Morals

Twenty

A/n- Attack pt.2

Edited*

I finally broke free of their tirade. I tried for Denai, but the villains were relentless in their attacks. I dodge most of them and landed a few of my own. Denai was stabbed in the chest and was quickly losing blood. She was still able to stand.  The third villain was still lingering in the vicinity. Denai couldn't defend herself, so it was up to me. She tried fighting, but she was just in the way.

"Take a back seat, extra! You're getting in my way!" I fought the villains, sending explosions their way as they came at me with precision strikes, cutting into my skin. She stumbled forward and lost her balance at one point. She held herself up against a nearby vehicle, a hand pressed firmly against her chest wound. Her blood painted the car's hood in streaks as she fought to stay conscious, her breathing ragged. She kept mumbling something that sounded like "Careful," but it was hard to make out over the chaos. The villains kept pushing me back toward her, trying to corner her again. I caught one attacker's blade with an explosion point-blank, shattering it and sending shards into his face—he screamed. The other lunged at Denai while she was vulnerable. My own blood ran cold as I saw it happen in slow motion: she shoved herself off the car with a gasp, stumbling sideways just enough that the blade only grazed her ribs instead of sinking deep. She somehow stayed upright, coughing blood onto the pavement, her eyes wild and unfocused.

 "Behind...you," she rasped, her voice barely audible over the ringing in my ears. I whirled, catching a glimpse of the third villain emerging from shadows near a dumpster—silent and already mid-lunge toward her exposed back. Denai's warning came too late and for the wrong person; I was too far to intercept. A knife went through her abdomen. Denai choked violently, her legs buckling as the blade withdrew. She crumpled forward onto her knees, hands pressed uselessly against both wounds now—chest and stomach—blood soaking her costume and pooling rapidly beneath her. The third assailant melted back into darkness instantly, leaving only the metallic scent of blood and Denai's wet, shallow gasps hanging thick in the air. My vision tunneled onto her crumpled form; rage surged through me like liquid fire, drowning out the pain of my own injuries.

I felt every ounce of warmth drain from my body. At that point, the bastards withdrew and disappeared completely. Denai was curled on the pavement, gasping like a fish on dry land. Blood poured out of her, staining the cracks between the sidewalk. It was pooling too fast. Her eyelids fluttered shut, but she kept forcing them open, staring at me with this hollow look. The paleness spreading across her face was worse than any blade wound I'd taken.

She tried to gurgle out some incoherent words. But I stopped her from talking so she wouldn't bleed out more. I didn't even notice the cold seeping through my torn pants as I dropped to my knees beside her. My hands—already slick with my own blood—fumbled at her wounds, applying pressure that felt utterly useless. Her gaze locked onto mine, pupils dilated with shock and something terrifyingly final. "Don't speak," I growled, my voice cracking. 

"Just breathe."

"Am I-I g-g-going to d-die?" She gurgled out through her immense pain.

"What did I just say?!" I snapped, pressing harder against her abdomen. My fingers slipped on warm, slick fabric. 

"Shut up and focus on breathing, damn it!" Distant sirens wailed—too damn slow. Her trembling hand weakly gripped my wrist. Where were those bastards? Hiding? Waiting? Watching her die while I knelt here, helpless? My jaw clenched hard enough to crack teeth. My blood boiled with rage, hotter than my own explosions.

The paramedics weren't going to be here in time. I had no choice but to pick her up and walk her to the hospital myself. I was in a lot of pain, but I refused to let her die! It wasn't that far away from where we were. I had to try!