Arcane II Read Online Free Page A

whispered.
    I snorted with disgust. “The Tawantinsuyu are powerless. They’re sane, each and every one of them. Their beliefs count for nothing .”
    Pizarr’s smile didn’t reach his dead eyes. His expression was that of a corpse. “But there are millions of them and they all believe. The delusions of men such as you and I pale before the faith of the masses. It’s what keeps this world from utter chaos. You know this to be true. There is an Afterdeath.”
    I suddenly understood. “You’re leaving. You’re going to this Afterdeath. You’re abandoning me and you’re betraying King Furimmer.” I was to be abandoned by the one person in this gods-forsaken land who would even talk to me. I had one thought: betrayal. I tasted hot bile and my eyes stung with rage. I felt hot and flushed. Was this Furimmer’s compulsion working upon me? “You can’t leave,” I said flatly, struggling to control myself. Maybe I could reason with the Captain. “King Furimmer—”
    “To the hells with Furimmer,” Pizarr snapped. My guts twisted. “He’s not here and he’s not rotting in his own body. This is my chance to change everything .” Pizarr, foul gums black with rot, his skull a death’s head, grinned lifelessly. “I’ve been watching you, Gehirn. You’re starting to crumble. You’re losing control. You should be thinking about the Afterdeath too.”
    “You’re insane!” Pizarr’s answering laughter fuelled my rage. “You believe as the Tawantinsuyu believe?”
    Something in my voice sobered Pizarr and stopped his laughter dead. He nodded. “Yes.”
    I grinned, sick with the taste of betrayal. I told myself I didn’t want this. It was a lie. “They believe that if their bodies burn, their souls won’t make it to the Afterdeath.”
    Pizarr stared at me with fogged eyes. He held out the remains of his working hand, pleading. “Don’t.”
    I saw him reach for the sword he didn’t know how to use and laughed at him. It was still aboard the ship.
    “You’ve betrayed King Furimmer. I am the King’s Executioner. Your soul will not be making it to the Tawantinsuyu Afterdeath.”
    The good Captain who had left King Furimmer’s lands with such plans for the future, hoping to escape the man he had become, had seen those dreams crushed under the weight of his own depression-driven delusions.
    “You watched me feed the fish,” whispered Pizarr. “I remember when dissolution had been my only goal. Even nothing is better than this .” His eyes met mine. “Do it,” he said.
    My only friend. I sobbed. There were no words, they too abandoned me as I let go. This would be a fire the gods saw from the very heavens.

 
     
    With You
     
    Ian Welke
     
     
    They come for us at dusk. The sky still holds traces of the sunset, Halloween orange, mirrored on the water of the Pacific. I’ve walked to the water’s edge, feeling the wet sand cool under my toes, refreshing in the too warm Santa Ana’s So Cal autumn. The wind picks up again. Hot and wrong. Everyone’s on edge as it is, thinking this might be the night. I open my eyes as the wind stops, sand caught in my hair and my beard. A flash from the hills. Is that a signal light?
    Shotgun blasts rip through the air, and the children scream.
    Your voice echoes in my head, loud and commanding, but not a scream: “William, take cover.”
    I drop to the sand, falling atop kelp that’s been washed ashore. The shots come from every direction except the ocean. The four church leaders run for the water. Walter, the oldest member of our church, takes a shotgun blast to the back. His momentum sends him sprawling into the tide. The three others make it to the incoming waves, splashing and jumping into the hopeful safety of the water. Janet stops moving, going limp in the waves. I lose track of the other two, wincing at the sand in my eyes and the sharp pain in my head.
    My ears ring. The whole scene is a cacophony of gunfire and screams.
    Looking back towards the beach,