With a flick of his wrist Larkin made his chained sickle fly threw the air. Rin started to spin her shurikens and easily deflected the sickle. Too easily, something was wrong and to her surprise. The sickle ricocheted off her shurikens and went straight for the three ninja on her right, cutting them down as if it was nothing. Cayden smiled and started to run up to the closest ninja on his left, in everyone's confusion Cayden was able to slice the ninja's throat with ease. Harmon looked at Larkin and saw that he was already pulling back his sickle. "What are you doing Larkin?! Do you not fear that we will pull your wife's life support?!"
Rin couldn't believe what she just heard, her mother was still alive. The three ninja that we cut down had not died but were heavily injured. Rin gracefully moved her footing to the side and then flung herself forward. "Sláandi ʻAki Eala!" She yelled as she easily weaved between the three and ended their lives. "Cayden protect the princess!" She shouted as she ran towards the two ninja closest to him. "'Etsipenaren Amildegiak!" She yelled as she sent her right shuriken flying. The first ninja dodged as he laughed but the second didn't make it out in time, thinking she missed her target as the shuriken hit the ground. "Little girl, you need to work on your strength when playing with big boy toys."
Rin smirked as the ground around him turned into a black swamp. Inky hands quickly shot up and wrapped themselves around the ninja. Dragging him down as she screamed for mercy. "Larkin! If you think my mother would be happy about all this! They are being using you to fight for the clan, the same clan that killed her family! If knew, she would be furious! She would rather take her own life! Don't let them succeed in killing her family again! Daddy, please let mommy go!" Harmon started laughing hysterically. "Rin, did you forget that your mother is with child? We have her in suspended animation. Right, you won't know what that means. We have kept her frozen in time. She is alive and so is the baby, never changing, never aging, since the day you escaped!"
Rin was mortified, she paled as she looked at Harmon then her father. "So there is no guarantee that when she is released she or the baby will live after reanimation...." Harmon became wide eyed and stepped back. He broke out into a cold sweat as he looked at Larkin. "O-of course she will be able to survive! Why would we kept her alive if the chances were slim? It would mean suicide for us if we didn't!" Rin wiped blood off her face as she steeled her nerves. "No! Suspended animation means you have been keeping her alive with her wounds! If you kept her the exact same way since that day then she has been reliving her pain every second of the day! You are monsters! Even if my mother some how survives her mind would be broken and the baby is already dead!"
"No your wrong!" Harmon started to say but the aura around Rin turned murderous. "I was there when that man ordered to rip the baby out of my mother's womb!" A horrible sound was heard just behind Harmon. He slowly turned around and saw that Larkin had turned to his former demon self as a pile of human flesh and a puddle of blood laid beside him. "L-Larkin... i-it's a lie... this child has n-no idea what she is t-talking about." Harmon stuttered but Larkin dropped his chained sickle as he slowly walked up to Harmon. "Rin, run!" He yelled as he leaped into action.
Rin turned and grabbed Ariana in one arm. "Honua Arraila." Harmon yelled as Rin turned to face Cayden. Giant cracks appeared in the ground as the earth shook, cracked and broke apart around them while a tidal wave of rock and dirt shot towards Harmon. "Do you really think your father can hold me off for long! The old man is out of practice!" He laughed as he easily dodged his attacks. Cayden spun his daggers in his hands and gave Rin a smirk. "Rin take the princess and get out of here!" He said before he plunged his daggers into the cracks. "Honua Pōʻaka." Rin had no time to react, the part of the cliff they were on had separated from the ground. "I will come find you!" Cayden yelled as the chunk of earth slid downwards.
"Nooo!" Harmon yelled but Rin could see flashes of electricity and fire rising upwards. She pulled Ariana into a tighter embrace and crouched closer towards the ground as the rock started to pick up speed. Ariana started crying furiously as she called Cayden's name. The chunk of earth was getting closer to the bottom and Rin had no ideas how to slow it down, the earth smashed into the trees and sent the two flying into the air. She quickly caught her balance mid air and used the momentum to flip and bounce of the branches and trunks of the trees.
Unfortunately the momentum was too great for her, she lost her footing on a branch causing her and Ariana to sprial out of control. She tried her best to take the full blow of the impact when they landed on the ground but the force caused her right leg to break broke in half. The pain caused Rin to lose her grip on Ariana and she tumbled a good 10 feet in front of her. Beaten, bruised and broken Rin looked up and saw the tiny body curdled up and lifeless. Fear overrided her pain, her breathing became harsh and she could hear her heart pounding in between her ears.
"Princess? Princess?! Ariana?!!" She started to yell but the little girl was unresponsive. Rin tried to pick herself off the ground but found that she had no strength in her left leg. She fell back down with a thud. She looked down and saw that a piece of her bone was sticking out of her leg. Rin swallowed back her tears and decided to army crawl towards Ariana. "I'm coming Ariana! I swear I'm coming." The closer she dragged herself to Ariana the more panicked she became. She saw little splotches if blood on the ground and the splotches grew bigger in size the closer she got to her. "Don't worry Ariana, bug sister Rin is coming."
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the little body slowly move. "Ariana!" She partially laughed and the girl sat up and turned to face Rin. "You said my name." She smiled. Rin beamed back at her and tried her best not to look worried. Ariana had cut her shoulder open and her little white dress was starting the get soaked in blood. "Are you feeling okay? Do you feel dizzy or want to throw up?" Rin ask calmly. Ariana shook her head. "My shoulder feels really hot."
