Kate
Abright red dot passes over my eyes as Pious aims his weapon-clad arms right at my forehead. It tingles and heats my skin as it moves over my features only to stop and sizzle right in the middle of my forehead. “Pity you didn’t have more time, female.”
I laugh bitterly. “You had to cheat and push the timer ahead. You’re scared, aren’t you?” I know I’m not in any position to back talk him, but my rage is too great and it’s hard to keep a hold on. “You’re nothing more than a coward.”
“Oh my, but I will enjoy extinguishing your life,” he taunts, low.
“No,” Rune grunts, shoving himself in front of me, pressing me back against the wall. “You will not harm her!” Then Rune charges forward, his arms thrusting into Pious’s, sending the barrel of his index finger up toward the ceiling. A bright bolt of electricity zaps out of his fingertip, hissing against the wall right above my right ear. A sudden intense burning vibration surges through my entire body and I scream, but no sound comes out. For a second I’m frozen in agony, unable to move, as a hot charge of electricity surges through my spine. I fight the stillness, catapulting myself off the metal wall and away from the charge. My limbs tremble and sting.
In front of me Rune’s hands rise up, wrap around Pious’s neck and squeeze tight against his windpipe. His face turns red and darkens to purple, until he manages to slam a solid fist right into Rune’s left side. Weak to begin with, Rune drops to the floor, limp and unmoving.
When Pious rights himself and lifts his gaze up to mine, it’s me who is aiming my weapon now athim. A strange emptiness fills my head, my finger quivers out between us.
“Have you ever killed someone, female?” he asks in a mocking tone.
I’m sure he’s just trying to stall, buy some time with some great prolific monologue to try and sway me to lower my weapon. But I won’t. I can’t. The thing is, I’m barely able to stand or see straight. I know my weapon is targeted somewhere on his body, but my vision is too blurry to see the exact spot. If I miss him, or maybe even if I don’t miss him, Rune lays between us, his unclothed skin touching the metal on the floor. Will he be hit as well? Will the charge surge through his body as it did mine? How will it affect him without armor on, when I’m still shaking from the shock of it hitting a wall I was leaning on, fully armored?
“Weighing the pros and cons of—what do some religious beliefs say—burning in the fiery depths of hell for murdering someone,” his lips twist into a sympathetic smile. “It is a conundrum, is it not?”
I focus all my concentration on holding the glowing dot steady between his eyebrows and click my fingers deep inside my gloves. “No, it isn’t at all, honestly.”
He wasn’t expecting me to say that; his eyebrows meet where the red circle gleams.
There’s a slight movement by my feet. Rune is waking, but I don’t dare take my attention away from the evil depths of Pious’s eyes.
“Then what is your hesitation, girl?”
The smile on my face slowly widens. “I’m savoring this moment.”
His nostrils flare.
Below us, Rune’s eyes open to narrow slits and look up at us. I just need a little more time. I just need Rune to shift out of the way.
“What moment is that, pray tell.”
“The moment you realize that females are not the inferior gender.”
“Is that what you believe I am thinking?”
Slowly, Rune leans up on his palms, his body limp and weak.
There’s a flash of thought in Pious’s eyes and my stomach drops. He’s about to do something. His body instantly lowers, hands punching out to grab Rune. My fingers move faster than my brain. There’s a fiery blast of wind that stings my cheeks and Pious drops to the floor, convulsing and shaking while electric-blue currents dance over him.
Rune slumps down next, his body writhing and thrashing from the same cobalt bolts that cover Pious. Sweat beading like thousands of pearls bursting through his skin. “Damn it!” I scream. My eyes dart around the room. I need something to cover him with. I need to stop the charge before it kills him, but I can see nothing but a thick haze of fumes. “Jex!” I yell out, praying he’s still alive to help me. My knees buckle, my legs giving way, and I crumple to the floor next to Rune.
My limbs are heavy, but I begin tearing off my armor, thrusting each piece onto Rune’s body. “Jex!” I cry out again. Please, this can’t end with me killing Rune by accident.
The isolation ward is thick with black smoke. I can’t tell if any of the others that came with me are okay. I can’t even see if they are still here. I cry out again for Jex, and it sounds no louder than a broken whimper.
Frantic, I put all my armor on Rune, covering him fully, but his body still shakes, tremoring uncontrollably under the metal. Tears fill my eyes and burn at the bridge of my nose. If he dies, it’ll be all my fault.
So intent on dressing Rune in my armor, I lose focus on Pious and where his body collapsed on the floor. I thought nothing about him until the stench and heat of his breath labored in my ear. “That wasn’t quite the escape you desired, was it? Nice try, though, female. Good effort.”
I swallow back a gasp as his hands grab my shoulders, and his body slithers up like a snake behind me. “Don’t try anything more foolish now,” he whispers, “or you’ll both be dead before you inhale your next breath.” The sharp edge of a blade slides across my throat; I can feel the gentle burn of it scraping over my skin.
My body stiffens, and it feels like the point of the knife nicks the corner of my chin. “Easy now, female. You wouldn’t want your throat slit, would you?”
“N-no,” I answer, low.
