Adama, Narcisse, and Commanzer are near the door, Adama asks how long is left
"10 minutes"replies Commanzer"
" OK !" just respond Adama
Adama opens the door, takes Hanna in her arms, hugs her tightly. And together they go straight ahead.
Hanna is surprised at her sister's speed when looking behind, seeing the trail of children behind her, terrified looking the cabin exploded.
She is recovering from the detonation when her heart races even more when she sees two bodies of children near the explosion.
The other children remained there, paralyzed by the detonation. Narcisse yells at them to hurry up but it's no use and he knows it. Commanzer runs in silence.
They arrive at the barrier, with three children, the other remained there, seized with fright. Narcisse thinks of going to retrieve him but the sniper, the hunter blows his head off.
Adama and Commanzer are in a muddy field, Adama is hurrying while paying attention to something.
Commanzer holds one of the children when the other two are old enough to run on their own.
Narcisse is behind them.
They barely make it to the end when two Rottweilers are let loose towards them.
They approach, Adama gets more lively, Commanzer fires two perfect balls and knocks them down.
"Hurry up!" shouts Adama, who comes out of the muddy ground and sprints not towards the hut to her right but goes deeper into the forest, followed by the other five.
Commanzer shouts that there are 15 seconds left for the hunter.
Narcisse shouted "Where's the wolf?"
One of the children let out a long howl.
Narcisse and Commanzer then ran to take the other two and left the wolf at the mercy of the hunter.
And a moment later the sniper's red laser is placed on the heart of the little boy who, receiving the bullet, becomes a pile of confetti of flesh.
Narcisse is disgusted with this new loss, Commanzer just rushes in, impenetrable gaze. Adama rushes for the sole purpose of saving her little sister.
Once in the forest, Adama lets Narcisse take the lead.
They rush straight ahead, Narcisse armed with his blade and a flashlight. And so he thinks: "Muzhara of luminescence: proxy of the first commandment."
Thus his pupils shine with gold and dilate.
He sees like day in the forest, and rushes, attentive to the slightest movement.
Commanzer just behind, when Narcisse spots the first movement, he points it out to Commanzer who shoots the man holed up in front of them.
But the assault begins, and Narcisse turns to Commanzer and their eyes meet, immediately Commanzer's pupils also turn golden and he stops, drops to one knee and points the gun straight ahead.
As soon as Narcisse sees the enemy, he receives a bullet. And when the distance no longer allows Commaner to shoot, Commanzer closes in.
Adama runs with the children and still holds Hanna in her arms, but the children get tired, Adama sees it and is sorry and full of rage.
Unconsciously, she lowers the tone of her race, before remembering her goal and sprinting even harder.
Narcisse and Commanzer continue to defend the front.
Commanzer feels his watch vibrate, the sniper will soon attack. He shoots an enemy that Narcisse shows him then the sniper's laser comes to rest on…. The laser gets lost, it goes here and there before stopping on Adama; no… Hanna?
Adama notices him, brakes, turns back but the sniper has her in the line of sight and Narcisse points at a man armed with a rifle.
Commanzer yells at Narcisse that the shoemaker is hunting, Narcisse turns around, sees the laser on Adama and follows the laser to see the shoemaker about two hundred meters away.
But he knows that the man with the gun is already aiming at him but he doesn't care, turns around, shows the sniper to Commanzer who takes out his machine gun and unleashes the shots too late.
Adama, in her last momentum, threw Hanna who falls to the ground and sees Adama knocked down by the bullet, she sees her fall on the spot. Terrorized.
Narcisse cries Adama's death, tries to reach her, but the bullets that graze him make him fall. It was not him that the man was aiming for but the two children near Hanna. Hanna is spattered with the blood of one of the children.
Commanzer at first, howls with rage before blasting the body of the last two men with his machine gun. Narcisse gets up and runs.
