CHAPTER 02 - Not Now
I was
showered with bullets, but amazingly, none of them hit. These soldiers must have
really bad aim. Or maybe they were stunned by what we all saw. To be honest, so
was I.
I'd never
seen Jotan fight like that before. How did he do it? He wielded the dagger with
such lightning speed that all the bullets that were aimed at him were
ricocheted off. Before the soldiers knew what hit them (which was a blade still
vibrating from the impact of the bullets), they were already disarmed. One soldier received a blow from the hilt of
Jotan's dagger and the other one was dispatched with the butt of his own weapon.
"Skyva!"
I was so stunned I didn't react at first, "Skyva, what are you doing? Take
this!"
Jotan
picked up both guns and threw one at me. I caught it without a
word. There was no time to speak, as nearby soldiers who had witnessed the skirmish
were now running towards us.
"Now
we know where these Flash Bombs came from," Jotan muttered as he took one
out. Twisting the top half to set it to explode on impact, he flung it at the
oncoming soldiers.
"Head
round to the side!" he yelled as the blinding light came from behind us,
disabling the soldiers who were caught off guard.
As we
ran, I gripped the handle of the weapon and thought to myself, "Here I
am, armed with a weapon that I barely had an idea how to use. I know Jotan
explained to me how such things worked before, but instinct tells me
to..."
Duck!
That
voice! No time to think! I obeyed it instantly and dragged Jotan down with me. An
explosion ripped the nearest house apart, sending chunks of wood over our heads.
If we had not ducked...
Now it
was Jotan's turn to drag me out of danger. He shoved me to one side and he
himself rolled to safety on the other side as bullets peppered the ground where
we lay prone moments before. Four soldiers were approaching, two on either side. They
were closing in on us in a pincer attack, trapping us in the middle. Jotan glanced
at me and I caught the look in his eyes. I nodded and raised my weapon and
cocked it, not actually knowing how I knew what to do. Squeezing the trigger, I emptied my magazine of rounds at the
enemies. And you know what? I missed. I'm starting to think marksmanship isn't
something I have. The soldiers halted where they were and returned fire.
Roll!
That's
what I did. I rolled forward, avoiding the hail of bullets that sailed over my
head.
Hit
the ground!
I wish I
knew whose voice this was, but I think now isn't the best time to ask. It seems
to be given good advice, I thought. So I hit the ground, literally. Don't ask me
why I did it. It seemed like the natural thing to do. I clenched my fist and
slammed it into the ground. I stared as a wave of energy rocked the ground from
my fist outwards. It reached the soldiers, knocking them to the ground.
"Okaaay....
Now how did that happen?" I thought to myself.
Does it matter? Just take them out.
I jumped
to my feet... only I didn't. That wasn't a jump, it was a leap. I found myself
sailing through the air and landed directly between the two floored soldiers.
Without realizing it, I had slammed my palms on each of their heads. A blinding
white light followed, then it was gone.
"Skyva!
Skyva, are you alright?" Jotan rushed up to me. It seems he took care of
business on his side pretty well. "Skyva, that was a brilliant move!
Unleashing a Flash Bomb right in their eyes!"
"You
saw what I did?" I looked uncertainly from Jotan's face to the blank faces
of the two unconscious men on the ground.
"Nah,
I was too busy handling my side, but I saw the light. What else could it have
been?" Jotan looked gleeful, "At least now I know you were listening to me
when I explained how to use it." And he proceeded to search the bodies of
the soldiers.
So he
didn't see it either, I thought. "Are they... dead?" I asked Jotan
slowly.
"Huh?
Them? Stunned, sure. Blinded for life, perhaps. Dead, no way. Still alive and
breathing, too bad for them though," Jotan continued to rummage through
their uniforms.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Still, that wasn't me fighting. I don't fight like that. I rubbed my eyes and caught a glimpse of the back of my left hand. The mark left behind by the ring was glowing faintly. I had to find out what this mark is and what it did to me. How could I possibly have this much power in me?
Now
is not the time.
And I
have to find out whose voice that is, that keeps ringing through my head.
Now
is not the time.
"Jotan,
who are these soldiers? What do they want with our village?" I questioned
my friend.
"Now
is not the time, Skyva. We need to save the villagers," was the reply.
(to be
continued...)