Fighter's Fever: The Metallic Siege Read online

  FIGHTER’S FEVER

  THE METALLIC SIEGE

  Ricardo Nazaire

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Through the Fog, Pt. I

  Through the Fog, Pt. II

  Through the Fog, Pt. III

  Through the Fog, Pt. IV

  Through the Fog, Pt. V

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  “This is W-NJFM reporting live in Tortuga from outside of the Hasania Training Academy where a recent attack on the facility took place. Specific details on this attack have not been revealed, but given the number of instructors and trainees affiliated with the academy, it is safe to assume that there is a large number of casualties. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families at this time.”

  News outlets from across the region were spreading word of what took place on that fateful night. There was an immediate outpour of sympathy for those affected by the attack, as well as calls to hold those behind the chaos accountable for their heinous actions.

  While the majority of those from the outside looking in thought that this terrorist attack was at the hands of rebels from the Tortuga, there were also those who insisted on digging deeper to reveal what they were really up against.

  “What are you saying, Madam Chambers? Are you seriously suggesting that we don’t do anything about this?” Beth objects. “How is that fair to us? Do you have any idea what kind of position this puts us in?”

  “Beth, is that really the way to speak to Madam Chambers,” Aya quietly warns. “Be mindful of your tone please.”

  “Who said this was a matter of what is fair? I understand how you must feel, but you need to understand that between the Agent Keyes incident and this recent attack on the Academy of all places, that this is bigger than all of us,” Madam Chambers calmly explains.

  “Having said that, I cannot in good conscience put you two in harm’s way.”

  “With all due respect, what exactly do you have in mind for us?” a determined Beth asks.

  “You are as insightful as always, Elizabeth,” Madam Chambers thinks to herself. “These are, indeed, challenging times ahead of us,” she says. “The last thing we can afford to do is lose our composure.”

  “The best course of action is to put aside all of our differences and reach out to one another as that is where our true strength lies.” Madam Chambers takes a brief pause to collect her thoughts before continuing on.

  “Then again, to accomplish that may be a little easier said than done. One can only hope for a miracle.”

  Meanwhile, in the quiet calm of the morning in the outskirts of the city, a young man tries to assess the recent turn of events.

  “So, before I move forward, I just want a quick recap on a few things,” an uncharacteristically doubtful Keenth asks Cory.

  “Sure, I don’t see a problem with that. Go right ahead, Keenth,” Cory replies. “Whatever makes you feel comfortable, I suppose.”

  “Sure whatever,” Keenth snaps as he paces back and forth. “So, you say that your name is Cory, correct?”

  “That’s right; it has been my name for as long as I could remember.”

  “And you, Cory, were sent by a sage named Haden?”

  “I do recall sharing that with you, yes.”

  “And this all-knowing, all-powerful Sage, Haden, thought it would be in my best interest for him to send you my way?”

  “I feel as though you are just rephrasing your questions at this point, but–”

  “Withdrawn,” Keenth says as he makes an abrupt stop. “That much I can take your word for, but there is something that I’m not so sure of, if I’m being honest here.”

  “And what would that be?” Cory replies, showing concern.

  “Excuse me if I’m stepping out of line here, but are you sure you are a girl? I mean with a name like Cory Daken? Saying it out loud, it could leave a guy a bit confused. Oh, and while we’re leaving it all out there on the table, that short brown hair cut doesn’t help the situation much either because—”

  “You do understand that I literally saved your life and, at the rate this is going, keeping you out of harm’s way is looking like the biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” Cory responds in an apathetic tone.

  “You don’t really mean that,” Keenth replies. “The fact that your Sage sent you out to get me means—”

  “People make mistakes all the time and Lord Haden would understand. I mean, you falling off of a cliff would be a pretty understandable accident. No one would ever have to know. No one would hear you scream. If that’s the path you want to take, then just give me the word and I will be happy to oblige.”

  “Not to cut you off or anything, but that blue robe is a really, and I mean really good look on you. A bit retro for my taste, but it really brings out your eyes. Speaking of eyes, I’ve heard that they are a window to one’s soul. Pretty interesting, right? W-wait, why are you walking away?”

  “Because we’ve wasted enough time,” Cory replies with her back facing Keenth. “Look, you don’t seem like a bad person and all, but you really need to understand the gravity of the situation. The fact that a Sage is reaching out to you speaks volumes. Lives were already lost and I feel that if we don’t take action, then…”

  Cory pauses. Without realizing, she did not take into consideration how Keenth was personally affected by the attacks. Keenth Hedstrom is a seventeen-year-old who has spent the last several months attending the Hasania Training Academy.

  Behind his dark blonde hair and soft, yet stern, brown eyes lay a young man torn. Anyone else in that situation would be going through a whirlwind of emotions. How Keenth would honestly express himself is beyond Cory or anyone else’s guess.

