Oath of the Survivor

Garth saw Carlyle’s eyes widen in shock as Garth closed on him, widening further as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet in panic.  The younger man’s eyes darted to the side and Garth saw the fear retreat as the fireball let loose.  For a moment he thought it was a panicked misfire, but then he saw her.  Out of the corner of his eye he barely noticed the small girl and her mother, a blast of fire on pace to immolate them.  Gwen had fallen in the ash and was in tears, her mother desperately trying to get her to safety.  It was as if time stood still.  All of his training told him what he needed to do.  In circumstances like this, it was an acceptable loss for two unawakened to die in order to take down a threat like Carlyle. 

At a less noble level, Carlyle had betrayed him.  Betrayed all of them.  And that wasn’t something that he wanted to take lying down.  His grip tightened on the hilt of his sword, his teeth clenched in fury.  You bastard.  You absolute bastard.  A scream of frustration escaped from his mouth as he turned the blade at the last moment, the focused blade of air slicing through and detonating Carlyle’s FIREBALL before it could reach Gwen and Stephanie.  The two hadn’t even noticed, with Stephanie still curled tightly around her daughter, bracing for an impact that wouldn’t arrive. 

Garth swore again as he felt a sharp pain in his left arm, the dramatic shift in target throwing off the control of his mana and causing a backlash.  There was no way his arm would be in condition to use AIR BLADE again for a while, and Carlyle had already gained his feet and put significant distance between them.

~~~

Carlyle’s gamble had paid off, and he was out of there.  His mana reserves were running low, and the pressure from OVERHEAT was becoming unbearable.  He sprinted off the road and into the ruins of an old residential neighborhood, not even turning to look to see if Garth would pursue.  He knew he didn’t have much time remaining, and the singular thought running through his head was to escape.   

Scrambling over ruined walls and across ash-covered streets, he felt OVERHEAT wear off, and he collapsed to the ground, curling up inside a bath tub that had been knocked free from the second story of a house somewhere nearby and turned on its side.  It wasn’t great cover – frankly it barely qualified – but it would be enough.  It would have to be enough. 

He pulled a canteen from his hip and drank greedily until it was empty – his skin still felt burned, his lips cracked and bleeding.  OVERHEAT gave him some massive boosts to his attributes, but using it took an enormous toll, literally burning his body from the inside out.  Now all he could do was wait.  He was confident that Garth wouldn’t follow, for all his bluster he was injured and had to be running low on mana too.  With a pained sigh he curled up and closed his eyes. He’d done his part, and he could only hope the others had done theirs. 

~~~  

Garth watched as Carlyle escaped, running into the ruins at a speed he knew he couldn’t match.  I was so close.  I was so damn close.  Regret hung over Garth like a cloak, in that moment feeling like he’d made the wrong decision not to end Carlyle right there.  With a sigh he backed away towards the Guard Array, not turning his back to the ruins.  He figured his opponent was long gone by now, but he wasn’t about to get caught by surprise again. 

He continued until his hand rested on the still-warm hull of the array drone, his hand feeling a barrier of mana slowly reforming around the singed metal. 

“Guard Array, status update.”  The machine hummed, but no audible response was forthcoming.  Could be that it’s just the audio functionality that was damaged, or it could be something worse.  He had nothing to lose by moving forward with an optimistic assumption. 

“Deploy barrier, fifteen meters.”  The humming intensified, and the small barrier he’d felt slowly began to intensify and grow.  Satisfied that he still had some sort of functional protection, his next step was to return to the supply depot.  Something was very, very wrong, and if he even had a chance to help stop whatever Carlyle had planned he had to try.  He looked around, seeing terrified faces peering out from various makeshift shelters.  He turned to one of the young men, Dalen. 

“Get over here and organize people around the Guard Array.  It’s set to fifteen meters so it’ll be a bit cramped, but that should improve the quality of the protection.  Feel free to move it but leave it nearby – if I’m not back in four hours continue the course to Nierburg.”  Dalen nodded numbly, still trying to process all that happened.  Without a word, Garth turned and followed their tracks back towards Duilleag.   

At first, Garth dared to hope.  He’d retraced over half of their journey in haste, not seeing any signs that things were amiss.  The hope grew as he got closer, and then he saw her.  Maybe one hundred meters from the entry they’d left open, he saw Crystal’s body slumped against a post.  His vision narrowed as he ran towards her, not believing the truth that his eyes had told him.  He grabbed her in his arms, and his fear was confirmed.  She was gone.  Deep wounds in her side, with dozens of other cuts and burns.  Looking around the area, he saw the remnants of the battle.  Deep gouges in the earth the evidence of her techniques, and plenty of blood spilled all around. 

This clearly wasn’t a duel, it was an ambush executed by multiple other awakened.  For all her strengths, Crystal never had a chance.  He had dreaded this possibility, and had expected to feel rage or get wrapped up in anger.  Instead, he felt… calm.  The pain was there, and it was intense.  But it was focused.  These people would pay for what they did.  He would make sure that this was the biggest regret of their twice-damned lives.  But he knew charging in would just get him killed alongside her.  So he buried that grief, let the pain drive him to that cold, cruel, rational place.  For now, he needed answers.

 Looking up the road, he saw the path they’d left open now blocked by an earthwork, likely the handiwork of an earth-affinity Mage.  He circled around the sides of his former encampment, looking for the rarely-used entrances that Crystal hadn’t barricaded and that a new arrival might miss.  He found one such entrance on the east, a small bicycle path that led into the heart of the city from the nearby suburbs. 

He made it closer to the town center, and was greeted by a shocking sight.  At least a dozen people bearing the uniform of Central Defense were standing in a circle around a handful of survivors, bodies of many others scattered around the plaza.  There was a battle here too, but with Dylan as the only awakened here, the outcome was all but assured.  He looked around and saw the faces of the people he’d set out to protect, saw Dylan’s lifeless eyes from where he lay, a cut running across his torso from shoulder to hip.  There was nothing left here, but this was information he knew he needed to get to Nierburg.  These deserters, these traitors, would pay for what they’d done.  Garth slipped out of the city center without issue, cold rage still inflamed in his heart.  It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but someday he’d make them pay.

~~~~~

Kyle exhaled slowly, processing all the information that Garth had shared with him.  He could hardly believe the struggle that this group of survivors had been through, and the suffering that Garth had personally felt.  It was a cold and brutal reminder of the reality of their situation – he wasn’t the only person who had lost someone special. 

When Garth was sharing about Crystal, his eyes had taken on a hard resolve that Kyle hadn’t seen before.  He had no doubt about what would be waiting for Carlyle should their paths cross again, and he shuddered at the thought. 

“I didn’t tell you this to make you feel sorry for us or to give you some sob story.  I told you because you need to know the price of distraction in a world like this.  If Crystal and I had paid better attention, Carlyle never would have gotten the jump on me.  We could have made it back in time, and she might still be alive.  They all might still be alive.”  Garth’s voice broke as he talked, and he stood up, turning his back to Kyle. 

“Come on, let’s finish heading back.  They’ll be waiting for us.”  Wordlessly Kyle joined him, and they made their way back to camp. 

~~~

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