Pretty pathetic to harm a little girl. Just below where I stood, I saw Yukina being choked by a soldier. Seems like James couldn't protect his family…What a bother… It was supposed to be the man's job… Not his friend's job.
Quite easily, my weapon cut through his arm. I didn't allow him to scream. I caught Yukina just before she hit the ground. I'll have to take them somewhere. She's alive, thankfully. But, in pretty bad condition. As I held her in my arms, the flames around us disappeared.
"J-Jin…?"
His wife's pretty hurt. Melinda was pinching her arm, where an arrow was embedded into her bicep.
"J-Jin...? I-Is that you?" James's wife called out to me, her body shuddered with each pained breath.
"Did your husband leave you behind?" I questioned, carefully setting the unconscious Yukina down on the ground. Her neck already had grown almost twice the size before; it's a miracle she lived through the strangling. Her neck might've been broken, I'll have to be careful while moving her. Once her head had lightly tapped the ground, Melinda slightly shook her head.
"Di-Did-- Is Yukina okay?- Is-" She tried to ask. The pained expression on her face told me already what she was feeling-- Regret, anguish and pain. Does she look okay? I wanted to question her, it was an utterly ridiculous question. Even a brain dead moron like Shaun could see.
"To put it bluntly, she isn't. There's cuts and bruises all around her body." I explained, pointing out all the bloody marks in her body. Then, the last one aimed at Yukina's neck. "She's alive, barely. See that blood? If we don't get her recovered, she'll die. A rib has punctured her lungs, it'll cause everything to collapse."
"What... What are we supposed to- AGH! What the h-"
Melinda's mouth was cupped by my hand, I raised my right index finger to my lips. Blood was pooling between the fingers that covered the arrow's puncture mark. She needs to stay quiet, and we have to get going.
"Keep you and your daughter quiet. We have to escape these walls."
"Mm-- That... That hurt. That stung..." Melinda mumbled, crying in between the pained groans. Her daughter tried to slap me for what I did, but it didn't land its mark. They're all not that bright, huh? I guess James doesn't need to be concerned about her not being his daughter.
Her mother had to hold her arm with her uninjured side; as she scolded her to oblivion I pulled Yukina into my arms. First things first… We have to get out of here; the shouting from earlier would've pulled their attention. The gate shouldn't be far.
"Get up, we're leaving."
"Can..-"
"We have no time, your cries and fighting would draw their attention. Get up, and you too, little girl. Don't try to attack someone."
Their daughter shrunk at my words. Melinda pulled her daughter up, I let them run in front of me. James would definitely scold me, and somehow keep me down if I didn't cover them. Despite being a dimwit… That guy is pretty skilled at what he does.
There wasn't much to notice on the road; only a few dead bodies, more than a few. At least thirty of them, but we pressed on. Near the end Allisa fell, and scraped her knees.
Somehow, we had made it outside of the city. There was no ambush, no one to meet us outside the gates; only the corpses of the city guards laying in their blood. I rushed them to run, run as fast as they could and how long they could. James's wife and daughter weren't doing good, just shortly afterwards, I could hear sniffling.
Allisa started to cry, and limped. Melinda had to stop, she held her daughter close. Embracing her into a hug, and her good arm holding her cheek. We were not far from Untergrant, a couple hundred yards at most. From what I can see, Mirin's soldiers were looking around.
"Get up, you need to hold your tears till we get further away."
"She's just a kid…"
"A dead one if we just stay here, your husband already told us to get a kilometer away. And away from the road. We have not made a dent."
Well… Whatever. If she dies, or if they both die it's not on my shoulders. My words apparently struck a nerve, albeit how truthful they were.
"Can… Can you just give us a second…? Please…"
"I won't protect you."
"...That's… Fine."
For the next few minutes, I watched Melinda comfort her daughter. She held her tight, with her free arm pulling her into a tight squeeze. She kept muttering these useless and untruthful words. "It'll be okay." And her daughter asking in kind. "Will dad be okay? Will Yukina be okay?"
I held my tongue, not interrupting them. But inside my mind, I answered. James will be fine. Yukina will most likely die, it's already a miracle she's still breathing, barely. Her condition had already worsened, an enormous amount of blood was already pooling out of her mouth.
She struggled to breathe, paired with the potentially broken neck and punctured lungs, she wouldn't live much longer.
Finally, they're finished. It took just over five minutes for Allisa to calm down, her sobbing had stopped. Melinda to finish it off gave her a small kiss on the forehead and presumably a smile. As soon as both stood up, we went off again.
Slower, it took us nearly twenty minutes to get a kilometer away. If a soldier had excellent eyesight, they'd see us. And get to us quickly, with this burden in my arms there was no way I'd be able to protect all of us.
I laid Yukina on her side, allowing the blood to drain out of the side of her mouth. Her adoptive family took her side, both holding a worried look on their faces.
