Death of Fear: A Tale of the Phase Shift by Kyle Johnson

Author:Kyle Johnson [Johnson, Kyle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 001 soryke
Published: 2021-03-20T22:00:00+00:00

The Serpent Crossing

Annalise walked through the rubble of shattered statues, past where the high school’s barrier had once been, toward a demoralized group of nearly three hundred people. They had been pulled out into the parking lot by Damian and his squad and simply sat morosely on the ground, none so much as looking around at their captors. The soldiers kept a perimeter around the large crowd, their weapons ready, but none of them had to utter so much as a single threat. These people were so despondent that they didn’t care who their captors were; that would make Annalise’s job much simpler.

She walked over to Damian and shook her head. “Sergeant, I feel that I should say that I’m very disappointed how you and your squad attacked this place, and that I in no way condone such an attack. I feel like that’s the sort of thing I should be saying, very officially, right now.”

“We totally understand, ma’am,” the man grinned his charming smile. “We would never want to disappoint you, of course, but in the field, a commander has to make snap decisions. This was one of those and in no way is intended to reflect on you.”

“That was well said,” she laughed before turning to face her new captives. “These are all followers of Samedi?” she asked, loudly enough for her voice to carry over the mutterings and soft weeping coming from the crowd.

“Yes ma’am,” Damian replied loudly. “We think they were helping him to create those statues.”

“We weren’t!” someone shouted, while another voice called out, “That’s a lie!”

“Shut it!” Corporal McBride’s voice cut through the rising babble. “Condemned don’t get to speak!”

The silence that fell over the crowd after the corporal’s words was almost deafening, and a woman near the front whispered, “Condemned?”

“You’ve been giving assistance to Samedi, and you’re his sworn followers,” Annalise said coldly. “What did you think was going to happen once someone found out what was going on around here?” She turned to Damian. “You’ve made arrangements, Sergeant?”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll take them in small groups, question them, then execute them. We’d offer the vow to them, but we don’t think they’d take it.”

“What vow?” someone shouted desperately, and a flurry of voices rose up, almost too loud for Annalise to hear Damian directly beside her.

“I said shut it!” McBride yelled, raising her weapon threateningly, and the hubbub cooled into silence once more.

“A Vassal Vow,” Annalise shook her head, her voice cold. “I could offer to take you into my service, but what would be the point? You’re obviously willingly serving Samedi, and I doubt you’d throw away your vow to him…”

“I’ll swear!” a man toward the back shouted at once. “I don’t want to serve Samedi; I was given into his service. I never agreed to it!”

“Neither did I!” someone called out, followed by a flurry of stammered or shouted agreement.

“Enough!” McBride yelled, and the din died away once more. The woman had a penetrating voice, and she knew how to use it.

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