Karta Stryker

Chapter 17: Fear the Inevitable

The four of us had gotten into Marcus's car, all of our weapons placed in the boot. We finally reached the green springs of Florida, which was a nice break from the desert scenery. Marcus tapped the steering wheel anxiously, Arcadia seemed preoccupied but Jade was fine, as if everything that was happening was meant to be. It was then when Marcus had snapped. 

"Were you hiding this the whole time?" Marcus was genuinely pissed off. 

I simply shot him a firm expression. 

"How the fuck do you hide something like that?" Marcus continued. 

Arcadia was now looking at me suspiciously, but Jade remained untouched. 

"What, you're a part of some ancient, dragon race with a pair of giant wings and none of us knew it?" 

"That's because I didn't know myself!" I snapped.

They have no idea at all.

Marcus had stopped talking, but continued staring at me through the rear view mirror. 

"Malik, he's responsible for all of this. Had me locked up in this arena, feeding me nothing but hatred and monsters sent to kill me to help with my 'physical conditioning'. He had magics capable of hiding both my memories and my physical abilities. I was essentially human, until all of that was triggered." I said.

"You expect me to believe that? What a load of bullshit, man." Marcus continued. 

"I can't make this shit up, Marcus! Human-me couldn't beat Tulla, so you did. Arcadia took on the Therro the first time she saw them, and Jade was stronger than the three of us combined at the time! And now that things have finally been set right, I was able to stand toe to toe with Samma'El. If I hadn't known I was a Stryder, I wouldn't have even tried."

Marcus still felt uneasy. 

"That just means something happened last night that you aren't telling us about."

I kept quiet.

"What happened, Karta?" Jade asked.

"...Galgamere came to the camp last night."

"He's serious, isn't he?! Not only did you unlock some hidden veil of amnesia-esque bullshit, the ONE guy causing ALL of this came to YOU? And you didn't want to tell us, because why? You Dragon buddies now?" Marcus spat, but alas to no response from me.

I could feel a level of trust with everyone in the car take a deep dive downward.

We drove down the road for some more time until a familiar man hobbled out of the forest, his right arm held to his left shoulder as if he had a sling. He was bleeding. Heavily. We drove closer, and I recognized who it was. 

Cerberus. 

"Hey, that guy looks pretty fucked up." Marcus pointed out. 

"Thanks cap'." Jade said, cynically giving a thumbs up. 

Arcadia looked to me, and we both had grave expressions on our face. My initial instinct was to lock him down, but my better judgment preceded me and I decided to help. 

"Come on, let's patch him up." I said. 

Marcus parked the car, and we all rushed out. Arcadia ran up to me, whispering in my ear. 

"You better not even think about killing him." Arcadia spat.

"I'm not the same person, Arcadia." I said. 

Cerberus had collapsed in a pile of loam, his blood soon soaking the forest floor. I helped him, and sat him next to a tree. 

"What happened? I haven't seen you lose." I said.