I Originally wasn't going to do 2 chapters this week cuz I was feeling laze, then RevSaint dropped reviews and I was like: MOTIVATION. lmao.
Leave me reviews dude. I love them, and they actually help me write- cuz I know what sort of impression yall are getting from the prev chapter.
Single section with a tiny little document transcript from Yharim's army. Enjoy.
She couldn't believe it.
She raised her eyes and stared about herself like this was some strange dream, some miserable nightmare. The hazy mist was blackened with smoke. It rose in tendrils from the ravaged, glowing embers. Blackened wooden pillars stuck out like jagged teeth, or bones that had pierced the skin. Gray bricks had toppled from their carefully fitted places, tumbling down and burying her from the waist down. The rubble pressed down on her as if the very jaws of death were trying to draw her into the grave. Was she going to die? Her head hurt. There was liquid sloshing around inside her skull. She could taste coppery blood from where she had split her lip. She was singed all over. Even her eyeballs had gone bone dry. She couldn't hear anything either, and was specifically conscious of the blood trailing from both ears.
My eardrums, ruptured… my… balance is shot. Can I- no… I won't be able to walk!
Had she been incapacitated so easily? Impossible. This… couldn't be real, right? Wasn't she one of Yharim's elite agents? Hadn't she been genetically engineered to deal with these sorts of situations? Couldn't she boast of a long and successful tenure? She was no imposter, she knew this. She wasn't a fake… so why was she laying on the ground amongst the refuse, her face stained with blood and soot?
No… no
She had taken too much damage. The bullets that peppered her back had all but shredded her kevlar armour. The explosives had stripped the rest of her defenses away. Even her subcutaneous scales were shattered, some melted into glue beneath her skin and burned horribly wherever it flowed. How pathetic. How unbefitting of The King's service. How shameful! Ah, she wanted to die of shame. She wished she could retract every one of those boastful words she had uttered in The Lab Director's presence. That man must be looking down on her with disgust. Those kind, intelligent eyes must be marred with exasperation and disappointment. He had put his hope in her, and she had let him down. Agh, what a horrible feeling in her gut. It gripped her very soul. She wanted to sink into the ground and never look another person in the eye again…
Something trailed from the corner of her eye and down her cheek. She heard the tear sizzle into nothing as it landed on the hot stones. When was the last time she cried? Wasn't it when she was a little girl? She'd been thrown out of her home with nothing but a loaf of bread - and she had cried a lifetime of tears there, on the streets of the merciless town. It was then when she learned to hate. She hated her parents. She hated the town. She hated every pitying look passerbys gave her. Those tears… they weren't tears of sadness.
They were tears of rage.
…
Who was responsible for this!? Who had done this to her?! She gritted her teeth and drove her fingers into the ground beneath her. She thrashed. She kicked. She crawled free from the rubble and, with brow twisted in utter fury, she turned to glare at The Castle. The Resistance Arms Dealer had done this. The Demolitionist Officer had done this. How dare they cross her! She must avenge herself. She must salvage her honor. She mus-...?
*Shff… Shff. Shff… Shff.*
She stiffened and went still, her palms buried in the dirt. There were subtle vibrations in the ground... limping footsteps?! The gait of an injured man sounded from within the bright white mist, approaching from The Castle. It was growing sharper and more distinct with each step. A bolt of fear matched her rage. The Dwarf was coming. He was coming to kill her. She was going to die at the hands of filthy rats?! Never. She would fight to the last breath. She would kill him if it was the last thing she did!
Get up!
*Shff… Shff. Shff… Shff.*
Get up, damn you!
The footsteps grew closer, and as her panic increased, so too did her efforts. She strained to move her limbs. They shook and trembled as she fought to crawl to her knees. Where was up? Where was down? Before she knew it, she was sprawled uselessly back on the ground. As she lay there, her adrenaline ebbed. She felt everything. Every burning bullet lodged in her ribs. The sear in her lungs that made each drawn breath a painful ordeal. Her fractured leg. A badly sprained wrist. 2nd degree burns all over, and...
and The Healing Rune's sharp edge pressed up against her hip.
*Shff… Shff. Shff… Shff.*
The Healing rune! Of course! The Party Girl knew it would have minimal effect on her, but all she needed was to regain her balance. It was only the small membranes of her ears that she needed healed… surely The Rune could do that for her! Once she could stand, she could fight. And between her and The Dwarf Officer, she knew she had a chance.
