Anguished struggles restrained Yumi, draining the very life from her. She filed her hand weakly to reach out. Wet thick pools of blood soaked into her clothes and smeared her cheeks. Vision blurred and the warmth in her fingers retreated. Everything turned cold. A sharp pain struck her again f her into the grass.

  It felt as though someone had cut the st branch her hand held on the edge of a cliff and all she could feel was falling, so empty. The ground came rushing up to her in an eager embrad the crushing force bsted through her.

  Chapter 113 – Test Strike

  She threw her head forward from the pain yelling. It startled everyone around her, even snapping Yori out of his dense fog. She panted heavily, slumping her back, her eyes wide open realizing the truth. ‘I’m still alive?’ Looking around at everyohered in front of gave her pause for relief. ‘They’re all alive. But what was that? It was so real!’

  Standio Yori, Yuki leaned forward ing very close to her face trying to examine her. “What’s the matter, Yumi?”

  The impact of what she experienced draihe blood from her face giving her a pale plexion. It felt as though she ran for her life, uo stop until at that moment. Her body was sore. She tried to slow down her breathing thinking that her chest would burst. ‘I know it happened! Or it…will? What’s this feeling?’ She stared up at Yuki, silent and pensive, never hearing his question.

  “Yumi?”

  She darted her head around feeling the growing unease in the air. A dark menag pressure surrounded her giving her a familiar sensation. ‘It’s like that dream or vision I had. Like death’s desding…’ She snapped up to her feet. She didn’t know what happened, but she o warn everyone. “Something’s ing! I ’t expin it, but something’s wrong. We o get out of here or we’ll all die!”

  “Huh? What are you talking about Yumi?”

  “Girl’s gone crazy!” remarked Seiji starting to back away.

  Doubting her abrupt case of paranoia, she watched the that they had falling away. ‘I ’t let it happen again! I don’t care if I’m mistaken! It was too painful to ignore!’ She leapt forward, knog over Yuki and scattering the others surrounding her. ‘I’m the only ohat protect them!’ She closed her eyes, panig. A pale green film appeared just beyond the circle everyone instinctively created. g of swords against the sphere echoed dully through the space.

  The the group o not seeing anything further. No one spoke another word sing the area out of the barrier to uand what happened. They no longer questioned her. Apologizes waited however, they had their new guests needing attending.

  Simoared from his perged in expression. ‘A barrier…’ He made a mental o himself as he already started making future pns based on what he saw. ‘I didn’t think a stealth attack would work, but this is a different oute. However, it means the sed stage starts earlier.’ The briefing he gave to his men ran through his mind prepping for what should happe.

  Thirty minutes ago, Simonides expihe purpose of the mission. , he o give them their orders and information on the enemy. Grouped into their teams, he began with Photine first.

  She had been with the South Gate sinpletiraining at the academy unlike some Meso Prosecho, which had stations in the Capital prior to border security. A woman in her early tweill, she had little experience against any oppo other than a normal human. She kept to a strict professional regime waiting for her ce to prove her worth. Simonides saw the eagerness in her light blue eyes, which shoh their own radiance.

  Photieam filled out with three biforms. Their purpose ged after the first stage of the mission. “Photine your target is one of the firmed MP users. A teenage girl appearing about sixteen described as having short bck hair and a frail appearanbsp; The powers she has dispyed using are a rebounding barrier, telekinesis and h. Her barrier was strong enough to rip a sword from the hand of the wielder.”

  Fures in Atntean military uniforms appeared from thin air positioned roughly behind Yori’s sister’s location before she leapt forward. Leading the small group was a woman with short dark blonde hair rigidly forced back, Photine. Her white uniform swayed in the breeze a moment before a small ripple echoed from her feet.

  Instantly, brownish-red dust billowed outward altering the grass pins into a barren wastend of dry stone ah. Apanying the warm earth was jutting rocks carved out by strong winds and t too far above to fit into the field, suddenly being cut off at the limit of her reach.

  As the dust bowl began to settle out several fshing lights appeared hazy through the windy soup. Little brief glimpses broke through giving enough pieces to dis ons. Not granting those trapped inside a moment to sider their position, the ons flew away in long streaks of light caught from their bdes. Only leaving their sight for a sed, a loud buzzing and sparking bsted over their heads. The sound ged to pounding eg through the thin film of the barrier beating out an ominous message of doom.

  “What the hell’s happening?!” shouted Seiji over the almost deafening noise created by the ons. Pounding from above became worse for his ears.

  Gathered closer to Yori’s sister, Yuki had one eye partially closed trying to mahe pain of the ringing in his ears. “Are we utack?”

  “I think that’s pretty obvious!” snapped Saki, c her ears up with her hands.

  Left on the ground murmuring in pain, Yori’s sister felt like a rope ected to her heart being yanked. She didn’t uand the feeling, just khat it pulled on her invisibly. ‘…it hurts…’ All of her will power struggled to fight the urge to release her grasp aaken away with the current. Where the force tried t her felt empty and wrong in a way she had no words for. While instinctively she knew remaining was correct.

  Photiared at the barrier unfling, waiting.

  ‘So your first task will be to ralize that barrier. Her Field has not been see, so there is no judge orength yet. Make use of your ons to drive her bad shatter her barrier.’

  She trated oask of materializing more ons to crush the barrier. So long as it stood a stalemate remained and their mission stalled.

  The duration that the barrier survived before the first crack appeared surprised Photine. ‘It’s only now weakening even with me dampening her Field?! Just how powerful is this child?’ She tio press the attack, hearing further cracks develop along the bubble’s film. Certainty in its colpse came assured, only time remained a factor.