"Adama! Adama! Adama!" he arrives at her level and takes her, she received the ball in the shoulder.
He is undeniably shaken and no longer seems to reason properly. Commanzer comes and pushes him, he takes her, checks her pulse and observes the wound.
" She lives !" Hanna and Narcissus hear.
Commanzer takes her and indicates that the day is not far away.
"Hurry up!" He moves forward with Adama carried on his back.
Narcisse seeing that he has lost control again, take a breathe and starts following Commanzer.
They are only four, if the sniper attacks, it is necessarily one of them, the children only serving as timers.
" How much time remaining ?"
" 2 minutes."
" OK !" Narcisse approaches Hanna who is still on the ground.
He bends down, smiles at her, reassures her and takes her.
The two get ready, breathe, and go for it.
They sprint, Narcisse lighting up with his flashlight.
There are only 20 seconds left when the hut is seen, the laser too and this time it is placed on Commanzer.
Narcissus warns him, worried, curious?
Commanzer sprints and barely has he entered when the bullet pierces the door. Narcisse comes in and closes behind him right after.
The hut is bigger than the first, there is a man in a white coat standing there. Commanzer gets up, hastily lays the body on the bed and explains to the man what happened, the latter advances with men from the back of the cabin and surrounds Adama and begins the treatment.
Narcisse, out of breath, drops Hanna who runs over Adama's body.
Narcisse collapses on the ground while
Commanzer takes ammo from the bass drum.
The men leave as they come, in silence. Adama is still unconscious, she underwent surgery on her now bandaged shoulder. She seems peaceful seen like this.
Hanna, to speak of herself, is in the midst of a crisis, convincing herself to find order and logic only in her concern for Adama.
Commanzer comes to sit in silence. The room is silent for a long moment.
He can only have nightmares, Narcisse. He thought it would only be a distant memory, that even if his imprint would follow him to the end, that at least his experience would be unique.
Anxiety overwhelms him, anger, something he had thought to put aside. He muddies, becomes enraged, his face molds like this, when he meets Hanna who is terrified in front of his face; he sees Hanna and manages to clear his thoughts. He could remember that the reality was that, and that only the fight remained.
He gets up and leaves.
Commanzer sits against the wall, still pensive.
*
The hours passed until dawn drew its first presence. Narcisse keeps watch outside. They no longer fear anything. He comes to go inside.
He takes a bottle of water and empties it all at once. He brings a second one to Hanna who doesn't consider it, so he puts the bottle down and goes to give one to Commanzer and sits next to him.
" It's the day "
Commander not responding
"We have to move as soon as possible but Adama can't move" Narcisse speaks to himself. The hunt will resume and inevitably by the end of the game, at least one will have to die. If like them there were to remain four, the game had to stop there but it continues.
There must be three or two left. Two things worry Narcisse: that even if he intends to sacrifice himself, could he protect the target if it is not him, and that a certain announcement has not been made. His gaze goes to Adama, then Commanzer, and finally Hanna. He looks very suspicious. He looks at the little girl, he takes a good look at her features and reassures himself that it's not her. He smiles and is about to get up when he senses a presence.
Commanzer is already in position, Narcisse pulls Hanna behind him and asks her not to move.
Narcisse appeals to his back again and sees nothing, so it's not about muzharas. He sighs in relief and tells Commanzer to lower his gun.
Two men enter the hut, dressed in black, a mask on their head, armed with guns.
Hanna hugs Narcisse. The men remain standing, Commanzer gets up. Calmly walks over to them, comes over and punches one, but the men don't move. Commanzer is enraged.
"Bunch of idiots, why shoot an expert? You shouldn't until the next round! Why did the hunter shoot her?"
Narcisse, attentive, listening.
The men don't answer. One of them approaches near Narcissus
"Are you the wolf?"
"I'm not" replies Narcisse
"Eight Kings"
"Three and a queen"
"Who is she?" asks the man, pointing to Adama
"Linda!"
