Amir was livid. Beyond livid, was there a word to describe a fury beyond livid because nothing came to mind as he watched the griffin rider get conveniently swept away by his beast leaving himself and Sera behind in the Cape. He wasnât really sure what was worse, the fact that Trytheus completely abandoned them, or the fact Trytheus completely abandoned them while at the same time alerting all the criminals in the vicinity of their locations. If he didnât die he was killing that man, he was gouging his eyes out and flaying his skin and he was going to make a fire god damn hot enough to melt that armor off the damn bastard. Fuck him, fuck him and not in the good sensual way, just fuck, fucking that stupid fucking bastard that fucking prick, fuck, fuck, fuck fuck fuck him.
At some point the internal rant became external and his head wiped in the direction of the unicorn rider as she started speaking to him. He rolled his neck, a sharp pain danced over his spine but he ignored it, an injury to that extent was ignorable considering the circumstances. Soon the criminals would begin investigating, Amirâs portrait was pasted all over this place, they were so screwed if they didnât get moving. Hassan would not have enough time to heal him until they were free of this place. âIâm fine, it doesnât fucking hurt. Heâs going to fucking hurt when Iâm fucking through with that fucking piece of shit. Fuck him, Iâm gonna string him up and fucking beat the shit out of his shitty fucking face.â
He adjusted his grip on his sword and then looked the girl up and down. They wouldnât be able to move as fast as he wanted, but she was injured, beaten, abused, a good reason to slow them down. Not Trytheus though, he was just a big baby that didnât know how to deal with a conflict of interests and instead had mental breakdowns that made everyone elseâs life harder. He motioned for her to follow him, this place had to of had a back door that spat people out into the back alley. No doubt thereâd be people hovering around the building, but at least itâd be easier to fight with the volume bottlenecked in the alley.
He was right, as soon as he stepped out there were about seven people hovering around the building curiously. Probably a mix of Snake-Bite and other organizations that had heard the commotion. He didnât hesitated to cut down the nearest man, spinning his body to connect a kick in another and then hit another with another slash of the sword. Then he used the bleeding manâs body to deter the others that stood in his way and ran past them, he trusted Sera to be able to keep up as they moved. Amir could hear the foot fall behind him of multiple people, some of them calling that the Phoenix Rider was present. If he had been by himself he would have been knocking things down to hinder their path, but with Sera behind him that wasnât an option. âUnicorn, anything that looks tippable, hit it as we go. Itâll slow them down a little bit.â
He spared her only a glance to make sure she was actually behind him before picking up the speed and taking the next corner with a sharp turn. Three people were loitering and the boy didnât blink as his sword struck the closest one, it sailed into their neck and the momentum sent the body tumbling into the others and he hacked into them before Sera even turned the corner. He paused on to look at the girl, eyes blazing before he continued forward.
âThat fucking prick. Lectured me the entire time weâve been together. Amir you are too cowardly, Amir you are too weak, Amir you bring ruin to everyone around you. Well you know what Trytheus? You can go fucking shove it!â He started speaking in a normal tone, running and mindlessly swinging the blade at any thing that moved in front of him, but by the end of his rant he was screaming. His sword hissed through the air decapitating the poor woman that dared challenge him. The blood rained over him and more criminals descended upon him with the fall of the woman. An arrow struck his shoulder blade, the blunt end of a sword buried itself into his upper arm, it left a deep gash that gushed immediately. The injuries only fueled his anger though, pain seemed to fuel the rage inside. He couldnât even comprehend why he was so angry at Trytheus anymore. Did the manâs actions cause him pain? Could it be Amir had developed even a sliver of trust, and, painstakingly, respect for the man? It had seemed the rants and lectures of heroism and justice had seeded somewhere inside, blooming when confronted with Sera. So was this an emotional wound? Betrayal? Amir never imagined the man would freak out in the manor he had, never imagined he would abandon him. Was that where the rage that hadnât ebbed originated?
He was brought back by searing pain, so bad it brought the boy to a knee if only for a moment. His left arm from the elbow down gone, discarded on the ground. The string of curse words that spilled from his mouth were indecipherable as he charged forward, there were a ton of men in the alley way. Amir wasnât sure when he let it get out of control, it must have happened when he was on autopilot thinking about Trytheus. He shouldnât have gone on autopilot, not when he was protecting the Unicorn Rider. The boy was sure she could handle herself in a fight, but probably nothing of this volume. He swung his sword and as the man in front of him was knocked away he spit into the eyes of the man right behind him. âYou fucking took my arm, Iâm going to fucking slaughter the god damn lot of you!â
He raised his sword high, it barely caught the light of the sun in the alley way, but it was enough. There were probably at least twenty men squeezed in the alleyâs expanse in front of him, with a bleeding arm, a missing arm and an arrow in his back there was no way he could kill them all. He lowered his blade as an ear splitting screech thundered in the alley way. A huge plume of fire rained down on the men in front of him as Hassan reappeared after his brief absence. The bird rocketed through the group of criminals leaving nothing untouched with its flames. The heat was blistering, but nothing he couldnât handle, though blood loss was starting to make his mind cloudy.
