Chapter Sixteen

Lafon

Greedy clouds stole the moonlight away and Lafon found his tent consumed in the night's dark breath. He was restless - as he had been most nights. Despite his twenty-four alternating guards on the perimeters, danger was but a stone's throw away.

He had led the charge against unsuspecting, ill-prepared villagers on the outskirts of District 34. Despite only being sixty people strong, Lafon's force easily overpowered the clumsy villagers who used guns that didn't mesh with their small bodies.

Thankfully, the boss of District 34 didn't poke his nose in the business of these villages, so there was little chance of Lafon being disturbed, though, it meant even the villagers who surrendered had to be killed.

Children included.

Lafon was long past being troubled by the collateral accumulated throughout his mission. That was why so many before him had failed; their clinging to something as fickle as compassion lowered the chances of success. The bigger the plan, the more sacrifices were needed.

And Lafon dreamed bigger than anyone ever.

He removed his companion's hand from his chest and stood, stretching out his stiff limbs. He didn't spare the woman a glance as he put on his pants and emerged from his tent. She was a concubine, and nothing more, a commodity that was never lacking for Lafon.

He was not a man who believed in love, because frankly, no human deserved his love. They couldn't live up to his standards - standards he had set for himself. But even more troubling, it created a weakness in his otherwise impenetrable shield.

Thinking of a weakness caused him to think of his current foe: the leader of the Crimson Tides. Vito.

He didn't make a habit of remembering names, but their first meeting had a lasting impression. He had expected the boss of such a slum district to be straightforward and so it was easy to plan to evoke a fun reaction out of the man.

He led the Crimson Tides with his family, which meant his family would be his weakness. But after he orchestrated the man's sister to be targeted, Vito had barely flinched. And though he would never admit it, even to himself, that worried Lafon a bit.

With a loved one in jeopardy, those toffee brown eyes had been unflinching and calculating, rather than being soured by the kind of rage that led to stupid decisions. Someone who thought before they acted was much more dangerous than the alternative, no matter how strong.

Still, he would fall before a greater man. Lafon had no doubt he was exactly that.

A part of him was eager to face the challenge of this unique figure, but an embarrassing part of him felt uneasy. Lafon did his best to ignore that part's existence.

A sudden pang of hunger gripped his stomach but he ignored it. What he desired was the soft delicate meat and tender grub of the north, not the ridiculously spicy, tough and stringy grub of the south, which he currently found himself in. It made eating feel like a task in itself.

Lafon weaved between the tents of his minions and walked westwards so that he could see the treeline. Beyond it were the rogue lands. He had heard a lot of noises and sounds of battle throughout the day - more so than usual - but this wasn't too alarming as the rogue lands were practically a free-for-all battlefield.

Yet the uneasy feeling crept back up when he thought about it too hard. One of the banes of intelligence, Lafon figured. The mind never seemed to take a break.

Lafon focused on the trees waving in the stiff breeze, their loping dance helping to calm his overeager mind.

At least this was one thing the southern districts could be complimented on. They were less focused on the building of resplendent infrastructure that sacrificed the ethereal splendor of the natural world. When Lafon was the emperor of the entire row, he would reverse the damage done in the north so that sights like this were commonplace, no matter the district.

His army of five hundred was set to arrive at any moment now. They could've travelled faster, but Lafon had instructed them to conserve energy, because he planned to begin their march to their conquest soon after their arrival. He had no choice but to go for quantity over quality, but that would change as he conquered districts and brought stronger warriors over to his side.

He allowed his mind to stray back to the beauty of the forest. He soaked in the smell of the damp earth, wet from the rare rainfall that had fallen this evening. Somehow, this invigorated the sharpness of the unique scent of pine, punctuated by the untamed herbs and moss.

His infatuation with the feeling nature evoked came from his childhood. The only memory he had of parents whom he couldn't even paint a face on, was going camping. Before they sacrificed themselves for the greater good. There was little doubt in Lafon's mind that they would be proud of him, making sacrifices himself for a better world.

Now, the smells of rotting dry leaves, animal feces and musk of tree bark were more comforting than the voice of any human he knew.

Truly, humans paled in comparison.

He smacked his exposed forearm in annoyance. One thing he wasn't enjoying was the mosquitoes. The pests were especially persistent in the south.

Lafon's nose twitched curiously as a new smell entered the fray. The scent was putrid and quickly growing in strength. As Lafon inhaled, he felt it scratch at his throat and cause him to cough involuntarily.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Smoke.

Screams followed shortly after, and Lafon heard the unmistakable cry of men falling in battle. Others heard it too, and they emerged from their tents with eyes filled with fright and confusion. Some turned tail and ran, others looked like they wanted to do the same but their legs wouldn't let them.

Such was the risk of endorsing inexperienced people who had lived pampered lives in the relatively safe District 31. This was what he had meant by quantity over quality. Even worse, most of his quality soldiers, whom he didn't bother to remember the names of, were in the main fleet of his army that hadn't yet arrived.

However, the feeders were up to the task. He could already hear their shrill, inhumane howls as they launched themselves into the battle.

"They're coming from everywhere!" someone yelled.

"We're outnumbered, it's hopeless!" another exclaimed.

Lafon smiled as any remnants of unease drifted away. It was when nothing was happening that he was vulnerable to doubts, but once the enemy showed themselves, all of that disappeared because things were back in his control.

Even though he hadn't planned for this, Lafon was sure this was a golden opportunity to rid himself of the bearer of that cold, calculating stare. He was already making plans to kill the two Crimson Tides brothers in one fell swoop as he maneuvered back through the tents, unhurried.

