Trails - Chapter 21

“Guys…that…didn’t just happen, right?” Evony asked, her voice shaking as she spoke. “Please…tell me that didn’t just happen.”

“It did,” Laila coldly stated.

“Shit!” Jasmine cursed, flexing her wounded arm. “What the hell are we going to do against Axisam?”

“Give up and die?” Evony joked, slowly standing up, a wince on her face from the pain.

“We win this, we’re in the finals,” Jasmine reminded her, checking the ammunition in her pistols. “If this was the second or third round, I wouldn’t mind, but we’ve gotten this far and I’d be far too pissed off if we didn’t make it to the finals at this stage.”

“Agreed,” Laila said.

“I didn’t expect you to be so competitive.”

“I’m not. However, I don’t believe that we’ve lost this fight yet.”

“Neither do I,” Evony agreed, biting her lip and holding her back.

“So? Any bright ideas then, leader?” Jasmine asked.

“I have one, actually, but.” She forced a smile but it turned out crooked as she held her bracer tightly. “Honestly, I’m not sure it’s going to work and it’ll be pure luck if it does.”

“Well, it’s better than anything else we’ve got, so let’s try it. What do we need to do?”

“Firstly, we wait for the next series of bombs to go off. Then, we find a tall block of flats. I’ll explain the rest as we go.”

***

Axisam heard and felt the bombs go off but she didn’t see any of them explode.

“Hmm, I wonder if they got hit by them,” She thought aloud. She paused, waited until the shockwaves stopped and then shrugged her shoulders. “Guess not. Still.” Axisam kicked hard off the ground and leapt high into the air. “Where the hell are they?”

Given the size of the city, it was only natural that Axisam and her team had split up to try and find the enemy as quickly as possible but, due to the size of the city, Axisam had only run into three of Eric’s team. She had thrown the pillar at Ajax and then easily defeated Eric and Connor; since then, however, she had no idea where the rest of Eric’s team were.

She landed on the rooftop of a nearby building, almost caving in the rooftop as she landed, and scanned the surrounding area, searching for the faintest sign of her opponents.

“I wonder who on Lucifer’s team are left,” She mumbled.

A figure darted across the street out of the corner of her eye and without hesitation, Axisam leapt towards it. She crashed along the street, skidding along it and cracking the concrete as she went, and found a girl in black leather armour a few feet from her, breathing heavily and a dagger in her hands.

“Laila, I’m guessing,” Axisam purred, standing fully upright and staring viciously at her, like a hunter that found its prey, and she let out a low purr. “You might want to start running.”

Axisam kicked up the concrete towards Laila, forcing the girl to retreat through ten shadows just to escape the exploding street, and, as she appeared out of the shadow of a nearby lamppost, Axisam appeared before her, ready to strike her. Axisam threw her fist as hard as she could at Laila, but Laila managed to dive into the shadow before it landed.

The building behind her however was blasted into pieces and the debris flew through the air, smashing the surrounding area and the shockwave from the impact shook everything around Axisam. Laila quickly teleported through shadow after shadow towards a nearby side alleyway and Axisam grinned.

“You won’t get away!” She yelled.

She kicked off the ground and went after her, throwing kicks and punches wherever Laila tried to resurface from the shadow to catch her breath.

For Axisam, it wasn’t draining in the slightest.

For Laila, the more she teleported, the slower she got, and the closer Axisam’s attacks became.

Laila eventually stopped her rapid teleports as they found themselves at the entrance to a twenty eight story block of flats.

She rolled out of the shadow of a nearby car and ran up the small flight of stairs towards the flats, turning back around to face Axisam, the latter slowly walking towards her.

“Huh? Out of energy, little rabbit?” Axisam taunted, picking up a nearby rusty pole. “I thought you’d last longer.”

Laila didn’t reply.

She tried to hide her rapid breaths and clear exhaustion but Axisam could easily tell that Laila was either completely drained of energy or was almost out of teleports.

“Hey, do you know where the rest of your team are?” Axisam asked, throwing the pole up and down repeatedly in her hand. “It’d make it much easier for me, you know?”

Laila didn’t respond again.

“Fine then.”

