The Iron Soldier: A FourTris Divergent Story

Chapter 33

AN: Thank you, thank you, thank you to my beta reader Eunice339. This story really comes alive when we work together.

Four's POV

If my life were an action film, this is the scene where my theme song would be playing, cheering me on. I might even have been portrayed as the underdog up to this point. But as soon as the music starts, you would know that I'm about to kick some serious ass. Unfortunately, this isn't a work of fiction, and the ending is not quite as transparent, but I'm still planning on going in with guns blazing.

Eric stopped hiding his tracks as soon as he had Tris. I'd expected nothing less since he obviously wanted me to find him. He even went so far as to send me a series of clues, leading me to him. I'm willing to bet he thought he was being cleaver, and that I would have a hard time deciphering his messages. The truth is, I had it figured out within the first two clues, leaving the other three unnecessary.

Eric tends to have a flare for the dramatic, and since he is considering this his big finale, I had a feeling our face off would be at some epic location, though an abandoned castle is even beyond what I had imagined he would come up with. Nor did I expect I'd be chasing him all the way to Ireland.

Not that it matters, I would travel to the ends of the Earth to get Tris back, and I am pretty confident that I will still be catching him off guard by how quickly I figured out his childish scavenger hunt.

I'm now standing in front of the outer gates of what was at one point an impressive fortress. The walls are nearly impossible to scale. The drawbridge is cranked into an upright position, no longer offering an easy place to cross the muddy ravine that used to be a deep moat.

I could go into stealth mode, search for a way inside undetected and then sneak around looking for Tris, but that would take too long. The sooner I find her the better, and since my ultimate goal is to end this feud once and for all, I have no intention of avoiding Eric. I may as well make this as easy for myself as I can and walk right through the front door.

It's time to announce my arrival. I set the huge duffle bag of weapons aside and pull out the bazooka. I take careful aim at the portcullis and fire the rocket, hitting my target dead center. The wooden gate blows up in an impressive show of fire, smoke and debris. Then I yell at the top of my lungs, "Ready or not, here I come." I know it's a silly thing to do. The sound of the explosion was ten times that of my battle cry, but I wanted Eric to know, without a doubt, that I'm not hiding this time.

I toss the oversized weapon aside. I won't need it again once I'm inside and in tight quarters. Plus, I need to lighten my load if I'm going to make it across the moat successfully. I store as much ammunition as I can, clipping them to every available place on my body and store several handguns in their holsters. Several grenades fit in my pockets, topping off my firepower while keeping my hands free.

A thick branch is conveniently located off to my right. I test its strength, and once I'm satisfied it can hold my weight, I take several steps backward to give myself a good running start. With a deep breath, I begin to run toward the gap in front of the wall and right before I reach the edge of the land, I thrust the end of the branch into the mud and hold tightly onto the other side, successfully vaulting me into the outer ward. I go into a barrel roll before landing in a crouch and quickly checking my immediate surroundings for unseen enemies.

There is no sign of Eric, or any of his mindless minions for that matter, but there is still another heavy door blocking my passage into the main building. If I know Eric as well as I think I do, he's right behind that door, waiting for me. What I don't know is whether or not he's still alone.