Opening my eyes, I saw distant crowns of pine trees above me and cumulus clouds slowly floating across the astonishingly blue sky. My hands involuntarily reached for my chest, which, as I clearly remembered, had been pierced by several bullets.
"Oh! Turns out I'm not alone here!" an astonished voice reached me, sounding very close, just five steps away.
I took a deep breath with enormous relief and assumed a sitting position. By some miracle, I wasn't dead and had passed the third and last individual test. I don't yet know how my "Road" would be evaluated, but it is passed. If it had been otherwise, if I had failed the test, the questers would not have brought me back to life and healed my gunshot wounds. Only the characteristic holes in my shirt and jeans, as well as traces of blood, served as a reminder of what I'd gone through.
My joy at realizing this simple fact was short-lived. Once I looked at the place I was in, the smile left my face. A small clearing of unnaturally perfect circular shape, surrounded by dense woods overgrown with numerous bushes. In the center of this clearing, a large fire was burning, and around it, so close that they were almost touching the flames, several white stakes were driven into the ground. A little farther from the fire, almost a meter away from it, large knives, or rather machetes with elbow-length blades, lay on the ground.
At the moment, dozens of people were regaining consciousness in the clearing. More precisely, as my memory of the future suggests, there were thirty-two of us here. As I expected, the groups were reshuffled in this Cycle, as I "remembered" completely different participants in this trial.
"Hey!" the same voice echoes again, belonging to a young man with long, shoulder-length, dark-blue dyed hair dressed in a light leather sleeveless jacket with a Metallica label. "Are you real people or mirages?!"
"Real, real," answers him a tall, almost a head taller than me, robust young man who has just risen to his feet.
"I'm from Manchester, a city in England, planet Earth, in the Solar system, Milky Way galaxy," the guy with dyed hair kept going.
"Are you stupid?" A European-looking girl dressed in a shapeless sweater that hides her body shape responded. Her face was almost entirely covered by a baseball cap with a long and wide brim. "We're all from Earth here!"
"Really? Are you so sure?" the heavy music lover leaned towards her.
"I am!" the girl calmly replied. "Because I don't think aliens wear jeans, T-shirts, and other Earth clothes, and even recognizable brands at that." She waved her hand around.
"Smart, aren't you?" the guy in the sleeveless jacket snorted.
"Smart, smart," the girl nodded to him.
"I don't like brainy broads," grimaced her interlocutor, as if someone had just forced him to eat a whole lemon.
"As if I need it." The girl openly smiled and made a characteristic gesture, sending the guy far and for a long time.
Finishing her words, she turned her baseball cap backward, revealing her beautiful face that looked like it had come straight off a magazine cover. And I recognized her immediately. She called herself Scully and did indeed resemble a young Gillian Anderson, the actress who played one of the leading roles in "The X-Files." We didn't cross paths much in the "future," just participated in a couple of raids together, and that's the extent of our acquaintance. Unlike my "past self," she preferred to remain a loner, joining different groups only for her own benefit. She was one of the best archers of the past Cycle. As "I was told," she died in the very first month of the Invasion, having gone on a reckless reconnaissance mission directly into the demon camp, from which she did not return.
Her interlocutor was also "familiar" to me and much better than Scully. In fact, he was quite an intelligent guy who only pretended to be a wild and reckless metalhead. He was nicknamed Sparrow, and he always disliked me. Simply put, our characters didn't align. And I reciprocated his sentiment, as I couldn't stomach those who are overly loud and talk a lot but do little. And this guy was just one of those who stir up trouble and then hide behind others. When he was torn apart by a giant on the fifty-fifth floor of Aerad Tower, I didn't regret it at all. However, he was far from the worst of us.
Studying the faces of those watching this pair's argument, I realized that I knew some of them. Some barely, some better, and I even fought side by side with some. And each of these faces, honestly, didn't fill me with joy. There were no good people among these individuals. However, I couldn't consider myself among the "good people" either, especially remembering what I did in the future.
