This specialized characteristic of his, as flawed as it may be, makes him an ideal candidate as an Annihilator, one that is welcomed with open arms . There are not too many outsiders that are allowed into the faction of the elite, but Zoltan is not only an exception, but also exceptional, though he is not allowed to breed with the woman of the annihilators, he is however allowed to know some of their secrets of longevity. Zoltan is only called in for special jobs, ones that require a mind that borders on insanity, yet one that can also methodically separate business from pleasure and to also evaluate what needs are best suited for the organization. When he is called in, it is usually at the bequest of the current top dog, Taruuk.

Arius did not know if he should be flattered by the attention or not, but one thing that he did know was that Zoltan would not hesitate to kill them if he feels it would benefit his cause. There were two guards posted at the back of the house with one more in front. Arius carried the crossbow that he took from the truck of the surveillance detail, along with some other goodies. The two guards at the rear of the house were separated by about 50 yards, far enough for stealth, yet close enough to be killed.

Arius inched his way towards the first guard, hidden by the night and some dense bushes. He waited until the guards were bored enough to get their hands away from their triggers. Arius rushed the first guard, he took his blade and in one swift motion ran it across the rear of his legs, cutting both hamstrings, then as he fell to his knees onto the ground, Arius, than arced the blade and drove it into the side of the neck of the guard. By then the second guard turned to see his comrade, until out of the darkness he felt the force of the arrow from the crossbow as it went into the front of his throat. The guard grasped the shaft of the arrow as if to pull it out, only to fall face first to the ground, forcing the arrow to exit at the rear of his neck.

After looking around to see if he had been noticed, Arius than climbed a tree that was close to the house, it brought him to the second story bedroom window of the home. He peered into the windows and then entered the bedroom after he saw that it was clear. Arius noted that they were all downstairs, as best as he could tell. He went back to the window and pulled out a rope, he then reached into his pack and pulled out what appeared to be a rock. He then tied the end of rope to the rock, he opened the window and slowly lowered the rope till it was just above the first story window, he then marked the rope and pulled it back up. Arius then started to equip himself with the armory that he brought along. After he was set up, he went back to the window and held the rope so that it was past the previous mark he made and then held onto the other end. Arius took one last deep breath and threw the stone straight out. As the rock reached the end of the rope, it then dropped down and followed the rope until the rock hit the middle of the window on the first floor. Arius dropped the rope so that it would lay on the ground, he then stood up and prepared himself.

The rock thundered through the window startling everyone in the room, some dropped to the ground others took shots at the window. Zoltan turned towards the window and grinned “Now, let the fun begin” he then placed himself near the woman, he would either be their shield or their demise. “You two, go out and see whats up, the rest of you make a perimeter around our lovely guests, he is not far from here and we should greet our honored guest appropriately”. The two men dashed out the front door, the others went to the rear area of the room, they also avoided the windows for obvious reasons.

Arius was watching from the stairs as the two men left out the front of the home, Zoltan was facing away from him, as were the other guards. Arius pulled out his FN SCAR-L/Mk 16 rifle as he descended the stairs. The 5.56mm rounds exited the rifle to find their marks in the two guards at the rear of the room, Arius swung the rifle and pulled the trigger aiming for Zoltan. Zoltan turned in time to see Arius as he killed his two guards, Zoltan next felt his left shoulder burn as the round took a small piece out of it. The impact was enough to spin Zoltan around and knock him to the ground. Arius was already halfway to Gina & Olivia as the front door began to open. In stepped one of the three guards, he was met with a barrage of bullets, his body tried to fall, but was held suspended until Arius took his finger off of the trigger long enough for gravity to take effect. Arius lost no time in pulling out two grenades as he rushed the door. He pulled the body from the entrance and saw the other two guards scatter for cover. He than pulled the pins and tossed the grenades through the front door closing it behind him. Explosions were heard, followed by the screams of the guards, Arius knew that the grenades were successful.

Just as he moved towards Gina and Olivia, a guard jumped from one of the rooms and attacked Arius, his gun was knocked away from him. It only took him a second to react to this new intruder as he went with the momentum and grabbed the guards head in his hands as he spun around twisting the head until the guard let go of Arius and was facing away from him. At that moment, Arius, still holding the mans head, twisted it in the opposite direction. A sickening pop followed by wet cracking sounds could be heard as the guard was placed lifeless onto the floor. Without missing a beat, Arius scooped up the gun that was knocked from his hands earlier as he got to the woman. A commotion could be heard outside, Arius knew that his time was short. With his knife he was able to cut them free. “Stay close and stay low, but if move, you move too. No questions asked” The woman just nodded their heads in agreement, but as they turned towards the front door Arius heard a familiar voice. ”Arius, is that how you greet an old friend, by shooting him in the shoulder? it seems your manners have deteriorated with the years”. Zoltan cracked a small insidious smile, their way to freedom was blocked by the butcher of Budapest.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

Seven uniformed Annihilators were posted on top of the hill overlooking the Sonoma Valley, with the houses below under constant surveillance. It had just turned dark, all night vision equipment was now being used, after all, they were expecting company. One of the men broke the silence “I can’t believe that this is all for just one guy”, Bjorn gave the man a stern look “Do not ever underestimate any person that we have been charged with monitoring or locating. This man is extremely dangerous and well-trained, he has already killed a several of our men, some of the best assassins in the business. He may have already killed our team in the woods, and he may even have you and I in his sights right now deciding if he should rip, cut or blow our heads off. So my little drone if I were you, I would take this seriously, otherwise I’d be more than glad to kill you right here myself so that you wouldn’t have to worry about it, KAPISH” . The man’s eyes were wide open “Yes sir” was all he could muster, he quickly went back to his job, he placed his head phones on and stared intently into the monitor. Bjorn turned his head to snicker, he loved giving the young guys a bunch of shit.

Arius was blending in with the trees and monitoring the house. Just before sunset, he noticed a flash coming off of the lens from one of the binoculars or spotting scopes that were being used. He knew that there were at least two points where they were monitoring him, he might be spotted by the group on the hill if he moves towards the house. He can’t afford to fold time too much, he will need his strength when he reaches Gina and Olivia, so folding time must be kept to a minimum. Arius was already covered in mud from head to toe, he had rolled in a mud puddle before leaving the woods. He did this to minimize the brightness of his body, and possibly reduce his heat signature if they were using any thermal imaging equipment. Arius then moved around to the back part of the hill in hopes of finding a hole in their security.

Back on the hill, Gustav knew he should not have drunk so much soda, now he had to get rid of it, which was fine by him, since he was bored by this current observation detail. He went down the hill only about sixty meters, there was a large boulder on the side of the hill where he could piss out of sight of the others. Gustav was thinking that this was the most enjoyable thing he’s done today as he continued to pee. “Well, you must be the whiz kid of the bunch” Gustav turned towards the voice thinking that it was one of his comrades, only to find that it was this scary looking man covered from head to toe in dirt and mud. “Hey, does that thing come in an adult size?” Arius said jokingly pointing to Gustav’s crotch. Gustav looked down at the penis in his hand, and then looked back up at Arius in embarrassment. “Made ya look” Arius then kicked the man in the groin, and as he buckled over he grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled it down into his upcoming knee. The cartilage in Gustav’s nose shattered upon impact, it seemed that the blood was almost instantaneous. Darkness fell upon the man as Arius slowly lowered him to the ground. Arius whispered to himself “Shit, the little prick pee’d on my foot” Arius then sized up Gustav “Hmm, he looks to be about my size” he thought “I hope that he didn’t wet his pants”.

Arius, now a little cleaned up and wearing the uniform that Gustav wore, moved up the hill noting the locations of the people there. Two were over by the surveillance equipment with headphones on staring into monitors connected to spotting scopes, another one was on the parabolic listener, also wearing headphones, and two more, who appeared to be higher ranked, were over by the SUV looking over some maps on the hood of the vehicle. Now that he was dressed like them, it may make it easier to penetrate their defenses, but Arius also knew that once they figured out who he was, all hell would break loose. He would have to move fast, he did not want to give it away that he was now in their camp.

Bjorn and Hector were going over the local maps in hopes of trying to figure out where Arius might try to work his way towards the house. Bjorn pointed to a creek bed on the map that runs behind the house “This creek over here, it’s low ground, the water level is not too high right now, so he can move easily through it and he can use the running water to cut down on any unnatural sounds that he might make” Hector nodded in agreement. Bjorn looked over his shoulder, one of the soldiers had his back to him “What the fuck? do you think this is some kind of vacation here in the Sonoma Valley?” Bjorn was furious, he stepped towards the soldier “What the fuck, are you stoned or something?” Hector just shook his head and went back to evaluating the maps. The soldier replied “I think I may have found something of interest sir” Bjorn did not change his attitude “You stupid son of a bitch, turn around when you speak to me or I’ll rip your fucking head off, now what is it that you think you found asshole?”. He waits till Bjorn is just a few feet away and then turns to answer him “Our target” Bjorn’s expression was now that of surprise as he looked into Arius’s face. But that was all he had time for, before he could even make a sound, a knife was forced into Bjorn’s throat, he dropped to his knees immediately. Hector then turned to see what was happening, he saw Bjorn drop, but Arius was already behind him and had clasped his mouth and nose with his hand. Even before hector realized what had just occurred, Arius had already stabbed him three times in the kidney’s. Hector tried to speak, but no sound would pass his lips, nor would he ever utter another word again. Arius then pushed the dagger into the side of Hector’s neck, the sharpened blade slid easily into it intended target. The point of the knife reached the other side and stuck through a few inches indicating a perfect execution of the maneuver that was designed to sever the throat and the jugular, thus keeping the victim silent and also producing a quick death when they drowned in their own blood.

