End of the Odyssey(3)

Gloria hated odysseys.

It was odd, as she had entered the line of work where they would be her bread-and-butter… and many times, their master had laughed at the notion, and marveled at how zeal could force people to do things they hated.

She hated odysseys… but she loved power.

She loved the way people squirmed when she cast her spells. She loved the way she could flit around the room, faster than any mortal man before the descent of the gods. She loved to see those flying in the air like gods, themselves, and dream of a time when she could accomplish the same thing… so no matter how much she hated them, she forced herself to do her best.

And because of this, the teachings of the Dragon were perfect for her.

"Go for the kill. Do not falter, do not waver, do not give in to the temptation to weave complicated plans. Just go for the kill… and end the odyssey before anyone can realize what is happening. It is all a travesty, I tell you. We should be able to obtain power without needing to go through all the drama… so wherever possible, this is what you must do."

Those had been the words of the Dragon. But sadly, in this particular odyssey… everything had gone wrong, and there was no way anymore to follow his teachings.

Walking through the large hallways of the governor's residence, she scowled at everyone who came in her way. Someone had once told her that her hair and the way she was able to twist her lips angrily made her look like a demon, and she had taken it as a compliment. She used it whenever she could, and she had even gotten addicted to the way normal people jumped out of her way whenever they saw her.

Her master always said that fear was the best weapon in anyone's arsenal… and she was the one who could wield it most effectively, no matter what anyone said.

Despite groups of people walking everywhere in the residence, she had a clear path to the room at the very end, which was guarded by six guards all standing ramrod straight, their hands holding the assault rifles they were so proud of, but were useless in this current odyssey. They stepped aside as she arrived, and throwing open the large doors, she stepped into the governor's office and scowled even more when she remembered the video that scoundrel had used, and how effective it had been.

The governor sat shaking in his chair, wiping the sweat that kept coming down his bald head. He was a large man, having grown fat from everything he had stolen from his people. She despised him, and not for the first time, she wished that she was the villain so that she could enjoy the feeling of driving her fist through his heart.

"Have you done everything I asked?"

Her voice echoed in the empty room, but the man merely shuddered again and smacked his lips. A large, veined hand landed on his shoulder, making him almost jump due to its weight, and as her companion repeated the question in a gruff voice, the governor whined, "Yes, yes! All of the guards have been ordered to cause no deaths! They will only target the three whose details have been transmitted to them! They're at the ready!"

Gloria nodded and checked the weapons all over her body. She knew that the conclusion was coming soon, but she also knew that she had to be patient. Opening her mouth, she prepared to deliver another scathing warning… but she stopped in her tracks when walkie talkies both at her belt and the belt of her companion switched on, and a voice appeared in the room.

"Alert, alert! They have reached the front door!"

With a grimace, she turned around and began to trot back in the same direction she had come in. Things were already going wrong; by her estimation, the people would have still needed an hour to get where they were now, but it seemed that in their anger, they were pushing forward with the might of their numbers, especially because she was bound by the restriction to not kill too many and had hence had to order the soldiers to be merciful.

Soon, she was stepping through the gigantic front doors of the residence… to come face-to-face with the sea of people arrayed in front of her.

They were all screaming something unintelligible, holding signs and defiantly punching the air as if that would accomplish something. She sneered as she looked out over them, pitying their powerlessness, pitying their insignificant lives. She knew that they were all brainwashed participants of the odyssey, but in the real world, they weren't very different, so she looked down on them all and made no effort to hide the fact.

She was too far away to be seen, anyway. The residence was styled in the old way; the large European style building had a large empty space in front of it, with an equally large set of stairs that rose up and up before finally reaching the door. Barricades had been set up on them, and barricades could be seen arranged as per her instructions in the clearing, too, but the people had pushed past them all and given the guards no choice but to stand on the steps, holding onto their riot shields that were bulging inwards with everything they had.

The Dragon had always said that people were like cattle, meant to be reared and guided where they had to go, but whipped if they disobeyed commands, or tried to act smart. She knew clearly how many people she could kill; all she wanted was a perfect chance to wipe out the villains, because if they died, the restrictions would disappear, anyway, so she kept searching, hoping that they would show themselves foolishly, even though she had admitted grudgingly that he was smart enough to have the earned the right to be taken seriously.

Her companion would be with the governor no matter what happened. He was the final line of defense, and the strongest one at that, too. Sometimes, even she was wary of the middle-aged man who had one of the most remarkable backgrounds of anyone accepted into the ranks of the Children of the Dragon.

'But that's only because of his age. If I were as old as him, I would be much stronger.'

She shrugged away the feeling of weakness in this manner, as even such feelings were dangerous. Calming her mind, she studied the crowd in front of her… and picked up a certain detail that she hadn't noticed before.

Cursing her inattentiveness, she focused her eyes on the large, yellow machines a few hundred meters away from the doors of the residence. There were four of them, all with large signs that could be read even from where she was.

'Just some construction machinery. It's probably just some workers who wanted to join the protest, too. But wait… why is one of them moving?'

More curious than cautious, she stared at the machine. Specifically, it was an excavator, with a bucket meant to scoop out mud or whatever it was charged to dig and carry. Right now, the bucket had risen into the air, but due you to the darkness, she couldn't make out any other details.

Indeed, night had fallen before the protesters had managed to reach this far, but armed with mobile phones that acted like torches, they were still going strong. Squinting and wishing that she had learned the spell to zoom in with her eyes, she observed the machine… and felt an odd, foreboding feeling appeared in her mind as she saw that the bucket had begun to whirl round and round and round, faster and faster and faster like a giant wheel at an amusement park that was being run by a madman.

By the time she recognized what was going to happen, it was too late. She had known that the villain would come up with even more plans that might surprise her…but nothing could have prepared her for what was going to happen.

The bucket reached a peak speed that she wouldn't have thought it was capable of, and at that moment, a black ball was flung from it, straight in the direction of the barricades and the door of the residence. She blinked as it approached, growing larger and larger with each passing moment, and before it crashed into the large doors that were supposed to be the perfect deterrent for the people, there was an instant when her eyes were able to see it for what it was.

As a loud crashing sound was heard behind her that was accompanied by a powerful swell from the people in front, she began to mumble under her breath while her hands reached for her daggers.

"He's a madman. Seriously, he's a madman. I thought of everything he could do… but how the hell could I have prepared for a wrecking ball made out of those damn cloaks? He's a madman… and he must die. The Children of the Dragon must stand supreme. The Children of the Dragon must always win! Kill! Kill! Kill!"