The Chase, Scene v1

... All she could do was stare helplessly at his tears and listen to him call to her, but she could not respond. Although she couldn’t feel the pain in her body, it was unbearable watching Garrick in such anguish. A thin stream of tears escaped from her eyes, as the color faded along with her life. Garrick hugged her body tightly, rocking her back and forth, unable to fight back the sobs that shook his body.

The soldiers closed their eyes in a moment of mourning. Devin and Sara returned to the tower’s fiery ruins. Kismet, on her back, cringed at the ache that filled her body. Her chest heaved laboriously. Sara stomped toward her yelling, “You! Your insane idea got two people killed!”

Devin backhanded Sara across the face. Devin glared at her as a thin trail of blood escaped her lips. “I’m sick of all your complaining. We would’ve all been dead if someone didn’t do something.” He offered his hand to Kismet. “You did well. You alright?”

Sara’s humiliation brought a smile to the Catheran’s face. She took the general’s hand and painfully rose to her feet. “Thank you. I’ll be fine…Elena—is she—?”

Devin nodded sadly. Garrick set Elena’s body gently on the floor. He brushed the hair out of her face and closed her eyes. “Those damned Kival…I swear I’ll find every last one of them. I will hunt them down and skin them alive.”

Kismet stepped toward him lightly. “Commander Garri—”

“What?!” he yelled, glaring at the Catheran, his eyes glossed over with fought-back tears.

“While we were on the tower, I saw a small group of people headed north through the woods.”

Garrick began recklessly marching ahead. Devin caught his arm. “Garrick, calm down. The Kival probably know we survived. Chasing after them headlong is suicide.”

Garrick shook off the general’s grip. He glared at him, his eyes filled with anger and anguish. “And what? You expect me to just let them get away with this?”

“Of course not, but following them without any reinforcements is too risky.” Devin stared him straight in the eye. He knew the commander was lost. No one would be able to stop him from pursuing Elena’s murderers. He watched Garrick run north through the woods, the two remaining Lokem soldiers loyally at his heels.

“Let me guess. We’re going to help him aren’t we?” sighed Nakita.

“We can’t just let them go on their own,” replied Devin. The five Rokan soldiers rushed north. They spotted the Republic soldiers ahead through the trees. As they drew closer, another set of footsteps tickled Kismet’s ears from further ahead. Four, she counted.

“There they are!” shouted Garrick. They dashed through the trees to close in the distance. The fugitives hastened their escape. Another set of footsteps arrived, then another. Three from the left, and three from the right. The runaways suddenly stopped.

“Ambush!” called out Kismet.

A small throwing knife lodged itself into Garrick’s left shoulder. The two soldiers by his side deflected their initial attacks. The Kival quickly surrounded the three soldiers who stood back to back. Garrick growled at the situation, with his spear in hand. Nakita fired a stream of water at the left flank. It crystallized as it pierced through the air, shattering as it closed in on the Kival. The shards of ice barraged the three Kival, sending them to the ground in agony. Amidst the confusion, Garrick lunged forward with a powerful swipe, cutting through one of his opponents. Kismet pounced on the nearest soldier from the right flank, knocking them into a second. She quickly knocked them unconscious with a swift blow to the head. The third slashed at her with his sword. She kicked his wrist, disarming him, then thrust both her feet into his stomach. Garrick stepped forward, impaling one of the Kival with a merciless stab.

The remaining two ran in terror. Garrick caught one with the edge of his spear. He continued his pursuit of the last remaining murderer. The Kival tripped on a large root. She turned around, her eyes wide with fear. She scrambled backwards in a futile attempt to get back on her feet. A cry of pain filled the woods as Garrick stabbed her shoulder. He retracted his spear and thrust it at her chest. Devin gripped it with both his hands, stopping it just as it pierced her skin. “Garrick, stop! That’s enough!”



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