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↱"Fear is a powerful beast. But we can learn to ride it."↲
-Justine Musk.
✺
where we left off
KATERINA HAD SPENT THE GREATER PART of her life focused on conquering fear; conquering death.
She had spent night after night honing her skills, perfecting her killer technique, and waking up in a sweat when Titans managed to crawl into her dreams.
Katerina had feared the Titans more than she feared death. She always thought that the worst way to die was clamped in one of their jaws, a howl escaping her lips as foul teeth dug into her skin and tore her in two.
One of the best days of her life was the day she killed her first Titan because, on that day, she no longer feared them. She had managed to turn her fear into hate and ever since then, no Titan was a match for her and her seasoned blades.
However, Katerina felt that deep pit of a fear bubble in her stomach and spread to her trembling fingers as she watched Reiner fling Titans through the sky.
The flying Titans were like nothing she had ever seen before; their slimy tongues wagging through the air and coating the ground with spit as their eyes remained unfocused looking at anything, at everything.
Katerina could barely feel her fingers, dug into Levi's side, as they rode through the hysteria. She could feel Levi's tense body underneath her and the sweat that was dripping down his back and through his shirt. She could feel the horse's legs begin to buckle under their combined weight, dragging a bit behind the rest. She could feel the bloody dust hitting her face and making its way into her eyes.
"We're going to be fine," Levi said, teeth gritted as he tried wildly to steer the frantic horse.
"I don't know about this time," Katerina murmured back, casting desperate glances over her shoulders to see if she could make out any of the soldiers around them.
What Reiner was currently doing was far worse than any Titan hoard that Erwin could have lured to them. This was a different kind of terror because you could not see your enemy and at any second, death could come raining from the sky.
Through death's rain, Katerina managed to spot Armin who rode feverishly and alone, trying to dart between dropping Titans with a look of pure terror plastered on his face. When her eyes drifted to the right, she saw Mikasa quickly coming up behind him with a disoriented Eren perched awkwardly on her shoulder.
"Levi!" Katerina screamed, tugging on his shoulders. "The kids! I see them! Slow down a bit so they can catch up to us!"
"Sure," Levi grunted, as he used all his strength to tug on his horse's reins to divert her to the left, just in time before a Titan slammed down on that exact spot. "While I'm at it, should I take the scenic route - Ow!"
