SERA

Her mouth tastes like ash. Sera clutches the dagger tight to herself, her eyes squeezed shut. “Do it,” a voice whispers in her ear, only scrunching her eyes tighter.

“No,” Sera whispers out, her young mind afraid and confused, unsure how it had come to this.

“I said do it,” the voice says forcefully. A hand reaches over and pulls at the dagger causing Sera to hold it tighter. Flustered her eyes snap open and imprints the image in front of her. A group of children are gathered around her, all circling both her and Raze, where two boys forced him down kneeling on the floor. A deep gash can be seen across his shoulder, blood dripping from the cut scales. Originally Sera had been standing in front of him against the others, but she had been spun around to face him.

“I told you! She’s sympathising with this monster. What a freak.” One of the children cries out, murmurs of agreement echoing around the hallway. Nearby stands a maid of the house, purposefully making herself as small as possible.

“Is that true?” The leading boy leans over, his eyes piercing down into hers. “Do you sympathise with this thing.” Sera simply glares back, hatred filling her eyes as she clutches the dagger even further into her bosom, ignoring the pain as it digs into her flesh. The boy’s face twists and he curls his fist to punch her, only for the hand to be caught midway.

“Gray Lein,” a cold voice calls out, causing the boy to freeze up. Spun to face the woman, he looks up at Sera’s mother, Prae. “Be very glad you weren’t able to finish your action.” She says. Her eyes then turn fiercely to take in the others. “Sera get over here.” She says. Sera bites her lip and shakes her head, clutching the dagger even tighter. Anger filling her eyes Prae strides over and grips her arm. She forces the dagger out of her hand and throws it to the side. Her eyes turn to gaze down at Raze, his own impassive face looking back.

A loud slap resounds along the hallway. Raze looks up at her without a change in his expression. “Disgusting thing,” Prae spits. “Stay away from my daughter. Or so help me, I will make sure your life is far worse than it is now.” Turning around she walks away with large steps, dragging Sera behind her. As Sera is taken away she turns to look at Raze, his gaze meeting hers. A small smile escapes from his lips as he looks at her, and she finds her heart filled with only more pain.

“Sera.” A hand shakes her, causing her body to sit up suddenly. Her hand reaches towards the hand in defense before her mind catches up to her body and she freezes, her body quickly relaxing. She turns to look up at Vaun. “They’re up,” Vaun says with distaste, turning to point over to the three huddled to the side. The memory still fresh in her mind Sera’s eyes coldly take in Gray’s own, a familiar sneer sent her way.

“We’re going back in,” Gray says as he walks over, pointing toward the opening in the thicket Sera had carved out. His eyes pierce into Sera’s. “You will be the vanguard again. Agreed?” Sera’s eyes trail across his to the other two. She notices one of them is rather different, with the other looking slightly afraid whenever his eyes pass over Gray’s figure. Rather small and thin, the guy’s eyes are dull and distant and Sera can see a strange color swirling around inside them. Her eyes narrow as she thinks back to last night. “I said are we agreed?” Gray says roughly, cutting her view off as he appears between them.

“Agreed,” Sera snorts as she brushes past them. She goes over to the fresh water and gives her fur and wounds a quick clean. The group maintains their silence as they eat some of the rations before leaving. The tension can be felt in the air. Both sides know that the tipping point is approaching, but Gray’s smile only thickens while Sera looks down silently. Both know who currently holds the cards. Vaun tries to not show his tension, his mind filled with worry.

“Let’s go,” Gray says, pointing Sera forward. As her gaze slips past him she gets up and heads inside the thicket, the others trailing behind her. It doesn’t take long for them to reach the location before. The corpses of the beasts still lay there in a pool of their own hardened blood. Sera’s eyes trail across the room as she searches for a direction to go. It isn’t until she casts her eyes upward that she realised things are a bit different from what she expected.

