Humanity's Future

Survival

Spark's P.O.V

"How do you know he wants to fight us?" Rachel, Jean, and I sprinted onward, and I couldn't help my increased pace at the urgency I felt to get away from the villagers, and most of all– Herald. I cast a brief glance over at Jean after considering his question.

"Herald is not one to mess with." I stated simply, turning a sharp corner in order to follow the quickest path to the edge of the forest. "The people here all fear him; though their true feelings are hard for me to gauge. There was always a noticeable shift in the atmosphere whenever he entered the room." Shaking my head, I looked up to quickly assess Herald's position before taking another sharp turn. "Practically all of the villagers are bound to this place, to him: as if they owe him their lives, and are unable to act of their own accord."

"I see..." Rachel' soft voice carried to me, and I furrowed my brows when she spoke once more. "Nevertheless, Jean, Sasha, and Kaiden are all also along on this journey with us. The Survey Corps made no move to assemble a search party for your rescue, so we struck out on our own." I felt warmth spread through my chest at Rachel's statement, and smiled to myself.

"I love the sentiment here, but we're not out of the village yet!" Jean's voice startled me out of my thoughts, and I nodded firmly.

"Once we re-enter the forest, we should all be able to escape in the dark by our own means."

"Right." Rachel added. "Is your Maneuvering Gear still in working order?" This question she directed toward Jean, which gave me time to think.

Herald is smarter than any enemy we have ever encountered before, meaning he definitely has a plan in motion. He must have predicted something like this happening, but what does he have in mind? By now, Rachel, Jean, and I had just left the last house at the edge of the village behind.

"Get down!" I turned and glanced over my shoulder at Rachel's shout, and instinctively dove to my left as a portion of what looked to be a silo crashed to the ground, mere feet from my previous position. I was back on my feet after a moment of shock, helping Rachel and Jean to their feet and checking them for any serious injuries. Beside a small cut stretching from Rachel's eyebrow to her cheekbone, and an ugly bruise forming on Jean's collarbone, they seemed to be healthy.

"Is this guy trying to kill us?!" Jean's indignant shout caused worry to clench my stomach.

"I do not believe that to be his intention." Rachel gave Jean and me a once-over, before turning on her heel and heading toward the forest once more. "It seems as though he at least wishes to injure one of us, in the very least."

"Whatever the case," I cut in, feeling more at ease once we entered the cover of the trees, "we need to get far, far away from here."  The earth began to shake, and fear gripped my heart at the familiarity of the sensation. Herald is close–

"In the trees, quickly!" Rachel shouted, and I briefly heard the sound of Jean activating his Maneuvering Gear before raising my palm to my mouth, biting down lightly. I welcomed the familiar bright light that erupted around me, feeling muscles and bones form in the air.  As soon as I was back in Guardian form, a calmness settled over me. It seemed as though the last few days were suddenly very far away, and I took a single moment to inhale deeply, feeling the power of my Titan form rush through me. Herald was closing in fast, and I glanced over at Rachel when she landed on a branch that was level with my eyes. "Draw him toward the plain, if possible! It will be much easier to fight him in the open!"

Fight him? A shiver ran down my back at the thought, but I shook it away as I started to run, holding nothing back until I reached the open plain. Herald had followed, and was tailed by no one– which I took both as a blessing and a curse. The edge of the trees were a few meters away when he caught up with me, forcing my hand. I turned quickly and blocked his expertly-thrown punch, aimed for my collarbones. I know the ability that comes with my eyes won't work on him, so how do I go about this?

The answer came with Rachel, who came flying towards us in a streak of black feathers with sword in hand. Herald anticipated her attack, however, and turned at the last minute to swat her out of the air.  Taking the opportunity, I swung at him from behind, hoping to take him off guard.  If only I could knock him off his feet–

   But Herald had expected my attack, too.  He twisted his body and grabbed my leg, pulling harshly and throwing me off balance.  The earth shook when my back collided with the ground, and I couldn't keep a groan from leaving my throats at the impact.  I couldn't see Rachel anymore; when Herald had hit her, she had rocketed toward the ground before righting herself on unsteady wings– most likely a result of overexertion– before shooting farther into the trees.  My thoughts were torn as a fist flew toward my collarbones once a more, and I managed to block the swing at the expense of my forearm before throwing Herald off of me.

   In his Titan form, I found him to be much more intimidating.  I vaguely wondered how many years of experience and training Herald had undergone to perfect his technique when an explosion of light caught the corner of my eye.  My first thought was another enemy Shifter– and if that was the case, I knew this would be a battle I could not win.  However, a different form came flying toward Herald, throwing a punch strong enough to knock the older man back a few meters.

   Kaiden.

A/N
   Another update will be coming this weekend, just because you guys deserve it and I've been severely sucking at updates.  Thanks @australianjason, I owe you one for letting me rant to you.

                                                                               ~Rainy