Axisam threw the pole with as much power as she could, but Laila ducked beneath it and then disappeared into its shadow, reappearing inside the block of flats. Laila then quickly disappeared again as Axisam ran into the building, clicking her tongue.

“I got too playful with my prey,” She mumbled.

Axisam quickly looked around her and didn’t see Laila or anyone else on the floor, nor were there any signs of traps or bombs either.

However, that was more suspicious to Axisam than if there had been traps.

Have they laid them on the upper floors and expected me to go up the stairs and through them all? She wondered. Well, if that’s what you want, I’m sorry to disappoint you.

Axisam lowered herself close to the ground, summoned her dragon around her, gathered her energy and leapt with all of her might through the ceiling and then through the next twenty eight all the way to the rooftop. She landed, rolled forward and found Laila waiting for her, barely able to stand and her dagger sheathed.

“Yo, little rabbit,” Axisam purred.

Laila’s wide eyes and sheer look of terror upon seeing Axisam confirmed what she had already anticipated.

Laila and perhaps her other two remaining allies had booby-trapped the entire building, hoping that the firepower would have been enough to kill or seriously wound her on the ways to the top floors whilst Laila and they recovered their energy.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I kind of skipped your traps,” She said.

Laila burst through the stairs to the floor below and Axisam let out a small sigh.

“Don’t waste my time.”

Axisam stomped on the ground and dropped through onto the floor below and found Laila running towards her. Upon seeing the girl in the Drakhan Armour however, Laila skidded to a stop and fell onto her knees, practically unable to keep her eyes open.

“You did well to last this long, but it’s game over for you, little rabbit,” Axisam told her, flexing her arms.

As Axisam got closer to her, Laila slowly raised her head and let out a low laugh. Axisam stopped and looked at the girl, curious as to why she was laughing and then did she realise what she had done. There was a large ‘X’ drawn with ash on the ground where they were, meaning that they had managed to trap her.

Oh shit! Axisam thought.

“Got you,” Laila whispered.

As Laila vanished, a series of gigantic explosions went off in the building and on the ground where Axisam was standing.

The blasts were powerful enough that they badly dented her armour in lots of places, with some pieces threatening to snap and break off, and a large iron pole was launched through her back. Axisam stifled her scream as she realised that she was in a far worse situation, one that was more serious than a piece of metal sticking out of her back.

Laila had successfully baited Axisam into following her, then baited her into coming to the rooftop and then to the exact right spot where they could blow her up.

***

Evony’s plan was truly based on pure luck, but it had worked.

Given the remaining members of their team, as well as their damaged bodies and equipment, Evony knew that there was only one way that they could turn the tide against Axisam and that was to use the map’s modifiers against her; the timed explosives.

Once the previous set of explosions had gone off, Evony and the others quickly searched for other bombs, took them with them and planted them throughout the building so that when one detonated, they would all detonate, bringing the building down with them and either wounding or killing Axisam.

Should she survive, the blast would send her flying into the air, heavily damaged and vulnerable, as she wouldn’t be able to manoeuvre as well in the air as she did on the ground.

In those few moments, they would have a chance to kill Axisam.

With the trap set, all that was left to do was lure Axisam into it and trick her into simply going to the top floor first.

“How do you know she’ll head to the top floor first?” Jasmine asked.

“Because that’s what I would do if I were her,” Evony explained. “If someone that I was fighting had purposefully entered into a building, then I’d naturally assume that the entire thing’s filled with traps. So, to avoid them all, I’d either jump through the building to avoid them or go outside and leap up onto the rooftop.”

“She’ll come from the inside up,” Laila stated.

“How do you know that?”

“Based on what I’ve seen of her in previous tournament matches, she takes some pleasure in playing with those she’s fighting when she believes she has the upper hand. Once I start to run out of energy, Axisam will see my weakness and toy with me.”

“While that’s great and all, I thought you were almost out of energy,” Jasmine said. “Will you be quick enough to dodge her?”

“It doesn’t matter if I can move that fast or not. I have to, no matter how tired I am or how painful it becomes.”

***

Nine minutes and thirty seconds.

That was how long they had to plant the bombs and the amount of time Laila had to successfully lure over Axisam into their trap. They had planted the bombs in just over three minutes, meaning that Laila had to find Axisam quickly and lead her on the right path and for the correct amount of time in order to make the plan work.