"Why, even in such a situation, people find nothing better than to quarrel?" A quiet rhetorical question not addressed to anyone specifically came from behind me.
I turn around. Right next to me on the grass sits a girl; her dark hair, almost as black as mine, is pulled up into a high ponytail. I've never seen or heard of her before. Most likely, she is one of those who, after passing the individual tests, will fail one of the group ones. And judging by what she just said, she will indeed fail the upcoming task.
"That's because some find comfort in quarreling," I respond to her.
I respond, not taking my eyes off her. Korean or Japanese, quite cute, wearing a T-shirt with a print of some girl pop group. Moreover, one of the four dancing girls depicted is herself. Since I don't know either Korean or Japanese, I can't read the group's name. Besides the T-shirt, her outfit includes a short skirt, the kind you'd play tennis in, and sneakers. In her hands, she holds an empty leather case from a tennis racket. Noticing my gaze, the girl blushed slightly and tried to cover her overly exposed thighs. I averted my eyes so as not to embarrass her. I liked the girl. But her gaze… Too pure, too straight and open, such people do not survive here. And judging by the fact that my memory says nothing about her, she didn't survive, indeed.
"Lan Lin," she extends her hand to me, introducing herself.
"Raven," I respond coldly and stand up, turning away from her, ignoring the female palm extended in greeting.
Of course, this is not my real name, but this nickname will stick to me because of my hair and facial features a bit later, so why not introduce myself like that right away? And I turned away because I liked the girl so much that I wanted to protect her. Alas, knowing what will happen, I can't afford such weakness.
The people in the meadow finally came to their senses. Just as the conversations and introductions started, a loud clap, which made everyone's ears ring, silenced everyone. A quester hovers a meter above the fire.
"There are thirty-two of you," his voice reaches everyone. "There are sixteen life rods," his palm points to the sticks stuck around the fire. "In an hour, anyone who doesn't have a rod will be erased. If several people touch the life rod at the end of the test, all these people will be erased," the quester scanned us with an indifferent look. "One rod - one life. The test starts now."
Another clap - and the air over the fire is clean.
Crap. Total crap. Everything is just as I "remembered."
I had hoped to the last that the first group test in the new Cycle would be different. I hoped in vain.
There was an eerie silence on the meadow for a few seconds; few could believe and immediately accept what the quester said. To realize that it's not a joke, that at least half of the people in this meadow will be dead in an hour. Dead in the full sense of the word, no jokes and no illusions. The most resourceful and unscrupulous believed first, and a couple of people stepped toward the fire.
At that moment, I was already returning to the place where I had woken up. A life rod, looking like a simple white stick twenty centimeters long, swung in my left palm. Another one, just like it, was discreetly hidden in my sock. While everyone was stunned and in shock, I walked to the fire and took two rods. In my right hand was a machete picked up from the ground.
All illusions about me being a good person shattered with my first step toward the fire. The truth was simple: I am just the same crap as everyone else who will pass this test. Just the same and not a gram better. Because last time, without knowledge of the future and the justification that "I have a goal," I rushed to the fire without doubt and took one of the rods for myself. After which, I ran into the forest, where I hid until the end of the test. Although, I did not plan to hide this time.
As if confirming my thoughts, Lan Lin looked at me with a mixture of bewilderment and contempt clearly visible in her eyes. There she is – a good person; I immediately understood she wouldn't go to the fire and take the rod. She wouldn't put her life above someone else's like I did. And she certainly wouldn't take upon herself the right to decide who will live and who will die, which I appropriated by taking the second rod.
If I could have taken more without drawing attention, I would have brought five. But caution prevented me from being so brazen. People driven to despair, if they had noticed something like this, would have made me enemy number one, and against a crowd, even with a machete, I wouldn't have stood a chance.
