Page 82 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

“If you believe that and want things to change, then come down from the wall. Open the gate to the city, and allow us to deal with the General,” Lucian instructed.

This had the people quieting some, until a woman snatched up the megaphone that had been dropped. “What assurances do we have that you won’t kill everyone in this city the moment we open the gate?”

“Nothing you will be able to hold or see tangibly. Nevertheless, I understand not wanting to take me at my word. However, that's all I have to offer you. My fight isn’t with you, it’s with my father, who created all this and is destroying the home we’ve been spilling blood over for generations. It needs to stop, and it won’t while he’s alive,” Lucian responded, and I prayed it would be enough.

This was the part of the plan we couldn’t anticipate. They would either let us in, or we’d be forced to do something so fucking awful it would give me nightmares for life. Then in a miracle I wasn’t sure would happen, people started filing off the wall. There was a lull in movement. Once we couldn’t see anyone, gunshots were heard accompanied by screams. My stomach clenched as I prayed there wasn’t some mass shooting that had just happened to keep them from opening the gate.

With a screech of metal against metal, the gate was pulled open and a flood of people rushed out as if their lives depended on it. Shifting my angle, I aimed for the entrance to see a group of soldiers being swarmed by people as others ran by. Being as careful as I could, I picked off two soldiers trying to enter the fray. The others were so close to innocents that I didn’t dare risk it. While I was a good shot, I’m pretty sure only Petru could make it safely and he was stationed in the truck to our right.

Once the volume of people died down, Savo gave the order. “Move out. Protect the civilians, but remember that our goal is to take the building the General is in.”

Soldiers spilled out of the trucks, guns ready as they jogged across the open space to the city. Three blasts echoed through the air as the explosives team donated their charges. We needed more than one entrance to infiltrate the city fast enough, and now that the people were gone, it was safe. Toma was right by my side as we moved down the main street, past the dilapidated buildings at the front of the city to the area that was actually used. These buildings weren’t in much better condition, but they showed signs of effort and use.

The General had taken up residence in a single-story bunker-type dwelling. Diving out of the way as soldiers started shooting from windows and shielded positions on the roof. Looking around, I spotted a ladder that I could climb to get up to what used to be a fire escape balcony.

“Toma, cover me,” I yelled, then darted across the street and leapt for the lowest rung.

“Goddamn it, Dani,” Toma shouted as he started shooting.

I climbed as fast as possible and crawled forward on the grated platform, taking aim. None of them had noticed me since more soldiers flooded the area, but all the more reason why I had to take advantage of it. I picked off the first man on the roof and went for the second. He was harder since my angle wasn’t right, but I clipped him in the shoulder. It got him to move, allowing me to take him out with the second shot. Now that those two were dealt with, the rest of our people could get in close enough to deal with those in the windows. Dropping down to the street, I was instantly grabbed by the back of my neck making me lash out.

“Little Spark,” Victor growled. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing putting yourself out in the open like that?”

The fight left me hearing it was him, and I let him escort me safely behind another building. Toma and Sorin were there as well, expressions darker than a thundercloud.

“Don’t speak,” Sorin snapped. “Nothing you have to say right now will make us any less upset. I understand what you did, but twenty other snipers could have done that same thing. I’m so fucking glad this is almost over because you’re taking years off my life I don’t have to spare, Dani-girl.”

I knew they were scared more than mad about what I did, but I wouldn’t let them keep me in a bubble when everyone else was putting their lives on the line. A few moments later, the other guys joined us, along with Savo, who had a cut above his brow.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, bastard missed his shot. Shrapnel from the building got me instead,” he explained.

Cris quickly cleaned it up and put a bandage over it so the blood wouldn’t get in his eye. Lucian was at the edge of the building watching as our soldiers were picking off the remaining men, one by one, then the gunfire stopped.

“Ready?” Lucian asked, looking at Savo.

“Hell yeah, I’m ready. Time to pay dear old dad one last visit,” he muttered as he finished loading a new magazine with a full round of bullets.

We all stepped back into the main street and headed for the bunker. Just as we arrived, the front door opened and out rolled General Rasvan himself in a crisp uniform that looked like it had never been worn before. The shocking part was seeing him in a wheelchair looking like a frail old man. That is, until you looked into his eyes which were bright with life and intelligence even if his body was failing him.

“Well, if it isn’t my two biggest disappointments coming to visit me,” Rasvan said, his voice gravelly and full of disdain.

“Father,” Savo bit out as if it pained him to call him that. “Seems the evil you’ve been spreading in the world has finally infected you.”

“Ha, evil you say,” he laughed bitterly, then pointed a finger at Savo. “How am I more evil than the government you chose to side with that supplied me with all I needed to keep this war going? Don’t you come here and look down your fucking nose at me when you ran the hell away. What kind of man abandons his people to hide under the skirts of another country just as corrupt as I am.”

“You’re right, I did desert my country and people who needed me to fight for them. Which is why I’m here now supporting Lucian, who’s managed to do what I failed at,” Savo pointed out. “I’m well aware of my sins and make atonement for them daily. There’s nothing you can say that I’m not already well aware of.”

Rasvan sniffed and turned his attention to Lucian. “Who knew you’d be the one to cause me so much trouble? The boy who used to cry himself to sleep and wander around like a kicked puppy. How many years of beatings did you have to endure before you found that goddamn spine of yours? Fucking waste of space and energy, the lot of you. Had to pick the best of the rotten fruit those breeders managed to produce, and that was you. Now here you are with a traitor at your side using his men from a different fucking country to best me. Fucking pathetic, couldn’t even die when I needed you to.”

“Then you should be grateful that we’re here to put you out of your misery, so you no longer have to see the world as it crumbles around you,” Lucian said, crossing his arms. “Look at you, the man everyone feared for so many years is now nothing more than a dying old guy. No wonder you couldn’t come out to the wall and face me like the man you believe you are. I bet you can’t even wipe your own ass anymore and have to get someone to do it for you.”

Rasvan snarled and lunged forward but made sure to grip his chair so he didn’t fall out. “How dare you fucking speak to me like that, you fucking waste. I should have killed you with your mother. That cunt filled your head with lies, making you soft. Fucking pussy of a man can’t even fuck a woman properly to get her pregnant. Does she fuck you? Is that what your prefer? Or maybe she’s just been your cover-up for getting dick shoved up your ass, wasting the chance for a real soldier to be born.”

The venom in his words had me taking a step back into Victor, who wrapped an arm around my waist as if preparing to pull me out of the way.

“You want to know the truth? I made goddamn sure I could never have a kid because I would never allow them to be raised by the likes of you. The vile way you think, stepping over everyone and everything just to make sure you get to stay on top. The mighty General leading his fucking army, yet that’s not what you are. Look at you, a fucking old man sitting there in that chair, unable to scare a mouse.”

The rage that burned in General Rasvan’s eyes would have burned this whole city down with how intense his anger was. Baring his teeth like a rabid dog, he lifted a device as if he was going to throw himself at Lucian. “Can’t scare a mouse? We’ll see about that. Tell me how scared you were when we meet in hell.”

“It’s a bomb. Run,” Victor bellowed as he turned, got five steps, and dropped to the ground with me half underneath him.