One hundred guardsmen circled her, inching closer after their attempt to charge her failed, the men stopping in their tracks the second her attention landed on them.
Rey turned to each one, gauging who would attack first.
Behind her, she heard boots shuffling as one of them ran to her, a spear in his hands, raised above his head. Instead of watching him, she eyed his weapon the moment she turned, quickly taking a step back as he swung towards her, missing.
With her attention elsewhere, another guardsmen with a large axe stepped forward.
Hands still cuffed at her front, Rey took another step back, missing the swing from the axe just barely. She watched as both guardsmen pulled their weapons free from the ground, leaving large gashes in the floor as they marched to her again, everyone else simply watching. The rest of the guards moved aside, eager for the outcome.
The one with the spear moved to stab her, his whole body stepping into the push just as Rey grabbed the neck of the spear, yanking him towards her as she extended her foot outwards, tripping the man and causing him to turn his back to her, which Rey then grasped the opportunity and hugged his back, turning them both so that the guard took the full force of the axe when the other guard swung again.
Rey huffed as the impact shook the breath out of her, shoving the now dead guard away from her and grasping the spear he left behind.
From the platform, she heard the young man next to Kylo chuckle.
Her eyes on the other guard, they circled one another, anticipating the others first move.
Just then, another guard had snuck up behind her, trapping her back to his chest and making her lose the grip she had on the spear, hearing it fall to the ground. In her front, the other guard raised his axe, and making sure to time it right, Rey jutted her right hip back, her leg extending behind them both, and tossed the man to her front, taking the full blow of the axe as his last breath gave out.
Turning, she eyed each guard again, this time every single one felt a surge of doubt run through them, she forced that emotion through every nerve they had. Having to regrip each of their weapons, they shuffled around.
When Rey moved towards them, they took a step back.
From the platform, Vicar shot up from his throne. "She is cuffed! Kill her! NOW!" he yelled, his voice bouncing from every wall.
The guardsmen looked up to their master, each giving a simple nod of compliance, just as they were trained.
Moving their attention back to Rey, several of them charged again.
Rey waited, and just before the closest got to her, she channeled the force and call the spear to her hand, flipping it and moved it out just in time for the guard to run straight into the point, killing him.
Behind her, another moved upon her just as one was running up to her front. Quickly, Rey shot her elbow out behind her, knocking the man to the ground and shifted to her side, dodging the blade of a guardsmen in front of her.
Rey stepped out behind him and swiftly placed her back to his own, shooting her cuffed arms above her and over his head, grunting as she used all her power to squeeze the life out of him using the chains from her cuffs. She felt him struggle against her back, and abruptly stop as his body went limp.
Shrugging him away, Rey stepped aside, dodging another attack.
It felt like days passed as she fought like this, her energy depleting with every hit and attack she delivered, and then her energy coming right back as she successfully killed another guard. In the back of her mind, she found it almost thrilling, this tug and pull that she felt coursing inside of her.
It reminded her of the training Luke gave her, and the training she gave to Kai and Flora. Everything was raw, only this time, she was able to go full force, not holding back in any punch or kick, any stab or shot.
By now, still cuffed, she had gotten rid of half the men that belonged to Vicar.
Through the atmosphere that surrounded her, she could feel the disdain and embarrassment rolling off of Vicar, and his eagerness for her own death almost satisfied her.
Aside from him, she could feel Ben's pride.
That shocked her so much that she was nearly impaled by one of the guards' spear, this spear however, was longer on this one, and though she side stepped the full impact, it did cut her across the same scar Sano gave her from the blaster months before.
Rey screamed in pain, stumbling as her cuffed hands went to try to stop the bleeding.
Oddly, the room seemed to freeze, even the guards as they watched damage finally be inflicted on their enemy.
Deeply inhaling, Rey tried to push the pain aside, regaining her composure. The group of guards regripped their weapons, and moved towards her again.
Rey quickly turned her back to them, running at full speed to the side of the platform and letting the guards chase her as she jumped high, extending her arms above her to catch onto the pipe railing that outlined the platform.
Swinging her legs up, she used the momentum to turn midair, catching herself on the railing again, this time facing the guards as they stumbled into one another at an abrupt stop. Rey's legs kicked the first guard on the side of the cheek, knocking him back so hard that he impaled himself on the spear behind him.
With another swing forward, she hooked her legs around another guard's neck, giving a quick yank, his neck broke, his body falling to the floor.
Rey let herself fall to her feet, eyeing the next guard that came to her.
Another axe.
Frustrated with her hands still cuffed, she watched as the guard swung and swung, backing up more and more as she gauged the timing once more.
He swung his axe up...
The blade gleamed...
Rey prepared herself...
Just as Kai and Flora taught her...
Time seemed to slow for her, as if the force's energy granted her a wish this time, it all fell together perfectly.
