Awakening [GxG]

6b

“Stay on guard, everyone.” It was a very manly voice with an English accent. This one was plain English. Nothing Elvish or whatever. Wait, there were more of them?

The white-haired girl was not alone. Two white men stood beside her. The taller man was probably in his mid-twenties, with short blond hair, hazel eyes, and a handsome face that seemed to be permanently in a bad mood.

The second young man, also the shortest of the group, had hair and eyes so black they absorbed the light. He smiled at Narvari with a wave. All three odd fellows wore the same black and dark green attire closely resembling a military suit. The girl however wore a short pleated skirt instead of a pair of trousers like the men.

Who were these people and how did they suddenly get here? More importantly, how did they kill the shadowy creature? None of Narvari’s guns had worked and yet that explosion had killed it. It must be her gun. Narvari glanced back at the girl’s gun, but it was gone. She was not carrying it anywhere on her either.

Where did it go? She narrowed her eyes.

“Check your xuul,” said the blond English guy, looking at something at his wrist. “The wraith demons weren’t only here. They are everywhere.”

“It’s a good thing they are only first-order,” said the short young man.

“They can still do a lot of damage. Especially if there’s a wraith lord around.” The blond man turned to the other guy. “Yanvirrak, go activate the solar prism. Once you’re done, put up your holy veil over the city, then find survivors and keep them safe. Understood?”

“Of course,” he said. “Solar prism, holy veil, survivors. Got it.”

The young man named Yanvirrak disappeared. No, he ran so fast that it seemed he merely became a blur. It was fast, but Narvari was sure her eyes had caught it. Strange.

But wait, that wasn’t the strangest part. Did this man just say wraith demons? As in demons? But what else could Narvari call those shadowy creatures who devoured the life out of humans?

And if those things were demons, did that make this group of strange-looking people demon hunters? Had she not almost been strangled to death by these same demons, Narvari would have laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. No, this must be a dream. One endless nightmare. She had to wake up now.

“What do we do with her?” said the girl.

When two pairs of eyes fell on Narvari, she knew they were talking about her. Narvari pinched herself on the arm and the shock of the pain jolted her to reality. She clenched her jaws as the throes of reality suffocated her.

This was no dream nor a hallucination. Those creatures had really attacked Sharmandi. They had tried to kill her. Her family...

“Anana.” She crawled towards her grandmother, but then halted when she saw Jimbaga’s pale sickly body laying about like a rag-doll. Narvari scrambled to her feet towards her best friend.

“No. No. Jimbaga.” She gathered her best friend into her arms, holding him tightly in her embrace. “Jimbaga, wake up. Please.” But he was as still as a statue and as cold as ice.

Her eyes and throat burned. It was too late. There was nothing she could do for him. She had failed her friend. She had failed everyone. But her grandmother was fine. She could help Anana.