The Shadow Girls Volume 1: Into The Shadows

Chapter 6

KITALEI

Kitalei grimaced in agony as six spikes impaled her right leg at high speed, stabbing deep. She clutched her leg in pain, crying out for a moment, before stumbling around.

Yasmine sat up, her eyes welling up in tears.

"Kitalei! Are you -"

Kitalei slowly turned round to face Yasmine, her face reddened and strained due to the pain. When they were finally facing the same way, she looked up, and their eyes met. There was a long pause.

"What, this? It tickles." She chuckled, despite a painful rasp in her voice.

It was obvious that Kitalei was in pain, yet she smiled, in a way that seemed that she was just fine. She didn't want Yasmine to worry about her.

Yasmine stretched her arm out to help, but Kitalei put her hand forward, as a polite rejection.

"Don't worry about it, Yasmine; it's cool," Kitalei reassured, clasping her hands around one of the spikes impaled in her legs, and with one deep breath, pulled it out.

"Kitalei, stop! You're hurting yourself!" Yasmine gasped in concern.

Kitalei kept at it until she had wrenched it from her flesh completely. The second it was out, she collapsed to the ground, crying out again. Blood trickled from it, pouring onto the floor. She shook it off and clasped her arms round the next one. Bleeding to death was the least of her concerns. She couldn't walk around with those things protruding out of her like that.

Yasmine watched in shock.

"How are you doing this?" Yasmine asked. "How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't," Kitalei replied, pulling out the second one. This time she hissed for a few seconds, squeezing her eyes shut before grabbing the next one.

"Maya taught me to be strong, to keep going forward no matter pain I faced. This is nothing," she finished, pulling it out, this time not reacting at all. She kept going until she'd pulled out the remaining four, collapsing against the wall when she'd finished, catching her breath. It hurt, but pain was nothing new to her.

Eventually, she rose. Yasmine watched.

"Come on. Let's go find Akira."

Yasmine nodded, as she followed Kitalei down the next corridor. They walked side by side, making jokes along the way.

***

Meanwhile, the agent that had been watching them walked along the tops of the ledges, putting a hand to his earpiece microphone to activate it.

"Why haven't you commenced the attack?" Katika asked.

"Lady Katika, Kitalei is injured."

"That is irrelevant. Continue your mission."

"With the level of attacks you've ordered, there's no way she'll survive with those injuries."

When Katika did not reply, he sighed and dashed forward, in Kitalei's direction.

***

Kitalei and Yasmine walked side by side, along a series of corridors and turns.

Yasmine turned to Kitalei. "How's your leg doing?"

"Fine, only hurts a bit." In truth it was killing her, but she'd much rather walk around in agony than appear weak, despite the stupidity of it. Her pride wouldn't allow it.