102 Respite (1/2)

My head popped back, “Wait...You aren’t going to fight anymore...period?”

She shook her head back and forth, “No. I told you already. I’m done.”

I leaned down, my stomach sinking for a bit. Kessiah’s nose and eyebrows creased at me, like she was expecting me to condemn her. I wasn’t planning on it. It hurt losing her, I won’t lie about that. Kessiah was our highest level member. Killing another follower without her would be a desperate struggle.

The thing is though, we could probably manage now, especially with Althea’s help. Torix would lose summons, we would need a plan for sure, but we could manage without Kessiah. She didn’t use the experience as well as I or Torix did either. We could make something happen with a 500 level boost.

Kessiah’s had a 1000 level boost over all of us, but she somehow managed to pull the least weight. In fights, clearing rifts, gathering intel, or even just managing people, Kessiah wasn’t doing much. I couldn’t blame Kessiah for wanting to call it quits either.

Nearly being absorbed by an eldritch then having her mind controlled by it...the feeling of violation and shame must be palpable. She was supposed to be our trump card. In the end, she was almost our downfall. I don’t think any of us would blame her for what happened, but she probably blamed herself. I know I would blame myself if I was in her shoes.

All these thoughts raced in my head before I reached out. I placed a hand on her shoulder. It was a gentle touch as I spoke with the same tone,

“That’s ok. We’ll find something else for you to do.”

Kessiah looked up at me, her eyes narrowing, “Aren’t you going to call me weak?”

There was a cold bite in her words. She had expected us to lash out at her. She reminded me of an abused dog, recoiling from anything that came near it.

I shook my head, “I wouldn’t call it weak. That eldritch-” Kessiah shivered at the word, “-was horrific. I don’t expect anyone to want to face something like that. Besides,” I lifted my hand, a warp of gravity forming over Kessiah.

“I can handle it.”

Kessiah floated up, the warp of gravity fluid and controlled. None of the gravity’s pull was wasted. It was a level of control I’d never known, a revolution in my finesse with my own abilities.It was a casual display of vast technical skill. All the skill points in Force of Nature made it that simple.

Even Hod gasped at it. Torix shook his head in disbelief at the sudden jolt in control. Kessiah looked on in disbelief as well, her anger fading. She landed on her feet, flabbergasted at me lifting her. I pulled my helmet off, my armor shifting in silence,

“I’ll tear them apart, limb from limb. I’ll make them regret even thinking of coming here. You're not the one that needs to worry. I can promise you that.”

What made my words so convincing was the belief behind them. I was supremely confident. There wasn’t any fear that I wouldn’t do it. I was facing a monster of mythic legends. In my eyes, that legend would end here on earth. From what I could tell behind me, the others sensed my confidence as well.

Kessiah blinked, “Ah, are you sure? I...I just don’t want to fight anymore. Having that monster under my skin...I just can’t do it anymore. Please...”

I shrugged, “Yeah, that’s ok. I’d much rather you keep fighting with us, and it would really help. The thing is, you shouldn’t be forced to.”

Kessiah bit her lip, her voice straining, “I...I’m sorry.”

I nudged her, “Come on, it’s not a big deal.”

She looked around, struggling for words, “But, you saved my life again. I’m just making things worse, all the time. I nearly killed Torix and Hod. I tried killing you. Now I’m leaving you to kill more of those things without my help. I just don’t get it. Why don’t you hate me?”

She pointed at her chest, “Even I hate me. You should hate me too. I know that bag of bones and dumb bird do.” She grabbed the sides of her head,

“They should. I fucked everything up. There’s so much on the line here, and yet I just...I just want to run away. I’m the strongest here and the most afraid...”

I raised an eyebrow, “I don't know about the strongest anymore. Besides, you can fight in other ways.”

She looked at me, her face confused. I continued,

“There's all kinds of projects you could do for the troops here. You could create build layouts for newer recruits. You could plan out courses for unlocking common unique skills. You could make bootcamp for people, disciplining the troops further than just basic skills.”

I grinned, “You don’t have to swing your fists on the front lines to fight a war. You can fight here at home too.”

With an offhand tone and staring in the distance, Torix murmured, “I could help organize the courses...If you need the help.”

Hod chimed in, “Hod help Eltari learn about Kessiah. Kessiah help Eltari learn about skills. Eltari fight in Kessiah’s place.”

I spread out my hands, “Yeah, and if you change your mind about kicking some ass, then we’ll be here, ready and waiting.”

Kessiah nodded her head, overwhelmed by the support, “I just need to process all this...I just need some time after that thing got me like that...I’ll get back up...”

Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked down, ”Gah, fuck you guys. I never cry.”

She ran up, hugging me. I was half a head taller than her now. Her head fit along the nape of my neck, and I hugged her back. I whispered, “It’s alright. IT's alright.”

Kessiah cried like that, a soft, restrainedkind of cry. She wasn't sobbing out. It was a heart warming moment instead of a bitter loss. In a weird way, the situation had brought us together, somehow. Kessiah quit crying before she pushed herself off me. She wiped her face,

“Thank you.”

