Chapter 52: Chapter 46

The skinwalker only smiled at Eugenia’s words, moving the corners of her lips all the way to the ears. The paw struck, aimed at the face of the Elite. Aranea failed to notice Eugenia’s movement, to her eyes, the paw passed right through the calm face. But the skinwalker stopped her attack, her head jerked to the side when the elite punched the massive foe across the lower jaw, still holding the other paw in her hand.

A punch made by a gentle-looking hand created a sonic boom strong enough to push Aranea, Kaleb, and Kate a good step away from the fighters. The skinwalker fell on the knees, her arms went limp, before the beast shook her head, looking hungrily at the elite.

"If only this ever worked…" Eugenia mused, and the skinwalker leaped at her, jaws snapping. Once again, to Aranea’s eyes, it looked like the massive fangs were biting through the elite’s head, only for the wolf hag to see that the woman shifted her body, moving herself away from the danger and not once letting go of the massive paw.

"You are making me mad!" The skinwalker howled, punching with her free paw, kicking and trying to bite Eugenia. Each and every attack missed the mark, passing through the afterimage left by the elite. The skinwalker even roared, the sound of her roar cracked the ground beneath Eugenia’s legs and made Aranea’s lenses temporarily go offline. The moment the helmet went back online, Aranea saw that the black sticks in Eugenia’s hair exploded, covering her back and part of the ground in a cape made out of blonde hair.

"It takes ages to clean all of them… No, Arti, I am fine!" The elite said in a jovial tone, releasing the enemy's paw and charging forward. She slipped beneath an armpit, circling the skinwalker and grabbing her neck into a chokehold while pressing one of her hands to a black bead of a receiver in her ear, "No need to come here!" The woman kicked across the skinwalker’s legs, slamming the beast onto the ground and creating a cloud of dust and stone in the process, "No, really, I don’t need the armor, it’s no bother. Prepare the cell and sedatives, please, I am sending her your way. Be gentle please, the poor miss is suffering from the same mental problems just like the other two ladies."

The ground shook when a black form crashed into it, falling from the sky. Two large slabs of stone, each of which could easily cover an entire house, came upward from the sides of a crater in the ground, while warlord Zero straightened herself up. The warlord aimed her sniper rifle at the struggling duo, ignoring both Olesya and Aranea. Her finger found the trigger and a portal opened itself in front of the weapon’s barrel, opening a path into utter darkness, absorbing both the beam and loudly sucking in the air, trying to suck inside Zero’s cloak as well.

"No!" Zero shouted. A mix of panic, rage, and fear was in her voice when she saw another portal being opened beneath the skinwalker and saw how Eugenia pushed the mad beast inside. Aranea could not see what was going on inside the portal, but her ears caught the sound of a humming energy shield.

"Give her back!" Zero stormed across the field to the elite, holstering the sniper rifle behind her back, "You have no idea who you are putting in the mental ward! She can’t be contained now!"

"We certainly have an idea. We keep two other patients with similar syndromes in our safe and secure facilities," Eugenia responded calmly, ignoring the warlord who clenched her fist, struggling not to hit the elite. Eugenia picked up her own hair, throwing it over her shoulders twice in order to keep it from being sullied by the dust and dirt even further, "Keep her suspended in a force bubble, never allow her close to any chemicals or to the floor or walls… Frankly, we know full well how to keep her from harming herself and others. And I certainly won’t give you the poor girl just to be killed," She lifted a finger, stopping the warlord, "Yes, yes, we know about your laws and all, but both the Reclaimers and Resistance agreed that any and all who cause a ruckus here are to be dealt with according to our laws. The poor soul will be cleaned up, she will receive food and water aplenty. Worry not, she won’t hurt herself or the others, while doctors try to rehabilitate…"

"There can be no rehabilitation!" Zero screamed, before grasping her fists even further, causing the metal to bend, and continued speaking in a calm and even pleading tone, "Eugenia, please, I beg of you. You know that it is not possible to save everyone. My kin can’t come back from this, don’t put her through this indignity."

