Dog Whistle

With the Coordinator General no more, Sir Didact peered into the sky, his life being torn to shreds as Toro pierced through his flesh down to the bone.

“Sovereign, I’ve seen it all,” he claimed before accepting his fate.

His head tipped over, falling to the floor with a painful grace. His life flickering out of existence.

Thud.

“Why bother letting him suffer, Saba?”

Iddak stood over Sir Didact and the Coordinator General’s pitiful corpses. Finding their demise unappealing.

Akari was struggling to focus. Floods of confused memories plaguing her. She began to believe that death would be her only saving grace.

“I told him not to break the barrier,” Iddak maligned as he collected the tossed item from the ground. It was a metal pendant bearing the Mu clan insignia. “He really had no idea how much of a power difference there was between him and Sir Didact.”

Toro scurried away from Sir Didact’s lifeless body and tucked itself back within Saba’s pouch. “Had he not caught her, the impact of her hitting the ground may have just killed her,” Saba explained, “She’s only alive now because the Ayur must’ve treated her not too long ago. Those medical scripts can have long lasting effects if cast efficiently.”

Iddak held the Mu clan pendant in his hand, tilting it from side to side watching the light bounce off it. “The general didn’t even have respect for how hard it was for me to cast that script. An invisible barrier that’s strong enough to negate Sir Didact’s shift script took a ton of focus. If it wasn’t for this specially refined pendant being used as the medium, it probably wouldn’t have even worked.”

Saba, patting her bag as Toro snuggled itself inside, stepped towards the general, his brief but deadly battle playing back within her head. “How did Sir Didact manage to figure it out?” she questioned, referring to Sir Didact successfully forcing the general to deactivate the barrier.

“Even an invisible barrier can’t remain unseen when a strong impact acts against it. The general dodged the tree to avoid revealing his secret, but it only tipped Sir Didact off I guess. Had he been hit by that wall, though, the barrier definitely would’ve failed. An invisible barrier can’t defend against a physical impact that huge from two opposite directions.”

Iddak then pocketed the pendant, adding, “You should’ve just let Sir Didact turn him into a sandwich, Saba, why’d you save the general?”

“I would’ve rather he live than Sir Didact, that’s all,” she plainly answered, “The general would’ve been more beneficial to us.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Iddak changed gears, “Anyways, what do we do with her, now?”

Saba looked upon Akari with her mind deep in contemplation watching as she lay barley moving. “She’s definitely different. I’ve confirmed that much. But I can’t read anything about her. With the general dead we won’t need to go through with the second phase. Our job is done once we deliver her.”

“What about the Ayur and Norin?” Iddak asked.

“Norin likely won’t do anything that draws too much attention. The Ayur might be a problem though. He’s keener than I thought.”

“Even Sir Didact was worried about him,” Iddak acknowledged, “The velocity script you used worked to make him assume it was Azu that’d been preparing to attack him instead of us.”

Saba, confused by Iddak’s statement looked to her brother with her face stunned, “I never used a velocity script.”

“Weren’t you the one who activated the surgical script on his hand?” Iddak begged to learn.

“No,” Saba swiftly clarified, “I can’t hide my chakra signature as good as you, I needed to keep my distance. I thought you did it.”

The temperature now quickly rising, Iddak looked over his shoulder, tensely scanning his surroundings. “I don’t sense anybody.”

“I’m not your fucking tool!”

Stab!

Akari wailed as she jammed Sir Didact’s knife into Saba’s foot.”

Saba howled in pain, using her antigravity script to lift Akari from the floor. Pulling the knife from her foot, she called upon Toro who sprung from her bag and grappled onto Akari.

“You didn’t see that coming?” Iddak questioned with his face twisted with unease. Saba’s face fell vacant, her too wondering why she would let such a simple attack slip by so easily.

Akari glanced at the puddle of water beneath her, noticing the reflection had yet to return.

“Dog whistle!” Saba then cried as she and Iddak covered their ears. But it would be too late. The effects were already sinking in.