The roof of the room is not tall. Instead she can see a large circular hole in its middle extending upward. As far as her eyes can see thickets surround that entrance, they too extending upward beyond her sight. In fact, anywhere her sight looks the thickets extend. Perhaps the entire sky might be covered by this strange mess of vines and wood and all sorts of vegetation. “How far does the sky go…” Sera cannot help but whisper to herself, peering upward. She had noticed that her breathing had been a little harder up here, her movements taking more energy. She remembered once hearing that air thins the higher a person is. Perhaps if they climb high enough, there will be no air left to breathe.

“How do we get up there?” Gray says behind her with a frustrated tone. He plops himself on the ground. “Sera. Figure something out.” His voice seems really annoying to her today. Well, more annoying. Rolling her shoulders Sera gets her body into an active state. Leaning down she pushes against the ground and uses that momentum to throw herself upward. Her figure jumps high as her hand reaches upward and grabs onto the side of the opening in the ceiling. Pulling herself up a bit she reaches into the thicket and pulls on one of the longer vines meshed inside. Dragging as much of it out as she can she lets it all and extend downward until the tip almost reaches the ground.

“Climb,” Sera tells them as her eyes turn back upward. She starts to pull herself upward as the others slowly scramble up on the outstretched vine. The tunnel continues to extend upward as Sera pulls herself up one inch at a time. As she she climbs, Sera feels the air thin. Her breathing becomes rougher but she still pushes herself onward. Just before the air starts to feel unbearable Sera reaches the exit, quickly pulling herself out to collapse on one side. Her eyes take in the area, finding herself in another large room. However she is no longer standing on the father tree, but rather the wood and vines that intertwine themselves into a disorderly floor. In front of her stands a towering creature, easily twice her height and half again her width.

It’s feline in nature, with long legs and a sleek brown coat that extends over its long body. Its eyes are still closed with Sera being too far to aggravate it. However Sera spots something similar she found on the leopard’s she had fought, tiny spotted markings that touch on certain parts of its coat.

Valiant Leopard

[ Elite ]

Far behind the creature Sera spots a podium with some sort of item rested on it. But it’s too far for her to make out the details. Sera gazes for a long while at the beast as the others behind her slowly catch up and join her. The air has affected them more, with their breathing muddied as they, too, gaze at the beast with a mixture of wonder and fear. “Sera,” Gray says, his tone holding barbed points. Sera naturally recognises his wish and her smile thins. Her ears perk up while she pretends to ignore him, but still hears that familiar beep.

“Of course,” Sera says tersely. Her eyes return to the beast as she evaluates it. Taking a few tentative steps forward she watches its reaction, and notices when its ears twitch at the sound. Pretending not to notice Sera continues her steady, soft steps. Moments pass as she draws closer and closer. When her foot falls down onto the path only a meter away from it, it suddenly snaps its eyes open and pounces at her. At the same time Sera twists her body. Its claws graze by her, just barely tearing into her skin, and Sera wraps her body around it.

Like a nimble snake she climbs over its body not giving it a chance to react as he fists press into different areas of its body. But each impact only hits a rebound. Its fur was like metal as her hands recoiled in pain. Still she assailed the creature in an attempt to reach its eyes. But by this time it has reacted. With a roar it bucks wildly, throwing her up in the air as it twists around and bares its teeth at her, pouncing to rip her in two. But just as it goes to pounce a hand clutches onto its legs. Vaun grips the beast tight, not letting it move an inch into the air.

The beast turns downward. Its mouth snaps toward Vaun instead. Watching this happen Sera knows she cannot hold back anymore. Her body touches on that illusory feeling again, drawing out her power. Sera starts to fall as her eyes and fur turn silver. Using the momentum she gathers her strength into her fist and drives it into the beasts body. It lets out a painful roar as a small part of its flesh cracks and bleeds. Suddenly, as Sera gathers herself to strike again, the leopard disappears.

Sera’s eyes narrow and her feet quickly step backward to gather herself in front of the others. She notices with distaste Gray and the other two simply huddled by the side watching them fight. Ignoring them she focuses on the area around her. Unlike the previous leopards she faced, she cannot see any indication that something is alive around her. With narrowed eyes, she waits for the beast to attack. It arrives in an instant. Its claws slam into Sera’s side before she can reacts, sending her crashing against the ground as she rolls over and over until coming to a stop.