  Yori’s sister felt the immi failure approag. She still didn’t fully prehend what she felt, but ko trust her body. Staggering to her feet, she braved the pain that racked her body. With heavy panting, she drew herself firm before her friends. “I ’t…hold them…off much longer! Be ready!” Almost on cue, a sound like gss shattering rippled through the chamber. Highly reflective shards still holding on to energy rained down around beginning the cascade. ‘…the pain’s gone…’ Relief rested on her with all of the tension that ripped her body, cut her free.

  Breaking to recover wasn’t in the cards for her. A battle cry from a guttural feminine voice directed towards her snapped her eyes around. Instinct saved her i moments as four long strangely shaped swords flew at her colliding against a small square of a barrier reflexively erected. The mass and velocity of the ons knocked her back sending her careening through the air out of trol. Trails of dust drew lihrough the air following her arc.

  ‘Once y down the barrier, er her and force her away from the rest of the group. It’s important that you remove her from the others. Keep her at a distance from the rest.’

  Watg her prey disappear fre, Photine broke rank. The biforms ieam had different orders when things reached this situation. As the Atntean woman charged through the ragged group of teens, two walls of solid purple barriers raised dividing them and leaving her an aisle to her target.

  Turning to the eam, Simonides focused on Antipas. You of the three MPs, he had much to prove to his Captain fresh from training and filled with promise. “Once Photirikes, that'll be ynal to prepare. When the girl’s barrier es down and she’s separated from the group you will make your move. There are still two others of that must be divided. Two boys, one is rough looking with dark brown hair tied ba a small ponytail while the other has roughly cut bck hair. You o use your walls to divide them.

  “Your target is the bck haired boy. He’s the only one of the group that has dispyed his Field. He uses a grass Field and makes use of a strange physical teique that is more deadly than the physical attabsp; Keep out of his range and don’t give him anything to use against you.”

  Curving the barrier, he blocked all of the escapes to the rear for Yuki. The light brown haired Antipas surfaced with his band of three biforms. Besides Yuki, he caught two others on his side, but her of them were his target. His only goal in mind was Yuki. Already cut ft by his smooth stone cobble Field, the grass disappeared from nearby view. Large stone sbs groaned from behind breaking free from their pce to bee new walls. Eaewly formed obstru forced Yuki to step forward to keep ahead of the quickly fading ground.

  ‘Force him out away from the rest of the group as well. It’s important that these three individuals remain apart from the rest. Leave the rest of your team is to deal with the others as ander Abeiron will take and of the soldiers.’

  Yuki silently cursed his misfortune. Everything happened so quickly that he still didn’t uand what occurred. Off bahey forced him to py to their pabsp; He barely had the ce to see where Yori’s sister went, keeping ahead of the thunderous stone. ‘Damn! I ’t find Yumi and the others are getting further away from me! If I could just get a sed to think straight!’ His Field remained down, not having a ce to trate.

  Soon he found himself standing almost too far out of sight of his friends with a young man in his way. “Move,” demanded Yuki, not realizing the nguage barrier that existed. Even still, he managed an expression that weighed equal to his words.

  Antipas brought up further walls between them and the rest of the party, pletely isoting the two. He had no words for Yuki other thaions that he made. A clear sign made as his ao Yuki’s order.

  Spinning around his head side to side, Seiji tried to take ihing that happened around him. The se kept ging so fast for him that he had no time to figure things out. Worse now, half of them disappeared from his sight. “Where the hell’s everyone?! What’s going on here?” Not thinking much lohan to speak, Seiji turned on his feet towards the strange purplish wall that separated him from the others. He rammed his fist into the wall making it ring out as a wailing bellow. Resisting his first punly made him force his other fist to e up. The sed felt like he made an impact.

  A third and final set of shadoeared behind Seiji’s babsp;

  “That st team is yours Miltiades,” spoke Simonides, fag the remaining soldiers made up of Miltiades, Abeiron and the remaining biforms. A small and light appearing man, Miltiades had a little age behind him that came in experienbsp; He had a patiehod that Simohought worked to match his oppo.

  “Your target is the rough appearing teen. The only thing he has dispyed so far is a surprising strength that is enough to take any normal person down in a single punbsp; It is best to remain distanced from him and keep him off bance so that he ’t ect.”

  Rippling at Miltiades’ feet signaled his readio begin. The wall of purple disappeared as Antipas drew Yuki away and Miltiades acted in the same instant. C up the grass, a debris filled ground with random tossed junk, metal, wood and rock all worked to be a plete b over the desperate bdes of grass that fought to poke through. Aside from looking like a breeding ground for disease aanus, the appearance gave off an almost benign mood. However, serenity sted for only a sed as a rge log jutted out of the ground at an ao Seiji.

  Managing to dodge the attempt made against him, Seiji leapt away moving closer to the Atntean. A few more rose up making Seiji evade them to keep from being clipped by jagged edges on untrimmed logs. After the series of attacks (in his mind), Seiji had enough of the games. He had a target in front of him and made straight for the man. Sprinting forward with his fists raised, Seiji locked onto the young man with blind rage. He saw the soldier starting to retreat from him, but he stayed his course knowing that he eventually would catch up. However, when he felt that he came inte a wide trunk burst through the ground in front of him making him collide with it.

  Simonides watched from his vantage point of the drawn battle lines. Each target was forced out from the others. “They’re divided now. If they stayed too close together it would only serve to weaken Photine, Antipas and Miltiades.” It had been some time since he witnessed a real battle between two MPs. Pnning and logily went so far when they were involved.

  “Now draw out their powers. I must know everything about them if they are to be stopped.” Gng down at the now smaller groups left behind ur Bcks and the remaining intruders, Simonides judged each of them. “In desperation, anything you’re trying to hide will be forced out. Let’s see if there are any more MPs hiding in yroup.” The pn progressed into the stage. He waited in anticipation of what came .