Solaris was waiting for us.

Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But when we landed back onto land with our jetpacks I was shocked to see him there waiting. He and his group didn’t have jetpacks but they never left to even try to get them from Martrydom. Was he going to just test his luck through the mines? It certainly was an idea but I didn’t think he was that stupid. Then again I did think he lacked the empathy to care that his allies would be injured so who would know?

“He’s waiting,” Red told me over our private channel. “He’ll wait and take out the tired groups.”

“Then we should stop him.”

“Why? He’ll take from the weak, he doesn’t want to fight us when he can take from someone weaker than us.”

“He’s a scumbag!”

“He’s a scumbag who will prey on the weak. We the strong don’t need to worry about him. Like I said Solaris is self-destructive, when the weak get culled he’ll fall behind the real Einherjar.”

Or once he’s lost interest in killing the weak, he’ll aim for the strong. I didn’t say this out loud, she didn’t seem to be in the mood for back and forths today but I kept my mouth shut.

There goes my plan to hunt Solaris, with him staying back here I don’t think even if I went fully suicidal I could take out the bastard while his whole team was protecting him. Damnit! Why couldn’t he just not be the worst human ever and actually do the events properly instead of just being a horrible person?

The bastard in orange armour gave me a wave as we flew over the minefield and I was sure to flip him off. I still had the rest of this year and three more to kill him.

“Did you know?” I asked Red as we flew through the air.

“Know what?”

“Red, I have told you many times to not play these games with me.”

“Yeah, I did. I was never really worried about you going to hunt Solaris 'cause I knew he was just going to patiently wait at the finish line.”

“Is that why you were hesitant to give the jetpack to Janus? With him, you thought I might try my luck anyway.”

“You know me so well. But yes. Truthfully, I am annoyed at the change of plans but I’m glad that I can ensure you won’t waste your life trying to kill Solaris.”

“Honestly. If Solaris and I were to have fought, who would have won.”

“Solaris.”

We hit the ground and started the next launch with the jetpack. Slayer Jetpacks were smaller and compact to be able to be a modification onto the armour. Unfortunately, this smaller design meant less fuel so instead of a steady use to fly through the sky which was one options, Slayers instead used them more as jump boosts to cover more land and conserve fuel.

Every leap with our enhanced strength and jet packs allowed us to clear distance quickly as like fish we appeared briefly over the canopy before submerging back into the forest.

As we weaved through the trees we moved forward without break we killed any Seraphim that posed any threat. A particularly large python Seraphim tried eating Pallas whole but Red put a bullet into his eye allowing us to continue running. No point in killing Seraphim when the option to run away was still valid.

The more we progressed though the less we were actually attacked. Strange? Shouldn’t it be the other way around due to the culling? What was also extremely concerning was the several bird-like Seraphim flying above us. Red had shot down a few but they were surprisingly agile and good at dodging.

“Can these birds piss off?” Janus growled over the radio.

“They are giving away our position,” Pallas explained. “The Seraphim near the start are probably new, not used to the way Martyrdom runs things. These Seraphim further away have survived for years. Hunted several grades, they know their roles and worse how to deal with us.”

“Be prepared to fight some of the worse Seraphim earlier than expected. They probably saw the helicopters and I wouldn’t be shocked if most hid away at the back during the culling but then moved up when they knew the event had started.” Red added. Despite being the fastest out of all of us she wasn’t at the front, that honour was given to Pallas.

She intentionally wasn’t moving as quickly as she could, I would hope it was for the sake of letting us slower people catch up but I knew the real reason was a lot more selfish. I didn’t expect Pallas to be at the front though. Was she seriously okay with risking him? That honestly was a bit surprising.

“How far till the receiver?” I asked. Before the start of the event, there were a few trackers given out. Of course, all the Einherjar got one but there were plenty for a few non-Einherjar.

“If we keep moving at this rate we’ll hit it in thirty minutes.”

Thirty minutes… If I was a Seraphim that’s where I’d wait.

The next thirty minutes were silent aside from Janus occasionally trying to lighten the mood with poor jokes. No Seraphim did end up attacking us which had us all on edge. We really haven’t even seen many except for those who stayed hidden in the shadows. Just waiting, watching.

“Well, there it is.” Red pointed out.

It was a bomber plane wreckage. Whether it was placed there for the sake of data recovery mission simulation or it was real wreckage that the fourth years decided to use was unknown but I suppose it made sense. It was in the middle of a small clearing and was in its own little crater.

Our group was all hiding in bushes or behind trees on the edge of the clearing looking for any Seraphim that were waiting to ambush us which was for certain.

“Janus. You ready?” Red asked, she herself was loading her gun checking for any issues before the soon-to-be fight.

“Yes.”

“Wait, what?” I interrupted.