Had her timing been off by even a second, it might not have worked.

Axisam flew a hundred metres into the air, her armour heavily damaged and her ears ringing madly. She was bleeding through the dozens of cracks in her armour and her body was screaming in pain, but it wasn’t fatal.

Team Diablo, two players remaining.

She hissed and tried to gain her bearings for, if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to land properly and keep herself alive.

However, Jasmine and Evony weren’t going to let that happen.

Positioned on the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper, Jasmine was lying down on top of it, aiming at Axisam as she soared into the air with her rifle. She waited until Axisam’s momentum began to slow and looked like she was about to fall out of the sky, and then she fired.

Two shots in quick succession at Axisam’s cracked chest piece.

The bullets smashed into it, denting it and chipping off two large pieces, exposing a few inches of Axisam’s bare skin.

Then, it was Evony’s turn.

A golden arrow soared through the air and smashed into the opening, right into Axisam’s heart, and the girl’s entire body sparkled, before exploding.

Dragon Team, no players remaining.

Team Diablo wins!

***

“Damn! Knocked out right before the finals!” Guntur cried, smashing his fist against his chair.

“Still, final four isn’t bad,” Holt said.

“That’s exactly what a loser would say!”

Axisam chuckled a little and let out a long sigh, staring up at their ceiling.

“What’s with you?” Damini asked. “How comes you’re not pissed off about this?”

“How could I be after how well they beat me,” Axisam replied with a big smile. “They used my confidence against me, set a trap for me and baited me into it. Ah, honestly, I’m happy that I was defeated like that rather than by someone stronger than me.”

“You’re…being weird tonight, boss,” Guntur said.

Axisam laughed heartily. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Is it because someone managed to beat you?” Holt asked.

“Not just that. It was how they beat me that impressed me. Even in such terrible states, they pulled out a win. I can’t be angry about that.”

Even though she said that, there was one thing that had been bothering Axisam since the fight had ended.

The arrow that Evony had fired.

It had travelled fast, much faster than Jasmine’s bullet right before it, and it was a bright golden colour which looked like it was made of lightning.

However, that wasn’t the only thing that bothered her.

It was also where the arrow had come from.

Whilst in the air, Axisam had been sure that a bomb had gone off in the area where the arrow came from, meaning that it should have been impossible for anyone to have been that close to the explosion and not get injured, let alone be able to fire an arrow so accurately afterwards.

Once the fight was done, Axisam had played back the footage and tried to get a better look at Evony, but the smoke from the bomb perfectly covered her and, right before the blast went off, Evony had a regular arrow knocked against her bow, not the golden one which had been fired.

Axisam frowned.

What was that golden arrow?

***

Kiara felt sick to her stomach when she saw herself in the mirror.

Hours had passed since the fight, she was at home and it was midnight; everyone else had already gone to sleep and she had been locked in the bathroom for the last hour.

Her fangs were so long that they were almost touching, her eyes hadn’t turned back to their natural shade of red, and she was sweating constantly from her brow, unable to calm her body down. Kiara had rushed home ahead of the rest of the team, saying that she had something that she had to do and drunk both of the blood packs that she had in the refrigerator in her room, and it still wasn’t enough.

Ever since Kiara had transformed into her true form, her throat had been on fire, craving for blood; but, no matter how much she consumed, she couldn’t quench her thirst.

Kiara had then gone over to the hospital and got two more blood packs which she was slowly sipping from. She finished the first one and then downed the second one in mere moments, almost coughing it back up from how quickly she tried to swallow it.

It was only after she had consumed the very last drop that her bloodlust began to subside and her thirst began to fade.

“Shit,” She whispered, wiping the remaining blood from her lips. She let out a low sigh and looked at herself in the mirror, still horrified and upset by the face she was making. “I shouldn’t have transformed.”

While Kiara struggled to properly control her powers and bloodlust in her normal Vampire form, it was impossible for her to control them when she transformed into her True Form.

Even after Teeq’s arena had collapsed, Kiara’s urges from then hadn’t fully faded from her mind nor the memories of what she had done, both of which terrified her.

