Justice by R.T. Adams (reading list .TXT) 📖

fit to be emperor, just die quietly and quickly,” he said, jabbing forward. I slashed down at the blade and it stabbed into the ground. Instead, he thrust punch towards me, landing directly into my face, causing me to stagger back. He then forced a harsh kick into the left side of my ribcage, causing me to fall to my right. I stabbed my sword into the ground and picked myself up, but he was relentless and threw a knee into my chest, causing me to fly further back. I looked over to Randolph and Alicia, who were still hesitant. I grunted and lifted my own body, which was beginning to feel heavy. I then noticed Randolph come forward, bringing his large sword down onto the man in front of me. However, it was easily block with his thin blade. He then forced Randolph back by sending a kick into his stomach. From above, Alicia hopped over Randolph and swung her sword down, only to have Avecia dodge. Her blade collided into the ground.

“Now, sister, we don’t need to fight,” he quickly grabbed her neck and lifted her, throwing her to the side like a doll. He then swung down on me, but I scampered away, the sword hitting the ground in front of me.

“Dammit,” Randolph grunted and ran forward, his blade no longer in his hand. He lunged one hand forward to grab the man in front of me, but instead, the man stepped back, causing Randolph to run past him and into the generator instead. Randolph then grabbed the box of the generator and began crushing it. Quickly, it was crushed into practically nothing. The orb in it cracked, releasing steam and hissing. He lifted it and threw it, it soon exploding. The base’s lights went out.

“That is no issue,” Avecia said. Instead, he continued to swing his blade at me, it glowing every second, emitting enough light in the darkness to see. I quickly stood up and swung my blade back at his, but it just clanged and flew back into a wall. I looked towards him, his face looking grim and terrifying in the glow of his sword.

“Damn you,” I said angrily. I ran for him and he lifted his blade, only in enough time to stab into my leg. I gritted my teeth in pain, but nonetheless grabbed his throat, squeezing as hard as I could. He fell to the ground and, with the blade in my leg, it dug deeper as the hilt of it hit the ground. I continued to hold his throat, now throwing punches at his face, hitting whatever I could. He then grabbed my arm and, with what seemed hardly any force, made me release my grip. He then used his other hand to lift my body off of him. He then stood up and grabbed the hilt of his sword, pulling it out of my leg, causing me to wail in pain. He then punched me in the stomach with an immense amount of force. As I was going down, he sent his knee upwards, striking me directly under the jaw. I felt as though I had started flying while in the air. I soon landed, pain striking me in just about every bit of my body. I could feel blood trickling on my leg and out of my mouth. It was warm, and although it was a sign of me dying, it was comforting, for some odd reason. However, unexpectedly, I heard a loss of breath come from Avecia. When I looked up, I noticed the shine of a sword through his chest.

“I cannot allow you to kill him,” Alicia said, not even moved by what she had just done.

“Why?” he said.

“You wouldn’t understand,” she twisted the sword and pulled it out of him. He fell to his knees, dropping the sword next to him. He then fell forward. My body couldn’t move. I couldn’t move my body at all.

“Hey, you, don’t die on us!” I heard Randolph say, his footsteps making vibrations as he came closer. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move, I could barely even make out the shapes in front of me. All I could guess is they were the two of my friends looking down on me. Everything had began getting darker. Just before my vision blacked out entirely, I could feel myself being lifted and a voice speak, but I couldn’t make out the words. Then, everything went dark.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in a white room on a white bed with a light blue curtain around me. When I looked to my left, I noticed a bag of blood stuck into me. To my right, a heart monitor, still working. Doesn’t seem like I’m dead, as it’s not flatlining. Soon, I heard mumbling and footsteps. I heard a curtain open, but it wasn’t mine. I then heard two people talking. A man, exhausted and somewhat in pain, and a woman. I couldn’t really make out their words, as they were quiet. Soon, they stopped talking and the footsteps left the room, as well as the closing of a door. There wasn’t much to this small, confined area. It had just been a monitor and a bag of blood. However, just then, I noticed a vase of flowers, all pink flowers, sitting on a small metal table next to the bed. I tried reaching for it, but my arm would barely lift. It appears my body hasn’t properly come back to me yet. I could hear some few people cough, and some few moving around a bit in their bed. Once again, there hadn’t been much to look at. I looked directly upwards and stared at the ceiling, which had a smooth white texture. Suddenly, again, the door opened. I could hear two people talking. A woman’s voice and a man’s voice. The footsteps came closer to my area, then suddenly halted. My curtain peeled open and I noticed two people. A nurse and a doctor. Once they noticed that I was awake and well, they rushed over to me.

