"Get down!" Alex cried as a rock flew through the window towards Thomas. 

Terror gripped Thomas, forcing him still. The rock connected with his back, sending a wave of pain through his body. Regardless of the pain, he was frozen to that spot. "So many dead..." He mumbled out as Alex steadily held his sword in his hands. His fingers were gripped around the hilt tightly, and his knuckles were white. "I've killed so many innocent people..." Thomas mumbled again as another bang on the door made it splinter. 

Alex took a step towards Thomas and looked him in the eye. "Look you can grieve for them later. Right now you need to get a grip, or we are both going to die!" The pounding on the door continued as it began to fracture and splinter. 

"Just let us have Thomas. We won't kill you if you let us in right now." The mob leader called through the slowly giving door. "It's not your fault you are working with a traitor." A few seconds of silence passed as Alex looked at the door with disgust. The leader's voice spoke again, but this time it was cold. "Let us in now. Don't make us kill you both for Thomas's crimes."

"Why don't you just try and take him!" Alex spat out angrily as the door continued to splinter. 

The door broke from its sturdy hinges and the mob began filing into the large living room of the in. Thomas and Alex were standing by the cooking pot and lifting device while the rest fed into the room. "Last chance outcast. Let us have Thomas, and we will spare your life. We have the number advantage."

"Numbers mean nothing when fighting in tight spaces." Alex replied with a dark smile. Clicking the edge of his hilt, Alex's blade split into to. "Now, who wants to try and take Thomas first?"

The crowd of people all brandished their weapons. Clubs, maces, and old looking swords were in all of their hands. One man stepped forward and dashed for Thomas with a warriors cry. He lifted his arm,mace in hand, aiming for Thomas's head. Before he could bring his mace down to its mark. His arms were both cut off. The man howled in pain and looked over to Alex, but never got to say a word. He opened his mouth to speak, and his head began sliding off his neck.

"Who's next?" Alex asked with a sinister grin as the group shuffled in angst. 

"We can take him if we work together! Another voice cried forcing Alex's attention away. He turned to face the new opponent who yelled out in fury as he rushed towards Alex when another crept forward while his back was turned.

The man who yelled fell silent, and Thomas blinked in surprise as the other man lifted his blade to stab Alex. "Lookout!" He cried out as he reached for one of Alex's half blades and snatched it from his hand. Countering the sloppy jab with the flick of his wrist, Thomas buried the blade into the coward's chest before he had a chance to flee.

"Thank you," Alex replied as he took a step to the side and matched his back to Thomas's. "Think we can take them?" 

"I wish we didn't have to, but your right. These people were dead the moment they met us. It's only right we end their suffering." The two stood poised and ready for whatever came next. 

A deep voice came echoing through their leader who was standing in the back. His voice was broken and when he spoke, it was in a guttural tone. "You think killing them will end my hunt for you? Their bodies serve as vessels to my will. Strike them down if you want. I will only bring more. You can't flee from me, I have been watching your every move since you left your precious bunker."

"Then you know we won't stop till you're dead." Alex growled as a few of the villagers took a step forward. 

"We'll just have to see about that won't we." The deep voice said with a raspy chuckle as he looked at the circle of villagers. "Serve your master and kill these fools!" He commanded before taking a step back to watch the carnage unfold. 

The group surged as one, weapons raised and poised to strike. "Get them!" They all yelled as one. 

Alex took a step forward and prepared himself for the battle. Cutting and hacking at the limbs of those who struck at him. Soon he had a pile of arms at his feet. A few bodies slumped to the ground near him as the blood loss took effect. "How you doing kid?" He asked as Thomas parried and countered, occasionally ending one of the villagers.

"I feel sick to my stomach, but I haven't been hit yet. I wish I had my rifle though. Would have made this much easier for both me and them. slowly bleeding out is much more painful than a quick shot to the head." He said as he let out a grunt and ducked under a thick, heavy looking mace. 

As the pair dispatched the majority of the crowd, the leader seemed more irritated than fearful, and when the final body dropped, they both turned to him synchronously. "Well done," The man said with a slow clap. "You just murdered an entire village. That makes you two outlaws now right? Good luck trying to find shelter anywhere on either continent! Thomas the war criminal and Alex the psycho-murderer!"

"Enough, show us your true form." Alex growled as the bald man watched them with unblinking eyes. "You have to be close to have controlled that many people at once. Are you going to come out and fight us like a true warrior, or are you going to hide until you can flee like a coward? Maybe Sarthon can come back and try again to finish what you couldn't!"

"Sarthon?" The man mused with an annoyed look on his face. "That fool couldn't kill Thomas when he was alone, how could he ever kill the two of you?"

Thomas stood there listening to the two banter as their verbal battle began. Alex chuckled before speaking. "You know, at least he tried to kill us. Those peasants you sent in here didn't stand a chance. It's like you wanted us to die of boredom." A vein in the man's head began bulging from his head making Alex smile. 

"You want to see power? Fine, I'll show you my true form. Just don't try and cry about an unfair fight when you see me!" The man said as he pulled a small dagger from his boot and slit the throat of the villager he was controlling. "See, you, soon!" He gasped as the blood drained from his neck. 