The headphones that the remaining men were wearing, are of the highest quality that money could buy. Good for keeping unwanted noise out, bad for letting you know that those around you have just experienced the wrong end of a knife. There were two sound monitoring devices being used, one was a parabolic sound amplifier and the other was a laser sound amplifier. There was one man monitoring both units, needless to say, he was preoccupied. Arius did not want to use a gun if he did not have to, his next move would have to be executed perfectly for it to work. The last three Annihilators of this surveillance detail were close together, yet not close enough. Arius looked in the truck that Bjorn and Hector were using as a table. Inside he found a hatchet and some hunting knives, so far so good. Arius went up to guy on the listening devices, but unfortunately the plan took a turn for the worst. One of the soldiers who was watching the monitors, decided to turn around, he stood up and did not recognize Arius “Who the fuck are you?” a hiss was heard through the air before the hunting knife entered his throat, he fell back and landed on top of the guy behind him. By this time the one monitoring the listening devices grabbed Arius by the arm, Arius swung and cleaved the mans arm off with the hatchet, he then reversed the hatchet and almost removed the mans head. The other soldier was just pushing the body of his now dead friend off of himself, Arius turned his attention to the lone soldier. He scrambled to get to his feet, his headphones had slid down to his neck, he could see Arius approaching him, he still had trouble getting up as he scurried on his hands and knees. The soldier was able to get up and took three steps where he fell down the hill that Arius had just come up. He tumbled downward hitting rocks, brush and tangles as he careened down the hill. Finally he came to a stop, where he collected himself and shook off the fall. He then looked to his right where he saw the three dead bodies next to each other. “Oh dear lord, NO!” the man screamed, just then he heard a voice “What I see here is a choice, you can be tied up here and hope that they find you or…?” The man looked up at Arius, he waited for him to finish the rest of his sentence. “Or what?” he asked frantically. Arius had the hatchet in his hands and sneered at the man “Do you really have to ask?” as he slapped the hatchet in his hand repeatedly.

Arius was now looking at the monitors and thinking how cool this stuff was “I’m gonna need to me some of this” he said to himself.  He was able to see into and around the house and was able to determine how many men were there and where they were located. He looked around and picked up what he needed, a few knives here,  a gun or two there and some odds and ends. He took one last look at the monitor, he knew he had to hurry, he didn’t know if they had a schedule for keeping in radio contact with each other or not, which would alert the group in the house with the hostages that something was wrong. Arius had worked his way down the hill where could not be seen. He lowered himself into the creek and worked his way towards the house. He came up on the corner of the house that gave him the best view and also the best cover. He peered into the house with the night vision binoculars and could see the Olivia and her mother next to each other tied to a chair. Then one of the men turned as if on cue “Zoltan?” Arius was slightly shocked “That son of a bitch, I thought I killed you in Budapest”. Zoltan Szabo and Arius had run into each other just over fifty years ago, Hungary was going through some growing pains and was just about to have a revolution. Zoltan was on the side of the communists, he belonged to the Annihilators and this unrest was a great excuse to cause trouble and to hurt others. Arius knew he was ruthless and not to be trusted, he was from a well to do family of royal descent, but his blood lust and need to cause pain to others was greater than his family duties. Arius had always suspected that there was annihilator blood in him, seeing him here fifty years later looking as if he was in his 40′s just proved his suspicions. Time to update the plans that Arius had previously thought up, now that he had a better idea of what he was up against. “There’s just no other way” he thought “It’s gonna be a bloody night no matter what I do, lets just hope that it’s all theirs”.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

The team was dispatched to the area where a possible immortal was recently sighted, based on the dead bodies that were found, and also what little information was able to be obtained from one of the dying victims. The probability was high, but it was still just a lead. The two men were annihilator hang a rounds and just loved the violence that was associated with the group, they were only pot growers from the nearby woods. Violence is a desired trait for an annihilator, but it should be a controlled violence which is administered with no less focus and training then a concert pianist, these two men were cavemen compared to full fledged members. The area of interest was located by the team, the bodies had already been removed and disposed of, never to be found again, another learned trait of an annihilator. A skill culled through the centuries and developed alongside mans own development and his improved technology.

The team leader, Bjorn, canvases the site, every little detail is absorbed, useless information is mentally cast aside while any pertinent details are compounded and then assembled like a large jig saw puzzle, until all the pieces are put together. “This man, he was up on the hill behind the bush, probably watching the girl bathe, same as our two little miscreants, except he’s alive”. He follows what looks to be an imaginary trail, his thoughts are deep as he looks from side to side to decipher the hidden messages of the soils and the surrounding environment,  a virtual human bloodhound. “This is where the struggle occurred” Bjorn said with no emotion. “The woman was laying down there, one man was killed over there, and the other man appeared to be killed, but got up, there also appears to have been a dog involved, based on the tracks and also where the dog laid down at these two spots here” his brow furled with concentration. Then a look appeared on his face, a smug realization that all was now in his mind and the puzzle complete ” She and the dog were both taken, in that direction” Bjorn pointed up the hill and back to the road leading out of the woods. “Whoever rescued the dog and the woman, was moving pretty damn fast”. Bjorn looks to one of his aids “Call in the reclamation team, maybe this time we can nail him. The last time he wiped out our other team, we never saw or heard from them again, pretty impressive actually” Bjorn looked sternly down at his aid “Are you still here” he shouted “Move your ass or you’ll be worm food alongside those other two simpletons, NOW MOVE IT”.

Olivia looked at the two in a deep embrace, she felt compelled to join them, but thought that this was a moment that should only be enjoyed by both of them. “Arius” Gina exclaims “So many times you have crossed my mind. I always prayed that we would meet again, but not like this”. She kissed him incessantly all over his face and neck, it looked as if she was ready to eat him. Gina then calmed down long enough to ask him a question “How did you get to know Olivia, what a miracle”. Arius looked at Olivia “She came over to say hi when I moved out here”. Olivia spoke out quickly “Not to mention saving my life from those two men in the woods”. Gina had a shocked look on her face “You saved her life? Even after thirty years you still protect us, god bless you for taking care of my Olivia, I don’t know what I would do if she were ever hurt” Olivia blushed slightly “Oh momma!” she then went to Gina as she stood up, the both of them now hugging and crying. Arius slowly stood up “Well, while you two enjoy the moment, I have to go back into the woods and clean up my little mess”. The two women just waved him off as he headed out the front door.

From on top of the hill, three dark uniformed men peered through spotting scopes at the homes below in the valley from their camouflaged concealed position. “Sir I have movement below” Bjorn took the scope from the man and peered into them. He could see a man leaving the front door of Olivia’s house, he fit the description of the one that the other team engaged. Bjorn also saw in the doorway that there were two women embracing, who then pulled apart. “Great” Bjorn said with a smirk on his face “Now we having something to barter with when he returns”. He pulled away from the scope and started to bark orders “Activate the reclamation team, tell them we have two subjects, looks like a mother daughter deal, keep them alive until otherwise told. We know he’s coming back, notify Mr. Szabo immediately. Also let Ephrem know that the target may be coming his way. Let the team know that if Ephrem captures the target first, the women are to be killed”.

Arius is near the location of the waterfalls, something is not right, his senses are on edge, he is now on full alert. He gets near the waterfalls and can see the clearing where the two men should be. He knows that they were dead, but they are gone now. “Nice of you to join us” Arius spins around to face a man holding a gun “We figured that you would return to the scene of the crime, they always do”. Three more uniformed soldiers appear from their hiding spots with guns, surrounding Arius. Arius looks to who he thinks is the leader “You must be the new guys”. The man chuckles slightly “My name is Ephrem, and if you would be so kind as to just lay down with your hands out to your sides, we can do this and no one needs to get hurt”. At that moment Ephrem’s radio goes off “We have the women secured” Ephrem touches his throat and speaks “Good It looks like we’ll be back there soon, he just showed up”. Arius overheard the transmission, he knew that Olivia and Gina were now in danger, he has to get back there as soon as he takes care of this motley crew.

Ephrem motions the others to move in “It is so nice that you have chosen to cooperate, it makes life so much simpler, and they said to watch out for you”. One of the soldiers reaches for Arius’s hand, as soon as he grabs it, Arius twists and pulls the now off balanced captor towards him, and pulls the man on top of him, he is now facing the soldier on the other side. Two shots are fired from the inexperienced soldier, hitting the body on top of Arius. Arius reaches around to grab the gun from the now dead soldier, plants two shots into one of the men. He now continues to roll shooting at the others surrounding him, one more goes down, Arius then springs to his feet. Ephrem fires several shots at the now scurrying Arius, fear is etched across the mans face as he frantically continues firing his weapon. Arius folds time to end up behind Ephrem, who is looking for his prey. Arius stealthily walks up to the man from behind, fires two shots into each leg, he then grabs the gun from the man as he drops like a rag doll to the ground. Arius then straddles the man face to face “The women, are they still alive?” Arius says as he presses his face closer. Ephrem tries to push his radio to speak, Arius fires a shot into the mans shoulder, he screams out in pain. Arius turns back to face Ephrem “Are the women still alive?” he now places the weapon under the mans chin. Ephrem stops screaming and speaks through his pain ”They’re still alive, they were not to be harmed until I called and told them that we had you in custody and in the vehicle, please don’t kill me”. Arius now knows he needs to get back to the house “I’ll give you the same chance that you gave them” Arius puts the gun down, Ephrem looks at him with fear. He then sits up in front of Arius “Thank you, I will never speak of this to anyone” Arius smiles, he places his hand on the mans face “Great, that’s exactly what I had in mind”. With a quick twist of Ephrem’s head, a sharp snap is heard as his spinal column separates from his head. Ephrem’s eyes roll back into his head as his lifeless body is slowly laid back down, Arius is up and moving in seconds.

“Well my dears, a good evening to you” Olivia and Gina were both tied to a chair, guards on either side of them and behind. “Let me introduce myself, my name is Zoltan Szabo, I am the leader in these parts for a certain organization, it is a great pleasure to meet the both of you. I am here to visit with a mutual old friend of ours, I only know him as Arius, but we do go back a ways”. Gina looks at the man, hatred could be seen in her eyes, yet she is able to control her emotions “Please let my daughter go, she does not know anything of our common friend, she can keep a secret I promise you”. Mr. Szabo steps towards Gina, he reaches out and runs the back of his hand against her face “My, my, even at your age your skin is so, remarkable” he pulls his hand back and then quickly slaps her, almost knocking her over. Olivia cries out “Momma, you bastard leave her alone”. Zoltan chuckles “What do you take me for, some fool? Two hostages are always better than one. Just in case I need to show our friend that I mean business, I can always kill one of you while I still have the other to barter with. Let me tell you a little secret that you both will take to your graves, his one weakness? Is that he has compassion for you mortals, he feels sorry for all of you and wants to protect you. This makes him weak and predictable, yet he has these remarkable powers that I intend to obtain so that they can be used to their fullest”. Olivia looked at her mother, her face was already swelling up from the strike. Olivia looked at Zoltan “So all we really are is just bait to you”, Zoltan spun sharply around to face Olivia “Of course, you’ve figured me out, so keep wiggling and squirming to attract our catch” he laughed at what he thought was a good joke.

