Ava clutched Anthony's hand tightly.
"Don't be afraid, I will protect you." She reassured, squeezing his hands.
Anthony was taken aback.
Protect him? Was a woman supposed to protect a man? Shouldn't it be the other way around? He chuckled and nodded, trying to humor her. Almost immediately, a cylinder was thrown out of the helicopter and it landed on the island with a loud explosion.
At once, pink fumes began to seep out from it, fogging the island. Even a fool could see it was a potent poison. The first man jumped into the lake, hurriedly swimming the best he could.
"We won't swim, it's risky. We will jump. The crocodiles will act as a good plank. If the need for swimming arises, I will swim while you sit on my back and kill the surrounding threats." Anthony hurriedly said, holding her tightly with his left hand while the right tightened on his dagger.
Ava quickly nodded in agreement, giving his words much thought.
"Okay. What?" She asked in alarm as what he said fully registered in her mind.
However, there was no time to ask questions as he was already running towards the lake with blinding speed, dragging her along. A scream rang out in the lake as a crocodile chomped down on an unlucky fellow.
Ava looked at the direction the scream came from and shivered. A huge python wrapped itself around the man's neck, immobilizing him, while three crocodiles chomped down on him.
"My back!" Anthony ordered and she quickly climbed his back.
She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist and held her daggers tightly. She was a cultivator, so she had a better stamina than most other women. She balanced on his back without holding him for support, getting ready to fight for their lives.
Anthony began to jump wildly, using the crocodiles as his bridge while Ava bent at awkward angles to slash crocodiles that came too close for comfort. Occasionally, she would send out fire from her fingertips, but it made her exhausted. The dagger was better in this situation, and she only used the fire if there was no other choice.
Soon the crocodiles noticed them and left the remaining survivors to surround the both of them.
"Damn it! Mother fuckers!" Ava cursed and began to send out fire consistently.
"Stop it, you will suffer internal wounds!" Anthony shouted in alarm, noticing she was burning her life energy to create the fires in rapid succession.
"No! I don't want to die here! Just increase your speed" she shouted back, not giving up. They soon came to the edge of the lake, but the crocodiles were no longer tightly packed. They were now scanty, forcing Anthony to dive into the lake and start swimming furiously.
As if the crocodiles were waiting for that, they began to hurriedly surround the escaping duo. Anthony cursed out loud as he slashed the python blocking his path. He now had to swim with one hand while using the other to fight.
Anthony held two daggers in his hands, substituting swimming with fighting as the need arises. He felt a crocodile sink its fang into his legs and gasped, making the dirty water enter his mouth. But before he could react, he felt Ava's warm fire burning it off.
"I'm sorry!" She whispered, her voice laced with guilt as she blamed herself for not noticing the crocodile on time.
They reached the shore and ran out of the lake, with the crocodiles still madly chasing them. They looked at the other man warily.
Apart from them, he was the only survivor showing his level of strength and resilience to make it out without anyone's help.
His eyes were the color of blood, and he had a crazy look in his eyes. His body was littered with wounds, and there were blood stains in his teeth and around his mouth. He no longer looked human, he looked like a beast who had lost all his rationality.
"They have successfully transformed him into an evil cultivator. They used trauma to bring out his inner demon. He is no longer human, he's a beast. A bitter killing machine that will take it out on others whenever he gets the opportunity. These people are either terrorists or an evil sect scouting for members." Ava whispered, clutching Anthony for support while gasping.
The guards soon came to take them away. Ava was kept in the same room with Anthony while the other man was taken to another room. Immediately the door closed, Ava collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.
"Ava! No, don't do this." He whispered in alarm and rushed to her. He carried her to the bed and quickly reached for her pulse, gasping in shock.
Her body was in shambles, barely alive.
She has overstretched her energy and had some hidden sickness in her body. It was seemingly suppressed using medical care, but her actions of over-stressing her body had reopened old injuries, weakening her health and over laboring her body.
Anthony gasped again as he looked around. There were no acupuncture needles in sight, making him confused on how to start the treatment. He immediately began to search for drugs along the hems and sleeves of his clothes.
Anthony brought out three different pills and tore off the nylon film on them, shoving it down her throat. He closed his eyes and tried to summon his energy to his hand to heal her, while his other hand unbuttoned her shirt. His mouth went dry immediately he saw her voluptuous chest, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down, before he began to gently massage her chest.
Soon he moved to her stomach, and then other parts of her body, changing positions in a specific pattern. He held his index and middle finger together and hit her belly hard, delivering a sharp thrust to her belly. He repeated the process on her pelvis and then her chest, right over her heart.
Immediately his fingers hit her heart, she coughed up dark blood which was mixed with yellowish and purple goo. Anthony wiped her mouth and sat down on the floor trying to recoup the energy he used to treat her.
Soon he felt his eyes losing their ability to stay open. The crocodiles were poisonous and one had bitten him. Unfortunately, he doesn't have that particular antidote needed to neutralize the poison at hand. But at least, he had saved Ava.
Pictures of Priscilla kept playing in his mind, returning those painful memories to him while he waited for death.
'Tony, I will love you forever. I will be your family, your wife, your lover, your mother. I will protect and cherish you. I promise you, you won't ever regret marrying me' Priscilla had said with a doting smile, tears were gleaming in her eyes as Anthony made love to her on their wedding night.
Lies! All lies! She was never sincere, but she kept leading him on.
"I don't have a family anyway. No one will notice if I die." Anthony whispered in sorrow, as he felt himself slipping into darkness.