Everglow: Friend From Far Away

36 - Checkmate

"Fischer. . . I. . . I don't know if I can do this. . ." Ko whimpered, huddled in her coat. The sun had fallen and given way to the full moon, which coated the forest in an eerie grey light. The sound of owls hooting away filled the air with a creepy and ominous atmosphere. They both knew the end was near. But how it would end, that was still anyone's guess.

Shifting the car into neutral and yanking the handbrake back, he looked over at Ko. Her beautiful scales once again dazzled in the small amount of light being emitted from the car's various instruments. Her necklace also gave off a subtle glow, it's icy like structure bending and warping the light like a prism. But once again, he found himself staring directly into her azure opal eyes. They glowed like lanterns in the darkness, reflecting off the windscreen and creating a beautiful atmosphere.

He thought back to when they were running from the police. The road trip they had before. The somber mood that filled the car. History seemed to be repeating itself.

"Ko. . . I know you're scared. I am too. This. . . this isn't exactly something we could've prepared for. But I know you can alright? I know you can do this. If I didn't, I wouldn't've asked it from you. I know you'll be able to do it ok? I need you to be brave. If we stick to the plan, it should all work out," Fischer consoled, gently stroking her arm. Her soft scales felt almost like leather on his fingers. He noticed her avoiding eye contact with him.

"But. . . what if I mess up? What if it all goes wrong?" she mumbled, staring out the window into the night. Her breath was heavy, but controlled. She was deep in thought, no doubt about the events that would soon take place.

"Don't think about that Ko. Don't think about messing up. Only focus on what you need to do ok? As long as we don't panic, this shouldn't be too hard. You know what you need to do?" He questioned.

She nodded her head sharply, taking in a deep breath afterwards. The two of them unlocked the car doors and exited the vehicle. The cool German air rushed past them as they exited the vehicle, chilling them to the core.

Brute force in vain, outsmart them, but how?

Ko thought back to the words she remembered from the glimpses she had. This is what they'd been talking about. Whatever the voice meant by that, now they were about to find out. The glimpses hadn't told her if they escaped this situation alive or not and that was eating away at her consciousness.

"Ko," Fischer called, shuffling over to her. She turned around to meet his gaze. Without stopping, he walked up to her and pulled her into a tight hug, holding her close. She went with his movements, and embraced him as well.

"Good luck. You'll do fine, I know you will. Just believe in yourself. Mira's counting on us. And we're all counting on you. I know you won't let us down," he whispered, pressing his cheek against her forehead. He could feel her shivers as they held each other, and both of them knew it wasn't from the cold.

She looked up at him with her glowing eyes and forced out the best smile she could muster. A shiver ran down her spine as she tried to think of something to say back to him.

"O-ok," she quavered.

Turning away from him, she pulled her cloak tightly around her body to keep warm, but also to remove as much skin as possible. The less white there was showing, the better she'd be able to hide.

Fischer watched with a sinking heart as she vanished into the forest like a ghostly apparition. Seemingly taking his words with her.

He turned away and placed his mind on the task at hand. Two days ago he'd made a call to Johannes. Now it was time to see who still had their queen.