Chapter 26 – Battle at Bufohelm: Part 3

The rustling of the leaves arrived before JD did – it seemed like he wasn’t hiding the fact that he was on his way. Kuno had worked up a good sweat, taking a break after noticing JD was approaching. ‘I hope that’ll be enough,’ Kuno thought. ‘I’ve shot quite the amount… It gets easier each time I do.’

JD gently lowered himself, with Kuno turning to him, catching his breath as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. ‘You’re up,’ Kuno said. ‘Are we leaving?’

‘Yeah,’ JD said. ‘Are you okay?’

The short answer, followed by a concerned question, felt odd to Kuno. But Kuno’s emotional compass was well aligned. His presumably sudden need to train came out of nowhere – which must’ve made JD wonder. ‘I can feel it now,’ Kuno said.

JD smiled. ‘You finally feel the power of hatred surging through your veins!? QUAHAHA!’ JD said – even though he knew that wasn’t the case.

‘No,’ Kuno said. ‘I feel the lack of resistance – I feel like I’ve just taken a hot dump at school without anyone walking in the boys’ room to stress me out. Like I’ve opened the patch notes and my main got a major buff.’

JD didn’t know what he meant by patch notes or buffs or boys’ room – but Kuno’s hype could easily be read through his tone. ‘Quahaha, like you’ve just bought the new Duckboy comic and you’re breezing through it so fast you can’t even feel the pages turning!’ JD said. He turned his back to Kuno, presenting his wings. Kuno had never seen them from this angle, and could now completely appreciate their beauty.

‘Hop on- Wait! Pants on first, then hop on – We’ll fly back. JD will show you how it really feels to fly, unlike your pathetic fart-flight.’

Kuno took a step forward, gladly accepting the trip – more for the experience than for the efficiency. But he stopped himself to ask a favor. ‘JD, I want to talk to you… Do you mind if we walk?’

JD turned around. ‘We can talk during the walk to Bufohelm.’

‘Bufohelm?’

‘Base camp,’ JD clarified.

Kuno shook his head – ‘I want to talk with you alone,’ he said – his brows slightly slanted upward, a look of concern on his face. JD obliged, saying: ‘Make it quick. JD falling asleep and wasting time was your fault – You’re a slow learner,’ he said, – both of them knowing it was the complete opposite.

He gave JD a melancholic smile, before starting: ‘so… about the invading Earthlings…’

At this point, it was impossible to help her – just like Xiuying had planned it. But after seeing Cara tilt forward, falling like a stiff plank – she regretted everything she did to cause this. Cara was the newest addition. She was strong, very capable, kind – which could be a positive or a negative. She still had to be tested under stress, though – and this was the time to do it. Even Sarah, who laughed at people on their deathbeds back on Earth – didn’t want Cara to get hurt… or worse. In a lot of ways, Cara was the complete opposite of Sarah. She was gentle and caring, wouldn’t hurt a fly – not before coming to Terra Two. Maybe that’s why Sarah took a liking to her – she was someone she couldn’t understand. Someone who went out of her way to help people – instead of hurting them, like Sarah.

Things were difficult here for Cara. She had become used to taking lives in the months she spent here. But whenever she did the unthinkable, she would do it swiftly, avoiding the dying sight of her victims as much as she could. Now, however, she couldn’t do that anymore, and the 27-year-old children’s nurse thought it maybe would’ve been better if she called it quits.

That was, until she remembered her promise.

‘Cawa! I made this for you!’ a skinny little girl wearing a headscarf said, bringing Cara a drawing she’d made. It was her and Cara, holding hands under an apple tree.

‘Oh, how beautiful, Amber!’ Cara said. ‘Can I bring this home with me?’

A smile blossomed on the child’s face. ‘Yes, I made it for you! And-uh, I-uhm… wanted to- wanted to ask if you would- liiiike to join my tea party with Small Bear and Big Bear!’

‘I’d love that!’ Cara said. ‘But let’s do it after the doctor sees you, alright? After the nappy time.’ Amber was only five, but knew all about the meaning of nappy time. Today was the big day – the day that would mean the beginning or the end. She grabbed Cara’s hand. ‘Promise?’ she asked. ‘Promise,’ she said.

That was more than two months ago – before she entered this wretched realm. There was a good chance Amber wouldn’t be around if she were to return, but she had to find that out for herself. And in this moment, when the soldier’s swords were about to make contact – she decided she’d at least try.

‘Hairball.’

Swiftly, and above all, violently, her hair expanded, creating a sphere around her to protect her from the soldiers’ attacks. Two blades were in range, getting sliced off in the middle by the orange strands of Cara’s hair. The soldiers took a few steps back, fazed by Cara’s power, but still willing to fight.

The sphere slowly opened up, showing a floating Cara, supported by her hair, with a look of determination on her face. She would’ve asked them to surrender, but murder would be much more merciful. Like tentacles, four groups of hair were swerving in the air, still connected to Cara’s scalp, looking for blood – another four serving as feet – keeping her suspended in the air. One of the soldiers was in range, and it took only a single second for Cara to spot and annihilate him. With a quick swish, the tentacle of hair struck the soldier, scattering his blood on the barrier as his body had got cut into a hundred slices, falling down as a puddle of blood.

