The Hidden Ch11

The scream rattled through, erasing all my hatred and rage, instantly replacing it with fear. My head snapped towards the metal doors from which Hendel and I had entered. I looked back at Hendel. In his hands was my gear. My bastard sword, my flambard and the side-sword were all in his rigid hands. I ripped my bastard sword out of his hand, leaving him with my back-up weapons. I swung the XM8 so that it hung from my left shoulder, and I took off running with my sword in hand, going back the way we’d come. Gunfire rang out from the court yard, short bursts firing out from many places, so it sounded like a constant stream. Quickly though, the gunfire was silenced, all of it but a single steady stream. We heard another scream. This time it was filled with hatred and rage, and we heard a cold laugh echo from outside. I burst through the doors and my fears were confirmed. I saw the courtyard we had just crossed. It seemed that the projectile from the catapult had hit somewhere else nearby, for I could not see it. I could see many other things though. I saw a dozen bodies strewn about the area. Only a few feet in front of me lay a corpse, it’s face appearing to have been melted off. The skin on the chest seemed to have air pockets bubbling on the surface, visible because the shirt that had once covered this poor soul had been burned off. Another burst of gunfire rang out throughout the courtyard, ricocheting off metal and into the stone ground. I snapped my head towards the sound. Lauren was standing with her back against the wall of my old prison, firing an XM8 at a slowly advancing figure. He laughed loudly into the night, as if her attempts at defending herself amused him. I knew only one person who would act as the assailant did. Lauren fired off another round of bullets. The attacker flicked his sword into the path of the gunfire, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off his blade. I dropped my sword and swung my gun around until it faced the assailant. I fired a continuous stream of fire right at him. He was fast enough to get his sword in the way of the first few bullets, but most of my fire hit him dead on. Only problem was, his armor managed to stop it. He growled loudly, turning his full attention on me. He started off running straight for me, his falchion raised, ready to fight. He was only an inch or so smaller than me, which put him at six feet three inched tall. His short brown hair waved in the wind, rippling the hair on his head. He was dressed in completely black, and his green eyes blazed with hate and anger. He was skinny, but it was easy to see that he wouldn’t be a pushover in any fight. He took three steps in my direction then stopped moving, his body becoming stock-still. I stood rigid, my eyes washing over his face. He’d changed, no doubt about it, but he was still recognizable. He’d come to the same conclusion about me, and he opened his mouth to speak. Only one word was spoken, “Toark……” the man’s voice was clogged with emotion, and his entire posture seemed to change. He went from battle ready to rigid and shaking. I nodded, “Yes, old friend, I’m still around. I thought for sure you were gone though….” I whispered, not trusting my voice to stay even if I talked any louder, “Why are you doing this though? You of all people…..”
The man snorted, “Right. Like I’m, just going to let these scum run around creating weapons and reaping death and destruction! I would’ve thought that you would’ve tried to kill these people long before I’d have thought you’d join them!” I could feel the heat building up in this man. I stomped on my sword, raising it just in time to deflect the fireball Adam had flung towards me………