"We need to get out of here." Alex said in a low tone as he began clearing a path through the bodies with his boots. "He will be coming soon, and we need to get you as far away from here as possible before he does. You hardly managed to fight off his manipulation when he was a few miles away. At only a few feet away from him you wouldn't have a chance."

Thomas nodded his head in agreement thinking back to the explosive burst of magic that nearly killed Alex as a result of his attempt to control his power. "Okay, but after this is over, we need to come back here and bury these people."

"Bury them? Thomas why would we waste our time doing that, they were the enemy!"

"They weren't really the enemy Alex! They were people, people who were forced to attack us against their will. These were innocent villagers we slaughtered, and they deserve a proper burial!" 

A long sigh followed Alex's scowl as he continued clearing a walkway. "Fine, we will come back and bury them if we make it out of here alive."

Stepping over the bodies with care not to place his feet on one, Thomas started towards Alex. "We need to get me a sword as well. We didn't exactly have time to go get one from the bunker before we left." He handed the half blade back to Alex, who took it and wiped the blood from both blades before he connected them back into one. 

"Sure thing, take your pick from the corpses here. The weapons are not the highest quality, but we are not near a weaponsmith, nor do we have the funds to buy a blade of higher caliber. So you have to deal with one of the ones here. Hurry and pick one though, we don't have long before That other Cantorian comes."

Looking over the blades as he walked, he noticed a greenish brown blade and stooped down to pick it up. " So uh, how do we stop this Cantorian?" 

"No idea," Alex replied with disdain as he looked back to Thomas and noticed the blade. 

"What do you mean? You knew who Sarthon was and seemed to know his weakness when we were here last." Thomas replied focusing on the blade with interest.

"I knew of Sarthon. I have been trying to get names and weakness for the rest for a few hundred years. They were just too well guarded. Also having little in the terms of resources to work with, I wasn't able to get much out of anybody." He scowled in annoyance, looking from the window back to Thomas. "Have you finished looking at that moldy old sword? We need to get out of here before-"

"Before what?" Came a deep booming voice. "Before I show up and destroy you both? Too late," Thomas looked up and saw the grotesque figure looming in the doorway. His eyes were huge, massive green disks that took a large portion of his face. His skull was bulging in a size that gave off an ominous feeling. Looking down his body Thomas was relived to see the rest of him seemed to be thin and malnourished. 

"Well now I've seen everything." Alex replied with an ornery chuckle. "You must be the definition of the word nerd to the other Cantorians. Where are your glasses four eyes?" 

The man's underdeveloped body tensed up as he looked Alex over. Then turning to Thomas a wicked grin climbed up his face. "Ah, you must be one of my replacements. It's such a shame I will have to kill you. Those eye implants are never easy to re-transplant."

"Re-transplant?" Thomas questioned as he focused on the large green disks for eyes. "These are cutting edge, I was one of the first people to get them!" 

"Is that what they told you?" The man said with a maniacal laugh. "I'll have to remember that for next time. Unfortunately for you, those implants are more than just a technological atrocity. They are also a magical charm. They are used to focus your eyesight right? Well they are actually doing more than that. They are making your eyes more keep as a whole. Your eyesight gets better with every use, but your body weakens in exchange! Soon your eyes will start to grow like mine did, and eventually you will look exactly like me!" He paused for a second and looked over to Alex, his grin fading. "Or at least you would have if this idiot here didn't kill the both of you with his cocky attitude!"

The second he fell silent a large beam of light shot from his eyes aimed at the two of them. They both dove in opposite directions. The beam followed Alex, and the Cantorian began to laugh as Alex sprinted away from the two large beams of light. "Thomas get out of here and run as fast as you can!" He cried out as the beams left scorch marks only seconds behind him.

Thomas started forward towards the Cantorian with the greenish-brown blade in his hand. The Cantorian's gaze shifted towards Thomas and he was forced to start running away. "Be a good little boy and flee little rat!" The deep voice commanded as he turned his focus back to Alex.

"We can do this together!" Thomas cried out as he dashed back over towards the Cantorian while avoiding the flames. "He can't focus on both of us!" 

"That's where your wrong brat!" The Cantorian cried out victoriously as he split his focus and began firing the beam of burning light towards both of them at the same time. 

"Damn it Thomas, get out of here! It's not safe here!" Alex cried as he jumped over the burning flame, twisting his back so that the beam didn't connect with him. 

"Unfortunately neither of you are going to be leaving. I am going to end you both now before you become a pain in anybody else's side!" He said before closing his massive green eyes for a moment stopping the burning beams. When his eyelids opened again, his green eyes had turned bright red. A maniacal laugh echoed throughout the inn as he looked between the two. "Now, it's time for you both to die!"   

---------------------------

Well another section down! I am going to be finishing off the book tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed it! I look forward to continuing the series when I get caught up with all my other works! :) Many thanks to all those who have supported me over time I have been investing in the book! Please drink some water, and don't forget to spend some time with those who care about you! They love you and want you to spend time with them! 

-Asted!