Chapter 22:

  Sekara yelled that last part out, punctuating it by turning both her arms into blades and charging the dragon in front of her. She managed to stab him and then retreat before he could counter. The debris in the chamber was working with her, allowing her to put distance between herself and Ryukyu. Shogai saw Ryukyu's cut healing, but not nearly as fast. He was not in the best shape.

  And he knew it. Ryukyu roared in Kiara's direction and gestured toward the open gate. Kiara was frozen in fear, but she put on her brave face.

  "I won't just leave you here-!" Her sentence was cut off by Sekara throwing a dagger at her, which she narrowly avoided. Shogai recognised her expression now. It was the knowledge that she hadn't changed that much alongside Ryukyu. She was still an amateur.

  Kiara took one look at Mira, Shogai, and Jade, and she vanished to get help.

  Ryukyu took to the skies and rained fire on Sekara from above, which she ran from. She was nimble and used rocks to stay out of reach. She then climbed up one of the walls using her swords and leapt onto Ryukyu's back, stabbing him in the neck.

  Ryukyu roared in pain and flew into a pillar, knocking Sekara off but also making the pillar collapse, spreading dust everywhere for her to hide in. Ryukyu was still able to heal, but he was at every possible disadvantage. He needed to end the fight. Now.

  Ryukyu spotted a glint in the dust as Sekara tried to jump at him again from behind. He reacted quickly, spinning around in midair to catch Sekara by the leg, before using that momentum to throw her onto the ground. All the dust that had gathered was cleared by the shockwave, and Ryukyu followed up by landing on Sekara, crushing her lower half with his feet. She was trapped, in an all-too-familiar position, as Ryukyu opened his gaping maw, forcing Sekara once again to watch as an inferno built up in his throat.

  Shogai turned away to shield his eyes from the brightness.

  It didn't come. Confused, Shogai saw Ryukyu had not moved from his spot, and he was breathing fire, but something was wrong. He was barely moving. And the fire... that was barely moving either. It crawled toward Sekara at a snail's pace. Why was it so slow?

  "Your revenge, huh?" The second Deviant walked up to the duo carelessly. Sekara was moving at normal speeds. Ryukyu had been slowed down. Shogai realised that this Deviant wasn't Sekara's lackey. It was her superior.

  "And you said I wouldn't have to do anything," she said, pulling Sekara out from under Ryukyu and telling her to heal. Her legs went from crushed to healthy all too fast. Had she accelerated her healing? Some kind of speed manipulation, surely...

  Sekara grinned at Ryukyu, and while he was defenceless, she stabbed him a hundred times. Was he feeling that pain in real time? He wasn't regenerating. After being satisfied with her torture, she turned to Vera.

  "Vera, I'm sor-"

  "Save it. Kill the kid, and we go home."

  "R-right."

  Sekara wandered over to Shogai's location, and he backed away. Ryukyu was frozen, and Shogai’s own hands were still badly hurt. He couldn't fight back. Not like this. Sekara didn't show him mercy, grabbing him by the throat and holding him in the air. Shogai instinctively put everything he had into one of his legs, kicking Sekara in the chest with enough force to break any human bones. Sekara didn't fall.

  "And to think I saw potential in you. You impressed me by a fluke, clearly. Now…"

  Sekara's other hand was still a knife, and she put it up to Shogai's face, cutting him on the cheek.

  "Humiliated, as you should be. In fact..."

  Sekara dropped Shogai to the ground, and he felt a crack as his depleted leg hit the ground.

  "Your friend, Jade, right?" Sekara walked over to Jade, who was still unconscious in the arms of Mira, deliberately for Shogai to see.

  "Hand her over, girl, and you get to go home."

  "Sekara... I- they told me you were dead..."

  "Dead? Me?" Sekara laughed, "Oh, they wished. What more lies did they tell you to get you to help them?"

