a midnight omen

Max opens his eyes.

Max is in the middle of the valley. it seems to be dark. the sky is in a dark tone of blue with some nasty clouds. the flowers are withered.

Max listens to the voice of a familiar man. he turns around to see an old man with a wooden flute on his lips.

the old man has some muscles, his whole head is white. he has short hair and an elegant beard. he has deep blue eyes. he has some military uniform.

"I am learning to use this shit. this isn't my forte. so how are you boy?"

said the old man with a huge smile.

"master! Master Hampton, I was told that you came from this world."

"yes. that is right, my good apprentice. I am proud of you. I am glad that you had found a good place to stay."

"master, this place is gorgeous. why didn't you told me about it before?"

"an old man like myself can only find joy in the lust and luxury of your world. oh boy, the ladies in your world are like fresh bread, and I love fresh bread. it taste better with butter and it is a delicacy to taste."

"sir, you are changing the topic again. you are always like this."

"am I? what can I say, the older you get and the more you love women."

Maxwell is looking at the petals of the flowers, are been turned into a red color. he knows that he is inside of a dream and that all of this isn't real.

he can't stop thinking about the people who he killed in order to be where he is right now. there is a road painted on the crimson red with the blood of many.

Master Leofwin Hampton is in there trying to guide him for the right path. he might not be real on this dream. but if master Leofwin appeared on this dream, is for a reason.

Maxwell looks at his left to see the image of Jason. the same Jason who destroyed his whole life. he knows that the Jason who is in front of him isn't real. he knows that this is a dream, but he can't deny how much he hates that stupid face. the face of a traitor.

Jason looks at him with his poisonous eyes. Jason starts to laugh and mock him. his voice is so loud that it is obnoxious. Max knows that what is in front of him is just an exaggeration of the man that he hates more than anything on his damn life.

the valley is sunk by a lake of blood. there are thousands of bodies on the lake. the lake covers his legs till his knees. Maxwell looks at Robert Larsson, Emma Jefferson, Raku Kobayashi, Ji-hye Moon, and Ramiro Gutierrez. they are been swallow slowly by the lake of blood. Jason Thompson is standing behind Maxwell.

Jason whispers on his ear. he tells him that he is death. it doesn't matter where he goes, he will always walk on top of dead bodies. he will always see friends and allies died before him.

Jason keeps whispering on his ear. he tells him about his dark fate. Jason keeps talking about a lot of shit while Max is trying to ignore him. Max looks at the lake of blood without saying anything else.

"your existence is going to be a curse to others."

yields loudly Jason.

"I don't care. I want to live and I will do my job. I will kill whoever it has to be. I don't care if those who are near me die or don't die."

said Maxwell on an emotionless tone of voice.

Max looks at the dead bodies of those who are close to him. Maxwell didn't care at that point about his teammates. after all he doesn't even know them that much.

Maxwell has the face of a man who has seen enough dead bodies to not even care anymore. he is just waiting for the time to end soon, for him to be finally free. Maxwell is breathing loudly as he kneels slowly.

the lake of blood starts to cover almost his whole body. bellow his chin everything else is covered by the lake. Maxwell can feel the cold blood on his entire body. he closes his eyes as he submerges his head slowly.

under the lake of blood, Maxwell opens his eyes to see the dead bodies tied to chains. the faces of friends and even family members. they are in there like a warning for a price that needs to be payed for his existence.

Max screams. he turns around. he tries to get out of the lake. he looks at Jason walking on the top of the lake. Jason speaks like a snake as he walks freely. he isn't been dragged to the deep heart of the lake unlike Max who is falling deeper, and deeper towards the heart of the lake.

Max feels how the dead are approaching him, and they start to pull him. they nail their fingers on his body as the dead try to pull him apart on pieces. Max yields with all his strength, but nothing is enough to stop the pain on his body.

Max remembers the faces of the dead. the faces of those who he killed on jail. he remembers every way in which he commit murder. but then he asked himself, was there really no other option? was there ever a salvation?

Max pushes them away. he tries to escape from them. he tries to be freed from the burden that is life and the consequences of their actions.

"I deserve to be given an opportunity. I do deserve to live a life free from pain."

yields Maxwell as he lets out all of his emotions.

he keeps swimming as he finally frees himself from the lake. he gets out of the blood lake. he walks towards the sand, the white sand. he looks back at Jason. Maxwell told him that he is never going to defeat him.

as Max keeps walking he looks up at the bright sky.

.....

Maxwell wakes up from his nightmare. he woke up feeling horror after what he saw.