Her head spun sickenly as she rolled to her side and reached down to fetch the mysterious rune from the pouch about her waist. Such a simple movement, and the sky and the ground whirled about her. The hazy white sky, the staring poplar trees, the crumbling ruin on the ground, the sky once more. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to curl up and cry and be comforted… but instead she seized the healing rune with her sprained wrist. It hurt terribly, but she wasn't going to die here. She had been given the tools to survive, and survive she would. She was going to finish her mission.
Got it...
The Rune was cold to the touch, made of finely wrought cast iron and swirling with a strange blue magic. It wasn't like any magic The Party Girl had ever seen, and she couldn't be sure what it would do. Was it really a healing rune? She had seen healing runes before. They didn't look like this… but this had been given to her by her benefactor. She would trust The Guide. What other choice did she have?
*Shff… Shff. Shff… Shff.*
She gripped it in her palm, straining to break it to release the magic within. Fuck her injured wrist couldn't output the power! She gritted her teeth and fixed her eyes, straining to crush the magic's iron cage. There, she saw a crack! Now two! Now thre-
Suddenly, her wrist shattered. With wide eyes, she watched the bones shift and poke out strangely beneath her skin. A boot had fallen out of the mist to stomp down ruthlessly upon her hand. She couldn't hear herself scream as the healing rune fell from her grasp. As she was kicked in the teeth, her sobs never reached her ears.
No! The Dwarf!
A shape loomed over her and she raised her eyes to it, staring with tear-stained eyes. It was The Demolitionist. He was grinning down at her with a disgusting, triumphant grin. She had never hated anything as much as she hated that grin. She opened her mouth to curse him, but received another vicious blow to the stomach. Her diaphragm seized and she gasped for air. Her fingernails nearly lifted off her fingers for how desperately she clawed at the ground. No… It can't end like this.
The Dwarf gloated. His voice boomed out, but she couldn't hear him. It didn't matter. She knew exactly what he'd be saying. She did her best to ignore him. Where was The Rune?!
(Ah-ha! There ya' are, ya bitch. Still kickin', eh?)
The healing rune. It was so close. It was merely inches away. She threw herself at it. All she needed was to hit it once more! If she broke it, then she had hope. It was a slim chance at victory, but a chance nevertheless.
(Huh? What's this! A Healing rune, eh? Hehe… were you banking on this, ya scum?)
NO!
Tears spilled from her eyes as she saw a set of stocky fingers pluck the precious rune out of her reach. She followed it with her eyes, until she was once again looking at The damn Dwarf's face. He chortled at her, his expression lighted with a malicious sort of elation. He relished her despair and waved the rune at her like a person waved treats at a dog.
(If ya kiss my feet, I may consider giving this back. Whaddya say, Agent?)
She glared at him. She couldn't make out what he was saying but it didn't matter. This was the end. She saw the buckknife strapped to his hip, and she knew tonight, she'd probably be skinned. She shut her eyes and rested her cheek in the dirt, doing her best to contain the bitter rage which threatened to spill from her eyes. Perhaps it was a blessing she couldn't hear his mocking.
She... she wasn't ready to die.
She choked out a sob as The Dwarf laughed down at her.
(Haha! No? I guess that's just too bad. So kind of ya to offer this to me. Is this what the new healing runes look like? heh... I don't mind if I do...)
ATTN: ALL UNITS concerning MISSING CC UNIT #5534
An Internal report drafted concerning missing individual #5534.
AGENT has been granted permission to investigate SouthEastern Border (CRIMSON BORDER) for activity concerning THE LUNATIC CULTIST's defection and other phenomenon in the area. No communication exchanged for past two days. Per recently updated Imperial policy, and the number of court officials who have turned against The Empire - All agents must contact Central at minimum every three days. Upon reaching 3 days of no contact, Agent is to be considered KIA/DEFECTED.
Recall message has been sent to AGENT with no response. Possible compromised Asset.
AGENT will be given 1 day(s) to contact central before status is updated to KIA/DEFECTED.
Policy dictates we Collect #5543's corpse on sight.
Should Asset be found alive, they are to be treated as POW and brought in for questioning.
All units be on alert.
Notes: So fish scales can be melted into glue. which is why some of the PG's scales (under the skin btw.) melted and are sloshing around in her meat suit. Poor girl. Dad's coming for u lmao.
In case yall don't remember from like... (shit I don't even know lmao) THe Healing Rune is an Iron Heart that Ammy made & Gave to The Guide.