She washed her hands, face and arms, quickly rubbing off what remaining blood and sweat was visible on her skin and forced her usual smile back onto her lips.

“Okay, that should do it!” She cheerfully told herself, giggling gently.

With a slight skip in her step, Kiara went back to her room, hoping to slip into her bed and get some rest after what had happened during the day and found Kaida waiting for her.

The redhead was sat on her bed, a nasty look on her face, and her normally comforting eyes looked like they were overflowing with anger.

“K-Kaida,” Kiara said in her usual tone of voice, closing the door behind her. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“You didn’t,” Kaida coldly replied.

“Did-Did you want to talk about-?”

“Kiara.”

“Y-Yes?”

“You can’t control your powers, can you?”

All the life drained from Kiara’s face.

“U-Uh, what makes you-?”

“At first, I thought that it was because of what Ashar said that you went out of control, but I guess I was too hopeful thinking that would be the case,” Kaida stated, a harsh tone in her voice. “Then, as the Tournament went on, I saw you; I saw it all. I saw you almost drink Seb’s blood and I saw the Headmistress cover for you, and I saw you unable to stand when you fought Ajax.

“Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, I decided to observe you after I got knocked out of the Dragon Team fight and I saw you transform and really lose control. Honestly, I was shocked that you and the monster that I saw were the same person and yet, no matter how I tried to tell myself it wasn’t you, I couldn’t convince myself otherwise.”

“K-Kaida…” Kiara whispered, inadvertently stepping back from her.

“Hey, Kiara,” Kaida began, standing up and slowly walking towards her. “If you were unable to control your powers, why didn’t you ever tell us?” As she walked towards Kiara, Kiara had backed up against the door and Kaida slammed her hand into it, trapping Kiara against it. “More than that, if you can’t control it normally, then why did you transform into your True Form?”

“I…I…”

“Kiara, I’m about to ask you a question and I want you to answer it honestly, okay?” Kiara nodded quickly out of fear. “Have you ever almost lost control of yourself around any of us?”

“…Yes…”

Kaida glared at her, looking right into her eyes. “Who was it?”

“You…are Kaida, right?”

“Who was it?”

“…Eric.”

Kaida’s aura flared.

She grabbed Kiara roughly by the collar, threw her against the wall and then slammed her palms against the wall, pinning her in place.

“Even when you know what he’s gone through, you didn’t tell him?” She screamed.

“Kaida, what are you-?” Kiara tried to ask but Kaida shot her a glance which chilled her very soul.

“If you ever lost control and hurt any of our team or Eric, I would never forgive you.”

Kaida released her and Kiara collapsed onto the ground, the strength gone from her legs, a few tears in her eyes.

Kaida had almost been as terrifying as her bloodlust taking over her mind.

“Ka…Kaida…I’m sorry…” Kiara whimpered.

Kaida, upon seeing Kiara in that state, snapped out of her angry state, dismissed her aura, her expression twisting in agony at seeing Kiara like that, and went to comfort her.

“No, I’m the one who should apologise!” Kaida yelled, hugging her tightly and rubbing the back of her head. “I…I don’t know what came over me just then.”

“Huh?” Kiara whispered.

“All I meant to do was just talk to you about it, not have a go at you. I’m so sorry, Kiara! I’m so sorry!”

“Kaida…” Kiara wiped her eyes and anxiously embraced her back. “Are…are you angry with me?”

“Only a little.”

“Are you…really sorry…?”

“Yes...When I saw you looking that scared, I felt like I had been snapped out of something.”

Kiara grunted and smiled sadly. “You too, huh?”

“Yeah, seems that way.”

The two of them held one another for another minute, before breaking apart and stepping out of the house, going to the deserted lakeside to talk in private.

They didn’t want anyone else in the house to hear what they were talking about.

They had bought a canned drink each, gone to a bench overlooking the water, and basked in the quiet of the night for a few, peaceful moments, before starting what they knew would be a difficult conversation.

“You can’t control your powers entirely, can you?” Kaida asked gently. Kiara nodded. “For an eighteen year old Vampire, it’s strange that you can’t control your-”

“I’m not.”

“Huh?”

Kiara smiled sadly. “I’ve…only been a Vampire for a few months.”

“That’s…what Ashar meant then?”

