Chalice

Chapter 8: Lynna

Lynna shivered as she stepped out into the arena. It was a bowl of sand, just as Chalice had told her. Maybe Dias had been right in saying that Chalice was the smartest of their group. She hoped that the improvised retractable skis would work in order for her invention to work on ground. She walked up to her car and got in, running system checks and putting her seat belt on. 

Overhead on the speakers, Dias was saying,

"And here is Lynna, with her useless...wait, hang on a second! She revised her invention! "

A murmur of surprise rippled through the stadium.There seemed to be more empty seats than Chalice had described to her.Possibly some of the patrons got sick of watching bloodbaths, but she would find them all.

A skinny girl walked out into the arena, wincing from the powerful lights aimed at her. Lynna didn't recognize her, but knew she was probably trouble's infinitely more tough daughter, chaos.She snapped her fingers and a huge machine drilled up next to her from underneath the arena.She smartly opened the hatch and started it, but not before saying to Lynna,

"This is a battle of machines-may the best one win."

Both of them started driving their machines forward. Lynna wrestled with the controls, finding the gun ports and fired at the other machine. They sparked off of the sides, leaving dents.She was confident that her machine was tough enough for bullets, but that was not how this other girl fought. She moved her machine forward even faster, grinding up the sand as she went. Of course sand does not provide as much traction as dirt, so as she spun the blades of the drill, it started to slip, sliding sideways towards the wall. Seeing as the other girl's machine was spiraling out of control, Lynna used this to her advantage and started peppering her enemy's glass windshield with 

bullets. One shot was enough to pierce the glass. The others buried themselves into the other girls body, rendering her dead in seconds. She looked peaceful in death, eyes closed, smiling. This made Lynna feel guilty. She had ruined this girls life, killed her. She did not know how Chalice had bore it. She started crying, shocked to the core. As a government official, she had never killed someone on purpose. 

She realized belatedly that the car was still on, so she turned it off and got out. She had become numb, not feeling anything, saving the rest of her tears for later. As she heard Dias swearing into the mic on the loss of one of his best agents, she still felt sad, but not as much, for she realized that the girls death had been for a cause. She felt guilty for not knowing the girls name. She may not ever know it ever. 

Back at the cabin, everyone congratulated her on her victory. But Chalice knew something was wrong as soon as she had stepped through the doorway.

"Is the death bothering you?" she asked, full of concern.

"Yes. Her dying expression is floating in my brain."

"It's alright. It was either you or her. It was unavoidable." She hesitated."You should know that I felt the same when I killed the man.You will heal, trust me on this. You won't forget it, but it won't be as painful."

Lynna nodded, grateful for Chalice's advice.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me."