A Hero With/Out Time

Chapter 19: My breath of air. (Part 3)

We headed down the path the two pirates had come from, passing the dead demon I had killed. After what Lara had done I wondered what his past was. Was it worse than Misan's? Could I have spared his life? To be honest probably, but I didn't have the intention to. If I didn't go in seriously to kill and instead he had managed to kill me, or worse someone else, I'd never let that go. I took the best option. Lara looked at his unmoving body then at me, her expression turned to pity but she said nothing.

After a few minutes walking she finally spoke, "Rain where are we going?"

"This path leads back to the main river," I replied easily.

"But the pirate camp...," she looked ahead anxiously.

"It's this or get lost for Goddess knows how long. We can just avoid them."

She nodded, "Alright."

Marley however stiffened, "We should get rid of them."

Her blunt words caused me to frown, "You think we can?"

"It doesn't matter if we can. They're bad people and deserve to be put down."

"Well I can't disagree with that but right now it's too much of a risk. Once we reach Reese I'm sure the Demons have their own kind of guard. We'll tell them where the camp is."

"And how long will that take? They could be gone by then!" her eyes turned down fiercely.

"Marley...," Lara looked at her unsure what to do.

"If you don't want to help give me the knife and I'll do it," she reached out her hand.

"For a priest you're pretty violent," I commented coldly. This went past her obsession with the injured or the sight of blood. It was darker and although she wasn't much younger than me or Lara, seeing someone of her appearance, just a girl, wanting to kill so easily... it didn't sit well inside me. If in a few years the children of Axel looked the same I'd have a heart attack.

Marley's lips tightened, "What about it? You already think I'm creepy right? That I like the sight of blood, seeing people hurt. So what? If I'm going to kill them I might as well enjoy it."

"Marley!" Lara yelled at her, the sound much louder than any of us expected. It blew away the quiet of the night and small animals skittered away in panic. Seconds passed as the tension died down and Lara stepped towards her. "You can't say that. They might be bad people but they're still alive like we are."

Marley huffed, "Let's go."

"Wait," I grabbed her before she could leave. "What are you going to do? If you want, I'll help you."

"Rain!" Lara turned her eyes to me angrily.

I held up my hand to quiet Lara and continued, "If you want to get rid of the pirates we can but only on the condition that if possible we'll spare their lives." I looked between the two. "Is that okay for you both?"

Marley nodded and after some hesitation Lara did as well. It was a risk for sure but Marley and Lara were oddities far stronger than the average person or pirate. If we could get the jump on them they wouldn't stand a chance. The only problem was the Kraken.... Worst case situation I died again and had to repeat the week. It would be annoying but at least if we were attacked by the pirates again we'd be prepared.

We moved on silently and after an hour or so of more walking the sun began to rise. With the light it became much easier to traverse the forest and soon enough we could hear the push and pull of water. I gestured for Lara and Marley to hide themselves while I moved ahead alone. The trees and foliage here were thinner and together with the sun it became much harder to keep hidden. Thankfully however the pirates didn't seem to be paying much attention.