Episode Twelve - Enemies (Part 1)

Chapter Song Suggestion "

*note : all dialogues like so {example} are spoken from the predator's perspective

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THE PAST | Eira

Lars held out his portion of gruel. "Eat. You'll need your strength."

She insistently shook her head, wrapping the shawl tighter around her. "I feel sick. I'll just throw it all up again."

"Even so, you need to eat," he urged stubbornly. "The soldiers don't care if you live or die. I'm not going to let you die for being stupid."

Her temper flared. "Who are you calling stupid!"

"Aren't you?" he mocked, not holding back the truth. "If you truly want to survive, you'll do whatever it takes. That's what my father taught me."

The mention of his father awoken her curiosity. "Where are your parents?"

Lars stiffened, his face turning to granite. "They're dead." His voice lowered to a vindictive whisper. "The soldiers killed them."

They sat in dead silence.

She finally understood the seething hostility of his occasional outbursts. Lars had a reason for hating these soldiers. While she couldn't imagine what he had endured, she could sympathize with the feeling of loss.

Quietly, she murmured. "My parents were killed in front of me. I-It was my fault." Her throat bobbed dryly. "I disobeyed and went out on a hunt alone when I stumbled upon the most beautiful predator I've ever seen. Everything happened so fast, the next minute I knew…I was pinned down. I couldn't move, and I thought I was going to die right there. At that moment, my parents saved me, but…they were killed…," Her lashes lowered, shame overwhelming her.

Lars shoved his gruel back under her nose, startling her. She expected pity but, his golden eyes were only fueled with determination. "And that is why you shouldn't let their sacrifice go to waste. You must survive."

As callous as he sounded, she knew he was right. Reluctantly, she accepted his bowl, the tears flowing as she swallowed each bite.

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PRESENT DAY

They never saw it coming. A blast of wind flung them backwards, and Lars caught Eira before she hit the trees. Florian dug his blade into the ground while Koga and Anaelle tumbled behind the thicket, passing out from the direct hit.

{Master!}

Xue Long unfurled its wings and bounded to Eira's side, nudging its large head against her in concern. Several tiny cuts covered their bodies, an exercise of their enemy's hidden strength. Lars didn't think they would encounter anyone here, especially not this late at night. There was no questioning that this woman and her comrade were responsible for the body dumping incidents.

"I'm fine," Eira assured the predator, feeling a sting on her cheekbone.

"What's the matter? Is that all you've got?" The woman's ridiculous laughter echoed throughout the lake. She homed in on their uniform insignias, her smile replaced by a sneer. "You're Ataxian dogs."

Lars recognized the contempt in her voice. Every morning, he saw it in the mirror – undiluted resentment towards the government who killed his parents. Stepping forth, he demanded impartially, pointing with his reaper. "Identify yourself or we won't be responsible for what comes next."

Matahari snorted bluntly, idly swinging her scythe. "You're arrogant to think you can defeat me. Although," — she licked her lips, devouring Lars's sinewy and roughcast appearance — "even with that hideous scar, I'll make an exception for you. You are just my type."

Lars merely cut her a cold stare.

"Over my dead body!" Eira stormed up beside him, annoyance radiating from her petite frame. She growled. "Lars is mine, so back off!"

Lars blinked, momentarily stunned by her claim as the organ in his chest stuttered. He couldn't help stealing a glance, but Eira seemed distracted despite boldly declaring her affections.

"You?" Disbelief seeped into Matahari's tone, followed by a rude laugh. "You look clueless on how to handle a real man, cotton candy. Why don't you step aside and let the adults play? I'll promise to deal with you later."

Matahari's taunting fell upon deaf ears as Eira keenly studied the woman's reaper. Earlier, she noticed the scythe unfolding into a bladed fan, hinting a maximum of five sickle blades. In her experience, flexible reapers had multiple forms — like an organic shapeshifter. This scythe was no different. They had better be careful.

Lips compressed in anger, Matahari tightened her grip around her weapon. How dare this Ataxian bitch ignore her! She had enough! No more wasting time. Master Veres and Regis were waiting for her to return to base. Thrusting her scythe, the blades modified and connected vertically into a razor-edged whip, catching Eira off-guard.

Reflexively, Eira raised the huntress over her face and the whip bounced off, nicking just her arm. Removing her strapped-on dagger, she charged with murderous intent. If this woman wanted to play rough, then she was more than game for it. Behind her, Lars cleared a path with his air bullets, covering her.

Forced to engage, Matahari smoothly deflected all but one bullet that caught her squarely in the clavicle. "Ahh!" Briefly disarmed, she noticed cotton candy hair lunging in mid-air. Switching her reaper to its original scythe form, Matahari swung, and sparks flew as their steel blades collided.

