Dreamer's Star Chapter 4

Out in the wastelands, a small encampment rested in a sheltered valley, next to a small pool of frigid water. A number of guards stood outside of a tent, examining their weapons with their warped arms and appendages. After a few minutes, a rough voice from inside the tent calls out for a soldier. One of the few soldiers still outside in the dark night stood up and walked into the tent. His face was a mask of half-and-half; one half being filled with drooping flesh, the other, red and raw.
“Yessss, commander?” hissed the mutant.
“I want you to bring in the prisoner. It will tell usss the UFT’s main base. Then we shall raid them, and leave none alive. The rest will fall into war without them, and we can attack.”
“Yessss, sir. I will bring him in.” The soldier walked out and waved at a truck with bars. Two soldiers swung to grab a hold of the bars, and pulled open the doors. The small flickers of light that illuminated the person showed a wolf-like face, a grey furred body, multiple scars, and one long gash in its arm. The two soldiers leapt into the truck, and pulled it out. The creature was slumped in between two Forgotten soldiers, and was dragged to the tent. There, he was dumped in a metal fold-out chair, and bound.
“So, I finally meet you, the infamous ‘Andre’. I’ll be frank. The United Federation of Trade has caused us a lot of trouble. I want you to tell us where their base of operations is.”
“Not,” coughed the creature, spurting up a bloody mist, “a freaking chance.” The commander sighed. He walked around the desk in the middle of the tent, and stood next to the bound person. The mutant slammed his fist down on the person’s shoulder, and the creature let loose a cry of pain.
“Tell me what I want, and I’ll stop this torture to you,” offered the mutant commander.
“Shut the fuck up, you sick son of a- ” grunted the person, but was silenced by a slap across the face.
“Now listen here, Andre, I’m being generous. If I were you, I would- ” The commander was silenced as Andre spat in his face. The mutant wiped the spit off his face, and thrust his hand around Andre’s neck. He gagged as the squeeze tightened around his neck.
“I’m sick of you, you know that? I’m going to squeeze, and squeeze, and squeeze until you freaking head pops off. And you know what? I’m going to enjoy every freaking second of- ” began the mutant, when a soldier came bursting in through the tent’s entrance. The arm choking Andre fell away, and he managed a few gasps of air.
“Sir, sir, there’s something coming up the central path, and it’s not any faction. We can’t even identify what they are!” panted the soldier.
“Oh hell, what are you talking about?”
“Them, sir,” answered the soldier. He pointed to a row of figures in a green mist, with staffs in their right hands. They had hoods obscuring their faces, and orbs of light danced in orbits around them.
“You, tell me what they are, now!” ordered the commander. His bloodshot eyes were almost popping out of his head, and small globules of spit flew out of his open mouth.
“Them? They’re the cavalry. You’d better start running, or you won’t be around to see them toast your precious camp,” taunted Andre. The mutant commander looked wildly from his prisoner, and the marching force, shaking his green head as fast as he could. He took out his pistol, and started firing into the crowd, but to no effect.
“Tell me how to kill them, tell me how! If you don’t, I’ll kill you!” threatened the mutant. Andre just laughed and laughed, and continued laughing as bolts of blue energy singed the tent and vaporized the mutant into a pile of black dust, blown away by the wind. One bolt of blue finally connected with Andre, and he fell silent, but echoes of his laughs rang around the valley, almost like ghosts cackling in the night sky.
The cloaked figures walked into the camp. One of them knelt down to Andre’s prone figure, and set a stone talisman on it. It glowed for a moment, and then returned to its inanimate state. The figure stood back, and stood up straight. A sudden gush of wind blew through the camp. The mob shifted in the wind, and was blown away as dust floated around them.
As the dust settled, the talisman started to glow again. However, this time, it was red, and spread farther and farther until it enveloped the entire valley. A column of light shone into the sky, lighting the spot like a spotlight on a moonless night. It kept shining, until it started to fade at the very ends, and it faded all the way back down to the talisman, where it finally formed a pentagon, and melted into Andre’s fur, and disappeared.