  "I... No, they're good people, I swe-"

  "They lied to you. Manipulated you. Are you gonna let me kill them? Or will you die before these disgusting creatures do?"

  Shogai couldn't see Mira's face, which scared him. That wasn't made better when she let go of Jade and stood up.

  "Good girl," Sekara said, patting her roughly on the head, "You made the right call."

  "Yeah... about that..."

  Shogai didn't know what Mira was planning until she'd already done it. She whipped out the sleeping perfume Shogai had given her and threw it at Sekara's face. Sekara reacted, but not knowing what it was, she sliced the bottle midair. That was a mistake.

  The fumes were spread all over her face, and much of it was inhaled. Sekara stepped back, wiping her face with her arm, and snarled at Mira. The perfume… didn't work.

  Mira clenched her fist as she watched the remains of Shogai’s gift, the shattered glass, fall to the floor. She saw Jade’s unconscious body and then glanced at Shogai, who was unable to move. Unable to get between her and Sekara. Unable to save her.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  A warm smile spread across her face. The same signature look of encouragement that she always wore. When teaching him to fight. When teaching him about his emotions. When talking about the stars. When explaining that nothing in the world is more meaningful than protecting what’s close to you.

  "Shogai and Jade are my best friends.” Her voice didn’t hold a hint of fear or resentment. “I'd rather die than betray them."

  "Then you will die."

  Shogai watched in horror as Sekara raised her sword. Move! Get between them! Save her! MOVE! But his body wouldn’t listen. He could only watch the trajectory as time slowed down. Or was it the blade slowing down? Shogai couldn’t tell if Sekara was deliberately making it slow and painful, or if his own brain was the one making it seem that way.

  Mira never closed her eyes as the blade pierced her chest, nor did she express even sadness. She simply looked at Shogai, still wearing that encouraging smile, and raised a hand towards him. As if her final instinct was to heal him from the shattering his soul was about to experience. Blood pooled around the sides of her mouth as she failed to speak, but Shogai read her lips. “It’s okay.”

  Sekara withdrew the sword, and blood spurted everywhere as Mira stumbled backwards.

  Then her legs gave out.

  The sound of the body hitting the floor was the loudest thing Shogai had ever heard, but even that sound was overwhelmed by the screaming of reality settling in.

  “No…”

  Her eyes were open, but no life was behind them.

  “No. No… No!”

  Tears began filling his vision, and he choked on the fluids before finally screaming.

  “MIRA!” His voice broke as he screamed again and again and again, yells of anguish filling the chamber. He didn’t care who was watching or who was listening.

  This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real. She was supposed to see her sister. She was supposed to go home to her mother. She was supposed to help more people like she always wanted to. She was supposed to LIVE.

  His screaming and yelling, combined with his sobbing and choking, formed an animalistic and uncontrolled sound, tearing through the silence of the cavern as Sekara watched on.

  “It’s a simple truth.” She wore a smile, too, just far more sinister. “You can’t save anyone.”

  Something inside Shogai broke. This was his fault. He brought her here. He swore to protect her. He swore to protect Nomun. She was meant to come home because he promised. He wasn’t meant to be out so late and leave the village unprotected. He was supposed to stop Sekara. He was supposed to stop Sekara. He was supposed to save them.

  Everyone he cared about died if they stayed around him. His sobbing began turning into hysterical laughter against his will. Shogai. Chaos. He really should have jumped back when he could. How could he have justified letting death follow him?

  "That was annoying," Sekara rolled her eyes, before turning to Jade, lifting her arm like a menacing executor.

  "Your turn."

  A blast of fire hit Sekara mid-attack, locking her in a tornado of fire. Shogai had to close his eyes from the brightness as he heard her screams. He couldn’t even see through the tears. What was that? Had Ryukyu freed himself? Why were his flames so much stronger?