Why did I act this way? It's simple, I "remembered" a few people from this clearing. And two of them are outright scum and maniacs who, in the future, will commit such atrocities and abominations that an average person's hair would stand on end. And if at least one of them is erased in this trial, the world would only sigh with relief.
As for the second rod, hidden under my jeans, I would better give it to Lan Lin or someone else. Someone whose conscience wouldn't allow them to take it for themselves.
The "past me" communicated a lot with other people, and often during the campfire discussions, the same question would arise: "Why are there so many outright scumbags among us?". And almost always, after such conversations, we concluded that the reason for this was precisely the first group trial. It's like we were sifted through a sieve, leaving the egoists and almost completely clearing out all the altruists.
Without sitting down, I leaned against a large tree and carefully watched what was happening in the clearing, trying not to look at Lan Lin. For some reason, just one look at this girl made me feel ashamed. Ashamed, not for going and taking the rods, but, apparently, for being essentially an egoist. In this situation, of course, I am justified in that I must survive to prevent the Cycle reset and thereby save an entire world. But the "last time," I didn't have such an excuse, and I still passed this trial. I can look in the mirror now, simply accepting myself as I am, but I can't look at this girl.
"Let's calm down!" A tall, skinny man, looking like a hipster with shaggy hair but a neatly trimmed beard, waved his hands. "We are not animals! We are people! So let's behave like people, not like cattle!"
His words stopped two of the ones who had already stepped toward the bonfire.
"Let's not degrade ourselves to beasts! Moreover, this may really be a test of humanity! And those who take the rods for themselves, they will be erased!" The guy spoke so passionately that one could not help but want to believe him.
I knew him.
Ulerai. Ulerai the Bloody Tongue.
A surprisingly charismatic bastard. Three times he created groups and three times he led people who trusted him into traps, appropriating all valuables for himself. And these were only the cases that could later be proven. Long before the Invasion, he tried his trick on Nate and ended up dead with his guts turned inside out somewhere in a canyon unknown to anyone. Compared to him, I'm just an angel.
Continuing to preach, Ulerai approached the bonfire, pulled out one of the rods, and tossed it in his hand.
"Is this worth losing your humanity? People, come to your senses!"
He bent down and pretended to put the stick back in place, but I noticed how he actually hid the rod in his wide trousers. I barely restrained myself from coming up from behind and chopping his white neck with a machete. Probably, that's what I should have done. No, I should have definitely done that! But despite my new memory, I was still far from my future self and just couldn't do such a thing, especially in front of so many people. I was not ready to kill people, especially like this, in cold blood.
"Back off!" As soon as Ulerai straightened up, a large, bald, tattoo-covered Latino man who was half a head taller than me and weighed over a hundred kilograms pushed him in the back. His gaze was empty and indifferent, like that of a seasoned killer. "Go preach to some hippies or hipsters like you!" He spat right at Ulerai's feet after saying this. "I don't distinguish between types of shit: hippies, hipsters, rubbish…"
I "remembered" him. He called himself Skorzeny, presumably taking the name of a famous Nazi officer as a mockery. In the future, he will gather a group of outright thugs like himself and take over a remote barony, where he will establish his own rules, turning the local population, in essence, into powerless slaves. A sexually obsessed individual. So reckless that one day he will approach Arien, and when he hears a refusal, he will try to take her by force. For which he will turn into a charred skeleton. After which, the most powerful of the sorceresses and, as I now guess, one of the Shards will put in some effort, find and roast all his followers. The future Goddess of Elemental Magic was never known for her restraint and forgiveness.
Arien - an involuntary sincere smile played on my face at this name. I was pulled out of pleasant memories by another twist in the conflict.
"Scram!" With a kick in the back, Skorzeny sent Ulerai on a short flight, which the latter ended with his face plowing through the dirt.
Then the Latino picked up a machete and quickly spun it around, showing that he was perfectly capable of handling this weapon. Then he deliberately slowly bent down, and before everyone's eyes, he claimed two rods of life for himself. He kept one in his hand and tucked the other behind his belt.
