Disarm Evil

Chapter 7: Clash of Mind and Matter

Combat now inevitable, Miya fills me in on ver plan. "There is one just beyond this tent. I'll fly us up, and you can take a shot." Miya lifts us into the sky as I scramble to reload my dart gun. Three enemies are remaining, and there's probably about thirty charities before the first enemy wakes up. I have five darts left.

The turbulence from taking off makes the dart I'm trying to load into my gun tumble just to the side of the flight groove, narrowly missing my hand and falling to the ground below.

Four darts left.

I manage to retrieve a new dart from my pouch, but another one is pulled out with the movement of the first and falls.

Three darts left.

Miya lifts us over the tent. I can see the enemy who snitched on us. Ve is a mid-toned atu who brandishes a spear and wears leather armor tailored similarly to that of a standard officer's uniform. Ve spots us as well. I manage to load the dart, take quick aim, and send it into the dirt beyond the enemy. I missed, predictably, given that I'm ascending into the air, but still...

Two darts left... and three enemies to eliminate. Crap.

Deciding the spear is expendable enough, the enemy rears back and hurls it towards us. Miya quickly retracts ver wings to dodge the throw, sending us into a freefall, but the spear manages to clip Miya's right wing. We land atop the tent and slide down its slope until momentum throws us over its side, landing us near the smaller tents.

"Are you okay?" I ask Miya.

"I have a small cut on the wing, but stay focused. They're coming!" Miya replies.

Sure enough, the enemy comes charging around the tent, aiming to catch me before I recover from the fall and reload. "Get off and hide," I command Miya. As much as I am sure ve doesn't want to leave me, ve knows, as well as I do, just how essential ve is for us to get out of here alive. So Miya detaches from my back and skitters into the nearest small tent.

I move to aim my empty dart gun at the enemy. Even though it is not loaded, the enemy reaches to restrain the hand with the gun under the impression that it is a threat. Meanwhile, my other fingers are already clutching the end of my next dart, trying to pull it from its pouch.

The enemy grips my left hand with the gun, and squeezes it enough that the pain forces me to surrender my weapon, sending it clattering to the dirt. With ver free hand, ve grips my throat, immediately cutting off my ability to breathe, and easily lifts me from the ground until I stick the arm at my throat with the dart. The enemy instantly loses consciousness and falls forward onto me.

I cough and gasp to replenish my lungs as I struggle beneath the weight of the unconscious enemy. The fact that Miya is not helping me makes me assume there is another impending threat somewhere.

I manage to free my torso from under the enemy's limp body, but before I can kick them off my legs, I see a spear leveled at my face, brandished by a pale atu who's built like a brick wall.

"Go on, get up, remove your weapons, and throw everything aside," commands the new arrival.

I kick my legs free, perhaps a bit more aggressively than necessary, but the enemy doesn't seem to mind. I rise to my feet and hesitate for a moment to give Miya a chance to perhaps jump this enemy from behind, grab and restrain ver, giving me a chance to strike. But Miya doesn't seem to make a move. I am confident ve didn't abandon me; ve is more likely to take a risk on faith than to run away out of cowardice.

After taking too long to comply with ver demand, the enemy swings the spear around to strike with the non-bladed end. I raise my arm to try to catch the blow, and when it connects, sure, it hurts a little, but it feels like I just got hit by a frail teenager. I recover quickly and re-examine my foe. Ve is frail...