Kershala woke up the next morning alone in Kale's bed he could smell something cooking and hear sounds coming from the kitchen. He hoisted himself up on an arm and looked around the quiet room. It was mid-morning judging by the light from the windows and as he sat up he realized he was in full body armor except for his helmet. His implant was giving him strange readings from the suit that he didn't know how to interpret as he tried to signal it to retreat into it. He had never seen it completely fail and rebuild itself before. He stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, are you hungry?" asked Kale he stepped out of the room. Kale had a pan in his hand, Kershala could see that he had cooked eggs and bacon.

"Yes, thank you." Kale turned to face him and gave him a strange look at the sight of the suit.

"Everything okay?" he asked, concern straining his voice.

"I am not sure." Kershala touched his forefinger to his implant to see if he could clear up the readings before going to the work station to speak with the AI. "Why is the suit activated? What are these readings telling me?"

"I activated it once I could tell that Kale had woken up. The nanites need to be out to repair themselves and it is going well. This morning there was only enough to cover your chest which means they are self-replicating again." Kershala put his hand to his chest and then looked back to Anubis. "They're at forty percent of overall integrity."

"Why won't it respond to my signals?" he asked.

"I had temporarily blocked it to give it time to repair."

"Do not do that again, please," said Kershala plainly. He didn't like not being in control of himself and though he knew that the AI had control over several aspects of the suit he didn't realize it could block him out.

"I was merely…"

"I do not care, do not do it without my permission," said Kershala his irritation showing in his voice.

"As you wish." Kershala walked from the room and deactivated the suit. It was slower to retreat than normal and Kale looked at him as it crawled back up his body and disappeared, he was left in his shorts from the night before.

"Man, that is weird. Cool, but weird." Kale was plating their breakfast. "Foods good to go wanna eat on the balcony, it's pretty nice out." Kale put the pan in the sink and picked up the plates assuming the answer and walked out onto the balcony, the door was open. Kershala followed him out and they sat at a small table with chairs that Kershala hadn't noticed the night before. It was indeed a nice day, there was a patch of trees between them and the next building just enough to hear the light breeze in the leaves. The sun was warm on Kershala's face and chest as he sat across from Kale at the small table where Kale had placed his food. "Did you sleep okay?" Kale passed him a fork and pulled his own seat in closer to the table.

"Yes. The bed is much softer than the ones at your grandmothers." Kershala picked up the fork and took in some of the food, it was much more flavored than he expected. "This is different."

"Oh yeah, I've got a pretty good selection of spices here that I didn't have at my grandmothers. I like cooking breakfast, it's easy to make it different," Kale explained sitting his phone on the table and having a bite. The two of them sat in silence eating, Kale occasionally flipping through his phone, Kershala had a strange feeling come over him as his implant started reacting strangely. He dropped his fork and put his hand to his head swiftly. "Whoa you alright?" Kershala almost couldn't hear Kale speak his implant was buzzing with a strange interference.

"I do not know. My implant is…" Kershala tried to stand but fell to the ground. Kale rushed to his side.

"Anubis what's wrong with him?" he asked.

"I am receiving a strange signal from orbit. I believe we have been traced, they are trying to disrupt his implant to cause a reaction. I am attempting to block it." Kershala felt a strong fear come over him, he had never been attacked in this manor before but he had heard of certain Shiron hunters using certain psionic signals to disrupt Daoran implants. He could feel the AI working to shut them out, but it seemed as though it was taking forever. Kershala tried to signal his nanites to deploy but they wouldn't listen to him. This was the signals purpose he would be a much simpler target without his armor. There was suddenly the sound of a distant explosion and AI successfully blocked the signal. Kershala shook his head and as he stood his armor deployed.

"They have found us!" said Kershala.

"What the hell was that? Did they attack the city?" Kale stood up and looked in the direction of the sound. "That came from toward down town." Kale picked up his phone and a live news video started playing.