"The wizard?"
"No the priceless!"
The man does not answer, he looks at Adama and approaches. He takes her hand and sees the crow tattoo.
"What the…" he thought to finish his sentence when he was shot in the head.
The other man shot him. He pulls out a small caliber and shoots Commanzer with two bullets.
Narcisse does not understand what happens when Commanzer collapses.
Hanna screams in terror, she trembles, and grabs Narcisse.
The man approaches, but Narcisse, does not understand, what is happening, the traitor must have been Commanzer, it must have been him, why is he shot, why was the other man shot?
The man advances and Narcisse thinks of what to do when a huge explosion sounds in the distance.
The man also pays attention to it before turning back to them when the blast of an explosion blows up the hut. Narcisse is thrown by the blast and will crash further under debris.
Narcisse gets up shaken from his flight, he sees blurry and does not feel the pain of the wound on his head until after.Further on he manages to see Hanna's inert body.
He wants to go help her, but he sees the man get up from among the debris, he looks just as shaken as him.
Narcisse sees him take his gun and walk hardly towards Adama, already pointing his gun at her.
" No!" exclaims Narcisse. He tries to move but stumbles due to a sudden pain in his leg.
The pain is unbearable, but he sees the man approaching Adama, he forces himself to get up but he can't. He begins to reason nonsense again, but he forces himself to remain calm, then he thinks of Hanna and turns to her to shout her name.
Hanna moves an arm, Narcisse shouts at her to look at him, to look in his direction. Hanna seems conscious but does not obey. As he tries to make her see, he remembers what she really is. He can't afford to make her take a life. Hanna is everything Adama wants to protect from what they couldn't be spared.
So he grits his teeth, fills with rage, gets up and shouts at the man to stop but he knows he won't make it that he won't do it in time.
The bullet is thrown, and the man collapses.
Narcisse who was already crying sees it and also sees Commanzer fall back to the ground.
He now runs towards him, but he is no longer conscious. He slaps him, tells him to get up and tell him what's going on
"Dick, wake up! I know you are the lonely!"
Narcisse knows he is the traitor because when it came time to re-enter the hut, the 20 seconds had already passed when the sniper only fired after he entered to pretend a missed shot.
He doesn't try anymore, Commanzer won't come back. So he goes to Adama. She does not appear to have received any other serious injury. He feels her pulse, and starts slapping her, asking her to wake up.
But another explosion rings out, a grenade, guesses Narcisse. She comes from far into the forest then an exchange of fire begins.
He definitely does not understand what happens when his muzhara inspires him with the threat that is coming.
He perceives men approaching. He hurries, tries to take Adama, but it's impossible, he can't but he forces himself but his leg definitely can't.
He cries for not being able to take her, he takes her hand, kisses it, puts it on his forehead, and remembers his passion.
He gets up, takes a rifle and calls on his back "Muzhara of luminescence: proxy of the first commander" and he rushes into the attackers.
The first commandment allows him either to make someone see what he sees, or to see as day in the dark, thus seeing other hosts in his field of vision. The second allows him not to be seen by another muzhara. He thus uses both, to counter the ninth commandment.
As he rushes at the attackers, in his conscience, he discusses inside his bubble with his gift.
"You think you can fool me?asks the muzhara you know very well that you will not survive this. Using this sleight of hand will not succeed"
"I'm doing it"
" For how long ?"
"Time for both of us to survive"
"HAHAHA! Well, well! Narcisse! You were one hell of a host."
"Since when do you know how to praise my merits?"
"I don't necessarily say it like that, but still, I think you were very special."
"Why are you talking like this? Don't you have to make me live?"
" Yes. But, being a muzhara will not make you less mortal, here the choice of death you have chosen, is thus in your quality of man not in that of muzhara, I can not help you more than you can make you reason."
"Does that mean I'm a man?"
"Don't ask me that! It's time to recognize your own qualities!"
