Riven
I didn't know how much time had passed. I just remained there, on my knees, trying to wrap my head around everything. The hopelessness settled in over time, and eventually the tears stopped. Not because I was feeling better, but simply because I had run out of them.
Eventually, the silence was broken by Luneth, letting go of me. "My… parents… said they were going to run, find some place in the northern forest to stay for a while."
I opened my eyes and noticed the sun had long left. Luneth continued. "My mom said we should do the same while my dad said we should stay and try to blend in, hiding the fact we know.
"I agree with mom. If we were to leave now, I'm sure we could make it to the forest. Night will hide us, hopefully, but I doubt we'll be entirely hidden from sight. You never know what those… things can do."
I wiped my face with my jacket sleeve and rose to my feet, offering my hand to Luneth. "Then that's what we'll do."
She took it and pulled herself up. I glanced at her. "Are your parents coming with?" For a brief moment, I considered heading home to get dad and Livia, but I decided against it. I doubted they had any knowledge of what was going on, so hopefully they would be fine.
Luneth shook her head. "They left already. Out the back door before I came out here."
"They just left you like that?" I sighed, but my eyes soon widened. My blood froze. "That means that by now, the figures are already looking for them… and you."
We have to move. We're running out of time.
I ran down the wooden steps and headed north, pulling Luneth with me. She caught herself and adjusted her speed to keep pace with me. After a few seconds, I let go of her hand and sped up. We both had physical enhancement abilities, so I was confident we'd be able to make it out of the housing district within a minute.
I noticed the houses thinning out and glanced behind me. Luneth was about a meter behind me, so she was doing fine.
My eyes narrowed.
Shit. Behind her… was a figure in sleek, black armor. The armor was so dark that it contrasted against the night sky behind it. What was worse, it was simply standing there, unmoving, but still dreadfully terrifying.
I made a foolish decision.
I slowed down and threw off my jacket. "Leave me, Luneth!"
I don't know what made me do it. I wasn't any kind of hero, and I understood there wasn't going to be a positive ending for me if I was.
Luneth sprinted past me. I hoped she would understand and not try to argue. Doing that would get us both caught.
I noticed her pace slow for just a second before it picked back up. She glanced back, and a single tear flew backwards and hit the road before she vanished into the night.
Turning around, I focused my attention on the dark figure. It walked towards me, its steps perfectly measured and even. Now that it was closer, I had a better view of the armor.
It had seamless matte black plating that absorbed all the light around it. The figure looked exactly like a shadow. There were no gaps between the plates, and it surrounded the body like an outer shell designed for perfectly fluid movement. The helmet was smooth with a dark visor set slightly deeper into the faceplate.
There was no sound as it moved. Just silence.
Eventually it stopped moving, less than five meters from me.
A metallic voice rang out from the helmet.
"Subject located. Retrieving."
A chill went down my back. My blood ran cold. My hands started to sweat.
My body tensed, getting ready for the inevitable. The figure turned into a blur as time seemed to slow. Suddenly, it was right in front of me, a glove reaching out to grasp my neck.
I sidestepped, trying to put distance between us. Adrenaline coursed through my body, more than I had felt in any Assignment. I wasn't just fighting for myself anymore.
The hand flew past me, but a sudden kick caught me off guard. The kick was absolutely impossible. How did it kick while simultaneously diving forward?
Thankfully, I reacted in time. The kick slammed into my forearms as I blocked it, throwing me back a few meters.
Before I had even landed on the ground, it was back on me. A fist flew towards my chest, but I twisted, grabbing its wrist. I pulled and threw it off balance, bringing my other hand down on the back of its neck.
I hit it with so much force the armor surrounding the figure's nape shattered. I jumped back right after to avoid a counter-attack, but nothing came. The figure was… frozen. Then, something that looked like lightning shot out of the back of its neck, surrounding the armor, momentarily lighting up the road.
The figure crumpled to the ground and the smell of smoke filled the air.
I cautiously took a step forward. And another. And another. Nothing.
So, I did what any sane person would do, and kicked the side of the figure with all my might. It went flying into the air, hit the ground once, twice, and then remained still on the edge of the road.
I walked over and prodded it with my foot. Nothing. Honestly, the situation was quite anti-climactic. I had expected more.
Squatting down next to it, I stared at the nape of its neck. A deep red fluid was flowing out of the fracture in the armor.
I guess these things are human.
Their armor also appeared to have a weak spot on the back of the neck, which I was sure to use in the future. That electricity too… Was that from hitting the weak spot or simply because I shattered the armor? It seemed to have fried whoever was inside.
I shook my head. There wasn't any time to think about it. There was sure to be more than one, and waiting here any longer would let them find me.
Sure, I ended up killing one, but two? Five? Ten?
I had to catch up with Luneth, but who knows how far she had made it by now. I got up, grabbed and put on my jacket, and got into a jog as I continued north.
***
Eventually, a thick wall of trees appeared in the distance. That was my goal. Once I was there, hopefully Luneth wouldn't be too hard to find… Actually, It would be better if she was hard to find.
I reached the forest line and sat down, taking a quick break. My muscles ached and my lungs were burning from jogging for so long. I wiped off the sweat flowing down my face and let my heart rate settle before getting back up.
