Dominatrix

Everyone was stunned, a recruit was swooped out of nowhere, right in front of their very eyes. Everyone couldn't help but look at the sky. There was nothing. It was oddly quiet; no one made a move.

"Tell Yara that I will be there in a few minutes. I still have unfinished business."

"But Ma'am—"

"GO!" Nara shouted. "Everyone else follow him and defend the stronghold."

"Yes, Ma'am," the Guardian complied and left. Only one Commander stayed.

"Shield," Nara said softly. Harris handed her a long heavy shield that came up to her chest.

"Nara, you are being selfish again. Let us go and deal with the monster wave."

"Maybe I am being selfish, but for killing Guardians you will die here since you have encountered me."

"Be reasonable. I really don't want to trade blows with you."

"Who said anything about trading blows? This is an execution."

Nara whipped out her weapon.

SNAP!

A whip cracked. But this was not just any whip; it was a nightmare of a thing. Sizwe was instantly displeased seeing it.

"Hey lady, we don't want any beef. Please go deal with monsters."

"It's too late to beg for your lives."

SNAP!

The whip was like a snake covered in razor blades, but that was not the worst part. The razors on the whip began to glow red like hot iron. The whip looked like a snake with backward-facing blades resembling scales. It emitted intense heat.

"I thank you for making this, Cyprian. It is my favorite weapon."

"Why Cyprian? Why would you give this monstrosity to this future-seeing dominatrix?" Sizwe shouted at Cyprian. He was genuinely upset. In Nara's hands, that weapon was a problem.

"We were on the same team at the time."

"Fuck this noise. RUN!"

Sizwe didn't wait for their answer. He knew he didn't want this fight. He started running immediately.

SNAP!

The whip snapped with a metallic sound accompanying it. It broke the ground in front of him.

"You are going nowhere."

Sizwe saw that the whip had extended. He felt anger boil within him.

"Cyprian, you bastard! Why would you make this?"

Nara retracted the whip, forcing Sizwe to dodge. It was no use running now.

"Find a place safe to hide," Sizwe said to Mandla.

He went straight on the offensive.

"Cyprian, take care of the small fry. I will take on the dominatrix."

Both Nara and Harris felt displeased at these labels.

Cyprian cocked his gun and took a shot at Nara, who already had her shield raised.

BANG!

Nara was pushed back a few steps.

"What the hell is that weapon?" she couldn't help but think. There were not many weapons with that much power in the Citadel. She had seen it coming, but now, for a few seconds, her eyes were obscured by her shield.

"Damn it," Nara saw Sizwe appear out of the corner of her eye. He came in guns blazing.

She moved her shield to defend.

BANG!

The shotgun hit her shield with extreme force, but again her eyes were obscured by the shield, meaning she could not see the future past her obscurity. Nara's power was a very useful power, but it had its weaknesses. She could only see 3 to 5 seconds into the immediate future, which was good for battle prediction. But it could be countered by the fact that she could only predict by her vision, not by sound, touch, or any other sense. Another weakness was that she could only see a future where her eyes would see in the next 3 to 5 seconds. Another weakness was that using this power was strenuous to the eyes, so it was not a passive power; she had to activate it.

This is why Nara hated fighting intellectuals; they were sly and didn't fight fair, so even with her future sight, she was not at an advantage.

BANG!

Another shot was fired by Cyprian, who she had forgotten about for a second. She was wide open.

"Shit."

TING!

Harris held up his shield, protecting Nara. He whipped out his weapon. It was a Dutch 1873 Old Model Revolver. He aimed at Cyprian and fired.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Dutch 1873 Old Model Revolver was a good weapon that could fire multiple rounds in a short amount of time. Such weapons were only given to Commanders because most of them were from the old world and were costly to replicate.

Cyprian had to take cover, lowering the pressure on Nara, who could now focus on the Brown-Eyed Demon. Her eyes glanced around, and he was nowhere to be found. The night was dark; it was not easy to see someone who didn't want to be found.

In her future vision, Nara saw a flash of flames escaping a gun aimed at Harris.

Before the gun was even fired, she was there with her shield.

BANG!

The gun fired like in her vision, but she was already there.