“Someone needs to trigger the obvious trap,” Red explained as if her sacrificing someone was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Then I should go. I have the healing ichor.”

“You can still die to instant kills, what if something crushes your head? You can’t heal a decapitated or crushed head.” Red argued and while she was right she was intentionally being argumentative.

“Red, this is what I’m here for. I’m the perfect one to trigger traps and you know it.”

“Canis. I can do this.” Janus begged.

“No, you can’t.”

“See, he wants to.” Red once again argued. “And more importantly I am the leader. It doesn’t matter what is smartest, what you think is best or what even is best. We do what I say.”

“You recruited me 'cause you wanted to have someone to protect your squad while you do what it takes to win. This is one of those times. Please Red, let me do what you recruited me for.” I hated it but I had to appeal to her dominance. She was the leader and she would gladly make an intentionally bad decision if it meant it was hers. She barely listened to Pallas who had mastered the skill of talking her down but even he couldn’t stop her once her mind was set.

“No.”

“Okay… then it’s a good thing we both know I’m leaving after you get your ichor.” With that, I leapt out of the bushes towards the wreckage.

Red would be furious but she wouldn’t risk her squad following me. I essentially forced her to accept me as the one to take the risk. At least Janus would be safe.

“That was pretty cool,” Janus said beside me, as usual, the boy was following in my shadow.

“Thanks.” Hang on… “Janus! What the fuck! I did this so you wouldn’t die!”

“Yeah… but what Red said is true. You could die, I’m here to help!” He gleamed. Idiot.

“Just stay a few steps back. If you think I’ll die step in.”

“Yes sir!”

I grumbled but I suppose if I could decide to sacrifice my life then so could he. Even though now instead of one sacrifice we were both going to die. So it was less of a sacrifice and now just a suicide pact. Damnit Janus.

The two of us hit the wreckage. I alone, however, would be the one to enter. Truthfully I was expecting a Seraphim inside waiting. Much like when I fell into the ocean I was expecting to be swarmed with tentacles and to be drowned in flesh before Janus could save me but surprisingly it was empty.

“I have been ordered to call you ungrateful bastard. Ungrateful bastard, are you dead yet?” Pallas asked over the radio.

“Not yet.”

“Red says shame.” Of course, she does.

I walked through the wreckage, being sure to check for ambushes there was some of the smaller Seraphim scuttling away, but no real harm came to me.

Now if I was a fourth year where would I put the receiver? No doubt they would be painful and place it all the way into the cockpit which was currently all the way at the bottom. Couldn’t even break through the glass as the cockpit had nose-dived into the ground burying it under dirt. The thing was almost vertical as I hopped down landing on the dashboard.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Now where was the thingy-

“Fuck!” I screamed shooting back and hitting my back against the wall. I guess this was a real wreckage as the decomposed skeleton that was still in his seatbelt was still there. His skull was split in half so I guess he died in the crash and the Seraphim didn’t bother with him, but fuck. It was a surprise.

However, there in his pocket was a playing card-shaped piece of metal that had chips and wires all over it. It even had a small red blinker on it.

“Oh you sick fucking bastards,” I whined, no doubt that was the receiver and a rather unfunny prank by a fourth-year. “I’ve found the receiver.”

“Then hurry up and let's get out of here.” Pallas voice rang through my helmet.

I reached into the pocket picking up the receiver. Thanks to the high-tech nature of the Slayer armour there were plenty of chip storages on the armour of varying sizes. At least this receiver was able to fit in one.

This was all going smoothly, maybe the fourth years were a bit overzealous in their culling, it was almost too easy. Predictably almost on cue something went wrong. The cockpit of the plane where I resided was ripped out of the ground as the shattered windshield that was trapped in dirt suddenly was exposed to the open sky.

I would have worried about Janus who should have been waiting for me outside the plane but my thoughts were rather selfishly preoccupied with how to best cover myself as I hit wall after wall and collided a few times with the skeletons of the dead pilots until I was finally flung out of the cockpit through the windshield.

I bounced off the dirt, my armour absorbing the impact to the point the damage was negligible till I finally rolled to a stop.

The wreckage of the plane was upheaved from the dirt by what appeared to be a large boulder impacting the side sending scraps of metal everywhere. Janus himself was lying on the floor unmoving a few meters away.

“What the fuck!” I screamed into the radio. “What happened?!”

“We don’t know one moment everything was fine the next a huge ass rock came flying at you!” Pallas screamed back. “Janus just happened to be facing towards where it came from and got scraped. Janus, are you alright?”

There was no response. I got up from the dirt, Janus wasn’t too far away the hit knocked us close together, it wouldn’t take long for me to reach him and check if he was still alive. However, the moment I stood up another boulder appeared from the darkness of the forest hurtling towards me like a cannonball. If I hadn’t just happened to be looking in the right direction I wouldn’t have had the time to raise my arms to protect my upper body.

