The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

38

Meanwhile...

ONCE AGAIN, THEY HAD BEEN OUTSMARTED. Scar found it getting boring, Avine's moves were so typical: Escape, and be nowhere present at the scene of bloodshed. On the contrary, however, was the fact that he was winning. Again.

They had barged into his room sure that they would have the fight in the bag, but apparently not. This time, not only were there about eight or so warriors who were in there and had promptly ran out to harass Ellie and the others who were left behind. There were guns, however, shooting in their direction, so Scar had to abruptly duck beneath a piece of flimsy furniture and hope for his survival.

Mist clouded his vision and he could see nothing but the bullets coming out of guns. If only I could see you, he thought.

But exactly thirty - three minutes later, Aspyn raises her hands in exasperation and yells for everyone to ceasefire. Instantly, the mist and gunshots had stopped, clearing up the scene, only for Scar and the others to realize that there was no one besides them in the room.

Avine's weapons stood attached to shelves, and countertops firing on auto. A mist machine, on the far corner. "How are we this stupid." He demanded, "How?"

"I don't even know how he tricks us like this. There were a total of zero warriors present. Instead, these guns were just firing random shots." she gasped, doing an initial count of their team, "We're down a person. Brea."

Jess looks around, "I left her with Ellie."

Everyone turns to face Ellie, who can barely stand up, in fact, she's crawling on the ground, using her arms to pull her and maneuver her direction, Scar walks over and puts her arm over his shoulder. The action pulls her body upwards so that her feet are dangling in the air, Scar notices her discomfort and swings his other arm to catch the remaining half of her body, carrying her bridal style, "Ellie?"

She gasped, recollecting her thoughts after zoning out, it sounded like she was breathing for the first time, and her pupils were no longer dilated, "T-they took her." a cough, "She was right. They were coming after her."

"Why?" Aspyn asked, "He was after all of us, why shoot her and take her away alone. Is it the one by one method. If so, why would Brea think it was her in particular." she lowered her voice, glancing at the beads of sweat trickling down her face. Scar shook his head, "Brea always had a reason for plain suspicion."

From the corner of his eye, Scar noticed Jess glancing at her empty neck before turning ghost white. "No." she whispered, "No."

"What is it?" Aspyn jerked her head backward, it was a miracle it hadn't been dislocated for the number of times she's repeated this action.

"Brea had my necklace." Jess paused.

Ellie weakly moved her arm reaching into a pocket and failing to pull anything out, "She knew that. She gave it to me before they took her away." she patted the pocket motioning for Scar to take it out for her. He nodded, bringing out the diamond necklace, and passing it over.

Jess didn't look any calmer, "Didn't a bullet go through her chest? Where is she? We have to find her." tears began to spill, "I've finally found her, and now, she's gone. Again."

Ellie groaned in pain. "Go down the hallway and turn left. Third door. That's where they brought her."

Nobody wasted any time scrambling to their feet and rushing out of the door, Aspyn was hissing to her controller device for Jett to bring some reinforcements. Because of their sneaking in the ploy, they hadn't brought much Covians with them. Just the five lavines, Aspyn, and Brea.

Scar was at the front jerking the door open to a particularly gory room. One full of blood and a motionless Brea collapsed on the ground. "They knew she had the necklace," Ellie explained as they entered. Though limping, she was able to recover slightly. "And they took her, but a bullet was already through her heart."

"Do you mean she was unsaveable, anyway?" Jess jabbed a finger in Ellie's chest, Leo, now patched up, held her back, while Scar separated the two. Scar shook his head, unable to process this, while the others were at a loss for words.

Ellie shook her head, leaning against the wall with one arm for support, "God, no. She was perfectly saveable. But the distance from Avinian territory to Covia, Avine would've no doubt caught up with us, especially with the knowledge that the necklace was in her possession."

Aspyn put a hand through her hair, bending to the ground to take Brea's pulse. Scar bent down as well, pressing a finger below her nostrils to see if there was an intake of breath. "No pulse." Aspyn wouldn't meet a single gaze, "This cannot be happening."

Scar brushed off the imaginary specks of dust on his trousers. "We should get Brea back to Covia. In case your more-advanced-than-earth technology can still save her." he nodded, cracking his knuckles in a menacing manner. "Meanwhile, we've got someone to end."

**

While an unconscious Brea was being carted off into the Covian coach, a bunch of warriors had joined the group in pinning for Avine, who was most definitely taking his chances to escape. It had been a solid fifteen-minute wait on top of the time they took to fend off the staged guns in his room for him to escape, but considering that there was a one hundred mile radius in between Avinian territory, and Covia to the next group of civilization, he could still be caught.

Jess took heavy breaths, as Aspyn began to herd the warriors in certain directions. "Madrinay." she spoke into her device. A loud ring was audible and soon, a familiar voice picked up. "I need Avine's status. Quickly. Brea's down, and I'm not sure she's ever coming back up." Aspyn's tone hitched when she spoke about Brea.

The two had obviously had a history together, especially while growing up. Although Brea was adamant that the lavine's get out of dangers way, her intent was pure, not trying to put Aspyn at risk.

"What now?" Scar asked.

Aspyn held up her finger, asking him to pause, and while he didn't appreciate the gesture one bit, he knew whatever Madrinay had to say on the phone would help the team more than he could.

He just had to accept that he wasn't perfect and that he couldn't know and excel in everything.

Madrinay's voice sifted through the air. "He's underground. Meet me in the palace, I'll put you through a shortcut."

"I have a bad feeling. Avine's been prepared for everything so far." Jess says to Aspyn's monitor, and Scar can't help but agree. The last haphazardly planned attempt resulted in losing Brea, if not permanently, and they really couldn't risk much anymore.

"Don't worry," Madrinay's firm voice was probably the only thing keeping anyone motivated, "As far as he's concerned, you're still trapped against those staged guns."

"Will you help us - will you help us fight him?" Aspyn said, finally.

Scar sucked in a breath, was risking Madrinay's position worth the risk, or would they end up in the dump. Finally, he decided that it had come down to this, and win or lose, it would end. Their lives as they knew it, whatever Covia was now, everything would change.

It was coming to a close. The adventure of their lives.

A short pause, "Yes, I will." Scar could feel Madrinay scratching the slight stubble on his chin, "Bring the katana."