It was silent. Really silent. The trees didn't make any noise, there was no sound of animals. I glanced up and noticed that the leaves on the trees weren't even moving… Like someone had turned off the wind. That meant… any noises I made were infinitely more noticeable.
My blood ran cold, a chill going down my back.
I shivered and headed in. I wasn't scared of the forest, I was scared of what could be inside it.
After running through for a few minutes, I could smell saltwater. That meant… I was near an ocean. I'd never been this far from the town, so I'd never been to a beach.
My muscles continued to ache with radiating pain, and every breath hurt. I followed the scent of water and-
The next thing I remember was me pinned to the sand of a beach, my arms held behind my back.
My chest was heaving.
My eyesight was blurry.
Everything was slowly growing darker.
Every part of my body burned, my temple especially. It felt like someone placed a searing hot iron onto it.
A voice, just as metallic as the figure from earlier, came out from right above me.
"Bring in Echo. He can take care of this kid."
My body went limp.
I could hardly even think straight.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but I heard new footsteps on the sand. It wasn't wearing armor like the other figures.
A new, male voice began talking. "Umbria- You know I hate doing this, right? Especially to kids." Unlike the metallic voice of the figures, this voice was entirely human.
If I wasn't pinned to the ground and about to pass out, I would consider his voice quite soft and kind.
"You say that like it's not your job," the metallic voice above me rang.
A harmonious laugh came from the man called Echo. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that, ma'am."
I saw dark green boots stride into view, black pants tucked neatly into them. They sank slightly into the sand as Echo lowered into a squat. He placed his forearms on his knees, laced his hands together, and rested his chin on them, his head slightly tilted.
He was young—twenties, maybe—with jet-black, wavy hair parted down the middle. It framed a face with a subtle, playful smile. He had brilliant, light blue eyes that seemed to demand attention. He wore a white t-shirt that clung to his lean torso.
Despite the figure pressing me to the ground, it was Echo's gaze that made me the most nervous.
He reached out and tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling up my head to get a better look at me. It was… utterly humiliating.
Echo smiled, his lips curling into a faint, almost affectionate smile, and then sighed. "Hey, kid. You're a little too deep into something you don't understand, so I'm really sorry about this. It'll hurt for only a second, I promise."
He slid his fingers out of my hair, gently letting my head fall back down.
The metallic voice came back. "Just do it already. Every second you waste here makes it more difficult to find the daughter."
The- The daughter? Luneth… She hadn't been found yet. A wave of relief flooded through my body, easing the pain, even if just a little. At least… At least she'll survive.
Echo sighed dramatically, side-eyeing the figure on top of me and shifted from his squat to being on one knee. He reached out both of his hands, placing his palms on each of my temples.
"Once again, I'm really sorry about this. I wish we could've met in different circumstances, Riven."
Echo… knew who I was.
I heard the metallic voice above me, but it grew too distant to understand.
And then, my head began to burn.
My brain felt like it was being drenched in molten lava, and then I passed out. I woke up again, and passed out from the pain once more. I screamed, or at least tried to, but no sound came out. My thoughts grew distant.
This continued… for so long. So very long.
I thought about Luneth. I thought about how much I'd miss her if I were to die. It didn't make sense, but it didn't have to. There were so many things we hadn't talked about, and so many things we hadn't done together.
Despite the pain, just thinking about her made me smile.
I fought the pain. I fought so hard. Unbelievably hard. It took all my effort to keep the image of Luneth in my mind so I could keep fighting.
But eventually, even the image of Luneth became distant. I pushed to keep her in my mind, to hold onto her as an anchor, but she was slipping. Her expression turned unreadable, her figure blurry. I reached for her.
Luneth…
***
I opened my eyes groggily. I was laying in bed, rays of sunlight streaming through my window. It looked like noon. Sitting up, I glanced at a small silver ring on one of my fingers. I wasn't quite sure how or when I had gotten it, but it looked quite nice.
I got out of bed, put on a light, purple t-shirt and headed downstairs to the dining room.
Livia was by the front door, preparing to go out. She heard my footsteps and glanced at me with a weird expression. "You're up pretty late, Riv."
I rubbed my neck. I rarely ever slept in this much, so I must've been really tired last night. My brain felt really foggy, my whole body a little bit off. "Yeah. Is dad still around?"
She nodded silently and gestured to the kitchen before leaving.
What's up with her?
Walking into the kitchen, I noticed dad cleaning dishes in the sink. He was holding a glass cup and using a towel to dry it off. He turned around and took a stern look at me.
I raised my hands in defeat. "I'm sorry, I know I missed breakfast."
Dad tilted his head. "Why are you sorry to me? Weren't you going to walk to the training grounds with Luneth today? If I were her, I'd be pretty fed up with you."
I stared at him.
"Luneth?" The name sounded familiar.
He sighed and took the towel out of the cup. "You know, your mother and I used to walk to the training grounds every day, just like you two. Not once did I ever leave her waiting-."
I raised a hand, stopping him. "Who's Luneth?"
He froze.
His eyes widened, shifting into an expression of horror. His mouth opened, as if he were about to say something. His body swayed, barely catching himself on the counter.
The glass cup fell out of his hand, shattering on the ground.