Otherworld Year Nine: Chapter 3
"Whoa." Remie exclaimed with a grin, stopping to look up as an airship rumbled close by overhead, its engines throttling down in a whining roar as it banked in a turn toward the water-docks far below.
Auron continued forward, giving the low-flying machina a cursory glance as it swept over the roadway then disappeared, the fading grind of its turbines suddenly mixed with the sound of shoes scuffling in hurried movement against the pavement behind him, then Remie's voice as it uttered a strangled gasp.
Wheeling, Auron brought his sword from his shoulder and turned to the side in a crouch, his eye seeking a target... the muscle along his pectorals and biceps flexing in an extraordinary act of strength as he suspended the massive blade parallel to the ground, the hilt grasped in both hands.
Remie's eyes were wide in shock and fear, the man Auron recognized at once with one hand bending the boy's head back by the hair, the other pressing a blade-edge against Remie's neck.
"Drop the sword, freak, or I give the kid a smile from ear-to-ear." Borda rasped, a sickly-satisfied look on his face.
Weighing the alternatives, Auron concluded he had no choice and slowly lowered his blade to the ground, his deadly-still face never leaving Borda's, then straightened and raised his hands to his waist turning his palms up, indicating his intention to cooperate.
Two of the three men behind Borda cautiously shuffled forward to position themselves on either side of Auron, the man on his left pulling his shirt open to reveal the butt of a firearm holstered against his side, the third moving behind his back... Auron's eye continuing to bore into the man holding Remie, not acknowledging the figures surrounding him.
"You have me, release the boy." Auron said, his voice like iron.
"Shut yer mouth." The man behind Auron snarled, bringing his arm up to piston his fist into Auron's lower back, going for his kidneys.
Auron grunted in pain, the hardened lines of his abdomen and his jaw clenching against the need to react to the blow but remained unmoving... his eye coming ablaze for a moment, then reverting back to a lethal calm.
A low moan issued from Remie at the sight of the man's attack on Auron, as he felt Borda's hot breath blowing past his ear in a gleeful snort.
The men surrounding Auron exchanged a fearful glance at his lack of reaction, the man who had dealt the blow nervously addressing Borda... "Maybe this isn't such a good idea, Borda. If you want him dead, just let Jix shoot him. I don't think anything else will have much affect on this guy, look at him for crap sake... I'm not even sure a bullet will stop him."
Using these precious moments to calculate his next move, Auron already knew an overdrive was out of the question, as Remie was squarely in the kill-zone. This would require hand-to-hand. He could take the man behind him then drop for his blade, but the critical problem remained... he would never reach the bastard with his weapon at Remie's throat before he could kill the boy. Remie was going to have to help. If he could slow Borda down, even momentarily... they had a chance.
"Listen to him, Borda, for make no mistake, I intend to end your story... prepare to defend yourself." Auron said casually, his eye locking to Remie's face with his final words.
Remie's eyes grew wider for a moment, then he blinked once slowly as he silently told Auron he understood. He couldn't move, so he'd have to do this all inside his head. He didn't know if this would work and he was frightened. But Auron needed him, so he pushed his fear away. Closing his eyes, he shut everything out around him as he gathered his mind... power beginning to course through him in a righteous upswell. My life for his! Remie's mind and heart cried out, sending all he was into the thought.
"What are you, an idiot? I'm the one holding all the..." Borda began, then paused mid-sentence as he felt something coming off the boy's body and back toward him... the sensation in his limbs beginning as a tingle then growing to a sizzle along his nerve-endings, his body paralyzed where he stood. Then the boy pushed his arm forward and stepped away, turning on him, his eyes flaring... Borda's mouth drawing downward in astonishment as he watched the metal of his switchblade softening, its shape melting down the haft and over his hand in a molten glob of blue fire.
"Screw you." Remie quietly uttered, meeting Borda's unbelieving eyes as he suddenly brought his arms up and sent a blinding cobalt wave of energy directly at the man's chest... Borda not even managing a final thought as his withering body sailed out past the top of the guard-wall, dead long before he hit the water.
The sound of a gunshot sent Remie in a spin to look behind him as he witnessed Auron's deadly response, his eyes darting to the one remaining foe... the man behind Auron whipping his arm forward, a hidden spring-release shooting the handle of a blade from his sleeve and into his waiting hand.
"He has a knife!" Remie yelled at Auron as he lunged forward, extending an arm out in front him in a desperate gesture of warding.
************
Auron waited until he saw the glow beginning to emanate from Remie's form, then reached behind him over his shoulders and grasped the man's head between his hands as he twisted to one side, his arms shifting in a quick jerking motion... the sound of the man's neck snapping a muffled pop in his ears. Then dropping, he heard the deafening blast of a bullet fired over his head as he grasped the hilt of his sword and spun to his left, his eye finding its mark as he exhaled a hard sound, his blade swinging around his right side and upward in a searing arc of power... the force of his strike sending the man rocketing over the side of the roadway, rended in half at the waist.
