Remnya

A yellowish lamp flickered on the cracked ceiling, devoured by moisture and time. Zeo looked away while Remnya changed into the clothes he had found for her: old sweatpants, his shirt, and worn-out shoes that loosely fit her feet. Using a piece of broken mirror, Remnya looked at her face, noticing the cuts around her mouth along with her swollen lips, forehead, and eyes. The metallic taste of blood reminded her that she was lucky to be alive.

Zeo stood still, facing the locked door. A ragged T-shirt covered his scarred torso, and blood-stained jeans completed his gloomy figure. Remnya stared at him for long silent seconds, admiring and fearing what her best friend had become. A true warrior.

But at what cost?

"I am ready," Remnya said, limping forward while pain traveled from her legs throughout her entire body.

Zeo rushed to her side and offered his shoulder to lean on. Reluctantly, Remnya wrapped her right arm around him, and he held her by the waist, easing the effort from her weak legs.

"I can carry you if you want. I don't mind," Zeo admitted, glancing at her with a smile.

"Hell no!" Remnya snapped, pushing him away. "I can walk!"

He chuckled. "As you wish, but we need to hurry. Danny told me he would do his best to distract Alayna's soldiers, but there's always the risk we run into them, so we better be ready."

Remnya sighed and shook her head in frustration. "Wish I could be more useful, instead of a burden for you."

"Shut up, Rem," Zeo joked, squeezing her side gently.

Ignoring the pain, Remnya smiled and allowed Zeo to help her walk toward her fate. He unlocked the door and craned his neck to look into the dark corridor. He glanced left and right, and silence answered from every corner, assuring them it was safe to move.

Together, they took the first step.

A heavy atmosphere lingered in the shadows, accompanied by the scent of damp and decay from crumbling walls. However, a strange sense of freedom filled Remnya's body; for the first time in her life, she was the owner of her fate.

The underground looked like a maze of life and death, but Zeo knew where to go and guided her confidently. At the end of the last corridor, a spiral staircase emerged in front of them. They halted to inspect it, and Remnya witnessed an endless ascent through the bowels of the earth. Rust covered the metallic handrails, and the cracked wooden steps looked on the verge of falling apart. How was she going to climb that death trap?

"Get on my back," Zeo said casually, releasing her waist.

Remnya widened her eyes and stuttered, trying to understand his words, "Uh . . . What?"

"You're too weak to climb, so I'll carry you upstairs. This the safest way out of here." Zeo furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze deep and sharp like a knife.

"No way—"

"Rem, there's no time to be embarrassed now!" He took one step forward, making Remnya flinch. "You can yell at me all you want once you're safe."

"Zeo, I can do it myself!" Remnya retorted, scowling at him. "I'm not a weakling!"

"I know that very well. If you weren't hurt, you'd be way stronger than me, yeah." He leaned closer and frowned. "But you're not right now."

"Ugh!" Remnya groaned and whirled, trying to climb the stairs, but Zeo snatched her arm, stopping her. "Let me go!"

Zeo let out a sigh of frustration, and quick as lightning, he pulled Remnya toward him, causing her to lose balance. She gasped and landed on his arms. Zeo picked her up and dashed down the stairs, carrying her like a scared little girl.

Remnya yelled and punched him in the face several times, but Zeo was unfazed, and his steps only became heavier and steadier.

"You jerk! Put me down now!" Remnya roared, punching his nose with all her strength.

"Shut up! For once in your life, shut the fuck up and allow me to protect you!" Zeo shouted, his voice sending shivers down her spine.

Remnya froze for a moment with her pupils fixed on his face. That wasn't Zeo, he was someone else. His eyes didn't display the warm innocence she had always known; they were full of fury and frustration.

Yet, under the tenuous reflection of distant lamps, she saw a spark of hope in him.

His cold expression softened as he halted midway, panting. He stared into her eyes, blood trailing down his nose, clearly caused by his punch.

"I'm sorry," Zeo said.

Remnya averted her eyes and twisted her lips, ashamed. "Don't apologize . . . " She reached out for his face, wiping the blood with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry for being such a brat."