"Why do you need two?" A short, unfamiliar girl with curly hair immediately cried out. "This is unfair!"
"Ha-ha-ha!" Laughed Skorzeny loudly and artificially, clearly reveling in what was happening. "Chick, do you have objections?!"
"Yes! It's wrong! Unfair, unjust!" Waving her arms in indignation, the girl got up and approached the tattoo-covered fighter. Raising her head high, she fearlessly looked into the eyes of the thug, who was three times bigger than her.
"Unfair?!" Roared even more joyfully Skorzeny. "Justice is a myth! I could take two, so I did. You think it's unfair?" His finger poked the girl in the chest. "Then take it back!"
"And I will!" The curly-haired girl said confidently and grabbed the rod in the Latino's hand.
She shouldn't have done that. As far as I remember, all words about "women should be respected" for Skorzeny were just empty air shaking. As soon as the girl's fingers touched the rod, a huge fist flew up and hit the curly-haired right in the jaw.
The brave girl fell to the ground unconscious without even uttering a sound.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"Justice!" The Latino laughed. And, showing off his solid biceps, he firmly declared: "This is justice, and there is no other!" Then he looked around at all of us with a heavy gaze and added, "Does anyone else have objections?"
Most people looked away. Only one person stepped forward. The same guy who had first responded to Sparrow. I took two steps forward and put my hand on his shoulder. He turned around. I shook my head. He tried to shrug me off, but I held on tight.
"Let go." He said through clenched teeth, his eyes burning with rage.
"Stay," I whispered back. "Look at how he's holding that machete; he clearly knows how to use it."
"And so?"
"He'll kill you."
"I…"
"You'll just die without doing or changing anything." I pressured him with words.
Apparently, my words hit their mark, and the guy stopped trying to break free; his shoulders sagged. Perhaps this change was due to Lan Lin, who came over and took the guy's hand from the other side. Skorzeny watched the entire scene intently, and once he realized an attack from us was not forthcoming, he smiled widely at us and gave us a thumbs up.
"Good choice! It's not worth dying because of a fool who considers herself the embodiment of justice." The tattooed street gangster remarked.
After his words, several guys and girls came to the fire under the encouraging gaze of the Latino and picked up the remaining rods. Suddenly, everyone realized that no more rods were left at the fire. This caused a vigorous reaction from many who were left without the life-saving stick.
"As for the second rod and why I took it." The tattooed brute patted his belt. "I see there are many beautiful chicks here." His lewd gaze swept over the girls. "I don't know what lies ahead, so I don't mind having some fun. And the one of you who will keep me company will get the second rod."
Lan Lin, who was standing next to me, literally forgot how to breathe from outrage! Most of the girls, those left without a rod, also demonstratively turned away. Most, but not all. Scully stepped forward, and I suddenly realized she hadn't approached the fire. Getting close to the Latino, the girl touched his biceps with her finger.
"Are you really strong or just a big talker?" The beauty said in a sultry voice.
"Ha!" Skorzeny puffed up like a blimp. "And I'm also enduring. Very enduring, if you know what I mean!"
"Well…" Scully grabbed the obviously unprepared brute by the collar of his shirt and dragged him along with her. "Let's go into the woods and check if your words match your actions!"
"I'd be delighted!" The once-threatening thug said, not as confidently as before, shuffling behind the girl.
Everyone involuntarily watched the unfolding scene. And when this suddenly formed couple disappeared behind the dense shrubbery, the clearing exploded with a dozen voices. I quickly went over to Ulerai and helped him get up, even brushed off his trousers from the grass, and said:
"You did the right thing by not getting involved with him! He's clearly a dangerous individual. It's not worth it!"
"Yes, yes!" Nodded the one who, in the future, will no longer be called the Bloody Tongue. "I thought the same."
