While things had been handled on Kyle’s end, they were far from it on Garth’s. He could feel his anger rising as the cat-and-mouse game they were playing continued, Carlyle easily kept the distance between them with his enhanced Agility, and was unwilling to give Garth any opportunity to close the distance. While he had AIR BLADE and plenty of stamina to use it, at this range Garth didn’t have confidence in landing a decisive blow. They had run all through the tree cover and were making their way around to the clearing when they both saw something that gave them pause – Garth’s snarl turning into a fierce grin, though Carlyle’s smirk twisted into something ugly.
“You’re all pathetic – I leave you alone and you can’t even deal with a single person? He’s not even armed!”
Carlyle’s expression was riddled with disgust and disappointment, but it didn’t stop him from moving, and Garth’s rage returned – he just wasn’t fast enough to catch the little bastard. Out of the corner of his eye it looked like things were in relative order with the survivors. Kyle had rounded up the uniformed men and had them kneeling with their hands above their heads – at least to the best of their ability given their injuries – and he’d taken their weaponry over to the group of survivors where he currently knelt providing aid. He was facing the group of soldiers and his eyes seemed locked on them as he moved, which gave Garth a small bloom of pride. The kid had really picked things up fast – he’d have been a hell of a recruit.
The heat of a passing FIREBALL snapped Garth’s mind back into focus, and he grit his teeth as he realized he had no way of catching the other man. Slowing his pursuit, he breathed deeply and came to a full stop, taking a defensive stance with his sword at head height, parallel to the ground. Seeing that Garth wasn’t following, Carlyle turned and sneered.
“You got lucky that it was only me this time old timer. Next time we’ll make sure to do to you what we did to Crystal."
That caused something in Garth to snap, and before even thinking an AIR BLADE was on its way to bisect Carlyle. The gaunt man had expected it, easily jumping out of the way as he launched two massive orbs of fire at the surviving men under his command. Garth swore, once again regaining control over his anger. Kyle was a good ten meters away, and without AIR BLADE available he had no way of intercepting the blasts. He saw Carlyle’s perverse grin as the FIREBALLS exploded, but as he watched the grin turned into an open-mouthed look of disbelief. Turning his gaze, he saw Kyle interposed between the injured soldiers and Carlyle, clothing charred, and an electric blue glow coming from his eyes.
~~~
Kyle couldn’t believe that anybody would be so low as to use awakened abilities to kill a bunch of injured captives, but he wouldn’t stand for it. He saw the glee on Carlyle’s face before he threw the FIREBALLS and acted, immediately activating HASTE and rushing to get in front of the blow. The world slowed as he moved, his eyes and mind accelerating to keep pace with his legs. The faster he moved the faster his Perception adjusted, and in the blink of an eye he found himself in the path of the blasts. This was where things would get hairy – he didn’t have nearly enough experience projecting and influencing mana in the atmosphere, so he’d have to take the hit head-on and hope he’d be able to use his Skills to get through the worst of it. There was a moment when he realized he could still get out of the line of fire and escape. He didn’t have to hurt for these people who moments ago were trying to kill him. As quickly as the thought came, he dismissed it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to call himself a doctor ever again if he just stood by and watched unarmed people get burned alive. That’s not what doctors did. So he squared his shoulders and crossed his arms before his world exploded into a roar of fire.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Today was a day full of new experiences for Kyle – first learning what it was like to get shot, now learning what it was like to stand in the middle of an explosion. It was an odd sensation – the heat itself was excruciatingly painful, but the pain didn’t go much beyond the skin. This wasn’t a natural fire – it was driven by mana, and as the mana attempted to continue to produce the effect, it simply fizzled out when met with his own more powerfully circulating mana. Kyle kept HASTE active, using the heightened reactions to strategically HEAL his arms and head while REGENERATION was enough to keep the rest of his body in a working condition. Unfortunately, “working condition” meant that his body didn’t go into shock or have the nerve endings burned away, so he had to experience the pain for far longer than he’d anticipated. That single, searing moment felt like an eternity to Kyle’s enhanced Perception, but he didn’t dare deactivate his skill for fear that he’d miss a critical HEAL. Slowly, mercifully, the light and pain subsided and Kyle fell to a knee, smoldering but otherwise not seriously injured. It took a lot more of Kyle’s mana reserves than he’d expected, but he’d survived.
Silence returned to the clearing, all eyes on the young Healer as he struggled back to his feet, the glow in his eyes fading. Carlyle was the first to act, immediately turning to escape, his form cloaked in an intense heat mirage. Garth turned to Kyle, a frantic energy in his eyes.
“You have to go after him. Whatever Skill let you move that quickly could let you catch up. Go! Now!”
Kyle looked at his friend, the desperation in his eyes, and slowly shook his head. This was the worst part of working in medicine – having to give people the bad news. And while this wasn’t a perfect comparison, he’d still dealt with people who expected the impossible from him.
“Garth, I can’t. This is a good show, but I’m honestly barely standing right now. Even if I caught up, he’d just hit me with more blasts like this. He’s gone, but we saved these people, Garth. There was good that came from this.”
Garth looked at the rapidly disappearing form of Carlyle before whirling back to Kyle.
“Then you should have let him burn his own group of traitors and caught him when you had the chance. If you think I care more about their lives than I do bringing that man to justice, you don’t know me at all.”
Kyle’s joviality had evaporated like the steam rising from his still-healing skin, and he met Garth’s eyes with a fire that surprised even him.
“I know that isn’t what you would have done, but it’s what I chose to do. I’m not going to quietly stand by and watch injured people get slaughtered, Garth, and I’ll stand against anybody who says otherwise. When I became a doctor I took an oath, and that’s one I take seriously. I recognize this is hard for you, but don’t question me on this. It’s my call, and I’d have made it the same way if I had to do it over again.”
A tense moment passed between the two, and Kyle genuinely thought for a moment Garth was about to hit him. The other man simply turned and left, walking back in the direction of their camp, past a solitary drone that had just managed to break the tree cover.