The Lost Sentinel

5 Going to Mount Gi.

Tan P.V.O

I walk around the spaceship trying to find my way. The silence in the ship is so eerie. The feeling that there should be more people there makes me feel sad. They all died protecting earth.

Such sacrifice. I don’t understand it, because nothing has ever been important to me that I would be willing to die for it.

Except maybe Mak. He was the only person that ever came close to making me feel loyal in that way. I pull out the coin from my pocket, and stare at it. I can’t believe he is gone.

And I couldn’t even help him.

I dash a hand at the tears I can feel forming in my eyes. There is no use crying.

What is done is done.

It is time to move on.

I am tired of being on this ship. They need to drop me off so I can go home. Laz is probably worried about me by now.

I shake my head, knowing that Laz doesn’t care. He’s probably angry that he lost the deal, since we didn’t manage to steal the egg.

I continue to walk around until I come across a hallway that looks familiar. I’m not so far away from the control room. I come to a stop as Rhine and Hanika voices reach me. They are talking about me. The desperation in their voice is so clear.

Guilt swirled in my stomach, because I am not the master they were hoping for.

But what if I could be? The question unexpectedly filters into my mind both intriguing and scaring me.

I don’t want to die. But it seems I am dead either way. The aliens are clearly out to kill me.

Maybe I should die doing something worthwhile. I might not save the world, but at least I would be something more than a thief. And Mak wouldn’t have died in vein.

“You’ll have to convince him to go,” Hanika was saying sounding hopeless and resigned.

“I’ll go,” I hear myself as I step into the control room.

Hanika doesn’t even try to hide her shock. She gasps covering her mouth with her hand.

Rhine wheels his chair to come to a stop next to me. “Are you sure? You might not survive this.”

“I know,” I say.

“Okay,” Rhine says. “I’ll get everything ready.”

I give him a nod, and then storm out of the room even though I don’t know where I’m going. I hear footsteps behind me. I don’t stop until a hand lands on my shoulder.

I reach for her hand, knowing it’s no one other than Hanika, but she moves around me like a blur. Two fists slam into my chest ripping the breath out of me. I slam into the opposite wall.

“Master Gin would have seen that coming,” she says brushing her beautiful hair over her shoulder. Her eyes burn into me, and I can feel her hatred like a scalding fire on my skin.

“Are you here to prove how much I am not your precious Gin?” I ask getting to my feet. She raises her chin, straightening her shoulders as if to challenge me to prove her wrong.

I rub my chest still feeling the throbbing pain of her hit flaring and radiating to my arms. I charge her needing to prove something to her. She moves to the side kicking out her right leg. She catches me in the stomach.

I double over seeing stars popping around my eyes. I stumble to my feet and charge her again. I manage to wrap my arms around her this time.

But she’s like a cat, agile and cunning in her fighting. She easily gets out of my hold, and rakes her nails across my cheek.

“You’ll have to do more than that, thief, if you want to survive Mount Gi,” she says slamming another fist into my chest.

Thief…

The word echoes in my mind, and for the very first time in my life…ever since I lived on the streets I am ashamed of myself. I am more than a thief…I am …I am Tan.

The shame burns within me rousing something in me. It stirs, thrumming through my veins. It is small, but I can feel it bubbling and growing.

Hanika comes at me. But this time I somehow know where she will be. Her fist shoots to my face and I see myself blocking it with my left hand. My hand closes around her arm, and I spin her away from me.

She turns and stares at me as if I’ve grown a second head.

Her face turns into a mask of rage. And her eyes flame red.

A flaming sword appears in her hand, the one she used to kill those strange aliens earlier.

“Hanika?” I say as she stealthily approaches me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she wants to kill me. Before I can finish that thought she comes at me. The sword hisses above my head, and I can feel its heat and its desire to kill me.

Die….die dieeee, the words echo in the air around my head.

I dodge her every strike, gaining speed, my movements becoming fluid as if I’ve done this before. She strikes aiming for my right side.

My right hand shoots out, and I wrap my fingers around the flaming blade.

“No don’t,” she shouts and tries to temper her strike, but my fingers are already wrapped around the sword.

Time seems to stop as she stares at me, and I realize that nothing happened to my hand.

I expected to feel the searing heat of the sword as it bit into my hand cutting my finger. But I don’t…I don’t feel anything.

I stare down at my hand and its glowing. My birthmark gives off a gold light, similar to that stone I found in that basement.

The sword disappears in my hand.

I turn to face Hanika, but she is already turning and walking away.

What just happened?  

A slight noise catches my attention from behind me. I turn to find Rhine there. He looks like he was there the whole time Hanika was trying to kill me.

“Don’t worry about her, she will be fine,” he says. “Come we need to prepare.”

“Were you going to watch her kill me?” I ask not following him. I can’t believe this guy.  

“She wasn’t trying to kill you. She wanted to see if you can handle it.”

“Did I pass the test?”

Rhine shrugs not answering me. He wheels his chair going towards the direction Hanika disappeared to. “At least we know that you have some of Master Gin’s talent. We just have to wait and see if you’ll harness all of his power.”

Of course, or I’ll die, I don’t say this as I follow Rhine.