Not a single man was left standing as Hassan disappeared back into the sky, the close quarters of the alley making the fire attack three times more powerful than normal. He bent down to pick up his arm, sword clenched between his teeth as he retrieved the two golden bangles he usually kept on his left wrist. He shook the severed arm nonchalantly, letting the bangles clatter to the ground before discarding his arm to the side and picking up the jewelry carefully with his right arm, but his fingers shook and his right arm throbbed because of the deep gash in it. He struggled trying to get the bracelets around his wrist before turning to Sera.
âUmicore, can yub hep muee?â He asked, his voice muffled by the sword in his mouth and he shook his hand with the bangles on it. They slide on with little effort with the aid of someone else and he reclaimed the sword from his mouth in his right hand. He immediately started going forward, but stumbled a bit, his head swimming. Blood loss was a bitch. He murmured a soft shit before running through the carnage before them. It was hot and sweltering, and smelled absolutely disgusting. Brunt human flesh was nothing to be desired, the melted and fried flesh squelched and squished under his foot fall. The scene was so over powering that his eyes teared up, and the boy could barely keep from dry heaving. They had to keep moving though, the scene Hassan caused would no doubt draw even more attention so they had to get clear of it before more people came. The boy doubted he would be capable of putting up much more of a fight.
With nothing but willpower left the boy charged forward, the mental map of Tempress Cape driving his direction. Instinct guided his sword as his heavy arm and legs moved with only adrenaline left to keep him mobile. His breathes felt ragged in his lungs, and there wasnât enough oxygen in the world to stop the ache they felt, there wasnât enough blood in his body to ease his mind. The world seemed to tip on its side and all he could do was close his eyes and count his foot steps to keep from collapsing. Poison, definitely poison on the arrow embedded in in his shoulder.
It seemed a miracle that no one was by the breach in the fencing around the Cape theyâd be using to escape. He kicked at the weak wood and it fell away without any effort. The boy turned to the unicorn rider, motioning for her to crawl before following close behind. Sweat drenched his body, everything hurt, but that was probably a good thing. When things stopped hurting then the boy knew he was in trouble. He motioned in a direction for them to move in before falling to a knee. The adrenaline seemed used up, âI need Hassan.â
Had he said that out loud? It was supposed to be a thought. He briefly noted the silver flash of the unicorn rider before it was blocked out by a warmth of red and orange. âI am here Amir.â The voice was reassuring and he felt himself sigh as the tension ebbed from his wounded body. The rush of cool that ran through him was familiar and welcome, his hammering heart slowing to a comfortable speed as the familiar presented itself. The throbbing in his head went away almost instantly as the cool comfort of the Phoenix tears rushed through his body. His right arm returned to strength and he reached around, grasping the arrow by the shaft and yanking it out his shoulder with a string of cuss words to follow. He leaned back against the wooden fence of the Cape, taking steadying breathes as his arm began regenerating. Limb regeneration was by far the worst thing the tears did. The nerve endings were the first to reconstruct and every bit of regrowth was felt vividly. Heâd need something to take his mind off it.
With a sigh the boy stood, looking towards the unicorn rider and tilting his head in the direction he had pointed to before collapsing. The closest dune would put them out of sight of the Cape and then they would start looking for the rat bastard that abandoned them. âUnfortunately for us, the fastest way to get you back to that unicorn is the griffon. Weâve gotta find that child before itâs too late for your beast.â
Walking was much easier when there was enough blood in his body to function. Hassan perched onto his shoulder, and he was grateful his biggest concern was finding a dumb ass. Even the horrendous pain of his left arm being regrown didnât compare to the priority of finding Trytheus. He hummed and lifted his right arm to look at the five bangles that clattered loudly on his wrist. It was too much jewelry to put on one limb and he actually found it annoying, but the bracelets were the only things he couldnât allow himself to part with. He shot an unsure glance at Sera, he had saved her for all the wrong reasons, and he debated telling her the truth. Surely even just a few days or a week of that kind of constant abuse would leave scars. It would probably plague her dreams for weeks, months, maybe even years. He had never talked to anyone about his experiences. Though almost all of the permanent residents of Gnaji Town knew about what had happened, he had never confided in someone about what really had happened. The boy was still plagued with nightmares of that past, maybe if she knew she could talk to him he could prevent her from going through that.
âYou know⊠You can talk to me if you need too⊠about what happened while you were prisoner.â He started unsure and cast the girl a soft look, he doubted she would want to talk with just that. He knew that he never had wanted to tell anyone, but he was pretty fucked up now. The eleven year old him might have been different, might have confided in someone he trusted, he wanted this girl to never become the way he was now. âYou might think I wonât understand, but I will, I promise. I was in nearly the same situation as you, but I was eleven when it happen⊠And, ah, no one saved me from that hell.â He tried to keep his voice flat, unwavering and gentle, but just thinking about telling his story had his voice quaking.