Rona's lungs burned with each strained breath. The ancient ladder protested every inch of their descent, a chorus of groans and creaks echoing within the oppressive tunnel. Cassia, a dead weight on his back despite her unnaturally light frame, mumbled in a feverish haze. The darkness swallowed the ladder's lower rungs, and the bridge was enough to fuel his descent with anxious energy. He could smell the rotting corpse-like smell that was now so apparent as he went down.
"You think those two will be okay?" Cassia rasped, the words catching in her throat. The air was thick with grime and fear, a suffocating cocktail. She kept her voice low, as if the darkness itself might be listening.
Rona, his silhouette outlined against the faint, greasy light filtered from above, paused. The ladder rattled slightly beneath his weight. Hesitation hung heavy in the air, thicker than the ever-present stench of decay. A bead of sweat detached itself from Rona's grime-streaked face and plummeted into the abyss.
"Lorian's a strong kid," Rona finally muttered, the words sounding forced, almost a prayer. "And maybe… maybe Izari will make sure he survives." The uncertainty in his voice was a cold wind in Rona's already chilled soul. Rona knew they were all running on fumes, fueled by desperation and the faintest glimmer of a future. This, however, wasn't going to suffice; he had to hide further down the warrens.
Above, in the heart of the rusted leviathan, Izari and Lorian faced their struggle. The air here was a physical presence, a cloying mixture of oil, metal, and something indefinably…wrong. The flickering industrial lights cast grotesque shadows that danced on the slick, weeping walls, making the already dilapidated space feel even more surreal.
The seven figures before them radiated a palpable aura of menace. The lieutenant, his face hidden behind a rag, raised a hand, presumably to speak. But Lorian moved first.
Instantly, he took out two red tubes, which began to glow in his hands. He hurled them at the lieutenant, a desperate gambit fueled by rage. But the masked female, her poncho rippling around her like a predatory bird's wings, reacted with inhuman reflexes. She whipped the poncho, deflecting the tubes with casual ease, sending them detonating a few feet away. The blasts momentarily illuminated the tunnel, revealing the details of their surroundings,
Lorian exhaled in frustration, a sound barely audible above the low hum that filled the tunnel.
Izari didn't wait for a response. He exploded forward, a raw, untamed force of nature. He bypassed Lorian, his eyes focused solely on the Seer. He would strike at the head, disrupt the order, and sow chaos. But the masked female intercepted him again, a blur of motion. Her fingers clamped around his wrist with bone-crushing force.
She hissed, her voice a low, venomous rasp. The elbow slammed into his face, a brutal, efficient strike. Stars exploded behind his eyes, his vision swam, and he stumbled backward, tasting blood. She was stronger than before.
The five armored mercenaries surged forward, a phalanx of brutality. Their crudely fashioned melee weapons, axes, sharpened pipes, and electrified clubs, gleamed dully in the dim light. Their boots thundered on the slick metal floor, a terrifying drumbeat of impending death.
Three mercenaries, including the lieutenant, converged on Lorian. He ducked under the first attack, a gear-shaped axe with a modified Taser embedded in its center, "c'mon stay still, don't you wanna be reunited with your pops.". The female mercenary wielding a shotgun stepped forward, unleashing a deafening blast. Lorian, seemingly impossibly, dodged every pellet, weaving through the hail of death. A smile, a chilling expression of confidence, played on his lips as he closed the distance. A sharp slap knocked the shotgun from her grip, followed by a devastating palm strike to her abdomen. She crumpled to the floor, gasping for air.
The remaining two mercenaries lunged, the one on the right swinging a machete towards Lorian's neck. He dodged, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the swing of the gear-shaped axe. The electrified head slammed into his back, sending jolts of agony coursing through his body. "Gotcha!" The lieutenant shouted as Lorian stumbled, his vision blurring, his muscles spasming, but he grabbed the lieutenant's pants for support. "What's this?" The lieutenant picked up Lorian by the neck. "Little runt can't keep on fighting." He began to choke Lorian," I..[cough].. just needed to get cl..[cough]…close." Lorian smiled at the lieutenant as he struggled to breathe. "Wait wha.." The lieutenant's words were cut short as his belt glowed and he instantly took it off as it exploded, releasing Lorian in the process. Lorian crawled several feet away, and the female mercenary seized her opportunity. She rushed at the unaware Lorian, her shotgun raised high. Her face was a mask of rage, eyes burning with bloodlust. Just as she was about to fire, Lorian turned to her, seeing the oncoming attack. He moved his head slightly, avoiding the oncoming shot. His face was still grazed by some of the projectiles. He winced in pain as two hulking men, each missing an eye, bellowed guttural war cries as they charged at him, clubbing him down. The lieutenant grunted in pain, waving at them to get their attention. he pointed at Izari, motioning them to go help Amara. They responded by making a mad dash at Izari, their modified mauls aimed at his head.
But Izari was faster. He phased, his body momentarily flickering out of existence, allowing the attacks to pass harmlessly through him. He retaliated with brutal efficiency, twin hooks slamming into their lower chests, sending them reeling backward.
Before he could regroup, Amara was upon him. Her movement was unsettlingly swift. Her hooked blade flashed in the dim light, aimed at his neck. She pulled back, intending to sever his head. But Izari's durability held, the blade merely dragging across his skin. He phased down through the metal platform, disappearing from her grasp. She lost her balance, staggering forward as Izari erupted from the floor beneath her. The steel passed harmlessly through his chest. As she moved through him, Amara staggered; she felt chill, her breath catching in her throat. Izari reached out his hand inside her back, ghostlike fingers brushing the cusp of her ribs. "Second time's a charm," he growled, voice like gravel dragged across stone. "Put down your blade, or I'll pull your still-beating heart out." Amara froze, but only for a moment. Then, with a snarl, she twisted, slicing backward in a desperate arc toward his neck. The blade halted, just a millimeter from flesh, as she felt a faint grip on her heart. "Now I remember you," she spat, hate curling around her words like smoke. "You're Ria's dog."
