Prologue.
‘My Šemšā’… my Šemšā… Še…mšā’
I heard these words playing over and over in my mind, like a whispered chant. A desperate prayer, spoken from a desperate man, who I knew was currently on his knees speaking directly to the Gods asking them to save my soul.
His first one spoken in over two thousand years…
‘Save my Šemšā, that’s all I fucking ask!’ he growled, shouting this last part as he hammered his fist down on the floor, and in that single moment, the image of him on his knees disappeared and a blinding light replaced it. It erupted all around me, with me at its centre, as if something in me had just exploded!
My eyes snapped open just to find branches of light penetrating the water like the sun had just breached the clouds. I didn’t know what was happening or if it wasn’t just in my mind, but something made me realise I needed to move. It felt as though I had just died and was being jolted back to life, being given a second chance. Which meant it was now my job not to blow it and drown as I was still floating in the water. So, pushing my mind into action, I forced my pained limbs to move until desperate action was taking over and I started dragging myself up towards the surface.
Finally, I burst up out of the water and dragged in great lung filling gasps that hurt my chest and I knew if I hadn’t been desperate for the air, I would have forced myself to stop already. I was also freezing and knew that if I didn’t get out the water soon, then something else would take my life other than drowning. But of course, that’s what happens when you fall half naked from a helicopter into a river in the middle of winter!
And speaking of which, the second I heard a thundering crash I spun in the water in time to see an explosion in the distance amongst the trees, with flames and smoke now bellowing above the tree line. And even as my teeth chattered and I was barely still able to tread water, I still found myself smiling and with only one satisfying thought in my mind…
They were right…they couldn’t fly.
Amelia
Chapter 1
This Means War
‘To line up to the ring, for a battle that you can't win, swing as hard as you can swing, it will still mean nothing. Should've seen it coming, it had to happen sometime. But you went and brought a knife, to an all-out gunfight’. These were the lyrics I was currently listening to just as I punched one guy, knocking him out with an instant break to his nose. The next, I dodged his swing by side stepping before delivering a gut punch, seeing him fall to his knees gasping for air.
Thank you, Nickleback.
But wait, I am getting way ahead of myself. So, rewinding ten minutes and that took me right back to swimming my freezing ass to the riverbank, after just witnessing the helicopter crashing into a nearby woodland area at the side of the river.
After dragging myself up a riverbank, clawing my way up a fallen tree like some damn wet cat, I found a dirt track that didn’t look overly used by the public. I pulled my now loose hair to one side and arched my neck to the side so I could ring it out with my hands, taking care that the freezing cold drips didn’t hit my skin. Because really, even saving my already freezing skin from further discomfort was worth the pain it caused my stomach.
But feeling this pain made me take time to go over my injuries. I pressed a hand to my stomach and hissed in pain, knowing that the kick I had received had been hard enough to bruise. So, I took in a big breath and was at least rewarded with the knowledge it hadn’t broken any ribs, so joy for small mercies. I also looked down and saw the bruise to my elbow and also one down my thigh on the left side where I had fallen when taking down the second guy in the bedroom. Along with those I also had lacerations on my hands from where the wire had cut into my palms. And as for my face, well I wasn’t even going there, but hey, at least I hadn’t lost my contact lenses, or this would have been the shit fest to beat all shit fests.
Well, I think it was safe to refer to this as hitting rock bottom, so I gathered there was only one way up to go from here. Besides, I had survived, I was no longer a pawn to use by the bad guys and although bruised, I was at least in one piece, minus the shoes and dress.
And with a glance to the smoke bellowing from the tops of the trees in the distance, I was definitely classing this one as a win, especially when I looked up to see a massive highway bridge above me. This instantly gave me hope that I might have a chance in getting back to the city without too much of a problem. Well, that was if I didn’t die of hyperthermia first. Because I had to say, as much as I had been a fan of Liessa’s choice of underwear for me, I wasn’t exactly loving it right now! No, now I wished I had opted for full body long johns, as I was basically wearing a strapless swimming costume. But, considering where I had just crawled out from, then maybe it was better than just a bra and panties. Either way, I was fucking cold!
Oh, and did I mention I was also killing mad! Like seriously furious, just thinking about the entire night and basically how my first date with Lucius had been ruined! So, walking barefoot, freezing my ass off and nearly naked on a dirt track wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. But what made it even less so was the gang of assholes I could see gathered under a walkway bridge.
There were four of them all with dirt bikes parked, music pumping from some palm sized speaker and two of them were spray painting the wall with graffiti. Oh, and they were passing around a spliff longer than my middle finger. Great, that’s all I needed, a gang of stoners whose favorite pastime was painting the streets of Munich with their own shit brand of art. I mean what did that say, ‘pussy’ in German, perfect…
Just. Fucking. Perfect!
Just to top off my perfect fucking day!
The one whose turn it was with the spliff saw me coming first, a skinny guy dressed in leather pants and a ripped, long sleeved Rammstein shirt. He smacked the guy nearest to him on the shoulder before nodding in my direction. Now, what were the chances of these four not being assholes and this not ending up in a fight…umm, the weed and whisky bottle didn’t give me much hope. Oh well, I was itching to break something anyway…or should I say, someone.
But hey, it’s not like I just walked up to the first guy and punched him…well, not until he said,
“Schau, wir haben eine Schlampe zum Ficken gefunden” Which I knew translated into, ‘Look, we found a bitch to fuck’.
Then I did, but not until I replied,
“Not tonight, asshole, you just found a bitch!” This before walking straight up to him and punching him in the face. Which brought me back to Nickleback singing about war.
The first guy dropped to the floor holding his now blood streaming nose, mumbling something in German I couldn’t be bothered to try and translate. Then, after putting the second guy down, who was soon like his friend, cradling a part of his anatomy, the other two watched on looking panicked.
“Now, let us try this another way, I have had the mother of bad fucking days and really feel like murdering someone, and really, at this point anyone will do, so unless you leather clad string beans fancy your chances, then here is what is going to happen…” the next part came in German, because really, it was the bit I really needed them to understand right now. Of course, it was just a shame that when I finally did get to say one of the coolest movie lines in history, one that every Arnie fan dreams of saying in real life, it was a shame I had no choice but to first say it in German.