The blow knocked me off my feet and sent me back several metres. My armour did its best to weaken the impact but the sheer force of the boulder fractured my arm and dislocated my left arm at the elbow. I wasn’t quick enough with my left arm and I couldn’t get it to my chest resulting in it being carried by the boulder till it eventually reached its maximal extension resulting in the dislocation of my elbow.

“Canis!” I didn’t hear Red’s scream despite it ringing through my helmet.

No one came out to help Janus and I, whatever was hurling these boulders was hiding in the shadows. So I didn’t get up, With my arms injured so bad it would take a while to heal just to get into a position I could fight. At least being on the floor would make it too difficult for the boulders to come.

“Canis are you still alive?” Pallas asked.

“Yes.” I moaned. “Janus is an unknown, he isn’t moving.”

“Janus is now considered KIA” Red answered. “We have the receiver, we rush back now.”

“How exactly do we do that? We have an unknown Seraphim sniping us?” Hygeia asked.

“I’m not leaving without Janus,” I growled annoyed that the conversation had been derailed off his potential death.

“Canis be realistic.” Pallas hissed back. “We can’t allow favouritism to influence our decision-making, the goal is the receiver nothing more.”

“Oh, you fucking coward.”

“Shut up everyone!” Red commanded. “We are surrounded by an unknown amount of Seraphim and everyone who isn’t me is giving orders. Give me a fucking second!”

No one spoke as Red thought, but with the silence, it was almost like you could hear the tidal wave of thoughts running through her head. Every possibility, every fear, how many people she could afford to lose, who was the best to die?

“Hygeia, run toward Canis and get the receiver.” Red finally said.

“What?” The girl said in disbelief. “But Red… come on, I’ve always been good. Is this about the sex jokes? You know that wasn’t serious, I’ll stop I promise. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I gave you an order,” Red said, her monotone voice unforgiving. “I will not accept insubordination in my squad. Leave now or obey me, there will not be another option.”

“Y-y-yes ma’am.” Hygeia bowed, her voice quivering in fear.

“After she runs Landsat you follow behind by ten meters. Do you have anything to say about that?”

“No,” He did, everyone could hear the hatred in his voice. But he wouldn’t, not now at least. Not when he was surrounded in a forest of Seraphim and his survival depended on how much Red liked him.

“Canis, join our private channel,” Red commanded. “Hygeia will run and take the first hit, count the time it takes for the next boulder. That’s the amount of seconds you have to make it back to me.”

“And I assume Landsat is for if there are multiple Seraphim?”

“Correct, it will guarantee there are multiple snipers and well… this mission will be aborted. Ideally, there is only one threat and it will miss Hygeia and we can all make it home safe and sound.”

“Except Janus.”

“Sacrifices need to be made. You think I’m thrilled at letting Landsat and Hygeia die for an ungrateful bitch who is going to leave me afterwards! I swear I will fucking kill you, do you hear me Canis. I will make whatever Solaris did to you look like child’s play. You are mine! Don’t you forget that? You want to save Janus? I don’t care, but you will get me my receiver or you will die trying.”

“Yes.”

“No, I don’t think you understand. You betray me right now I will strap you down on a table in front of everyone and literally fucking torture you. Your nails will be ripped off, your dick castrated, and I will pull out every single one of your teeth till you are reduced to a moaning mess.”

I bit my lip… could I really abandon Janus? He was the first person who was actually loyal to me. The rest of The Hounds were loyal to me so long as I was their best option but Janus was truly loyal. His reasoning wasn’t great but it was at least something.

“I understand.”

“Good.” Her voice was thick with a mix of superiority and loathing. “Everyone get ready we move out in ten seconds, we can’t be here for much longer!”

Hygeia was the first out, she pumped her legs hard and emerged from the forest. She didn’t look over at me once instead facing her head towards the direction she knew where the boulders were coming from.

Maybe I could have run up to her and halved the distance to get her but that would have risked me getting hit and losing the receiver which neither Red nor I wanted. She was actually getting quite close, had the Seraphim left after it thought it killed Janus and I? However just then a mixture of all the worse things happened.

1. Hygeia looked away from the forest to better close in on me.

2. A boulder emerged from the forest.

3. When she turned her head towards me her neck was already at a bad angle.

I held in a gasp when I saw the boulder bounce off her head. Her helmet cracked, no doubt giving her a concussion, but truthfully was probably not a problem anymore. What was worse though was the fact her head could see her back. Now with her neck at a full half-rotation, I could see the back of her helmet.

Hygeia collapsed on the ground lifeless now with a broken neck. Potentially she could still be alive, just paralysed from the neck down. If she got to the med bay we could heal her, it takes a few weeks after breaking the spinal cord to recover but there is no permanent damage with a med pod.