Kiara nodded. “I’m…an Impure Blood, and an Ancient Vampire at that.”

“Seriously?” Kaida yelled. “They’re the strongest type of Vampires!”

“Yeah…I know…”

“You don’t have to tell me about it if it’s difficult for you.”

“It’s fine. I…I need someone to talk about it, someone I can go to about this kind of stuff if it ever happens again.”

Kiara took a long, deep breath and began.

“I never knew my parents, you see,” She said. “They had me and dumped me outside a hospital in a wooden box with only a piece of paper saying, ‘Her name is Kiara’. I was told that my parents didn’t want me but didn’t believe in aborting a child, so they dumped me the first chance they could. I was adopted by a nice man and woman who couldn’t conceive naturally and, when I went to school when I was five, I met my best friend and the one who turned me into a Vampire; Eleanor Morrigan.

“She was always shorter than everyone else her age and had blond hair, blue eyes and was extremely cute. I was sat next to her in class on the first day and we quickly became best friends. We would do everything together: go to school and go home together, eat lunch together, play together, and we told each other everything. Come to think of it, there wasn’t a time when I was at school when I wasn’t with Eleanor.

“When I was eight, I came home one day to find a man inside the house. I had no idea who he was, but he was covered in blood. I panicked and ran up to my room; the man followed me. I locked the door and he slammed his fists and body against it over and over again. I didn’t know what was happening; I didn’t know why the man was covered in blood, or why he was in the house, but I ran away.

“Eventually, he stopped banging on the door and left. When I heard him leave the house, I ran downstairs, bolted the door shut and yelled out for my parents. I walked into the living room and there they were; strewn across the sofa and covered in blood. The next thing I knew, it was night time and there were police officers and paramedics in the house, a large crowd gathered outside.

“I was in so much shock that I couldn’t move. All I could do was listen to the police officers examine the crime scene. I didn’t understand anything that they said except one thing; my parents were dead. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital, no one beside my bedside, not that I wanted to see anyone, and I bawled my eyes out.

“That day…I…tried to kill myself. Tried leaping out of the window but the doctors restrained me, confined me to the bed and kept me under constant supervision. If Eleanor and her parents hadn’t visited me every day and kept talking to me, even when I told them to go away, then I probably would never have become who I am today.

“I only remember one of those days vividly and it was when Eleanor visited me by herself. She told me that what happened to me was too unfair, that it was too cruel, and that, in order to make sure that I never suffered such a thing again, she would stay by my side for our entire lives.” Kiara smiled sadly and closed her eyes. “She told me she loved me and that she couldn’t live without me. Those words were what I needed to hear and they saved me.

“After three months in the hospital, I was finally beginning to act like a normal child again and I was soon ready to be discharged, but I still had to see a therapist every week. As I was an orphan with no other known family members, Eleanor’s parents made a case to adopt me and it was approved. So, I spent most of my life living with her and her parents, and they were the happiest days of my life.

“From that day, Eleanor was my big, reliable older sister. She took me to and from school, refusing to leave my side except from when I was in my room. She protected me from bullies, made sure that I was accepted into her friendship groups and that I began to enjoy life again I don’t really remember how long it took, but I did start to enjoy life once again.

“When I turned seventeen, Eleanor told me her greatest secret; a secret that she had hoped to hide from me forever. She told me that she was a Vampire and, because she was born a Vampire, she would never age physically past the age of twenty. I had no idea what to say at first. When she told me, I ran to my room and locked the door.

“If Eleanor was born a Vampire, then that meant that her parents were Vampires as well. The morning after, though, I left my room and found Eleanor asleep outside; she had waited all night for me to leave my room. I woke her up and told her that I wanted to become a Vampire as well so I could stay with her forever.

“She didn’t want to give me her curse and refused at first, but, eventually, she finally agreed to turn me into a Vampire. One bite on the neck and that was it. It was painful, to say the least. My blood was burning as the corruption flowed through my veins. For days afterwards, it still burnt, but it was worth it. When I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time, I was surprised about how different I looked.

“Although only my eyes had turned red, I felt as if I was staring at a complete stranger. I opened my mouth and saw my new fangs; I pressed my fingertips against them and I cut my skin. I had no idea that they were that sharp.”

