Chapter 41: Painful Lessons
It was just after sunset in the West Camp. The Downs workers had finished their dinners and had returned to their cabins to entertain themselves or watch old Masters of Wrestling shows. Walter was still being held in the trailer. He was no longer tied up or gagged, but he was in the presence of two enforcers who would not let him leave the trailer.
Horns began to blare out from outside the main gate. The vehicle carrying the imperial guards had arrived. Hovering above this vehicle were the two flying vehicles flown by Tiberius and Miro.
The main gate opened. Revals and Cecil rushed out to greet the Emperor whose flying vehicle was now only a few metres off the ground.
‘Welcome to our humble camp, Your Imperial Majesty,’ said Revals as he continuously bowed as he approached Tiberius’ flying vehicle.
‘Stop acting pathetic,’ sighed Tiberius. ‘We’ve travelled a long way. My most loyal and devoted imperial guards are hungry and need to be fed now.’
‘Oh yes, of course,’ said Revals as he moved aside to let the imperial guards’ vehicle pass. Cecil looked at Revals, shaking his head.
Tiberius and Miro landed their flying vehicles in the middle of the camp. Both Tiberius and Miro climbed out of their flying vehicles. Revals energetically rushed over to them.
‘Where’s my son?’ asked Tiberius, sounding frustrated. ‘Why isn’t he here to greet me?’
‘I’ve been carefully mentoring him, but he’s not quite ready yet,’ chuckled Revals. ‘I’ll take you to him.’
‘Meet with Captain Cecil,’ said Tiberius as he turned to Miro. ‘I need to spend time with my dear son.’
‘He’s in that trailer right over there,’ said Revals as he darted ahead of Tiberius to show him the way.
Tiberius sighed and followed behind him. Four imperial guards accompanied him.
Revals opened the trailer door. He, Tiberius, and the imperial guards entered.
‘Hey piece of shit, I see you brought more of your morons to visit me,’ shouted Walter as he pointed at them.
‘No, no,’ said Revals in a panicked tone. ‘This is the Emperor, your father, Your Imperial Highness.’
‘Haha, the nutcase!’ remarked Walter. ‘I remember now.’
Tiberius began to laugh. Revals nervously joined in. The laughter continued for a few more seconds, and then Tiberius abruptly stopped.
‘A product of your mentoring, I suppose,’ remarked Tiberius as he glared at Revals.
‘Well, he’s a work-in-progress,’ replied Revals.
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ shouted Tiberius. ‘Get on your knees, all of you.’
Revals, the four imperial guards, and the two enforcers immediately dropped to their knees. However, Walter remained standing.
‘I see you take orders from no one,’ said Tiberius in a calm tone. ‘That’s something I can admire…’
‘Oh shut up, nutcase!’ shouted Walter. ‘Being frozen for a million years doesn’t make you special.’
'Guards, grab him!’ shouted Tiberius as he pointed to Revals.
The imperial guards grabbed Revals, and the enforcers stood up.
‘Get me a sword,’ said Tiberius to an enforcer.
‘Let me guess, you’re feeling a little insecure?’ asked Walter as he raised his eyebrows.
‘I’m sorry, son,’ replied Tiberius in a gentle tone. ‘I failed you. I gave you a weak mentor.’
‘I don’t need a mentor,’ said Walter angrily. ‘I certainly don’t need you.’
Tiberius sighed. He lifted his head slightly and took a deep breath.
The enforcer entered the trailer carrying a sword.
‘Stretch out one of his arms across the table,’ instructed Tiberius as he looked at the imperial guards holding Revals.
‘Oh please no,’ whimpered Revals. ‘I’m so sorry. I swear I can do better.’
‘I know you can,’ said Tiberius. ‘That’s why this needs to be done.’
‘You’re beyond nuts,’ said Walter as he leaned towards Tiberius.
‘Grab him and hold him,’ said Tiberius as he looked at the enforcer not holding the sword. ‘He needs to see this.’ Tiberius then turned to an imperial guard. ‘Put a rag in his mouth. I don’t want him losing his tongue.’
The enforcer grabbed Walter, who didn’t resist, and Revals burst into tears. An imperial guard shoved a rag into his mouth.
‘He’s not so bad,’ said Walter. ‘Let’s maybe talk about this.’
‘I’m doing this because I love you,’ said Tiberius. ‘I want you to reach greatness. I want him to be better too.’
‘I understand I shout a bit much,’ pleaded Walter. ‘I can stop that.’
‘Yes, I agree you can, and I will make sure you do,’ replied Tiberius, nodding. ‘Cut off a few fingers.’
The enforcer holding the sword swung it with force, cleanly chopping off three of Revals’ fingers. Revals screamed in pain.
‘Your Imperial Majesty, please,’ begged Walter as he tried to turn his head away. The enforcer grabbed him tighter, forcing him to watch.
‘Now the rest of the hand,’ said Tiberius as the aggression in his voice increased.
The enforcer swung his sword again, and this time he cleanly chopped Revals’ hand off at the wrist. Blood spurted from his wrist. Revals gasped in desperation as drool dripped from his mouth.