“You’re awake?” the doctor said. I could only look at him and nod. My mouth wouldn’t open, nor could I speak.

“Are you able to say anything,” the nurse then spoke, but in a reply to her question, I slowly shook my head as a no.

“So he’s unable to speak. Just what happened?” the doctor said, standing up straight, writing on a clipboard, “Your friends won’t tell us what happened, and considering you can’t speak, we can’t find out. Can you move your body?” I tried to move my arms and legs, but they barely even lifted.

“It appears he’s struggling to move,” the nurse said.

“You were stabbed in the leg, as well as roughed up pretty bad. A few of your left ribs were broken, as well as several bruises under your jaw and on your body, particularly your stomach. Your spine took some minor damages, likely the cause of your near inability to move. You should be able to move at full capacity and speak again in a week’s worth of time,” he gave a full explanation of what had happened to my body. It appears I’d be here for some time. I looked around, particularly his wrist, which had a watch on it. I lifted my left arm, trying to point at his watch.

“Sir,” the nurse spoke, “I think he needs something.” The doctor looked over to me, then my arm. He walked over to me.

“What is it you need?” I reached out to his wrist and touched his watch.

“The time?” the nurse asked. I slowly shook my head.

“How long you’ve been here?” the doctor asked, and with that, I nodded, “Three days, so far. Your body had been healing at a rather significant rate compared to your injuries, though.” I laid my head back and relaxed. They soon left and, about three minutes after, the door opened again. The curtain soon drew back quickly and, standing there were two people. A large man who I could identify as Randolph, and a woman with long white hair, Alicia. Randolph wore a black jacket with a white shirt underneath and blue jeans. Alicia’s hair was in a ponytail and she wore a white, beautiful dress. They both stood at my side, Randolph to my left and Alicia to my right.

“Hey, buddy, you alright?” Randolph asked. I nodded. He took a deep breath, likely stiff from the roughness I went through. I looked over to Alicia, who was avoiding eye contact. I lifted my hand and, as she noticed it, she took it in hers.

“Don’t die,” she said. I could tell she was highly upset that I was near death, practically on the verge of tears. I’d never seen Alicia like this before, so it came as a huge surprise to me. However, I couldn’t voice my concern to her, so all I did was try tightening my grip, as well as giving a very weak smile. Soon, the nurse came in and whispered in both of their ears. They nodded and waved me bye. The nurse closed the curtain and soon, I laid myself to rest, closing my eyes. Soon, I drifted away.

The next time I woke up, I found myself still in the hospital bed. However, I could move much more easily, and I found that I could speak again, but my breath was shallow. I could only say a few words before needing to take another fairly large breath. As every thirty minutes passed, they came to check on the multiple patients in the room. Some of the even got to leave due to their better condition. In fact, the only one who wasn’t able to leave yet was me. All of the other patients had been switched out with new ones, but I remained resting in the bed over the entirety of the week. The more the days passed, the more I reflected on what I’ve been doing and what has been done. I’ve been killing men, people who have had families, taking the fathers away from families. The more I think about it, the heavier the guilt feels. I started throwing random thoughts into my mind to flood the bad thoughts. After the few days passed, I was able to leave. Alicia and Randolph visited every two days, sometimes together, sometimes separate. I was escorted by a nurse to the ground floor, then to a room with a bunch of lockers. She stopped at one in particular and started pulling my items out, handing them to me. I immediately began undressing, even though she had still been in the room. The patient’s gown fell from my body and I began putting on my other clothes, over the only piece of clothes I had left, my boxers.

“You’re a hunter?” she said, seeming a bit shy and somewhat embarrassed to have been in here while I was undressing and then dressing again.

“Yeah,” I said, putting my sheath and sword properly onto my waist, carrying my old sword and sheath in my hand.

“I heard there were some demons attacking a city north of here,” she said.

“I see,” I said, “I’ve been thinking about quitting as a hunter.”

“How come?” she said.

“The things I’ve done,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing important.” I turned and started walking out of the room, but she grabbed my arm.

“Please,” she said sweetly.

“If you’d so kindly quit asking.” I jerked my arm to release her grip, then pushed the door open and quietly exited. However, she came for me and pulled on my shoulder, trying to turn me, but I persisted forward. Then, she grabbed my arm again.

“Please!” She was annoying, and I was beginning to get highly irritated.

“Why are you so damn clingy!” I shouted at her. She released my arm and cowered back. I could see fear in her eyes. Looking around, I noticed groups of people look towards us. I quickly turned