Sabel

Chapter 7

SABEL RAN.

She dodged thick branches. She swept aside the wild leaves and flailing twigs impeding her muddied path. Breathing heavily, she sprinted across the wooded surroundings in a frenzied fit. Some of the branches caught her like a hundred claws trying to grab her. She also maintained long strides that sent splashes of brown, grainy water at the sides. By now, her face was covered with so many specks of dirt.

She must get away.

Where was she going? Sabel did not care. As long as she'd be safe, she thought. And why? To escape. She simply had to escape. That's all that matters. From something? From someone? These things kept chewing at her mind—but the more she stayed with these questions, the hazier her vision was turning.

She kept her focus straight, but the darkness in her view was edging closer...closer...

She started to feel her strength waning...her muscles were relaxing...lulling her to sleep...

Sleep...

NO!

Regaining her stride, she trundled on the dense path, full of talahib, wild vines, palm trees, and suburban houses. She avoided the cemented pathways; she briskly cut through the thick, grassy areas. Out from anybody's sights. She moved left...right...then left again...sloshing more muddy waters to her body. She bumped into a tree trunk and nearly toppled down. She groaned. Shaking her head off, and mustering her remaining strength, she kept going...aimlessly...trying to get away...

After clearing her head slightly and somehow making off her surroundings, she realized that she was still in Villa Pillar, the new subdivision in San Gabriel, which was built at a very high altitude and situated a few miles away from downtown. The houses here stood a few hundred meters apart from each other, which kept the neighbors out of earshot from one another.

Villa Pillar. Her home. This was where her Aunt Mira had purchased a modest house through multiple installments. Her aunt, who worked at the bank, and earning just enough to pay it off. A few more months, and it was theirs.

Aunt Mira, who took her in after her mother died and her father had disappeared.

She was Sabel's only family. For all these years, she never caused her Aunt Mira any trouble.

The bloodstains on the floor! Damn, my Aunt Mira is going to kill me! She is going to chuck me out of the house if I don't clean that up! I must return to the house or I'm done for!

A blurry shape began to materialize in her mind.

The stranger...by the door...so much blood...on the floor...

Then, a quick stab of pain ran through her body.

Sabel's vision began to blur. Her torsos started to go limp. Her knees began to buckle.

She jerked to a stop. Her legs could not hold her anymore. With a heavy sigh, she fell to the ground, lying sideways. With her crumpled inwards to her chest, she slowly closed her eyes, hugging the dark, spongy ground...

AVIRA STOOD on the spot, unblinking. She tightly gripped the tip of her scabbard.

"Trigo, did you check him thoroughly...?"

"Absolutely, Kapitana...the blood on his sleeve has dried up...but no wounds..."

Avira considered this for a moment, but she finally said, "Thank you, Trigo. Go. Tend to his other injuries..."

Trigo responded with the hand-clenched salute. Afterwards, he was off.

Avira heard the tinny murmuring of men as she approached the ground floor. They were arranged in two tight lines, holding up their gears, sizing up their armors. Many of them held the same scimitar-looking swords, but others carried bows and crossbows, with an ample supply of arrows. Metal clinked against metal as the men slowly looked up to see Avira coming down towards the landing. One soldier slightly yelped after heaving a cannon-gun behind his back, a weapon that can propel a net large enough to bring-down an elephant-sized creature.