Sera senses another attack coming and instantly flips her body up, her own fist striking to her right. She feels it slam into something solid, but it quickly escapes around her fist. Another claw aims for her back as she twists to the side. Then it hits her left. Unable to bring her guard up in time Sera is sent flying again. This time as she slams into the ground she flips herself around as her feet rest against one of the rooms walls. Using her momentum she pushes herself back like a springboard and sends herself flying forward. Her body slams into something solid causing the beast to roar as it shimmers back into existence.

Blood drips from Sera’s own body as her mind screams in pain from her broken left arm. Ignoring it she gouges the beasts face, her hand tearing through it like a blade. It roars again and a claw comes up and shreds through her side but she simply wraps her body around its neck and pulls as hard as she can. It thrashes around with loud roars as it tries to pull her off as she slowly bends its neck. In desperation it slams her against one of the walls. Her body goes rigid as the pain falls over her, but her hands remain stoic as they bend the beasts neck further and further.

The beast cries out as one of its legs attempt to claw at Sera on its head. As the claw nears her Sera bares her teeth and clenches down, holding the claw in her mouth at the edge of her own throat. Just then the neck bends further then it can go and with a resounding crack it snaps in two. The beast collapses instantly, its cries cut short. Silence fills the place as Sera lets go in exhaustion, the claw held in her teeth rolling out of her mouth. The inside of it is slightly bloody where the claw grazed her, but on the whole she is safe. Her left arm lays to the side unable to move.

As Sera collapses onto the ground she coughs out a huge glob of blood, her face paling as the silver recedes and her body turns back to normal. Her vision heavily clouded Sera sees Gray slowly walking over, a grin plastered across his face. Vaun quickly makes it to her and holds her body up, his own eyes turning to glare at Gray. “What do you want?” He spits out. “You did nothing to help.”

“Of course I didn’t,” Gray answers with undisguised glee in his tone. “How else could we make her so weak?” As he walks over to her, Sera could see his eyes and knew what he wishes to do. Exhaustion wants to kick in but she knows she cannot rest. Her heart swells with painful emotions, frustration eating away at her. So many things she can’t do. So many restrictions. Sera yearns for Raze, yearns to break away from all of this. If only…

The moment seemed to stop. Time froze as the familiar, always consistent beeping that echoed in Sera’s ears stopped. And silence replaced it. Sera’s breath catches, and her eyes widen. And then dims as cold anger, that has simmered in her heart for so long, starts to break free. “What an idiot,” Sera could hear Gray say. With a snap of his fingers the strange guy by his side, with his muddled eyes, suddenly pounces on Vaun. Vaun is unable to react and as much as he struggles, he finds he cannot budge him regardless of his strength. “So blinded by love. If you had of just killed me, well everything would’ve been fine and dandy. But here I am. Alive and kicking. And now I no longer need you.” Gray reaches down and grabs Sera’s fur, dragging her upward until he brought her to eye level. “Fucking bitch. I have to sincerely thank you for getting me this far.”

Sera looks at him coldly, the pain a distant feeling in her mind. Gray’s face twists at her look. His hand reaches up and slams into her side. “Fucking bitch. You. Fucking. Bitch.” He continues to slam into her as he spits at her. “Always so fucking uppity. You know the marriage was never real in the first place. You were just going to become our plaything. Something to use and throw away. At least then you could have some value. I always fucking hated that look.” Gray’s last fist slams into her fist, sending Sera reeling. Her mouth stays shut as she refuses to scream out in pain. Her eyes stare into his with an intense hatred that is quickly boiling over.

“Eighteen years.” Sera forces out, her voice gratingly deep. Her eyes stare into his as if she’s looking at a dead man.

Gray pulls her closer when he hears her words and laughs in her face. “What did you say bitch? I didn’t hear you. It won’t fucking matter soon. But don’t worry, we’ll have a little fun before you die.” His hand reaches down toward her chest, a manic gleam in his eyes. But as he goes to touch her, a familiar scene happens. He finds his hand stopped in a steel-like grip.