One of the guards steps up to Zoltan “Sir, we have lost communications with Ephrem”. Zoltan doesn’t take his eyes off of Olivia for a second in his reply “Give him two more minutes, if still no response than assume that they are all dead and that our esteemed guest is on his way to rescue his damsels” the guard bows his head and says “Of course sir, I’ll notify the others to be on alert”. Zoltan steps close to Olivia “You are so, so pretty and young, if these were different circumstances, I might have offered you a position in our breeding program”. Olivia looks up at Zoltan, and spits in his face, Zoltan takes the spittle and wipes it off with his hand, he then licks each finger as if he just finished a meal “I can tell you that you’re not the first to do that, I hope that doesn’t make you jealous?”. “Fuck you” Olivia yells out as she struggles in her chair. Zoltan looks at her “And feisty too”, He then faces the guards and starts to shout out orders “Guards, make sure that these two have guns trained on them at all times, he could be right out our door. If for any reason it starts to look like he will not cooperate, or if I have been killed, shoot all of them, if I can’t have him, no one else will either”. Zoltan steps out onto the balcony into the night air, he looks out across the open valley, he than whispers to himself “I know you’re out there my friend, I can feel it, since you left me with a reminder of our time together” Zoltan pulls up his shirt, he then runs his hands across a very long and thick scar. ”Soon we will meet again and get better acquainted. But this time, I will emerge the winner”.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

The wagon tussles back and forth on the rock strewn road handled by the burly but worn driver. The wagon was being drawn at a brisk pace by the two stout horses who drove their hooves into the unforgiving ground below. Meanwhile, the two captives remained shackled in the bed of the beaten wagon, both men laying on top of the dirt and filth encrusted pillows used to soften the ride, as if that were possible.  Tokar and Arius were almost at their destination, to be tortured further for more information. Their captives still had no idea that an actual immortal was in their midst, which was the whole reason for the attack on the temple and the slaughtering of the priests. Tokar’s wounds were still painful and gave him problems breathing, but he had to put the pain aside so that he could tell Arius of what his life’s purpose is, before they get to “The Chambers”. He knew that he would have to release him with as much knowledge as possible so that he remains on the path to his destiny. Tokar has been telling Arius of his special abilities and what he should be looking forward to as he matures and develops. But the time has come for the most important of all instructions.

“And finally my son” Tokar took a deep breath “Though you are an immortal, you should know that you can be killed, and you can die”. Arius looked upon Tokar “How is this so, than I am not really an immortal?”. Tokar laughed to himself “Let me finish young man” he said, even though, Arius was still much older than Tokar “You can be killed, only if your head is fully severed from your body. If there is even the slightest attachment, it will regrow all that was cut, however it would take a bit longer then less severe damage, but still, it’s better than the alternative. Now as to the immortality issue, there is a book, The Kadaal Tuuk Tomen, that we as the priests of the Vanduur Shraam and caretakers of immortals, have to follow in order to properly guide and develop one such as yourself. The book is as old as time itself, only a handful can read its ancient and forgotten writings, if they are still alive that is” Arius looked on with amazement and anticipation. “There is however a section near the end of the Kadaal Tuuk Tomen, where it says that when an immortal passes the last phase of their development, only then will they be truly immortal, no harm may ever become them and they will garner great powers. Material objects will pass through them as a stone that is thrown into the mist. But as far as our extensive records could show, no one has ever attained such powers”.

Arius was speechless, and also enthralled by the tales that Tokar told, as he continued “We are, or should I say were, an ancient sect that since the dawn of time have tended to those such as yourself, an immortal. I am afraid that you may be looking upon the last of the Vanduur Shraam priests. But that aside, I should also let you know that there are others out there like you, at different stages and education levels of their lives. With you included there are five, you will know when one is near you by a sensation that you will feel throughout your entire body I am told”. Arius finally spoke “Tokar, what will this sensation feel like? Tokar gave Arius a harsh look and blurted out “How should I know, I am not an immortal like you”. Tokar’s demeanor and his tone of voice changed “My boy, we do not have very long, I am afraid that we cannot complete all that you needed to know, for this I am truly sorry, but I will get you out of here, that much I promise you. When you do escape, run as fast and as far away as you can, trust no one except for the name of the man who I am about to give you. Remember it well, he may be able to help you continue with your training, he was once a priest, but left due to an incident that occurred, he was ashamed and left of his own accord. He is known as Shivarrno, he is now a loner and may be a little gruff, but tell him that I sent you. Also tell him what has occurred, he will understand”.

Just then the wagon stops, as they milled about, nearby voices and the sounds of men and horses could be heard . Then abruptly, the wagon curtain was opened as two soldiers gazed in “You grab the boy and I’ll take my friend here the priest,  you never know when you may need the hand of god to help” He let out a hearty and sardonic laugh. “Let’s get these two into their cells so that we can go home”. Arius and Tokar were partially dragged out of the wagon as the guards made them stand up on their own once outside. Arius and Tokar were led and partially dragged through what seemed like a labyrinth of tunnels and passages which meandered ever lower into the earth’s core. Finally they reached their cell, a filthy dirt floor that smelled of human bodily fluids. They were released from they’re shackles and tossed in like unwanted baggage, Tokar let out a gasp from the pain. The cell door was slammed behind them with a resounding boom, the sounds echoed throughout the wet and damp prison area as the guards left the area. They settled into their new quarters, Torak was now in more pain, but he tried not to show it. If there was a good side to this, at least the two them were still together, for now.

Arius looked lovingly at Gina, her face was filled with joy as her tears now flowed over the contours of her now matured features. “Madonna mia, Arius, you look no older than when we last saw you over 30 years ago, yet look at me, a woman of 62 with the face of some ancient wrinkled old woman”. A slight sadness filled him, Arius has had to deal with this his whole existence. Seeing the ones he loves and cares for, grow old and eventually die while he remain young. Arius then speaks in perfect Italian to the older woman “My dear Gina, all I see before me is a woman who has an everlasting beauty which cannot be denied nor diminished with age. You are just as lovely now as the day you left Naples”. Olivia was just watching these two, they acted as if they were the only people in the room. “Momma, is this true? is this zio?”. Gina looked up at Olivia “My dear, I think you know in your heart the truth that you see here, of course it’s zio, but his real name is Arius”. Olivia snapped back “Of course I know his name, he told me. But I am still trying to understand how this could be him, after so many years”. “Well then” Gina spoke in a controlled voice “Maybe we should let him tell us the whole story” as she pointed to Arius.

Arius always felt uncomfortable with these types of talks, he has only told a small number of people the truth through the ages, only the ones that he felt could be trusted. “If the both of you would please sit down, this is not going to be easy to take in at first”. The two woman settled in next to each other, Olivia took her mother’s hand and gently kissed her on the cheek. Gina looked upon Olivia, you could see the love in her heart for her daughter. “Good, all I ask is that you both wait until I am done to ask any questions, I find it makes it a little easier”. He than takes a deep breath “I am an immortal, I have been walking this earth for over three thousand years, there are only a few others like me spread throughout the world. I cannot be killed, my body heals almost instantly if I am harmed. I cannot starve, but I do feel the hunger pains, I cannot drown either. If a body part is cut off it will regenerate, though that takes longer then a cut or gunshot wounds. I do feel the pain of the blade or the bullet and may become unconscious for a few seconds while my body repairs itself, but when I rise, I am usually fully or close to being new” The two woman looked at him strangely. ” I know what I am saying sounds crazy, but let me just show you” Arius reaches into his pocket and pulls out a knife, the woman gasp upon seeing it, frightened. Arius then takes the knife and plunges it deep into his stomach and then draws it a few inches across to open the wound, then he pulls the knife out, he then falls to the floor. Gina and Olivia jump to their feet screaming, even though Gina is older she moves to help Arius before Olivia even gets close. “Arius you fool, what have you done, there was no need to kill yourself” Olivia clasped her face, tears brimming in her green eyes. Then Arius stirs, Gina raises him slightly as he rolls himself over. Arius looks at Gina “Now look for yourselves and tell me what it is you see”. Gina takes the shirt where she saw him push the blade into himself and raises the cut pieces up towards his chest. She sees blood, but cannot see where the knife went in, there was no cut flesh to be seen. “Madonna mia” Gina makes the sign of the cross as she pulls away from Arius. Gina then slowly bends over Arius again to take him in her arms and hugs him with all her might. Arius sits up and wraps his arms around her.

A car pulls into a remote area, ahead of it a car flashes its headlights from the darkness. The car drives on the gravel road and pulls alongside the parked car, they stop slowly as two men exit the parked limo and place themselves at both sides of the rear passenger door. The driver of the car gets out, the two men frisk him, after they are done one of the men opens the door to the limo. “Good evening Mr. Szabo” The man is nervous. “Good evening young man, I do hope that you have the information that we need?”. “Well sir, I think we may have a good lead”. Mr. Szabo moved from the car and stood face to face with the man. “Please do not tell me that it is a, good lead as you call it. My patience grows thin with imbeciles such as yourself , do not waste my time” Mr. Szabo then grabs the man by his neck and lifts him, his feet are off the ground, “Tell me what you know, it should be such good information that it will not make me want to kill you”. He releases the man who falls to the ground, he gasps to bring air into his lungs. Mr. Szabo turns away and has the man at his back “So, do tell me what this information is”. The man looks up still breathing heavy trying to catch his breath “There were two men, both our boys, when we found them, one of them was dead, the other barely alive. Both of these men were stone cold killers sir, one was even special forces. The one who was still alive said that this man stopped them from having some fun with a woman they found bathing in the pond. He also said that they stuck knives in him, but that he still fought them off, he then died in my arms”. Mr. Szabo looked a little interested “And why is this such a good lead that you had to get me up and out at this hour of night”. The man looked frightened “Well sir, there are only five houses within 10 miles of where that happened, and I thought if he was there, it wouldn’t take much to figure out if he was in one of them there houses”. Mr. Szabo turned to the man and bent over to put his face near that of the informant. “Good job, I think that you have actually come up with a lead worth following. Give the rest of the information and the location to my colleagues here , good night to you sir”. The man slowly stood up “Thank you, sir” he started to dust off his clothing. Mr. Szabo leaned over to one of his guards “After he gives you all that we need, kill him, his breath smells”. The man nodded, as him and his partner went in the direction of the informant.

