*POV* Randell Franklin 2nd
'Infants had been born. They couldn't be over a year old." I thought as I tightened my grip on the leather in my hands. I glanced over my shoulder and watched Coral pulling at her crazy skirts.
I couldn't remember a time when fashion had skirts like that. Her maroon and silver dress was covered in dirt, her soft brown hair floated behind her in the wind escaping the scarf. Her eyes moved to mine as she gave up pulling.
She pulled a face and rolled her eyes before looking away. I realized that she held herself with grace and poise. I forced myself to look at the ground in front of me.
She is young. I started to wonder why she had children. "Maybe they aren't hers?" I thought. "Maybe she took them?" But there was still the question of why in the heavens she had been in the desert alone.
Even the craziest person would travel in a group.
I was pulled from my thoughts as Lieutenant Green threw her hand into the air and I pulled my horse to a stop, as did the others.
I didn't have to ask what it was, the rumbling far beneath the sand had already started. "Get ready!" Green shouted. I stayed in my saddle as the others dismounted and pulled their guns.
I moved Jimson closer to Green and caught the rope she handed me just as the creature burst from the sand beneath us. "Hold on!" Green yelled, I kept a close eye on Coral and pulled her horse snorting away from the fight.
As we stopped a couple feet away from the fight I turned to the white faced girl but she spoke first. "What is that?!…" she had her eyes glued to the fight and the air erupting with the sound of gun fire.
Coral's hands went up to cover her ears for a second before she tried her best to cover the small ears of the child held in front of her.
"It's called a centipede." Her eyes wide she turned to stare at me.
Before screaming as she threw herself my way as her horse began to sink into the sand, alarmed I grabbed for them and held her tightly around her chest and pulled her my way.
"What the!?" She yelled into my ear as she began scrambling up Jimson and me. "Move away!!" She screamed and fear rushed my heart as I pulled Jimson away from the gaping hole filled with sharp teeth.
"Stay. calm." I gritted out and tried to reassure her. She sat right in my lap. "STAY CALM!! HoW DO YOU EXPECT ME.-!! AAH ITS COMING!!!" She hid her head. I was well aware of the large creature as it tore from the ground and rushed after us.
Jimson hit full speed and I turned him away from the others, the only thing I could do was try and get to the fort before it caught up to us.
Coral moved, clinging to my shirt as she peered over my shoulder once again, her fear turned to determination. "I am going to try something." She said in a low voice.
She placed her arms around me almost in a hug and with a quiet voice she whispered words in a language I had never heard before. The air around us chilled with a gust of wind that sent her hair in my face then over my head.
The sky darkened and then icicles the size of small builds began hitting the ground in front of us. "Huh?" I thought. Coral was still for a second before she turned around and gave a sigh. "You can stop now." She whispered close to my face.
I slowed Jimson and watched as Coral whispered softly to calm her twin that was held in front. The other seemed to be as quiet as a mouse and was half asleep.
I didn't stop but instead headed back the way we had come alongside the disgusting creature. Lieutenant Green smiled as she rode to meet up, half of the horses seemed to be missing but I wasn't too worried because all the men were there.
"That ice attack did help us a lot." She grinned, and her eyes moved over the predicament I was sitting in. A gave her a nod and she dismounted.
She held out a hand to Coral who took it. A mist of embarrassment washed over me and I tried to stamp it down, it was just part of the mission.
Coral stared up at me with a blush once her feet touched the ground and with a sinking feeling of dread I realized it was her embarrassment I was feeling.
"Curse this power!" I thought as I watched Green help Coral onto her horse. "Are we ready to go?" I questioned after a minute. "Yup."
I had touched both Coral and her twins I realized as I saw my sleeves had been shoved up. I looked over at her and could instantly feel her gratitude towards me. "She could never know.' I thought. "It never ends well.'