"Please, do not say anything." Melinda said to me, she must've realized I wanted to say, "don't get your hopes up." Yukina's situation is extremely grim– there's a low chance for her to survive. "I'm not as dumb as I seem… All we have to do is hope for Yukina…" Her voice trailed off as she kept her eyes glued to Yukina's face.
Seeing as there was no necessities to talk, I just stood far away. Keeping my eyes glued to the inflamed city, and my ears open to sneak attacks that may arise.
And there they are. Just in the distance, I could see the figures of multiple individuals. Shaun, his wife. Verd, his wife and two kids. They were running as fast as they could. James was leading their dash, his head twirling around behind just to watch for chasers.
As they drew near, I just let my hand out for a small wave. James approached first, he was panting– out of breath. But his eyes remained focused, he gave me a small nod when his eyes trailed to my left.
"You- What… What happene-"
His voice was cut off when Melinda jumped into his arms. She held him tight.
I have to give them their moments.
*************************************************************************************************
Yukina
Wake up. Your life isn't over yet. Wake up. Wake up, wake up, wake up…
WAKE UP!
What- Just as I opened my eyes, an excruciating pain pulsated from my neck– I shot up, clutching it… It was super hard to breathe; I had to gulp, try to suck in the oxygen so it could enter my lungs.
As quickly as it came… The agonizing pain had left my body. And a warm hand was pressed against my back. It felt comforting, and calming down the panic I felt inside.
"You're fine now, the pain should be gone…" I heard a familiar voice, it was James. I finally was able to see my surroundings, we were outside; only in the distance Untergrant was available. Melinda, Allisa, and the guys were all sitting around.
Melinda and Allisa were closest, looking over me. She got hurt. I observed whilst seeing the slightly bloody bandage on Melinda's bicep. She smiled whilst looking at me, an obvious attempt at reassuring me she's fine.
"Thank you for trying to protect us." Melinda said, her smile had turned into a thankful look; but there was something I couldn't see behind her eyes. Is that regret…? Or something else.
"Are you- Yukina… Are you okay?"
"I-I think… I'm fine. Thank you for healing my injuries." I turned my head to give James a smile. He was looking down at me with furrowed eyebrows. After I thanked him, he removed his hands before moving towards Melinda's side. "Is something wrong? Did I-"
"I'm a little angry at you."
"Eh? Why?"
"What were you thinking about trapping yourself with that soldier?" He questioned, he raised his arms to Melinda's wound. That looks so nasty… How is she just smiling through the pain? You can see the bone of her arm, it went all the way through the muscle. Melinda just smiled as a light beamed out of James's palm.
"I was just… Trying to protect Melinda and Allisa…" It's not like I died… I definitely almost did. I had to avoid his glare, I was already trembling. He sounds so angry…
"You could've made a ring of fire around him. Jin was the one who told me what happened. You made a large circle so only you and him would be in there. That's the dumbest thing I've seen you and heard you do."
Crap. He really is pissed. If Jin wasn't a little tattletale I'd have gotten away freely with no scolding. Stop smirking you!!
"Sorry…"
"James be soft on her." Melinda said to him she raised her other arm to hold his hand. She squeezed a bit, but the infuriated look James was giving me did not soften.
"I won't. I don't know what kind of thing you were blessed with, but those injuries would've killed anyone else."
Were they that bad? There was no iron taste in my mouth, my neck was able to move just fine. The ribs I was sure that were shattered were repaired and not causing my lungs to burst. What am I thinking…?
"Do not, ever do that again? Do you understand that? If Jin was a second slower you wouldn't be here, you'd be gone, dead."
"James…"
"What you did was the dumbest thing a person can do, sacrificing yourself to save others. There was another way around it so you can protect yourself!"
"I'm sorry…" It was the only thing I could think of. It was sudden, impulsive. I couldn't help but lower my head, I understood his words. I think I do, he just wanted everyone to be safe… It must've been quite the scare when he saw me all bruised and beaten. I'll apologize to him in a b- Ow-?
"That's for making us worry." James flicked my forehead, just like he did to Allisa before. The angry frown on his face had not changed. He's royally pissed, but he's holding it back. In the next moment, he straightened his back.
"I'm sorry for that." I lowered my head whilst apologizing again.
"Don't do it again. We'll talk more about it later, when we're on the move."
We all fell silent, Melinda stood up whilst rubbing her now woundless arm. They asked if I could stand, and I complied. There's this feeling in my gut, one I knew before. I just held my tongue as I followed these three to the guys.
They were standing, forming a triangle. From what I could hear, it was their plans. Shaun's wife is up ahead, alongside Verd's family. Shaun was slightly pacing back and forth in place, as was Verd but greater so. Their nervousness was completely obvious; but Jin was reassuring them they were fine.
Apparently, their families wanted to get as far as possible; leaving Shaun and Verd back so they could discuss their plan.
