Chapter 4: Left Behind

The flash of darkness consumes Lincoln's eyes while his peripheries catch the orange flash of the exploding grenades and gunfire. The village envelopes the night with deafening screams and wails of despair.

"Where are we going?" panics Lincoln as he tries to maneuver the night with his eyes shut, trusting Dirkan to guide him away from the crossfire. Dirkan's calm demeanor reassures him, but the ease with how he maneuvers through the rain of stray fire that comes their way puzzles him because he only knows Dirkan living and growing in the village.

"We're going to hide m'boy," Dirkan answers, breaking his silence.

"No," he changes his mind, his eyes now wander, unsure of himself, "I'm going to hide you m'lad. Trust me m'lad. No matter what it takes," and like a broken record, he repeats the same words. Under his breath when Lincoln can only lip read. Aloud. And when he comes to a halt, "I promised to keep you safe."

"Who did you promise that to?"

With all the questions he has, here is another one, and this distracts both them long enough to be unaware of the smug grunts that are in front of them. Soldiers in mechanical suits already have them at gunpoint in a semi-circle formation.

"Look what we have here," boasts one with an eye patch for a right eye.

When Lincoln tries to escape the opposite way, another grabs him by the collar and brings him down, face-first to the ground, "Where are you going?" he adds.

A long, deafening silence hovers above them as he is let go. Too tired to get up, Lincoln stays on the ground long enough to clear his vision. From the ground, he sees that one of them is a woman. She stands at the back, with her blonde hair falling over her shoulders and a fringe that partially covers one of her eyes, but the way she towers over them, and the way she is carrying herself tells Lincoln that she is the one in charge in spite the restraint that she is showing.

One foot after another, she steps forward as Dirkan reaches for Lincoln, putting an arm before her, and the longer it has been, the sharper his focus has become. The on Buddha beads on his wrists is now giving off a soft glow. It is warm and reassuring, but his arm is failing him. The strength is seeping out from it until it becomes just another part of him hanging from his side – limp that is unable to resist if a fight ensues because where an elbow should be is now a bone sticking out. When Lincoln sees the bone piercing Dirkan's seemingly impenetrable skin, he wails in despair.

"Why didn't you tell me?! You could have said anything!" but he is left without an answer, and Dirkan only has his head hanging, lifeless, but his eyes still remain to have a piercing glare towards their enemies as life slowly escapes them.

"For crying out loud!" protests her group after they coax her to take the boy so they can leave. When she remains unmoving, one of them takes a step towards the wailing Lincoln and the lifeless Dirkan, then darkness envelopes their surroundings for a moment leaving everyone blind. Panic slowly creeps up the necks of those that surround them that forces them to fire randomly in different directions. The flashfire provides the little light that it can before the sound of steel against steel comes from the shadows, reducing the number of gunfire.

When the shadows disperse, Bridget's squad is left standing headless before dropping weightless to the ground.

Bridget slightly loses her composure, her eyes wandering about searching for the threat when a dark flash crosses Lincoln's eyes revealing Shinyo wearing the same dark ensemble from their encounter earlier in the day.

"Are you alright?" asks Shinyo, but he keeps his eyes on Bridget who now faces the threat headstrong even with death inches away from her neck when Shinyo stretches his arm towards her, the dark sword in his hand.

Lincoln's wailing continues in the background. Distraught from the passing of his guardian, and friend, and father-figure. His snot and his tears mixing.

"H-he i-i-s not m-m-moving," he answers, in broken syllables as sobs and words fight to escape his breath, Di-Dirkan is..."

Lincoln need not finish his assumption, and this distracts him the slightest and as soon as he turns his head to confirm, Bridget makes her move. She flips Shinyo over her, smashing him to the ground on the other side, moving him away from both the lumbering, lifeless body of Dirkan and the snotty Lincoln, but he is quick on his feet. He makes another run towards Lincoln and Dirkan, creating a flash, returning to Lincoln's side, his protective arm around him.

His quick movement stuns Bridget and is in awe as she notices how Shinyo is also able to cut her gun in pieces in what appears to be one swift movement. Her eyes light up and she takes out a small pistol and without warning, fires towards their direction. Shinyo, out of options, and Lincoln unable to be of any help, makes one last effort to envelop them in darkness, swallowing both him and Lincoln and before long, they disappear in front of Bridget.

Left alone, she stands tall, dropping the useless butt of her gun to the ground.

"Useless," but her grin is of awe as she leaves all of it behind as she approaches the lumbering body of Dirkan.

"You, on the other hand," she comments and leaves with a glint of mischief in her eyes.