C204 - Leader
Zura died silently. Only his fall released a plopping noise that didn't manage to go far due to how shallow the waters were in that area were. Still, that sound echoed in Khan's ears and became louder as his mind left its dark depths.
The battle was over, so Khan could resume thinking normally. He could start inspecting everything that had happened in the past minutes with his usual mindset, and the scenes that unfolded in his eyes made his mood plummet.
Zura's corpse was right under him. Khan couldn't see his face, but he still recalled the desperate and unwilling expression that the Niqols had worn before dying. His eyes then moved toward the rest of his team. It was impossible to miss the many corpses amassed among them. Most belonged to the servants, but others had familiar shapes instead.
Khan's cold eyes moved among those corpses. He found it hard to recognize the servants that he had killed.. He had moved too quickly during the battle, and he had never focused on the actual features of his targets. Everything was a mass of foreheads, necks, and chests in his mind.
Khan lowered his gaze as he tried to recall how many had fallen under his attacks. He couldn't feel sure about their actual number. It was as if his mind didn't record the moments when his blade or kicks managed to kill an opponent.
'Killing has become easier,' Khan realized.
His thoughts didn't involve his personal power. Khan had become strong, so he knew that his attacks had gained a deadliness they lacked before. His realization concerned his mental state. Making up his mind about taking a life had become easier.
Khan didn't know how he felt about that. Part of him felt dirty and disgusted about what he had become. Yet, his more practical side forced him to accept that he would have lost a lot if he didn't kill those Niqols.
The last battle had been different from Istrone's events. Khan had focused on his survival back then. A deep desire to remain alive and go back home had driven his actions, but he had felt bad about them anyway. It had taken him a long time on Nitis to heal his mental state.
Instead, the recent battle had something more than simple survival instincts. Khan had barely considered the servants' beliefs, and he didn't spend much time thinking about his own life. He had only wanted to protect Liiza and those close to him.
Khan didn't know how much he could justify his actions. He had acted out of love, but he had still taken many lives. Was his emotion more important than those Niqols? Some of them were younger than him, but he had severed their heads without showing any hesitation.
Khan even hated how he didn't feel as bad as before. Overcoming the suffocating emotions caused by Istrone's events had taken a while, but nothing similar arrived now. Khan was cold, disgusted, and depressed, but he could move forward without relying on the mental barrier. The crippling sadness that he had gone through in the past didn't return.
'Does this make me a killer or a soldier?' Khan wondered as his eyes moved on Zura's corpse and inspected the expansion of his pale-red blood on the muddy ground. 'Does this make me both?'
The lack of crippling sadness threw Khan directly into the same emptiness he had experienced in the past. He felt as if he had gone back to before Nitis. He had regressed to the lost kid who couldn't bear to remain on Earth anymore.
It turned out that his regression was only an illusion. A familiar cold sensation suddenly spread on the bare parts of his arms before filling his chest. Khan snapped back to reality and noticed that Liiza had reached him. She had wrapped her arms in the insides of his robe to take his torso in her embrace.
"[Are you okay]?" Liiza whispered as her worried eyes moved on his face.
Khan had managed to protect himself from Zura's attack, but a few cuts had inevitably appeared. Still, they weren't deep, and they had even stopped bleeding. His face would only need a day or two to heal.
Khan wanted to confirm that his injuries were nothing serious, but the words remained stuck in his throat. He could sense that Liiza wasn't worried about his physical state. She knew how hard Istrone had been on Khan, so she wanted to check his current mental state.
Everything felt better when Liiza was in his arms. Every fiber of Khan's body and mind seemed to recall how he had overcome the emptiness experienced after Istrone.
"[I was losing myself a bit]," Khan whispered as he wrapped his arms around Liiza's waist to pull her even closer. "[Everything is better now]."
Liiza revealed a warm smile before hiding her face in his neck. Khan immersed one of his hands in her hair and caressed her nape. He kissed her head a few times before approaching her ear and lowering his voice so that no one could even try to hear him. "[Are you okay]?"
Zama had died less than two weeks ago. Liiza's grief was still intense, but she had still fought many members of her species. Khan's problems felt meaningless in front of what she had to overcome in the last period.
Liiza rotated her head so that she could gaze at Khan's worried face from the corner of her eyes. She bit her lips when she sensed that many Niqols and humans had gathered around them now that the battle was over, but Khan promptly lowered his ear to make sure that she could whisper words meant only for him.
"[I'm fine now that I'm in your arms]," Liiza whispered.
Khan could only tighten his embrace. She was experiencing the same emotions, and she had found the same solution. The feelings that they shared were the best cure and reward. Everything else seemed useless since they could enjoy each other warmth and coldness.
Felicia cleared her throat and coughed a few times to claim the couple's attention, but Khan and Liiza ignored her. They would remain in that position as long as they wished, and the Niqols around them stared at the squad leader to make her let go of the matter.