"Okay, I need you to come to me. I want to cast a little healing magic but I can only do this once. So let's have it casted on the both of us so we can get better." Rin tried to say sweetly but knew it came out more anxious and strained then she wanted. Ariana tried to get up by pushing herself off the ground but fell back down with a yelp instead. With teary eyes she tried again and avoided using the arm that had the burning sensation. She slowly walked over to Rin and caught sight of her leg. Rin saw the girls face pale. "I'm okay, Ari-princess. Just look at my face. See I'm fine." Rin said but her words weren't reaching her.
Something in Ariana had snapped and her eyes started to glow white. Rin had no clue what was happening but Ariana's blood started to come to life. Red vines started to slowly rise upwards and stretch towards Rin's broken leg. The vine split into small vines the more it stretched out and they acted like tiny fingers probing and gliding over Rin's wound. Rin watched as the tiny vines punctured her skin and instantly numbed the pain. The slightly bigger vines started to push the bone back into place.
The next moment shocked Rin even more. All the vines pulled back and combined into three large strands. One gently lifted her leg, one kept her foot in place and the last started to wrap itself around her leg. The shocking part was the one wrapping around her leg started to turn into a gem and acted as a cast for her broken leg. Once the cast was complete the strands started to retreat into Ariana's body. Her eyes turned back to normal and she collapsed, to her luck Rin was close enough to catch her before she hit the ground.
Rin gave Ariana a small hug and quickly started to inspected her wounded shoulder and saw that it healed up on its own but her body started to feel cold. Rin could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins and quickly stood up with Ariana in her arms. She felt no pain, she looked down and the cast that was sparkled a garnet red colour, was shaped into a walking cast.
With determination Rin pulled Ariana closer towards her body. She scanned the surrounding area, they couldn't stay there. She didn't know if her father could hold off or deafet Harmon successful or if Cayden was still alive. They needed to keep moving forward and find a safe place to hide or help. She picked a direction and moved forward as she desperately clung onto Ariana's body.
After some time passed, Rin looked down and saw that Ariana started to take shallow breaths and was sweating. She froze and her mind started racing, trying to remember what she needed to do. She then shifted Ariana onto her back, hoping that she was only feeling constrain in her embrace. She waited a few moments and gave a small sigh of relief when she heard her take deeper breaths. Things were starting to get risky and she couldn't walk aimlessly anymore.
She closed her eyes and strained her ears. She could hear Ariana's breathing but she needed to hear past it. Soon Ariana's breathing was drowned out by the sound of water. After focusing the little magical energy she had left she was able to pinpoint the location. She knew that if she followed the water flow she would find a town or some farmers collecting water. She started to run awkwardly, feeling her heart race with a each step she took.
Finally she reached a small river. Her heart jumped for joy as she placed Ariana down. She checked her over and was relieved when she saw that colour had returned to her face, her breathing was normal and her pulse was stable. The adrenaline finally wore off and she could feel fatigue wash over her. Her vision was starting to fade and she could feel her body starting to feel heavy. She had exhausted her magical energy and her physical strength was fading fast. She could feel her eyelids started to get heavy, thinking that they were finally safe. "I found you!" A male voice sang.
Rin instantly sobered up and looked behind her. Panic washed over her when she Harmon standing far behind them. He looked mad on adrenaline as he clutched his stub of an arm. Blood was pouring through the gaps of his finger but he seemed unfazed. "Ahi." He said as his left hand started to glow. Rin covered her mouth as the smell of cooking flesh entered into her noise. "Larkin thought he could beat me... but it looks like I'm the last one standing!" He laughed hysterically. "Too bad he couldn't witness your dismemberment." He said as he suddenly became calm and even toned.
"Why are you doing this?!" Rin shouted as she tried to stand up. "Honua Arraila!" Harmon shouted as he slammed his left hand into the ground, causing the earth to crack and shift as if an earthquake commanded it. Soon a tidal wave of rock and earth shot straight through the ground, splitting Rin and Ariana apart. "Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin! Don't play stupid with me... You know exactly why I'm hear. The rumours flying around about this child is amazing, I mean look at your own leg... I wonder who fixed you up?" He said as he slowly walked up to the girls. The small river behind them was starting to pick up speed as it pooled and became wider. Rin struggled trying to stand up to Harmon but he seemed entirely amused.
"You know Rin, you have been a naughty girl running away like that and not even giving us a hint to where you went to hide... I think that was rather cold hearted of you and in my opinion... you need to be taught a lesson. ʻO ka pōhaku eðla!" Suddenly a buds of rocks sprouted from the earth, they opened at the tips which then stretched out into mouths as fangs popped out. Four rock snakes shot straight out and wrapped themselves around Rin's body.
Rin struggled to get free but she knew it was futile. She was done for and the only thing she could do was glare at Harmon. He limped towards the girls as he licked her lower lip. "Well, I should pay Larkin the favour back for taking my arm." He grabbed Rin's chin and made her look him in the eyes. "But then again I could have more fun if I hand you over to the chief... experiments and such... if your anything like your mother you will be incredibly useful... but then again if I keep you for myself in a few years time I could make you my bride." Rin's glare intensified and she spat onto his face. "You b*tch!" Harmon yelled as he kneed her in the abdomen.
"You know I think I might have more fun torturing your little friend. No one said she had to be handed over entirely alive." He said as he took a few steps over to Ariana. "No! Don't touch her!" Rin shouted causing Harmon to raise an eyebrow. "Look at that face! Does she mean that much to you? Well I definitely will have some fun!" Harmon then bent down and started stroking Ariana's head. "Wake up little one..." He cooed. When she didn't stir, he moved his hand to the back of her head and grabbed a chunk of her hair. He raised her body upwards, he looked back at Rin and gave her a malicious smile. "I said wake up!" He shouted and slammed her face against the ground.
Ariana woke up instantly and started to cry from the pain. "Oh it's okay, it's okay." Harmon said as he scoped Ariana into his arm. "You just had a very scary dream."