"Something just exploded at the citadel and no one seems to know what's going on, half of the citadel seems to have been destroyed! Are we under attack by terrorists?" said someone from Kale's phone. The video quickly cut off and another one started playing.

"Something big just fell from the sky and hit the citadel this is crazy, it looked like a missile. Are we under attack?!" said a different voice. A third video started playing.

"Something just blew up part of the citadel fell outta the sky from nowhere man, now some scary ass creature just stepped outta the smoke! Look at this crazy bastard!" Kershala jumped over to Kales side and watched the video, it was indeed a Shironian on the screen it's armor was different than Kershala had seen before. "The hell are you dude! You look like you're from space or something freaky looking mother fu…" The Shironian turned a weapon on the man taking the video and fired.

"Kershala humans don't know how to deal with them." Kale was still scrolling through his phone. "They're mobilizing the military right away. There's a base in Dartmouth but I don't know if they can…"

"Kershala, this Shironian," said Anubis, "it is alone. The markings on it's armor indicate that it's a member of the Shirona Arktora. They are elite hunter's often contracted by other sects of the Shiron to capture difficult prey. The rest of the empire may not have your location yet. It needs to be destroyed." A fear was beginning to overtake Kershala, he had heard stories of these hunters from his Patriarch. He could hear his words in his head ringing clearly. If you ever encounter a member of the Arktora, you must run, for they are ruthless fighters with only a single goal.

"If they have found me…" Kershala looked at Kale a deep dread pulsating through his chest and his helmet covered his face. "I am sorry Kale, but I cannot stay here with you." Kershala looked over the balcony and bounded over the edge.

"Kershala no!" He heard Kale call to him from behind as he hit the ground. He looked in the direction of the explosion using his implant he scanned for the Shironian energy sources detecting that there was one only eight kilometers from him. "Kershala what are you doing you have to hide!" Kale's call was desperate and hurting and Kershala hated to have to make the decision best to protect him from the Shiron. He knew full well that they would round up anyone who associated with him for questioning and eventual death. The AI would have to stay with him, but he knew that they wouldn't be looking for it as they were after him and it's energy signal would be too low to detect. He took to running as fast as he could and as he ran he passed through several neighborhoods, fields, and forested areas.

He could tell he was getting close when he came out to a large open field. The Arktora was where it had initially landed, there had already been a military response by the time he got there. There were several large vehicles there that he hadn't seen before during travelling that his implant told him were carrying heavily explosive ammunition and some that he could tell were local law enforcement. There were people everywhere both crowds of civilians and what he assumed were human military officers dressed in uniform cradling weapons in their arms. Kershala knew that no matter what happened here, there would be no way he could avoid casualties. The area that had been the focus of the explosion was some sort of old structure on a hill. As he approached he analyzed the field of battle, it was mostly open and there would be no real cover. He couldn't see any way of getting an advantage over his opponent. He was almost there, he began to slow his run only slightly once he saw the creature step to a visible point on the hillside.

"Stand down and you won't be harmed but if you force our hand we will open fire!" a voice echoed around him. "This has been an act of war that we will not stand for!" It said again. "This is your final warning put your hands on your head and stand down." Kershala could see the creature raise it's arm followed by one of the larger vehicles exploding. "Open fire!" Kershala could hear several weapons firing on the creature flashes of light leaving the muzzles of the weapons he could see in the direction of the Arktora. There were sparks flying from the Shironian's armor as the projectiles collided with it, not surprisingly it was unphased. Another vehicle explosion, this time Kershala could hear people screaming and the crowds had begun to disperse from the scene. Kershala hoped that they would be smart enough to run and not look back. With a final bound Kershala put himself between the humans and his adversary the gunfire suddenly stopped.

"Hold your fire!" Kershala heard from somewhere behind him.

