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Kalon
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Chapter Twenty-Three: Shuma Duka
Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant
Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation
Solar System: D-447
Planet: Ora
Location: Beneath the planet's surface, Naro City, Lower City Markets
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“I have heard he was executed many times, more than five years ago now according to most tales,” the blue-haired woman says shaking her head “That cannot be true though.”
My ears are only half listening, as my eyes are focused on the guard captain and his two men that move toward us. He whistles loudly over the noises of the crowd, flagging down other groups of guards and pointing at Korra and me.
“I think we have his attention now,” Korra says, her hand gripping my shoulder tighter, the grin on her lips spreading.
“He is not dead, I am sure of it.” The blue-haired woman says, though her voice does not carry far, there is a wavering in it, as though even she doubts the words.
There is a feeling that swims up to meet me, despite the anxiousness of what is to come, hearing the sadness that licks at the edges of the woman’s voice. The feeling is pity I realize now. My hand moves to her shoulder, almost surprising me.
“Move on, he is gone,” I say, my tone is softer than it normally is.
“He is alive.” She says, almost defensively.
Letting out a sigh I remove my hand from her shoulder. She does not want to see reason. There is no point in dwelling on it. My eyes trace to the encircling guards now, I have more pressing concerns.
“Why do we linger?” I ask Korra.
“It is not time yet.” She says, batting her eyelashes at me playfully.
The instincts I have built over a lifetime as an Ulima tell me we need to leave now. This woman Korra, is she truly following a plan from Yuri and Nekam? Or is this something her mind created from the voices it imagines? There are twelve now, four groups of three guards. My legs begin to step backward, but Korra holds me firmly in place. Shaking her finger at me, her grin becomes more menacing than playful.
I hear the unmistakable gait of Arrum, his steps heavy and fast, whirling my head around I see he is running, clutching a bag. His eyes turn to look behind him. My heart's tempo explodes as I see the man who was with the blue-haired woman giving chase.
“Archie, what are you…” the blue-haired woman begins, her head turning to Arrum and the bag in his grasp “Oh fragging hells.”
Wind rushes as she moves, her pace faster than I expected. Leaving Korra and me alone, the guards coming closer still, less than ten paces from the closest.
“Now is a good time,” Korra says, pushing from me and running into the crowd, leaving a trail of laughter as she goes.
My legs move to run after her, but I stumble over to the ground, looking down, I see that she looped a thin rope around my ankle and the metal table. The guards are only three paces away.
“Think fast, good luck!” Korra yells, sticking her tongue out at me as she slips past three of the guards who give chase to her.
“Do not let him escape, we only need one to tell us where the rest go.” The guard captain says to the remaining nine.
My heart reaches a pound in my chest as I grab my blade quickly from my boot, cutting at the cord of rope, it is sturdier than it looks.
“Vek, Vek, Vek.” I curse, the cord finally cutting free.
There is no time to stand, they are upon me, I roll between one's legs, their cumbersome metal armor makes it difficult for them to be agile. In a straight line, their powered armor will let them overtake me, so I must be evasive.
“Get him!” one yells, swinging an arm where I once was, smashing into another, denting their armor and sending them flying backward.
Two more rolls, making it to a merchant's table that sells cloaks and furs. I take a bundle, cutting the cord that holds it, and throwing it into the air, the contents billowing outward, obstructing some of the guards, though not as many as I hoped.
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“Shuma Duka!” the merchant curses at me.
He throws a metal canister at me, I move to the side, dodging it easily, he is the least of my worries. The guards are not far behind me, but I am gaining distance steadily, I may be able to escape. As long as I am in the crowd, they won't fire their energy weapons.
“Twenty Deca for whoever catches him!” Korra yells from the third story of the markets.
My eyes shoot up to her, she is smiling ear to ear. The crowd of people around me begin to look at me greedily. Sekat, if I make it out of here. Never has a woman tormented me so. If I survive this mission, I will be glad to be rid of her.
I need to get distance from here, my eyes trace over to the rope from the maintenance rafters that I saw before, attached to a counterbalance it will take me upwards quickly, I should be able to outmaneuver them.
A sound erupts in the crowd suddenly, my eyes trace over to the source, it is Arrum. His runes are ignited, and he knocks down shelves of wares behind him. He turns and sees me, my feet move to him now, the man that made me wary is close behind. The ground tremors as a person smashes through a table from a story above, cutting Arrum off. My eyes blink twice, it is the blue-haired woman.
She stands slowly, brushing the debris off her.
“Give that back!” she roars.
He looks behind me, seeing the guards chasing me, his eyes want to ask for help, but he is hesitating, not wanting to add to my burden.
“Give it to me!” Korra yells from above.