Mr. Szabo stood at the back of his limo, the three men could be seen behind him. He just gazed into the heavens and said to himself  ”This quest of mine should prove to be fruitful, if it is indeed the immortal that we have discovered. Maybe now we can obtain what is rightfully ours, the secret of the immortals. Their gift wasted on helping the world, when it could be used to gain power over the world”. Two shots ring out, the informant, as if in slow motion, drops to the ground. The guards turn and walk towards the car, Mr. Szabo turns to them “Well, I guess that means it’s time for us to go”. The limo pulls out of the rural area leaving the car and the body behind.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

Arius folded time for almost twenty-five minutes in order to get Olivia and her dog, Chester, back to the house safely from the water falls in the woods. The prolonged period of use takes a severe drain on an immortal, this is when they are at their weakest and are most vulnerable. He lays at the entry way of Olivia’s house, Chester is using this particular immortal for a pillow as he also rests from the previous harrowing experience. Olivia is up again and checking on her two heroes, she gazes upon them thanking whatever gods will listen to her humble thoughts. She looks at Arius, he is so dirty from being in the woods, and the torn and bloody clothing make her shudder. She steps closer to the two of them, and focus’ in on the holes in his shirt. She is surprised to see what looks like a cut in the shirt from a knife penetration. There is blood, yet no wound, maybe she got hit in the head just a little bit too hard she’s thinking. She then pans to his face “What a great looking guy, and to think not only is he my neighbor, but he can also handle himself” her thoughts then move on to other subjects. As she looks closer at his face, she then has a revelation, she screams silently in her mind ”Oh my god! it can’t be him”

The year is 1979, Olivia is only 5 years old, she and her mother, Gina, are living in Italy, Napoli to be exact. Olivia has not seen her father for quite some time, her mother however does not have the heart to tell her daughter that her father was killed by the local mob. Instead she spins tales of her father being a captain of a boat that takes the rich folks out to sea to enjoy the beautiful views of the Italian coast. Being single in this town is tough enough, but being a widow and a single mother places you right in the sights of every young man looking to nail the so-called vedova cornea, translated, horny widow.

The local mob, known as the Camorra, have been running this town as long as Gina can remember. They smuggle cigarettes and drugs with a little bit of counterfeiting thrown in to keep the local law puppets in line. Olivia’s father, Franco, was not a mobster, he was only a local handyman, and an honest one at that. But the Camorra felt that for some reason he needed protection, and as long as Franco was willing to pay the pizzo, or protection money, he would be able to find work and his tools would not be stolen. But, Franco refused them, and the very next day his work truck was burned to the ground. Franco was furious, and confronted the men, one of them told him to fuck off, so he punched him and knocked him out. The other guy pulled a gun on Franco, but it did not fire when the trigger was pulled. Franco then took the gun from the thug and beat him with it. The two mobsters were humiliated, their bosses were also embarrassed and lost face because of his men. Sadly, Franco was found dead two days later after someone called him to come and give a quote on a possible job. His body was found, well, at least some of his parts were found, just enough to identify him,  he was found in the country along side the road. Everyone knew why he was killed and who likely did it, but no one would dare bring the men to justice.

Olivia’s mom was the local beauty and desired by many. Shortly after her husband’s death, even while she was still in mourning, she was approached by some of the Camorra who told her that they could rescue and protect her from strange and dangerous men, since now she was a widow with a small child. She said that she would think about it and get back to them, but she knew they would need an answer soon, those strange and dangerous men might start showing up sooner than she would expect. Around that time she met a man, Olivia only knew him as zio, or uncle, who took a liking to Gina and her daughter and brought them under his wings. “He did this out of the kindness of his own heart” her mother would say later when she told her the truth about what had happened in Italy. He would bring food, leave money, drop off toys and dolls for Olivia whenever possible, and play with her for hours on end,  and spend time with them both. Life was good for a while, until the men showed up.

One day Olivia was playing out in the front yard, when some men came. They grabbed Olivia by the arm, they pulled her kicking and screaming all the way to the house. Inside they threw Olivia down in front of her mother at her feet. Gina scooped Olivia up as fast as she could and held the frightened child tightly against her. Gina said nothing but just stared angrily at the men, she waited to hear what they would say, her first thought was that she wished that zio was here, but it was just her and the three men. She knew them all, the three of them were just thugs and bullies, Enrico was the leader of the trio while Tony and Peter were his henchman.

Enrico stepped forward “Gina, what did you not understand about us protecting you from strangers? What do you do? but get caught up with someone who is not from here. Who knows what he would do to you and your daughter?”. Gina’s blood boiled “How dare you speak of protection from you and the rest of your kind. You killed my Franco and now you want me to pay you for some false sense of protection” She stepped forward “I would rather die then become the girlfriend or wife of one of you lowlife gangster wannabes” she then spat on the floor in front of Enrico. Tony and Peter moved towards Gina, she quickly cowers back turning her daughter away from the men, should they strike her, but Enrico motioned them to stop. “Gina, that was not very nice, evil words will get you nowhere. We are concerned for you, and of course your lovely daughter. But I asked you nicely to pay for protection, and you refused. So I am afraid that I will need to show you what happens if you do not have our protection. A shame your new boyfriend is not here to help you, Peter, Tony, show our lovely beauty queen what befalls those who refuse us”. Gina prepared for the worst, she covered Olivia, hoping to shield her, or at least minimize any actions against them. As Peter reached to grab Gina, she saw something hit his arm, and it broke clean in two. Peter fell to the ground screaming in agony, she could see the bone sticking out of his arm.

A body moved between Gina and the men, it was the man they called zio. Standing there defiantly, zio had a club in his hand “So, is this what you men have become? Preying on helpless woman and children? Cowards by anyones standards if you ask me”. Peter could not stop screaming as he held his arm to try to ease the pain. Enrico moved toward zio “You think that I am some kind of coward?” Enrico pulled out a gun and shot Peter, he fell to the floor silenced, Gina cried out at this display of callous cruelty. Enrico looked smug “So my friend, I have to ask you, how far are you willing to go to get the job done”. Zio just smiled “Further then you think” Enrico went to pull the gun up to shoot zio,  zio rushed him, he swung the club and knocked the gun out of his hand. Zio then swung the club back and smacked Enrico in the side of the head, he then dropped to the ground. Just then Tony thought he would grab the girl and Gina, She screamed,  zio then spun around and kicked Tony’s legs out from underneath him, he fell hard with a resounding thud. Enrico scrambled to his feet, staggered a bit then saw the gun that had been knocked from his hands, he went towards it.

Enrico knew the only way to stop this was to take care of Gina and that brat of hers.  He quickly got to the gun, turned to face Gina, who was in the corner huddled with her daughter. Tony stood up, and faced zio, he had his back to Enrico. Zio could see that Enrico was aiming the gun at Gina, so he rushed Tony and pushed him, just then Enrico fired the pistol. Tony was between the mother and her child when the bullet hit him. His chest felt like a white-hot poker had been stuck into it, he curled up before he hit the ground and landed on his back. Enrico was caught off guard, that was enough time for zio to throw the club and hit Enrico’s hand, the gun flew and landed near Gina.

Enrico turned to face zio, his face was filled with rage, he reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a switch blade stiletto knife. It seemed to sing as he pushed the button to release the blade from the body of the knife. The two men faced off with each other, Enrico was a little nervous “You piece of shit, how dare you interfere with Camorra business, she belongs to this town, you are but an outsider trying to change our ways”. Zio felt angry by his comments “You are nothing more than a bully, a coward and a low life. I have seen the likes of you too many times to count. But the end is always the same, they die crying like drowning rats that they are”. Enrico grew angrier “I’ll show you who is the coward, how dare you tell me what to do in my town” he then came at zio with the knife, zio deflected the knife with one hand and sent it off to the side, he then used his other hand to strike Enrico in the face, after which he then grabbed Enrico and allowed his momentum to carry him to the floor. Zio smiled “Is that two or three times that I already humiliated you, I forget?”. Enrico was livid, his pride had been damaged here, he quickly jumped to his feet “You will die tonight by my blade, I promise to be dancing on your grave by morning”. Zio looked him in the eye and spoke just under his breath with disgust “Boy, if I had a penny for every time I heard that one”, Enrico closed the distance, he slashed and stabbed at zio, but his blade came up empty every time.

Zio laughed “If I had wanted to dance, I would have asked Gina. Obviously knife fighting is a lost art with you” he goaded Enrico on purpose, rage causes mistakes, and this man was about to make a fatal one. Enrico, breathing heavily, made a last futile attempt at putting the knife into zio. In one swift move, Zio takes Enrico’s hand and twists it until the knife pops out of his hand, zio grabs it in mid-air and is then able to take the knife and lay the edge of the blade against the throat of Enrico. The blade is sharp, just pressing it against Enrico’s neck causes a minor cut and some bleeding to appear on the skin, zio then speaks “It’s your choice my friend, promise to leave Gina and Olivia alone, and that this ends here. Or, I slice your throat as if I am bleeding a pig and we watch you die, then I’ll just drop your stinking body into the sewer where it belongs”. Enrico is still trying to catch his breath, he looks at zio and smugly tells him “You really don’t think that you can win do you?”. Zio looked a bit confused at this response from Enrico, then a wry smile played across his face. Bang!Bang! two shots rang out behind them, zio turned to see Tony, only a few feet away, fall face first to the ground with a knife in his hand, after he hit the floor, you could see Gina holding the gun and pointing it in Tony’s direction.

Zio loosened his grip when the commotion began, this gave Enrico the chance he needed to grab second knife in his pocket. He popped it open and stabbed zio in the kidney, zio dropped to one knee. “Now lets see who the big man is around here” Enrico blurted out. Just then, zio pulled the knife from his back spun around and drove it into his solar plexus, and just under the rib cage. Enrico let out a gasp, zio held him and slowly brought him to the ground. Enrico was confused, he had stabbed this man, he should be dead, and it was as if a mosquito had bit him. Zio stared Enrico in the face, with his dying breath Enrico asked “Who are you?” zio leaned forward, placed his lips next to Enrico’s ear and spoke so that only he could hear “I am Arius, an immortal, you never had a chance”. As life faded from Enrico’s body, a shocked look was etched into his face. Zio got up and stepped towards Gina who was still holding the gun, he gently grabbed it and took it from her. “Gina” he said “I came here to give you these before all this happened” With that he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a satchel.

He brought her to a table where he emptied the cloth bag onto it, she thought “How beautiful”. Out poured diamonds the size of olives and bigger, “Take one, and hide the rest where no one can find them, buy a flight out of here and go to New York, there I want you to meet an old friend of mine, he will help you to sell the stones, he is the only one I trust. There should be more than enough money from these to help you and Olivia become citizens and also to allow you to live well, but you must do it now”. Gina grabbed and hugged zio for what seemed like forever, tears streaming down her face, she gently kissed zio. “Olivia my darling, tell zio thank you very much”. Olivia was not sure what had just happened, but she always obeyed her mother “Thank you zio” she rushed over to him and hugged him as her mother did. They left later that night, she never saw zio again, that is until now.