Beginning to turn again to his left, Auron registered Remie's shout of warning a split-second before he felt the impact against his back, an explosion of pain ripping through him as the dagger sank into his flesh, burying itself to the hilt. Gasping in agony he staggered forward as he felt his sword slip from his hands, clattering to the pavement at his feet.
"You bastard!" Remie cried, his body still encased in a fading jewel-tone of color, its light pulsing in a final surge of will as he ran forward and grasped the man by the back of his shirt and pants, then lifted him over his head and launched him away... the man's strangled scream fading as he plummeted to the water far below.
Slumping in exhaustion as the light finally faded from around him, all his power spent, Remie turned to look at Auron... the boy's face twisting with the emotion of his actions and his growing realization of all that had just occurred.
Bending one arm up behind him, Auron attempted to pull the dagger from his back... but was unable to make his hand respond to the signals his brain was sending to it, his arm falling uselessly back to his side as he regarded Remie with a dazed expression...
"That's inconvenient." Auron said in an eerily calm tone, collapsing to his knees... a thick moan of pain escaping him as he collided with the ground.
Remie exhaled a strangled cry as he lurched forward and caught Auron by the shoulders, his eyes holding a pleading prayer as he searched Auron's agonized face.
Auron brought a tremulous hand toward Remie and opened his mouth to speak a second time but no words came, only a choking gasp as his head slumped forward and his body went limp... sending them both to the pavement, Auron's heavy torso pinning the boy to the ground. Then Remie watched in horror, as a glowing pyrefly rose from Auron's body and trailed away into the sky.
"Auron... oh no Auron... don't go, don't go." Remie sobbed, struggling to his knees... clutching Auron's head to his chest.
Crooking his elbows beneath Auron's arms, Remie gritted his teeth and pulled the unconscious man up to rest his chin on his shoulder, then reached down and grasped the hilt of the dagger protruding from Auron's back, grimacing as he pulled it out. A sound of pure despair burst from Remie's throat as he flung the dagger drenched in Auron's blood out and over the side of the roadway... the blade toppling end over end as it disappeared, swallowed by the waiting sea.
Groaning in exertion, his frame shaking as veins popped out in jagged lines along his neck, Remie tried to get to his feet with Auron's weight but fell back... his strength no match for the man's solid mass.
He had to get Auron home. He had to save him. He had to.
Remie threw his head back to the sky, as he wailed a command to the heavens... "Where all power is... come to me... COME TO ME NOW!"
"Whoa." Remie exclaimed with a grin, stopping to look up as an airship rumbled close by overhead, its engines throttling down in a whining roar as it banked in a turn toward the water-docks far below.
Auron continued forward, giving the low-flying machina a cursory glance as it swept over the roadway then disappeared, the fading grind of its turbines suddenly mixed with the sound of shoes scuffling in hurried movement against the pavement behind him, then Remie's voice as it uttered a strangled gasp.
Wheeling, Auron brought his sword from his shoulder and turned to the side in a crouch, his eye seeking a target... the muscle along his pectorals and biceps flexing in an extraordinary act of strength as he suspended the massive blade parallel to the ground, the hilt grasped in both hands.
Remie's eyes were wide in shock and fear, the man Auron recognized at once with one hand bending the boy's head back by the hair, the other pressing a blade-edge against Remie's neck.
"Drop the sword, freak, or I give the kid a smile from ear-to-ear." Borda rasped, a sickly-satisfied look on his face.
Weighing the alternatives, Auron concluded he had no choice and slowly lowered his blade to the ground, his deadly-still face never leaving Borda's, then straightened and raised his hands to his waist turning his palms up, indicating his intention to cooperate.
Two of the three men behind Borda cautiously shuffled forward to position themselves on either side of Auron, the man on his left pulling his shirt open to reveal the butt of a firearm holstered against his side, the third moving behind his back... Auron's eye continuing to bore into the man holding Remie, not acknowledging the figures surrounding him.
"You have me, release the boy." Auron said, his voice like iron.
"Shut yer mouth." The man behind Auron snarled, bringing his arm up to piston his fist into Auron's lower back, going for his kidneys.
Auron grunted in pain, the hardened lines of his abdomen and his jaw clenching against the need to react to the blow but remained unmoving... his eye coming ablaze for a moment, then reverting back to a lethal calm.
A low moan issued from Remie at the sight of the man's attack on Auron, as he felt Borda's hot breath blowing past his ear in a gleeful snort.
The men surrounding Auron exchanged a fearful glance at his lack of reaction, the man who had dealt the blow nervously addressing Borda... "Maybe this isn't such a good idea, Borda. If you want him dead, just let Jix shoot him. I don't think anything else will have much affect on this guy, look at him for crap sake... I'm not even sure a bullet will stop him."
