Chapter 26: Justice

Val laid down on a disheveled bed. Recalling what he had been told, he tried to clear his mind, focusing on the brand, imagining himself moving through it. Val succeeded with surprising ease, his first time entering the dark space consciously. The world became silent as his perception of the waking world faded. When he opened his eyes, the familiar darkness was all around, but this time he awoke directly before the brazier.

Valor, like before, was lounging before the flames.

"You returned awfully quick, more training?" He asked with a smirk.

"Not training, but I do have questions."

"Oh? Go ahead." Valor seemed a bit surprised, but gave him his full attention.

"Until now, I've only used my strength against ghouls, in defense of human lives…" Val started, not entirely sure what he was trying to ask.

"You are worried about killing humans." Valor was no longer smirking.

"Not so much worried, more unsure if I can. My power comes from you after all."

The god simply chuckled. "I have taken countless lives in my time, do not forget I am ultimately a god of war. Glory in battle and sharp steel is my domain. If you are worried about your strength failing you, dispel your fears. I believe if you act according to your own sense of justice, you will make the right decisions."

"Justice, huh? Who is even left to decide that…"

Valor's eyes smoldered with a fiery glow. "Boy, I am justice. Through my power, so are you. Justice is dispensed by the strong, but do not misunderstand me, we still had laws back then, but fewer who would enforce them. From war, we decided which country was right, from duels, we confirmed who deserved to be right. Your modern concept of justice is pretty, but ultimately fragile. Only those who have strength can afford to consider whether something is just."

"Sounds barbaric."

"Perhaps, however, while I am trapped here, I am not blind to your world. Through your eyes I can see what you are dealing with, your modern 'process' of justice is the only thing restraining you, is it not?"

Val balked at the news that the disembodied god sitting before him had been observing his actions.

Valor casually dismissed Val's fears, gesturing with his one arm. "Relax, I am not so bored as to be watching you all the time, neither is it so simple. It is, however, effortless to see what you see when your emotions and magic rage. You do not realize it, but it carries into this realm, demanding the power to help you resolve your struggles, baring yourself to me as if to show me why you need it. You do not want to get involved in someone else's problems, you do not want to play god in their lives when they have already yielded to their fate, no?"

"That's more or less it, or it was."

"It was until you learned of the injustice committed upon those young women. Your country's laws and your leader's orders do not matter here, ultimately whether it is right or wrong is up to what you intend to do about it."

"If I raise my blade against them, they will just return with greater numbers. I doubt they will give up on such a healthy population of survivors."

The one-armed god seemed bored now. "Rationalizing a situation is not a habit for the strong. If you wish to save them from their plight, do so, it is as simple as that."

Val scoffed. "Ha. It can't be that simple."

"It is, we followed such simple principles, and your kind has survived until now, has it not? What good is strength if you do not use it to protect your beliefs? Justice will appear in the form of the victor, perhaps you think it tyrannical. It might interest you to know that democracy, trial by jury and their like, are not modern inventions. I have witnessed the rise and fall of kings, emperors, dictators, yet in our time, there were many decisions decided by pure democracy. There's just one problem with it though, the difficult decisions are very hard to make if you need to get everyone's opinions about all the little details, how many people it will affect, and so on. You do not have the time to gather your peers and huddle like mice about what to do. Times like these may call for a bit of tyranny — you wish to right a wrong, and you have the strength to do so, it is that simple." Valor explained, his attention seemed to drift to far off memories.

"How very utilitarian of you." Val remarked. The line of reasoning given to him was effectively 'the ends justify the means,' the same reasoning that had been twisted time and time again by the worst examples of humanity.

Valor shrugged. "If you came here expecting me to dissuade you, I am afraid I must disappoint you. As a matter of fact, I actually agree with your feelings regarding the situation. In times of war, it was not uncommon to see humans from all walks of life abused and taken advantage of. Odin himself would fly into a violent rage, I have seen him snap the necks of his own men before when they fell prey to the basest of behaviors. Sif was particularly vengeful where women were involved. She rescued many, later raising them to be among the fiercest of the Valkyries."

"I guess I have my answers then." Val had a stern look, but also seemed to be somewhat relieved.

"Hmph, you had your answers before you came to me. Justice follows in Valor's footsteps. You will find that to be true. Go now, this fiddling with your moral compass grows dull." Valor waved his arm as if to dismiss Val, and before any more argument could be made, Val's brand lit up and the waking world seemed to flood back into view.

Val sat up with a start, mildly annoyed at his unceremonious dismissal. Leaving the bedroom, he returned to the kitchen where Muninn and Huginn were snacking.

"You are calmer than you were before, more resolute. I take it you got your answers?" Huginn eyed Val curiously.

"I did."

"And?"

"Tonight, little after midnight, I'm going to pay a visit to the soldiers. The fallout I can deal with afterward." Val said grimly.

