The Nightwalker

Chapter 2

Lena  stared at Samara's crumpled form. She was almost dead, her eyes were already distant and the sound of her heartbeat was weak. On her chest alone, three bullets were lodged, oozing with blood. Instinctively Lena reached out to caress her face, to rouse her—anything.

The touch was enough to rouse Samara. Lena almost choked when the old woman reached out, hands shaking, and feebly connected their fingers. Something small fell on her palm: a box covered in bright red colored paper.

"Happy birthday, ki—" Samara's eyes turned cold and distant. Her heartbeat was gone.

Fires of fury smoldered in Lena's eyes and she let out her emotions in one roar. It ignited a powerful wave that billowed outside, instantly obliterating the tavern's walls. Lena felt her anger magnifying her strengths. She felt her body expelling out the silver bullets and her ears started to pound at the hoarse moan of the colonists at her feet. Outside, the sound of footsteps hammering the dirt, the whirring of machines, and Bane's strangled howl of fear all boiled into a one deafening cacophony.

"Light her up!"

Adrenaline coursed through her. Her knees tensed and in an instant she sprung out of the mist high above their heads. At first she could see nothing—only a mad confusion of silver billows that draped the entire town like a cloak. Her eyes began to adjust and the silhouette transformed into the full image of soldiers staring at her like terrified slack jawed apes. She landed in front of the leader, snarling, and swiped her hand as hard as she could. He tried to dodge her swing, but Lena's knuckles reached his chest and it was enough to send him flying into the dirt. Lena could hear the yells of the attackers, the hisses of the weapons,  and the loading of the guns. Yet she didn't care. She roared once more, sending them panicking, and Lena used their lapse of control as an advantage to attack.

Lena fought like a demon. She flitted past the wreckage and pummeled two soldiers with her fists. The sound of ribs snapping in rapid successions was evident on her ears. Three charged at her at a furious pace, one of them was holding a spear above his head. Lena violently snatched the weapon at mid attack and struck their feet with the item before kicking them in the chest.

Lena aimed and threw the spear in the air at the speed of a bullet. It pierced the metal shell of the last flamethrower left on the ground. A fist of orange fire exploded with power enough to throw the remaining ambushers onto the air.

The rest of the failed ambush was easy. Lena made sure that the weapons were destroyed, the guns turned into scraps of metal with the force of her stomp. Once she was certain that the soldiers were out cold, Lena shouted for Thane.

"I'm alive." The voice sounded exhausted. It sounded far.

"Forest," Thane whispered. "I'm losing Bane. Come quick."

Lena's blood turned cold.

She ran as fast as she could, her senses were straining to hear, see, and feel any signs of another wave of attack. Behind her, the smoke from the crushed flamethrowers rose above the tree line and formed into a huge mushroom of acid cloud. Somewhere far, the cacophonous sound of screams and whirring of machines reached her ears. Lena ran faster.

Trail of bodies littered the earth, all of them sporting deep cuts on their chests. Up ahead, Bane was crawling towards Thane's bloodied figure, his hind legs were matted with blood and looked stiff as a board.

"Lena," Thane said as soon as she cradled the wolf on her arms. "Snapped legs, arrow on the flank."

Lena gripped the arrow and shifted Bane's body closed to her chest. Thane reached out to caress her wolf, but Lena stopped her hand. She pointed at the wolf's injured legs and Thane immediately understood what she meant when Lena bit her left arm.