With a sly grin, I ruffled her white hair, “No problem. Now go lay down for a bit. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

She shoved my hand off her head, a slight smile on her face, “Yeah. I’m out on my feet.” She turned to Torix, “I’ll send you a message when I’m ready for organizing actual courses. See you guys later.”

Hod raised his wing, “Hod tired too. Hod find bedroom. Goodbye, Harbinger and Dry Man.”

Hod spread his wings and shot into the sky. Torix grumbled, “You get called Harbinger and I get called Dry Man...”

I laughed before walking up to Torix, ”And you're called master and I'm a disciple.”

Torix smiled, “And don't you forget it. There's still much I can teach you yet.” Torix watched Kessiah walk off, ”Now I’ve lost one of my best baits. You'll have to take her place I suppose.”

I shrugged, “I'm made for it. Even then, two of the followers are out of commission. We just need Elijah to step away from Ajax, then we’ll rip the angel’s wings off and stab them through his chest.”

Torix pointed at me, “Quite a visceral description, but I agree. Once he’s dead, destroying the rest of their infection will be inevitable.” Torix stared at plumes of yellow smoke billowing off the burning forests of Yawm. His lips curled up, the menacing expression full of satisfaction,

“I’ll relish watching the world tree burn.”

I raised my hands, “First things first. We need to kill Elijah next. Without Kessiah’s help, facing off against Ajax isn’t an option. Not yet.”

Torix cupped his chin, “How are we going to handle him exactly though is-”

I raised a hand to Torix, “I’ll make the plan and organize the team for it.”

Torix raised an eyebrow, his fire eyes growing in size and intensity, “Really? You don’t have too. I can handle it.”

I waved my hands, “Nuh uh. I heard what you said about me before we left for Kessiah. You're right. I need to plan some things out for myself. If I see a damn problem, it's up to me to fix it.”

Torix frowned, Reaching out a hand, “Those were words spoken in anger. Don’t take them to heart. I meant nothing by them.”

I shook my head, “I’m not mad at you Torix. I’m mad at myself. You were right about you having to handle everything. Your attention should be on managing the push against the quarantine. Putting all that and all our movements was a hell of a strain on you. We were being ridiculous.”

I raised a fist, “I’ll organize the teams and the plan we need against Elijah. I’ll send it to you when I finish them. You review and send it back. I’ll gather the resources from the reserve before heading out with the plan. I’ll need your help, so have the battlefront handled for the few hours the plan lasts.”

Torix gave me a hard look, like he was searching for something. He nodded, slowly at first before he was agreeing with me,

“Excellent. I look forward to what you plan out.”

I grinned at him, “Hell yeah. I’ll see you later. I have work to do.”

With amusement painting his face, Torix rubbed his hands together, “So do I. Good luck, disciple.”

I turned around, dashing up. I slid into the ground without having to dive, like I was walking into the earth. My runes charged in seconds. As I reached my head underneath the ground, I unleashed the surge of energy. The impact rippled through the ground, sending me firing off towards my tent.

Whenever I burst from the ground, my own velocity amazed me. I dipped in and out of the earth, faster than flight or falling. The downside came with the craters I left behind. They left a trail behind me, making me easy to follow. The sheer size of the craters was tremendous as well. Even if I distributed my weight outwards, I still left a bus sized impression in the ground.

The rush of fluidity and power and speed was worth it, however. It was like being born anew. I was much faster than Hod now. He was limited by how fast he could fall. That’s what flight really was, a controlled descent. I could outspeed that since I could launch myself faster than I could fall.

Using this travel, I reached my tent in seconds. I didn’t bust into the area. It would make far too much noise. I travelled under the earth instead. As I reached my tent, I sensed a member of the steel legion leaving it. Curious about what he was doing, I walked out of the ground as if the earth wasn’t even there.

A look of abject horror spread on his face as he fumbled backwards. He fell onto his back, as I willed my helmet off. The amor flowed down my back as I smiled,

“Now what are you doing here?”

He raised his hands, pulling off his power armor helmet. Under the mask was John Diesel, an engineer who helped me with Althea’s rifle. He had a huge crush on her, and everyone called him Diesel because John was such a common name. The whole time he helped me, he tried hiding his obvious infatuation with Althea.

I could understand why he was intimidated by her. That reminded me of Althea’s message. Days passed and I still hadn’t replied. I murmured,

“Oh shit. Althea’s going to kill me.”

John’s raised an eyebrow, “Daniel? Thank Jesus. I thought I was dead.” He sighed, “Please, never sneak up on me like that again.”

I frowned, “Oh, sorry Diesel.” I offered him a hand, “You just reminded me that Althea sent me a message a while back. I haven’t replied in days.”

Diesel stood up, patting dirt off his armor, “If she does kill you, serves you right for trying to give a poor soldier a heart attack.” Diesel looked at me, light reflecting off his glasses,

“You look...different.”

I raised my arms, “I’m a bit bigger than last time we saw each other.”