Demonworld Read Free Page A

heavily-trafficked tunnel. Many, many people surrounded his “mad scientist” poster. A few Guardians were there as well. Wodi would later wonder why he did not simply drop his new stack of posters in the garbage and continue walking. Instead, he calmly began posting on the other side of the tunnel. Did he want to be caught? Did he want the people he was targeting to see him at work, right under their noses? Of course, within minutes he was picked up by the Guardians and taken in for questioning.
     
    None could understand why he did what he did, why he wanted to potentially ruin a very important festival, or why he thought the act of terror was humorous. When questioned, Wodi’s defense was that anyone who actually believed that his poster contained a single grain of truth should be taken in for questioning and forced to give an account of their own simple-mindedness. Anyone with any sense, said Wodi, would see the posters for what they were and either laugh or ignore them. Many long-time, battle-tested Guardians felt a chill run through them when dealing with the easy-going sociopath; dealing with bookish youths rebelling against an environment that stifled creativity was not a part of their training.
     
    Despite his demeanor, Wodi was quite nervous during the questioning. He knew he would face no serious punishment, as the entire affair was too ludicrous to warrant any real justice. But he was afraid that his parents would worry. He did not want to disappoint them by being different, and he certainly did not want his mother to be angry with him.
     
    In the end, the entire affair was hushed up. Before charges of “terroristic threatening” and “incitement to revolt” were laid on Wodi, several higher-ups within the community heard about the incident and, not wanting to scare away potential tourism dollars, counseled the local Guardians to release Wodi after giving him a good scare.
     
    The Guardians laughed aloud when Wodi’s mother picked him up and screamed at him like a madwoman, his cool demeanor breaking as he struggled to explain the situation, stuttering and near tears.
     
    As fate would have it, the next time Wodi was taken in by Guardians, he would be arrested with multiple charges of murder against him.
     
    * * *
     
    At the age of eighteen, Wodi enrolled in a publicly-funded civilian self-defense course that was taught by none other than Sevrik Clash, the Head of Guard of Haven. Sevrik was in charge of two-thirds of Haven’s military police force, the Guardians, and answered only to the senate; not even the Prime Minister himself could command him.
     
    At the time, Wodi was going quietly insane doing heavy lifting and cleaning for his father in a series of side jobs, and was finally nearing the end of his mandatory public education. He needed something to jar him, to wake him up inside, and so when he heard that such an important man was teaching combat tactics to anyone capable of leaving their couch, he jumped at the offer. He did not care if the event was some sort of ridiculous publicity stunt.
     
    The class was held in the eastern end of Haven, a wooded and sparsely populated area near the Guardian training grounds. Anyone with a camera was turned away. Wodi and a few others who seemed serious about the class were escorted by a Guardian in uniform. White plastic armor highlighted with deep blue and yellow ochre dust covered his shoulders, chest, and thighs. Wodi could not take his eyes off the heavy handgun that hung at the Guardian’s side. Other Guardians, some helmeted and in full armor, marched by with heavy black rifles slung over their shoulders.
     
    Wodi gathered with the others in a dimly-lit basement covered with drab military propaganda. One Guardian sat and smoked in the corner; he had orders to shoot anyone who made moves against the Head of Guard.
     
    Sevrik Clash entered and told everyone to form up into a line. Wodi was not the only one to feel himself shrink when the man