Devils Own ( A Steam Punk and Mystic Tale ) 1.6

1.6.

Kassius had placed the twig into the fireplace to keep the fire burning. The fire would keep the coldness from his body, although he had been used to it. He had camped there for two nights then, with the tree lines offering him shelter from the prying eyes of the passing traveler on the road some distance away. He was in a game of wait for the right mode of transport into the city that was over the hill.

Lord Tannen was a careful figure with guards posted on all the entry points to the city. He was a close ally of King Richard of the Islands Kingdom; fighting alongside the King during the earlier years before he was crowned. Lord Tannen was given large fortune and influence but his personal greed for power had made him an enemy of the state. He was caught double dealing also with the arch rival Lord John. He absconded from his island stronghold to the continent, but he had it all planned beforehand. He was joining the opposition, the United Continent under the President Erich Von Richter. In his new stronghold on the United Continent lands, he had massed up supports from the other Lords to oust the King. That caused King Richard to declared Lord Tannen a traitor to the Islands Kingdom. Since then, Lord Tannen had surrounded himself with personal guards while he continued his revolt on the King. The King could not be seen to invade the Continent for his errant Lord, but his adviser had foretold that the works of extermination could be done with hired helps. It was this that the Devils’ Own was contacted and the exchange of dues was made.

Kassius stoked the embers to stir up the fire heat. He had been wary for the last half hour with his body tensed for any sudden moves. He had been aware of the presence of the others, but it was then to call out the hidden ones. He took in a shallow breath while his body tensed up again.

“Kassius of the Devils’ Own.” Kassius heard the voice that came from the direction of the trees. “I thought you would have died on the plains.”

The figure landed silently on the feet from the upper branch. It was an effortless move, but to a trained eye, one will have seen the thin metal wire which was the tool used for the descent.  It was difficult to make out the gender of the person was masked and the body covered with the layers of leather armor with the red shades for the uniform, but it was obvious from the standing posture, the person was a lady behind it. She appeared unarmed, but the assassins from the Dark Princes are well known to hide their weapons on their body. They do not rely on mechanical weapons alone but also that of the mystic arts.

“Lilith of the Dark. I should have known.” Kassius replied. “Your womanly scent betrayed your trail.”

“A misnomer of my name. I prefer to be address as Lady Lilith.” The newly arrived lady corrected Kassius on her.

“Kassius, you are a resilient person. I admired that. Back from one task where you almost lost your life, and now you back on another. You are either a fool or a brave idiot who does not know when to rest.”

Kassius ignored the statement made by the lady, and instead offered her a drink from the pot of coffee he was making.

“Perhaps you are suitable to be house trained instead of slaving for those selfish masters of yours.” Lady Lilith smiled while she strolled nearer to the fire place. She reached out for the offered drink, and then stepped back. “I am in need of such companion in my chamber. You may oblige me with your request.”

“I plead ignorance, Lady Lilith.” Kassius resumed feeding the fire with more twigs. “Your need of the companion may exceed that of just a simple serving slave.”

“Are you in the employ of Lord Tannen?” Kassius raised up the issue of contention for them being there.

“I am not in his services, but we served some other Lords who sees it fit that Lord Tannen retained his head on his shoulder. His continuing contribution would be beneficial.” Lady Lilith expressed her wishes for the other. “And in which I doubt you would oblige. Therefore I would leave you to your coffee, and proceed with my own plans to secure the care of the Lord is well protected. You may have eluded me once, but there may not be a next time. A lady does not like be singed more than once.”

Lady Lilith reached for the thin wire which pulled her up to the floating dirigible above at a hundred feet. Kassius sprang into action heading for the bike. The machine guns on the dirigible opened up on him, but he had reached the bike. There was no time to heat up the engine, but he chose to pedal the bike. He rode hard to move the bike, and left it to roll on the sloping ground before he cranked up the lever to gun the engine. The steam engine roared with its heated pipes to push the bike but it was not enough to get off the ground. He rode even harder to get the extra speed while the dirigible spat the bullets close behind him. Then the steam engine cranked in its power and the exhaust pipes roared out.

Kassius kicked out at the lever to expand the wings and balloons. It raised the bike up into the skies. It was a slow ascent, but he swerved the bike towards the tree line to get below the dirigible. The floating ship tried to counter the bike move, but it was slow in the wide turn. He pedaled up the bike power and leveled with the dirigible manned compartment. It was shaped like a wooden dhow design with two drawn back wings on its side, with the balloon above it keeping the compartment afloat. It had deadly weapons build into its defense, beside the front machine gun that was firing at him much earlier there was also a mounted gun on the central deck. The gunner then trained the gun towards Kassius and his bike.

Kassius could not reach for the rifle slung tight across his back, but he reached for the side arms with his right hand. He leveled the pistol towards the gunner and fired. The metal ball pierce the gunner’ forehead. He then sighted the others on the deck which were all reaching for their weapons but he saw then Lilith giving the order to sail away. When he saw the dirigible pulling away, he slowed down his pedaling to glide the bike in a wide circle.

Kassius knew then that the Lord Tannen would be warned of his arrival, and steps would be taken to counter him. He needed another plan of entry and fast if he was to complete the task.