Narcisse mimics thinking, then he smiles and extends his hand to his muzhara who smiles back at him and joins his hand to his.
" Thanks !"
"Did I manage to grant your wish?"
Hanna hears the gusts, she feels dizzy when she tries to get up. Then when she manages to sit down, she does not see Narcisse at first; then again, she sees him suddenly collapse. She guesses that there must not be much left of him. She then sees the men approaching, but she can't move, her heart is shaking too much, she is close to having a heart attack.
She looks the other way when she thinks she hears Adama shouting her name. She turns to her and sees Adama trying to get up. Adama somehow manages to do it, and advances with the injured arm hanging down. Hanna sees her approaching, in bad shape. Adama comes up to her level, Hanna tearfully repeats Adama's name.
Adama catches her with her good arm and pulls her, they advance to a trap door a little further.
Adama opens it with difficulty. It's a huge hole, you can't see anything. Adama leaves it open and goes to hug Hanna and then declares to her:
"Hana! Hanna, can you hear me? I love you ! I love you more than anything, with all my heart, Hanna I love you!" She looks at Hanna, with all her sincerity, and she gets up, pulls her to the hatch and throws her in, Hanna shouts her name, she shouts, Adama closes on her.
Hanna is in the throes of a crisis, she can't see anything, and she loses all reason.
She shouts Adama's name. And even if you can't see anything, the hatch isn't deep enough to suppress noise. She still hears the gusts in the distance and other gusts that only last for a moment. And feels the weight of something falling above her.
She is afraid to know what it is.
Then heavy footsteps approach, she feels something move above, then the trap door opens and they pull her out. Armed men surround her.
She stays there, frozen, right in the middle. She barely moves when she sees Adama's body behind one of them, eyes rolling back. Her body riddled with bullets. She barely screams that she loses consciousness. One of the men removes his mask. He is the man who was with Tanaka in the car.
"She's the last one?" he said staring at Hanna
"She is"
He sighs
"Failed hunting. Kill her!"
He turns around, puts his mask back on and leaves with two men.
Three men remain, one of them points his gun at Hanna and is about to shoot when he receives a bullet, the other two barely have time to react that they fall too.
From the sides of the forest, a first young man emerges from between the trees, followed by two others. They are dressed in military uniform, the first out goes to Adama's body and checks the pulse. He then just closes her eyes.
He gets up and walks over to Hanna, checks her pulse and stands up noticing that she is alive. He sees who is coming behind him and makes room for him.
"She's still breathing" he says again when the young man bends down and takes Hanna silently.
" What are we doing ?"
The man advances without answering, behind him a military squad this time of adults emerges, and he entrusts Hanna to them.
He approaches the first teenager out, takes two steps ahead of him, and when his face tenses and two other men are standing with him, he turns his pupils from scarlet red to hazy white. Those of the first appeared turn yellow, those of one purple and of the third, blue; he could only say
"We do justice for our people. Attack: Raven!"
"Yes, Maestro!" was their battle cry.
*
Hanna wakes up feeling heavy, troubled, but mostly heavy.
She arrives after a long effort to sit down, she sees the room she is in, which she absolutely does not recognize, she still has vague memories.
She is recovering from a migraine when a voice reaches her
" You are awake ?" she sees a young man sitting on a chair across from her, he is leaning on the back of the chair. He has a smile on his face, and looks very peaceful.
" How are you feeling ?"
" Where am I ?"
" In a safe place "
" Who are you ?"
"Security"
Hanna does not understand anything, she does not know what she is doing there, why she is in this state, she has another migraine
"Don't force anything, you'll understand right away!"
Hanna tries to move when the only door opens and the yellow-eyed man walks in.
"I'm here, Tarik."
"We were expecting you, Djaouar."
The so-called Djaouar advances with a wheelchair to Hanna. She does not react.
