A World With/Out Home

Chapter 27: A Growing Tale (Part 2)

Melissa had been having a nice day and an even better sleep. Though a nice drink helped, an amazing day did it better and the soft mattress of the first class carriage had lulled her into comfort. That was till the explosion. From waking up to grasping the situation, Melissa barely had more than a few seconds to react. She saw Lillia but Valandus and Kyle were missing. Her instincts kicked in and knowing Lillia could fend for herself grabbed her bag from the bedside table and wrapped herself within her bed, mattress and all. As the carriage flipped and rolled her bedding protected her from the brunt of the forces, though she was sure to have a few bruises later.

Not a small bit annoyed Melissa broke free from the tangle of sheets to find a trashed and empty carriage lying on its side. The windows were shattered and Lillia was missing. From where the girl was standing she may have been thrown out.

"Should have known this was too good to be true," Melissa grumbled and prepared herself for what was sure to come. No ordinary thief or bandit would risk blowing up an entire mountainside. She was alone and without help, but then again, maybe it was better that way. A cold glint entered her eyes and stepping from the ruins of the carriage she looked to the mountain they had fallen from. Powerful lights began to form, many of which pointed to the valley where they had crashed. Two other carriages had fallen. While hers had managed to stop halfway the other two had fallen to the forest below.

Melissa took a moment to gaze about her surroundings. It was a precarious point of moderately flat ground no more than a dozen metres wide and covered in rocky outcrops which had managed to slow the carriage. It would be hard to see from above and held a good amount of cover. She scowled towards where the lights began to descend.

"You brought this upon yourselves," with those words Melissa tossed herself against the rocks and laid in wait.

It wasn't even a minute after when the footsteps and voices came.

"We've found one of them," the voice came out as if merged with a soft static. A boot roughly touched against Melissa's side. "Negative on target. Seems to be unconscious."

"Get her tied up, we can use her as a hostage," another voice responded.

"No one else in the area," a third announced itself. "Targets must have crashed into the forest. Focus on zones two and three, lead towards zone four for ambush. We'll keep overwatch from here."

A hustle of activity went by as Melissa continued to lie still, her body limp. Then the hands grabbed her. In that instant her eyes shot open and her body became rigid with power. The man who had her couldn't even gasp in time as suddenly an electrified knife jammed into the gap between his helmet and neck. It was over before it even began. A cold pulse spread through Melissa's heart and as she thought, the now dead body of a Lavise knight crumped to the ground.

There was no waste in her movements as she sprang towards her next target still unaware of the danger she represented.

By luck the knight faced her way, "Hey are you- Shit!" His rifle raised only for a knife to impact against his side. With a vibrating hum the knight's black armour held firm, deflecting the blow and saving his aim. With Melissa in his sights he went to fire only to feel a sudden tug against his arm, missing by a wide margin. A string of steel had gripped him and no sooner than he noticed did it spark causing his armour and muscles to spasm. His last sight was that of a knife plunging down towards his eyes. The third and final knight was not caught unaware as the misfire proclaimed Melissa's presence.

"Requesting backup!" she screamed into her helmet but only found static in reply. Rifle trained, it fired on Melissa as she weaved between the rocks. "Repeat, requesting backup on ridge. Potential target has-." Her mouth was forced to shut as Melissa threw her knife. Desperate the knight used her rifle as a shield and discarded it as it suddenly sparked. Her reactions were quick and as Melissa's other knife came swinging she dodged, drawing her sword.

In a direct clash it was clear the knight held the advantage as her wider weapon and powerful armour dominated the fight. A wisp of blood cut from Melissa's side as she failed to dodge in time. With only a single knife not much longer than her hand, defending had become life or death. Step by step she was pushed back as none of her attacks could penetrate the dark steel, barely even registering on the enraged knight. All it took was a slight slip against the stony ground and suddenly Melissa's knife was flung from her hand. There was no mercy as the knight went for the kill.

Melissa kicked and the knight cut down. What should have cleaved through skin and bone met metal instead and as the metallic ring echoed, so did the knight feel the shudder through her arms. A click and snap and suddenly in the air another knife appeared ejected from Melissa's metallic leg. A moment later, guided by steady hands, it slipped through the knight's armour and into the gap of her neck.

Several seconds passed as Melissa stood alert and waiting. Then as nothing came she took the helm of the slain knight and returned her spare knife to her leg.

A voice resounded, "Repeat overwatch. Too much interference."

Perfectly mimicking her slain opponent Melissa replied, "Hostage had to be taken care of. She almost got the jump on us."

"Understood, do you need backup?"

"Negative." With a cold gaze Melissa looked down at the forest. From her vantage above she could see two clear groups. One in the dense trees as the sound of gunfire went wild and another closer towards her were powerful fluctuations of mana leapt into the sky.

She sighed, "Damn stupid Lavise Knights making me kill again. Well the Captain did warn me. Though the idiots really think their tech is infallible." She spun the helmet around her hand as her leg let out a similar vibrating hum. "Let's see how much I can mess with them."