Rey bent backwards, falling back onto her hands as she did a backflip, her arms extended out just the right amount of space for the blade to miss her face as she landed on her feet, however the blade scraped against her wrist.
She winced, but looked down, and back to the guard.
For a moment, they both stilled.
Her cuffs were broken, her hands free.
Standing, Rey extended her arm, her palm facing out as she called the force to her side, becoming one with it as she felt an easy wave of balance rest upon her shoulders. Pushing out, the built-up energy she expelled ricocheted off of the group of guards, at least twenty of them flew back against the walls, knocking them out instantly.
Her breathing heavy, Rey let her chest rise and fall as she regained her focus.
It was so much easier now that she was uncuffed. Her movement freed her, and she didn't have to worry about using the force and blocking another attack. It was all so frustrating and exhausting.
However, now...
Now, the remaining men seemed to be largest of the group.
They all gathered together, and seemingly, behind the biggest one.
Rey eyed him, and he smirked at her.
The guard pulled a weapon from his back, a long, heavy chain with a bladed sphere at the end.
Adjusting her jaw, Rey glared at him, ready.
The guard scoffed, distracting Rey as he swung the chain to her, the sphere whipping from the side and wrapping and locking around Rey's neck.
Rey moved with the ball, curling towards the guard instead of away from him, and to everyone's amazement, she successfully unrolled from the chain, her hand gripping the end as she pulled the slack of the chain, and whipped the ball to him, the blade burying deep into his temple.
Rey looked away from the ugly site, and spotted a staff.
Using the force, she called it to her grasp, looking down at it in awe.
For a second, it felt like home to her.
Out of breath, she felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth before she set her black gaze onto the men in front of her.
Again, they charged. All of them trying to attack her at the same time, all from different angels, some high and some low. She blocked and moved, dodging whatever they threw at her. Her aching body refused to give out, though the deep cut that lay at her scar was still bleeding heavily.
She didn't let it stop her.
At the last two men, she broke the staff on her knee, splitting the weapon into two before she charged at them this time.
The site of this was the last thing they saw.
( X )
She did it.
It was painful and shocking to watch...
But, she did it.
Kylo slowly sat back against his chair, his eyes never leaving Rey, even though her back was turned to them. Whatever happened prior to the fight, he knew it made her stronger.
She was breathless, covered in sweat and drenched in blood, her costume in pieces on her body, though never revealing too much.
Kylo couldn't help but marvel at the site of her like this.
A warrior.
Beside him, Vicar was seething as he glared down at the girl. The bumps, cuts, and bruises were the absolute last thing he wanted to inflict on her. He wanted her dead, limbs shredded, absolute destruction... he wanted her to beg for her life, and here she was, in the middle of his own throne room, surrounded by one hundred dead guards, Vicar cursed at her.
"... Vile scum!" he continued.
Rey slowly turned, and Kylo tried to enter her mind to try to see what she was feeling, what she was thinking.
Not surprisingly, her thoughts were still blocked off.
Yet, he felt how exhausted and beaten she felt. He could sense how she was trying to push off her wounds, to try to ignore her pain as if it was nothing at all.
His eyes drifted down her body towards the cut, seeing that her dark blood was still spilling out.
Kylo gulped.
Rey's eyes met Vicar's, eyebrows raised.
The pain that soared through Rey's small body, was quickly turning into anger, a mix Kylo himself knew all too well.
"You..." she struggled to catch her breath. "You call that begging?" Rey tempted.
Vicar's glare turned ice cold, his face stone like as he turned to Sano, who stood still in the corner of the platform.
"Bring the Giant Three."
Sano nodded and ran to do as he was told, Rey's eyes following him.
Weak, Rey called out through the force to try and find Kai, though she wasn't answering. Rey's anxiety worsened, her anger boiling already.
'Flora, where are you...?'
Nothing.
'Flora!'
Again, nothing.
Rey's eyes flickered over to Kylo, meeting his gaze. For a moment, she wondered if he would be able to hear her, and she considered letting him in, even just for a second.
He gave a single, soft nod, so light that no one but Rey would be able to catch it.
Timidly, she opened her min-
'REY, RUN!'
Flora's voice filled her mind, and Rey whipped around to the direction of Flora's energy, and just as fast, her energy was gone. Rey's eyes widened at the shockingly scared tone that Flora had, and tried to reach out to her again.
'Flora? Flora! What's happened? FLORA!'
Nothing.
Silence.
The next sound that filled Rey's ears were the loud stomps that were approaching the main entrance, the walls shaking with every step.
Turning, Rey's widened as she watched three giants bend and shift their way inside Vicar's throne room, Sano nowhere to be seen.
( X )
Author's notes:
Thank you all so much for the reviews! I seriously love them so much, I read them several times over and over. It motivates me to no end 3
The next chapter will be a big one. Keep on holdin' on! :D