"Even weakened, your hands are heavy as usual." Zeo snickered. "I wouldn't like to take a punch from you at full strength."

"Same." She giggled, ruffling his hair. "But I believe you should punch me sometime."

"What?" Zeo's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Nothing." Remnya hid a mischievous giggle. "Just do what you gotta do." She leaned her head against his chest and wiped the blood from his nose with her sleeve.

Zeo nodded and resumed his restless climb through that spiral of ancient metal and wood. The rotten steps screeched under his feet and fell apart into the abyss beneath them, yet he didn't hesitate.

Despite the long ascent, the time seemed to fly for Remnya; she focused on her savior and strangely felt safe. For once in her life, Remnya allowed herself to be a pathetic damsel in distress.

Jumping over the missing steps, they reached the last floor. Zeo put her back on the ground and leaned against a wall to rest. He was panting heavily, and sweat rolled down his forehead. Remnya wiped his face with the sleeves of her shirt and then ruffled his hair, assuring him she was there for him.

"A few more rooms, and we'll be out of here," Zeo murmured, taking a deep breath.

"The person I need to find . . . " Remnya trailed off. "Debrin Kavram was his name, right?"

Zeo nodded.

"You need to come with me." Remnya leaned closer, fixing her crimson eyes on him.

"I can't." He tightened his lips.

"I don't want you to leave me." Remnya held his face between her hands, and her pupils trembled with hope and fear. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to see Brisa again . . . I can't lose you too."

Zeo lifted his gaze at her, his green orbs glistening under the weak light of a distant room. "I don't think it'll be possible for both of us to escape—"

The screech of wood against leather echoed throughout the corridors when heavy footsteps slammed against the floor.

Zeo grabbed Remnya's hand and pulled her with him into a nearby room, cramped with construction tools and old furniture. He tried to close the door, but the scream of old hinges stopped him. He preferred to leave it half-open, hoping the intruder didn't notice them in the darkness. They squeezed their bodies together into a corner and remained still.

The footsteps drew closer with every second, along with the jingling of keys and perhaps weapons.

Remnya clung to Zeo's body, her breath stopping not to give away their location. Only her heartbeats resounded in that gelid room.

Minutes turned into hours as the footsteps wandered back and forth, halting and resuming their unnerving noise.

A silhouette loomed in the shadows. Remnya recognized a man clad in a combat outfit, a plasma shotgun hanging from his back, and a knife in his right hand. Her throat knotted while she dug her fingers into Zeo's back.

The man stood still for a moment, and Remnya's heart stopped.

He reached for his shotgun.

In the darkness of their room, Remnya glimpsed two emerald orbs glowing.

Zeo left her side, taking a loud step forward.

In disbelief, Remnya tried to stop him, but he was already gone.

BOOM!

The floor beneath the unknown man shattered, and two spectral arms emerged like ghosts from hell. The man fumbled with his weapon, but the arms snatched his neck, slamming his body against the wall.

Letting out a groan of pain, the stranger fell to the ground, and Zeo darted at him. He kicked his shotgun away and smashed his face with a powerful punch, causing him to drop his knife.

Remnya's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened like full moons.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Zeo asked, his voice a terrifying roar.

"Are you the Anglish?" the man replied and was met by another punch to the face that drew a mouthful of blood.

"Answer my question!" Zeo snatched the knife lying on the ground and pushed it against his throat.

"Zeo!" Remnya called through a closed throat and rushed up to him. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I am doing?" Zeo looked at her as if she were asking the most stupid question in the world.

"The Nephilim," the man said, widening his eyes.

With a violent thrust, Zeo buried the knife into the man's arm. He let out a wail of pain as blood erupted from his muscle.

"Fucking piece of shit, how do you know about her?" Zeo bellowed and grabbed him by the collar, shaking him violently.

Remnya tried to say something, but words didn't dare to come out. Once again, Zeo had changed, and the only light coming from his eyes was a ghastly emerald glow. Even his pupils had turned into two lines resembling a furious feline.

