Mercenary’s Dream (Part 2):  Written by Exodus, Original Story by Exodus  

About an hour had passed in the Evalon Empire since Rob Ruwin made the command 
to his crew, to sneak in and set off a gas grenade, in order to progress 
through the ventilation system.  
Ruwin lay back and continued to reminisce about his days as a mercenary while 
waiting.  
“After Scourge massacred all those people, we knew he had ta be finished once 
an’ fer all...”  

“Ah can’t believe he did this! We have ta finish him once an’ fer all!” shouted 
Wonder.  
“Yeah.  An’ who’s gonna pay us? Everyone’s dead!”  
Yggdrasil stormed up to Poleaxe and as he spoke, and pushed him back a little, 
“Grrrr, Poleaxe! I’ve had enough of your ****! There’s a dangerous demon out 
there who’s resorted to killing innocent people just to get our attention! How 
can you think of money at a time like this?!”  
Poleaxe was pushed so hard, he tripped and fell.  
“Simple, Ah’m nearly out o’ cash, no cash means no possessions an’ no food.  Go 
figure.” he replied, picking himself up.  
Yggdrasil lost it, and slapped him extremely hard in the face.  
“What is wrong with you, when you became a mercenary, did you lose your 
conscience?! I know we usually charge people for our services, but sometimes we 
have to make exceptions.  Scourge is our enemy, he may be the reason we keep 
getting paid, but we can’t be selfish enough to let him live after what he did 
this to those innocent people!”  
“Will you two Shut Up?!” shouted Wonder, “You’re scarin’ Gina.”  
She smiled a little, and continued to hold him close, “Ruwin...  You’ve 
matured...  But, all my friends...  They’re...  I’m so glad I have you now when 
I need you most.”  
“You sure you’re not more than friends?” questioned Poleaxe snidely.  
“Not now ‘T’.  Gina, we’re gonna get even wit’ the monsters who did this ta yer 
people.  You should probably wait here an’-”  
“No! I don’t want to be alone!” she refused.  
“Um...” muttered Wonder, unsure of what to do.  
“Take her wit’ you.” said Poleaxe, “Jus, keep her away when the battle begins.”  
“You mean...” questioned Yggdrasil.  
“If we wait around ta be paid ta fight Scourge, we’ll only end up gettin’ 
ourselves killed now that he’s taken drastic measures.  They’ll be other 
villains.”  
“... Thank you Poleaxe.” said Yggdrasil.  

The team could see the tower from where they were, Scourge had made sure they 
would arrive in the right place for their final battle.  

