Didn’t worry about going straight to my lair. Had he known where it was, there would have been no elaborate ambush. I even presumed to know how I’ve been found out – same way as in the academy. Raktkalises must be sitting on some tech that tracked interruptions of data flow. If I survive this, I’ll need to find ways around that.

In the meantime, had another headache. Literal one. Adrenaline petered out and I was flagging. Exertion, stress and the injury finally got a chance to sink their claws into me.

I crawled into a heap of blankets and shivered.

The implant wasn’t holding up all that well either. The lively thing now seemed feeble and absent, too. Overtaxing a freshly attached limb had been idiotic, but neither was it my choice, nor doing. Come to think of it, I was surprised it had not fallen off after the first lash.

Within an open gash I spied a dark tissue reaching towards my flaring reds and hold on for dear life. Revulsion overwhelmed me and I got sick, and then passed out.

Of course. The only reason this grandeur escape worked, was because the new limb didn’t come from a native animal. Invasive species had their own, tenacious means of living. Parasitizing, mostly. It’s why we’ve been killing them left and right.

And now I was on the chopping block, too.

I lamented loss of my humanity. Loathed the listless, withering abomination. Was it keeping me alive, or making me sicker?

I dreaded my future, yet clung to the dregs of my life. Ate selection of pills by the handful. Slept.  

Didn’t have the energy for much else besides seething, and seethe I did.

He will pay. I will make him pay. Raktkalis was correct on one thing – death was too easy. I’ll make him regret exercising his inborn rights. I was not one of his countless subjects to be used as a punching bag. I wasn’t here to make anyone’s life more enjoyable but my own.

Climbing out of my deathbed some weeks later, I had a concise plan of action. Ideally, I would have loved to sever a limb of his, too, but after cooling off, I found myself back at the starting predicament. General wouldn’t appreciate such blatant attack. It would be taken for an assassination attempt. I did not want to go to war with an entire household. Besides, it’s not like that was easy to accomplish anyway.

I spent all my funds getting Raktkalis’s itinerary and the particulars of the carrousel wheel that was his ever-changing security detail. Former wasn’t a closely guarded secret, but high-profile people were in league of their own. Even knowing the basics were expensive. And dangerous.

Young lord has mostly wrapped up the tertiary education and had been participating in exterminations often. Leading some, even.

I would rob the General in the East of an heir in an inconspicuous way. Sabotage. Mistakes and incompetence will begin mounting, and the arrogant brat will lose his rank. Why claim a limb, when I can obliterate man’s entire reason for existence?

I packed up my most precious belongings – items that never exceeded what I could carry on my back – and set out to travel. These fake orders won’t deliver themselves.

It was simple enough to sneak into a mail wagon and toss a meticulously crafted letter into a crate. It will just sit in the station until morning. I could rummage in peace for hours if I wanted to. Really, had I kept in the loop, I would have known a contingent of Kalantans has been posted here. What a thorough wilful negligence. I should be happy to have lost only one arm.

Shook my head off the past blunders. I’ll do everything right this time. I had many ways to ruin lives. Like impersonating a colonel who notoriously handled most of his business through the phone. Sneaking into his spaces to make that call was laughably easy. Forcing the words out would be a bigger hurdle – but I could prerecord some bits of that conversation.

I had observed many ways to fool the system throughout the years. What they called a sabotage before – these people don’t know true meaning of it. Yet.

A mechanical breakdown out in the wilds, amidst the beasts, would be ideal. Terror, with a high chance of death. Exactly what doctor prescribed for an overinflated ego.

Spent yet another night just staring at an inanimate foe from a far-off roof. Hangar was guarded, but barely so. I shrugged the fear aside and snuck back into the daunting military pen to do my mildest worst. It was too soon – but rage urged me on. I’ve done equally outrageous jobs. There was no need to be skittish just because of one misadventure.

He has to pay. Little else mattered.

I eagerly waited for the counterfeit orders to arrive. They demanded immediate departure, as well as an unreasonable arrival time. Something that left no room for extensive double-checks.

With the break of dawn, black ants spilled out from the underground bastion and boarded their dark vehicles. I harboured some doubts, but upon seeing things coming to fruition I wasn’t surprised either. After all, official documents followed a same template. It was insisted upon. Protocol and what not. What a joke.