“Eighteen long years I have patiently waited.” Sera’s voice pierces into Gray. Her tone feels cold, so cold it seems to draw all of the warmth out of him. A flicker of fear passing over his face. As his eyes turn back to look at hers, he notices they are no longer that deep hazel, nor that terrifying silver. Purple eyes instead stare back at him, the very sight chilling him to the bone. He roars in pain as her hand tightens further and further until it crushes his arm.

“Wait!” Gray cries out. “Don’t forget you can’t kill me.” His fear-filled face struggles to twist into confident grin, only making him more manic. He reaches upward to point. But as he does Sera suddenly moves forward, her own hand gripping his finger. A blood-curdling scream echoes out as his finger is torn away. Sera’s eyes gaze mercilessly on as he stumbles backward. She advances step by step toward him as he continues to stumble backward, his mind completely filled with fear.

As Sera pulls near her fist tightens and pushes forward. Gray scrambles back as he kicks his other teammate, the guy falling on front of him. Sera’s eyes don’t flicker as her fist passes through the fallen guy’s body, the light disappearing from his eyes as she steps past. “Idiot thing, defend me!” Gray screams out, causing the odd guy holding Vaun to let go and make his way towards him. Vaun simply watches on, wide-eyed, at what is happening before him. “How can you still be so strong. I saw you use your awakening!” Gray continues to cry out as he struggles to run away.

“It’s simple.” Sera reaches him before it can and as she does her hand reaches forward and grabs onto his other arm. Before he has a chance to react it is ripped off, leaving with only one broken arm. Her eyes pierce into his. “I never awakened.” Gray’s screams continue to echo out as Sera moves onto one of his legs, slowly, carefully pulling it apart inch by inch. As she stares down at his figure soaked in blood, his eyes slightly incoherent and his face full of despair she feels no satisfaction. Only a deep, decade long anger finally settling itself.

“Scum like you,” Sera continues as she dodges the slow blow of the guy behind her and slams him against the ground next to Gray. “Scum like all of you will get your reckoning. Are you prepared to die Gray?” her words cut into him, stated so calmly and yet the contents so terrifying.

“Of course I’m not. I don’t want to die…I don’t want to die…” Gray’s cries echo out as his voice starts to dwindle, his eyes dimming. A deep fear continues to echo from him from him as he despairs. Sera looks down at him with pitiless eyes. Slowly, as she watches him, the purple glow of her eyes recedes. She stumbles slightly, appearing as if to collapse at any moment. As she does Gray’s eyes suddenly snap open and a maniacal laugh escapes from him. He throws his body over toward the strange guy laying next to him.

As he does so something seems to activate as Gray’s eyes suddenly grow brighter and the guy he holds onto dims. Gray’s wounds recede as they seems to scramble to place themselves on the strange guy instead. “An idiot will always be an idiot,” Gray forces out in a strained voice. His limbs start to regrow themselves and the guy he holds onto loses his own. “Didn’t you want to know what ability I gained? I can only use this on a willing person, but a slave like this is very convenient.” His laugh grows more unrestrained as he starts to gain his strength back. “This is why you’ll never-”

Gray fails to get another word out. His face freezes with eyes widened in shock. Then his head slides off his body, revealing a clean cut between them. Sera’s own eyes pierce into them. Her exhaustion, while still there, is no longer so pronounced. As she stares down at Gray’s body her eyes can’t help but dim a little, a relief from the depths of her soul reaching out. “Raze,” she whispers to herself. “We are both free.” She can’t help but let out her own laugh. Relief mixed with joy mixed with something long lost. Hope. “This hell is over. There is finally hope. Raze…I miss you…” her eyes grow misty as a biting yearning for him fills her heart. She recalls that impassive face, its kindness hidden behind a thick facade. As her eyes drift towards that memory her body falls down and her eyes inevitably close.

For a long, long rest.