Stjepan and I have manipulated the main control orb. Now everybody has a key and all the windows have manual controls. It took the extra energy from the coins to enable that. This is not my home, yet it is the closest thing to a home I’ve had since being drafted.
The children have gone for fresh bread and returned with the news that the army is in the town. They haven’t set up full scale checkpoints, but there’s a vehicle in many intersections and in town square.
S: They did simply nothing and told us to go on.
Z: Keep away from the soldiers!
P: Perhaps I should leave, while I still can.
M: And how do we explain where you are?
P. There is that.
Z: Then we should go to the beach.
M: Why that?
Z: To make absolutely clear that we are not hiding
P: That makes sense
--
Zora has become an excellent swimmer. After a bit of fooling around we have found out that she can flatten her tail laterally and use it like crocodiles do.
We are heading home early, as her father and uncle have called to tell us that returning residents and visitors with family are now allowed onto the islands. The children are happy at the prospect of seeing their grandfather.
Entering the road Zora’s home is located in a commotion greets us.
I do not understand them while they are cursing and yelling, but Zora’s eyes narrow.
A woman looking like Stjepan is quietly sobbing, while a woman and a man were yelling at each other. The man wielding a sizeable stick as a club is human and standing right next to another unchanged man holding a gun like a walking stick. The woman is most definitely not. In fact she seems taken right out of a medieval painting. Red skin, small horns on her head and a set of impressive bat wings on her back. Even the classic tail with the heart-shaped tip is present. From my vantage point I cannot see her face.
They are bringing the guns out. This is not good. I hold the children back. Maria is helping me.
Zora is triggered. Her aura is drenched in indignation and guilt. She yells out something that I do not understand and advances not quite running.
That is the exact time Natalija uses to cry „Grandfather!“. She slips away towards a side street. And indeed that street holds two men with shocked expressions. One of them I recognize from photos I saw a long time ago. I cannot let a little girl suffer the shock of her own grandfather not recognizing her. My meagre knowledge of the local languages just allows me to call out the word for grandchild.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
There is a shout from further along the road. I think he yelled something like „abominable lizard“. A smack, a feminine cry of pain and a whooshing sound follow. Why am I turnng my head? I have excellent peripheral vision now. I just let myself be distracted. Literal tunnel vision.
A burning corpse is collapsing in front of Zora, who is down on the pavement, clutching her left shoulder.
Stjepan is screaming for his mother. Zora’s father is shouting for his daughter, having recognized her voice. Maria is losing her balance as a boy in panic proves himself to be stronger than her grip. The second guy is bringing the gun up. Not again. I hesitate.
I teleport in front of Zora. Some chivalrous impulse? Who knows. I certainly don’t.
My stinger is coming up between my legs. His gun reacts to the threat. I think he pulls the trigger a fraction of a second before my sting hits him. And he returns the favour. Yes, I am a magical creature with reduced damage from mundane sources. Yes, he hits an armoured body part. But it is point blank. From a rifle, not a pistol. I should have used my new armour.
I will put it this way. Have you seen RoboCop?
Let me further explain that the shock is enormous. It takes me long seconds of writhing on the ground to trigger [Immortality]. That, however, operates based on damage to the whole body. My injury is debilitating, but not immediately threatening my life. The ability is doing its job. But neither quickly nor painlessly. For the first time in my life I pass out from an injury.
--
Regaining conciousness I find two assault rifles pointed at my general vincinity. A medic is on top of the guy I have stung, performing CPR, another one assisting him with a respirator. A third medic apparently would like to inject Zora with an analgesic but is finding himself stopped by her scutes. Zora’s father is holding her glaring at a sergeant. Her uncle has a soldier standing right next to him, whose stance suggests that he remain right where is right now.
Pressing my hands on my nether regions must have made sure that not even the smallest traces of my dignity have survived so far, but it allows me to verify that [Immortality] has undone the damage in full. One of the soldiers watching me is loudly informing somebody that I have woken. I think.
I am not at my best. To be clear, I have been an idiot. In hindsight half a dozen options existed. I could have accelerated time and just shot the guy. I could have used telekinesis to rip the gun out of his hands. I could have slammed him against a wall telekinetically. I could have teleported beside him. I could have even teleported above him and let gravity finish the problem.
I am feeling a combination of anger, shame and fear as I cough, rise and telekinetically switch the rifles of the soldiers watching me to the safe position.
How do I this? A man looking like an officer is giving up on getting useful information out of Maria sitting with the children and a devil with a thousand yard stare on the bench beside the door. That wouldn’t have worked well, even if she weren’t shocked by recent events.
In my mercy I let thee ransom life against venom
Raising the dead is a good first step, if you want to be impressive. My test channel to Zora is still active. The excess health from [Feast of Decontamination] channeled by [Pipes of War] heals her shoulder in seconds.
The medic caring for her gasps. The guy doing the CPR sort of slides to the ground and is ready to be carried away on a stretcher himself. I concentrate my aura senses on the officer.
Should I call up my armour? No, I need to radiate confidence. For now, I am ready to accelerate time and am using my large field of vision to prevent bad surprises. The officer introduces himself and I give him my false identity.
According to his aura he is wishing he were somewhere else.
P: This event took me by surprise.
L: Well, we have one civillian fried, two with a nervous breakdown, one of whom is currently being driven to a hospital, multiple …
That is the time a pair of furry balls choose to swoop in. I go to time acceleration to rip away rifles from soldiers. In a few moments, it is over.
L: Leutenant, you have drawn the attention of a par of sphinges. Take your men and run. I will try to lure them away.
He hesitates. The kitty pinning him down yawns.
He just nods.
P: Tell your men to move without any sudden movements. I will try to talk them down.
If the repercussions were not so serious, seeing soldiers retreat while I am saying senseless Latin phrases would be hilarious.