Humayre: The Chronicles of Ronin Wilder
Chapter 32

The plastic digital watch on Ronin’s arm read two thirty. Ten minutes until he was going to have to go to Plan B. Kevin appeared from behind a huge dumpster to Ronin’s right. Mike and Grace appeared from behind another dumpster to his left. They stealthily made their way to Ronin.

“We’ve been here all night and haven’t seen any signs of Mrs. Kinney,” said Grace. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

“I’m positive.” Ronin picked himself up out of the frozen weeds, brushed his pants off and shook his head. Stretching his back, he added, “Time for Plan B.”

Mike held back a yawn. “I don’t know man,” he said, as he stared at the abandoned factory. “That place is huge. Whosever in there could be hiding anywhere.” He shook his head and rubbed his chin. “I don’t know, bro. This doesn’t feel right.”

“What choice do I have?” asked Ronin. He knew Mike was right. The idea of going into the building by himself terrified him. Plan A, the ambush plan, Ronin had thought by getting to the location early he and his friends could ambush Ryan. Apparently Ryan was smarter than he looked.

“I’m not so sure about Plan B,” said Kevin. “I mean. There are a million things that can go wrong. What if Ryan isn’t alone? What if we can’t find you fast enough? How do you even know we can sneak up behind him? It also doesn’t help that none of us has a weapon.” He stared at Grace and added sarcastically, “Or a Mayreblade.”

Grace fired him a dirty look.

“What?” asked Kevin. “I’m just saying is all.” He folded his arms. “You ever going to tell us why they wouldn’t let you do the Sword Ceremony?”

Ronin and Mike glowered at Kevin.

“What? You guys want to know just as bad as me.”

Shaking her head Grace glanced at her plastic digital watch. “We’re out of time.” She grabbed a rubber band out of her BrightWood coat pocket, pulled her hair back, tied it into a ponytail. “Plan A didn’t work. We all hoped it would but it didn’t. Unless someone can come up with a better plan in the next thirty seconds, we are stuck with Plan B.”

“Um. Guys,” said Mike. He held his wrist up. “My watch stopped working.”

“I told you,” snapped Kevin. “I told you we needed to buy the more expensive ones.” He held his hand up. “I mean look at this thing. It’s about to fall off my wrist.”

“Bro. We didn’t have enough to get four. And we decided it wasn’t fair for two people to have a good one while the others had junkers.”

“Guys,” snapped Grace. “Focus.”

“We’re out of time,” said Ronin. “I’m going in.” Ronin nodded to his three friends and tried to swallow but nothing would go down. He licked his chapped lips. His tongue felt like a dry sponge. White breath bellowed from his mouth as he exhaled. The cold numbed his hands. They began to tremble, but it wasn’t because of the frigid conditions.

“Don’t worry,” said Grace. “Everything is going to be okay. Plan B will work.”

“Yeah bro. No worries. We got your back.”

Kevin just nodded. Ronin returned the gesture.

As Ronin made his way through frozen weeds and gravel he glanced back at his friends one last time before he turned all of his focus to the old rusted silver door. After studying the massive building for most of the night, Ronin decided the side entrance was the best way to enter. The door was cracked open. The handle was badly rusted. On the metal door was a white sign. It was a notice of demolition. The date listed for demolition was four months ago. Ronin thought it odd and that maybe they changed their minds.

The door screeched as he pushed it open. The musty stench of wet earth and stagnant water overpowered his senses. Using all his focus he blocked them out. Three more smells revealed themselves. Ronin’s heart jumped. One of the scents was Mrs. Kinney’s. Relief washed over him, but it lasted for only a moment. The other two smells were of people he didn’t recognize. A screeching sound spun him around. Darkness enveloped him. The door had closed on its own. The inside of the warehouse was almost pitch black. It took only a moment for Ronin’s eyes to adjust. The building was cavernous. The ceiling was at least one hundred feet up. Overhead a metal scaffolding stretched from one side of the room to the other.

Huge block like machines obscured Ronin’s view of what was ahead. It was factory of some sort and the machines served in its purpose but for what purpose he didn’t know. The machines lined up into chaotic rows. It was like a maze. Ronin had no idea which way to go. The silence was deafening. He closed his eyes. Mrs. Kinney’s scent trail came alive, he followed it until the sound of footsteps on metal froze him in place.

A light exploded from the darkness. It came from the scaffolding above Ronin’s head. Someone had turned on an electric lamp. Three shadows revealed themselves as Ronin’s eyes adjusted. Mrs. Kinney was tied up in a chair with a gag in her mouth. Standing next to her were two men in jeans and black leather jackets. One man was bald while the other had short brown hair. Both men were holding swords. Ronin focused, and as though he was looking through binoculars the swords zoomed in. “Bloodswords,” he whispered, under his breath.

The stakes just got higher. One wrong move and he knew both he and Mrs. Kinney would probably be killed. Closing his eyes and allowing every scent in the building to come to him he searched for Ryan’s. He wasn’t there.