Liiza and Khan separated on their own a minute later. They exchanged a few soft kisses before rejoining the battlefield in each other's arms. Their group had suffered many casualties, and they both tightened their embrace at the sight of a familiar corpse.
Azni, Ilman, George, and Havaa were fine. Doku had an ugly cut on his shoulder, but it didn't seem too deep, and Azni was already patching it up. Paul's left arm was in bad condition. His forearm had almost lost the entirety of its skin, and the bandages around the injury leaked blood even if they were pretty tight.
The rest of the humans were relatively fine, except for Kelly, who had lost a chunk of her hand. Brandon was helping her, but her situation wasn't critical.
The students were also quite fine, but Khan could see how their number had fallen. Asyat, Zeliha, and other Niqols that he had learnt to know better than others were okay, but many others had died, and their corpses were on the ground around him.
Gabriela had died during the surprise attack, and Veronica cried next to her corpse. Khan felt the need to say something to console her, but he limited himself to glance at George. The latter understood the meaning of his gesture and approached Veronica with Havaa. The three quickly fell prey to their sorrow.
The group would find it hard to move right away, but a few of them required medical attention. Paul, Kelly, and some Niqols had bad injuries that could lead to problems if left untreated. Paul was an exception since he was a first-level warrior, but the others didn't have that privilege.
Zalpa was in the forest, only one or two days of travel from the group's location. Liiza could even contact her to make her come in their direction and spare some time. One last effort divided humans and students from a potential safety.
"[We should leave now]," Khan sighed, half-hoping that no one could hear his words.
His hopes shattered in mere seconds. The area was completely silent, and only sniffs resounded from time to time. Everyone could hear his comment, and their eyes soon converged on the few injured members of their group.
Ilman nodded and helped a girl that he was consoling to stand. Doku and Azni also jumped to their feet, and everyone else slowly imitated them.
Khan found a series of eyes converging on him. The Niqols, even the few who didn't join the battle, glanced at him and waited for him to move. The event initially surprised Khan, but the proud smile of his girlfriend ended up revealing the nature of those gestures.
The Niqols had seen Khan fight. They had acknowledged his power, his loyalty, and the intensity of his feelings for Liiza. He wasn't only one of them. He was a potential leader that they trusted more than Paul, Felicia, and Ryan.
The three squad leaders could only nod when Khan glanced at them to inspect their reactions. He could finally understand what Paul had said before. His power, relationship, and the acceptance that the Niqols showed toward his figure made him untouchable.
Moreover, the last battle had added something more to his figure. Khan had become a leader, at least when it came to the students.
"[Let's hurry to the forest]," Khan ordered. "[Our priority is to reach Zalpa. We'll take care of our sorrow after ensuring our safety]."
His closest friends were the first to nod and gather behind him. Felicia and Ryan quickly arrived too, and everyone else followed. The group put its injured members at its center and let Khan pick the path.
Khan didn't decide much. Liiza contacted Zalpa and placed her cube on the ground from time to time to adjust the direction. The group entered the forest and treaded forward carefully to avoid meeting monsters. The path featured some packs, but it seemed that the heavy aura surrounding the group was scaring them away.
The lack of dangers made the group advance quickly. The forest was full of faint noises that seemed to resound in the distance. The big trees also hid most of its environment, but nothing could escape Khan's senses in that situation.
"[We should be almost there]," Liiza revealed as she studied the map in her cube.
"[Did Zalpa even try to meet us halfway]?" Khan sighed.
"[You know how she is]," Liiza responded. "[I'm not sure she would have helped us if the situation weren't so tragic]."
"[You are right, Lii]," A hoarse voice suddenly resounded from the peak of one of the trees nearby. "[Why would I even help humans]?"
An ugly figure slowly became visible on top of the tree. Everyone could see the old Niqols who had odd features. Her long red hair and the faint red shades in her glowing white eyes made her unique among the alien species. Some of the students even gasped in surprise at the sight of those shades.
"[It's an honor to meet you again]," Khan promptly said while separating from Liiza and performing a deep bow.
"[You are still around]," Zalpa snorted before jumping off the tall tree and landing in front of the group.
Zalpa had fallen for more than eight meters, but she didn't show any pain when her landing created a hole in the ground. She didn't even hesitate to step forward and approach Khan and Liiza.
"[It's nice to see you, Zaza]," Liiza exclaimed happily before jumping in her arms.
Zalpa revealed a surprised expression in front of that sudden affectionate gesture. She raised her head to inspect Khan and search for answers, but her confusion only intensified at the sight of his evident sadness. He was hurting to see Liiza in that condition.
"[Let's go back to my cave]," Zalpa threatened. "[You'll tell me everything there]."
Khan nodded without showing any fear, and his reaction left Zalpa stunned again. She could almost see the profound changes that had affected that cursed boy. She would easily mistake him for a Niqols if it weren't for his physical features.
To be continued