She was staring at Arius as the  morning light broke through the windows, him and Chester laying together on the floor as if they have known each other for years. A smile gently appeared on her face, could this be Zio? This man before her looks no older than thirty, zio would now be in his fifties or sixties.  She had almost all but forgotten about zio, and yet this man in front of her dredged up memories gone by of a man who had saved her and her mother so many years ago. This is just silly, she thought, how could this be him, I was so young? Maybe it’s just wishful thinking. Then a sound is heard at the front door, someone is fumbling with a key to unlock the door. Olivia is thrust back into reality, and the here and now, just then the door opens “Buongiorno Olivia”  The woman looks down and sees the dog and Arius “che cosa è questo?” she blurts out surprised.Her eyes widen in disbelief, the blood leaves here face “Madonna mio, Arius?” The woman seems to be weak at the knees and starts to dip, Olivia rushes to her mom and grabs her to hold her up, Chester awakens startled, and barks. Arius Jumps to his feet and looks at the two woman, he stares for a second, then a wave of memories envelop him as he is brought back to Italy and the sight of the two woman that he had helped so many years ago, at least by their standards. He knew that he could not make up a story, as he is able to do with others, “Gina Giordano? Is that you my dear?” Tears streamed down the face of the woman known as Gina, good deeds burn deeply in the minds of those who appreciate when aid is given from the heart. In a heavy Italian accent Gina speaks out “Where have you been so many years zio, I have thought about you every day since we left Italy” Then as if it begins to settle in “But, look at you, you haven’t change a bit since we last saw you?”. Arius smiled, he gently took Gina’s hand and stroked it as he guided her deeper into the home, Olivia just stood at there, entranced by what she saw, and what she felt, she was crying tears of joy. Arius brought Gina to a chair nearby and motioned for her to sit. “I have so much to tell you, but before I begin, I need to explain the truth to you of what you see here today”. Gina peered through her tear filled eyes at Olivia and then through the picture window at the rising sun, she then spoke softly “It is truly a beautiful day today”. The morning was just beginning for them all, but once again, time had finally caught up with Arius.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

Evan though Arius is an immortal, he still needs to work out. It’s no easier when you’re an immortal, but the benefits of a little exercise remains longer. So as he runs down the road, he passes Olivia’s place, he can see that she seems to be well set financially. Arius then heads into the woods further down the road, his senses become alive, no matter how long he lives, the thrill of being in the woods can never be replaced. This is where men are made or broken, it is only you and the outdoors, down to the absolute basics, the way the world was truly meant to be. No modern conveniences, cell phones or even electricity. You are here with the very minimal of any excess baggage. You either accept the way it is and live, or fight it and die. The forest offers you everything that you need to succeed, you just need to know where to look.

Arius can feel the cool breeze and the scent of water lingering in the air, he knows that a body of water is nearby. As he comes over the crest of a hill he stops and sees a small waterfall and a pool where the falls cascades into. Then he sees movement below, he quickly enters cover behind a small bush. Then he notices Olivia in the pool of water below, she is swimming, her dog sleeps alongside the edge of the pool. He then notices that she was not wearing a bathing suit, much to his delight. She swims lazily under the waterfalls then stands up and tilts her head back letting the water flow through her jet black hair and then onto her naked body. Arius can’t help but notice that her firm body, her full breasts and her soft curves are perfectly placed as if she was built by an artist. The water glistens as the sunlight plays on her body, Arius has not seen a woman like her in years and is overwhelmed by a desire for her.

Suddenly the dog wakes up and barks twice facing in his direction. Arius thought to himself “How did I not notice the change in the wind” but the dog did not let it go unnoticed and continued to bark. “What is it Chester?” Olivia dropped into the water to hide her nakedness. Arius remained motionless “The dog may be old, but he still had a great nose” he thought. Olivia called out “Hello, is there anyone there?”.  Arius had no idea what to do, he just held his position, but then he felt a shift in the air around him. Just then not too far from Arius, he noticed two men come out of the woods, one of them spoke “Well little lady, do you mind if we join you to clean this filth off of our bodies, it seems to be a an awful big swimming hole to keep to yourself”. Arius then realized it was not him that the dog scented. Chester turned towards the men growling and bearing his teeth. “Whoa there boy, we’re just looking for a little fun” Chester moved closer to the men showing them that they were not welcome to come near his master. “I think you both better leave, come back after I leave and you two can do whatever it is that you want to”. The other man smiled wryly “We do plan to do whatever we want to, except we want to do it with you, don’t be a sourpuss?”. Olivia was frightened, and it showed “Please, I don’t want any trouble”. Chester moved closer again towards the men “I think you need to call your pup off little lady”. “I think I like him just where he is” Olivia said with a stern look towards the men, she was able to move to the other side of the pool and grabbed the towel to cover herself.

The men made a move toward Olivia, Chester then lunged at the men, the second guy had a stick behind his back and struck the dog with it, Chester yelped and shook it off, he then turned and attacked again. This time the stranger was ready for him and struck Chester on the side of the head. Chester made a noise then fell to the ground “Sweet dreams puppy” he said smiling. Olivia screamed “Chester, oh my god what have you done to my dog, you bastards”. “Shit, we only wanted some privacy lady, we didn’t want no dog sniffing our butts when you and I were having a little fun now would we?” he made lewd grinding sexual motions with his hips. “Leave me alone” Olivia shouted “back off and let me see that my dog is alright”.  Danny made a smirk with his mouth “When we’re done with your sweet ass, you can check on your dog all you like. It’s been awhile since I’d been with a woman, protecting the crops up here in the woods and all, so me and Jimmy need to let off a little steam”. Olivia was now frightened, knowing that these men might kill her after they rape her, she’s heard stories of marijuana growers protecting their crops near here. Stories of them shooting and killing those who came too close or discovered their growing area.

“So just relax and let Danny and Jimmy fuck the shit out of your sweet ass, and then you can go on your way, maybe” Danny then pulled a knife out, Olivia was  shocked and sucked in a breath of air, she barely moved when Jimmy ran over to her and grabbed her. “No, Please no, you don’t have to do this, let me go you assholes”. “Stop moving bitch” Jimmy lifted her up partially and back-handed her, she fell to the earth.  She kicked Jimmy in the crotch, Jimmy buckled over “You fucking bitch” but then he lashed out and punched Olivia square in the face. Olivia felt the punch and saw a bright flash of light, she could see them, but they were out of focus.

Jimmy held Olivia down as Danny was taking his pants down. “OK you little fireball, let the fun begin” As if on cue, a thick tree branch appeared between Danny’s leg as it struck him in the balls and lifted him off the ground. With his pants at his ankles Arius grabbed them and pulled Danny’s legs back as his upper torso fell forward. When he hit the ground his face met squarely with the earth. Jimmie’s eyes lit up “Mother fucker” he said, he wasted no time and jumped up with his stick and saw Arius standing there. “We both have a different interpretation of what fun is eh Jimmy?, well, let me show you my version”. Jimmy started swinging his stick, Arius blocked the first three. On the fourth swing he blocked the strike and then used a front kick to Jimmie’s stomach that sent him airborne and six feet back . Arius stood defiantly and said “Aww, Jimbo, don’t peter out on me so fast, I’m just beginning, are we having fun yet, or is it only helpless woman that you can force yourself on ?”. Jimmy got up sheepishly, then started to pace around Arius, as if sizing him up. Jimmy then growled “OK, bitch, you wanna play mother fucker, I’ll show you how we play up here in my neck of the woods, you’re in my house now you fag”. Jimmy pulled out a knife, an eight inch Bowie, a smile played across Jimmie’s face as if he thought that he had the upper hand. Arius just shook his head “You know Jimbo, kids shouldn’t play with knives, put it down and I’ll only beat the shit out of you, but keep this up and you may become fertilizer for your plants here”. “Big talk from some city boy” Jimmy barked out. Arius got a little bit defensive “You moron, I’ve spent more time scratching my ass in the woods then what time you’ve spent here, I guess it plant fertilizer for you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you”.

Jimmy lunged forward with his blade in front of him, but Arius deflected the blade and guided it to where Jimmy then struck himself in his own thigh. Jimmy screamed out, but regained his composier, he then lunged again. This time Arius re-directed the blade into Jimmie’s other thigh. “Aww shit that hurts” bleeding and stumbling, Jimmy then starts slashing while advancing towards Arius, each blow is deflected effortlessly as Arius moves around Jimmy, slapping him and even tripping him here and there. Jimmy was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily as if the air were being taken from his lungs, he then makes a final last-ditch attempt at a lunge. Arius moves in and then traps the knife hand while bending it up and back, and with an abrupt and swift motion drives the blade under Jimmie’s chin. The knife stops as it is buried up to the hilt. Jimmy gurgles as if to say something, but then falls to the ground as blood puddles under his head.

Arius stood above the lifeless body of Jimmy, he looks upon him and ponders “Shit, only about 25 years old, what a waste”. The knife enters Arius from behind while he was in deep thought, a feeling he was all too familiar with, since he’s been stabbed before during his long life. Immortals may not be killed, but they still experience the pain and the debilitating effects until they are healed. Danny pulls the knife out and then stabs Arius again in the back “Not so tough now, you son of a bitch, I think you broke one of my god damn teeth”. Arius falls to his knees, then forward to lay face first into the dirt “That’s the price you pay for letting the other guy live” he thinks as his eyes close. Danny turns his attention away from Arius, as he is lying there, the knife can be seen slowly moving out from his body till it falls to the ground, Arius now has his eyes open. “OK sweet cheeks, it’s your turn, God damn it, I have a headache from our mutual friend here”. Danny removes his pants, Olivia is still semi conscious, he pauses to admire her. “Well lets not waste another moment” Danny says to himself. As he starts to lean forward a knife blade appears from his abdomen “I think you forgot this Danny boy” as he turns, he see’s Arius looking down on him, “I thought you were dead?” Danny says in amazement. Arius looks down at Danny in disgust “Well, you thought wrong asshole”. Danny fell to the side, his eyes still open, but now dead.

