It's the middle of the night and we survived yet another encounter with the Empire's soldiers. They must be getting fed up with us if they're sending in their lackeys after us. Regular soldiers won't be able to kill us. They'll have to send in people with teigu after us if they want us dead that bad. I've heard of the Jaeger's and how powerful they are. They're commanded by none other than Esdeath. Her teigu is probably the strongest I've ever seen and I only caught a glimpse of it during the attack. Her attack was strong enough to freeze the entire village solid leaving anyone alive encased in ice.
Above, the clouds begin to cover the moon as an approaching storm comes in. The air cools around us as the wind picks up. Something isn't right. This storm feels a bit unnatural to me. I grip the handle of my katana and ready myself for anything. I catch a shadow slicing through the darkness.
"You can come out now." I say calmly, "I know you're there."
"You are as keen as they say." A women's voice rings from the shadows, "For a kid even you could sense me. I applaud you for that."
A shadow appears overhead and I unsheathe my sword blocking a massive hammer. I push up and slice at the women. I can't see her! She's using the storm to her advantage!
"Be on your guard!" I say loudly trying to stay calm, "Fight like a warrior coward!"
"Ooooo I hate that word." I hear laughing all around, "Guess I'll come out now."
A white haired woman Selan's age lands neatly in front of us. She's wearing a ruffled red and black dress. Her eyes shine golden through the darkness.
"I'm Naela." She smiles, "I'll be your killers. And this is my friends, is Manguru. I assure you that you won't survive!"
Naela leaps into the air and comes crashing down with her hammer. She can't move that fast with a hammer that size unless....the hammer is super lightweight. I signal to Selan to move into the trees. He needs to surprise her. I land clumsily. I turn to Anna and nod to her. If she can keep her busy with her speed, then we might be able to defeat her. Then Naela disappears in front of us. Before I know it, I'm sent flying into the trees. The hammer connected with my face. I slowly get up grabbing my head. All I see is red. Damn that hurt a lot! I fall to one knee trying to regain my balance. I hear Anna scream and see her flying through the air. I sprint to her and catch her letting my body slam into another tree. This is one powerful adversary. I'm almost enjoying this, but I do fear for our lives. I look down at Anna. She's unconscious and has blood slowly oozing from her mouth. She needs medical attention now! I lay her on the ground and sprint towards Naela. I swing my blade connecting with the handle of her hammer. I catch a glimpse of Selan making his way to the top of a tree. I'm pushed off balance by Naela's strength and she catches me off balance. Why is she so strong?! I get my footing underneath me and hold her in place while Selan gets into position.
"You think it's that easy?" I realize that she saw through the plan! The end to her hammer opens up and a blast rings through the silent night. The tree Selan's in goes up in flames. Selan's body slams into the ground. Above, the storm cuts loose. This is going to make it tougher for us! I cut downwards hoping to get some kind of opening, but the hammer is so light, that she's already ready for me.
"I'm surprised you're even alive." She smiles at me, "If you'd join us, I'm sure you'd be a great asset to us. All of you would be welcomed into the Empire."
"We would never join someone who's used us as their play toy!" I dash forward and slash at her side. Blood sprays the ground. It's not a lethal wound, but at least it's something.
"You know if that was Akame, I'd be dead now." She laughs, "That's who your after right? The true killer of your parents?"
Akame. So that's her name. I won't forget it. I'll kill Naela here and get my siblings to safety. We need to get our vengeance! I jump into the air and slash down at Naela. She blocks the strike, but I'm ready this time. I use the momentum of the hammer to jump higher into the air unbalancing Naela. I land on the muddy ground in front of her. Blood pools around as she falls to the ground. I look back at the Naela. Thankfully, I was able to destroy the handle of the hammer in half and keep my momentum going. A single slash runs from her face to her stomach.
"Anna!" I run over to Selan and Anna. Thankfully Selan's unharmed. His armor took the brunt of the attack, "Anna are you alright?!"
"My head hurts." Anna squeaks out, "Am I gonna die?"
"No your not!" I say back, "Selan we....we gotta do something! Anything!"
"We can try and head back to that town we passed by." Selan says picking her up, "If we run we can get there in time to save her."
I nod my head in determination. This is one family member I won't lose!
