Bark, Killa, and I walked into the night. I guess I cried on Killa’s shoulder longer than I thought. I looked up at the starry sky. There was only one moon. Countless stars blanketed the night, leaving little empty space. It was majestic and left me a little jealous of how few stars I saw at night on Earth.

But as we walked, the whole town was eerily silent. The only two sounds that I ever heard were the occasional gentle breeze sweeping and rustling the sand and our footsteps crunching against the sand. The lack of consistent light also didn’t help with my nerves. Only a few inter-spaced lanterns were hanging from buildings, and even then only one in three was even lit, giving off the barest hint of light. The moon and stars gave us better light, which was the main reason we didn’t stumble around as we walked.

There were lots of buildings and alleyways as we walked. They weren’t much to look at since they seemed uniform and bland. If there were any windows, they were covered and sealed. My eyes kept darting around, expecting something to happen. I tried not to breathe through my nose as we walked. The city smelled like a cross between body odor and a clogged toilet. Killa might regret having the ability to smell once she gets a whiff of this place.

I shivered as I followed the other two, who somehow didn’t feel the last breeze that left me feeling colder. I wrapped my coat around me even tighter. How did it get so cold? Aren’t deserts supposed to be extremely hot? It was very hot during the day. Then, as yet another breeze battered against me, I remembered from school that deserts held both extremes when it came to temperature. Something about the lack of moisture in the air and sand’s property to change temperature quickly.

The cold didn’t bother me as much as the two of them not caring about it did. They had on fewer clothes than me. I stomped my foot. “How do you two do it?” My whiny voice almost seemed to echo into the night.

Bark turned to me with a sympathetic smile. “I guess we’re used to it, Rina. We’re higher level than you. Plus, Killa doesn’t feel temperature at all.”

Killa nodded, her translucent form shimmering under the moonlight despite the sour look she gave Bark. “Right. My body doesn’t experience heat, cold, pain, or pleasure like yours. Thanks for reminding me.” She gave me a softer look. “Besides, what’s your resilience stat?”

“Thirty-five,” I grumbled.

Bark pointed at me. “That’ll do it too. You see, Killa and I both have over one forty.” He then pointed his thumb and pinky fingers between the two of them. “That just means we need to get you some levels and raise your stats so it won’t feel so bad.”

I sighed as Bark and Killa turned back around. They just took one step before I heard something scraping on a rooftop above us.

We all turned and saw a hooded figure staring down at us. “You know, Rina, you’re just making things harder yourself.” I recognize that voice. The man threw back his hood, and I saw the face of my killer. He even had the same entirely black eyes that almost glowed in the moonlight. “If you had just stayed put like I told you, I would’ve made it painless.”

I shook my head as I stepped back. “No. It can’t be you. Why are you here?”

He pulled out the same gun as before. “I told you. I have my orders to make sure you die. Now that you’re here, there is no second step. The Nexus will take care of that for me.” He shrugged. “So maybe you saved me just a bit of work by coming here.”

With a swift motion, Killa extended her hand towards the hooded figure on the rooftop. Her fingers curled, and her palm glowed with a pulsating light. Then she flicked her wrist, releasing a burst of energy that streaked through the air. Shimmering blue tendrils stretched from her hand and slapped at the building the man was standing on.

The stone cracked and shattered as the man dove to the side. A tentacle hit the side of the building halfway up. Debris flew in the air and rained down as the man rolled to his knees.

“Over my dead body,” Killa said, her jaw clenched. She shrugged off her backpack.

“Here, take these.” Bark threw two things on the ground in front of me.

I looked and saw the dagger Cushin gave me to take on the rat with. It was cleaned of all the blood from both Cushin and the wererat. Next to it was the gun Cushin used to try to kill me.

Bark smiled. "They’re technically yours, and the gun’s loaded. So, are you going to just sit there and die, or are you going to fight and show this guy why you deserve to live?"

I picked up the weapons. “I’ll live.” And anyone who thinks otherwise will die.

My killer raised his gun and grunted. His weapon recoiled as he fired off a couple of shots at me. But I was already diving to the side when he raised his gun. The bullets disappeared in a puff of sand as Bark ran towards the building the man was standing on.

He ran up the wall and grabbed the ledge with two hands while drawing two of his swords with his other hands. With a quick pull, he hoisted himself up onto the roof and drew his other two swords.

Killa sent another pair of magical tentacles that forced our enemy to roll backwards, away from the ledge.

Killa raised her other arm as she watched where the man retreated. A wall of semi-transparent green tentacles rose up in front of me. It was about a foot thick, ten feet wide, and just as tall.

“Stay behind them. They’ll provide you with cover. We’ll deal with him.”

