Desta
Language/Ethnicity: Xhosa
Present day
"Well, this is new" I hear Zion say as I stare at the odd group of Flairs standing by the forests' edge. Their heads all turn in his direction and I swear the front one that shot the arrow had a small smile on her face.
My farsighted vision is not the best and the fact that I am standing on the other side of the bonfire, the furthest away from Zion and the Flairs, is not really helping. I slowly move my arm to retrieve my spear next to me. As I do, one of the female's head snaps to me and she aims her energy gun at my face. She's observant and from what I can tell, their movements are fluid and tactical. They're trained like the mafia; this is not simple school yard combat training. I know this because I have seen the difference between Flairs in the mafia and those that aren't. They only train with their weapons once they join the mafia, before that they train basic combat. This group each bared their weapons as if it is part of their arms.
"Fuck" I hear Zion mutter. I notice that his weapons are not within his reach. Fuck indeed.
The silence was loud as we all held a staring contest. It was a game of who makes the first move. I was about to make a quick move for my shield when one of our own jumps from a tree and aims his sword at the Flair levitating with her wings. I watch as his sword slices through one of them and lands with a thud next to her as she too falls. I hear her scream in agony but not for long before the Mars stabs her throat with his dagger. I made a move for my spear and picked up my shield just in time for the bullet of the Flair aimed at me, to strike. I was luckily much faster and aimed my spear as her bullets kept raining down on my defence.
My spear penetrated through the air and impales the female through the stomach. The weapon is pinned to the ground and her body hangs limp on it. Her arms hanging on her sides as she lays motionless. She did not make an attempt to protect herself and only seemed to attack me with her gun. She did not even try to move away from the spear aimed right at her. I cautiously step closer with my shield still covering me from the front.
Zion by this time already managed to retrieve his daggers and started running towards the group, dodging their arrows and bullets along the way. I still don't know how he seems to do that and not get pierced or scratched by at least one of them. I refocus my gaze on the girl I impaled, unsure if she is truly dead or not. I retrieve a dagger from behind my shield and hold it in my hand, ready to throw it if necessary.
The male that jumped from the tree, named Harlow I think, was fighting off another one of the Flairs while the other two Mars from today's group aimed and fired their weapons as well. As I observe what is happening and checking to see if there might be any other threats around, I see Harlow suddenly in the air and slam against one of the trees. Upon his impact I heard his neck snap and he dropped motionless with his head hung low against his chest. The Flair with horns like a goat smile at what she did and turns to aim for Zion. The Flair that shot arrows made a strange sound as Zion slit her throat and he turned to see the female with horns running straight towards him.
"That's The Nakoa. We need him dead first!" One of the other females said.
Zion heard this and immediately tensed up as he realises he is the one they're after. I was a few metres from the girl I impaled, my focus on Zion and the others for a brief second when the 'dead' Flair whipped her head up and started shooting at me once again. Still impaled and half hanging in the air she screams in frustration as her bullets head towards me. I quickly put my shield up and spin around throwing my dagger, aiming for her head. The knife pierces her skull right between her eyes and she immediately falls backwards. As I approach her, a lone tear falls from her still open eyes as she stares at nothing.
I hear someone gasping for air as the Flair with a tale squeezes the life out of one the males. Her tale wrapped around his neck, his feet a few centimetres from the ground. The last male, besides me and Zion, swung his axe and brought it down on the Flair before him. Her skull split in two and bits of her brain breaking and falling as he pulls it from her head. The Flair with horns ran into Zion, only to realise she barely moved him. She looked up, with no fear in her eyes but only confusion.
"Why did it-" She was not able to finish as she was pulled up from her neck by Zion.
He brings her closer so that she is level with him, her feet dangling. He took his other hand and twisted her head, echoing a crack of death as she fell dead by his feet. I was running towards the last two Flairs and aimed for the one that still hung the dead Mars by her tail. I came from behind, my quiet movement not alarming her of my presence. My blade sliced her tail clean off and again straight through her neck from behind. Her sounds were guttural as she grasps at her neck trying to find a way to stop her demise. I only removed my blade and she fell to the ground, struggling to breath for a few seconds before she lets her final part of her life escape her.