"That was a long time ago," Izari replied, his voice tight. "And I wasn't her dog."
She sneered, her laugh sharp and brittle. "Doesn't matter. Word is you're someone else's mutt now. One of her cast-offs took you in? That's rich. You are a pitiful excuse for a mutt." Anger sparked in Izari's eyes, but it wasn't hot. It was cold, controlled, the kind of fury that didn't shout, it executed. "You done?" he said, almost gently, like the silence before a storm. Amara motioned toward the other mercenaries, who held Lorian up like a prize stag, his body sagging with blood and bruises. "Even if you kill me," she said with a smirk, "you won't be fast enough to save that boy. He's already half-dead." Izari glanced at Lorian, then back at her, unblinking. "Go ahead," he said with unnerving calm. "Kill him." He leaned in, his breath brushing her cheek. "That still…" His voice turned icy. "Doesn't change the fact that none of you guys are leaving here alive." For the first time,
Amara hesitated. Her lips parted, her eyes searching his. "You… you mutt!" she said, venomous glint in her eye.s "Why are you even helping these so-called self-righteous idiots?". "The Money." Izari replied curtly, "Isn't it obvious?"
"Is that so?"
A cold, suffocating feeling overtook Izari, his body felt numb as he couldn't bring himself to turn and face whoever was behind him. The moment cracked. Without warning, Amara dashed forward, releasing herself from Izari's grasp. A quick roll up to her comrades she snatched the shotgun from the woman and aimed.
"Wait!" The loud command echoed through the tunnel. Amara slightly lowered the gun, her aim still trained on Izari. Izari shook as a hand was placed on his shoulder. "What if I pay you double what the rebel is paying you?"
"What ?" Izari muttered as the seer moved closer, "I can triple it if you want." The seer added, a thin smile on his face
"But," Amara interjected, disappointment etched on her face as the seer raised his hand. "We don't need that mutt. We can still do the job we had a de…"
The lieutenant placed a firm hand on her shoulder, gripping tightly as his gaze locked on the seer.
The seer turned to Izari, who still stood frozen. "Is it that hard to decide?"
Izari fell to his knees, took a deep breath, and then slowly turned to face him. He pointed at Lorian.
"On the condition that you let him leave."
The seer crouched to meet his eyes. "Is that all?"
"Y...yes," Izari stammered, unable to meet his gaze.
Satisfied, the seer motioned for the lieutenant to release Lorian. The two men holding him down shoved him forward. Lorian hit the ground face-first, groaning. Slowly, he got to his feet, staggering toward Izari, his face twisted in pure contempt.
He spat at him.
"Do you know what you've done?"
Izari looked away, silent.
In that instant, Lorian turned and lunged at the seer, throwing a punch. The seer caught his hand mid-air and snapped it. Izari kicked the seer in the shin, making him stumble. Amara fired. The shot struck Izari at the back of his head. He collapsed forward with a grunt.
Lorian, roaring in rage, kicked the seer off the bridge.
The lieutenant signaled the mercenaries to recover him. Lorian turned to sneer at them.
"Go to hell!" he bellowed, snapping his fingers.
The platform exploded.
The bridge groaned as the damaged section began to collapse onto the massive pipelines below.
Lorian grabbed Izari, hoisting him up. They ran, the crumbling section falling away behind them. They dashed toward the intact portion of the bridge. Lorian collapsed onto the platform, panting. Izari clutched his aching head, gasping for breath.
Lorian stood, peering down at the smoke-obscured wreckage below. He turned to the far end of the bridge, before he could make out anything through the haze, Izari grabbed his hand.
"Let's go. Now."
Far behind them, the seer pulled himself back onto the platform. He dusted off his coat, then tucked the silver necklace beneath his shirt.
A whimper.
He stopped and turned, approaching the sound.
Amara.
Her left leg was gone. Her left arm was mangled. Yet she still clung to the railing, using her good arm to hold onto the scorched, broken bodies of the mercenaries who hadn't fallen.
She sobbed as she looked up at the seer, her face scarred, lips trembling. She reached a hand out to him-a silent plea.
The seer looked down at the bodies. Though burned beyond recognition, he could still identify the female mercenary and two others.
"I can't," he said.
"Please..." Amara's voice was faint. "I beg you... Please."
"I can't. They're dead." He paused. Amara used the railing to push herself upright on her one remaining leg.
"I was dead too," she whispered.
"No, you weren't," he replied softly, then suddenly stopped, looking behind him. He walked up to the body of the woman, she wasn't dead. She suddenly started taking deep wheezing breaths as she tried to move her mangled body. The seer smiled at her.
"Oh we have a lucky one."
He waved at Amara to close her eyes, Amara complied and she could hear it, the woman began to heal. Torn limbs slowly regenerated. Bones cracked back into place. She let out a groan and sat upright, her eyes blank.
Amara opened her eyes and stared in disbelief. Then, limping over, she fell into the woman's arms, sobbing as they embraced.
The seer approached them slowly. He leaned in close to Amara placing his bleeding hand on her exposed neck and whispered:
"This is going to hurt."
A searing pain wracked her body. Muscles regrew. Bones reset. Her scream echoed across the bridge. A deep, guttural cry of agony.
The seer stepped back, admiring his work.
A minute later, Amara stood fully healed, breathing hard. The woman placed an arm around her, supporting her.
"Finish the job," the seer ordered, his eyes fixed
on the far end of the bridge where Izari and Lorian had vanished.