"What do you need us to do?" Muninn asked with concern.

"Keep an eye on the soldiers for me, how many are on patrol, whether they change shifts, et cetera. If you can find out where their leader is, let me know, I have questions he will answer. We have quite some time till midnight, I'm going to do some scouting and get some things ready."

. . .

The night was particularly dark, with black clouds overhead blocking out most of the moonlight and stars. Val was standing atop the roof of a three-story building overlooking the area. From it he could see the large bar across the street. He had found a small monocular used for sighting game in the sporting goods store, through it, he observed the soldiers, Muninn told him only two guards were posted, one near the trucks in the adjacent lot behind the bar, and another out front. Many broken windows were decorating the building, as to why the soldiers chose the bar to rest for the night, the hollering and drunken revelry made it clear enough.

Val had noted the truck that likely held the six women, as he had seen a soldier take a stack of blankets into the vehicle, but he did not return from it for nearly a half-hour. What he had done in that time, Val had a few guesses. Most of them disgusted him, but he remained patient, trying to keep his eyes from blazing with fury and giving him away in the dark.

Despite not carrying guns, he was quite heavily armed, his sword slung across his back, and both knives strapped to his belt at his right. He wrapped a length of climbing rope he had shortened to six feet around his chest. Val was not comfortable wielding two blades at once, but he had brought the backup knife just in case. He knew from experience now that pulling steel from flesh was not always easy. It would be dangerous if Val was unable to retrieve the knife if he had to fight more than one soldier at once. This was especially the case since he was not too confident in his ability to take a bullet in a bad place, to speak nothing of defending against automatic firearms. Stealth and patience had to be his weapons of choice this time. Once he started, he would have to act without hesitation.

Muninn alighted on his shoulder a moment later.

"Have you found the leader?"

"I think so, tanned figure in the back room, short black hair, the only one with three marks instead of one or two on his shoulder."

"A sergeant, I think. That should be him then, how's it look it there?"

"Aside from the two guards outside, the rest is passed out drunk or close to it. The leader in the back. It is a bit hard to tell, but there was light coming from the backroom. It looked like the guards outside are partaking in liquor themselves too."

"Got it, thanks. Huginn is watching the back already?"

"Yes, he is in position."

The interior of the bar's first floor was utterly exposed. Looking through the lens, he could spot six figures passed out drunk under or next to tables, though he was not sure if anyone was behind the bar. The leader being in the back, two guards outside, there remained three soldiers unaccounted for.

To Val's surprise, he spotted Huginn approaching swiftly.

"What's wrong?" Val asked.

"On the contrary, now may be as good a time as any to strike. The guard posted at the back entrance just stepped away to the truck, no offerings of blankets." Huginn told him with a strange zeal in his tone.

Val's eyes flared with the color of fire. "Got it, return to your position, I'm going now."

He returned down the stairs from the roof quietly. Exiting the building, he was moving swiftly behind the cover of buildings to circle around to the back of the bar. Ghouls had not bothered to retake the area he had cleared, so he moved at a quick, unhindered pace, keeping low to the ground. In the pitch blackness of the moonless night, the only thing that gave him away was the faint glow beneath his shirt and a pair of smoldering eyes. Making as little noise as possible, he hopped a wire fence into the parking lot of the bar. All eight trucks had been neatly parked in the lot, taking up most of the space. With his sharpened hearing, he could make out the muffled cries from the back of one of the trucks. Val drew his knife and approached.

Lifting one of the canvas flaps, Val confirmed the base brutality of these soldiers with disgust. The soldier was trying to pin one of the women to the bed of the truck. She was struggling fiercely, but her arms were still bound. All she could do was kick and flail at the man. Not wasting another moment, Val leaped quietly into the vehicle. He immediately reached and grabbed the man's face from behind, covering his mouth and nose as he yanked the man back hard, disappearing from the back of the vehicle no sooner than he had appeared. Before he uttered more than a muffled shout, Val thrust the knife into his throat, turning muffled noise to soft gurgling sounds. Not risking any further noise, Val twisted his neck with superhuman strength, sloppily but entirely breaking his neck as the body fell limp to the ground.

Val could still hear the muffled sounds of fear and panic from inside the truck, but moved on nonetheless. It was better if they did not fall silent too quickly. Whether the guard out front could hear it was not something he would leave to chance. Better for it to sound like business as usual to the soldiers than something wrong. Circling around to the front of the bar, he crept up behind the guard silently and dispatched him in the same manner. Bright red blood coated the knife and his right hand, but Val's mind was focused, devoid of distractions, a strange chill in his otherwise smoldering eyes. He moved the body out of view around the side of the building. The blood along the ground would give it away, but in the dark of the night, it would be tough to see it.

Returning to the parking lot out back, he noted a shattered window on the second floor; it was not very high up and large enough for a person to enter through. Flexing his fingers, he started to climb a sturdy enough looking drain pipe.

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