Iron angel (Book 1 of IA)

[2] Deathwalker

I wasn't too late. In fact, I was just in time to watch her summon an ice wall between her and the mechanical menace. The menace in response released a shower rain of metal death against the wall, shredding it rapidly. And judging from the looks of it, the wall would withstand about another three? Five seconds? It was kind of hard to tell, even though I was only thirty meters away from the center of chaos. But from my point at the time there was one thing I was clear about:
That twin clear blue pony tail...That oversized staff...and that height. I was absolutely sure it was her, if not I rather have my eye balls gouged out and be blind.

When the next wave of bullets hit, I found my own footsteps rushing towards her, like magnets attracted to super magnets. Her wall was completely down now, as she fell backwards onto the ground from the impact of ice shattering.

Where was her team?

Was she the last one standing?

Why was she the one patrolling?

Why does it have to be this time?

In fury and in rage, I threw all these thoughts aside as only one thing, one thing came to my mind that above all else:

GET AWAY FROM ILLRYIA!

So I did the most seemingly logical thing at that time: I charged up, picked up a piece of blown of concreate off the ground, then threw it at the Deathwalker with all my strength and rage. Thinking of it now, throwing a chunk of concreate at a twenty foot metal giant wasn't exactly effective, yet it achieved my desired effect. The Deathwalker turned its attention towards me. The upper mechanical hulk of its body cocked toward me making a massive metal scrapping sound. It had turned itself away from the completely defenseless Illyria on the ground. She was saved for now, but I was not. I took one last look at her from where I stood; she looked so calm, so small and always...always so cute. I smiled, a brief smile. She didn't seem to see me, she appeared to be out cold, but whether or not she saw me again would rest on the next few seconds. And in that particular case, the likelihood of me living was pitifully low to nothing. But dying wasn't an option yet. The Deathwalker was still too close to Illyria, and it could have finished me off with a single sweep and go right back to Illyria. No, the only option was to distract this thing and get it as far away from Illyria as possible, and that was all I can fit in my mind at the time.

But I am just a normal human being, what the hell can I do?

The smile from my face faded and when nothing seemed to reply, a voice long forgotten, alien even to myself, spoke up:

If I were going to die, at least let it be worth something...

That was all I needed to hear from myself. My lips turned into a tight grin, my legs broke into a sprint, my head whipped sideways, and the next thing I knew, I was running. Running faster than I ever had before. I was exhausted, yet I surprised myself with the extraordinary speed I possessed. The wind slapped my cheeks every time I took a stride, but there was no stopping. No stopping until Illyria was absolutely safe.

Deathwalkers are huge and bulky, they weren't designed for right turns; if I run in a zig zag that will buy me more time. As I made my first turn, almost tripping and falling at the same time. But I just had to keep going on, because I had to remind myself at that time, there was more than own life at stake that time.

I cannot afford to fail, no matter what.

Seconds later I came across the second turn as a rain of bullets showered down around me, knocking up debris and dust a step behind me. Behind me, the metal hooves of the Deathwalker closed in like the sound of herd of rampaging elephants playing cat and mouse. For every footsteps of the machine echoed triumph, while all I heard was a metallic echo of despair. Not looking back even once, I banked hard to my right to avoid another spray of metal death, only to find how tired I was. My lungs felt like they were on fire, my breathing rapid, and my mind just going everywhere at once. My muscles were so sore, I felt I would melt away into wax any moment.