“What happened to Eleanor?” Kaida asked, already knowing what the answer most likely was.

“Last year, in August,” Kiara whispered. “You know the Cult of Helsing, right? One of their fanatics came to Canterbury and found out that they were Vampires. While I was out shopping, he attacked the house. When I came home, the house was already in ruins and there were…body parts…among them…”

“Was it them?”

“I…don’t know.”

“You didn’t check?”

“Because I was too scared to! I…I ran away. I left Canterbury and didn’t dare set foot back there. I ran as fast and as far away from there as possible and never looked back. I found my way to Imperial, applied to join the Guardians and was approved later that day by the Headmistress herself. She already knew all about me and that the Morrigan family in Canterbury had disappeared.”

“So, that’s why she kept covering for you in the Tournaments?” Kaida inquired.

“Yeah,” Kiara replied. “She’s also helped me control my vampiric instincts and has kept a close eye on me ever since I came here.”

“I see. Now I feel even worse for snapping at you before.”

“That…really did scare me, you know.”

“I know, and I’ll never forget the face you made.” Kaida winced and grabbed her shirt tightly. “Even I can’t believe that I did that.”

“Did you lose control to your Dragon?”

Kaida nodded. “It’s rare for it to happen to Dragon Users, but, for me…it happens when I’m very, very emotional. It…prayed on my worries that you’d lose control and attack Eric or the others and, as soon as that thought had crossed my mind, the Dragon prayed on it…and made me that angry with you.”

“Before when I said that I’d almost lost control around Eric, I thought you were going to kill me.” Kiara clenched her tin can tightly and her hands began to shake violently. “I know that you liked him, but still-”

“I did that because I know what it’s like to lose control of your powers around those you love.” Kaida took a deep breath and gazed upwards at the stars, a distant look in her eyes. “When I was first learning how to use my Dragon, I lost control of it in when training with my brother and…” Her voice caught in her throat and tears formed in her eyes. “I badly burnt his body. Practically all of the right side of his body...He…hadn’t summoned his Dragon, so…he couldn’t defend himself before the damage was done. I’ve never forgiven myself for what I did to him and I refuse to ever let anyone else do something like that because…I know how much you end up hating yourself for it.”

“So, you were just worried for me, not trying to threaten me into dropping out of the school?”

Kaida chuckled a little, looked into Kiara’s eyes and smiled. “I would never want you to go. Ever.”

“Well, thanks for that,” Kiara said back, a little relieved. “However.” She frowned. “It doesn’t change the fact that I can’t control my powers very well.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Um, maybe, I’m not sure.”

“What is it?”

“Well, Kasmine told me that drinking human blood once a week would greatly help stabilise my powers, meaning that I shouldn’t lose control as easily.”

“If that’s all, then, here,” Kaida said, sticking out her arm to Kiara. “Drink as much as you need.”

“Huh? Seriously?” Kiara asked, dumbfounded. “You’re…okay with it?”

“Yeah. Why? You’re not going to drink it all are you?”

“I wouldn’t do that!”

Kaida laughed gently and rolled up her shirt sleeve. “Then, help yourself.”

“If you insist.”

Kiara opened her mouth, her fangs extending, and she plunged them slowly into Kaida’s flesh, slowing drinking the blood from her veins like she would drink from a straw. After several large mouthfuls, Kiara withdrew her fangs, wiped down Kaida’s arm and then retracted her fangs, licking off the remaining blood from them.

“How did my blood taste?” Kaida jokingly asked.

“Honestly, it was a bit sweet for my taste,” Kiara said.

“Seriously?”

Kiara smirked. “I guess it’s the taste of a maiden in love.”

Kaida’s face went bright red and Kiara giggled at the sight. Even though Kaida had wanted to yell at her for teasing her, she couldn’t after seeing Kiara’s usual expression come back to her face.

“I’m sorry about what happened tonight, Kiara,” Kaida said, bowing slightly to her. “I want to do everything that I can to support you as best I can, so please rely on me when you feel like you need it.”

“Yeah, I will,” Kiara replied, smiling softly. “And…thank you, Kaida. I really appreciate it. More than you could ever know.”

Kaida smiled back. “You’re very welcome.”