Stellar Saviors

ninth chapter

     When I returned to the elevator, Lolti was no longer there and the silent one was standing against the wall. He looked bored at the moment, standing straighter as I approached.
     "I'm ready to go," I announced as I clicked the elevator button. I'd decided to just leave the clothes, they weren't ever the most comfortable. He made a quiet hum in response and walked past me as the doors opened.
      Maybe now I can see how my people are holding up. The last person I actually interacted with was Marcus. I glanced at my healing knees, the scabs basically invisible. I rubbed at my knuckles thinking about him. He wasn't ever really the nicest guy but making me fall like that could've cost me my life. The Shakall are so unpredictable. Maybe he was really trying to kill me. You never know
      Leaving the tower and meeting the outside raised goosebumps to my skin. Before there were very few people outside, now nobody was out. I was a little glad to see no Shakall, but I knew this wasn't normal. I kept a little closer to the Beacon as we walked, my eyes darting in every direction.
    We weren't heading straight for the ship, I noticed. Instead he was leading me past the homes. I could see glances from people inside, some shaking their heads. Others pointed down the path.
     Yet he walked on, fixing parts of his armor as we went. He raised a hand to stop me from walking forward and tilting his head in my direction.
    "Stay here," a deep voice sounded, his I saw. His first words to me. I nodded, my body instinctively ending to hold still. I still wasn't sure what was going on.
    He kept forward down the clear path. It was all dirt and rock this far down. Then, I heard it. The faintest echo of a crunch. At first it was just one but then a series came after. Heart-dropping  noises of a monster feasting.
    The beacon reached over his shoulders, his hands gripping onto two handles sticking from their holders. I'd just been ignoring those, hoping they weren't anything dangerous. My hopes were wrong as I watched him pull out two curved blades, a ringing schwing noise following. Whatever had been eating fell silent.
     Heavy stomps shook the earth below me, my eyes falling to the ground. It had to be a mutant, we haven't seen any near the city since the Shakall took over.
    But there are no Shakall here anymore, and no walls. No walls, no protection. A low growl came from ahead and I looked up to the source.
     A pale face with sunken eyes and a large mouth. It's shape like a messed up canine.  Large teeth protruded from its gums pushing its mouth to a permanent smile. Besides that it was covered in black fur, damp around its neck and jaw. It's stare was on the beacon, who stayed deadly still. Dark green drool pooled out the mutants mouth
   It began to pull itself forward and now I could see it fully. It had no strength nor size in its back legs as compared to the large arms at its front. Its hind dragged against the ground behind it while all its power went into propping itself onto its balled hands. I wanted to run, that was what instinct was telling me to do. This moment reminds me of my nightmare.
     Of Stirling. My hand reached up to mess with the necklace, twisting it in my grip. The beacon took a few steps in its direction, which seemed to tick it off because immediately it was lunging at him. Jaws wide.

✧

It all happened so quickly, my knees buckling from the intensity when it was finally over. The beacon stood over the beast with only one blade in hand now. The other lodged into the monsters jaws, keeping them sprung open. He looked unharmed for the most part, some green slobber splattered onto his arm, as well as the dark red from the mutant.
     He reached for his other blade, ripping it from the jaw. He did a few wipes over the blade with a glove's hand before returning them to their holders. Then, turning in his heel, he walked back to me.
    "On your feet, I'll escort you to the ship," he demanded and held his hands out. Hesitantly I took the help, pulling myself up. My eyes locked onto the mutant. He killed it. Just him.
   We never could have accomplished that alone.