With a spirited roar, Eira forcefully drove the woman back but, Matahari stubbornly dug her heels in and pushed back. The scythe unfolded into a bladed fan, spurring Eira to drop and roll to avoid being sliced into ribbons. Now, distance separated them.

Flashing a feral smile, Matahari attacked and Eira expertly parried the frenzied whip blade – her actions precise, and deliberate. Her eyes never strayed off the enemy's constantly changing weapon. Spotting an opening, she fired the huntress only for her arrows to be repelled repeatedly. Frustration was starting to kick in.

Watching them, Lars signalled for Florian to take a shot. Lying patiently in the bushes, Florian observed the fight through his scope lens. Finger hovering over the trigger, he noticed their enemy favouring her wounded clavicle. She was reluctant to apply pressure on it, indicating the Captain's bullet had caused a fracture. It was no surprise, given how Lars's reaper could easily blow a hole through her brains. The Captain likely intended for them to capture her alive. Confident that he was clear to take the shot, he pulled the trigger.

Matahari jolted back from the impact, an agonizing cry spilled from her lips as fire raced from her collarbone to her chest. Fuck! Her clavicle was broken. This was a fucking joke. Grappling for the smoke bomb in her sewn in pocket, she ripped off the pin with her teeth and tossed it to the ground. Within seconds, the area was consumed in a layer of synthetic mist.

"You're not escaping from us!" cotton candy hair exclaimed.

Like hell she wasn't. The corpses would soon awaken, and they would kill these Ataxian dogs for her. Cradling her injury, Matahari made her getaway to the rift portal. Before leaving, she palmed the ground and immersed her sense of self into nature, detecting signs of predator life. Teeth gleaming, she used her ability to call out to the nearby predators. Although she couldn't control them like Master Veres could, she didn't need to because predators only did one thing – they hunted. They would distract those Ataxian dogs while she escaped.

"Where did she go?" Eira demanded in exasperation, whirling around to locate the vicious woman.

"Fuck! I lost visual of her in the smokescreen." Florian's frustration matched hers.

The bushes rustled and all three of them trained their weapons upon Koga and Anaelle who finally made an appearance, covered in leaves and twigs.

"Where the fuck were the two of you?" Florian chewed them out, lowering sharpshooter.

Rubbing the bruise on his chest, Koga retorted with the same level of heat. "Calm your tits, man. We were fucking knocked out cold. Fucking uncool." He sat down on a rock and sulked. "I've never been more embarrassed in my life."

Eira noticed Anaelle's wan complexion, concern gripping her. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not." Anaelle warded off her touch. "Please don't touch me. I think I'm going to be sick." Her skin was ashen and clammy. Eira couldn't imagine how strong the hit had been.

Florian marched over; his question taut with urgency. "Captain, should I track her down?"

"Affirmative. With that injury she wouldn't be able to go far."

"Umm, Captain?" A tremble lit Koga's voice as he stared at the lake. "I think we have a bigger problem."

Like the ripples of a skipping pebble, one-by-one the fresh corpses rose from the depths of the lake, their movements jerky like a new-born. Unlike the other zombies, these ones still had their organs intact.

Florian swore under his breath. "You've got to be kidding me! How many of those fucking things do we have to kill! And how are they coming back to life?"

"That's not our only problem," Eira announced warily, her gaze trained on the glinting, red eyes watching them from the dark forest behind. "I believe we're being preyed."

Anaelle squinted, listening to their distinctive chuffs. "Horned lancers."

Eira had taken down more horned lancers than she could count. They were persistent hunters who never released their prey, going to great lengths to track them down until the end.

"Koga, Anaelle, are you solid to fight?" Lars pumped his reaper, reactivating full pressurized sequence. He wasn't going easy on these reptilian bastards.

"We're bruised, Captain, not broken." Koga flashed a cocky grin, his pain forgotten. "Let's hurry up and kill these fuckers so I can finally get some fucking sleep. It's been a long fucking day."

"You can say that again," Florian acknowledged, switching out his reaper for his protective blade. Thanks to these meddling creatures, he couldn't hunt down the enemy.

"The three of you dispatch the zombies." Lars turned to Eira. "You and I will eliminate the horned lancers."

"We're ready whenever you are, Captain." Eira placed a firm hand over Xue Long's scaly back. The dragon flapped its wings and trumpeted an echoing roar. She chuckled. "I think Xue Long is excited to show the horned lancers who is boss." A spontaneous idea popped into her head. "Shall we make a bet, Captain?"