He was still saying something, but I wasn't listening. I approached the curly-haired girl lying unconscious and, bending over, extended my hand to check her pulse. Instead of her neck, my hand met Lan Lin's palm, who simultaneously crouched beside me. The pop group member immediately pulled back her hand, blushing. I pretended not to notice this and leaned over the curly-haired girl again.
"She has about forty minutes left to live," I said after a quick examination.
"Is it that bad?!" Lan Lin was horrified.
"It's even worse," I replied without a hint of a smile. "As you can see, she has no rod, so she will be erased in about forty minutes."
"At least she'll die without compromising her principles!" the brunette declared, holding her head high.
"Exactly my point! A foolish death," I nodded in response.
After my words, Lan Lin's face changes again, regaining its cold and distant expression. I look at her and suppress an intense desire to give her my second rod. I suppress it because she won't take it from me. She's too principled. I want to think of her as a naive fool. But her look prevents me from perceiving her so simply. I've seen such eyes in those who, broken and shattered, still approach the sports equipment and perform the exercise on painkillers. Perform it perfectly! That look, which I could never boast of. Instead, unnoticed by everyone, I discreetly placed one of the rods on the curly-haired justice seeker, hiding it within her clothing while I carried her into the shade.
By this time, quarrels had already started on the clearing, which would soon turn into fights. I'm sure that when there's very little time left until the end of the test, there will be killings. It was so "last time," and I'm sure it will happen this time too.
Having placed the unconscious girl so no one would accidentally bump into or step on her, I stood up again, leaning against a large tree. I tried to maintain an impassive look and demonstratively played with my machete, thus discouraging anyone from approaching me. Because of the sharp features of my face, I often give strangers the impression of a dangerous person. I'm fully using this now, not wanting to participate in what started on the clearing. I really wanted to just leave, hide behind the foliage, but, gritting my teeth, I watched carefully. I tried to memorize who was behaving in which manner, to better understand how to interact with those present in the clearing, with whom fate will still bring me together in the future. The memory of the future, of course, is good, but one should not discount their own observations.
"Haven't you seen Vidar?" Lan Lin asked with concern in her voice as she approached me.
"Vidar?" I didn't understand.
"A tall, big blonde guy. You stopped him from fighting with that bandit."
"Has he disappeared somewhere?"
"Yes," the brunette nodded to me, looking lost. "He was here just a minute ago and suddenly vanished."
"And you don't know where he went?"
The girl shakes her head negatively but does so too vigorously.
"But you have a guess," I press.
"The last thing I saw was him bending over for a knife!" The girl answers in a rush.
"For a machete!" I correct her.
"What?" She didn't understand.
"It's not a knife - it's a machete!"
"Does it matter?" Her eyes are full of genuine bewilderment.
If she turns away now, I'll be able to discreetly shove the rod of life into the tennis racket case she never leaves.
She didn't turn away.
"You're right - for such a birdie like you, it really doesn't matter," I try to anger her deliberately.
"Help," ignoring my provocation, she asks.
"With what?" I pretend not to understand.
"You do understand where he went!" she even stomps her foot. Cute, but useless.
"I do!" I could have played the fool further, but I didn't.
"He will be killed!" the brunette insists.
"He's already a corpse," I shrug.
"Because he didn't take the rod?" Lan Lin clarifies, showing that she can quickly learn from her mistakes.
"Exactly!"
"And you're not worried that somewhere in the woods, this creature that looks like a man but is essentially an animal is raping a girl?!"
I couldn't help but laugh at these words. If all the stories about Scully, which my future self heard, are true…
"Do you find this funny?!" the pop singer was outraged.
"You know, I'm not sure who's raping whom there," I confess to the girl.
"What?"
"You heard everything perfectly well."
"Help," ignoring my words, she asks again.
"Why should I take such a risk? I already have a rod!"
"Because you are the only person on this clearing stronger than this tattooed animal!"
