Iron angel (Book 1 of IA)

[34] Foes

Time stood still.

​We stood so close we could hear each other's heartbeat, yet we are not touching. And out at the rim of the glowing sphere of light, we seized each other up:

With her amber eye blocked by her hair she stared back at me with her single red eye.

I stared back.

By then, I was completely memorized by the theme of her unique coloured eye that stood out in the darkness. It was glowing, like a gem stone. And for some reason, I knew it wasn't contacts, but rather something unnatural. And the longer I looked at it, the more my curiosity grew. And I was so drawn by it, the suddenly parting from her shocked me, but I managed to regroup myself and seize her up once again.

"Monster." She spoke in accented Etolish, which was the native language of Ayre and most of the hundred kingdoms. But regardless upon hearing those words, my blood rose like boiling water and a bile taste began to form in my mouth. A new-found anger began to surge through my veins, and it took every ounce of logic inside me to not run forth, knock her down, and trample all over her until every single last bone in her body broke. I knew she was trying to use the insult to get to me, so I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine.

"The same could be said for your eye. It's not natural, isn't it?"

Just as I finished my sentence, came a series of teeth gritting so loud, I thought it came from some sort of beast for a second. And halfway through girting her teeth she burst out:

"You know nothing about me! You dog of the military!"

"Say what you want, but you killed my comrades." I paused and drew in a sharp breath "You're not getting away."

"You have no idea what the government is doing to us revolutionaries. You're just a weapon used by them after all."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" all the remaining temperament inside me was tossed right out of the window.

"Curse this battle! Curse you, curse the revolutionaries, curse the military! I couldn't give less than zero of shits for all this..."

I went on cursing and swearing for a whole minute, during which she kept silent. And by the time I was done spilling my anger, I took a large exchange of breath before facing her again.

"You're not one of them," she finally said.

My forehead creased, but I decided not to reply.

"Then why are you here?"

"Revenge." I blurred straight out.

"Against who?"

At that point I couldn't care less if I was telling it to a rebel, since I figured I will just kick her ass and tie her up later.
"Soulsteel." I bared my teeth at my own mention of the name, but nerveless continued: "He took my legs, and since you are on the same side as him, there is no good telling you that, am I right?"
She paused for even longer this time, and when she replied, I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing:

"No. I hate him as much as you do, if not more. But do not get the wrong idea, we are still enemies."

"Of course, you killed Baldie and the others."

We both shot a look of hatred at one another, but the more we stared the more I began to think:

It's not entirely her fault, she's just full filling her role as a rebel after all...

And gritted my teeth at the thought, but for some reason, I found my eyes began to soften. Next thing I know, both of us were softening our gaze; to the point it almost became neutral.

"Kuro." She said out of the blue.

"Kuro?" I tried to repeat it through a pair of thin lips.

"In the Kyo culture, it is by custom to introduce your own name first."

"Understandable." I found myself nodding for some reason, "Kard. Just call me call Kard." I answered, since I wasn't comfortable enough to tell her my full name.

"Kard. A very odd name."

"It has that unique ring to it, don't you think?"

"No." she paused for a moment, her face unreadable in the dim light, then she continued:

"What do you plan to do now?"

After hearing her out for the first time, I wasn't quite sure what to do anymore. That moment when I mentioned Soulsteel's name, I could tell the hate she had towards him was sincere. But that hate is about as much as we have in common, beyond that, we were still enemies.

"I don't know. But we need to get out of here first." I pointed out.

"Agreed. Though I take it that you do not know the way out?"

"Yep, and my GPS here is not receiving any signal either..."

"Men like you are predictable. Dumb and simple." She shook her head in disapproval.

"And women like you don't attract men." I fired back.

"Good. I find dealing with men troubling and tiring as well. One stone, two birds." She replied, and I had the vaguest sense she was looking down on me.

"Honestly, I give zero shits about your standards. But I, no we need to get out of here ASAP. You need to regroup with your fellow rebels as well, am I right?"

"I can manage on my own."

"I know, that's why I am going to follow you." Her brows knitted and just stared at me, clearly unhappy with my decision.

"No."

"Sure, but you will have to fight me then. And I can guarantee you, it's going to be more than a broken blade this time." I pointed my chin towards the broken blade in her hand.

"Men like you lack honour."

"Honestly, honor can kiss my ass once I kill that bastard Soul Steel."

There was a pause, before she continued again:

"I will say this for the last time, do not follow me and I am your enemy."

"Same, that's why I will follow you and I don't have to do what you say, because you're my enemy."

Silence. As she threw a glance of clear disapproval, before turning on her heels and began to walk away.

"Wait!" I called out, though she didn't bother to turn around so I had to call out again:

"You forgot something!"

She stopped in her tracks, turned around and spared me a glance. And that's when I picked up her helmet and threw it at her. Lucky, she had quick reflexes, she caught it. She looked at the helmet for a moment, then put it on without a word and continued walking. I swore she is probably sneering under that helmet. Regardless; I took her silence as a yes and began to follow.

Q: How would you deal with your enemy if that person is in front of you right now?