"Dammit! Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" the man shouted, struggling to breathe as those spectral hands crushed his neck. "I belong to Alayna's army. I was looking for Viper's brother to eliminate him as asked by my captain."

"So, you're one of her soldiers." Zeo yanked the knife out of his arm and leaned closer with a glare. "How do you know about us?"

The soldier coughed and clutched the hands wrapped around his neck. "The old man told me . . . He promised me that if I saved his life, he'd tell me about the Nephilim."

"The old man?" Zeo asked, thrown aback.

"Sagan," Remnya murmured, remembering the dying doctor in that room.

"Fuck!" Zeo spat, punching the wall. "I should've killed him when I had the chance!"

"I was surprised to find Viper's brother dead too." The man gazed into Zeo's eyes. "It was you, the Anglish, no doubt."

"Who else knows about us?" Zeo asked, threatening his eye with the knife.

"I helped the old man to get out of here . . . He's probably spreading the word right now. Everyone in The Hunters will know soon."

"Bloody hell!" Zeo shouted, the veins in his forehead bulging with rage.

Remnya stood still, pale, and unable to react. Her brain was too weak to process the horrible turn of events, and her convalescent body could barely keep her on her feet.

"We need to hurry." Zeo tried to bury the knife into the man's throat, but Remnya reacted and snatched his arm, stopping him.

"Zeo, no!" she yelled. "You're not a murderer!" Remnya scanned Zeo from head to toe, her knees shaking as she scowled at him.

Zeo stared back at her for a moment. "Rem, it's too late to worry about that . . . "

"Listen, kid," the man whispered, resignation in his voice. "You can kill me, but that won't get you anywhere. Our army is not what you should be worried about. All this was just a huge trap for every one of us."

"What do you mean?" Remnya asked.

He sighed. "Someone else set us to fight against each other, kill each other. Alayna wanted revenge, and he wanted to get rid of Ronner, who had already become too dangerous. This was the perfect opportunity for him to kill two birds with one stone."

"Him? Who is him?" Remnya clenched her fists, cold sweat rolling down her forehead.

"Who else? The only true master, playing with the threads of destiny. He decides who lives and who dies. We're just his pawns, young girl." The hands around his neck disappeared, and the man leaned closer, cradling his neck. "Alayna and Ronner will kill each other, and once again, he will win." He grinned. "The great master, Azmon. The leader of The Hunters."

"Your leader," Zeo said, tilting his head as he scanned the soldier, searching for lies. "Aren't you part of The Hunters too? Isn't this great for you?"

The man chuckled ironically. "We're not part of The Hunters yet . . . Alayna and the rest of us are being tested to see if we're worth it. We're part of their disposable armies, guinea pigs. They promised Alayna a spot in The Hunters if she returned with Ronner's head and eliminated both the Doman brothers. I suspected something was odd about this whole mission, but now it's crystal clear. We are just pawns. Once Ronner and Viper are dead, all their fortune and power will belong to The Hunters. That's how it has always been."

"Why should we believe you?" Remnya asked, scowling.

"You don't have to, young girl." He chuckled.

"If that's so . . . why were you looking for us?" Zeo inquired, the glow in his eyes intensifying. Remnya leaned her hand on his trembling fist, where he held the knife.

"I had hoped that finding you first would guarantee me a good position in The Hunters." He sighed. "I was wrong. You young fellas are too strong for me."

Silence.

"Zeo!" Remnya yelled as the man's right hand glowed with a scarlet blaze, aimed like a sword at Zeo's sides. Desperately, she tried to summon her fire.

But before the heat could reach her hand, a knife buried into the man's left eye, piercing through his brain until the tip stuck out from his nape, followed by a spurt of blood.

The soldier fell on his side, convulsing as life left his body, and Zeo retrieved the knife with a quick yank. He wiped the blood against his pants and turned to face Remnya with a worried look.

Remnya returned a blank stare, her heart echoing in her brain. Zeo said something, but she couldn't hear him.

A void filled her body, and dizziness hit her like a truck. Suddenly, everything began spinning around her.

Warm arms surrounded her body as she collapsed, and her reality turned once again into horrible darkness.

*°*°*