"Oh really!" I feign surprise and, rolling up my shirt, bare my bicep. "Doesn't seem like I'm stronger than that goon. He could easily fit two of me!"
"You're overdoing it," Lan Lin responds with a slight smirk to my grimaces.
"Really?!"
Crossing her arms on her chest, the girl looked sternly into my eyes. Then she sighed heavily and said:
"My grandfather owns a dojo. My dad is a sixth dan in Aikido. Believe me! I know what truly dangerous people look like!"
"And?" I'm not giving up my position.
"The thug with F-14 tattoos is certainly dangerous and strong, but he's no match for you," the brunette confidently stated, demonstrating remarkable knowledge of Latino gang symbols. "There's only one really dangerous person in this meadow!" And after a slight pause, she added, "It's you."
"Like, really dangerous!" I try to smile, but it doesn't turn out well.
"Exactly, really dangerous!"
I pretend that the decision is very hard for me, after which I say, "I have a condition."
Blushing, Lan Lin covered her thighs with her case and quietly asked, "Which one?"
"The Latino has two rods with him. One will be taken by the girl who went with him because otherwise, it would be unfair. The second… The second I will give to you, and you will take it!"
At first, she stepped back from me, then smiled and nodded sharply. But no, you won't fool me so easily, and I add:
"And you will keep this rod with you, not throw it away or pass it on to anyone!"
"No!" She shook her head.
"Then find your Vidar yourself," I add, "since your grandfather has a dojo and your father is a sixth dan, you must have some skills."
"I don't! I hate fighting!"
I don't know why, but I believed her. It's true - she doesn't.
"You've heard my condition." Saying this, I pretend to lose interest in the conversation.
The full spectrum of feelings and thoughts was easily read on Lan Lin's face. It took her about a minute to make a decision.
"Why do you want me to survive, specifically?" she asked.
I want to scream: "Because that's exactly whom we will be lacking in the future. We will be lacking them greatly! People like you, like that curly-haired girl. Those who can stop others with just a look or a word and prevent them from sinking to the level of selfish animals."
But instead, what slips from my lips is:
"I have a soft spot for naive fools."
"I'm not naive!" she snorts in response.
"So you don't object to being called a 'fool'?" I wonder.
"I'm used to it," Lan Lin shrugs. "I'm often called that."
And I suddenly feel ashamed. Very much, even more than when I walked away from the fire with two rods.
Ten seconds of silence.
"I agree! Let it be your way, Crow!"
"Raven."
"But it's the same thing!"
"Raven," I insist.
"Okay, Raven!" She gives in when she realizes that if she doesn't agree to this minor detail, I won't budge. "I agree!"
"You're coming with me."
"What?" She exclaimed, her eyes darting around like those of a bad liar caught in the act of deception.
"I don't want to look for you all over the forest later to give you the rod."
"Okay," she says very quietly, and her shoulders drop, making her look like a deflated balloon.
"Why don't you want to live?" I can't stand it. "And if so, wouldn't it have been easier to fail one of the previous tests?!"
"I want to live!" She lifts her clear eyes to look at me. "But I won't forgive myself for buying my life at the expense of someone else's!"
"You don't need to buy anything; I'm giving you the rod, not you taking it! Yet, you're wriggling like a fox!"
"If my life is bought at the expense of someone else's, although I'm not the one paying, what's the difference?" she asks with a calm and confident voice.
I immediately have a dozen objections, but looking at her, I understand she won't accept them. So I simply nod and command:
"Let's go."
Finding Vidar turned out to be a piece of cake. First, the guy clearly had no idea how to move through the forest, leaving broken bushes in his wake. Second, when we found him, he was banging his head against a tree, clenching his fists.
I understood him perfectly. He had stormed into the forest impulsively, but the further he went, the cooler he became. And as he cooled down, he began to think rationally, suddenly realizing that to protect the girl, he would have to commit murder. And this simple thought, obvious to me for a long time, was like a powerful punch to the gut for him. Now he was banging his head against the tree to wind himself up again. He wanted to make himself not back down and prove he was a real man capable of action! Before his first murder, "future me" behaved very similarly, so all his feelings were transparent to me.