Arius grabbed the towel and covered Olivia, He cradled her in his arms, she was just staring off into space, she had no idea what had just happened. He felt so sorry for her, she did not deserve this. “I am so sorry this happened to you Olivia, I let my emotions cloud my judgement, I won’t let that happen again, I promise you”.  Slowly behind Arius, Danny grabbed the knife in Jimmie’s head and slowly struggled to pull it out, he could hear Arius talking to Olivia. Danny thought to himself “OK Billy bad ass, I can play your game too”. Danny pulled himself up as he crept silently closer to Arius and Olivia. Through sheer will, pain and determination he raised the knife to strike down the two of them in one swift motion. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a slight movement, But before he could make it out, a set of jaws clamped tightly around Danny’s neck. He could feel the fangs digging into his throat, they both hit the ground together. Chester did not lose his grip, instead he stood up on all fours and shook Danny so ferociously that the dog was still holding a part of Danny’s neck when it ripped from his body. Danny laid on the ground, this time for good. His mouth was still moving as if to say something, as the blood poured from his wound.

Arius turned in time to see Chester attacking Danny, he was just protecting Olivia “Damn that’s a good dog” he thought”. Once the dog knew that Danny was actually dead, unlike some immortals we know, Chester then stumbled back a few steps and fell down. Arius knew he had to hurry and return Olivia to her house, he found her house key, tightened the towel and picked her up in his arms. They were both about eight miles into the woods, on foot he knew would take too long. He turned to the dog and said “Hang in there buddy, I’ll be back for you, so Arius took off and  folded time as he started running. By the time he had come back with the dog, Arius was so beaten and tired from folding time, that he collapsed onto the floor in Olivia’s House and passed out.

Olivia awoke, it took here a while to figure out that she was no longer in the woods. Her head was throbbing and she had a cut and a bruise on her face where she was struck. They both hurt more than anything she could remember. She was covered by a towel, which she recognized as hers. Still a bit foggy, she could make out that she was at home. She stumbled as she got to her feet, gripping the towel and holding it tightly. It was early evening, and not too bright in the home, but still light enough to see. As she rounded the corner and peered into the front entry area, her breath was stolen by the view. There on the floor was her dog Chester, laying alongside Arius with his head on his chest. She could see that they both were breathing and did not seem to be in any harm, she smiled, and winced from the pain, but it still felt good. As she turned to lay back down and rest some more, she thought “What a good boy!”, I guess we’ll leave it to you (The reader) to figure out to whom she was referring to.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

Arius pulled into the long private dirt road, Mendocino was beautiful this time of year. Being deep in the woods always seemed to help him set his mind at ease. He pulled up to the two story home, waited about ten seconds then proceeded to park. After checking out the area and the house to make sure it was clear, he then began to settle in. The alarms and sensors were armed and the cameras were all operational, Annihilators may be a bit off kilter, but they were also detail oriented, so Arius needs to always assume that they are tracking or following him, or at least, not too far behind.

As Arius melts into his very exclusive Listander recliner, his problems seem to fade into the furniture, one of the features that he admires most about them.  It’s time to allow his mind to let go of the events for the past few days, and see things in a new light, a little bit like an out of body experience. His body starts to relax, his breathing and heart rate slows down and are all but imperceptible. Not only does his mind drift, but it is as if his whole body also comes along for the ride. The sounds of nature around him are in his head also. The owl on the tree, the insects, the raccoon down by the creek, all of these energy forces are all a part of him, this is how he senses when the rhythm of the world around him gets upset or off track. The Annihilators seem to be soulless and void of feeling, thus they are harder to sense. This makes them somewhat more dangerous then others. Arius drifts even deeper into the realm of dreams.

Arius wakes up to the rocking and jumping motion of the cart, Tokar sees that he is now awake, he motions to him to be quiet. “Where are we?” Arius whispers, “Well, if it isn’t my young warrior, it took you longer to recover then I thought you would” Tokar said, it was quite evident to see that he was still in pain. “Tokar you’re still alive my good friend” Arius sat up in the back of the cart. “where are we going, do you know?”. “I am afraid I do my good lad” Tokar winced at the movement of the cart and then catches his breath. “It seems that we are going to a lovely place called “The Chambers”. Some private location for execution and torture I imagine”. Arius was speechless, he was absorbing all of this into his head. “But before we get there, I need to let you know exactly what you are and what your destiny is” Arius looked intently at Tokar, but said nothing.

“As you have come to realize, you are not like the rest of us and are an immortal. It is said that you are from the union of the gods themselves, put here on earth to protect it and the people on it”. Tokar paused to catch his breath “You see Arius you cannot die by the hands of any mortal, nor can any beast harm you nor kill you for food. You have the ability to regrow parts of your body, even if someone were to stab you and leave the knife within you, your body would expel the object and heal itself before your eighth breath was done. After a thousand years or so, you will have reached maturity and you will then cease to grow or even age any further”. Arius was shocked at what Tokar was telling him. “And it is I and others like me who have been charged with the great honor of raising, educating and setting you on the correct path, but as such, the world has other plans for you” Arius looked on as Tokar continued “But I must also warn you, there are those who wish to end the reign of the Guardians, it is these people who now have us in their custody”. “Well then” Arius commented “Let me take care of these guards so that we can be on our way”. Tokar sensed the bravado of youth, even in someone who has lived longer then him already. “You see Arius, it is not that simple, we are trying to keep them from realizing who you are”. Arius looked confused “But why should I fear them, did you not just say that am I an immortal?”. “That I did” Tokar replied “What I told you was not entirely factual, yes you are an immortal, but you can be killed”. Arius had a touch of fear reflecting in his eyes, yet he remained calm “And what is this one weakness that I have?”

Arius awoke from his brief rest, he noticed that the normal sounds had ceased outside. It was already morning, had he been asleep for that long? Just then his alarm sounded, it was the sector at the front of the home. He saw a small figure in the monitor walking up his dirt sidewalk, they were wearing a grey hooded jersey. He was able to see something in the persons hand. Arius had a gun stash near the front door which he pulled an automatic pistol from. The there was a knock on the door, he peered through the security viewer, which was not on the front door, but at the side. With the use of prisms and mirrors he could see the person as if he were standing right next to them.  Arius did not feel any danger signs, but he was cautious. He carefully opened the door at the ready.

“Good Morning” the high pitched voice squeaked out “Hello, I’m your next door neighbor and I saw you pull in last night” the petite woman pulled back her hoody to reveal her striking face and jet black hair. Arius looked at her strangely, this woman is just too happy for this time of day he thought. “My closest neighbor is three miles away?” Arius pointed out. “Actually, I’m the next one down about five miles from here” She leaned in as if to make a point. “I’m sorry, how rude of me, my name is Olivia Giordano”. “Well hello Olivia, my name is Arius, Arius Karanpoulos” Arius was onto the Greek names at this time, this was one of the several last names that he would use at certain times whenever he needed to re-invent himself. Some times he would even change his first name.

They shook hands “Nice to meet you Arius, I thought that I would bring you a welcome gift. Here are some eggs from my very own chickens” She reached out with the basket and presented them to Arius “I would like the basket back though when your done with it please!” Olivia said with a smile. “Why thank you Olivia, I may even use them today, thanks again, that was very sweet of you” Arius took the basket and set it on the floor next to the door. While she spoke, Arius slowly placed the pistol back into its hiding spot near the door. “And if you see an old German Shepard wandering around, that’s probably my dog, Chester, he’s old so don’t pay him no mind”. “Sure” Arius said “I like animals, dogs especially”. She smiled at him “Well thats good to know, I guess I’ll let you go so you can enjoy those eggs”. Arius smiled “Well, I’m sure that they’re going to be the best eggs that I have had in a long time, thanks again, it was really nice to meet you”. Olivia acted coyly, almost like a high school teenager, she obviously liked Arius “You’re welcome, any time you would like some more eggs, drop on by”. “Great, I think I will Olivia” as his mouth widened with a grin.

Olivia turned and almost skipped down his walkway, she was smiling from ear to ear. As he closed the door, Arius could not shake the feeling that he had seen her someplace before. Anyway, there was no time for memory mining, the annihilators were onto him and he had to be ready. It was a matter of time before they found him, he knew that his trail was still hot, so if he could lay low, he may have some time to get ready for them, or maybe even head off a confrontation.

Deuce and Ray shared the small cell in the county lock down, they were still sore from the robbery the night before. The cell door opened, and in stepped a man who did not look like a cop, he was dressed in a long black coat. “Evening gentleman, I hope that I’m not disturbing both of you, my name is Mr. Szabo”. The two of them jumped up from their racks, Ray was the first one to speak “Who the fuck are you old man?”. “Now, now boys, no need to be crass. I am here to get a bit more information from you two concerning last nights failed robbery attempt”. Ray puffed his chest and stepped towards Mr. Szabo “Well ya ain’t no cop, and you ain’t no lawyer, so why don’t you bounce the fuck on out of here and leave us the fuck alone”. The man then grabbed Ray and pushed him into the cell wall, Ray crumpled to the floor quickly after hitting the wall. Deuce jumped up and grabbed the mans arm. Without hesitation the man reached over, locked his hand onto Deuces, pulled him and got him off balance, he then kicked Deuces legs out from under him. Deuce landed squarely onto his back with a resounding thud. The next instant the strangers hand was wrapped around Deuces neck with a firm and tightening grip. “Listen you little cretin, all I want is some information about last night, and by the way you’re right, I am not a cop or a lawyer, but someone who is much more dangerous then the law”. The stranger looked deep into the eyes of Deuce “Has it occurred to you how a stranger like me was able to gain access to your cell?, and that if I can do that, just imagine what else I can do that is outside of the law to you and your twin moron here “.  Deuce could not breath, Mr. Szabo released his grip, the air entered Deuces lungs with a rush. Deuce relaxed a little “What do you want to know?” a smirk worked its way onto Mr. Szabo’s face “Well now, that is a much better attitude. I guess you can start from the beginning, and please, do not leave out any details, no matter how small”. The two youths started telling Mr. Szabo all that they knew and what had transpired on the night of the robbery attempt.

After they finished talking to Mr. Szabo, Ray and Deuce were a bit calmer, though still nervous about this stranger. “Thank you both for your cooperation, now that was not so hard was it? “Do you think you can help us get out of here?” Ray blurted out. Mr.Szabo turned and looked into their faces “Of course, I’ll see what I can do”. Ray smiled “Thanks dude, you’re a righteous mother fucker”. “Of course I am” said Mr. Szabo as he turned from the two youths. “Guard” he called out, and almost instantly someone opened the cell door to let him out. The two walked down the corridor of the jail house, the guard spoke first “My lord, what would you like us to do about them two?”. “Well, they wanted out of here, it’s a shame that they both had a suicide pact and then killed themselves”. The guard did not even miss a beat “Of course sir, what a shame”. Mr. Szabo stepped into the night air and peered into the stars and thought to himself “Soon my friend, when we find you, we will see if the myths and stories have any truth to them” he then stepped into the waiting limo, as they pulled away an emblem could be seen on the back of the vehicle, it was the sign of the annihilators.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

Arius pulled into the quaint gas station, he noticed that no one was at the pumps, only a van in one of the parking spaces next to the building.  He could see a young man at the counter inside. Arius never used credit or debit cards, cash only, less chance of some smart guy with a computer to find him. So Arius had to pay by cash for the gas he was getting. As Arius entered the Quick N’ Go store, it hit him like a wall of hot air. Something was just not right, his senses were screaming. The young man at the counter did not even greet him, he held his gaze low but did keep his eyes on Arius. He calmly walked towards the back of the store, he noticed that the kid behind the counter kept looking down and to his side.