Robert Larsson and Ramiro Gutierrez are in front of him with fearful faces. far from them is Raku with a book on his hands.

"what? what happen?"

asks Maxwell with a breathless tone of voice.

"you were suffering on your dream. we were worry for you."

said Ramiro in a serious tone of voice.

"let that pitiful old man alone."

said Raku while reading.

someone knocks on the door. Maxwell stands up slowly. he walks carefully and then he opens the door. he looks at Emma Jefferson who was worry for the strange sound that she heard coming from this room.

Maxwell leaves the room follow by Emma, who wants to know more about him. he apologizes to her for the strange noises while he was sleeping. Max turns around to see her. Emma kisses him in that moment.

she has no especial feelings for him nor anything like that. the kiss was just an spontaneous moment of desire. Emma sees how Max looks at her with suspicion. Emma wants to kiss him once more.

"I don't think I have feelings for you, but you are so hot that I want you to do me dirty."

said Emma with a seductive voice.

"I had spend so long inside of a cage. I no longer remember how to behave in front of a beauty like you."

said Maxwell feeling nervous in front of her.

"you don't have to be a gentleman. if that is the issue, you can just treat me however you like. I am dying to share my bed sheets with you. you know what I mean, right?"

said Emma with a sexual tone of voice.

"I don't know how to feel about you. I am not sure if I can be a gentleman or talk sweet to you."

said Max feeling uneasy about the situation.

"honey that doesn't matter. all you need is to be a beast on the bed."

"then it will be my honor."

there is a moment of silence as Maxwell was thinking that she meant that they should had sex at that moment. before he said anything else Emma speaks. she explains that she didn't meant at that moment.

"don't be sad darling, we have all the time of the world."

there was some playfulness on her words.

after a while Emma goes back to her room.

Maxwell walks out of the house. it is three a.m. so everything is completely dark. even when Max could't see shit. he decided to stop in front of the valley. the fresh & cold air, with the mental image of the valley, are enough to bring a smile on Max's face.

Max felt closer to mother nature on this world. for the normal human this events can be quite shocking. for Maxwell it was all new, but he was lacking the emotions to feel distress, afraid or confuse on this other world.

Maxwell sighs as he touches some flowers. he thinks about finding total peace on this world. he pictures himself living in a mountain by himself near a small village.

Maxwell isn't ever going to be able to walk freely on his world. but on this world, he can live an eternity accompanied by mother nature. this is the world in which he can be a free man and die of old age.

Maxwell stands up. he turns around to see Logan Cromwell in front of him holding a candle. Logan was silently looking at him. there is no malice nor pity on his face. Logan is a strange man who doesn't show any anger nor sadness. there is no joy nor cruelty on his face, ever. Logan is a cold emotionless man at times.

"I know."

"know what?"

"I know how beautiful can be my world. there is a beauty hidden that you will never see on your own world. there are times on the sunrise that the sky looks completely pink. it is an effect that science can't explain."

"yeah, on the earth.....there is some beauty, but the beauty on this world is something else. there are plants that not even the most exotic plants on earth can compare to."

"come back inside. we can talk more later."

"tomorrow is the day, right?"

Logan nods without saying anything else.

Maxwell enters inside of the old house followed by Logan. Maxwell starts to take his clothes off. Logan looks at him frowning.

"what are you doing?"

"I feel more comfortable like this."

"there are women on this house."

"I know, that is why I haven't taken my underwear off."

"mmmmmmm...."

"yeah, I am going to sleep now."

Maxwell walks quietly towards his room.

Logan is looking at the clothes on the floor. Logan feels tired of dealing with a savage like Maxwell. the only reason why he is keeping him at his side is because, he knows how powerful can be an apprentice of Leofwin Hampton.

Logan looks behind of him carefully after a strange noise alerts him.

he looks at Raku who is behind him. Raku is still reading a book. he seems to not care about Logan's opinion. Logan felt a strange feeling. after knowing his henchmen for too long, Raku is the strangest of all of them.

Logan asked a question out of courtesy. Raku is quietly reading his book. Logan asks him if there is anything that he wants.

there is a creepy smile on Raku's face as he walks away. he stops for a moment and without looking at Logan's face he asks a strange question.

"do they know that they are going to die?"

asks Raku on a cold tone of voice.

Raku went to his room walking slowly. he knew that Logan felt uncomfortable with the question. he is a strange youngster, he is hard to read.

Logan leaves the house and he rides a horse. he was thinking about visiting King Thurstan Cromwell, his brother. he has some information to deliver, information about tomorrow's assault to the Martyrium Kingdom.