“A duel to the death.” said Snatch when they arrived.  
“I knew you’d come Shining Wonders.” said Scourge from above, the mercenaries 
had arrived on the lower level, the whole room was about the size of a gym but 
one quarter was at a higher level, accessible by some stairs nearby.  
“Let’s skip the formalities and get straight to your death.”  
“You tell ‘em Scourge.” cheered Lich from nearby.  
“Its the demon who killed father...” quivered Gina.  
“Ah won’t let them get ta ya.” comforted Wonder.  
“That’s right.” agreed Tigerbear in his booming voice, “We’ll destroy this demon 
now!”  
“You think you can, but They won’t let you get to me...” sniggered Scourge.  
Villagers burst into the tower, they had motionless expressions on their pale 
faces.  
“What have you done to them?!” screamed Yggdrasil.  
“After seeing their friends and family die, they gave in willingly and Lich 
changed them into my slaves, the only way to remove the spell is to defeat us, 
but how shall you do that, when they block the way, and your sense of justice 
prevents you from hurting them?” explained Scourge confidently.  
“Damn him!” cursed Wonder.  
“Ah don’t care!” shouted Poleaxe, “As long as we can destroy him, that’s all 
that matters, right?!”  
“No!” screamed Gina, as Poleaxe leapt forward, only to be whacked down... by his 
comrade.  
“If you have any feelings for me or any sense of humanity, you’ll fall back and 
not hurt those innocent people!” screamed Yggdrasil, having entwined Poleaxe in 
vines.  
A villager clawed at her and Poleaxe struck forward, but removed his sword at 
the last moment and knocked him unconscious with his fist.  
“Still think they’re innocent?...” he questioned.  
“Tyrone, I know you’ve always thought of me as a nag and a bossy woman but I’ve 
always looked out for your welfare especially.  Now please don’t worry me any 
more, and work with the plan...”  
He sighed, “Jus’ this once...  Okay! Let’s push our way through an’ finish 
Scourge!”  
“I’ll shield us.” suggested Yggdrasil.  
She changed into a plant bulb form and covered the group, and calmly floated 
past the attacking villagers, it seemed to be working, until a flash of light 
occurred from inside, and Yggdrasil returned to human form.  
“Yaaaahh!!!” she screamed.  
“...”  
Gina’s eyes were glowing red and a golden staff (designed to look as if a snake 
were entangled around it with a gem in its mouth) had appeared in her hand, the 
red gem glowed with power.  
“Gina?...” questioned Wonder.  
The tiara she had been wearing was reacting, and around her grew a green 
skintight snake-like costume, and her eyes flashed with energy.  
“That’s just a little back-up.” boasted Lich, “Didn’t you think my demons were 
holding her for a reason?”  
“Guys! Work on gettin’ up there! Ah’ll bring her round...” ordered Wonder.  
“You wish!” said Gina confidently.  
She shot an energy blast from her staff, and blasted Wonder backwards, slave 
villagers then started to pounce on him.  
Poleaxe was ahead of the group, receiving scars from the heavy assaults.  
Yggdrasil used her vines to protect his rear, Shuriken and Snatch took up the 
sides, and Tigerbear and Prodigy were way behind, caught up in their own 
struggle.  
The fact that they couldn’t kill the villagers when there were so many under 
Lich’s spell made things difficult.  

“Gina! Please! ya don’t wanna do this!” shouted Wonder, dodging further blasts.  
“You could not be more wrong.  Perhaps if you just came faster, this never 
would’ve happened.” she replied calmly.  
“So ya understand it wus Lich who did this.  You’ve gotta fight it!”  
“Yes, I do understand, I understand there is nothing worth fighting the magic 
for.”  
“Yeah there is.” said Wonder firmly.  
“Yeah? What?” she questioned.  
“Me.”  

Poleaxe was getting beaten down.  
“Ah can’t take this, Ah’ve never been separated from mah blade.” muttered 
Poleaxe, “But Yggdrasil...  Is she really worth all this?...  Ah’ll never know 
unless-  Yaaargh!!!” he screamed getting hit hard in the chest, he then drew his 
sword.  
“Poleaxe! No!” screamed Yggdrasil.  
His sword went flying... towards Lich, but he teleported out of harm’s way.  
“Pathetic.” he commented.  
“That does it.” threatened Poleaxe, and spin-kicked the surrounding villagers.  
“Ty-” started Yggdrasil, but Poleaxe interrupted her.  
“Don’t worry about it, they’ll be fine!”  
Yggdrasil gave a relieved smile.  

Wonder leapt over blasts, and then two villagers restrained him, he threw them 
forward as Gina charged a blast, but he jumped in front of them, remembering the 
circumstances.  
“Yeee-Aaarrrgghh!!!” he screamed, taking the full force.  
Gina smiled nastily.  
“You’ve gotta trust me!” shouted Wonder, “Ah admit that ever since mah ma’s 
death, Ah lost mah only female role model an’ Ah became a bit o’ a womaniser, 
but Ah never break mah promises! You remember...  Ah promised Ah’d protect 
ya...”  
“Protect me?...” she said with some gentleness, “No! You lie!!!”  
“Aaargh!!!” screamed Wonder, as she blasted him continuously to the floor.  
“I’ll get her!” shouted Tigerbear, charging forward.  
“No Tigerbear! Ah’m gonna get her through this! Bah mahself!” retaliated Wonder.  
“She’s not just a pretty face.  She... means something to you.  I never thought 
I’d see the day.” smiled Tigerbear.  