As we broke the triangle, they began to discuss their plan of what to do; Mirin, the kingdom that assaulted Untergrant would label us as criminals. I had to do a double take. The rest of them stared at both Allisa and I.
To cut it short, seeing as how fast they assaulted Untergrant and burned it down; it was safe to say they had taken ground over the current lands. Seizing control of Amura. It made overall sense, as we traveled we could run into those towns that were taken over.
This brings up another issue, future and immediate. We have to disguise ourselves, or pinpoint which town has been taken over. That's an issue that will be resolved once we can gather our things; or find a safe zone to get them.
Overall between the guys that fought; all of them, they took out at least a dozen soldiers with minimal injuries. All of them were unharmed. The total number of soldiers that were counted were four dozen. According to James and Jin they were all generally low skilled.
A select few, like the one… That got me, was pretty skilled; but Jin took him out in a quick couple actions. These guys are a lot stronger than I gave them credit for. Silently, I was in awe; I could feel my jaw actually hang.
Their conversation immediately switched to their next course of action.
"Uh… If we do this, we have nowhere to go. Untergrant will be burned down." I brought up after a moment. Everyone turned their heads to me. They wanted to kill the rest of the soldiers, or drive them away. As far as we know, they only know the faces of James, Shaun and Verd. Jin was on the roofs navigating the area to find us. As our main forces we will be left to just Jin and I. If Jin goes, and a person escapes we have no one else.
I'm extremely weak; slow due to my injured food. My magic is only good for a small fight, extended ones or fighting against faster enemies would leave me open. In towns it isn't ideal either, it can cause things to burn down or hit innocent people.
"We'll leave Jin back here. And we're not completely out of options." James said to me, he wasn't talking to me like a child. He completely understood my meanings, and worries. "We just have a long journey, it's our safest bet." His eyes divulged to Melinda.
Eh? I followed his eyes as did everyone else.
So it turns out, Melinda is royalty. She's the daughter of a minister in another kingdom. It was located up north, where winter is a constant. How did she come all the way down to the south? She fell for James long ago, both were born in the same kingdom.
James was a ladies man back then, sort of. He really didn't play into it, and rather ignored it. As this was told to everyone, James wrapped his arm around Melinda's shoulders.
I guess that explains it… I had a feeling Melinda was out of the ordinary; she always was graceful, at least during at home. Her rules with Allisa and I were similar to someone teaching royal etiquette.
Sit with your backs straight, don't be messy whilst eating; give respect to those you meet. Everything like that. Even some royal etiquette, curtsy/bowing. And holy utter hell, that was embarrassing to be forced to do.
"That's a long trip, especially by foot." Jin brought up. "It'll take a year at most to get there, if we go straight by foot."
"There'll be towns, we can rent a carriage for some time."
They droned on, to the point Melinda led us over to the others. Her reasoning: This wasn't talk for children. Although what literally just happened… I decided not to fight back… Wasn't worth the fighting and I can still hear. Thank you, My fluffy amazing ears!!!
Just as we made it to the rest; there were two women, one was chewing furiously on her nails– Mumbling incoherent things. Her eyes were widened in fear. That's Shaun's wife. Whilst Verd's family, two young kids, around the ages 5-6 were coddling their mother's legs.
"Jin, just stay back. We'll take care of the soldiers and get the hell out of there."
"Got it."
"Can you try to comfort them? Please?"
"..."
That's not going to work… Jin is the worst person to ask to comfort people. His overall bluntness and pessimistic mindset is concerning. And he also doesn't look like he enjoys talking in general.
There was a short silence, as they parted ways from my view. They turned their backs, and Jin grabbed the ridge of his nose before silently muttering things. This'll be so great… I felt in my chest, there'd be a crap show about to happen. He does not look too happy to comfort; at most pissed.
It's been over a month, almost a month and a half ever since… I've finally seen more of this world. I wanted to close my mind off to what I've seen, ignoring those around me. I managed to close everything out entirely.
As much as it sounds, I feel… I can't describe it. My hands were trembling, I was worried and scared of what the future would hold. This wasn't my body originally, I believe I somehow died back then. What would happen to me if the original being took over? What will happen to everyone?
I mulled it over, and thought about it. I do not favor this life, but the people around me did grow on me… Something broke my focus, everyone seemed to calm down. James and the other two made it back, there were blood splatters on their clothes.
James's normally soft look had changed, there was still anger, but something else beneath there. Shaun and Verd seemed to have a look of regret, their shoulders were slumped but they hugged their respective families with smiles and relief.
They all had countless bags, boxes and items. Some had to be left behind, we needed to travel light for now. Until we had to get a carriage, we all left… And that was the first home in this world, and the first bodies of people.
I could still picture them, their grotesque horrified looks. The wounds that leaked blood, and guts. What does this world have in mind for me? I couldn't tell you, or know. I don't know how much time I have left. It was unknown if I will be having this second life. For now, I'll just have to go. I'm powerless to do anything else, and too invested to give up on this unknown life.