“Panther!”
The world froze around Sasha.
“Panther!”
She stared at the spot, hands glued to the floor. It’s not him. It’s another mistifian, isn’t it? Just hallucinating. Nothing changed. Neither the rocks nor the person lying against them. Her voice came out in a squeak.
“Mr. Er-”
“PANTHER!”
She snapped to attention, something moving past her head.
She looked over to see both giants blown back, though they held their ground, limbs digging into the cave floor like plants. Her gaze rose, seeing a large hammer dragging past her. Mr. Xan wandered forward. He barely acknowledged her beyond the words he hissed through his teeth, his eyes a piercing brown.
“Get-him-out!”
She gave a quiet nod, finding her footing again.
Mr. Erin was unresponsive. She put an ear to the chest. A faint sound echoed. Still breathing. She sighed.
She wanted to hug him but settled for lifting him in her arms. For better or worse, he wasn’t as heavy as he looked. She cast a glance Mr. Xan’s way only to see him swinging his hammer, a giant’s head exploding into mist. She smiled. But then she saw the other portals appearing. The other legionnaires flying out.
No.
She looked to Mr. Erin. With a curse, she leapt for the exit, ignoring the sounds of clamoring claws behind her. The world outside didn’t offer salvation.
Sasha stared up into the sky, the portals spreading over the canopy. They started from the cave before moving like wildfire across the planet. Signals came from all directions. She squeezed Mr. Erin close, forcing herself to focus on getting him to safety. Nothing else mattered.
“You can’t outrun them forever,” GT said.
“Then give me more speed!”
“I can’t do that, Ms. Sasha.”
She cursed. “Useless, stick!”
She drove forward, pushing past leaves and brustle. Forcing herself to ignore the cries rising to her ears. The people she heard in the distance.
Stay alive. Stay alive.
***
She slid to a halt when she finally found her way back to the clearing. Her breath came out in a heavy pant, the portals far behind her. She could still see them, but they weren’t coming near the ship’s landing spot. Its former landing spot, at least. Sasha furrowed at the sight of an empty clearing. She cautiously approached, half expecting to find the thing had turned invisible without her knowledge.
It hadn't.
“Ah, you made it out, kid.”
She groaned. “I thought you were- Oh my god!”
She gaped at the sight of a man pinned to a tree. Captain Mercury waved despite the fact that he had a sword shoved through his stomach. Sasha quickly put Mr. Erin down, rushing over.
“What the heck happened?”
The Captain smirked. “Could ask you the same thing, Panther. I take it they got Erin, too?”
“What?” She stared at the wound. “You got stabbed by a legionnaire?”
“Huh? Oh, no, this was- Look, it’s a long story. Are you gonna help me get this thing out, or what?”
Sasha didn’t respond. She might not have been the best student around, but she remembered what they taught her in Med class. Stab wounds always bled profusely when removed. Usually to a fatal degree.
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Maybe you outta just stay there for a while. She turned her attention to Mr. Erin, though as she did, her gaze rose to the edge of the ledge. The lower canopy was swarming with portals. Legionnaires poured down, rampaging through the village. Tearing through houses. People. She bit her lip. God. Not again.
“I take it misties aren’t doing so well, eh?”
She whirled on the Captain, claws unsheathed instinctively.
“Woah, there, Panther,” he said. “No need to attack a wounded man, now. We’re on the same side here.”
She let a low growl, claws slowly retracting.
“Ms. Sasha,” GT chimed. “I’m detecting multiple signals across the world. Now would be a good time to evacuate.”
She ignored the staff.
Even if she wanted to, she now had two people that needed medical attention. Not to mention all her clones. And Mr. Xan. How far would they get if she tried to drag them all to the Captain’s ship? No. She could only think of a single solution. Sasha pulled out her commpad.
“What’s the number for AIC command?” she asked. “There is a command, isn’t there?”
“What, you wanna call reinforcements?” the Captain laughed. “I wouldn’t bother. I already tried.”
She frowned.
“Probably should have mentioned that in the debrief,” he said. “We were supposed to collect intel. We have. That means we’re now expendable.”
She growled. All her restraint fell away as she walked straight for the captain. She didn’t care if he was injured or not. She grabbed him by the collar, shouting right in his face.
“Listen here, you little kit face!” she roared. “I didn’t come all this way to die! Or to watch everyone else die!”
The captain chuckled. “Tough words, kid. But unless you haven’t noticed, you’re the last man standing here. What, you plan to take the legion out yourself?”
“And what if I do, huh?”
She let him go, summoning her staff with a wave.
“GT!”
“Yes, Ms Sasha?”
She looked out to the increasing number of portals. More than she could possibly take on alone. But it was too late to back down after she’d already made the declaration. Better to die trying than to settle for proving the Captain right.
“We’re saving this planet. Alone.”
The staff was quiet.
“GT?”
The silence was broken, though not by her weapon’s voice. She turned to see Mercury bursting into laughter. To the point that he ended up wincing in pain from his stab wound. She made a mental note to slash him later.
“Sasha.”
Sasha looked to her staff.
"My life is tied to yours," GT said. "Your strength is my strength. Your will is my will. Should you die, it means that I too will perish.”
“GT."
She shifted. She wanted to tell it that it had nothing to worry about, but she knew as well as it did that the odds of survival were slim to none. If their lives were tied together...
“Do not misunderstand, Ms. Sasha.”
She blinked.
"I do not fear death," the staff said. "I only fear that I fall without giving my all to your cause. If your goal is to save this planet, then I will put all my being into helping you achieve that. And should we fail, I will gladly face the doors of demise at your side. This I swear to you in the name of my creator.”
Sasha felt a bit unnerved by the oath, but she smiled anyhow, squeezing the staff close.
“Then here's hoping it won't be too painful, GT.”
She turned to Mr. Erin, stooping over to embrace his head. If she was heading for a swift end, she might as well get one last hug for the road. On the off chance they lived, she'd have more for him in spades. Captain Mercury stopped laughing when she got up to leave.
“Hey! You’re just gonna abandon us?”
She glanced back.
“I thought you said you’re expendable?”
“That doesn’t mean you leave a guy here? What kinda grad are you?”
She groaned. She didn’t have time to babysit. There was a planet that needed saving, and it was her against the armies of legionnaires.
But then, she didn’t need to take them all out, did she?
Mr. Erin’s lesson was a distant memory, but she could recall the part about how Stems and Roots worked. As long as both were closed, a planet was safe from legionnaire activity. It was how places like Khepri stayed intact while places like Shiny or Liosha were overrun completely.
“Hey!” Captain Mercury called. “Don’t ignore me, Panther!”
She nodded to herself.
“Alright. New plan. Captain, you stay here and guard Mr. Erin.”
“What?”
She moved for the forest. “If I survive, I’ll be back! Try not to bleed out until then!”
“Panther! Panther!”
She let his voice fade in the distance, smiling a bit as she raced back towards the sea of portals.
They’d probably be fine. So long as she did her job well, there was nothing to worry about. Even if there were a thousand or so portals popping up around Torpha, she only needed to worry about the two to save everyone. And one of them had an angry panda to deal with. It’s fine, Sasha. You can do this. You got this. She picked up the pace, jumping into the trees and leaping through branches.
No matter what it took, she’d save the planet. Somehow.
God, I hope I’m right about this.