  “You know what? Never mind, let’s just move forward,” Cory suggests. “I can’t promise that all of your questions will be answered, but I can definitely get us going in the right direction. All I ask is that you trust me on this. Please.”

  Without directly facing Cory, Keenth silently thinks to himself. It seems as though the realization of what happened had finally set in. He made his way towards her with an expression that was without fear or worry.

  Keenth places his hand on Cory’s shoulder, assuring her that he was ready and that was all they needed to press on. It seems as though for these two what is understood doesn't need to be explained.

  Later that same morning, the focus turns to the remains of the Training Academy. At this point, the press and those without a need to know are removed from the surrounding area so that the investigations can be conducted without interference.

  Even though Agent Jennifer Connors has no trouble as the Senior Intel Specialist of the LanTech Empire with the tasks at hand, it would seem that dealing with a certain someone would be one of her biggest hurdles for the time being.

  “Our briefing ended over twenty minutes ago and you were nowhere to be found,” Agent Connors calls out to the individual trying to sneak away from the area. “What do you have to say for yourself, Agent Fallon?”

  “Oh, didn’t see you there! Real quick, when you say Fallon, are you talking about me or my brother, David?” Agent Fallon playfully replies.

  After all, people confuse the two of us more often than you think,” Agent Fallon continues. “If it means any
thing, you guys could call me James if it makes it easier for everyone—”

  “Excuse me, everyone. If the rest of you would excuse the two of us for a few minutes, Agent Fallon and I are going to have a little chat,” Agent Connors responds, while motioning for him to follow her.

  “So, it’s safe to assume when you say chat, y-you mean the one way kind, right?”

  “It seems to be the only kind you know, Agent Fallon.”

  After walking a considerable distance, Agent Connors expresses her thoughts to her subordinate until it seems as though the message is falling on deaf ears. Knowing that there were more important matters at hand, she promptly dismisses him, but not before he shares a few words of his own.

  “Aren’t you going to let me answer your question, Agent Connors?”

  “Question? I told you a lot of things, most of which I can’t repeat near children or the elderly, but I don’t recall opening the floor for questions,” Agent Connors hastily responds.

  “Right, right. I could have sworn you asked me what I had to say for myself and I have one word for you: trainees.”

  “What are you getting at, Agent Fallon?”

  “That’s right, the trainees. Think about it: there was an attack on this Academy, but the building itself is still mostly intact. If the goal was to destroy the building, they had the time and means to do so to really get their point across.”

  “But where do the trainees even come in? We held a memorial ceremony for Agent Keyes hours before the attack took place. Between the security measures that we took prior to our arrival and when the attack took place, it would just make more sense to attack while we were there.”

  “Well, that is based on the notion that the taking the lives of LanTech Agents would have more of an impact. With all due respect, we should really get off of our high horse when it comes to—”

  “It would be wise to watch your tone,” Agent Connors replies. “This comes off as nothing more than a personal interpretation about what could have happened. What else do you have to go on?”

  “The personnel database for the Academy. Between everyone there, the trainees are the biggest variable. Most of the guests departed before the attack took place and we can easily scope out the staff by their identification passes.”

  “But it doesn’t stop there,” Agent Fallon continues. “Each and every staff member has been accounted for. Though I wish I could say the same for the trainees,” Agent Fallon says as he slowly looks down.

  “Go on.”

  “I’m sure that this was covered during the briefings, but most of the deceased have the same cause of death which is smoke inhalation. The majority of them died in their sleep, almost as if there was an external factor involved.”

  “As far as the ones that were awake, it seems as though their defensive wounds suggest that they put up a struggle before being incapacitated.”

  “This goes beyond any rebel attack that we have ever encountered,” a disturbed Agent Connors replies. The fact that this information was enough for her to lose her bearing said a lot about the complexity of the situation.

  “But there’s hope. From what we can tell, there are a handful of trainees that are still unaccounted for. My theory is that this is more than likely some sort of hostage situation with the attack being used as a distraction.”

  “Okay. I want you to come with me so we can move forward with this information. All of it,” Agent Connors says as she heads back to inform the others. Before moving forward, she had to feel there was more to what Agent Fallon was letting on though.

  “While I appreciate you decided to come forward with this, I can’t help but wonder why you were so involved with these matters without sending things up the proper channels?”

  “Ah, well you see, I had this theory and thought that I should just run with it.”

  “Well, what you need to understand is that everything falls on me when it comes to this investigation. Your tasks come directly from myself unless otherwise stated. Am I clear?”