Walter started to cry. The enforcer pushed his face close to the severed hand.
‘Let’s trim a bit more off his arm, shall we?’ chuckled Tiberius as he looked at the enforcer with the sword.
The enforcer looked at Tiberius.
‘I’m sorry, did that sound like a request?’ shouted Tiberius as he glared at the enforcer. ‘Cut off another chunk of him!’
The enforcer swung his sword yet again, this time slicing through around halfway up Revals’ forearm. This time blood only dripped out. Revals’ head flopped onto the table.
Tiberius looked at Walter. ‘This is lesson one,’ said Tiberius calmly as the enforcer yanked Walter's head up by the hair. ‘If you don’t keep your stupid mouth shut. Lesson two will be taught by one of your friends. Do you understand?’
‘Uhuh,’ sobbed Walter.
‘That’s wonderful,’ said Tiberius as he clapped his hands together. ‘Now get the superintendent some medical attention. I think he feels a little unwell.’
The imperial guards carried Revals out of the trailer.
‘Make sure he gets some of our seaweed cure,’ called out Tiberius.
The enforcer dropped Walter to the ground. Tiberius and the enforcer left the trailer, leaving Walter alone.
The imperial guards cauterised Revals’ wound to stop the bleeding. Then they injected him with some of the seaweed treatment.
The next morning, Tiberius invited the leaders and the senior members of the camp to breakfast. This included Miro, Freddy, Walter, Revals, Cecil and a dozen other less senior captains. Revals was awake but was still in tremendous pain. His arm was heavily bandaged and was covered by a long shirtsleeve.
‘It’s great to see so many energised and enthusiastic faces,’ said Tiberius as he looked around the table. ‘You’ve all done amazingly well considering the stress you’ve had to contend with.’
The captains applauded.
‘Defeating the occupying forces without a single casualty was truly a great accomplishment,’ said Tiberius as his eyes scanned the row of captains. ‘Scaring away the Sentray is beyond impressive.’
Tiberius noticed Freddy frowning. ‘Some of you might think they weren’t too bad,’ continued Tiberius. ‘They have mastered the art of deception. They savagely attacked your superintendent. They ripped off a huge chunk of his arm. Through pure courage, he never let any of you know of his suffering.’
Most around the table gasped in shock as they turned to look at Revals, who looked incredibly ill. Walter stared at Tiberius but didn’t say anything.
‘Most of you haven’t seen my amazing son, Walter, in a while,’ said Tiberius as he smiled at Walter. ‘He has been selflessly attending to the superintendent. Isn’t that right, son?’
‘Yes, I have, Your Imperial Majesty,’ said Walter as he looked at his hands.
‘How are you feeling now?’ asked Tiberius as he turned to look at Revals.
‘I… I feel much better,’ replied Revals as he trembled in fear. ‘Thank you, Your Imperial Highness. Thank you, enforcers and Captain Cecil, for rescuing me.’
‘This is absolutely disgusting,’ said Miro as he got up and walked over to Revals. ‘The monsters who did this will pay.’
‘Monsters like traitors will pay,’ said Tiberius as he looked at Miro.
After breakfast, Freddy approached Miro. ‘Excuse me, sir,’ said Freddy. ‘I haven’t been able to contact my family in the Downs Region. I’m really worried about them.’
‘You are Freddy, Eugene’s brother, am I right?’ replied Miro.
‘Yes, I am,’ said Freddy proudly. ‘He’s the Head Enforcer.’
‘He has a very demanding and important job,’ said Miro as he rubbed Freddy on the shoulder. ‘I’m sure he’ll contact you soon.’
‘My Mummy and Daddy?’ asked Freddy.
‘They will too, I’m sure,’ sighed Miro as he tried to get away.
The previous night in the underground tunnels. Maskameera had been loaded into a vehicle. Four followers were transporting her to an opening near to the crash site of her flying vehicle. Despite being heavily sedated, Maskameera was beginning to come around.
The followers were listening to music and were unaware that Maskameera was breaking out of the compartment she was held in. Suddenly there was a loud noise. The followers stopped the vehicle. Two of them got out to check on what caused the noise. Maskameera was outside the vehicle and had moved onto the roof.
The followers walked towards the rear of the vehicle. On reaching the back, they saw the back panel had been knocked off. Maskameera had moved to the top front of the vehicle. She used her long arms to smash through the windows on either side of the front cabin. She ripped the driver from his seat and hurled him into the tunnel wall. She then leapt on top of the other follower who had exited the vehicle. She slammed him into the tunnel wall, breaking his neck.
The two followers who were at the back of the vehicle rushed towards Maskameera. She grabbed them by the neck with each of her hands. She squeezed them incredibly hard and then slammed their bodies into the tunnel wall, killing them instantly. Maskameera turned to look at the driver she had tossed from the vehicle. He was slowly crawling towards her. She walked over to him. She drove her foot down hard onto his back, almost snapping him in half.
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide
Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.
Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:
All individual chapters can be found on my 