The Dream Shifter

Chapter 262

Miltiades stared intently at the two bodies for minutes on edge. Aside from the cough he heard before he started healing them, they made no further movements. It concerned him that he was too late. 'Come on…I'm not losing another comrade tonight! Not to them!'

A click of a blade suddenly came from behind Miltiades. The shining polished metal stretched down next to his neck. Behind him, a dark shadow stood over him with his life in their hands. "What do you think you're doing?"

Glancing down at the blade, Miltiades swallowed slowly. He did not expect anyone else to find them. An image of the shadowed figure he saw before trying to kill the two of them appeared in his mind. 'Is it them? The one from before…they wanted to kill, but why?'

The metal let out another click as it moved closer to his neck. His skin felt the sharp edge of the blade. It felt like it would cut him if he end breathed too heavy. They spoke again to him. "What do you think you're doing?" The same words, but they spoke with greater intent than before.

Hearing the voice again made his eyes widen for a second. 'There's something familiar about them…' Miltiades ran his brain through everything to try to figure out why the voice seemed familiar to him. Nothing came back to him in the hurried search he made. It did not seem so familiar he knew them, but he heard them before recently. 'Who is it? Do I risk an attack? Or wait to see who it is?'

He preferred caution in his situation as his eyes stared down at Nerine. Any move he made put her at risk. 'She needs more time…' Miltiades raised his hands up to show his intention not to struggle to the stranger. "I'm standing up." He waited a moment before acting to gauge the response. They did not oppose him. "So who are you?" he asked, keeping his back to them.

The weapon rested on his shoulder with the intent still unchanged. "What were you doing?"

Miltiades refrained from responding immediately. He judged the stranger trying to get a read on his situation. The blade rubbed against his skin as a constant reminder. 'The blade's angled down now, a lot…they're short…' Their voice still echoed as something he knew he should remember. 'They sound young almost like a child…a child…' A soft rattle grazed the edge across his neck. They wanted an answer. "I was healing their injuries."

"Were you the one that fought them?"

'Definitely not the one I chased off? Who is it?' Questions kept piling up for him. He felt he narrowed his options, but he still did not know who spoke to him. His memory failed him. "No, I arrived after it was already settled."

"I see."

Silence ran between them for seconds as no more questions came. Miltiades thought that it settled everything and it meant they reached an understanding. The blade disappeared from his shoulder. A sigh of relief came from him. However, it was too soon as pain struck him like lightning in his head. Everything went blurry for him in an instant. 'My field! Nerine!'

Miltiades collapsed to the ground. His field disappeared as his mind went blank. Darkness consumed his eyes. A stretched out hand reached for Nerine before he dropped it. His body stopped moving.

"Such a pain. But now I don't have to deal with another fight," commented Chiharu. She returned her tanto back to her sheath. Her eyes slid down to stare at the unmoving body of Seiji. 'Doubt the i***t's dead, but I need to check anyway…' Chiharu knelt down next to him putting her hand to his neck. After a quick check, she stood up. "Figured as much. You're too dumb to actually die." She nudged him with her foot to get him awake, but nothing happened.

Chiharu crossed her arms thinking about the possibilities. The thoughts made her kick him again. It did no better the second time for her. She managed a grunt from him, but it was only reactionary from her foot. He remained still. Sighing softly, she leaned down grabbing his arm to start lifting him up. Her hand slipped and lost him. 'I used too much of my strength up in the last fight…my strength still isn't back…I'm not going to be able to carry him…'

Left with the only remaining option, Chiharu started to drag Seiji along the ground. It was slow, but it was her only method until her strength recovered. 'I've got to get him out of here and regroup with the others…' However, her retreat was not so easy. A steel pole shot up in front of her knocking her free from Seiji as she dodged away. She turned her head back towards the two she left to see the man standing determined to stop her. 'Damn, thought I knocked him out harder…my strength really is annoying right now…'

Miltiades lurched forward still working off the splitting headache he received. His eyelid lowered letting him focus a little. "I remember you now. You're the one from before."

"I know you can't understand me, but I think my intention should be clear. Retreat now." Chiharu stood on the very same pole as Miltiades, her back to his. Barely enough room for air to pass through was all the gap she gave.

He felt a cold chill down his neck, the likes which only his Captain and drill instructor managed to instill. His eyes did not dare to turn or his head to confirm what he already knew. All stared forward where he knew the two to be, at least he thought. 'So fast! I didn't even see the movement! What laws are they using?!'

He understood why her voice was familiar, but he could not place it. 'I'm not used to hearing her in Atlantean, I heard her speak in a foreign language before…if I realized it sooner…' A silent curse muttered under his breath. She let him retreat the last they met, but the impression she left on him lingered. He spent his hours resting trying to understand her.

Chiharu narrowed her eyes to adjust to the new situation. 'I can't deal with another fight…' She took a firm stance to cover up her weaknesses. "If you remember me, you already know how this will turn out. I've no interest in repeating past events." After her statement, she moved to pick up Seiji. Another pole erupted between them forcing her back. Her eyes slid around towards Miltiades.

"I was exhausted from the other fight last time. It's different this time. You don' t know how it'll turn out." A ripple expanded from his feet bringing his field out in full. No longer held back, a dozen poles ripped out of the ground.

Continuing her bluff, Chiharu walked around next to Seiji. "You've already seen how fast I am. I can end this in a second if I wanted. This is pointless."

Leaping up to a rising pole, Miltiades moved himself out of her reach. He crossed his arms and looked down at her. "If you could, you would have already. But I don't think you have it in you. If you had, you would have carried him off already as I saw you do before. No, you're weaker right now."

Chiharu ground her teeth as her plan failed. 'He's not buying it and I haven't nearly recovered enough, not that I have a choice…' She glanced over at Seiji taking a final consideration of her situation. 'One last bluff…if it doesn't work I'm going to have to fight…' A hand stretched out for Seiji and a pole came out in response, as she expected. She swiftly dodged around and reached the opposite side of Seiji to haul him up to her shoulder. "I'm not so weak as you think. Best not to underestimate me, lest you wish to suffer for it."

A bit of sweat began to form along his neck making him uncomfortable. He felt his confidence slip a little, but he already started. 'I won't let them run free!' Miltiades jumped over closer to Chiharu keeping to his poles. "You can try to escape, but I'll stop you each time."

"Tch!" Her last chance to escape evaporated quickly. Glancing around, she measured up Miltiades' field. She was going to have deal with him directly. However, she felt a little better about the fight, as she knew what to expect from him. 'I've seen enough from his fight with the i***t…at least I won't get any surprises…' Still carrying Seiji with her, Chiharu made a run for the edge of his field.

"Still trying to flee?" Several of the steel poles burst from the ground aimed directly at the weighed down Chiharu. In her condition, she could not avoid a direct hit. Chiharu made a good effort evading the two first, but it only put her into position for the third to knock her over and then the fourth scored a solid hit. A fifth took Seiji out of her hands sending far out of the range of the field.

The aftermath of the attack left Chiharu on the ground amongst the rubble of his field and a small cloud of dust spread thin around her. "It was a bad idea to try to flee with him. Now I have you cornered." Several more poles rose to cut off her path.