Using these precious moments to calculate his next move, Auron already knew an overdrive was out of the question, as Remie was squarely in the kill-zone. This would require hand-to-hand. He could take the man behind him then drop for his blade, but the critical problem remained... he would never reach the bastard with his weapon at Remie's throat before he could kill the boy. Remie was going to have to help. If he could slow Borda down, even momentarily... they had a chance.
"Listen to him, Borda, for make no mistake, I intend to end your story... prepare to defend yourself." Auron said casually, his eye locking to Remie's face with his final words.
Remie's eyes grew wider for a moment, then he blinked once slowly as he silently told Auron he understood. He couldn't move, so he'd have to do this all inside his head. He didn't know if this would work and he was frightened. But Auron needed him, so he pushed his fear away. Closing his eyes, he shut everything out around him as he gathered his mind... power beginning to course through him in a righteous upswell. My life for his! Remie's mind and heart cried out, sending all he was into the thought.
"What are you, an idiot? I'm the one holding all the..." Borda began, then paused mid-sentence as he felt something coming off the boy's body and back toward him... the sensation in his limbs beginning as a tingle then growing to a sizzle along his nerve-endings, his body paralyzed where he stood. Then the boy pushed his arm forward and stepped away, turning on him, his eyes flaring... Borda's mouth drawing downward in astonishment as he watched the metal of his switchblade softening, its shape melting down the haft and over his hand in a molten glob of blue fire.
"Screw you." Remie quietly uttered, meeting Borda's unbelieving eyes as he suddenly brought his arms up and sent a blinding cobalt wave of energy directly at the man's chest... Borda not even managing a final thought as his withering body sailed out past the top of the guard-wall, dead long before he hit the water.
The sound of a gunshot sent Remie in a spin to look behind him as he witnessed Auron's deadly response, his eyes darting to the one remaining foe... the man behind Auron whipping his arm forward, a hidden spring-release shooting the handle of a blade from his sleeve and into his waiting hand.
"He has a knife!" Remie yelled at Auron as he lunged forward, extending an arm out in front him in a desperate gesture of warding.
************
Auron waited until he saw the glow beginning to emanate from Remie's form, then reached behind him over his shoulders and grasped the man's head between his hands as he twisted to one side, his arms shifting in a quick jerking motion... the sound of the man's neck snapping a muffled pop in his ears. Then dropping, he heard the deafening blast of a bullet fired over his head as he grasped the hilt of his sword and spun to his left, his eye finding its mark as he exhaled a hard sound, his blade swinging around his right side and upward in a searing arc of power... the force of his strike sending the man rocketing over the side of the roadway, rended in half at the waist.
Beginning to turn again to his left, Auron registered Remie's shout of warning a split-second before he felt the impact against his back, an explosion of pain ripping through him as the dagger sank into his flesh, burying itself to the hilt. Gasping in agony he staggered forward as he felt his sword slip from his hands, clattering to the pavement at his feet.
"You bastard!" Remie cried, his body still encased in a fading jewel-tone of color, its light pulsing in a final surge of will as he ran forward and grasped the man by the back of his shirt and pants, then lifted him over his head and launched him away... the man's strangled scream fading as he plummeted to the water far below.
Slumping in exhaustion as the light finally faded from around him, all his power spent, Remie turned to look at Auron... the boy's face twisting with the emotion of his actions and his growing realization of all that had just occurred.
Bending one arm up behind him, Auron attempted to pull the dagger from his back... but was unable to make his hand respond to the signals his brain was sending to it, his arm falling uselessly back to his side as he regarded Remie with a dazed expression...
"That's inconvenient." Auron said in an eerily calm tone, collapsing to his knees... a thick moan of pain escaping him as he collided with the ground.
Remie exhaled a strangled cry as he lurched forward and caught Auron by the shoulders, his eyes holding a pleading prayer as he searched Auron's agonized face.
Auron brought a tremulous hand toward Remie and opened his mouth to speak a second time but no words came, only a choking gasp as his head slumped forward and his body went limp... sending them both to the pavement, Auron's heavy torso pinning the boy to the ground. Then Remie watched in horror, as a glowing pyrefly rose from Auron's body and trailed away into the sky.
"Auron... oh no Auron... don't go, don't go." Remie sobbed, struggling to his knees... clutching Auron's head to his chest.
Crooking his elbows beneath Auron's arms, Remie gritted his teeth and pulled the unconscious man up to rest his chin on his shoulder, then reached down and grasped the hilt of the dagger protruding from Auron's back, grimacing as he pulled it out. A sound of pure despair burst from Remie's throat as he flung the dagger drenched in Auron's blood out and over the side of the roadway... the blade toppling end over end as it disappeared, swallowed by the waiting sea.
Groaning in exertion, his frame shaking as veins popped out in jagged lines along his neck, Remie tried to get to his feet with Auron's weight but fell back... his strength no match for the man's solid mass.
He had to get Auron home. He had to save him. He had to.
Remie threw his head back to the sky, as he wailed a command to the heavens... "Where all power is... come to me... COME TO ME NOW!"
