Maya glanced at Hexa, the prisoner she has helped escape before transfer. Why did the hunters go after her and not Hexa? It was illogical. She knew it was a crime to break a prisoner out of jail, but it was all she could do in the situation. She knew the Embercaller was still somewhere out there alive, seeking for revenge, and the world was still in danger.
Her eyes narrowed when she noticed a pair of eyes staring at the two from the bush uphill. They had to move before that person could alert the rest. Nodding at Hexa to follow, Maya started running to the dock, where various boats and ships had been anchored.
They ran past one of the soldiers guarding the biggest ship, which was a big mistake. Maya was isolated from Hexa and cornered by three of the bounty-hunting men, who bursted out of the bushes, in seconds. When Hexa tried to get closer, Maya shook her head in a way that spoke so loudly she didn't need any words to make Hexa step back.
In the blink of an eye, Maya had always managed to skillfully punch one in the gut and run off. A pity there was more people in the bushes for backup. Who needs 12 guys to get one woman into a boat? The queen of Etherium, apparently. Maya's strategy was efficient, but she was badly outnumbered. She was dragged back to the dock, then was put unconscious with a rusty pipe one of the men held.
"Yeah, that's her. Get her to the boss and we'll eat well tonight," one of them confirmed.
Hexa was frozen as she had to watch it all unfold. She felt a pit forming in her stomach as her lover was dragged towards the boat. She felt so guilty for not doing anything to help her. Maybe. Just maybe her hallucinations would have helped her. She had killed guards before, but why didn't her vision go black now? She could have killed them like back then.
Her head was getting heavy, but she was lightheaded, followed by a headache finding her. She then realized it wasn't a migraine. It was what she hadn't felt in years—one of the violence episodes. She could recognize the feeling anywhere. It was all too familiar to her.
Her vision went blank. All she could see was a dark void. She had no feeling of her own body, no awareness of what it might have been doing. Her ears weren't her own either. All she could hear was screams she would never expect from the people standing infront of her. But maybe that could mean success. It was her only hope.
Nearby, Jennifer was carrying fishing rods to be sold to traders. She walked down the hill with a smile on her face, then noticed her friend Hexa. She was about to greet her before she saw the situation clearly. Her other friend, Maya was tied up with ropes, unconscious and resting on a rock. But Hexa was holding a pipe, which looked old.
She peered closer. There was blood on the pipe, and one of the traders on the ground. He looked unharmed. There was an unmoving woman, who wasn't wearing the same uniform the traders did, next to the downed trader. There were more traders surronding them, but they were standing up and looked ready to attack Hexa.
When she walked even closer, she began to see the parts of the woman that had been harmed. Her right cheek was busted open in a way that allowed to see her crooked teeth, her head was covered in blood, there was a hole in her stomach, which bled a lot, the bones in her legs were smashed into pieces and legs left in weird position, and blood pooled below her lifeless body.
Jennifer started feeling sick from the sight and wanted to throw up. What kind of a monster had she made friends with? The fishing rods were dropped to the ground when she ran back to the village.
Hexa suddenly heard nothing. The next thing she saw was a crimson red splash decorating her matte black world. She slowly gained consciousness, getting her vision back. She dropped the weapon she didn't even know she was holding and wiped her eyes. Crap. The hunters were still around her. That was the first thing she saw after gaining consciousness.
She looked to her left. Maya was still unconscious. She looked to the right and saw something she never in her life would want to see. A dead innocent. And the blood was on her hands. Because of the shock she was experiencing and her senses not responding yet, she barely noticed the hunters tying ropes on her limbs. She was dragged into the boat with Maya.