Apocalyptic Organ Grinder Read Online Free

he’d been spat out by the currents of time.
    A tremor quivered inside Lila and her teeth ground against one another like a mortar and pestle pulverizing grain.  She imagined her spear running through the man’s gut so clearly that she could almost feel the spongy resistance just before the tip punctured the skin.  He’d gasp and clutch at the shaft as it shredded muscle and ruptured organs, but she’d throw her entire body into the thrust, ensuring that it emerged from the other side with his entrails dangling like a prize from the barbs notched into the wood.  Specks of crimson would speckle his mask as he coughed blood and she’d lean in so close that the hemorrhaging veins in his eyes would look as big as dandelion roots.  With blood, bile and shit leaking out of his vile body, she’d allow the blister on her neck to erupt over his evil face as the final insult.
    For Tolek.  For all of The People you’ve murdered, for the tears of fathers, and the heartbreak of wives.  For each and every life you’ve stolen ….
    Lila was close enough now that she could see the naked bodies of Myra and Jarnell piled upon one another.  A pool of their collective blood seeped across the ground. Light gray lumps of tissue stuck to the spatter on the tree they laid under.  They would never love again, would never laugh, or know the warm embrace of passion.  Like so many before them, their lives had been cut short by one of the faceless executioners known only as Sweepers.
    The man in white stepped out from behind the tree with his rifle shouldered, ready to unleash death at a moment’s notice.  The fool didn’t even realize that the danger he sensed was so close.  That it crept up behind him with intent just as murderous as his own.  He looked forward, searching the woods with his eyes, but never thought to simply turn around.
    The spear felt warm and heavy in Lila’s hands as she took another step forward.  Within minutes, she would be close enough to strike.  She would know the blood of her enemy and revel in his agony;  the spirits of her brothers and sisters would sing ballads of her glory through the vast halls beyond the Veil..  They would finally be able to cross the Shining River and know the peace that only justice could bring.
    Justice is not yours to take.
    Tolek’s voice was so vivid in Lila’s mind that ,for the first time since she began stalking her prey, she paused.  It sounded as if her husband were standing just behind her, leaning over her shoulder and whispering into her ear.  His voice was calm, but stern.  It was the same tone she’d heard him use countless times when reprimanding the children.  But never with her.
    He deserves to die, Tolek.  You, of all people, know what his kind have done.  How they stray into our lands to make widows and orphans.
    The clear skin stepped forward as if he suspected the ground were about to crumble beneath his feet.  Yet Lila could tell his caution was not born entirely of fear .  He moved with the confidence of a hunter, of one who had just begun to fuse his spirit with that of the forest.  His instincts were not as keenly honed as hers, of course;  but his poise betrayed a skill that would be used to slaughter those who allowed their focus to waver for even the briefest of seconds.  He would rob them of life, love, and happiness as easily as other’s might dress in the morning.
    This is anger, not justice.  There’s no glory in assassination, my wife.
    Lila stared at the man’s back, picturing the exact spot that would allow her spear to pierce his heart.  She could make it so that he was dead before he even felt pain.   One swift blow, one well placed lunge, would be all it took.  Myra, Jarnell, Tolek:  they would all be avenged.
    You are of The People and you follow the Way.  If it’s redress you seek, take it to the Elders.
    The voice of Tolek was right, of course.  If there was punishment to be doled out for this settler’s