A Reckoning

Swish.

“Ahh!”

They were whipping her for tripping, for disturbing the order, for being an Outlier.

Silas was an Outlier too. They all were. His entire community had lived outside the control of the Swarm for generations. But now they had been enslaved. The Swarm border continued to stretch outward like an expanding pool of blood.

Those who had survived the slaughter during the takeover had been rounded up and put in chains. They were being marched down the road to a transport area.

“Silence!” barked an overseer as he drew the whip back again. The girl’s cries of pain shook her bleeding body.

Silas clenched his jaw as the whip sliced through air and flesh again. The girl shrieked.

“I said, silence!” the overseer shouted.

Silas halted.

“Move,” commanded a soldier.

Silas stared at the chain between his wrists. He had fought. He had encouraged others to fight. His bloodline was a respected one. It had been a great many years since their region had been ruled by one man, but Silas was a descendant of the last great kings. The Swarm had no respect for such things. They did not care for bloodlines, only blood shed.

The soldier shoved Silas forward.

The whip cracked again and the girl screamed a third time.

Silas felt rage coursing through him and the chain that bound him began to glow red. The center link was wrenched open and the divided fragments began to elongate until they dangled to the ground.

Like whips of iron, Silas grabbed the chains in his fists and flicked the left one at the soldier.

Shots were fired but they bounced off Silas’s skin like sleet.

He set his sights on the overseer who cried out “Who are you?”

Silas answered, “I am your Reckoning.”