Heroes to Hunted

Time felt stagnant as we ran, and all we could focus on was escaping. We only realized how long we had been running when a prickling ache rose within our bodies. Carrying Sato, The Sleeper, on my back only added to my exhaustion.

"Wake the hell up, already!' I internally griped and shook him on my back. However, in my haste, I accidentally hit him against a nearby wooden building.

I heard a not-so-quiet "clunk" as his head made contact with the wall.

"Oops," I muttered, shrugging off the mistake. 'He'll be fine.'

Agawa, who was keeping a watchful vigil on our surroundings, hissed at me in a loud whisper, "Be careful!"

She walked up to Sato and reached for him. She caught herself for a moment and grimaced like she'd been actively willing herself to continue. Then, shaking her head, she made another attempt with renewed composure.

"I can do this," she muttered under her breath.

Like last time, a moment was all she needed to clear any hesitation, and her hand gently fell against a newly formed mark on the back of Sato's head. She still twitched with angst but was now tenderly rubbing Sato's swelling with a look of mixed concern.

"Well, aren't you all 'motherly?'" I teased.

"Oh, shut up,' she said with a rosy tint appearing on her cheeks.

I was about to continue mocking her when a stampede of iron on cobblestone echoed through the streets.

"What is that?" Nakamura whispered.

Ignoring his question, we all took positions in the darkest shadows of the alley and observed to see the sound's origin; a large platoon of soldiers.

Like the ones we'd seen at the gate, these soldiers were definitely a cut above the guards we'd seen in the dungeons of the mansion.

Rather than some cobbled-together leather armor, these ones sported reflective plate mail, smooth steel gauntlets, and greaves. They had the kind of equipment you'd get in the mid-game of some RPG.

Though I hated restrictive clothes, I wouldn't have minded getting my hands on some of those shiny gauntlets and boots. You could say I was more of a "gladiatorial" fighter when equipping myself. I liked to stay as nimble as possible.

"Look there," Kamida whispered, pointing towards the outer wall's exit.

Following his request, we three peered from the alleyway to the streets and observed the main gate. Now surrounding it was a wall of steel-clad guards, all wielding various binding ropes, irregularly shaped blunted clubs, and sharp instruments.

In front of them paced who I assumed was their commander.

Setting him apart from the masses, he had a silvery gray chest piece garnished with numerous gold etchings and a billowing black-gold cape. Amongst the engravings was some kind of crest. It consisted of a pair of fangs with two crossed swords and claw marks.

If that wasn't already "regal" enough, the tip of his helmet flared up in spikes around the edges, forming what looked like a silvery-black crown.

He stopped pacing and commanded the attention of his subordinates with a rallying cry. Though we were enemies, even I could feel some kind of fervor stirring within me from his overwhelming charisma. He was…imposing.

The knight drew his blade, a golden-rimmed longsword that devoured any ray of moonlight making contact with it. He spoke, his booming voice seemingly echoing for miles as if he'd been challenging the heavens themselves.

"The time has come again to prove your loyalty to yourselves, your families, and Lady Vlad! Tonight, some ruffians, some 'heroes,' have escaped captivity. Like in years past, they're plotting to overthrow everything we've built together. Plotting to destroy everything that allows a peaceful coexistence.

Stopping briefly, he eyed the wall of fighters before almost throwing his sword up to the night sky. The moonlight slid down the blade's edge, freezing on it like a sheet of pale ice.

He inhaled deeply, the air audibly scraping against the mouthpiece of his helmet. Exhaling, he shouted with a voice that induced tremors in the air. "I, Darius Harmon, will do everything to preserve the safety of my family! What of you lot?! Tell me…am I alone in my desire for peace?!"

The soldiers' response was utterly unanimous. With synchronized movements, they slammed their heels together, saluted, and matched their captain's intensity.

"NO, SIR!" though they shouted in sync, not even their combined effort held a candle to the intimidation their leader exuded.

"Good... Then take your posts and find them. Quell the rats that infest Lady Vlad's Garden," Harmon dismissed his subordinates with a swipe of his hand.

Following their commander's orders, they efficiently dispersed into multiple squadrons and scattered into the night.

"Isn't this bad?" Agawa whispered.

"I wouldn't call it good," Nakamura replied.

"Tsk," I clicked my tongue. 'You know, feel free to wake up whenever. We're only being hunted by trained warriors, is all…' I furiously nudged Sato.

Naturally, he didn't wake up, I expected anyway. Of course, I say that, but anticipating it did nothing to douse my frustration. How could the most capable of us be taking a damn nap through all this!

"What's our plan of action then?" Kamida asked.

It was a vexing question. Though we spent an hour planning back at the clinic, we didn't know what to do. How could we? We were two middle-aged men, a high school girl and a delinquent. In my book, that didn't create a compelling narrative depicting "genius tacticians."

Sure, we should've expected them to barricade the gate. That much would be obvious to anyone, yet we stupidly overlooked the possibility.

"Now here we are, blindly stuck in this trashy situation," I grumbled.

'Ah! I wanna punch something!' my mind was aching for stress release.

"Hey!" Agawa waved a hand in my face. "Earth to Takagi, what do you think?"

"I wanna punch something…." I griped, a tear of frustration forming in my eye.

"Huhhh," she stared at me with a blank expression.

"Well, whatever we do, we shouldn't stay here," Nakamura said, then fixed a finger down the alley opposite to the gate. "Let's keep moving."

Running was something that we were barely capable of at this point. The alternative was being eaten, however, so we had some motivation to push past our limits.

We ran and ran, this time eluding even more squadrons of guards along the way.

'Weren't we already struggling enough? Why the hell did someone have to turn on "hard mode?!"' I always hated those damn arcade games where the difficulty got endlessly more challenging.

Street to street, alley to alley, we dipped in and out of the open. We had no idea where we were going, just that we were desperate to find any clue how to escape.

'I wonder how many of the lemmings made it out already?' the thought of the cowards enjoying peace of mind and security stoked my anger. They were so hasty with running; they better not have gotten themselves caught so easily after abandoning us…

Thinking about enacting revenge on the ones who'd gotten away, I felt a second wind of energy pooling deep within my body.

With the motivation to beat down the cowards that left us, I could feel my focus become sharper than ever! My instinctual reactions were quick, and my mind was quicker.

It was a good thing, too, since the next corridor concealed an ambushing assailant.

"Take this, you fuck!" she shouted, swinging a wooden stick straight for my face.