THE LAST KEEPER

Salka and his team might have been fast, but the muddy water beast scorpions moved at lightning speed in muddy water, let alone the swampy water. They were not going to reach him in time, and three seconds were enough for the three beasts to tear him to shreds.

The archive screamed danger to Sagiri, and the markings on his body glowed so bright he could see underwater and how fast the beasts were coming. Just two heartbeats, and they would be on him. Their tails were fully charged with poisons to paralyze him and tear him limb from limb before the poison even got the chance to kill him.

Just like that day when he had to protect Lotaga, his pupils went totally black, swallowing all the white and all the amber, responding to the power surge inside of him. His heart slowed to a mere one beat per three seconds, and it kept getting slower, slowing the movements of the beasts from a blur to lightning fast. It was as if everything in him was slowing down to concentrate on his enemy’s every move. As if the archive recognized the weapon in his pockets, his hand went for it, and the moment his hand had touched it, it pulsed and grew in size in his own hand.

Sagiri pulled it out on instinct, and it pulsed just like the archive as if it were alive. His now black orbs connected with the black ones of the creature, beady ones, and he could almost taste their hunger. He could see clearly now, as if it were day, with the archive powering his eyes. N’varu had mentioned that all the times before, he had let the archive act on its own. Now he could feel it trying to take control and protect itself. N’varu had also warned him about letting the archive protect him always because he was meant to protect it.

He needed to feel the need to protect himself, too.

It was impossible not to feel like protecting yourself when three beasts were coming at you, and even though his heart had slowed because of the archer’s power pumping in his veins, he could feel his fear and the adrenaline rushing in his ear preparing him to protect himself. He did not want to die yet. As if the archive and he finally shared the same goal, he could feel their will merging for the first time.

The will to live and the desire to protect themselves. He had never felt his strength grow to such levels. It was as if he had been stagnant since he attacked his abductors when he was twelve, more like since the archive activated to protect him or itself.

Just one heartbeat, and the first scorpions would be on him, the obvious alpha of the pack. He was not going to wait for them to reach him, and so he moved just as fast, his speed enhanced by the archive. Perhaps he had not grown in the best years, and even the past days at the academy, but in that moment, he was confident he had grown. It was as if he was finally getting to touch the real power of the archive, merged with his desire.

The long tail was the first to come at him, and his weapon pulsed with energy. It crackled and hummed silently before it snapped, springing with two blades from each end that were so silver they were basically transparent. The poison-filled tail came at him in a blur. The eyes of the beast met his, putting him in their sights, and it moved its tail, curving it all the way out of the water before it came for him. His senses did not miss it, and as if the blade was answering to his will, it moved in his hands as if it were an extension of his arm. It met his blade in a thundering and scraping contact when it landed. The blade was sharp, and even with the hardened outer skin of the scorpion, it cut the tip clean off. The purple poison from its tail splattered and flooded the water, turning it blue for a second.

The beast wailed and swatted it now useless tail around in pain. Sagiri moved through the water quickly to evade the attack, but just then the second scorpion responded to the first’s wail and came at him harder this time, not to eat him but to kill him. Its jaws are snapping violently. Sagiri barely missed the first attack, and the seconds poison filled tail scratched him, but he moved quickly. The now tipless crap attacked again, however, and swatted him with a blow of its tail to his torso.

The hit could have crippled him if not for the archive enhancing his tolerance. Even so, he was swatted into the air, his weapon in one hand. Just when he was emerging from the water, it seemed Salka had released an arrow going for the second scorpion. Sagiri missed it by a whisper when he emerged from the water where he had been for a long while now. He could see the four men look at him with surprise. They were ten feet away now, even moving at top speed.

Moving on pure instinct again, Sagiri touched the tip of his heel to the spine of the arrow as it flew by and launched itself in the tail of the second scorpion. It was not enough to kill it, however. Perhaps Salka had done it to buy him more time to reach it and kill it before it killed Sagiri. The hit, however, made it angrier, and it came at Sagiri twice as hard, its jaws snapping loudly. Sagiri used the momentum from Salka’s arrow to propel himself a few feet higher to escape the attack from the beast, missing its jaws and tail by a split second.

