Page 12 of Shadow's Chosen

"Not bad for..." something, something, the woman said, but Elise couldn't understand. She lifted her blade to strike Elise square in the stomach, only to be knocked forward as several blasts of white light hit her back. Elise rolled to the side as the woman went down, and she saw the drogin blasting away in their direction. Elise took the chance and skirted out of his line of sight before dropping down to the roof of a smaller building. She ran across it, parallel to two other buildings until she clambered down to the street below with gun still in hand.

She ran on again, feeling a slight burn in her arms and legs and lungs, but that didn't stop her. As she ran along the street, she heard another shout from far away followed by the sounds of gunfire everywhere. She still didn't dare stop. Even as a bomb went off close by and—though it didn't scorch her or truly harm her—knocked her off her feet momentarily, she was up again and sprinting down another road.

She leapt and rolled over another wall and skirted around a set of blown-out buildings, only slowing for a moment to sneak around a gang of drogin hanging around nearby. As she came to a bridge, she hesitated. She looked around and saw another bridge down a ways along the same river-crossing not far from her own. No one was there that she could tell, so she started forward.

Midway across, she felt something whoosh over her head. She ducked down and pushed her legs to move faster as she looked over in time to see a flash of blue and green light strike the pavement right in front of her. Cursing, she slid to a halt and hunkered down against the bridge wall as more and more shots flew inches past her. She crouched and waited until, eventually, they stopped, and she slowly crawled her way across. She heard shots go off again, but this time, she saw no sparks of green and blue stopping her. Elise dared to peek over the wall and saw from the other bridge Bruce running across, his armor already hit several times along his back and front. He roared as he ran, his face going beet red as he shot aimlessly up toward the buildings above him. But as he came near to the end of the bridge, the blue and green lights hit him in the back, and he went down, his armor now glowing bright red.

He was out. And judging by the shouts she had heard, so were a couple others already. She cursed again and made a break for the end of the bridge. Shots fired her way, one catching at her leg. She barked out another curse but didn't falter. She leapt for the nearest building and made it just inside, blocking the fire that rained in on her. Elise slunk down for a mere second to catch her breath. She didn't know how many more strikes she could take before she was out, but judging by how many she saw on Bruce, she liked to think she could take a few more before she was done. She forced herself back up and made her way out the other side of the building and onto the next street.

She took out two more drogin and went over one more wall until she found herself within a large open square. Only a fountain took up the center, dried up and crumbled. At the back was a wide building with thick rows of pillars. Leading to the building was a set of steps where a pedestal sat. On top of the pedestal was a glowing red ball.

Elise could only assume the ball was the key.

She took one step and then instantly jumped back as gunshots rang out close by. Jerico came into the square and hunkered down near the fountain. He had a few marks on him, but he was still going. The lion-like alien came into view and began shooting his way in, firing endlessly, lighting up the square. Elise watched as the fountain became rubble, and Jerico was forced out from behind it. He fired back and hit the lion once but not before taking several hits himself. His armor went red, and he went down. He wasn't dead, Elise knew, only what looked to be knocked out. The drogin wanted to make sure no one cheated and kept going even after they lost.

The lion pushed Jerico's body out of the way and went for the steps, only to take fire at his back. He, too, went down, and Adrien came into view, taking his place. He was breathless and sweating and looked to be only one mark away from knockout, but he went for the ball without glancing back and didn't see the shark-like alien hunkering down on top of a wall. Elise took aim and fired, hitting the shark across the chest. He went down, dropping on the other side of the wall. Adrien swerved around as she stepped into the square with him.

"Stirling, you made it," he panted.

Elise's eyebrows rose. "You're surprised?"

He laughed softly through his breaths then gestured for her to stand by him and watch the buildings. "They’re good. Not that that's a surprise. One took Reese out almost right away. Amy not long after." He pointed to her chest. "Who got you?"

"Goldie. She almost got me on one of the roofs, but I outsmarted her."

"Really?"

Elise shrugged.

"Pretty sure it's just you and me now," Adrien said, backing up. Elise did with him. They each eyed the square with guns raised. "But there's at least two of them. Go for the key. I'll cover you."

Elise lowered her gun an inch as she did as commanded and creeped over to the pedestal. Carefully, she reached out for the key and took it up in one hand. No trap sprung, no hoards of drogin came. She eyed Adrien, who merely nodded. With her gun still raised in one hand, she crept back down the steps and stood with Adrien in the square.

"Guess the others were too slow." He smiled and put out his hand. Elise placed the key in his palm. He gripped it tight. "Better luck next—"

He went down. The ball dropped from his hand and rolled out into the middle of the square, hitting the pile of rubble that had been a fountain. Elise blinked, confused.

"What...?"

"Better luck next time."

Elise swerved around and saw the lead hunter standing above her on the steps. She let out a hiss of breath and took a step back. Slowly, he made his way down, watching her before eyeing Adrien on the ground. The alien nudged him roughly with his boot and made a clicking sound with his tongue. Elise backed away as he stepped over Adrien and stood before her. He tilted his head, studying her closely. She didn't care for the heat in his eyes. Nor did she like how they sparked with amusement.

She noticed he had no hits to his armor. In fact, he looked the same as he had at the start of the match. He hadn't even broken a sweat, if he even sweat at all. She looked down at her fallen teammate with a deep frown. She hadn't even seen him get hit, nor was there any weapon in the alien's hands to blame.

The alien moved closer, and Elise felt her muscles tighten, ready to flee or fight. She heard movement behind her and turned to see the green amphibian pointing his gun straight at her. Elise raised hers when she heard a raspy sort of snicker behind her.

Damn it.

She looked back, and sure enough, the lead hunter was laughing. He gestured quickly to his teammate, who lowered his gun and backed away.

Ah, so he wants to play.

"Just you and me, huh?" Elise said in her own tongue. She chucked her gun aside then raised her hands into fists, planting her feet firmly. The leader stopped laughing, but his smile never faded.

"You're bold for a soft-skin. I like that," he said. Or something along those lines. Some of the words were off, but his drogin was improving already. He took a stance if not in a mocking sort of way, and they each stood their ground. Elise knew he was waiting for her to strike first. She took a deep breath then moved.

Not toward him but away. Dashing toward the crumbled fountain, reaching for the key.

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