"Out of the question. We are not barbarians to kill sickly or ill, and Iterna has no death penalty in our laws anymore," Eugenia replied, her stone expression reflecting on the surface of Zero's helmet, "Your kin will be cared and provided for the rest of her life, while doctors are working to help her."

"Not barbarians. Sure. I remember how your so-enlightened people kicked me and the others into the Ravaged Lands, with no food or water, spewing insults like "nonhumans" into our backs," Zero hissed, turning around, "You are just like everyone else, merely dressing up your true nature to pretend to be oh so enlightened when compared to us, who live in reality."

"Iterna fully admitted the crimes that we committed in the early days," Eugenia said into her back, "No one is perfect, but we are all trying to be better! Zero, you are always welcome to come back and…"

"Now you want me to come back?" Zero turned around, her cloak swirling around her, "Not when I begged iternians to be let in, carrying my wounded sis with me? Fuck your welcome. The Dynast is the only one who can build a world for everyone, and I was a fool to ever doubt her words."

"If it is of any consolation to you, then please know that everyone responsible for the heinous acts of those days faced proper jail sentences." Eugenia said, while Zero walked to Aranea.

"This doesn’t bring back the dead, now does it?"

"Warlord!" Aranea tried to jump up and salute, but the warlord held all three of them on the ground, checking for any wounds before letting them stand. Aranea looked into the black helmet of Zero. Out of all the warlords, Zero was always the most calm, eager to come to the aid of anyone, no matter of allegiance, even going so far as to work as a volunteer in the Oathtakers’ lands. Now she looked as if she was ready to attack the iternians, "Is something wrong? Are we in danger?"

"Never trust iternians," Zero told them quietly, helping the soldiers to stand up, "Never be deceived by their pretty looks, deep inside they are… No," Zero shook her head, "I am becoming just like them," She told the confused Aranea, "You young ones should not be bothered by the fears and prejudices of old farts like me. No, there is no danger, iternians are here to aid both sides. Where is Annie?"

****

With the chaos of the battle over, the iternians quickly took over the facility. Aranea and her pack found that there was little for them to do, the Resistance disarmed, most of their soldiers either agreed to stay in the refugee camp under the supervision of Iterna or were too wounded to tell and were moved back to the inner lands of Iterna by Eugenia’s power for treatment.

The bentos gathered their own wounded and damaged and moved quickly to the lands of the Bento tribe, honoring the agreement between both sides. Yasen will not get help from them, several members of the Omega team were tasked by Alpha herself to make sure that the bentos won’t try to pull any foul on their word.

The main iternians forces, the ones who were meant to arrive at this camp and transform it into the refugee camp, were also brought here soon after the fight. Their medics offered help treating the wounded of the reclaimers, and Zero begrudgingly recommended Olesya accept their help. Why the greatest warlord refused to take command over the forces here was a mystery to everyone, but now with Angoro being injured, it fell to Olesya to be busy talking with the person in charge of Iterna’s forces, leaving Aranea to keep forces in order and check up on the wounded.

Aranea spared a single glance toward the chaos in the former refugee camp. Iterna’s medics had already sorted out the injured, returning the prisoners captured by the resistance. Now hovering machines were busy leveling the camp, while spider-like steel mechs moving with the grace of flowing water were busy quickly assembling new blocks for the refugees to temporarily stay inside for a few days. Engineers, soldiers, medics, Iterna was sparing no expense in turning this place into a first-class refugee camp. In the coming days, the ground is to be covered by reinforced concrete, sensors will be put underground to track the movements of sand reapers and other dangerous beings of the Ravaged Lands. A mighty wall will surround this place, with an actual armed garrison made from over a unit of Problemsolvers, the elite man-made new breeds of Iterna. Actual houses will be built here, after a war, this place may well turn into another small town. Aranea suspected that this was in part why Iterna so quickly jumped to be a mediator between the two sides, they wanted to limit the future sphere of interest of the Reclamation Army. Aranea had little doubt that in the future, this location would become a well-developed buffer zone between two nations, a zone that would eventually join Iterna.

