World of Karik: A Game of Villains 40 The Mask

On one hand, I was happy with the newly acquired spell. On the other, I had no idea what two-inch flames were good for. It was more of a lighter than a weapon, to be honest.

Keep your chin up, Cat! A lighter can cause serious damage; and given the fact that skills can be developed, this spell is quite promising. Also, whoever wrote the description clearly had a sense of humor — "a stream of flame" my ass…

Petrovich was confused at first. He probably expected me to argue, swear or demand something, but I simply thanked him. He must've assumed that I was keeping a grudge against him. I'll keep him guessing. Most importantly, he couldn't even imagine how valuable his gift actually was.

Sergei, the newbie that Petrovich had killed, was standing naked on all fours and kept shifting his fearful gaze between the leader and me. The guy must have thought that he had gone crazy. I would think the same in his place, to be honest.

"What's going on?" he asked in a trembling voice, making sure that we were both looking at him.

"Shame on you!" said Dasha's in a high pitched, judgmental tone.

She rushed to the guy and handed him a spare set of clothes. Luckily for him, he got to avoid the "ritual" of undressing his own corpse and got a chance to pull himself together. Sergei huddled up, trying to cover his naked body, and began to dress hastily.

"So, there are more of us here now," Petrovich smiled when Sergei finally got dressed and sat next to the other newcomer, Lena. "Recruits," I winced as he pronounced that word, "meet Vasily, our combat scytheman. This is Mikhail. As it turns out, he's a good swordsman and my assistant. You already know the others."

"I wonder what our newcomers can do," I said.

"Sergei's a crossbowman," the redhead said. "We're really luck, getting all these shooters lately. And Lena has a very rare skill."

The blacksmith made a pause for effect. For a second, I was afraid that he would mention something along the lines of teleportation.

"She's a rope specialist," Dmitri announced solemnly.

"What the hell can we use that for?" the Major rudely commented.

"Don't be stupid, Mikhail," Semyon joined the conversation. "Firstly, lassoes, harnesses, and all that stuff that can help catch animals...and people, too. And secondly, traps around the base. Right, Lena?"

The girl nodded several times in confirmation. She seemed somewhat browbeaten, sitting with bulging eyes and twitching at every sound or sudden movement. But she was kind of pretty. Damn, not being in a relationship for a long time, even if you were in another world, didn't do a man good; I'd asses a pretty girl's appearance the moment she would appear. Lena was a skinny redhead with big, green eyes. And sort of clumsy. For some reason I liked that quality. I couldn't help but wonder who did she kill or frame to get here?

"What about our armless fellows?" Petrovich finally decided to pay attention to the prisoners, who were still quietly standing on the sidelines and were helplessly shifting from foot to foot.

Innokenty, the puny boy who decided to talk to us, proved that he was worth something once again.

"Personally I have no intention of joining you," he said in a slightly trembling voice. "They'll look for me and blow your base to smithereens."

"You think so?" Petrovich calmly asked him.

Right, I remembered. This Innokenty guy was the one who remained silent when our leader asked them to submit to him. This man was worthy of some respect. The second guy from their group, Cyril, sat and looked at the earth dejectedly. Two girls huddled together and looked at us with eyes red from weeping. Something inside me clenched, and a shiver ran down my spine. Not out of pity, no; but from realizing just how cruel I could be, for it was I the one who cut off their hands and brought them here. Of course, severed limbs could regenerate in this world, but prisoners had to be sent to resurrect first. And this was fraught with the fact that the other squad would be able to find us.

"Keeping silent, huh?" Petrovich asked again. The guy never said a word in response. "That's right. You are silent because you know that nobody will look for you. And that no one will avenge you even if we kill you now, and you resurrect at your base."

"They will avenge us," said Innokenty at last, his voice trembling.

"I don't think so," Petrovich shook his head. "You've been blackballed. How many men were in your unit?

Innocent turned away.

"Ten," said Boris, the third guy. "There were ten of us."

"Well done, Boris," Petrovich nodded at the boy. "There are five of you here and five of you back at the base. "Tell me," the lancer turned to Innokenty, "is your leader a fool that would attack a fortified base with only five men?"

"Innokenty, join them," said Marina, one of the girls. "It's obvious that they're strong, we'll be better off with them."

"Better?" the puny one jumped up fiercely. "They cut off our hands, Marina! Do you think that's better?!" he screamed.

Petrovich winced and turned to the Major.

"Mikhail, take the guy to the far cave. Let him sit in the dark and think."

"No food?" the Major happily inquired. Yeah, a genius solution. Drive a person into a corner and they will be very much inclined to end their own suffering. So, if our new leader wants to somehow keep these newcomers, they shouldn't be forced to starve.

"Are you a fool, or what?" Petrovich exclaimed.

I was right.

"I see," the Major muttered, grabbed Innokenty by the collar and dragged him into the cave.

"And what about us?" Marina said. "We joined your squad."

"And you have made the right choice," Petrovich nodded.

"Then give us back our hands!" Boris demanded.

"I'd love to," the leader said. "But I can't. For that to happen, you'd need to resurrect, and it is very dangerous."

"But we're no good this way!" whined the dark-haired Ravshana. I wondered where she was from.

"Not yet," Dmitri answered instead Petrovich. "But since you are now our allies, we will not leave you in this position."

"You just need to persuade Innokenty to take our side," I said decisively.

Petrovich looked at me in surprise; the redhead's eyes widened. Why did I join the conversation? Getting into conflict with Petrovich, who had just come into possession of powerful weapon, was not worth it. I could think whatever I wanted about him, but I wouldn't show that we are enemies. I couldn't survive alone, even with Olga and Dasha on my side. I had to let Petrovich command, and pretend that I've finally made peace with his leadership.

"Cat is right," said the lancer, nodding approvingly. "We'll just have to destroy your former unit and take away your tombstones. But, we can do that only if all of you are on our side. That will show the remaining five that they stand no chance against us."

"Should we have them talk with Innokenty?" asked Semyon. I was surprised that even he chimed in.

"Yes," Petrovich agreed after giving it a thought. "The four of them will talk him into it."

The policeman helped the Major lead the rest of the prisoners into the cave. The prisoners didn't resist and readily accepted the idea to sit in the cave with the guy who was holding their last line of defense.

Chapter end