I turned for the last Flair when I realise she is gone and I no longer had sight of her. My face was splattered with blood and my hands crimson.
"She ran." I said casually.
"No, she left to warn others. I saw her looking at me confused as to why the one with horns did not managed to do any harm. She probably realised we are stronger than they anticipated." Zion said as she retrieves his weapons.
"So, she ran then." I said again, rolling my eyes jokingly as I also retrieve my weapons. The energy weapons are useless for us so there is no point in me trying to retrieve them.
"No Desta. It means she left to warn whoever came for us." Zion spoke.
"For you, you mean. They did say to kill you first. I believe they called you The Nakoa." I said and my brows furrowed. "I thought we were the only ones that called you that?"
"So did I." Zion spoke, his tone irritated and angry.
I only shook my head and started to dispose of the bodies when I realised the last Mars left was injured. He was sitting by a water bowl cleaning his stab wound when I approached him.
"Well, the ladies will definitely love you now. They always seem to swoon over a man with scars." I said smiling as I handed him a cloth for his wound.
He laughed and shook his head.
"Desta it is only you who would think of women during a time like this." He laughed again. He was right. "But what made you think I was interested in a Flair?" He looked up at me and raised his eyebrow.
"No, no, no. I do not swing both ways sorry." I held up my hands and smiled at him.
"I know! Besides even if you did, you are not my type." He said teasingly at me while I only placed a hand on my heart pretending to be hurt. He only laughed and continued with his wound.
"Desta if you are done flirting come here." Mr. Brood himself said.
I only smiled and clasped my hands together as I made my way towards him.
"Why? Because you want me all for yourself? You know Zion you should just tell me so that I can prepare myself." I winked at him and he only glared at me. He ignored my remark and turned to show me something. It seems he is smart after all by not saying anything.
"These Flairs, they were not ordinary. They have mutations and their colouring was gone. If it wasn't for the three with the Mars resemblances then I would have guessed human." He said sternly.
"Zion. You do know we are human right? I mean yeah our genetics is fucked up but the world and the people in it is still human." I spoke.
"Not the point idiot." He said as he knelt down at one of the female's bodies. "They have these small puncture wounds on the sides of their heads."
I wanted to make a remark on him calling me an idiot but decided against it when I realised that this is no time for jokes.
"Well would you look at that. We were fighting a couple of Frankenstein's monsters." I said as I stared at the wounds on their heads. "I mean now I don't feel so bad anymore. Like have you seen that movie? Freaky as hell! I only killed what caused me my childhood trauma and-"
"For fuck's sake Desta. Seriously? Frankenstein's monster. These were regular people and clearly have been tortured." Zion says as he shows their bruises and scars on their backs and arms.
"You don't know that Zion. That could be from battle." I pointed out.
"You and I both know that those are torture wounds. We've seen enough to know the difference. Besides, they all have them at the exact same places and Flairs never have battle scars this severe." Zion is right. This was the work of someone else using them for child's play.
"We should warn Arwan and Casper. They might be targets too and if these Flairs knew where to find us then if there are more they would certainly know where the guys are." Zion says as he stands and leaves. "We need to leave now before daylight breaks."
I turn to gather my weapons and take down my tent while Zion did the same and the other male put out the fire. We all packed and strapped our belongings on us and started walking to our destination.
"You know this will mean trouble with all four of us together, right? We will be easier to find." I state as we walk.
"Yes, but we don't have much of a choice. Besides, we need supplies anyways."
I sighed and looked at the male behind us trudging along. His wound tightly bandaged on his calf as he slightly limps to keep up. There was no time for slowing down and he knows it. Which is why he seems to be smart enough to realise as he kept his mouth shut and his pace with us.
"Well then. I guess it's time for a family reunion then." I spoke.
The space we used for a camp disappeared behind us and the woods swallowed us whole. The darkness was the best way for travel and we showed no fear at what might be lurking. For the darkness is quiet and grows more silent with each step we take. We are not afraid of the dark; the dark fears us.