“Aw shit” Arius thought “I think I just walked in on a robbery, lets hope no one has been killed”. Arius walked in front of the beer cooler and was looking at the different brands, thats when he noticed movement in the reflection of a chrome piece near the front of the store. “Dude” Arius called out to the young man ” Are you all out of Carl’s Blue ball beer?”. What?” said the kid at the counter “How should I know?” “Well, for one thing,  you do work here” Arius spoke sarcastically. “Kiss my ass bitch” anger could be seen on the youths face. “Well, I guess I’ll have to take a look for myself in the walk-in box, don’t worry, Phil lets me do this all the time, since you look so busy”, Arius was in the cooler boxes before the kid could speak, his irritation could be seen on his face. “Deuce, go follow that mother fucker and take care of him if he gives you any shit” the youth directed another person who now comes out of hiding. “We need to get the fuck out of here Ray is what we need to do” Deuce said. “He’s seen us, either waste him or scare the shit out of him so that he doesn’t talk to the cops” Ray now barked out to his accomplice. Deuce had a shotgun, shook his head and just moved towards the cooler boxes.

Deuce opened the door “Hey mister, you can’t be in here, why don’t you come on out and I’ll look for your beer instead, OK?”. No sound was heard except for the refrigeration unit and the fans. Deuce moved slowly with his shotgun in front of him. Deuce heard a noise, turned and fired three shots, it was just a soda can that fell down, but it was disintegrated. “Aw shit, see what you went and made me do dog! Now come on out and I promise I won’t” just then a stack of beer boxes collapsed on the top of Deuce. As Deuce looked up, he could see Arius with his shotgun now in his hands. “This shotgun is older than you are, where did you get it at the Howdy Doodee Ranch?”. “Fuck you” Deuce said with a defiant tone, Arius put his face closer to the youth and put the shotgun under his chin “Naahh, you wouldn’t like it DOG, I would just lay there. Besides you’re not my type”. Deuce just looked more confused then scared “See that can over there?” as Arius pointed to his right, Deuce then looked over his left shoulder “Yeah so what?”. Arius belted him with a left punch on the right side of Deuce’s chin, he was unconscious by the time his head rebounded. There were some packing straps nearby, time to secure this package.

Ray heard the commotion and the shotgun, a smile crept across his face, he looked down at the stores salesman and said with a grin “Sorry, it looks like you now have one less loyal customer. My buddy just changed the demographics for this store, what a fucking loser”. Just then something burst through the coolers glass doors, Ray looked on in shock but could not make out who or what it was. Ray jumped the counter with his handgun now in view and in front of him holding it sideways, just like he had seen in those gangster videos. A sudden silence, except for the Muzak in the background could be heard. “Deuce, you OK?” Rays voice shuddered with fear, his thoughts running a million scenarios through his mind. He looked all over before moving towards the bundle that laid before him. He touched what he could now make out to be a body, with his foot, nothing. As he inched closer his fears were realized when he saw the profile of the body, it was Deuce. “Mother fucker” Rage ripped through his mind, as his brother lay lifeless before him. “You backwoods hillbilly mother fucker, I’m gonna find you and shoot you till your just a bloody pile of meat”.

Just then he saw movement in the cooler, Ray just let loose and shot up everything that he thought he saw there. Cans flew all over, electrical sparks from the fluorescent tubes lit up and shot out like the Fourth of July, glass exploded, with liquid from the beverages spraying all over the interior and exterior of the coolers. Rays pistol finally ran out, he was breathing heavy now, sure that he had nailed the customer in question. Then from behind Ray a voice spoke out “Christ, if this is how you do robberies, maybe you should think about a new line of work, say demolition perhaps” Ray spun around and was face to face with Arius, Ray took a swing with the gun still in his hands, he missed. He then tried to hit him again, Arius just stepped back and let the swing follow through, then with a slight push at the back side of Ray’s shoulder, Ray was carried along with his momentum to the floor.

Ray looked up at Arius “OK bitch you had your chance, I’m gonna make you bleed dog”. Ray pulled a knife out and jumped to his feet, he then lunged at Arius. Arius just calmly stepped to the side and locked Ray’s arm, he then just stood there and spun around, Ray’s arm took him off of his feet where he was flung effortlessly into the salty snacks shelf. Embarrassed again, Ray was not one to give up. “You shit head, I’ll show you, I know what you’re doing, I had friends who knew Karate and shit. But I learned how to kick their asses too”. Ray started to square off with Arius, bent over and sizing him up as if he was in a High School wrestling match. Arius just stood there, he even had his hands in his pocket. “You know, this can end here right now, drop the knife, cause if you continue, either your going to jail, or maybe even to the morgue, your choice, DOG”.  Ray had a fury in his eyes and spat out “You killed my brother you fuck, I don’t care if you were the devil himself. Kill me then, if you can” Ray advanced on Arius, slashing the knife back and forth, Arius easily avoided the slashes of the youth. Then when Arius felt that it was enough, he deflected one of the slashes and then hooked the crook of his arm into Ray’s. The knife fell out of Ray’s hand from the momentum, Arius then spun Ray around till he had him in a choke hold. “Your brother is not dead, and I must say that I admire your loyalty towards him, but you both are in big trouble. Both of you are too young to start in a life of crime. The next time you wake up, you’ll be in cuffs”. Ray still defiant spoke out “What hell you when I wake up” Arius tightened the hold around Ray’s neck, he struggled but the grip was secure. Ray could not speak, his eyes slowly closed as darkness fell upon him, then in a few seconds he was nothing but dead weight. Arius released the boy and slowly brought him to the ground.

After making sure that the two thugs were secure Arius went behind the counter, the clerk was tied up and gagged. “Are you OK” Arius asked the man, “Yes thank you, thank you so much. They both overtook me and tied me up, then you showed up just as they were trying to open the till”. Arius then looked around and saw the cameras “Tell me, where do they keep the surveillance equipment”. The man looked quizzically up at Arius “Why, its in the back room, why do you need to know?” Arius just looked at the man, “Lets just say my part in this needs to remain confidential OK”. “Sure, I understand” the clerk said, he then threw Arius the keys who then disappeared  into the back room behind the door. Minutes later he shows back up “I left the part where they came in and tied you up, you can tell the police that they did it, after all who is gonna believe them, I also left it off, turn it back on after I leave”. “Got it” said the clerk “Thanks again, I think you might have saved my life, my family would appreciate it also”. Arius smiled “You’re welcome, Oh yeah, before I forget, here’s fifty bucks on pump two”. The clerk gave him a what the hell kind of look “Get out of here, it’s on me, I insist, and plus I’ll wait ten minutes after you leave before I call the cops”. “Much obliged my friend” Arius said a little sheepishly as he walked through the door.

The cool night air was refreshing, Arius turned to see the clerk check in on the two ruffians. He quickly filled his tank and took off without much fanfare. The police cars passed him heading towards the gas station about ten minutes later as the clerk promised. Arius then took the next main highway exit to add a little variation and distance to his last stop. Heading north along the coast, deep into forested country. Arius liked to be closer to nature whenever the shit hits the fan, sort of time out for him to formulate a plan. He wondered just how hard are the Annihilators willing to keep looking for him, or if they will just be waiting for the next sighting before they take action. Either way he knew that they could not be under estimated. Anyway, it was only two to three hours before would be at his next safe location, he truly looked forward to getting there.

The police at the gas station were just finishing up with their investigation of the robbery, they had the two robbers in custody and had just gotten finished interrogating them. A female officer stepped off to the side of the building out of the sight of the others. She then dialed her cell phone “Hello, Taruuk? this is Amy, look, there’s something here that you might be interested in. The two robbers described him to a tee, and this whole scene just reeks of an experienced immortal. He covered his tracks pretty good though. The clerk is pretty tight-lipped, seems to have a little loyalty to our friend, I can tell that he’s not telling us everything that he knows. That about it for now, I think he’s headed north, but that’s just a guess. If I hear anything new I’ll call, you’re welcome sir, you know, anything for the crushers, bye”. Amy hung up the phone “I hope I get to meet an immortal someday” she thought “So that I can kill him”. Amy just gazed into the night sky, the cool night air was refreshing.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

The Annihilators were a group of men bent on creating anarchy and destruction, in other words they had a screw loose. They were the epitome of genetic engineering, the men and woman were hand-picked, their descendants carefully scrutinized to cull out only the best of their breeding program.  This was done to ensure strength, longevity and blood lust. Anything that stood in their way or what they felt was an obstruction to their way of life, was a problem which was dealt with extreme prejudice and severity. They offered no compromises, and would not hesitate to act. They disliked most immortals, possibly due to a little bit of jealousy. They felt that they should have been granted immortality to carry out their most nefarious plans for all eternity.

They have been influential throughout history by advising leaders to adhere to the Annihilators way of life, which included but was not limited to pure evil, death, pain and depravity. Attila the Hun, Vlad Ţepeş (Better known as Vlad the Impaler), Ivan the Terrible and Hitler & Stalin just to name a few were subscribers to their form of religion. There were so many more throughout history who followed the credo of these madmen, only to be met with a terrible death when their downfall occurred. They would then regroup and move onto the next greedy and self-serving megalomaniac that they could find, and then repeat the schooling.

It’s been a few thousand years since Arius had any dealings with them, he has been able to keep a low-key and off of their radar. But now it seems that time was catching up with him, and these cretins were on to him once again. Arius has always kept tabs on them, but only interfered when he was able to, after all, there were literally thousands of them. They were spread throughout the world and numbered at last count, at approximately 40,000. Not too many, but enough to get the average mortals worked up and duped into working for them.