I heard a round of three shots fired as Bark tumbled to the side, but I saw two sprays of blood erupt from him. Even wounded, Bark didn’t stop and charged at the man who shot him. I held the gun close to me as I leaned against the tentacles. She’s just trying to keep me safe. I might as well not intentionally hurt myself and save my nanite’s energy for emergencies.

Killa crept closer to me, watching the roof. We heard a few grunts from Bark just before the gunman ran and leaped off the building towards us, his gun aimed at me. I flinched when he fired a shot that would have hit my head, but instead hit the wall of tentacles. The wall seemed to crack like ice, as a chunk was now missing where the bullet hit.

Okay, so it’s temporary cover. Well, I’ve got my own gun now too. I poked out from my cover and held Cushin’s gun with both hands as I tried to aim for the falling gunman. His gun seemed to have some recoil every time he shot it, but I didn’t feel any recoil as I pulled the trigger. Instead, it felt like something was pulled from my heart. The feeling surprised me, and my shot went wide.

Killa grabbed me, pulled me back behind the cover, and stepped out. She raised her hand in front of her face, and her arm glowed blue again as she flicked her wrist, sending out another pair of tentacles towards the gunman.

The blue tentacles streaked through the air and hit the man as he descended towards the ground. The force of the impact sent him careening into a nearby building, and he hit the ground with a satisfying flop. With a grimace, the gunman pointed his gun at Killa and fired three shots. The bullets tore into Killa’s translucent form, but they stopped and seemed to be suspended in her body. I almost panicked until I saw them seem to get absorbed into her body as they dissolved.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She smirked at him. “Those are cute. But you’re going to need to try a little harder than that.”

Killa raised her hands, and the area around the assassin glowed as yellow tentacles reached out to grab him. He pushed himself off the ground and jumped out and away from the reaching tentacles. His hand glowed as a magazine appeared in his hand, and he reloaded. Afterwards, he took cover in an alley. Meanwhile, Bark, still bleeding, followed the man’s movements and jumped down after him.

My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to steady my aim as I took another shot with the gun. This time, I managed to shoot more accurately, but the pulling sensation took a toll on my mind. I was feeling more tired than I should have. Even though the man was running from Bark, the shot whizzed past him, and he didn’t register it.

Bark swung his swords in an odd cadence. Even with the odd timing, the gunman dodged the blades by twisting and turning. After he dodged the final slash, he kicked Bark’s leg to cause the shaylip to trip up. As Bark’s knee hit the ground, the man turned and shot him with three bullets. One hit my ally in the shoulder; another hit his arm that covered his heart; and the final bullet missed. Bark screamed as he fell backward, covering the wounds.

I took another deep breath and emerged from my cover, aiming the gun once more. The only way I can save him is to shoot that guy. This time, when I squeezed the trigger, the bullet whizzed through the air, grazing our enemy’s arm.

Yes! My celebration was cut short as I stumbled to my knees as my vision and head swam. I looked down at the gun. I guess I have one shot or I get in close. Why is it making me so tired?

Although it wasn’t a lethal wound, it distracted him enough to create an opening for Killa. She swept her hand, and one large blue tentacle reached out and slapped the assassin. He tumbled to the ground and rolled to a stop.

He glared at Killa before coughing up blood. Then he raised his gun, and Killa frowned. Three shots hit Killa in the chest. Unlike the last time, the slime woman fell to the ground, screaming. She rolled around like she was on fire.

“Stupid slime.” The gunman pushed himself to his feet and spat out another glob of blood. “How’s that thermite? Too hot for you?”

Bark grunted as he picked himself up. But as he did, the assassin shot him again, this time hitting him square in the gut. Bark screamed as he fell to the ground again.

My eyes darted between my two friends as they wailed from the pain. The man then turned his attention to me but left the gun pointed at Bark. “Are you going to keep hiding?”

He’s going to kill them. I stepped out. “Don’t kill them. It’s me you’re after. So here I am; come and get me.” I threw my gun to the ground.

He smiled. “See, isn’t this less painful than watching your friends die? But since you made me come here, I’m going to need you to pay for that.” He pointed the gun at me and fired.

A searing pain engulfed my entire being. I let out an agonizing scream, feeling as if my shoulder was on fire. The excruciating pain rendered me momentarily paralyzed, and I collapsed to my knees.

The gunman’s sinister smile widened as he reveled in my suffering. “Pathetic,” he taunted. His eyes seemed to sparkle with sadistic intent. “I told you, you should’ve stayed put. Now look at you, crawling like a wounded animal.”

Every breath burned and was difficult, but I could feel the tingling of the nanites moving to repair the damage already. Don’t let him know about it yet. The gunman approached me, his smile growing with each step. I fingered the dagger hidden on the back of my belt, and a plan began to take shape in my mind.

Slowly, I forced myself to stand. My body trembled from the pain as the bullet pressed against my hand. “You want me, right? Then come and get me, you coward! I’m still standing.”