The plastic watch on Ronin’s wrist read two fifty five. He had five minutes to get to Mrs. Kinney. Ronin found the ladder leading up to the scaffolding. As he climbed the two Vein watched him like lions about to make a kill. Twenty feet is what he estimated when he looked down. As he walked towards the Vein the scaffolding groaned and swayed. There was nothing to hold on to and the scaffolding was only five feet across. He felt as though he could fall at any time. The sensation nauseated him.

“The letter,” said the bald Vein.

Ronin produced a letter from inside his coat pocket. He held it out. Just as the bald Vein was about to take it, Ronin pulled it back. Two fifty eight, Ronin had to stall for two minutes. If the Vein figured out the letter was a fake before his friends got there the plan would fail.

The bald Vein turned around. “Kill her.”

“Wait!” pleaded Ronin. “Please don’t.” Ronin held out the letter. “Here, Take it.”

The bald man held his hand up. The Vein next to Mrs. Kinney stopped and lowered his sword. The Vein snatched the letter from Ronin’s outstretched hand.

All Ronin could do was hold his breath as the bald man studied the seal on the letter. Using his peripheral vision Ronin searched for his friends, they were nowhere to be seen, although he could smell them. They were close.

The bald man dropped the letter. Instinctually Ronin’s claws extended.

“You stupid boy,” said the bald Vein. “Letter or no letter we get paid either way.” He held his finger into the air and then dropped it.

The Vein next to Mrs. Kinney raised his sword. Mrs. Kinney’s eyes were closed, her helplessness enraged Ronin. Spreading his feet apart and ducking low Ronin prepared to lunge at the bald man.

Mike appeared behind Mrs. Kinney. Kevin was right behind him followed by Grace. The Vein must have heard Mike because he spun around. It was too late for him however. Mikes massive fist was already flying through the air like a meteor. A huge thud sounded out. The Vein spun. His sword flew through the air. His back foot slipped off the scaffold. Another thud sounded as the Vein splatted against the concrete below. Grace ran past Kevin and tried to remove the gag from Mrs. Kinney’s mouth, but her hands were shaking so bad she couldn’t get the knot undone.

The bald man turned to see what had happened. In that moment Ronin lunged forward. Ronin’s first strike hit the bald man’s hip. The razor sharp claws cut deep. Ronin’s second attack was aimed at the Vein’s neck, but the Vein had already recovered. His sword flashed. Ronin barely avoided the Bloodblade and if it weren’t for the fact that the Vein was off balance the attack would have killed Ronin for sure.

In a blink of an eye the Vein let loose another swing. Ronin was already lunging forward going for his own attack. The hilt of the Vein’s sword crushed across Ronin’s shoulder. The impact sent him flying off the scaffolding. One of the metal machines below broke his fall. The impact still knocked the air out of him. Gasping for air he rolled to his side and looked up.

The Vein was now facing Ronin’s friends. Mike and Kevin rushed him. Kevin barely avoided an overhead strike. Mike slammed into the Veins chest knocking him off balance. The Vein back handed Mike sending him whirling. Mike slipped off the scaffolding but caught the ledge before he fell. The behemoth dangled in the air like a hanging bear.

The Vein charged past Kevin and headed straight for Mrs. Kinney. Just as the Veins’ sword was coming down, Grace struck the bald man in the face with her elbow. The Veins blade changed course and hit the side Mrs. Kinney’s chair. The Vein was knocked off balance by Grace’s blow but it didn’t halt his forward progression. He crashed into Mrs. Kinney. The Vein stumbled over the chair and fell off the ledge. A thud sounded his end.

Mrs. Kinney chair tipped to the side. The part of the chair which was cut buckled and shattered under Mrs. Kinney weight. Grace lunged forward and grabbed the leg of the chair as it tipped over the edge of the scaffolding.

“Help me!” shouted Grace, in desperation.

Mrs. Kinney dangled twenty feet above the ground while grace held on to one of the chairs legs.

“Please. My hands are slipping.”

Ronin rolled off the machine and landed face first on the concrete. Stumbling left and right he made it under where Mrs. Kinney was hanging. Dizziness blurred his vision. At any moment he felt his legs might give out. Kevin rushed to Grace. Just as he got there Mrs. Kinney fell.

It all happened in slow motion. Ronin held his arms up, but there was two Mrs. Kinney’s falling towards him. He wasn’t sure of which one to try to catch. His knees buckled but through sheer force of will he didn’t go down. The chair hit him in the hands. Mrs. Kinney was too heavy. The chair broke through his grasp and struck him in the face knocking him onto the floor. Mrs. Kinney’s head slammed against the concrete.

“No!” shouted Ronin. He crawled to Mrs. Kinney. Her eyes were closed and her head was bleeding. He shook her but she didn’t respond. Trembling, shaking, convulsing, it looked like Mrs. Kinney was having a seizure.

“Help” shouted Ronin. Tears welled up in his eyes as he squeezed Mrs. Kinney in his arms.

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