"Huh?!" Vidar turned red to the tips of his hair when he realized he had been seen.
"Where are they?" Not wasting time on unnecessary words, I asked.
"Over there…" The blond guy quietly pointed into the thicket.
"Look after Lan Lin." I nodded at the guy and dove into the bushes.
To find the "couple," it took me just a minute.
And I was late. The sound of muffled blows, a quiet cry, and then a loud curse. I ran out of the bushes, machete at the ready.
"You're good." Skorzeny, wiping the blood oozing from his broken nose and ignoring my appearance, said with difficulty, almost whispering.
The bandit was on all fours, his pants down, his own belt tightly tied around his neck. But the most creepy thing was that the tendons on his legs were cut, professionally so, as if done by a surgeon or experienced hunter. His thumbs were broken and twisted at unnatural angles. Above him, stepping her foot into his back and holding the stranglehold firmly, was Scully, with the rod of life clenched between her teeth.
"No rescuers required!" the girl said clearly through clenched teeth, after which she unclenched them and stepped barefoot on the rod that fell to the ground.
"Run from her, boy!" Trying to loosen the stranglehold, overcoming the pain in his throat, and using his last strength, the bandit advised me in a whisper. He advised sincerely!
I plunge my machete into the ground and raise my hands in a reconciliatory gesture.
"What are you waiting for?" Scully grits out, not taking her eyes off me. "Get out of here!"
"I need something from your lover." And without intending to follow her order, I pick up my machete again and take a step forward.
"The rod?" the girl clarifies.
"Yes. I'm not claiming yours - it's honestly earned. But I'll take his."
"Don't you have your own?" She doesn't understand.
Her smile sends chills the size of a fist down my spine.
"It's not enough for me." I catch myself smiling in the same way as her.
Doubtfully, Scully pulls the belt around the Latino's neck even tighter, causing him to be unable to breathe.
"I'll take it anyway." I shrug and take another step. "I hope you won't stop me?"
Instead of answering, the girl sharply bends down and strikes Skorzeny's temple with the hilt of her machete, then, watching his falling body, takes a step back. It seems Lan Lin was wrong to consider me the most dangerous in this forest. The experience that I am yet to live through screams in me that this beautiful girl is deadlier than a king cobra!
"Scully," the girl introduces herself, taking another step back.
"Raven," I reply and, bending over Skorzeny's unconscious body, take his rod. Then I ask, "No hard feelings, Scully?"
"And if there are hard feelings?" The corners of her lips are tight, like a drawn bowstring.
Instead of words, the machete in my hand springs up into battle position.
Mirroring my stance, Scully smiles sweetly and says, "Is that so?"
I take a step forward. My bluff worked; the girl jumped back and raised her hands in reconciliation.
"No hard feelings, Raven!"
"Nice to meet you," I bow shortly and, not turning my back, disappear into the bushes.
"I liked you too!" I hear cheerfully in return.
Those simple and kind words made me break out in a cold sweat.
"What's wrong?" Vidar asks when I back into him.
"Well… Just…" I'm still a bit scared to turn my back to the place where I left Scully. "Everything's fine."
"Fine?!" Lan Lin is surprised. "You think it's normal to walk through the woods backward?!"
"In this case, yes!" I answer utterly sincerely.
"What were those screams?" The dark-haired girl asks.
Instead of words, I hand her the rod.
"Did you kill him?!" Lan Lin exclaims, covering her mouth with her hands.
"I didn't kill him, and it wasn't me," with these words, I hand the girl the white rod.
"What?" She asks again and, struggling with herself, still takes the life-saving stick.
"Your sense of dangerous people failed." I'm starting to feel a little relieved, and my smile is almost genuine now.
