Shadowstruck

Chapter 6 Part 2

Noah carefully stepped from limb to twisting limb, shuddering at the mental image of Cooper being torn to shreds.

Yep. Something was up. This was definitely not the same guy they had run into - well, more of fell into - at the marketplace. He had been joking and happy and concerned for everyone.

And now he was just...cold.

He gripped another branch, thinking. Cooper had changed, definitely. When was the last time he had been 'normal'? Noah thought back.

His eyes widened as a realization hit him like a truck.

The battle.

April had gotten hit directly, which blocked almost all of her memory. But Cooper had gotten hit by a shard.

Maybe he still wasn't recovered from that.

Maybe he was mad about Noah's interference.

Maybe it had just been a different mind block. For his personality.

Oh, fuck. Not again.

Noah kept going, following the howls still escaping from the trees. He saw light reflect off of metal and hooked back, hiding from view. He was right. Watchers.

He turned his head just a bit, scanning the area.

A large wolf-like torso, tail, and head was suspended by six gigantic metal spider legs, attached at the ribs and sternum. Each foot was replaced with a deadly foot-long blade that could easily impale you or cut off a limb if you weren't careful. Six chalk-white, glowing eyes replaced where the usual beady black ones would be.

It wasn't a real animal. It was a mixture of robotics and enchantments.

But it was still ruthless, feral, and definitely deadly. And it was also the least-known of the types of Watchers, which meant that Cooper probably had no goddamn clue what he was doing.

Wherever he was.

Noah glanced around one last time for the younger boy before giving up and focusing on taking this beast down. He climbed up a few more feet. Height was key. Noah glanced down, seeing the neck of the Watcher below him. Good enough.

He took a running start and lept from the tree, swinging himself onto the Watcher's neck.

It may look like an animal, but it was still - partially at least - a robot. And the best way to bring down a robot is to take away the source of energy.

Or at least, that's what he was told.

Noah looked around, having somehow not alerted the Watcher to his presence, and saw Cooper with a shit-eating grin standing beside a tree, arms crossed and sword on his back. He flipped Noah off again and Noah shook his head, bringing his attention back to the Watcher.

His eyes roamed over the synthetic, rough fur, eyeing the rectangular indent barely noticeable to someone who didn't know what they were looking for.

Luckily, Noah knew what he was looking for.

He grabbed another knife out of the air and brought it down as hard and as fast as he could right between the shoulder blades of the beast, piercing straight through. A wail erupted from inside along with a puff of grey smoke and it collapsed, arms flailing wildly as its six eyes dulled. He let go, letting the knife fade, and jumped backwards. His feet hit the ground with a quiet thud and he glanced up, still seeing the Watcher moving frantically, its torso lying on the ground, lifeless.

He looked past it to see Cooper clutching his right hand, wincing.