The act put him just above its head and its weak point. He almost smiled. He spun his body in the air a few times to add momentum to his next attack before he came down hard, landing on one knee with his blade and piercing the beast right above its eyes, straight to its brain. The weapon must have been something special because it cut easily through the scorpion’s hardened skin, sinking a few inches deep. Sagiri was ready to pull out and cut its tail if it came for him from behind to give a last fight, but the beast died instantly from the attack as its heart stopped beating.

Sagiri pulled the blade out, spun the weapon in his hand as if he had used it a thousand times, and he knew just how to work it. It had now almost extended to his shoulder length as if it grew with the power of the archive. The one he had maimed and the third surrounded him quickly. The third’s tail had swollen to the maximum with poison, some of it leaking from the tip. If it touched him, even with his abilities to heal, that could kill him or have him unconscious for a month. He did not have time to waste lying down in the healing wing. He had a lot to do and catch up on, so he pushed his senses not to miss its attacks.

Its attacks were fast, so one second mistake could be detrimental. He blocked with the sharp ends of his weapon blades, but the scorpion was smart, and it avoided the blade as fast as it attacked. Just one heartbeat, and Salka would be on it. One heartbeat, however, was a long time when fighting two aggravated beasts.

He drew one dagger from his pocket and threw it at the tailless beast. The second beast must have seen that as a mockery, and it swatted the blade so fast that Sagiri missed it. Intelligent beasts are the worst. The blade hit him straight on his left-hand bicep, digging all the way to the back. Pain seared hot on his hand, running through every cell, and he staggered back, almost falling off the back of the dead scorpion. After being stabbed by the twins, however, he was not new to stab wounds.

Salka and his team arrived just then and joined the fight just as the third scorpion went for him while he was still distracted and disoriented. Too bad for it salka had already arrived.

He shut his eyes, pulled the blade out, and groaned in pain with every inch he pulled. Just the duration of him pulling out the blades, and the two beasts that were still alive lay dead, floating in the water. Salka had killed the third beast in a second. Well, it was a beast against a beast, and Matasi had killed the other. Sagiri was still standing on top of the dead second scorpion, and Salka jumped on top of it to join him. Salka looked at him in silence for a second before he saw the stab wound on his bicep. He had seen his blackened eyes before, and so he was not shocked.

Just then Salka’s eyes narrowed, and he held onto his right hand, inspecting it. His combat suit was torn, and just then, the markings on his body had stopped glowing, and they just glowed dimly as they returned to their places. Sagiri remembered Salka had never seen them glow, but what he said next had him shocked.

”Did the poison tip touch you?” Salka asked, looking at the scratch on his hand. It seemed the second scorpion had scratched him narrowly, but purple was seeping from his skin. Had he been hit?

Just then sagiri swayed, and Salka caught him. His eyes returned back to their normal colour and rolled to the back of his head slightly. The blade in his hand retracted sharply and reduced to just a handle. With small, sharp tips. It fell from his hand, but Salka caught it with his other hand before it could hit the back of the dead scorpion. His reflexes were fast.

”The boy got scratched, damn it!” Salka said, and the others turned swiftly.

”Lotaga...” The words tumbled out of Sagiri’s mouth, and everyone turned to him.

”He is getting delirious. Throw me an antidote. Salka said, pushing Sagiri’s secret weapon into his chest blade-holding pocket.

”Lotaga, I protected them. None of them died on my watch,” he said before he completely slumped over, and Salka caught him and carried him in his hands.

”What did the boy just say?” Yavaga said, jumping over a vial in his hand undone. He opened sagiri’s mouth and poured the liquid down his throat.

”It seems I need to punish Lotaga yet again. It seems he asked the boy to protect us in his absence,” Salka said, groaning.

”Is he stupid to listen to Lotaga? He took it literally?” Matasi sighed, and Kolu just made a clicking sound deep in his throat.

”Matasi, Kolu, finish off the tree snake’s nest, burn the eggs. Yavaga, get firewood. We need to create a fire.” Salka said, walking out of the water quickly and out of the swampy place, Yavaga right behind him.