Poleaxe reached the higher level, Lich was in the corner and paid no attention 
to him, but neither did Poleaxe.  
He went straight for Scourge, who threw his sword back to him, Poleaxe caught it 
in mid-run and leaped forward raising his sword.  
“Thanks, Ah was wonderin’ where Ah put that.” said Poleaxe in a joking manner, 
but in a serious tone.  
Scourge caught the sword in his hand and threw Poleaxe down, Poleaxe tried to 
get up, but two decaying hands rose up from below and held him down, followed by 
many more, the upper floor was covered in soil where living corpses had been 
waiting.  
“You might have wondered why there were so few bodies in the village...” said 
Scourge confidently.  
“You... zombified them.” groaned Poleaxe, “That means, they’re the walking dead, 
which means... Ah don’t have ta play nice guy any more.” he grinned.  

Wonder leapt upwards and scaled the wall that led to the higher level, he swayed 
his legs to the side as another blast hit nearby.  
He reached the top, but a flurry of golden snakes flew right in front of him and 
teleported Gina there, she loomed over him with her staff aimed down at his 
head.  
“It doesn’t have ta end this way.” pleaded Wonder.  
“No.  It does.”  
“Finish him!” ranted Lich.  
“What’s gonna happen after this?” asked Wonder, “Lich is gonna use you fer more 
schemes, more chaos, more destruction.  Do ya really wanna be responsible fer 
the death o’ others, ta make people lose whut you did? Ah can help ya, Ah can 
take ya away from the fightin’, even though Ah’m so involved in it, Ah can give 
it up, if you’ll just stop this an’ come wit’ me...”  
“Ruwin...” cried Gina, lowering a hand to pull him up.  
“Gina, you’re... going ta kill me!” said Wonder with a dawning realisation.  
She screamed and raised the staff, and blasted him before he could move.  
Wonder tumbled into the zombie fest.  
“Glad ya could make it!” winked Poleaxe.  
“Watch it!” shouted Wonder.  
Gina was in the area, and the zombies parted to let her through as if they 
understood her power.  
“Keep at those zombies.” ordered Wonder, “Ah’m almost getting through ta her.”  
“Die!” she shouted.  
“Oh yeah.” said Poleaxe sarcastically, “She’s really back to her old self now.”  
“Shut up an’ concentrate.” said Wonder frustrated.  
Poleaxe was soon overwhelmed, and was held up in front of Scourge.  
“I notice something about you Poleaxe, you don’t care much for humanity provided 
you get your money.  You don’t quite realise it but you’ve got a dark side.  
Continue fighting like you do for the sole purpose of getting paid and you Will 
lose your humanity.  Come with me and I’ll show you how evil deeds can profit 
you a lot better...”  
He awaited Poleaxe’s response, and Poleaxe thought about Scourge’s proposal, and 
then answered.  
“Sorry, but Ah’ve got a thing fer one o’ the teammates.”  
“You fool!” shouted Scourge, punching him hard, “You Will walk the dark path, 
maybe not now, but very soon, I promise.  I can see the evil inside of you, so 
give in to it!”  
“And follow you? Sorry, Ah like bein’ independent!”  
He flipped his body up and behind the two zombies that were holding his arms, 
and pulled back, tearing off the decrepit arms, he took out his sword and 
started slaying the undead creatures, with no regret at all about it because 
they were already dead.  

“Gina! Jus’ fight the spell, Ah know ya can do it, an’ when ya do, Ah’ll take ya 
away from all this, like Ah promised.”  
Gina was silent.  
“Ya can trust me...”  
“Aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!” she screamed, lifting her staff, eyes blazing more than 
ever, a shot was fired, but missed Wonder and blasted Scourge.  
“Traitor!” he shouted.  
“I was never one of you!” she replied.  
“Aw yeah!” cheered Wonder.  
Lich looked horrified, and chickened out completely, fading from the tower and 
not returning, he was loyal to Scourge, but not that loyal.  
And without his presence, the controlled villagers fell down and recovered, but 
the zombies were Scourge’s doing.  