Around him was a frenzy and when one of his men ran up to him, begging for his protection, he smacked the weakling out of his way.

He reached his tent, which naturally was the biggest one in the village. His concubine still lay on his mattress, cowering with wild eyes. A flash of wary relief passed when she realized it was him. "W-what's happening out there?"

Lafon considered ignoring her as he walked past her to a blanket covering his belongings. He truly detested that look on her face. That look of abject fear. He knew that he would never bear such an expression across his face, because he was strong. For his mission, he had to be more than strong - he had to be the strongest.

Lafon sighed blissfully as he found his objective. "I'll do you one better. I can tell you what's about to happen, dear." He revealed his scythe to her, allowing the wicked curved edge to hang over his shoulder. She involuntarily drew back, to his delight. "I will rid the world of our attackers. Because I'm the strongest there is; I will prevail."

Vito

Vito took a few seconds to look at the carnage he had created. A ring of fire burnt between the tree line and the village, the greedy fire consuming the oil-soaked hay, soaked rags and small wood piles that Vito and his men had laid.

Trenches had been dug so that the fire wouldn't overwhelm the village, but with the wind blowing the smoke into the village and the image of hungry flames licking into the dark night air, the effect Vito wanted was created; chaos.

Still, Vito was not happy. Kaida had informed Vito that the brunt of Lafon's army who joined his army because he required they did so and they knew no other way than conforming to his authority. To Vito, it had been a glaring weakness, but it was more than that.

"So many people who didn't willingly choose this lifestyle will die tonight," he said to no one in particular.

However, Hades stood next to him and mistook his words to be aimed at him. "Their deaths fall in the hands of Lafon. Do not show weakness in the midst of battle, Vito," the gargoyle said sternly.

"Just a thought," Vito grunted.

"A dangerous one," Hades responded. Vito didn't bother arguing that.

Hades had called this a battle, but if everything was going right, it was more accurate to call it a slaughter. Vito had brought Borak and his gang of eighty, equipping some with blessed bullets to take out the feeders. Of course, he didn't have much faith in the drunkard brutes doing much against them, which is where Kaida and her crew, alongside Jekio came in, focusing on eliminating the feeders before they could do too much damage.

Vito hadn't forgotten Lafon's imminent army either. He had to assume that the boss of District 34 didn't know of Lafon's existence in the village, and so Lafon certainly wouldn't march an army through the district and expose himself. Therefore, if his army was travelling through the rogue lands to go completely around the district, they would arrive either from the east or west.

Zliksay and his werewolves, along with Draven and his gang were holding back in the forest. Their job was to pounce if the main army arrived, so that instead of Vito's force being sandwhiched between two forces, it would be Lafon's army.

Kaida couldn't give an accurate number of Lafon's full army, but Vito had to assume there wasn't much training in formations and the like to combat being bottlenecked on both sides. Of course, this meant that they had to make short work of the village's occupants.

A part of Vito hoped he could eliminate Lafon before the army arrived and let their motivation die with him.

A sigh escaped Vito's lips as another man ran from the village. So scared was he that he hadn't evaded a wall of slames and instead ran through it. Now he was screaming as he ran, his entire body aflame. The sight sickened Vito.

"It's time I go looking for him," Vito said grimly. He made to move but felt Hades following him. "No, you go find and protect Kaida. Her becoming the next boss will be beneficial to us."

Hades hesitated, but Vito set a icy glare on him and the man relented with a dip of his head. It didn't take long for Vito to figure out where Lafon would be. The village was just a set of approximately fifyy tents over a large field. In the middle of the formation was one larger tent that seemed of a richer fabric than the others.

Some leaders wouldn't stay in such a obvious location, but Vito got the feeling Lafon couldn't resist. He moved toward the tent carefully.

Vito removed his suit as the raging heat from the walls of flame started to drench him in sweat. He was left in a t-shirt with aegis armor strapped on firmly underneath.

Sure enough, Lafon emerged from the tent with a giant scythe on his shoulder. Somehow, his eyes immediately found Vito's. All other noise vanished as Vito stared into the eyes of the man responsible for the kidnapping attempt on his sister and his district being in jeopardy.

His pulse quickened, his heartbeat suddenly a jackhammer in his head. Before he could act on the vile thoughts coasting around in his head, his brother appeared.

It was a weird scene. Jekio pointed his pistol, loaded with blessed bullets and fired three rounds without hesitation. Vito stared in shock, fully expecting Lafon to meet a rather anticlimatic end. But the man had something up his sleeve.

He pivoted toward the bullets at a speed that no human should be capable of. He swung the large scythe with surprising strength and precision, and as the bullets collided with the wicked arc of the scythe's jagged blade, they sparked and exploded.

Vito stared in utter shock and Jekio was an equal portrait of confusion and disbelief. The fatal difference was he was within striking distance. Vito saw the moment Lafon turned to look at his brother, and despite the man's personality, there was no flash as he dashed toward him and raised his scythe in the air - too quickly for Jekio to react.

But not Vito, augmented by his rapier.

He was already in motion by the time Lafon's scythe started its descent toward Jekio and arrived before it could detach his brother's head from his shoulders. He swung his raper so that the side hit the shaft, and an unprepared Lafon stumbled back.

There was a pregnant pause as Lafon looked at Vito's weapon with a newfound curiosity, then a smile stretched the dictator's lips.

Vito did not return it.

He wasn't exactly in a smiling mood.