"Stop this madness, I am the one you are after!" Kershala screamed as loud as he could. "Leave these people alone, they are not the ones you seek!" The creature stopped and looked at him. Kershala's implant was attempting to scan the creature but was getting no useful data. His read out was also telling him that his own armor had only gotten to forty-two percent integrity. He was silently hoping that his body was healed enough for him to be able to fight and that he would somehow win this.

"There you are little Daora," The Arktora spoke in the native Shironian language of Ekarvian, "I'm glad you decided to show yourself before I had to wipe out this worthless populace of apes." Kershala stood only about twenty feet from the creature as it spoke. He circled it careful not to get too close. "You know what comes next, but like all of your people, I'm sure you will not come quietly. So, I will have to put you down, like the rodentia you are." Kershala thought this would likely be his only chance to take the creature by surprise. His helmet retracted, and the creature took pause in his actions.

"If you leave these people alone, I will go with you," Kershala did his best to make a convincing performance. "I am tired of running from your masters, I do not wish to fight anymore." The creature looked down at its hand and a binding tool appeared, the kind that Kershala had seen his people hauled away in when he was a child. It began walking quickly toward him.

"You've made a good choice, I have never met a smart Daoran before," said the Arktora as it approached him. Kershala readied himself signaling the nanites to draw for an EM burst. He could tell it would take longer than he was used to, so he had to buy time. He took a hesitant step back and the Arktora became weary.

"What will you do with me once we leave this planet?" he asked.

"I think that remains pretty clear but if I need to tell you… I will be taking you back to Baraketh the Hunter. His ship awaits you in the system you fled from him last," it explained approaching him slower than before. "I believe you will be reunited with your family once there." Kershala felt his heart ache.

"My family! Baraketh killed my family."

"Yes, most of them but one…" The Arktora came within arms reach of Kershala and reached for him quickly, Kershala jumped back and could see that his attack was ready. He grabbed the Arktora by the arm with one hand and pulled it into his elbow as his helmet redeployed. He delivered a third attack to the abdomen and as it bent forward Kershala brought down his fist with all his might and the EM energy. His fist landed between his adversary's shoulders and the combined impact of Kershala's brute force and the EM burst sent it crashing to the ground face first so hard that it there was an indent around it's impact point. Kershala brought his foot down on it hard in a follow up attack all the while thinking the whole thing had been too easy. The body jolted as his foot hit.

"I was hoping you'd try something, it's never enjoyable when they go quietly." Kershala felt a hand around his ankle and in one swift movement the Arktora was standing and Kershala was hurdling toward the wall of a structure. Kershala positioned himself in such a way that he hit the wall on all fours and landed the fall easily. He cleared his mind and readied a combat stance lowering his stature, deciding that he would let his enemy come to him. The Arktora turned to face him, Kershala's implant detected an energy build up in its right arm before it quickly raised it and opened fire on Kershala. It was unexpected but Kershala managed to dodge the volley, then the second and the third came just as quick. He was starting to see that range was a bad idea and he took to running at his enemy. The Arktora fired quicker and quicker as he got closer and closer the energy bolts hitting the ground beside him causing dirt to fly as Kershala used several acrobatic maneuvers to avoid being hit.

When he was in range he swung high for it's head but was met with a block, he swiftly threw another attack this time lower and landing the hit on its side. The Arktora was not phased by the attack and Kershala could feel the density of it's armor, it was stronger than most Shiron he had fought before. The Arktora's weapon vanished into it's arm as it crashed against his face so hard that Kershala could feel the nanites stiffen against his skin to keep his neck from snapping. Another attack followed, Kershala managed to stop it with his forearms but he could feel the pressure against his skin. The Arktora was incredibly strong, Kershala would likely have to outthink him as there would be no way for him to overpower it. Kershala dodged another swing at his head before launching a combo of attacks focusing on it's chest. His plan was to weaken its protection, the Shiron armor wasn't as advanced as what he had, and he knew that it would eventually break with enough punishment. Kershala landed one more hit before the Arktora swung back again missing with it's arm but then it kicked him in the chest. The impact was harsh the raw strength sending Kershala rolling backwards several feet. He grabbed at the ground and stopped himself quickly getting to his feet, he barely had enough time to move from the next attack. As the creature struck at him, Kershala dodged to the left and as quickly as he could grabbed the creature by the forearm with one hand he felt a jolt as it stopped mid dash. He quickly drew back his other arm and using all the force he could muster, he thrust it forward into the joint of the Arktora's arm. As it connected he could feel it's joint fracture under the force he had given it. This clearly took it by surprise as it retreated from him landing at least ten feet away.