"Huh?"
"You understood me; I wasn't laughing or joking when I was doubting who would be assaulting whom there."
"That girl?!" Lan Lin's eyes are like full moons. "I thought I was seeing things!"
"What are you talking about?" Vidar asks us.
"If you see that girl who left with the tattooed one again, don't cross her path," I explain to the guy. "Never."
"Huh?" He doesn't understand me.
"Her name is Scully; remember that name," I insist. "And avoid her." Saying this, I pat his shoulder.
"What a joke!" Vidar laughs. "I don't need to remember anything! I'll be gone in a few minutes. I don't have a rod!"
"Here!" Without a second's hesitation, Lan Lin hands him hers.
"You promised!" I growl.
"That promise doesn't count!" She cries out confidently in response.
"What?" I don't understand what she's talking about.
"When I gave you my word, I had my fingers crossed!"
"And?!" I almost lose my temper.
"It means the word doesn't mean anything! Did you fall from the Moon?! Every child knows that if the fingers are crossed, the word isn't real!" And immediately switches her attention to the blond. "Take it!" The girl tries to push the rod right into Vidar's hands.
"I won't!!!"
While I'm shocked by female logic and spontaneity, these two are arguing, trying to give the life-saving rod to each other. This goes on for a minute and a half. I just look at them and can't believe what I'm seeing. Is it really possible? People are killing each other in the meadow right now to get the coveted item, and these two…
"Stop!" I finally can't stand it.
While they freeze, I again hand the rod to Lan Lin and then take out another one from behind my belt and give it to Vidar.
"Here, now there's no need to fight!" I say with the deepest relief.
"What?!" This couple responds in unison, not believing their eyes.
"I won't take your rod!" Lan Lin explodes.
"Mine?!" I'm surprised and take another one from my sock. "Here's mine. And these are now yours."
"But…" Vidar hesitates. "Where did the other one come from?"
"It's simple; actually, the Latino took three for himself." Shrugging, I lie blatantly without looking away.
"Are you sure you didn't rob that girl?!" Lan Lin looks at me closely.
"You mean Scully?" I ask again.
"Who else?!"
I start laughing out loud involuntarily.
"Her… you'll… yeah… she… herself… will… anyone… she wants…" I reply, choking on laughter.
"Really?!" The dark-haired girl asks me sternly.
"I swear, no good person was hurt!" I beat my chest.
Our further argument is interrupted by the sound of breaking branches. Ulerai flies out of the bushes onto our little clearing. The bastard's eyes are darting, primal horror frozen in them, foam at the corners of his mouth, and a deep bleeding cut on his hand. He notices me and screams:
"Give it ba-a-a-ck!!!"
Turns out, he did notice that when I was helping him to clean his trousers, I also stole the rod he claimed. And now he's jumping towards me with the obvious intention, no, not to attack, but to fall on his knees before me and beg for mercy!
What a slippery bastard!
Before he has a chance to say another word, a straight right punch lands square in the center of his chin, sending the would-be Bloody Tongue to count the stars.
"What's wrong with him?" Vidar asks uncomprehendingly, looking at the body that's fallen at our feet.
"I'm not a psychiatrist," I shrug.
"A strange one indeed," the blond guy agrees with me.
"Are you sure you didn't kill him?!" Lan Lin screams and bends over the unconscious bastard. At the same time, the girl, trying to do everything discreetly, stuffs the life rod I gave her into Ulerai's pocket.
I'm tired of these games!
Without stopping her, while she was busy with that, I put my rod in her tennis racket case. And when she, pleased with her cunning, straightened up and stepped aside, I bent over Ulerai and, pretending to check his condition, secretly took the rod left by the dark-haired girl.
A few minutes later, the quester appeared and announced the end of time. At the last second, I looked at Lan Lin. The girl was smiling triumphantly. There wasn't a shred of fear in her gaze.
She'll understand my reciprocal smile a little later.