Arrum hurls the bag upwards. My breath draws in rapidly as I try to find the calm. The blue-haired woman curses loudly as she looks upwards, her legs planting firmly before she leaps, my eyes blink fast as she lands on the second story. There are gasps in the crowd from those who saw.
She jumped a floor in a single bound, is she wearing powered armor? I did not think so, her frame looked like that of a fit woman. There must be some trick to it. Jumping such a distance is unnatural without powered armor. The man with her grabs onto pipes and climbs rapidly. Whoever these people are, they are formidable.
“Did you see that?” one of the guards says, looking upwards towards the woman.
The guards no longer give chase to me, all of them peer at the woman who darts after Korra.
“Your lucky day.” The guard captain says, giving me a look of irritation, he whistles loudly drawing the other guards' attention.
Does he mean to follow her instead?
He points for his men to follow the woman now, grabbing one of the men he says “Send a runner to the city chief. Something’s not right here.”
“Understood, captain.” The man says.
I do not linger, I move to find Arrum, still wary that they may turn back to me at any second.
“She’s out of her mind.” Arrum pants, his breath coming more steadily as his runes begin to fade.
“Did you see the woman jump?” I ask him, still puzzled by it.
“That’s nothing, I saw her smash through a wall like it was made of paper,” Arrum says, his brow soaked in beads of sweat.
“Through a wall?” I say, measuring his eyes.
“She is not normal.” Arrum says, his eyes looking around still “The man with her is strong too, he threw a cart with one hand.”
My ears are struggling to believe his words, even with an Etherium shard, it would be extremely difficult for a strong person to pick up a cart with both hands. The weight is more than four men when empty, most would never get it off the ground no matter how much Maka flows in them.
“We should leave.” Arrum says, his breath is more steady now, but his hands are still shaking “Whatever Korra has planned, I do not think Nekam has approved it. This is not his way.”
Arrum is right, Nekam is cautious and secretive, and his enemies never see him coming, this is reckless. Korra is reckless. She will get us killed at this rate. Not even to the third phase. My stomach churns. Should we leave her? Should we return to Nekam and profess our failure to him? Hoping that he does not expel us from the Clan… no, failure is not an option.
“He will understand,” Arrum says, though his words do not hold confidence.
“No, he will not.” I sigh.
“Vek!” Arrum curses, his jaw flexing as he says “You are probably right, but this is too much, she is too much.”
“Did Korra tell you what the next phase of the plan was?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. His eyes are angry and scared by what they saw.
“If we don’t know it, we must help her. For better or worse, she is our guide.” I say.
“Definitely for worse,” Arrum says, kicking an empty bucket as we move towards the sound of commotion.
It does not take us long to find Korra and her laughter as she dodges debris being thrown by the man. The man grabs a box of wares two times his size and hurls it towards Korra, smashing three stalls in the process. There are screams from the crowd of people who are quickly fleeing the markets. Some nursing broken bones and cuts as they hobble away.
“I told you,” Arrum says, his voice quivering, he does not want to help her.
How can it be that they are this strong? I cannot see their skin, so I don’t know if their runes are ignited, but even still, how does one possess this much strength even with Maka? It is like the stories I heard as a child. No, there must be an explanation. Compact powered suit, or maybe mechanical limbs. The Sage told me that on other planets and even in the Arasha cities of our planet, people possessed robotic parts. That is what this must be, otherwise…
“A little help!” Korra yells, leaping from a cart, and heading straight toward Arrum and me. Her speed is incredible, but she knows she cannot beat them in a straightforward sprint, so she changes directions, leading them through the twists and turns of the vendor stalls, leaping through openings, and contorting her body perfectly each time.
Twelve guards chase the blue-haired woman and her ally, whom chase Korra and whatever is in the bag. Whatever is in it must be important.
“Sekat.” Arrum curses, beginning to back up, they are less than thirty paces from us.
The blood pumps faster when they reach ten paces, Arrum gives me a glance.
“You take left, I’ll take…” he doesn’t get the chance to finish as a large crate smashes next to Korra, sending her tumbling over the railing toward the first floor of the market. She crashes violently into the top of a stall, bending the metal bars as she breaks through the cloth of its covering.
Arrum and I do not stop to think, we move with purpose as we leap the rail, sliding down a large pipe, the surface so hot it scalds our hands. Korra groans from the tangle of cloth, a cut on her brow bleeds steadily.
Her eyes look dazed, she is lucky the stall broke her fall. She tries to stand but winces in pain gripping her leg, groaning louder. She turns and looks upward, seeing the blue-haired woman is almost upon us.
“Take the bag and go.” She says pushing it into my hands.
The ground shakes as the blue-haired woman lands next to us.