The good part is that they are still human, and have the same methods of demise as any human, but they do age slower and are quite strong. Many Annihilators nowadays have taken up into the local fight circles and have also been seen in fight cages that are so prevalent today, Arius thinks these are not so different from the coliseum fights back in the days of Julius Caesar, they just live longer now. Arius despises the Annihilaters, even though he is supposed to be above these primitive feelings of revenge and hate. But the priests were not able to finish his training, at least that’s his excuse. The mind often wanders into the past when no need of complex thinking is needed. “Tokar” Arius speaks out to no one in the car. He then remembers where his first true encounter of his life mission began.

As the guard turns away from the wall, Arius silently takes his knife from its sheath, he then quickly grabs the guard by the hair and pulls his head back. The knife effortlessly cuts across the throat of the guard, blood from the cut pours out yet no sound from the guard was made. Arius pulls the guard quickly into the depths of the dark alley. This is Arius’s first kill, he notices the warmth of the blood that has covered his hand, he also feels the body as the guard passes into the realm of the dead as his quivering ceases and a calm settles over this now lifeless body. Arius is saddened by this, a rush of guilt comes over him. But he notices that there is also a feeling of excitement along with the guilt, Arius thinks how could these two feelings coexist together for what he has just done. He then collects himself and snaps out of his conflicted feelings, reality must be dealt with, there will be time to mourn for the dead when all has been done.

Arius takes the sword and hides it on him as he leaves the body in the alley, he can hear a man yelling at Tokar. Tokar can be heard repeating “I know not of what you ask, I am but a lowly priest, how would I know the secrets of gods or immortals”. Arius then hears a thud, knowing all too well that Tokar had just been struck. The door to the hut was cracked slightly as Arius peeked in. Just then a second guard comes from around the hut “Boy, what do you think you’re doing?”. Arius spins to see the guard with his hand on his sword hilt, “I’m sorry sir, I am looking for Markus, do you know him?”. The guard looks confused, as he opens his mouth to answer, Arius quickly draws the sword and swings at the guard. The guard steps back effortlessly at this amateurs attempt at killing him, Arius falls forward from this unexpected miss, but recovers quickly. “So young whelp, had a few too many drinks of liquid courage at the local tavern?”. Arius is now learning the feeling of fear, all his training leaves him as panic enters his veins. “I am sorry sir, you scared me, I mean you no harm” Arius stuttered at the guard. “Well little one, I mean you no harm either, but I do mean to kill you and hack your body into little pieces to feed to the vultures”. The guards sword left its scabbard without a sound and was headed towards Arius. Instinct took over as Arius turned his body, the sword missed but did take a piece of his clothing. Wasting no time the guard was already swinging down at the legs of Arius, who moved away to only suffer a deep cut to his thigh. Arius screamed at the pain and stumbled back as his blood left the wound, a smile crept across the guards face. But as the guard watched in amazement, the wound healed before his eyes. He looked up at Arius “You’re the one, you’re the immortal we’ve been looking for”. Arius looked at the guard who was still dumbstruck, an advantage he did not waste. He quickly raised his sword and plunged it into the guard, his second kill of the night. The guard grasped Arius as his life ebbed from him, “Please forgive me”. For the second time that night, Arius felt the life force of a man wither away with the evening air, “You are forgiven my friend”. A smile played across the face of the guard, but was soon replaced with the emotionless mask of death. In the next instant, Arius felt a sharp crack against the back of his head and the sight of a bright light. His body now draped across that of the dead guard, unconscious. Ran-gar stood above the two bodies as he lowers the club along his side. “Well priest, it looks like we have another source to question, or torture”. Ran-gar smiled at the sight of one dead man and the youth who may hold more answers, or at least be used to motivate the priest, “Guard, take the boy and the priest to the chambers for a more thorough questioning”. Tokar overheard what had happened outside the hut, a sadness overcame him, he has to protect Arius at all costs he thought, and he has to teach him quickly of what his destiny is, or the world could be doomed.

© 2010 Steven Takacs

The two assassins that came in through the window had not yet realized that they were at a disadvantage, but they would soon find out. Arius pointed the Glocks at them and shot one in the left leg and the other in the right. The two men just collapsed into each other, Arius then jumped over the two and landed behind them, crouching long enough to let the other men from the bedroom react, killing the two men behind him.

As Arius rolled to his right, he heard the two men hit the floor, he knew he only had a few seconds before the shock of their mistake wore off. One gun felt empty while the other one was close to being done, when Arius stood up, he fired one shot into the head of the man on the left. The assassin on the right turned his head just in time to see the Glock smash him squarely across the bridge of his nose. A bright light was all that the man saw, until he woke up several minutes later.

Arius had tied the man in his garage to the work bench. “Who sent you?” Arius barked. The man looked up, still in a daze, his head feeling like a lead ball only with a broken nose. “What is it that you want from me?” Arius said, sounding a bit more angry. “Where are the others?” was all that the man could muster. “Don’t worry, they’re in a safe place” Arius spoke with a smug look on his face. All these years of living, and all these years of taking out the trash of modern humanity have given Arius the know how to, lets say, make things disappear and to never be found again.

Arius knew that this man would not be easily scared into divulging any information, at least not if he is an assassin worth his salt. They all know too well what the stakes are, and that death is only a heartbeat away on every job. The man showed no emotion, he was finally coming to. “Maybe your employer didn’t fill you in as to what my capabilities are, or maybe he doesn’t even know himself” Arius slowly walked in front of the man, grabbed his face and stared into his eyes.

Some immortals have the ability to send pictures from their minds and also to evoke certain emotions, Arius was one of these immortals. As the man stared back into Arius’s eyes, the room started to fade.  At first all he could hear were the sounds of men screaming along with the sound of a battle in the background. He could then see what looked like men fighting with large swords. Men were bleeding, some with their arms or legs severed. The smell of blood, vomit and other human fluids was as clear to him as if he was there in real life, he then gagged slightly.  As the scene progressed,  a man was seen in the distance. As he drew closer, there was a large hooded man hovering over an elderly man who was stretched out on a table. His entrails, which were coming through a small opening near his belly button, were tied around some type of cranking device. As the executioner probed the man for questions, he would turn the crank handle with each second of silence or no response, as the entrails exited the mans body winding itself up under the crank handle, but by the looks of gut wraps on the handle, this torture had only just began. The assassin felt the pain of the old man, he felt his guts sliding out through his belly button and the pain as the rest of his entrails flowed like a snake from his body.

The assassin was thrown back into reality as Arius released his hands from his face. The assassin was covered in sweat, “What the fuck was that?” the assassins eyes were wide open, “finally” Arius thought “fear at last”. Arius took a step away and looked into the face of the assassin tied to the bench. “I will ask one more time, if I do not get the truth, and I will know if you’re lying, I will send you back again and again to relive what you saw and felt, again, who sent you?”. Panic was now etched on the face of the captive, he was no longer in control, he still felt the phantom pains and the pungent smells of Arius’s little show. “OK, OK, just don’t send me back there, please. I may even die for telling you this, but don’t send me there again please!” he said with fear in his voice, he had finally cracked. Arius settled in to listen to the now frightened man. “We never really got to meet this guy, it was all sort of hush, hush, you know, the typical cloak and dagger bullshit. We don’t care who the guy is as long as the check is good. But I do remember something, he was all dressed in black from head to toe, he also had some type of accent, Middle Eastern or Mediterranean, I’m not real sure, and he also had this tattoo under his wrist”. Arius seemed interested at this point “Do you remember what it looked like?” . He looked up towards Arius as if in deep thought “I think it was three skulls with an exploding something under it”. Arius dropped his head “An exploding earth” The captive looked up and replied “Yeah, that’s it, come to think of it, it could have been an earth, but I’m not 100 percent sure”. Arius leaned in closer “What else did he tell you?” The assassin looked up at Jordan “The dark dressed guy said that you would be hard to kill, he was right, you’re the best I’ve ever been against”. “Well” Arius stood up “I’ll take that as a compliment”.

Arius turned away from his captive and went into the evening air, “the Annihilators” he thought “They must have somehow found me”.  The Annihilators were a group, not like the immortals, but they did live longer then the average person, typically 150 to 200 years. They resented the immortals and anything else that did not want to cause chaos and mayhem in the world. They were a little bit twisted and loved to cause pain. If ever there were a Satan and his minion, this was them. The picture that Arius sent through the mind of the assassin was an event that Arius had experienced, it was the actual torture and the killing of his priest friend Tokar.

Arius walked back into the garage towards the assassin, he had a glass in his hand. “What are you going to do to me now, if you don’t kill me, your goth friend will”. “Drink this” Arius presented the glass to him. “What is that shit, some kind of poison?” the captive grew tense. “It’s your freedom, drink this and you will sleep for six hours, I have arranged to transport you somewhere, and when you awake, all of this, and then some, will have been forgotten. You will have an envelope with a description of your new name and additional info along with some cash to get you started. That is of course unless you would rather that I kill you here” Arius brought the glass closer to the man. “How do I know your telling the truth?” he said squirming against his ropes. Arius just looked him in the eyes “You don’t”. The assassin stared back into Arius’s face “Awww, shit, not much of a choice. Go ahead, let me have a swig of that crap, I’m tired of playing games here. And if I die, oh well, stranger shit has happened”. The assassin drank the brew, and within a matter of seconds, passed out. He was gone within the hour.

Arius had to give up this house, he had people who would take care of the details later, no questions asked. He knew that they would return, so he left the house as soon as possible. Arius was always on the move and also prepared for when he needed to re-establish himself, after all people might notice that you don’t get old after a while. But this time it was for different reasons, he had been discovered. There were other place for him to go to, he always kept a few safe houses here and there and in other states and countries. It was tougher nowadays, with computers and technology, but as always, grease the right palms and you get what you need.

On his way to his new home, Arius’s mind starts to wander. He remembers back in time again, it was a few nights after the wars  had begun, Arius and Tokar were trying to keep ahead of the moving armies. Tokar was still weak from his wounds. Arius was still naive to the ways of the world, even at his age. Little did they know that they were being followed. One night Arius left Tokar to obtain food and water, he left the hut where they had paid a merchant to use for a day or two. He silently left the hut, at least he still had enough sense to know to keep a low profile. Upon his return, he saw some men outside the hut where they were staying. Arius heard them yelling at Tokar, he hid in an alley way, not too far from the hut, but he could not hear what was being spoken. Suddenly one of the men guarding the outside of the hut stepped towards the alley, Arius held his breath and pulled deeper into the darkness of the alley as he blended into the shadows. The man put his weapons down and then opened his tunic and proceeded to urinate against the wall. Arius could see the man as he finished his duties, then he saw the under side of his right wrist. It was then that he saw for the first time the tattoo of the three skulled world crushers, or better known as the Annihilators.

© 2010 Steven Takacs