Fire Sky

Chapter 7 - Crisis Averted...Sort of

Chapter 7 - Crisis Averted...Sort of

Atlas had just seen the impossible.

A Hellfire had been torn apart by a single woman who was now glowing bright red and coming closer to him and the struggling boy in his arms with every step. Despite the pain in his shoulder, and the shock stealing over his entire system, he pulled Greyson back and moved away from Aura.She didn't move any faster or slower but the glow emanating from her seemed to increase as she approached him.

Greyson was struggling harder in Atlas' arms, "Let me go!" He twisted and punched at Atlas' arms but he would not let the boy go and face his untimely death. He would not be the reason that the boy and the rest of his crew died.

Greyson twisted and started swinging and kicking his legs. Atlas swung him over his good shoulder and backed away. The rest of the crew were following his lead and moving as far and as fast as they could from the approaching being. 

What Atlas didn't anticipate, however, was that Greyson would not be taken from her. The boy continued to kick at Atlas' chest and a solid elbow into where the shot had fired into his shoulder. He winced and dropped to one knee. Greyson took the advantage and squirmed out of Atlas' grasp. He tried to get a grip on the boy but Greyson was not having any of that. He brushed of Atlas' grasp and ran towards Aura.

Atlas got up as fast as he weakened body would carry him and tried to grab a hold of the boy but it was too late. Greyson sped up and ran straight for Aura. She stood still as Greyson collided into her and put his arms around her waist, hugging her as tight as he could. Atlas came as close as he dared and looked directly into Aura's still-red eyes.

"Aura, we're safe. Everything is fine. See? Greyson is right there and there isn't a scratch on him." He used the softest tone he could manage even though his body's life-blood was draining quickly out of his shoulder.

Aura looked down to where Greyson was hugging her. She put a hand on his shoulder and a hand on his head. For a few tense seconds, they were both absolutely still and Atlas could feel the blood in his boding draining away with every heart beat.

When Aura stated turning blue again, he found himself letting out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding. He moved closer to the two as Aura crashed down to her knees and hugged Greyson tightly, making cooing noises that he was safe and that she would not let anything happen to him ever. Greyson's shaky breaths eased slowly until he was calm and not taking hiccuping breaths.

Heavy footsteps coming onto the deck sounded behind him and Atlas spun to see Lorik and a few other crewmen coming onto the main deck. The took a look at the scene for barely a second as they came forward before spotting the Hellfire. Atlas had never laughed so hard, despite the pain it caused in his shoulder, at the look of absolute shock on Lorik's face.

"Wha....." Lorik whispered in awe as he came to a standstill beside Atlas.

"My hallucination seems to have hidden skills."

Lorik snapped back to Atlas. He saw the strain in the wrinkled corners of Atlas eyes and the pale colour of his skin. "Were you shot?"

Atlas shrugged his good shoulder, wincing at how much it pained him, "Sort of." 

"You need to get to the medic-bay." Lorik said as he turned to the boarders that still littered the deck of the ship. "I'll handle the clean up here. Just make sure you take those two with you otherwise you'll be stuck up here explaining all this to the crew."

Atlas agreed and came closer to Aura who was still hanging on to Greyson. He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Aura..."

Suddenly she took a deep breath and looked up to him. Her eyes went from their pale blue to a vibrant hazel green. Her hair flashed between the blue he'd first seen her in and an identical brown to Greyson. Her skin turned a rich golden colour covered in bloody scars and tears escaped her eyes. From the tattered clothing she wore, he could see through the small scraps to the scars spanned her entire body. Thousands of small ones and large ones, all criss-crossing like a web and bleeding steadily.