The look on the others changed – everything tensed up, but although they were scared – knew that there was no escape from this. With everyone inside the barrier watching, they couldn’t afford to go down without a fight. Before Cara could strike again - one of them shouted: ‘Party Buff: Insight!’

Another smoke trail emitted from the Soji soldiers, this time a mixture between gray and navy blue. Their speed had already been buffed, but they needed more. They needed to know what would happen before it actually did.

Xiuying and Sarah had relaxed, seeing Cara had taken control of the situation – maybe even a little too much control. Xiuying gave a high-pitched whistle, to remind Cara of her mission. There were rules in this realm, rules Cara knew she had to follow if she wanted a chance to return home.

With a sigh, Cara approached the soldiers – using four tentacles as feet and four as her weapons.

Ozzy had finished the arch of the gate. The only thing left was going down – the easiest part, since he could use his whole weight for it, lifting himself up by the hilt of the dagger.

The sorrow stayed still on her face. Her eyes were swollen, brows low, with the soldiers knowing no words could change her mind. She wanted it to be over, and would make it quick. She whipped her hair to her left, targeting an unarmed soldier, who barely stepped out of her range with a back-dash. Seeing their peer could react to her attack gave the soldiers more confidence. They had the stats to deal with her speed.

However, the biggest problem still lay unanswered. She was six feet off the ground, had four legs and four arms, able to turn them into minced meat within a second. In other words, finding an opening would be quite the task.

Cara swiped – stung, from up – down, but the soldiers were gaining momentum with every dodge they made. Blocking or parrying was impossible, so discarding those thoughts, they focused on movement and movement alone. But another problem reached the surface of their minds.

Cara was a human from Earth - and the Empire had taught them well about the infamous endurance those creatures had. There was a time limit to this battle. Even with the buff on their stamina – there was a good chance they’d tire before Cara did.

When a soldier in the middle took a quick look left and right – he had found one solution to the problem. A strategy that had been used in every single civilization since the birth of life. Cara wasn’t anything like they were. They were soldiers with little experience – while she was like a black ops agent. But even they could beat Cara if they were willing to throw it all away.

‘Ten ought to do it…’ he whispered, the soldiers quickly realizing he was talking about their numbers. The cauldrons in their hearts fired upon hearing him – they knew their place. This was their best chance. When all hope seems lost, you can always throw lives and suffering onto the problem.

He drew a big breath, prompting the others to follow, before they all shouted out:

‘FOR THE EMPIRE!’

Simultaneously, they ran forward, using their enhanced speed and insight to evade Cara’s attacks. It would only take five seconds to reach her, since they charged forward, ready for death, but Cara also did her best to keep her desirable distance.

The closer they got, however, the harder it became to dodge. The first two fell a second into the barrage, leaving eight others rushing in to kill Cara. She clenched her jaw, unsure who to focus on. She had made sure no one could circle around her before the group attack, but eight men running at her at the same time, albeit from one side, caused a lot of pressure – and she felt the whole brunt of it.

She decided to extend one of the hair bundles used to support her body – sadly, this was something the soldiers had anticipated. She shot it forward, trying to pierce the chest of a soldier, but he jumped over it, cutting the hair-leg with his flaming sword – leaving one limb less on the octopus.

Unfortunately, the soldier had to jump, and the air was the last place he’d wanted to be right now. When Cara and he met eyes, he knew it was the end – or rather; he thought.

Cara struck him with her hair, but instead of slicing him into pieces, restrained him, lifting him up in the air. They had no idea why, but this would leave Cara with only six more tentacles, presumably bettering their chances.

She used the same strategy on a larger scale. She lowered her body, making her easier to get hit by the soldiers, but freeing up three more bundles. She used her hair bundles to get the soldiers to jump, then restrained them in the air just like before.

Eventually, she managed to get five other soldiers in her clutches, losing one more hair-limb in the process – leaving two still charging at her – a single second away from making impact. Cara was completely open – no bundles of hair left to protect herself. One of the soldiers carried a sword with static blots flying off of it. Cara had magical hair, but her body was still very human – one strike of that sword would mean the end.

Cara didn’t know the story of Regnum and Soji yet – which was maybe for the better. It’d have only made the future tougher to go through.

She lifted her arms, like she was trying to surrender – the look on her face telling a different story. It was too late for the soldiers to notice, and even if they did, do anything about it. Bufohelm wasn’t going to take prisoners, not today.

She saw the look in their eyes – calm and focused – unlike the harrowed men they were before she showed up. The wounds on their body were still open, although they didn’t feel the pain – not since Cara revealed herself. ‘God, please let us kill her for what she’s done to us!’ the soldiers thought amid the shadow of their brethren hanging above them, attempting to escape her grip. ‘We seek justice!’

And with that thought, Cara, with her arms up high, pierced the lungs and hearts of the two remaining soldiers – not with any of the ginger strands on top of her head, but with the thick hairs growing from her armpits – shooting them out as they grew in an instant. She stopped their momentum completely, with only half a foot of distance left between her and the two.

She felt the gasps of the hundreds of soldiers still inside Bufohelm – and the murderous looks they gave her. When her eyes turned to Ozzy, she saw the dagger was soon to reach the floor, soon to open the gate, soon to release the wrath of Bufohelm.