Iterna’s forces and the state’s forces failed to find out where exactly the skinwalker came from. The officer in charge of the Resistance’s forces here claimed that not a single wolfkin prisoner was among the captured soldiers, and Olesya confessed to Aranea that she believed the man. The skinwalker came from a morgue, and for now, both Olesya and the officer in charge of Iterna’s forces thought that the Resistance failed to notice that one of the supposed dead soldiers still had life signs, and shock from being surrounded by corpses prompted the transformation. Zero vehemently argued against this, stating that the change doesn’t work that way.

Aranea stepped into a spacious tent. Iterna field tents resemble a weird mix between steel and cloth, the material was soft to the fingers but easily stopped the cruel heat of the outside, allowing air coolers inside to create an almost soothing atmosphere for the people. Not for the wolfkins, though. Aranea heard angry snaps from Virginia before she even reached the duo.

Virginia was the lucky one out of the two. Her chest was caved in by the skinwalker’s kick, leaving a visible dent on her body, despite the bandages. The fur on her snout suffered from the acid, and in the place where her chest plate was cracked by the kick, she also had wide patches with no fur on them. Her tongue bore several chemical burns, but aside from that, the medics should be able to patch her up relatively quickly.

Annie was in the worse shape, her arm was shattered by the casual twist of the skinwalker, the bones pierced her skin and damaged both muscles and arteries. The blow that sent her into the hill had popped her other shoulder and broke her ribs, causing one sharp bone to puncture her lung. The skin around her left eye was so swollen that the wolf hag could not open it, the bones in her left leg were dislocated.

"Sveta, I have my own medic now!" Annie growled, when her sister fixed the dislocated bones in her leg, "Take care of your own damn pack!"

"Shut it, An. My teammates are all alright, unlike the mess that you turn yourself into. Hold her steady, please," Svetlana asked the medic of Annie’s pack, and the woman fixated the wolfkin while Svetlana checked the other leg.

"I see you're both fine," Aranea said to them and smiled, coming closer, "Get well."

"Aranea tell Carty to come to me as soon as possible, there is… Ouch!" Annie cursed when Svetlana put another bone in place.

"Carty, keep Sveta safe… Suicidal moron," The medic grumbled angrily.

"Annie cares for her little sis-ter." Virginia sang mockingly, "Aranea, bring tell my pack to bring me some meat! They force me to eat soup all the time."

"Because your tongue is damaged, wolf hag Virginia," A medic assigned to Virginia’s pack quickly bowed when the rust-colored wolfkin glared at her, "I am not lying, miss, you have burns even in your throat."

"Virginia, listen to your medics or I am telling Alpha." Aranea said, and the wolf hag rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I’ll believe her… This time."

Aranea left both wolf hags in the care of medics and went to check up on Angoro. The medics stopped his bleeding, the iternians willingly shared medical supplies with the reclaimers, ensuring that he will survive, but the agent refused to be transferred to Iterna’s medical facility. Instead, he and the other wounded will be escorted back to Belaz, where he will receive augmentation.

With a sign of relief, Aranea walked outside to prepare the troops to leave tomorrow. She decided to check the patrols.

****

Standing on a tall hill, Zero took off the helmet, inhaling the night air and listening to the sounds of the night.

She opened her eyes and the darkness before her retreated, covering in fear before the light of her amber eyes. Her nostrils sniffed the air, catching the trails of human sweat coming from the refugee camp, smelling of fur and dried up blood of her kin from a nearby camp. Her nose could easily distinguish each individual. The one who smelt of perfume, Carty, was busy training side by side with Alpha’s ward.

Zero put the helmet on her belt. There was no visor or lens on the round-shaped helmet, only blackened steel reflecting the surroundings. This piece of technological marvel was able to detect heat-signatures, detect the frail traces of dimension disturbances in the air, bypass the optical camouflage and do many other wonderous things. It was deemed too expensive to mass produce and, so far, only she, First, and Mourner had access to such devices. But right now, the warlord had no need for this.

