Humanity at Stake (Completed)

Chapter 16

"As I drop to my knees
And scream I hate you more than you could know" -"Shot Across the Bow" by Mayday Parade

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Dread seized her chest as she watched the crimson liquid drip from his fingers.

"What did you do with Zethus?" she demanded, forcefully dragging her eyes up to meet Quintavius' gaze. He didn't respond, sending her a toothy, knowing grin. Nova felt her anger rise and boil directly under her skin. Without even realizing it, she reached for her sword. Quintavius raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really pulling a weapon on me, y-" Nova didn't let him finish as she swung out to slice him. Faster than she could track, Quintavius pulled out his own weapon, blocking her swing.

"Nova, think this through before you bury yourself too deep," he warned her as he continued to parry her attacks.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Zethus?" she punctuated out between powerful blows, not once being able to break his defense. She leaped back, drawing her other sword. Her eyes blazed with a raging inferno of anger as she stared at the vampire before her. By now, the blood had began to seep into his blade's hilt.

"He's in a better place than here," Quintavius alluded. An enraged screech left Nova's mouth as she rushed forward, doubling her offense. She slashed and twirled, swinging her blades with a mastery skill. Quintavius was having a bit of a difficult time keeping up even thought he tried to keep it hidden. Hoping to get her to stop, he parried one of her attacks, tossing her weapons out of the way and lunging forward. With a controlled attack, he sliced across her cheek. Soon the wound filled with blood, spilling over and oozing down her cheek.

She stepped back once again, wiping a hand roughly over her cheek. She winced at the pain, looking at her fingers to see them coated in blood. Her eyes drifted back up to Quintavius, and she was suddenly self-aware of her labored breathing. She noticed his chest moved in deep, even breaths. Bastard's not even winded. She seethed internally, narrowing her eyes at her opponent.

"Little Lamb, stop this. Come back with me. Your time here is over, there's no need to continually put yourself in this position," the vampire tried. Nova watched as his sword lowered a fraction. He's letting his guard down... Moron. Her gaze wandered back to his, and she slumped her shoulders in mock surrender.

"You're right. It was foolish of me to get so angry over this. Can you forgive me? You're my one true home," she spewed, bitterness washing over the taste of the sickly sweet words. He beckoned her closer, a relieved smirk stretching over his features.

"That's a good girl. Let's go home," he cooed to her, gesturing for her to come closer. She complied, giving him no indication as she stared him straight in the eye. Once she was close enough, she used her hilt to knock his sword out of his hand, crossing her swords instantly to cut his head off. The swords stopped millimeters before breaking skin, and she pushed with enough force that her hands began to shake. Her swords wouldn't budge. Quintavius' eyes narrowed in betrayal.

"You honestly thought you could kill me?" his voice dropped low and dangerous. "We have a bond, Nova. With this bond, there's no way you can kill me, directly or not." He raised his head, looking down his nose condescendingly at her. Her eyes went wide in panic, knowing if she wasn't going to die right there, she would be lucky. Quintavius stepped back, his expression changing from anger to regarding Nova coolly.

"Soon you'll realize that this is meant for you. You'll come back to me. You'll regret all actions you've pulled against me, including this. Keep that in mind." With that, Quintavius rocketed towards the rooftops. In his place laid the severed head of Zethus. Blood clotted along his torn skin. His normally watchful eyes were glazed over, staring with a blank, dead gaze. His skin still held a colorful hue, showing he hadn't been dead for too long.

Nova's legs dropped from below her. Her eyes widened in shock, and disbelief kept tears from flowing free. Strong, steely Zethus is... dead? She reached out with hesitant finger, hoping once she touched the head she'd realize its fake, and Zethus would come out from hiding. She got close enough to feel the last wisps of body heat drift lazily from his skin, and she jerked back. Her finger shook with realization, and she looked up to where Quintavius had disappeared.

Then she screamed.

She screamed out her frustration. She screamed out her hatred for Quintavius, and her sorrow for her lost comrade. She felt the pent up pressure of this life leave as she continued to scream, the sound slowly turning into loud weeps. Something snapped within her at the same time pounding footsteps echoed behind her.

She was pulled up with a strong grip and turned away. She cried into whoever was holding her, her heart hurting more than just from the death of her friend. It also ached by the loss of something invisible. Something much deeper that was never supposed to break. Soft cooing invaded her ears in attempts to calm her down. Something was smashed behind her, and loud curses went up followed by emotional, pained yells.

"We'll be okay."

~~~
Meanwhile, in the same time frame...

The group kept their feet silent as they continued down the winding right fork. Everyone stayed tensed as they waited for something to spring at them. Soon, their hopes sunk as they got to the end, the end opening up to another barren, destroyed street. Christopher turned to address his team.

"Let's loop back and g- where's Nova?" Everyone froze, looking around.

"She was right behind me," Tony answered in a confused tone.  "Nova?" she called out softly back down the alleyway behind her. Leon began to fidget uncomfortably as he looked back down the way they came.

"We should go back and check to see if she's okay. Maybe she fell behind?" Pax offered. Christopher shook his head.

"She would have said something." Leon's finger itched to curl up and punch something.

"Are you saying she got taken by the same thing that took Zethus?" he bit out, hoping that wasn't the case. Christopher sent Leon a sharp look.

"We don't know that Ze-" at that time, Christopher was interrupted by a loud shrieking. Without a moment hesitation, Leon sprinted back down the alleyway, a crazed, panicked expression on his face. Please, please let her be okay.

In record time, Leon had made it back to the fork, heading down the right way. Behind him, the following steps of the rest of the squadron sounded behind him, shouting for him to be careful and to stop and think about what to do. The sight in front of him broke his heart as he neared the end of the branch off. Dropping his crossbow, he stooped down to grab Nova. His arms wrapped under her's, winding around her waist as he pulled her up and into his chest.

Spinning her away from the scene, he wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and torso. He took in the decapitated head in front of him, rocking Nova gently as the rest of the team showed up. Christopher took one look at the head before taking his bow staff, flipping it under a partially broken crate and hurling it towards the wall. Pax leaned heavily against his staff as he stared solemnly at his fallen comrade. Tony sat off to the side, not really knowing what to do. Leon tightened his grip on Nova, burying his nose into her hair in attempts to settle his racing heart.

"We'll be okay."