  “Crystal,” Agent Fallon responds. “With my brother being a fellow Agent and all, it looks like I forgot where to check in. It’s pretty funny if you think about it. Like I said, people confuse the two of us—”

  “More often than you think,” Agent Connors said, finishing his sentence. “I know Agent Fallon, I know…”

  “E-Excuse me, Ma’am, but we have just received this message addressed to you,” a LanTech patrolman frantically states as he approaches Agent Connors.

  “Thank you,” Agent Connors says as she activates the message in the form of a holographic memorandum.

  “Patrolmen deliver messages to Agents all the time. Why is he so shaken up?” Agent Fallon asks.

  “It wasn’t the message that concerned him,” Agent Connors slowly replies. “It was the sender. If I’m being honest, I can’t say I blame him.”

  Much later that day, Keenth and Cory continue on their journey. It didn’t take long for both of them to realize that they could truly trust one another.

  Still, it wouldn’t be much of a journey without its fair share of mishaps and shenanigans; a lesson that this pair would be learning sooner than they would expect.

  “Keenth, it’s dark, and we still don’t have a plan when it comes to resting up. Do you think we should think of something before it gets too late?” an exhausted Cory asks Keenth as they continue down a forest trail.

  “Nonsense! We’re warriors! What is life without a little adventure,” Keenth boldly exclaims, trying to boost their morale.

  “Keenth, for the last time, I’m fourteen years old. Four-teen. I understand that moving forward is important, but I also have a bedtime.”

  “Okay, you’re right. Sorry about that. Hey, I know! You should try some of these grains that I picked up along the way. They don’t taste too great, but they’re better than nothing.”

  “Now that you mention it, I must’ve lost the rations that I brought with me during all of the chaos at the Training Academy. I’ll take some, if you don’t mind.”

  “I’ve got plenty, so take as much as you need!”

  As they press on, the two begin to notice that their surroundings were a bit too familiar. Cory, naturally being an outdoors type of person, is surprised at the oversight that was made on their behalf.

  “S-say K-Keenth. Is it just me or is it getting k-kinda warm all of a sudden,” a flustered Cory asks. “And don’t say it’s because of my robe because you are sweating up a storm over there too.”

  “N-now that you mention it…I’m not feeling too hot either. I mean I’m feeling hot, j-just not that…S-screw it,” Keenth says as he collapses on the ground.

  Cory tries her hardest to rush to Keenth’s aid, but her own movements are sluggish. Before she knows it, she begins to collapse as well. Fortunately, she was able stop herself by putting one knee to the ground.

  “K-Keenth, w-where did you say you got these grains again? I d-didn’t feel like t-this until…u-until…ah, s-screw it,” Cory says to herself before losing consciousness.

  A few hours later, the two are in the middle of the forest near a campfire adorned with flickering flames freely dancing under the moonlight.

  Upon first glance, Keenth is under the impression that they are being graced by the presence of a good Samaritan. That, however, changes all too quickly when he realizes that they are both bound to a large tree.

  “Cory! Cory, wake up,” Keenth shouts, trying to get her attention.

  “It looks like she’ll be out for a while. That works out just perfectly because the two of us have some catching up to do,” a mysterious woman says from beyond the woods.

  “Who’s there? Show yourself,” Keenth defiantly shouts. “Let us go right now!”

  “You are in no position to make any demands, my little Francis,” the voice responds. “Not after what you’ve done to me. How you’ve betrayed—”

  “W-wait, who the hell are you? I don’t even know you—”

  “Hus
h your little mouth,” she replies as she places one of her fingers over Keenth’s lips. “I know you’ve gone through so much, but your Vera is going to take very good care of you, my dear Francis.”

  “Francis? Have you hit your head or something? What do you want from me?”

  “To be reunited with you! You were so distracted, playing around in your little Academy back there. But now that you are here alone with me, I will make sure we are never separated again!”

  “You are a special kind of crazy lady! Let me and my friend go right now!”

  “Crazy…Tell me, Francis,” Vera says, while reaching for a small dagger from her tattered brown sash.

  “Is it crazy to silently trail you from the Academy? Is it crazy to leave grains along your path that would cause you to lose consciousness? Is it crazy to have you both in an area where, if faced with this scenario, no one would be able to help you?”

  “Yes. Yes, it is to all of the above. Absolutely crazy,” Keenth replies, while trying to free himself from his binds. Realizing that was no use, he begins pleading with his captor.

  “Listen, it looks like it’s me that you want. So, please, just let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”

  “No, no, no! I won’t have that,” Vera shouts in Keenth’s face. “She has everything to do with this! How do you think I felt watching this little vermin alongside you? Saving you, caring for you. That should have been me, Francis! That should have been me!”

  Keenth realizes that Cory is still unconscious. After noticing that his sword and Cory’s staff were beyond reach, he thinks to himself how he’s completely out of options and truly at Vera’s mercy.