"If this is the best you have then I fail to see why Baraketh needed me to retrieve you at all," it taunted him. Kershala watched as it took its dangling arm in hand and readjusted it, seemingly repairing the damage. "Now why don't you show me what you can really do?" Kershala extended his hands to his sides open palmed. The nanites began to stir and a blade formed in each hand from them. Kershala was naturally gifted in blade dancing but it was something that he often didn't resort to unless necessary. Kershala got a running start and jumped into the air, he knew the attack was predictable, he could see the Arktora readied its own attack. As he got within striking range Kershala drew back for his attack but activated the suits gravity alteration system and vaulted over the Arktora as it swung up at him. As he landed he brought the blades down into the creatures back on either side and dragged them through its armor several inches before quickly withdrawing. There didn't appear to be any blood on the weapons. The Arktora seemed unphased, Kershala's Patriarch had once told them that they were thought to be immune to most pain. It showed this as it swung around and landed a crushing blow to Kershala's chest once more. The pain coursed through him even though his armor was still intact. His implant told him the nanites in his armor had weakened, mentally he told them to act separately. This would cause the nanites to operate independently extending their ability to protect but they would be at risk of failing individually. This could leave him more vulnerable in the long run, but he needed to win. Kershala recovered from the blow just in time to protect himself from the next onslaught of attacks. He decided to play defensively, the Arktora threw several attacks at him, Kershala dodged taking the openings as they presented themselves to him. Forcing a blade into its leg and then the other into it's under arm. Kershala couldn't understand how it wasn't slowing down he had never fought an enemy like this before. "You're getting better, but I don't think you really understand there is no other way that this ends. You are coming with me. Dead or alive." A weapon appeared from the Arktora's shoulder, strange red energy began arcing from it and quickly began firing in all directions. One of the beams hit their mark and Kershala braced himself expecting pain there was none but Kershala looked down to see the nanites fall from his body leaving a hole in his armor on his left shoulder. He had heard that the Shiron were developing weapons to counter the nanite armor but there was no data on them being in active use yet. He looked up from his wound and the Arktora was on him in an instant, it had a new target to aim for and it seemed to be attacking with renewed vigor. It slammed its fist into the exposed area and without the nanite protection the pain was excruciating. As it landed the blow the weapon in it's back fired again releasing arcs of the red energy in seemingly every direction. He did his best to evade the energy, but it crashed against his suit in several places. He bounded once again out of physical range of his enemy favoring his arm. He threw his daggers both one after another at the Arktora, it swiftly dodged, but Kershala recalled the daggers one catching the side of it's neck, the other landing it's mark on the weapon knocking it from the armor. Kershala quickly assessed his own condition, his armor had new weak points in both his leg and abdomen. He knew he took another hit like he had to his arm in either of the two spots he would likely be done.

