One World

Part 6

Gabriel knew he had failed.

He knew it the moment the blade of the dagger fell.

Although the knife passed through the battle suit and struck Rag'ell in the neck, the wound was not fatal. The hard material of the armour prevented the blade from penetrating deep enough to kill the Supreme.

Besides, if the Ardanians' artery were in the same place as the humans', he surely missed it.

The wound was certainly painful and bleeding, but not fatal.

I failed.

That was the only thought running through Gabriel's mind as the two soldiers knocked him to the ground, as they hit him hard, pointing their weapons at his head with the apparent intent of blowing it off. 

And even though he knew he was down to his last seconds of life, he felt nothing, not even fear, nothing but indescribable frustration that his carefully laid plan had failed.

"Nar'e," he heard as he was looking down the barrel of the alien gun, expecting to be killed on the spot.

Nar'e. No. An Ardanese word for disagreement.

The soldiers lowered their weapons.

Rag'ell. He was the one who stopped his gunmen.

The Supreme slowly rose to his feet, holding the wound on his neck, and signalled to the two Ardanians rushing to his aid to stand back.

The Silver-Haired Butcher walked over to the captive, who was pulled to his feet by the soldiers. This time they left nothing to chance, holding the man tightly, his arms twisted behind his back, while two others stood beside him, weapons ready to fire if he tried anything.

No, they wouldn't underestimate him again. They wouldn't make the same mistake twice. The very fact that Rag'ell had given him this one opportunity to attack surprised Gabriel, yet he hadn't been able to take advantage of that hesitation. 

He had failed.

He wondered what had happened to Garret, Eric, Alexa and the rest of the rebels. Had any of them survived? He knew nothing of their fate. They were probably all dead, their bodies lying somewhere among the ruins.

And he would soon follow them.

Rag'ell's purple eyes watched the trapped man through the transparent visor of his helmet, and Gabriel tried to read his intentions in them.

The black-gloved hand still clutched the wound on his neck, the red blood not so obvious against the dark material of the battle suit. Cassel expected to be executed immediately for what he had done to the Ardanian leader, but Rag'ell seemed calm.  

He then removed his helmet, the right side of it stained with his own blood. Despite his failure, the rebel leader felt a sense of satisfaction. He may not have accomplished his mission, but at least he had managed to get close to the Ardanian almighty, to lure him here, to wound him and to make him bleed.

As Rag'ell removed his helmet, his long silver-white hair fell loosely around his face, glistening in the sunlight. The unnaturally purple eyes, so unlike those of a human, now stared at the captive without any sort of barrier.

He's really beautiful, the thought flashed through Gabriel's mind, but he quickly pushed it away.

Cassel, like the other inhabitants of this world, had known the face of their oppressor. He had seen it many times in the broadcasts from the spaceship, as the Supreme spoke to his new subjects.

But that was nothing compared to seeing Rag'ell now.

His exotic appearance, though cold, alien and unnatural, was also intriguing, with a certain otherworldly ethereality.