"Could you get in there?" I would like to clear things up for you to know. This young man's smile is as reassuring as his obsessed boyish look. Hanna is helped by Djaouar to go up.
They walk through the corridors of this place that Hanna still does not know how to define.
All she sees are long gray hallways and armored doors.
Until she reaches a small room where she meets...
" Father ?"
"Hanna?"
Tanaka, banged up, and handcuffed on a chair finds his daughter, and does not seem to believe it, Hanna she is just surprised to see him like this.
" Father ? What's going on, dad!?"
She tries to move but Tarik, who was leading the teams, holds her to the chair.
"I see that we are witnessing one hell of a family reunion." Tarik mocks. Then he continues: "Hanna you recognize him, right?"
Hanna does not answer
"It's your father. Your father who did filthy things"
Tarik comes to sit on a chair, Hanna listens.
"This is Tanaka Hiretsuna. Your parent but not only. He is also an ambassador for the Cloud program. Without going into details, it is a filth that starts from the principle of confronting subjects deemed reliable with death to awaken certain gifts in order to settle other things even less sensible. This program obviously has nothing to do with ethics, it's simply a game of sheep and wolf to force children to face the worst possible death and activate specific powers but you don't have to understand much . What you should know is that in this program, there are several roles, and that of ambassador, that of your father, is to procreate with subjects previously deemed reliable and thus try to have a new test strip. And your father has just succeeded in bringing you and your sister into the world; but things did not go as they had planned. During a previous hunt, four children were chosen: Narcisse Omar, Etienne Michel, Commanzer, and your sister, Adama Tanaka. These four children were judged to be promising future elements, all of whom had rare powers. But they still had to be tested, and your kind father decided to incorporate his youngest daughter into the business. He sold you but that was without counting our intervention." Tarik gets up from his chair and spins around the room unaware or knowing that he was reminding Hanna of everything that happened, she bursts into tears, forcing herself not to scream. "Finally, several things spoiled the hunt, us precisely. But other people too. In the end it was an absolute failure. The three previous reliable subjects have been killed, including the precious one, Adama, your most promising sister."
Hanna breaks down in tears. A deep silence ensues.
"Bring him" said only Tarik. Djaouar raises Tanaka and leads him outside.
Hanna cries twice: "Dad! Father !" Tanaka stops. Hanna didn't say anything more when she heard "I don't know if it was me who did things wrong, or if it was you who were such bad subjects. You will have served only failures until the end."
He thus went out with Djaouar, Tarik let her cry.
*
Following these incidents, Hanna was first kept under surveillance, she learned that they had been deported to Nigeria and that she was one of the subjects of this hunt exercised by certain entities and that it was her father who had sold her with her sister to this hunt; that he only married their mother for her genes. And that her sister had already had to take part in one of those hunts from which she emerged victorious with three of her companions.
But this time, her sister did not come back. She died protecting what was most dear to her: Hanna.
She also received no further news from her mother, Tanaka refused to denounce his collaborators and was tried for life imprisonment. Tarik reassured her by telling her that her mother was probably being held captive, they certainly wouldn't kill her.
Hanna remembers that after letting her cry, when he left her, he told her
"I'm sorry for Adama, I didn't know her very well, but a few years ago when she was hunted, we fought together. I owe het a lot."
At her request, she was brought back to Niamey where she returned to live in her home, inhabited by the same demons.
She was now living in this big house, but between this trauma, the spirits that possess her, Hanna could never make the leap, could never heal.
What she was there, in this house, was her, the ghost, the past of a family.
She didn't go out or do anything more than just hang around the corner of that same hallway in the morning. And at night, she only frequent her nocturnal frights when she went crazy, as people say.
One day, in her depression, the sound of the intercom rang. She didn't pay attention to it, but it repeated itself so much that she decided to go and open it and in amazement, she saw one more ghost. She couldn't believe the face she was seeing.
"Comma…Commanzer?"