Kale had just managed to get to the downtown area. Traffic was bad on the highways with people both coming and going but there had been an evacuation order for the downtown area. Luckily they hadn't set up any blockades yet as most of the military and police presence were occupied with Citadel Hill. He had brought the AI with him and as he got out of the car to run up the hill with it in his hand he could feel the sinking feeling in his chest getting stronger. The AI had been telling him what Kershala was facing and it wasn't looking good. The streets were crowded with people and vehicles seemingly fleeing, Kale could hear people panicking some on the phone talking about an alien attack. On the way here, Kale had been listening to the local news station, that talked about a mysterious armored being effortlessly destroying several armored vehicles. They also discussed the stranger that showed up to defend them and the fight that ensued. They discussed the language they spoke in not being of earth and how no one knew what was truly happening. Kale knew, he knew that Kershala was fighting for his life and he didn't know what he could do to help him. He knew that he had taken several hits that were harder than he expected, and the AI had described this Arktora as a nightmare that Kershala would likely not be able to stop. Kale ran as hard as he could to get up the hill, the AI was in his hand as he ran, he had hoped that by bringing it with him it could help Kershala somehow.

"How's he doing?" asked Kale breathing heavily as he ran.

"He is alive, he has sustained heavy injury to his shoulder and his armor has been severely compromised," responded the AI.

"I hope there is something we can do…" Kale continued to run, he could see the military and police presence a couple of streets up from where he was. "I hope he can beat this thing." It wasn't long before Kale reached the police line that had been set up he caught his breath as he approached one of the officers.

"Sir you can't be here, this is extremely dangerous. We are evacuating the area!" the officer spoke loudly.

"I need to get up there, that's my friend fighting that thing," said Kale.

"I'm sorry but there's no way I can let you get up there."

"And I'm sorry but there's no way I'm not. That thing up there that person is fighting is going to kill everyone if Kershala doesn't win." Kale attempted to push passed the officer to no avail. The AI core lifted from Kale's hand and emitted a bright light directed at the officer, who fell to the ground with a blank expression on his face. "What did you do to him?"

"I have only stunned him, he will recover." The AI core stayed in the air. Kale looked at the officer for a second and bent over the body. He took the officers side arm and put it in his pants. "We must go." Kale took to running again this time they headed up over the grassy field to where the ground started to level out. There were military personnel all over, but they seemed to be ignoring him. "They're communications equipment suggests that they are trying to figure out who is friend or foe. Come with me I have traced the commanding officer." Anubis began to fly in a direction that seemed to circle the battlefield. Kale couldn't see Kershala, but he could hear several strange noises echoing everywhere around him. A variety of light explosions, grunting, metal on metal, and something that sounded very similar to the Shiron energy weapons from the explosion he had heard. They came up on an armored vehicle that was set up with operations equipment behind it. "The General's name is Johnson."

"General Johnson!" Kale called on approach, he slowed to a walk as a couple of soldiers greeted him less than friendly with assault rifles in hand. Kale put his hands up, so they could see he was friendly. "I'm armed but I'm here to help."

"Son we don't have any time for this, we have a potential national emergency on hand here."

"More than you know, that thing is a hostile species of alien here to hunt the alien that's fighting it." The general stopped what he was doing and turned to face him.

"Are you telling me you know something about this?" he asked.

"Yes. That man that's fighting it, his name is Kershala and he's not human. But he doesn't mean us any harm!"

"Why should we believe you? Aliens!" the general scoffed. "In all my thirty years, I've never heard something so ridiculous."

"That thing just blew up part of the Citadel, and several of your tanks with basically the wave of a hand. What the hell else could it be? North Korea? There's nothing on earth that could cause that kind of destruction? And look at the damn thing, you ever see a human move like that?" Kale was getting frustrated. "Anubis?" Anubis appeared in sight again after seemingly examining the equipment they were using.

"According to your equipment you plan on utilizing minor missile strike on the area to destroy the Arktora," the general and his men were taken aback at the hovering AI that spoke to them, "You will be unsuccessful and the damage you cause could be irreversible. I suggest you opt for something a little more precise. But it will require Kershala's cooperation." The general seemed to think for a moment as he looked back and forth between Kale and Anubis, Kale could tell for the most part he believed what he was seeing.

"I know, it's hard to believe right? I thought the same thing when I saw it, but we don't have the time to convince you. Just please trust us."

"Son, at this point I'm willing to try anything once, there are too many civilians at risk here," the general finally said after a short pause. "What do you propose we do?"

"Underneath there armor the Shiron are not so imposing, there flesh is not unlike that of Daora or humans. I believe that Kershala would be able to get the Arktora's helmet removed with great risk to himself using the nanites," explained Anubis.

"How do we let Kershala know that?"

"You simply have to tell him. The advantage is that the Arktora does not know your language."

"Then let's tell him." The general grabbed a nearby megaphone from the equipment. The general flipped a switch on the side of the megaphone and there was a loud noise. Kale wanted so bad to grab it from him and tell Kershala that he was there, that he wasn't in it alone. But he thought that hearing his voice may distract him and cause him to lose the fight. The general raised the megaphone to his mouth as they stepped in sight of the battlefield. Kale could see Kershala now, he was sparring with the creature and for the most part he seemed to be holding his own but the few hits that the Arktora landed were devastating. "Kershala," said the General once the fight broke for a second, "You need to get it's armor off somehow, then leave the rest to us!" Kale could see Kershala nod at them in acknowledgement, they made eye contact briefly and it was unfortunately was enough of a distraction for the creature to land a blow across Kershala's face.

"Jesus is he okay?" Kershala didn't fall but he staggered. Kale resisted every emotion in him that told him to run to him, but he knew he would just be in the way.

"He is damaged but not severely," said Anubis. "The helmet has protected him." Kale watched as Kershala rolled to one side avoiding another onslaught from the Arktora. "Kale remove yourself from sight you are a distraction to him." Kale ducked back behind the truck he felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he brushed them away, now was not the time.

"Can you show me what's going on, Anubis?" he asked. The AI core hovered back over to them and one of the lenses projected an overhead view of the battlefield. Kale could see the whole thing in front of him.

"That's a hell of a piece of equipment, you got there," said Johnson examining the AI core and the projection.

"If you only knew."

Kershala knew what he had to do, he just wasn't sure how he was going to do it before the Arktora managed to wear him down. He had managed to damage its armor with his blades but not enough to be significant. He couldn't believe that Kale was there if he lost there would be no way for him to get away from the blood bath that would likely ensue. Kershala dashed at the Arktora and dodged an oncoming attack before plunging one of his blades into the creature's abdomen. He thought for sure this would slow it down but once again he was wrong, and the creature brought an arm down on him. Kershala countered by jamming his other blade into the joint of it's arm. Letting go of the blades he jumped backwards dodging another attack he landed on his feet. His implant scanned the creature again searching for structural weaknesses in the armor, with the AI close by it would be more useful. Other than the couple of holes he had caused himself there was still nothing. He attempted to recall the blades, but they couldn't dislodge from the Arktora's body.

"Oh, you want these?" The Arktora must have felt them pulling at him as he ripped them both out himself. In one quick motion it hurled both blades toward him. Quick thinking on his part made one of them shatter into nanites and rejoin his suit, he wasn't so lucky with the other one. Kershala cried out in pain as the other blade landed in his leg where the beam weapon had exposed his skin. He looked down commanded the nanites to partially dissolve into his suit but he knew otherwise if he dislodged the blade it would likely bleed quite heavily. He could feel it lodged deep in the muscle tissue, it was painful to stand so he fell to one knee. He could hear the Arktora stomping heavily toward him, it wasn't long before he felt a large hand around his neck and he was being lifted into the air. The creature now held him in the air. Kershala was determined not to give up as he grabbed at it's hand with the arm that wasn't damaged yet wrapped his legs around its head. Kershala was no longer strong enough to break its arm, he felt pain course through him as he desperately tried to break it at the joint again. His broken body wouldn't listen to him. The Arktora laughed at his struggle then slammed him against the ground several times until his grip went weak. Kershala now dangled in the air, the only thing keeping the Arktora from crushing his neck was the nanites that were clustering around him his helmet had retracted to his implant to regulate its functions and to numb the pain. The pressure was causing his implant to ache. "I told you, there was no point. That one way or another you were coming with me." Kershala could barely hear the creature speak as he struggled to hang on to consciousness. There was the sound of weapons fire and sparks flew from the Arktora's helmet. Kershala looked over to see Kale walking toward them with a weapon pointed he could see his mouth moving but could not make out what he was saying over the sound of the weapon.

"No… don't…" Kershala could only think of one more thing he could do. The nanites began to buzz on his skin as they travelled from all over his body and down his arms. Kershala struggled against the creature's grip, he could taste his blood and could also feel it running down his leg and dripping to the ground from his toes. He put both of his hands to the creatures trying desperately to keep it from crushing his neck as the nanites crawled from his body to the Arktora.

"Foolish Daora, your people are vermin, your technology has made you weak. I am enjoying this, I have killed many of your kind. But never have I squeezed the life from a prince before."

"You are … about to … die," Kershala struggled to say as the last of the nanites made there way to his enemy's body.

"You're nanites cannot penetrate this armor. Your people have tried that before. We developed a defense against that as well," laughed the Arktora. Kershala held on as much as he could as he ordered the nanites to self-destruct. This caused them to become active and begin to buzz with activity. Normally the nanites wouldn't be able to eat through the Shironian's armor. But their energy output would become significantly higher as this function was very similar to the self-destruct their ships used.

Kale had fired the weapon landing his target and the creature didn't even flinch or acknowledge him. He could see that Kershala wasn't going to last much longer and he couldn't stand by and just watch him die. He now watched as the nanites of Kershala's suit swarmed over the Arktora's body, the sound he heard next was familiar to him from that night on the Daoran pod vessel. The nanites were self-destructing. Kale watched as they worked over the creature's body. Once it realized what was going on it dropped Kershala to the ground, Kale wondered if he was even still alive.

"Open fire!" Kale heard the generals' voice echo behind him from the megaphone and dove to the ground covering his head. There was gunfire seemingly coming from all around him. He struggled to look at Kershala, whom had managed to look directly at him. Kale felt overcome with joy as they made eye contact, he was alive. He now laid there in nothing, but the boxers Kale had given him, body battered and bruised almost worse than when they had first met that night. His eyes bloodshot with violet blood and blood running from his mouth. The gunfire continued, and Kale's eyes didn't leave Kershala's gaze to look at the creature that had let out a guttural howl before falling to the ground. "Hold fire!" Kale shot to his feet as quick as he could and ran to Kershala's side falling beside him.

"Say something, where's it hurt," Kale fought back tears as he took his shirt off and wrapped the wound on Kershala's leg. There was extensive bruising around Kershala's neck where the creature had held him.

"It hurts everywhere," Kershala spoke in a broken whisper from the damage caused, "But I am alive." Kershala smiled at him and Kale suddenly couldn't control himself once the wound was wrapped he knelt over Kershala's face to look him in the eye.

"Don't do that to me again, I don't ever wanna see you put through that kind of punishment okay," Kale touched his forehead to Kershala's, his skin clammy and cold from the sweat he had broken, Kale didn't care. As the tears started to fall, Kershala brought his hand up to the back of Kale's head.

"I didn't want anything to happen to you," Kershala whispered again. Kale let his body take over and kissed Kershala closing his eyes, his lips were soft and full, Kale could taste what he was sure was his blood, but he didn't care. He had to let Kershala know what he was feeling even if he didn't feel the same way. Kale opened his eyes and pulled back from the kiss. Kershala's eyes were full of emotion and surprise but Kale saw what he wanted to, there waiting for him as Kershala pulled him into his bare chest. Kale didn't care that there had to be thousands of people watching them between the military and police presence and the news stations he was sure were covering the story.