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Last of His Kind: A Story of Rage, Part Three
By Dom Devore
The urge to sleep was winning past Rage's defenses as he huddled inside of the small wagon. The only thing keeping him awake, was he need to fufill his duty, the duty to protect those in need, and the one in need was the young child sleeping at his feet, covered in his blood soaked robes. He knew that such covering was not suitable, but it was the warmest cloth he could find. The bodies of the dead caravan drivers contained nothing of note for protecting this young child at his feet. It was up to him, to make sure that she survived.
"I will not fail you as I did my kind. I will protect
you." He whispered to his sleeping companion.
Judging by the girls appearence, Rage estimated the girl's age at that of about
four. "What is one of your innocence doing in a place such as this?"
he thought to himself. "Then again, what am I doing out here. It feels so
wrong not being home, this is not my place."
"There is no place for you anymore, you are destined to wander, to never
find a home again. You failed in your duty. And you will be doomed to wander
aimlessly for the rest of your days."
Rage jumped up from the corner at the sound of the voice, he had not smelled
anything, nor heard anything approach, yet, here was this voice, with no
apparent source.
Rage growled. "Whoever you are, I advise that you move on. I am in no mood
for spirits."
"Spirits? What gave you the impression that I am a spirit Rage?"
The small amount of moonlight that streamed through the doorway to the back of
the wagon blanked out as a figure climbed up the small set of retractable steps
that hung from the back of the wagon.
Rage posistioned himself between the sleeping girl and the figure, being careful
not to wake her.
"Who are you? This is not a place for wise mortals to be." Rage said.
"Ahhh, and why is that my friend?" The figure asked.
"As you have seen from the corpses spread around this wagon, I do not react
to humans well."
The figure chuckled. "Yes, I did see that, quite a mess you made out there
I must say. But that is not what's important at the moment Rage. We have
something to discuss." The figure stepped forward into the wagon revealing
himself.
He was clad in black robes that covered his entire body, except for his face,
which was shrouded in shadow.
"Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Rage asked
"I know all about you, you are known to a lot of my people. We have been
watching you for quite some time."
"For what purpose. I do not like to be toyed with!"
"Toyed with? Maybe, but you are a pawn in the greater scheme Rage, and you
have already made the first move on the board. The game can not be finished
until the last piece is removed from the table now. So, whether or not you like
it, you are being toyed with."
"I have had enough!" Rage roared.
He lept forward at the robed figure only to be halted in mid air by an invisible
force. Try as he might, Rage could not move. Panic strove to overtake his sense
of composure, but this was something Rage was not prepared for.
"Simply put Rage, your name is too accurate to how you react to situations.
You will stop this blatent disregard for peace now. Or you will not like the
consequences. You are too important to kill, but I will do so if you can not
show that you can control your emotions when there is a life at stake. You
failed at that once, and I hope you will not fail again. Need I remind you of
what happened Rage? I am sure you remember, as I am sure that it haunts you
every minute of every day."
"Look at that little girl now Rage! By this act, you could have put her in
danger, I could end her life at this very moment, but I will not. Because she is
also important to us, more important than even we know. Therefore, I shall have
to remind you of your duty, in a way that memories can not."
Rage had been trying to break free of the hold of the force had on him, but to
no avail. Then, something screamed in his mind, causing extreme pain, as it
cleared, he looked around, and was faced by the native trees of his home. He was
back where it all had started. Vault 13.