Never let me go

12: Outside the walls part II

I drew a little portrait of Reiner, hope you like it! Onto the story:

The 57th Expedition outside the walls - Year 850

The sound of cannon fire spooked Red Dick who reeled sideways. Iris clung to the saddle and instinctively tried to pull one of her reins to force the filly in a circle, or they might both end up dashing madly through the forest. She heard the captain ordering the rest of his squad tether their horses up ahead and get Eren away from the titan. R.D reared, again and again, forcing Iris to throw herself forward and wrap her arms around the horse's neck. The third time she reared, R.D lost her balance, and they tumbled over backwards. She felt the filly start falling, her head whipping back and forth, screaming the way only a frightened horse can scream. She let go of the horse, and tried to push herself off through the fall.

"If she lands on me I'll be crushed underneath her. My insides will become soup, or if I'm lucky I'll just break all the bones in my body," she thought as she fell. Her shoulder crashed against the pavestones, and hot pain shot through her entire body. She had her eyes closed and waited for the crack of her head smashing on the ground, or the grinding crunch of R.D's heavy body on hers.

But Red Dick did not land on her, and she didn't crack her skull open either. Instead she heard the captain's voice:

"If you're alive get up, whelp. You're with me." She heard the swoosh of him shooting up and back where they had come from. Back to where she was.

Iris groaned and rolled, got to her knees and stopped for a moment to check if she'd broken anything. But apart from a dull ache in her shoulder she seemed fine, so she climbed to her feet. She heard clopping hoofs and heavy breathing, and she saw R.D had come to a halt over by the other tethered horses up ahead. The filly looked like she was okay too, though lathered and drenched in sweat.

She launched herself into the air, and headed to the captain who had attached himself to the trunk of a tree close to the she-thing's head. The only spot available to land on was the one next to commander Erwin. She swallowed hard, and landed in that spot. The commander turned his head slightly, and looked at her with those empty eyes of his.

"Whoever is inside that titan, Levi, Mike, cut them out." Commander Erwin's voice was devoid of excitement over what he'd caught in his web. She felt like he was picking her apart with his eyes. Iris turned her gaze to the female titan, and experienced a sense of relief when she couldn't see the commander out of the corner of her eye anymore, peering at her.

Mike and Levi flew in aiming their savage cuts at the wrists of the titan to sever them. A ray of sunlight was reflected upwards as the skin over the titan's hands glazed over with what looked like pure, iridescent crystal. The clang of steel against something much harder rung through the air as the two soldiers made their cuts, and the pieces of their shattered blades flew out to the sides of them. She heard the commander order someone to place explosive charges at the wrists of the titan to attempt to blow her hands off so she couldn't shield her nape.

"Whoever is inside there has killed so many people today, but I bet their heart is fluttering in their chest right now. You in there, what is it you come here to do? Why are our lives worth nothing to you?"

The captain was standing on the thing's head, and eager to be out of Erwin's presence Iris swung down to Levi. He had ordered her to stay with him after all.

"You've murdered my subordinates in so many ways, did you enjoy it?" Levi asked and stomped his foot down on the thing's head. He looked up at Iris for a moment as she landed next to her. "Well, now it's my turn to enjoy this. I bet you still are, right? You can understand what I'm saying, can't you?" She knew he was talking to the titan, but she felt as if there was a hidden challenge in his words. Did she understand what he was talking about? He broke their eye contact and continued: