Chapter Three: Desperate Decisions

Vanille's POV

Well there I was, having a brilliant night and morning that followed with my one and only crush, and now I was fighting a mechanical monster? Why does life twist things like this?

Rock after rock I threw did separate damage. They were like seeking missiles, locating the weaker points for me and therefore directing the next, but none seemed to be doing that much damage. My bow pressed heavily to my back as though forcing to remember it existed, but after Treyvell had succeeded so well in distracting me the previous night, I had forgotten to repack my arrows. I had three left clattering around beside the bow and I wanted to save them for the finishing shots. First, I had to plan where they would land to kill this monstrosity.

Treyvell seemed confused in the corner of my eye. He had the boy supported so he could walk at least a little, but now Treyvell did not know what to do. He was waiting for me, I knew that, but he had to flee. I knew that I would be the one holding this thing back, so I threw my arm wildly to Treyvell, begging him to run.

"I won't go without you, Vanille!" he yelled back with a clear tremble in his voice.

I was getting frustrated and turned all of my attention to him. "Treyvell, I'll be fine, just-"

He had done it again. He had distracted me again so I could not avoid the giant hand that threw me across the ground. It felt like a wall of bricks exploding against my side and I was flying through the air in a complete daze for what seemed like an entire minute.

When I landed, dirt and rock showered over me, and I could feel the vibrations as the machine neared. I tried to get up, but my body would not move. I could hear Treyvell crying out my name, then a clash of metal against metal.

"You and your boyfriend had better get moving," I heard someone say. The voice was female, but unfamiliar, and then I remembered seeing another there. A woman, lying on the ground when we ran in.

I followed her advice and tried to stand again, but my legs were shaking too badly from fear and shock. Treyvell was running towards me with the boy some metres behind him.

"Are you really that useless?" A hand, strong and harsh, pulled me up roughly by the shoulder. A flash of pink hair and a scowl, and the woman pushed me roughly to the side whilst shooting a grasping hand away. Sparks flew and she twisted her weapon in the air. There was a click and it was a sword in an instant, cutting away at the thick mechanical plates.

Never had I seen such a strange weapon, nor such a ferocious fighter. She seemed to be having little trouble with the machine now, hacking away and ducking beneath its clawing fingers and stamping feet. She was fluent and graceful in her movements and slipped around like a shadow, appearing so suddenly she gave even me a fright, but even though her skills were clearly amazingly well trained, she was not perfect. One attack was too slow and she was left with a fisted hand sweeping her clean from the ground.

Now those deep lifeless eyes high above turned to me, and I ran like I had never before. Treyvell was naturally the first in my sight, so I threw myself into his waiting arms and let him take over. He half carried me, half dragged me across the dirt, the boy panting at my side with staring eyes, but I felt a sudden pang of guilt. The woman who had saved my like was still back there, and I had left her to die.

"Wait!" I cried out in a strangled voice. "The woman…"

Treyvell turned and paled. "Vanille, that machine is about to crush her. I'm sorry, but it's too la-"

I did not want to hear it. I loved him, that I knew, but I needed to take a chance and attack sudden death before it took my own strange saviour. As I passed the worried boy his hand shot out and grasped mine, but I stopped his pleas with a quick but strong kiss. His hand lowered, and I was free to go.

The machine seemed relentless, lacking the usual human downfalls of exhaustion, hunger, and pain. Despite the missing chunk of its body, it used what it could to try and kill the woman who had regained consciousness and was now throwing herself around like a rag doll to avoid the pounding hands and feet. She was not immune to being slowed down, I could see that clearly, so I used what knowledge of combat skills I had that did not include a bow and arrow, and leapt as high as I could at the machine.

My jump had been well timed, for as the enemy bent down to scoop up a now completely defeated fighter, my arms wrapped around its neck. It gave a sudden surprised jerk and started reaching for me like I was an annoying bug. I clung on for dear life, tyring to think of what to do next, but it had me in its cold hard graps before I could even begin. Below I could see two blue eyes gazing up at me with a look of disappointment and slight amusement. The woman had recovered again, and seemed to think mmy performance rather useless by the looks of things.

I had to admit, I could not blame her.

"Vanille!" Treyvell could not stand to see me hanging from the clutched of the machine. It held me close to its eyes as though examining me and as I stared back I could see nothing but an empty void, one cracked and broken from my earlier assault.

I glanced down at the dear boy who screamed out my name again and again. He had left the youngster back near the tree line and instead ran to my rescue. My kiss had only left him dazed for a short while and now he was back to his normal self… Putting himself in danger for me.

I yelled at him to get back, but he ran at the mechanical beast with rage in his eyes. Both hands began pummelling at the shining metal feet, the clanging the only giveaway for what was happening for the machine. It turned its head somewhat lazily and glanced down at Treyvell.

I could see him clearly now. His eyes were teary, his face pale, but he was staring at me and only me. He was not afraid for himself, but the girl he wished for day and night.

If only we had longer.

In a flash of red the hand that held nothing soared through the air and connected with Treyvell. The sound was sickening, for the force was unbelievable. I closed my eyes, screaming, as the bloodied form of Treyvell was launched metres from where he had been standing and crumpled to the ground.

Everything stopped and I was alone. Those empty eyes still stared at me, no longer caring for the boy it had just killed, and below I felt the woman's presence trying to get away as fast as she could. I did not care for her selfishness or the piercing gaze from my soon to be killer. All I cared about was him, and he had been taken.

Death did not scare me any longer, and I spat into the face of the mechanical monstrosity, screaming for it to kill me and end it all. For a moment it seemed to grin in understanding, then as I felt myself lifted higher, a flash of sparks exploded in front of me and I was released.

Everything passed in a blur and the wind seemed to try and drag me back up towards the sky. It was all so slow, and I began to fear as I got closer towards the shattering ground. This was it. I was about to die.

I hit the dirt, but I was still being carried through the air. My breath had become caught In my throat so for a moment I could not breathe, then I heard a voice that was already becoming familiar.

"Gotcha."

The woman had turned back after all and as I stared past her at the machine behind it was still standing with a bullet hole the size of my entire person gaping in its head.

The woman smirked. "Isn't it lucky I always pack a spare rocket in my gun?"

Was she joking? I could not tell. Already the pain of loosing Treyvell was beginning to numb and I felt guilty for it. Too see the effect it would have on me and perhaps make me feel how I should, I Glanced over at his body.

An explosion of blood covered his front and soaked into the earth as I stared. Much of his skin had been split from the force and I could see his eyes wide and staring, but never blinking. They never would again.

It stung terribly, but still I did not cry or collapse. Instead I looked away, back to the woman who had saved me again.

She, however, seemed to be intrigued with the trees that stretched out ahead of us, and before I could ask what was going on, a number of men burst forth.

I recognised all of them. Terthel, Skalti, Jeske, Davris, and many others that were fighters in out village. Sworn to protect, sworn to lay down their lives, yet all they could do was study the scene with white faces and back away slowly.

Only one of the strongest, Jak, stood tall before the others and faced the woman who still held me from the catch. Immediately, as though she had realised through my mind, she shoved me away to the side and stepped up close to Jak.

He growled into her face. "What have you brought here?"

She jabbed a finger back at the machine. "I did not bring this. You think I would have control over something so vile?"

He did not believe her. "You lie, outsider!"

She shrugged simply and turned her back. "Believe what you want."

Jak screamed out in rage. "One of our villagers is dead because of you, and all you do is walk away!?"

Still Lightning did not turn. She was walking away on a limping leg, yet she was strong enough to keep her head forward and her eyes focused. She would not waste her time with us.

I did not care for anything at that moment. Everything was different, it was quiet, and I experienced it all alone. I could feel that feeling now and pictured myself in a cage surrounded by darkness, hammering against the bars. My head felt light and I was falling forward, but I caught myself and stood, swaying from side to side.

The argument continued, getting more and more heated as the minutes passed by, but it was one-sided now as the woman did not garce him with anymore of her words.

Realising she would not stop, and lacking the confidence to stop her by force, the men turned to me, their next target. I saw them form the corner of my eye and shied away as I felt the flames from ther gazes.

"You…" Jak snarled, taking a few steps towards me. "We all knew that there was something wrong with you from the beginning, and now we know for sure. You took her side, didn't you? You let Treyvell die!"

I almost punched him square in the face for saying such a false thing. "How dare you!" I screamed instead. "I loved him! I loved Treyvell! I would do anything for him!"

They weren't listening. In fact, they had not even noticed. They were talking amongst each other in quiet voices, no doubt discussing what to do with me, the supposed murderer, but someone had heard me.

The woman stared back with her cold eyes, seeming to sum me up. She made no movement, just looked at me, and I turned away, convincing myself that she did not care. No one did. I was completely alone.

There were sharp scrapes of metal as weak swords, rusted and dented, were unsheathed and held before me. I no longer cared as I stared ta the tips that wavered beneath my throat, and did not even listen to the angry words that spat out at me.

"She had nothing to do with it."

The woman had finally moved and she was beside me now, her arm stretched out in front of me with her free hand pressing the tip of her gunblade to the throat of Jak.

He was pale and tried to speak, but the movement jerked the blade and a drop of blood slithered down his neck. Instead he silenced himself and backed away from me.

I gaped at the woman, unable to believe that when I had needed someone, the most unexpected person was my saviour once again. What was it about her that made me pull myself closer to her side, revelling in her protection.

Her face did not change and her glare did not lighten. This seemed to have a force of its own for the fighters stepped away, following their leader Jak until they fled through the trees. No longer would there be any trust for outsiders, but it did not bother me for I knew that my life here was over in that instant.

The woman was still for a moment, her gaze returning to me again, only this time she wore a tiny smile. "My name's Lightning," she said before beginning to walk away again in a neat stride.

Somehow I knew she wanted me to follow, so I was in her wake, acting as her shadow, as we passed through the area like wraiths. I had no future here, and I past I wanted to forget, now more than ever, and as I passed Treyvell for the last time, I could not help but wish that those blades had struck me down and this mysterious 'Lightning' had left me to die.