At a pre-planned congestion, I attempted to incorporate live thermite into their newly loaded ammo crates. However, that turned out to be quite an impossible task. Muscleheads disembarked in a protective circle around their transport. Supply truck was doubly watched. I did not dare come close.

I watched the loathsome procession move out again. Was not able to let them leave my sight.

Departure was stalled one more time by bureaucracy at the city gates. Nothing out of ordinary – counting the people, checking for obvious contraband and signing routine papers. Raktkalis juggled his half-sword in a listless manner as his adjutants negotiated with the gatekeepers. Poor fellow, seemed so bummed out about having to do his actual job. How did he even get a posting here?

Regardless, in Raktkalis’s leisurely stroll I saw a chance I could not pass by. I knew he wouldn’t dismiss his orders to recklessly give chase. And I knew I could efficiently get away.

I ignited red dust behind a cover of an apartment building. It hissed, smoked and spewed the sparks around. I coughed through the chemical fumes, and launched sloshing grenade straight at the lordling’s face. Well, fine – not straight, and not remotely aimed at the twat. The high arch curved and began a rapid descent towards man’s beloved blade whilst it was gracefully spinning up in the air.

I couldn’t take his arm, but I would take the seamless extension of it.

Without bothering to witness the result, I started running.

Smack.

Splat.

Soldiers had noticed the ball of screaming hellfire and wasted no time retaliating. Bark of ignition was startling. Metal whizzed by. Pieces of brick chipped.

Ca-clang.

I had already returned behind a cover by the time they opened fire.

Sizzle.

Sprinted towards sewer. Hardly mattered where it lead.

Boots stomped heavily in pursuit.

Crackle.

The manhole would be too narrow for the armoured huntsmen.

Fizz.

“Hold!” gruff voice shouted at his hounds. “Livija, Jelgavas. Abort! Unauthorised…”

I didn’t stop running regardless of favourable signs.

When I struggled to pull myself back up into the fresh air, I’ve found out I’ve been hit after all. Awfully close to the neck, too.

Luckily, an anti-human calibre had been equipped. I shuddered thinking about explosive rounds – especially this close to the departure. Their discipline saved my hide.

Luck.

Fuck.

Sat under the climbing vines of fruit and recovered from the exertion. My side was bloody and I tried to staunch that as best as possible.

This injury added few days to my schedule. I couldn’t exactly depart dripping with the most tantalising sauce. Animals – both native and foreign – loved a pre-tenderised treat on the slower side.

“F-uhk.”

Each run-in with the bastard, no matter how small, left me scarred and marred. I was almost inclined to discontinue this self-destructive endeavour – but it wouldn’t end so one-sidedly anyway.

Besides, the primordial rage still roiled freshly inside of me. It was already far too late. He crossed the line. I had no damn arm! Just a stub with involuntarily twitching sprigs, one of which occasionally passed for a scythe with a mind of its own.

At least they hadn’t started with my throwing arm. Or a leg. Walking would be impossible with this confused writhing.

What a fucking bright side.

Claw fished out the bullet out of my back. It could be surprisingly delicate when necessary. As though it felt when we’d been cornered. Perhaps it did. I had no knowledge how these macabre animals functioned. Agitation excretes adrenaline or some other cocktail, and perhaps that relinquished limb’s autonomy. Maybe it was simply aware. Not something I dared to contemplate right this moment.

After calming down, I went over my final irritant today. It was ultimately insignificant, but would tie up all of his misfortune under a neat ribbon.

I had access to a publishing house through a former janitorial job. Originally intended to use that for finding unreleased and censored news. Instead, this golden opportunity will be flushed down for a personal vendetta.

I had no problem with that. My long-term vision was a little cloudy at the moment. That backdoor was meant to pave a better future anyhow – and the future is now.

I intended to print his personal number. I knew Raktkalis recovered it, as my phone disconnected and yet they worked. Had not had the gall, a reason to sell this information – before. I would tonight, because afterwards it will become a common knowledge anyway.

I had an opportunity to promulgate something blatantly damaging. However, that would definitely get noticed and pulled. Instead, I’d simply sneak a mug shot into a dating section and list several unsavoury hobbies alongside. This would be enough to keep man’s phone off until the lord hits his first big snag. Like convoy’s mechanisms dying off one by one. Hopefully, that’s all the way after a fuming commander’s attempts to reach the rogue officer.