The Dream Shifter

Chapter 245

Her body collapsed at the feet of the Atlantean boy. He looked down at her not surprised by any of it. It all went as he planned. "That took a little longer than I expected, but the result is still the same. The Captain should be pleased to have another one caught." The boy started pulling out large metal cuffs with special inscriptions carved through the surface. "He should grant me another visit with this reward."

The boy bent down to bind Yumi, but a new wind suddenly burst from her. A reddish glow tinted her skin. It made the boy take a step back in cautious. "I thought I knocked her out. She shouldn't have any more will."

Yumi's body stood up, but held still. It had fluid movements as though in control. She did not appear to be reacting by impulse or instinct. However, her eyes remained closed and her head tilted down darkening her face in shadow. The wind gathered up some of the hue coming from Yumi painting the environment an unusual red pigment.

The Atlantean stepped forward with his field still active. He raised his hand up to her forehead again. If she could stand, he needed to finish his job. However, her hand grabbed him by the wrist before he could get close enough. "What?!"

Her head pulled back bringing light to her face. A harsh and sharply carved feature covered her face. Yumi was the same, but looked completely different from before. She opened her eyes revealing them to be light blue rather than the usual medium brown. "You made a mistake putting her to sleep. I'm not so kind as her…"

A stream of blood rose into the air. The blood painted the boy's face in shock as his eyes widened. "How is…this possible…"

The boy bent down to bind Yumi, but a new wind suddenly burst from her. A reddish glow tinted her skin. It made the boy take a step back in cautious. "I thought I knocked her out. She shouldn't have any more will."

Yumi's body stood up, but held still. It had fluid movements as though in control. She did not appear to be reacting by impulse or instinct. However, her eyes remained closed and her head tilted down darkening her face in shadow. The wind gathered up some of the hue coming from Yumi painting the environment an unusual red pigment.

The Atlantean stepped forward with his field still active. He raised his hand up to her forehead again. If she could stand, he needed to finish his job. However, her hand grabbed him by the wrist before he could get close enough. "What?!"

Her head pulled back bringing light to her face. A harsh and sharply carved feature covered her face. Yumi was the same, but looked completely different from before. She opened her eyes revealing them to be light blue rather than the usual medium brown. "You made a mistake putting her to sleep. I'm not so kind as her…"

A stream of blood rose into the air. The blood painted the boy's face in shock as his eyes widened. "How is…this possible…" He staggered back clutching his shoulder. Unfortunately, the wound he took was more than just a hand could cover. His wound stretched diagonally across his chest cutting to the bone and through the shoulder. No injures made it to his organs, but the blood loss from the wound was troubling enough for him.

He still did not understand what happened. Everything went as he planned. Nothing failed. Yet something changed to destroy his plan. The pieces he carefully placed fell apart before her. All of the arranged traps triggered correctly, but she stood again.

Each calculation he made did not explain it. The pain challenged his focus. His vision started to blur a little and his legs no longer felt like they had the strength to support. 'A one-shot defeat? What's happening? It doesn't make any sense!'

"You look a little confused," remarked Yumi. She stepped forward with menacing presence. Since she stood up once more, the air about her was completely different from her previous behavior.

The boy took a step back again snapped to his senses by her voice. His effort to keep his distance tripped his feet. It dropped him to his knee trying to recover. "…you broke free…how?"

She tilted her head up a little looking down at him through the bottom of her eyes. "Yes, I'm free, but not in the meaning of your question. Your little plan to take her out by overloading her mentally worked. That's the reason I'm here."

He still could not follow her. The words confirmed for him it worked as he thought. However, the rest of her answer only confused him. Little time remained for him. He wondered if he made a mistake in questioning something he could not change. No escape remained for him. 'Just have to stall…' A back up was set in place for all of them. He needed to drag things out until they came to relieve him. It would not be long, only a few minutes. "How is that…possible? If I succeeded you…shouldn't be…standing."

Yumi stepped forward to the soldier until only half a meter stood between them. She sent an uninterested stare down at him. The look in her eye made it clear that she saw no value in him, even as an enemy. "You aren't anywhere close to being my equal. I've no interest in furthering this pointless conversation. All you can do is die." Her hand rose to the teenager with a red glow building in it.

Sweat built up on his neck staring down the girl. 'No chance! I thought the reports said they weren't like this…' His imminent demise tensed his body. For the moment, he forgot about all pain that paralyzed him to kneel. He forgot about the blood pouring from his body making it difficult to see straight. Only one option remained for him. The safety of waiting transformed into desperation to live.

Rippling at his feet declared his intention to act. Yumi did not have enough time to finish the attack before he came for her. Black spikes jumped up from the ground in all directions. Their speed made it seemed as if they were just a blur. However, they all came to a sudden stop. Strange sounds of scrapping came from them as something blocked their progress.

More sweat came from the Atlantean. His eye twitched a bit not expecting the first attempt to fail. 'I don't see anything…' It took him another moment of examining to finally understand. A faint red wall stopped it all. It was so transparent it was almost invisible. He remembered noting sections of a barrier around her before, but nothing so difficult to see. 'She really doesn't feel like the same as before…just who is she?!'

The spikes shattered under unusual pressure. It pinned down the teenager as well. Gravity seemed to increase everywhere. Nothing moved, except for Yumi. She moved her arm again to complete the strike interrupted before. Red light glowed from her fingers with no hesitation.

He lowered his eyes to the ground. Nothing stopped her. A surprise attack amounted to nothing. 'This is it, huh? Killed by a rebel…' He closed his eyes. His mind turned back on memories. The only hope kept him going the entire time. The only reason he fought so willingly for the military. He just wanted things to stay the same because he could never go back to the way things were before. '…sorry…I wish I could have seen you once more…'

"What did you say?" he questioned, unable to believe his ears.

Standing before him, Commander Abeiron held a paper in his hand with the official seal of the Captain of the South Gate. "Second Lieutenant Galen has been given a week leave to use as you wish. Do you understand?" Abeiron fixed him with a stern glare that made him difficult to read, as anything but annoyed, though was still uncertain if it was just him being strict.

Galen snapped back straight picking up the intention from his superior officer. "Yes, sir! I understand!"

"Good." He handed the paper over to Galen to complete the process. "Give this to your Squad Captain."

Gladly accepting, Galen took the paper into his hands. He had to stare at it for a few moments to truly believe it was real. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Commander no longer within sight. He dropped his hands down searching him out. Abeiron nearly made it out of the hall before Galen spotted him. "Thank you, sir!"

Abeiron stopped for a moment and tilted his eyes back towards the very young officer. "Hmm…" He left the area without any more words. Abeiron marched through the halls still confused by the sudden order. Like with most of the MP users, he knew little about them. Most of his responsibility fell to the regular humans in the division. In front of him, the Captain's office waited. He knocked and waited until he received permission to enter.

Simonides looked up from his desk. Piles of paperwork covered the surface and the floors. The secret side of their Captain revealed only to Abeiron. His careful planning and command disguised the fact he forgot about his more mundane tasks as Captain until it was too late. He wanted to know everything and understand everything before acting. An odd trait considering he spoke highly of his gut feelings. "There something wrong, Abeiron?" His eyes only lifted for a split-second from the desk.