Zero’s fingers found a pile of stones near her. Her fingers snapped, sending one stone across the plains and spilling the head of an insectoid warrior in two. The creature was close to a kilometer from the refugee camp. Iternians were professionals, but they rarely operated in areas like the Ravaged Lands. There is no harm in aiding them.

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Zero kept sending stone after stone into the night, killing the predators that tried to sneak into the camp and allowing her ears to listen to the chatter.

****

"You idiot." Annie whispered angrily at Viscario over a communicator.

The medics left for rest, leaving both wolf hags in the care of iternians. Virginia slept without a second thought, while Carty brought a minor communicator to Annie, excusing herself for the night. They were supposed to have a meditation session to help with the anger issues, but the scout said that she had a job to do and found someone else to help Annie.

"Just returning the favor," The agent’s voice sounded stranded from pain, "Listen, when this war is done and over, what do you say we go visit the Core Lands, just the two of us?"

"Are you coming under me?" Annie raised her brows in confusion.

"I prefer to be the one on top, but right now I just want to invite you somewhere where we are not at risk of being eaten alive." He chuckled.

"Angoro…" The wolf hag tried to find words, "Listen, we are practically a different species! I doubt it is even possible for us to have cubs… Or kids… Or whatever."

"I didn’t really think that far into the future, but if things go well, we can always adopt some from the orphanage. Come, Annie, what’s the harm?"

"Listen, I’ll think about it and call you back! In the meantime, you get yourself fixed. You got it?!" Annie hushed, hearing familiar steps coming towards her.

****

Zero’s ears twitched in curiosity when she heard Velka’s footsteps coming to Annie. What could these two have to chat about? But she stopped eavesdropping, wishing the best to both Viscario and Annie. Those two have worked side by side for a long time now, and maybe the agent can help mend the damage that Zero caused.

The warlord sent three stones flying with a snap of her fingers, spearing three insectoid warriors and causing the rest to run in panic. She kept listening.

****

"I want to be reassigned. My CO is a bitch." Estefania complained to Mia.

Both medics were sitting in a tent, filling out the forms about the injured on this mission. Svetlana volunteered to stay for the night, but medics from Iterna quickly turned her offer down, allowing all three field medics of the Reclaimers to have some free time on their hands. Svetlana went to sleep, while two other medics decided to prepare papers to send back with the injured agents. Ivar was very picky and demanded full reports from them about just about everything.

Both of them barely knew each other during their time in the arena. Hekanta hired them for a supposed mercenary job, offering to provide them with actual power armor. For an immigrant in Pearl, it was a gift sent from heaven. Or from hell, as they learned later, after they saw the arena and had no way to ditch the job safely. Mia wanted to give up and sulk in self-pity for days after the reclaimers shut down the place, only for her former leader to kick her back to study, sometimes with actual physical violence. Hekanta seemingly tried to make up for what she did. All in all, Mia was quite happy with the proper second chance that fate had given her.

"Well, we did try to kill them." Mia mused, filling in the form about Velka’s and Tiny’s conditions. One still suffered from a minor back pain and the other was in need of medicine due to her rare disease. Nothing new here, but the medic was curious about why Alpha was buying the medicine for her adopted daughter.

"Speak for yourself, I wanted merely to humiliate them back then. Well, maybe take a limb or two," Estefania frowned, "Virginia sleeps on the floor of my tent, always glaring at me all night! Says she can’t trust that I won’t poison the drinks. She even walks on all fours from time to time. Bitch is a real cuckoo in the head, I’ll tell you."

"She probably still angry about that time when you faked your surrender."

"The bitch broke both of my wrists for that! What the hell else does she need from me!" Estefania shook her head, "Oh well. At least I can sleep normally tonight without anyone looking at me like a sleep paralysis demon."

"Sure, just don’t forget to wake up early, or else Velka will sneak away without injections once more. You saw that her back is not fully healed yet."

"Can’t Sveta take care of that?" Estefania moaned.

"She can, but then what is the point of us? Better not give Ivar any ideas. Think of this as another practice." Mia advised finishing her writing and yawning.