The gunman’s eyes narrowed on me. “Oh, I’ll come get you, all right. But first, I’ll make you regret ever defying me. Don’t worry, once we find them, your creator will suffer more than you will.”

As he closed, the sand crunched under his feet. “No, don’t.” Killa’s voice was weak. She reached an arm towards me.

I gave her a smile. “Don’t. Your life isn’t worth mine. This is my fault and my problem. I should never have involved you two. I’m so happy to have met you, and thanks for the clothes. They were nice.” Now I need to sell it even harder. “Go, fulfill your wish, and enjoy all the foods you can eat. My favorite food has always been cookies. Maybe you’ll like them too.”

Killa frowned as I could see her body had three large burn marks. I could see the frustration in her eyes as she grabbed a handful of sand before standing back up again. She opened her mouth, but I shook my head.

“Stop.” My word came out first. “Don’t make me watch you suffer too. Bark’s injured, he needs your help. Me? Well, I tried, but I guess I won’t be allowed to live.”

The gunman groaned. “Enough of this.” He fired two more shots at Killa. Killa’s body lost all definition as she slumped into a puddle. Her clothes were suspended from her form as she spread out. He glared at me. “Now that the distractions are over.”

He pressed a button on the side of his gun, and the magazine dropped from the handle, and a new magazine flashed into his other hand. He reloaded the weapon and pulled the top of the gun, and it clicked back as he aimed it at me again.

The pain in my shoulder was almost gone, but tears started to trickle down my face. “Why? She hadn’t done anything.”

“She was going to,” the assassin said. He stepped closer to me. “Now where were we? Oh, that’s right.”

He laughed, then fired his gun again, the bullet tearing through my thigh. I screamed in agony again. Then another bullet pierced my left arm. I had fallen to the ground, writhing in pain as seven more shots riddled my body. Each time, I let out another higher scream. My vision blurred, and the edges of my vision darkened.

I could feel the blood pouring out of me. The nanites were working to expel the bullets and stop the bleeding. This is going to require me to eat a ton of food again. But before that, I had to fight to stay conscious as the man stood over me. He kneeled down and pointed the gun at my head.

“This is the hard way.” The nonchalant tone of his voice made him sound bored. “You should have taken the easy way. But as all good things must come to an end, I’ve got to finish the job.”

Now!

I tilted my head to the side to get the gun away from my brain. But the assassin twitched, and the bullet sliced the side of my head. I grabbed the knife from my belt and drove it into his thigh, just above the knee.

He dropped the gun and grabbed my hand. I tried to drive it further in, but he slowly pulled the blade out. I threw a fist at his face and knocked him to the ground. The dagger slipped from my grasp, but it also became dislodged and hit the ground within my reach.

I screamed to drown out the pain as I scooped the dagger up and jumped on top of the man who had killed me once. But not a second time! I tried to drive my weapon into his chest, but he grabbed my forearms and held the blade inches above him.

Our struggle intensified as I tried to put my entire body weight on the blade and he tried to hold me up. He kicked me in the side, causing us to roll. The blade dropped slightly as I was thrown off him, cutting a line across his chest. I wouldn’t let him stand back up. I scrambled to my feet first and jumped on him as he reached for his gun.

He dropped the gun as my dagger stabbed in between the bones of his forearm. Blood poured from the wound. The assassin then rolled and took me with him. We rolled several times as he tried to pry me off the dagger. I bit his hand as it grabbed mine.

We stopped rolling, and I could taste blood as his hand pulled away from my face. During our struggle, the dagger slipped out again. At that time, all the bullets he fired into me earlier finished pushing themselves out again.

The assassin saw them hit the blood-soaked sand. He looked at me with fear in his eyes. “What? How did you do that?”

I let out a primal scream as I lunged again. This time, he caught the dagger in his hand, but the blade slid all the way down to the hilt. The gunman was weaker, and I could now overpower him and drive the blade into his chest.

The man shouted as the dagger dug into his ribs. He glared at me. But I put more of my weight on the dagger. A few more inches slipped into his chest, likely piercing his lung. But he wasn’t dead. The dagger bit into his bones, making it even harder for me to drive it in further. I bounced my body on the weapon. I was rewarded with the sound of bones snapping and the dagger plunging the rest of the way into his chest.

He let out one last gasp as his body fell limp. I pushed him off and looked around the area, where I saw my gun. I grabbed it and pointed it at his head. “Turn around is fair play.”

The man’s eyes opened as the bullet penetrated his skull, right between the eyes. The gunman’s eyes met mine, filled with disbelief and hatred, before they glazed over.

I slumped to the ground, and the world around me went dark. The tug on my mind was more than I could handle. I survived. I avenged myself. My heartbeat was the last sound in my ears, as the last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was that I received twenty-six thousand, five hundred, and five shards.