Take Flight And Fall

- Feint -

The Red Hunters had done it—they had made a great show and performed a mock attack. They had feinted, turning us into fools by beating us at our own game. We had all been oblivious of our surroundings and the robot had hidden in the shadows, recording everything concerning our powers from A to Z. We had made ourselves bare to the humans, and we will suffer for it. We were careless. I was careless.

Running through the forest, we kept our senses sharp, ready to pick up any sound or sight anything that may lead us to the robot. I was lagging behind but the queen purposely stayed behind me, probably to make sure that I wouldn’t escape like I’m sure she’s thinking. Without having to look back, I could feel her scorching gaze upon me—it was like a thousand hot coals had been placed on my shoulders for me to weightlift.

The queen roared furiously like the lioness that she was and her roar caused the whole forest to convulse. “Deneb Kaitos hasten your pace! Wasn’t it you who had been running a few days ago to save your life?!”

I found it difficult to breath as I gasped, “I can’t keep up. You’re all... fast.”

The queen said no more and we continued our run. The forest blurred past us as we made it into a clearing of gargantuan grasses. Far ahead, I spotted a silver glimmer under the moonlight. When I concentrated my gaze, I noticed that the silver glimmer was coming from the very robot we were looking for. It was dashing through the forest at a dangerous speed.

“There!” I shouted, pointing at the robot.

“Okay! Surround it!” the queen said.

Her words confused me because how could we surround something that was very, very, far away from us. But I was chilled to the bones when a few of the mutants sped up, becoming a blur before my eyes as they rushed to the robot. They were like black smoke under the moon as they neared the robot. My breath hiked up, my eyes becoming wide beyond normal as I stared in shock, my eyes following the mutants as they flashed past the robot and blocked its part.

The silver robot skidded to a stop. It spun on its heel and kicked at the mutants with fierce speed, seeming like a fog. The mutants matched up with its speed and dodged the attack by spreading out, surrounding the robot. They raised their spears and approached the robot like it was a caged dog. The robot casually crouched and bounded over the wall of mutants that was in front of it. By chance, we had a mutant who could manipulate metal. He raised his hands as he sped to a stop. The robot froze in the air and he arced his hands, bringing them down, also bringing down the robot in the process. The robot banged onto the ground and stopped.

We all slid to a stop and watched as the speedster mutants and the one who had the ability to control metal carefully approached it. I held my breath, the seconds ticking away as they shuffled closer to it.

“What...?” I heard the mutant with magnetic powers say.

I shifted my gaze to him and I frowned at his confused expression. He was struggling to keep his hands down. I looked back at where the robot was at and my face blanched in shock at the sight of the robot freely getting up. I stared at him and dread washed over me at the sight of him struggling to keep a grip on the robot. His hands suddenly fell limp and he fell forward with a loud grunt.

“What is happening?” the queen said, jumping at the robot, her fists ablaze.

“I... don’t know...”

I lifted my head and took in the sight of the queen’s fire quenching into fog before it could even graze the robot. The queen stared in shock at her hands, not paying attention to the robot who raised a hand. Water from out of nowhere pushed her to the side. I bristled in fright at the sight.