****

Zero nodded. Just like Virginia, she too distrusted both women. Criminals rarely change. But, so far, everyone Ivar took out from the Torment gave it their all; even Ygritte reported that her medics were volunteering in the village in their spare time, with no complaints and entirely on their own initiative.

Kalaisa’s daughter was busy checking the outer perimeter, while the steel one was still talking with Iterna’s official. They did well today. Not exceptional, but everyone has to start somewhere. All was well, except for…

It was coming. Zero pressed the armored gauntlet to the stone and picked up tremors even from here. These beings could sense blood from dozens of kilometers away, and now one such beast was closing on the refugee facility, attracted by the smell of rotten bodies, when her poor kin destroyed the morgue.

Zero straightened up, reaching for her sniper rifle. Her eyesight allowed her to see through the pitch-black darkness just as easily as if it was day. The warlord saw a small hill was moving across the stone ground, some five kilometers away, reshaping the surroundings. She lifted her weapon and took aim, allowing her eyes to guide the shot.

A beam of concentrated anti-matter left the barrel of her weapon, striking just slightly below the center of the moving catastrophe, where the brain of these creatures usually is. The beam speared through the entire moving hill, burying itself in the stone ground for thirty meters before finally dissipating underground. The sand reaper managed to move its body forward five meters before the death throes arrested the mighty body. A single leg broke through the sand that covered the insect, twitching once before becoming still. Already, Zero could see curious insectoids coming from a nearby opening in the ground, eager to feast on the dead carcass.

"Nice shot," Eugenia said behind her, and Zero instinctively reached for her helmet, putting it back on. She asked the woman to come here, but showing her face to anyone was too much of a stress. Zero was her own person, not a shadow of… "Sorry, didn’t mean to scare."

"It is no bother," The cold of her helmet slid onto her elegant snout, covering her in darkness for a brief moment, before her HUD came online, showing her full surroundings. The warlord turned to Eugenia and frowned, "You will burn your skin if you keep on walking like this."

"Trust me, it will take more than this, to harm…" Eugenia fell silent when Zero took off her cloak and threw it to the elite.

"Keep it, I have hundreds of them," She took a breath, "I wanted to apologize for my harsh words earlier today. Iterna came to our aid and saved our soldiers and…" The warlord felt at a loss for words.

"To be honest, it was a miracle," Eugenia said, throwing the cloak over herself and pulling on the hood. "Our troops were supposed to arrive tomorrow, but one of the intelligence officers decided to survey the area with a satellite. He said that he acted on a hunch. And there is no need for an apology, you just helped us, and it was Iterna who…"

"I am sure your troops are more than capable of stopping a sand reaper," Zero cut her off in a dry voice. She closed her eyes, remembering herself crying and begging for help, carrying the bloody form in her arms. It was a sand reaper back then as well, the huge insect ambushed the banished students. It was the blessed sis who saved her and a few other survivors after Iterna refused to let them in. Zero forced herself to open her eyes. The inability to forget anything was just as much a gift as a curse. Eugenia wasn’t the one who hurt her back then, "Listen, I can’t really forgive Iterna. To my eyes, each and every one of you will be like salt against a raw wound. However, times change. One day I will be naught but a memory. Anyway, I called you here for one more thing. One of my sisters is in Iterna now, gravely injured. I know how our countries can be sometimes, but if she dies, can you just tell me this time, please."

"Martyshkina will not die," Eugenia stated emphatically, "And don't underestimate our medicine. Arti-ficer is also helping doctors. All will be well."

"Arti," Zero stretched out the word and Eugenia smiled, "Huh, the rumors were true for once. Glad for you both. Stay safe."

"Wait, what rumors?"

The warlord jumped backwards, turning in the air and landing on two feet, leaving Eugenia alone. Zero charged across the desolated plains, enjoying the silence of the night and rushing toward the siege point. Ivar swore that the enemy will fall without a massive military operation, and the warlord was half curious to see what exactly the blue wyrm was planning.

…on a hunch, huh? Zero thought. Janine should know.

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