do, since they’d been through this so many times before.Amaros would find him.All Camriel had to do was lay low, avoid their enemies and wait to be found.
Mayhem seemed to have been unleashed already as he chose a direction and began to swim.Camriel wondered if Chaos’ minions had beaten them there.Something had the humans all riled up.They were fighting in the streets, shooting and stabbing each other in a frenzy as he drew closer to land.
Hauling himself up onto dry land, Camriel was immediately ambushed by a group of humans.They’d been hiding around the corner of a gigantic brick building.He’d known they were there, of course.He’d sensed them long before he’d left the water.
Dripping wet and utterly naked, the knight stood head and shoulders above all but one of the six men.Even the tallest one was several inches shorter than him.Yelling incoherently, they rushed at him with knives in their hands.
Camriel moved with fluid, deadly grace.He punched the lead man in the face, knocking him out cold even though he’d pulled his punch.Catching the human’s knife before it could hit the ground, he used the weapon to disarm the others.
Screaming in pain and terror, the other men rushed away, holding their shallow wounds.They left their friend to his fate.
“Pathetic,” Camriel said scornfully.He didn’t have permission to kill any of these wretches.Their souls were dark and they didn’t deserve to live, but that wasn’t his call to make.
The knight stripped the long black coat off his victim and studied it.His mind told him it was leather.Too small to fit over his massive shoulders, he tied it around his waist.He would have to search for more suitable clothing, but that could wait.For now, he needed to hide somewhere safe before his enemies arrived.The Knights of Order could all sense each other once they came within a certain distance of their companions.Fate and her evil counterpart always sent their warriors to the same general location.They could appear at any moment.
Moving swiftly and quietly, Camriel took in this new, modern world as he searched for somewhere to hunker down.Smoke was thick in the air.So was the stench of rot.Bodies were strewn here and there.He was relieved that none of them were children.They all seemed to be adults.
As he moved away from the river, the warrior didn’t spot anyone younger than their late teens.These people were soft and didn’t seem to have suffered much hardship.Not compared to the humans he’d seen in the past.
A woman stepped out from a recessed door to confront him.He halted out of curiosity, keeping his senses alert for another ambush.
“You’re a big one,” she said, grinning to show him several missing teeth.Her long brown hair was matted and her skin was filthy.Younger than she first appeared, her skin was sun damaged.Her skirt and shirt were ratty and tattered.“I bet you could protect a helpless lady like me,” she said slyly.“I’ll let you do whatever you want to me, if you promise to keep me safe and find me food.”
Camriel watched impassively as the woman pulled her skirt up to show him her thin, bony body.He wasn’t the least bit aroused at the sight of her nakedness.If anything, her actions revolted him.“No, thank you,” he said politely, then kept on walking.
She cursed foully and snatched up something from the ground.He dodged to the side without bothering to look over his shoulder when she hurled it at him.The bottle she’d thrown shattered against the wall, spattering him with glass shards.
He picked up his pace, swiftly leaving her behind and being careful to avoid the other roaming humans.His instincts drew him to stairs that descended into the ground.People were down there, but not as many as on the surface.Camriel was confident he would be able to find somewhere to stay out of sight until Amaros turned up.
A sign told him he was entering a network called the subway.It was dark, since the electricity had failed.More and more information about his surroundings filtered to him as he made his way down the stairs.Flashlights probed the underground.People were clustered together along the tiled edges of the subway.Train tracks led in both directions.The trains were no longer running, so there was no danger of being run over.
Camriel hopped down onto the tracks before anyone could notice him.He loped into the tunnel and eventually came across a door.It was locked, but he yanked it open, breaking the mechanism.Entering a small maintenance room, he followed a series of narrow hallways.Another locked door opened to a break room.
“This will do,” the warrior decided, peering around the pitch-black room.His night vision allowed him to make out the details.First, he shut the door and placed the water cooler in front of it.He would awaken instantly if it was knocked over.
Exhausted from the journey to reach Earth, Camriel needed to crash.A long, stained couch sat against the far wall.It stank of spilled liquids, stale food and sweat, but at least it was comfortable when he spread the jacket out and lay down on it.He fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