*****
"Thankfully it's just a really bad concussion." The doctor closes the door behind him, "A good rest will do her good and she'll be able to walk in the morning. Now how did you say this happened? A limb broken from the storm hit her in the head?"
"That's right sir." I tell him.
"Now how did you both get hurt?" He studies us, "It can't be the same limb."
"We had a run in with danger beasts on the way here." Selan says quickly, "Seems the storm held a few surprises for us."
"I'd like to check your head for any injuries as well." He looks at me, "Follow me into my office. Your friend here can start cleaning the floor since you all tracked the mud in."
"I'll get on that right away." Selan laughs, "Sorry bout that we were in a rush."
"No worries." The doctor laughs, "You were worried for your young friend. Now come along."
I follow the doctor into the office. As I get through the doorway, my eyesight goes red and my head flares in pain. My adrenaline's gone now and I'm starting to feel the injury from the fight. I feel something oozing out of my mouth. I wipe it away with the back of my hand. Blood. Damnit!
"Just sit there and let me check you out." The doctor motions to a table.
"Hm." The doctor says after running his tests, "You shouldn't even be standing let alone alive. Whatever hit you created a large fracture in your skull. Have you experienced anything odd?"
"None." I tell him. I don't want to worry Selan or Anna, "Are we finished here?"
"I'm going to bandage your head for the night." He turns and grabs some bandages, "You'll stay here for the night so I can keep a close eye on you and your young friend."
"Thank you sir." I say to him.
"She your sister?" He asks wrapping the bandage around my head, "Most people who come in here with their friends never act the way you two did when you crashed through my door. Now tell me the truth was it a limb and danger beasts?"
"It wasn't." I look at the floor, "The Empire has a kill order on our heads for some reason. We had a run in with one of their lackey's that had a powerful Imperial Arms."
"And you survived?" He says surprised, "Not many have a run in with a user and lives to tell the story. If you ever need anything, I'm here for you kids."
"Thank you sir." I close my eyes. I don't want anyone else to be involved with us. Anna was right, we are a danger to anyone we meet or even come into contact with.
"Alright all finished." He cuts the bandage and finishes up, "Now go into the room where your sister is at and get a good rest. Tomorrow, you should be able to leave, but I advise not getting into any fights for a while. That'll be tough for you since the Empire is after you."
"You know what happened three years ago to the west?" I look at him, "Do you?"
"That village was razed to the ground right?" The doctor says thinking out loud, "Was the talk around town for some time. Why do you ask."
"Just wondering." I walk past him. So people think it was razed to the ground by bandits or outlaws. The only living things there are the people encased in their ice tombs and any animal that made its way there. I head to the room where Anna is at. Selan is sitting in a chair beside her bed.
"So you in the same boat as our little sister?" Selan looks up at me exhausted.
"Not really." I sit on the bed next to Anna's, "I got hurt worst than what I thought."
I point at my head, "I'll be ready to go in the morning though. Just get some sleep. She's going to be fine. You're exhausted."
"You always cared for us you know that Ren?" Selan smiles, "You always put us ahead of your own life. If you hadn't got Anna out of their, she wouldn't be here right now. Thank you."
"She'll be back to normal in the morning trust me." I lay down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling. Tonight we fought a user for the first time and got the shit beat out of us. It was just luck that we were able to get out of that fight alive, but just barely.
"Ren." I hear Anna next to me, "Thank you."
"No problem little sis." I turn to her. Her face is black and blue on one side where the hammer connected with her face, "Get some sleep."
"We could've died couldn't we?" Anna's body shakes as she's trying hold back the tears, "We should've died tonight."
"Don't say things like that." I say quietly so Selan couldn't hear. He's already passed out; he must be tired.
"It's true and you know it." Anna looks over at me tears streaming down her face, "We should've died three years ago in that attack. We shouldn't even be here today!"
"Stop crying." I tell her, "I think we have a purpose and that purpose is to finish what our parents couldn't."
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"Our parents sided with the Empire so that they could ally with Night Raid, but Night Raid took it the wrong way and killed them all. Don't worry we'll kill them all for what they did. But for now get some rest. We're heading to the city tomorrow."
I didn't hear anything from Anna. I close my eyes and let the sleep overwhelm me.