  Shogai glanced over to Ryukyu's location, but he was exactly where he'd been left, frozen beside the green-haired Deviant, Vera, who'd been watching curiously. It wasn't his fire? Shogai’s breathing slowed as his grief combined with his confusion.

  His vision was still blurred with tears. His body was shaking. But some part of his brain - the part that had kept him alive through every Aberrant attack, every moment of danger - was still functioning. Still observing. Still cataloguing threats even as his heart shattered. He didn't want to see what came next. But he couldn't close his eyes.

  On the other side, Shogai saw five people standing by the open gate. Kiara was on his far left, panting. Next to her was a woman with light purple hair, interested but crazed. A woman, a bit older, was in the middle, orange-haired, and she was the one emitting the fire from both her hands. The firepower that surpassed Ryukyu's flames. Next to her was a green-haired girl, older than Shogai, who was scanning the battlefield for anyone in danger. And on the far right was a face Shogai recognised. Xero.

  Xero threw a dagger at Shogai, which landed at his feet. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t register it as a threat. He was too focused on what he’d already lost. Xero then put a hand on the green-haired girl, and they both appeared at Shogai's feet. Xero saw Jade, rushing over to her and bringing her alongside the group, ignoring the heat just feet away from him.

  "Zinnia. Heal them best you can, please. Then we'll get them to safety. I'm going to assist Ryukyu."

  Zinnia nodded, putting a hand over Shogai and Jade, healing them both. Even with one hand, she was a powerful healer, but Shogai’s physical wounds were meaningless compared to how he felt. He hardly noticed his wounds closing.

  Xero dropped a dagger next to Shogai and ran towards the Deviant with Ryukyu, and Purple Hair ran alongside him. Xero tossed her something.

  "Remember, the priority is rescue! Not defeat!"

  Purple Hair rolled her eyes at him and snapped at him not to order her about. She then expelled some sort of mystical purple smoke from her body, cloaking the region in it. Purple Hair vanished in the smoke as Xero backed out, exclaiming that he can't fight if he can't see. If Purple Hair heard, she didn't care.

  Flashes of light were coming from within the cloud, similar to the flashes of blue that appeared when Xero teleported. Shogai couldn't make out what was going on, but the girl was certainly attacking Vera. He could hear punches within the cloud.

  The smoke suddenly cleared. Purple Hair was suspended in the air by Vera, who had light wounds that quickly healed. Ryukyu was on the floor, just beneath Purple Hair, but was no longer suspended by the force. He was barely conscious, however, and had transformed back into his human form.

  Someone else was in danger. Someone else was about to die. Shogai wanted to yell out at Xero to do something, since the other Nexean was about to be killed, but Xero had a plan. Shogai saw one of his daggers hanging from Purple Hair's leggings, and in a flash, he was on the ground next to her... frozen.

  The Deviant didn’t know why Xero would trap himself, but Shogai saw what he was doing. Despite being frozen, Xero had positioned himself so that one arm would be grabbing Purple Hair's leg, and the other would be touching Ryukyu. In contact with both, light flashed again, and the three appeared by Jade, Zinnia, and Shogai.

  "Alright! Let's go now!"

  Xero picked up Ryukyu and ran towards Orange Hair at the entrance. Purple Hair didn't hesitate to lift Jade and follow him. Shogai’s body moved on autopilot. Stand. Let Zinnia support him. Limp forward. His body obeyed commands his mind couldn’t even process. Shogai warily looked back. The whole time, Sekara was still kept in place by Orange Hair, and Vera was watching, not acting.

  "I can only hold her for a bit longer. Let's get out of here." Orange Hair nodded towards Kiara, who took Jade from Zinnia and sped off. A few seconds later, she was back for Ryukyu, and then it was Shogai's turn. Kiara nodded at him and grabbed his arm. The last thing he heard was Sekara's scream of frustration as he escaped. And the last thing he saw was Mira’s body, getting further and further away.

  Come check out our Discord server!

  https://discord.gg/FQEam4725