Poleaxe was blasted back by spores with poisonous properties, two bulbs were 
unleashed which burst in front of him and released brambles which wrapped around 
him.  
Scourge had reappeared under the soil behind Poleaxe in quick speed, he rose up 
and looked confident.  
“Could use... a lil’ help!” shouted Poleaxe.  
“Do not defy me.” ordered Scourge.  
Wonder flying-kicked Scourge, and ripped apart the brambles so that Poleaxe 
could free himself.  
“Let’s finish this.” smiled Poleaxe.  
All three attacked Scourge, tearing off his plant features slowly.  
Wonder punched and kicked him backwards, Gina fired a blast and blasted Scourge 
towards Poleaxe who drew his sword.  
He slashed down across Scourge’ face, and plunged the sword through his chest.  
“Ugh!...  You have defeated me...  But remember my words...  I’ll see you... 
walk the dark path.  I... swear it!...”  
He exploded in a cloud of red spores, Poleaxe was caught in the middle of it, 
and was flung the furthest, the blast reached Wonder and Gina and threw them off 
too.  

“Gina! Let me break yer fall! Mah role is over, as long as you survive, that’s 
all that matters!” shouted Wonder, “Only one o’ us can survive this!”  
They were caught by something, they looked down to see the large green hands 
holding them, three metres above the ground.  
“... Or you could have both!” said Snatch cheerfully.  

“Ah’m about ta die an’ Ah didn’t even get paid fer this mission...” pondered 
Poleaxe.  
Yggdrasil catapulted herself up and caught him.  
“I’m proud of you...”  

Later, the remaining villagers returned to their homes, and the mercenaries 
prepared to leave.  
“Yggdrasil...  Carol...  Ah need ta talk.” said Poleaxe softly.  
“Yes?”  
“All mah life, Ah’ve cared only ‘bout mahself, an’ jus’ one day o’ being 
different isn’t going ta change me in a moment, Ah need ta get mah head 
straight, Ah’m leaving fer now.”  
“I understand, Tyrone...” said Yggdrasil, kissing him, “Come back to us...”  
“Ah’ll see you around ‘T’.” said Wonder, shaking hands with his long-time 
friend.  
“Will do.” he replied, and departed without looking back.  
“Ah’m afraid Ah’m gonna be leaving as well.” said Wonder a little guiltily.  
“You too?” asked Snatch a little disappointed.  
“Ah’m sorry, but its not like Ah wus a true leader anyway.”  
“But you founded the group, you were the one we looked up to.” said Prodigy 
annoyed.  
“Ah’m sure Carol will lead the Shinin’ Wonders ta a happy life.  Gina’s lost her 
family an’ friends, an’ needs someone ta take care o’ her.  Ah’m returning ta 
mah home wit’ her...”  
“I understand.” smiled Carol, “You go be happy Ruwin.”  
“An’ you too...”  

Ruwin opened his eyes and realised the hour had passed.  
“An’ that’s mah story, but things didn’t go perfectly, nothin’ ever does.  Ah 
found Gina a place ta live in Fawra, but our relationship didn’t last an’ we 
lost contact after Ah came ta the Resistance, where Ah’ve been busy ever since.  
Ah know Ah once made a promise ta leave all this fightin’ behind, but Ah can’t 
sit back an’ let the empire enforce their cruel ways on the kingdom, or the 
whole world.”  
“Ruwin! Get ready!” called Nick from the comm-watch.  
Gas fumes burst in and the emergency ventilation cover opened up, Ruwin had 
donned the gas mask and crawled through.  
“An’ so mah legend continues...”  

Next:  “Empire Friends”:  Part 1  

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