I doubt she would be saved. Instead, I started counting in my head, one, two, three. Landsat turn was next and to his credit, he didn’t stop even after Hygeia was hit. He made it even further than Hygeia but unlike her he didn’t take hit eyes off the forest and when the boulder came seven seconds after it hit Hygeia he was able to avoid the boulder.

When the boulder was thrown I leapt up from the ground, one arm was still useless but the other was at least somewhat still usable. I had seven seconds, that’s how long it takes for the Seraphim to reload, it appears there was also only one as only one boulder came at a time.

I ran as hard as I could. I only had seven seconds to make it to Red, I wouldn’t be able to make it in time from a ground start but I could make it to Janus.

“Canis! What are you doing!” Red screamed at me. “Landsat get the fucking receiver!”

Sure enough, Landsat was hot on my tail empowered by anger as no doubt he was furious at me putting his life at risk. Sorry Land but you’re life just wasn’t as important as Janus’ to me and at the end of the day It’s who I care about the most who will benefit.

Both Land and I leapt to the ground after our mental count of seven seconds was up and sure enough, a boulder flew over our heads. Thankfully I had made it next to Janus and I quickly took off the boy’s helmet.

He was breathing, just unconscious for now. Thank God.

“Dude! What the fuck is wrong with you!” Land yelled at me.

“Piss off,” I yelled back. “Here is the stupid receiver, get back to Red and tell her that we’re done. I’ll make it back by myself.”

I threw the receiver along the ground next to Land who gladly picked it up, If Pallas died then this would probably get him the number two spot. But first, he and I would have to make it back without getting hit by a boulder.

As Land got ready for the run back the ground shook, and the trees from where the boulders came from were pushed out of the way by something large. This was probably the second biggest Seraphim I’ve ever seen, the first being the massive tentacled one in the ocean. This Seraphim had greyed skin and was bipedal standing on its two pig-like legs.

Everything about this monster was a reminiscence of a pig including its bulging belly and boar-like face with two large tusks coming out from its mouth. The only thing that made it not a pig was the fact it stood on two legs making it as tall as the trees around it and the fact it had four human-like arms. The arms that came from the shoulder were thick and large, one of them grabbed a tree and ripped it out of the ground using the tree as a mere club. Additionally, the beast had four smaller arms coming out of its ribs but they were so small they seemed to exist just for appearance’s sake.

“Fuck me,” Land whispered to himself in awe, I couldn’t blame him. Did the fourth years really leave something like this? How was that fair?

I needed to get out of here. I picked Janus and put him around my shoulders and started running towards the forest. It was a hopeless effort though as the boar-headed Seraphim charged, its large legs clearing the distance between us and itself at an even greater speed than a Slayer.

A hail of bullets erupted as Red and her group emerged from the forest. Guns roared and bullets flew biting into the Seraphim’s body.

The Seraphim threw its tree into Red and her squad, the trunk showering them in wood. Ineffective but for a second it halted their shots. That was a mistake, as now the beast closed the distance between itself, Land and I.

Oh shit. We should have been running. Why weren’t my legs moving? Land and I both looked at each other as we saw the beast come down upon us. Any feeling of regret, hatred or sadness was gone as we both felt a kinship of acceptance. That the last person we would see would be each other and while we both disliked that fact it was something I guess.

The beast’s foot came crashing down cracking the earth and I heard Land’s knees snap. Before the dust even settled a hand emerged from the cloud of dirt and backhanded me. I did my best to keep a hold of Janus but as we flew we hit some of the plane wreckage. I tried to manage the damage protecting Janus’ body with my own but the sheer force of the giant’s hit ripped Janus from my hands as I ricocheted off the metal.

“Fuck me,” I whispered. My head was ringing and I could taste iron in my mouth. I hid bitten my lip. Worse, Janus was nowhere in sight.

I groggily got myself up, my brain working overtime to ignore the pain. I could feel pain later, right now I needed to find Janus. Thankfully it didn’t take long, his painted armour being the only thing that wasn’t completely destroyed.

I knelt down next to him, exhausted more mentally than physically. Should I run? Would the Seraphim target us if it saw us? I didn’t know and frankly didn’t care, I simply collapsed against the metal of the wreckage next to Janus who was maybe dead.

I quickly lost track of time as the breaths I counted all blurred along with the time. Was I concussed? I think so, the boulder to the face really did a number on me. Concussions weren’t a big deal for Slayers but it did take them out of it for a while. Why was I talking about concussions? Ah, I bet it didn’t matter.

I kind of want to go to sleep, though that gun firing sure is annoying. So is that screaming? I would just shut my eyes, just for a little bit. Like Janus was doing. Just shut my eyes… Just… shut… my… eyes. I would be awake shortly, everything would be fine. I was fine.