TING!

Shells hit her heavy shield. From behind her, a small tube-like object came rolling, bouncing and clinking against the cold, unforgiving stone road. Its rough surface, marked by countless dents and scratches, caught the dim light, revealing the unmistakable red paper wrapping. The thin fuse, sparking and hissing like an angry serpent, snaked its way towards the stick of dynamite. Time seemed to slow as the tiny embers raced along the fuse, each spark a heartbeat, each hiss a countdown to inevitable chaos. The air grew thick with tension, every second a lifetime, as the hiss grew louder, drowning out the cacophony of battle around her. She knew what was coming. She saw a second into the future, and she saw an eruption of force and fire, a momentary sun that would consume everything in its furious embrace.

She took her shield and slammed it in front of her firmly into the ground. She knew that she didn't have time to save Harris. Death was already here, and she could only hope the shield would save her.

---

As the explosion erupted, a fierce blast wave surged forward, sending shards of stone and metal through the air. The roar of the detonation drowned out all other sounds, and a thick cloud of dust and smoke enveloped the battlefield. When the dust began to settle, Nara stood behind her shield, panting heavily, her ears ringing from the deafening explosion. The shield had held, absorbing the brunt of the blast, but it was clear that she was shaken.

Harris, however, was not so fortunate. The force of the explosion had thrown him back, and he lay motionless on the ground, his shield shattered into pieces. Nara's eyes widened in horror as she saw him lying there, her mind racing with the implications. She turned her gaze to the remnants of the battlefield, her future vision flickering on and off as she struggled to maintain focus.

She was in bad shape.

"Brown-Eyed Demon!" she roared, her voice a mixture of fury and desperation.

From the shadows, Sizwe emerged, his expression grim. He had taken advantage of the chaos to reposition himself, and now he stood ready, his weapons glinting menacingly in the dim light. Cyprian joined him, his eyes locked on Nara with a steely resolve.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," Sizwe said, his voice low and steady. "I even used my one and only dynamite."

Nara's grip on her whip tightened, the glowing red blades casting an eerie light around her. She took a deep breath, centering herself despite the turmoil raging within.

"Do you really think you can take me down?" she asked, her voice cold and unyielding. "I will not rest until you are dead."

"We wanted to run and you decided to stop us" Cyprian interjected, his voice firm.

Before Nara could respond, Sizwe and Cyprian moved as one, their attacks coordinated and precise. Sizwe's shotgun roared, the explosive rounds slamming into Nara's shield with relentless force. Cyprian's rifle fired in tandem, each shot aimed to exploit the brief openings in her defenses.

Despite her formidable abilities, Nara found herself struggling to keep up. Sh was injured outnumbered. Her future vision allowed her to anticipate their moves, but the sheer intensity of their assault left her little room to breathe. Her shield held, but cracks began to form, the strain of the battle taking its toll.

Sizwe's eyes flicked to the sky, and he saw a dark shape swooping down towards them. His heart skipped a beat as he realized what it was.

"In coming!" he shouted, his voice barely audible over the din of battle. "We need to get out of here, now!"

Cyprian glanced up, his expression grim. "Damn it!" He didn't need to be told twice, he ran following Sizwe who was in front of him.

Nara, too, looked up, her eyes narrowing as she saw the monstrous shapes descending upon them. For a moment, a flicker of doubt crossed her face, but she quickly pushed it aside.

"Monsters or not, you won't escape me," she declared, her voice resolute.

The battlefield descended into chaos as the first of the monsters landed, their massive forms crashing into the ground with earth-shaking force. from a far Guardians and recruits scattered, their ranks breaking as they faced the new threat. The monsters were grotesque, twisted abominations, their eyes glowing with a malevolent hunger.

Nara's attention wavered as she tried to divide her focus between Sizwe, Cyprian, and the in coming beasts. Looking at the situation, fighting mindless abominations was better than sly gun slinging intellectuals. Fighting abominations was just up her alley. Her body was in pain all over, she struggled to hold up her shield, but she was determined to show these monsters the horrors of humanity.

She cracked her blazing whip and shredded a few monsters apart, saving a few recruits. She decided to let them go. For now.