Prey. Part 3

"Are you witches that dumb?"

A man asked with a beaming smile on his face.

"Well, not all of you since one of you is the greatest cook I know and is a good kis...."

The man did not finish his sentence after looking at Salina who seemed to be paying so much attention to what he was saying right then as he thought she knew who he was talking about and he was not ready for her to find out.

"Anyway, how dumb do you have to be to try and kidnap the boys who are now the pride of our town without even changing?"

The man said mocking Sidruline.

"Algazuma."

She said with a somber tone.

"So, I was trying to avoid a fight with the Genius of Senjira but only to have to deal with the Cataclysma of Senjira."

Sheyken was surprised to hear such words in association with Seduralto but was not surprised with what she called Algazuma given what he saw of him the day Alati died even though it was a glimpse of his power.

"Awe, it has been a long time since I heard someone calling me that."

Algazuma said with amusement.

"I just cannot wait to kill you though."

His next words changed the atmosphere of the conversation in an instant.

"Salina, you do not mind me killing them all right?"

"Old man, are you crazy? I was here first."

Salina retorted like a child having an adult trying to take her toy away from her. Algazuma just laughed.

"Well, I had to ask. The old hag will not be enough to soothe my anger."

Hot air quickly replaced the cold night desert air around them in an instant as the sand Algazuma was standing on started to turn into lava. Sidruline was starting to get nervous since she had thought to have calculated everything through and thought her taking the boys was going to be simple. It had made her take things easier and go through with the plan without any preparation for a big fight. Alen and Swelya were also nervous with Alen knowing why they called Algazuma the Cataclysma of Senjira and thinking he was done for. Swelya was noticing that Sidruline was visibly nervous which made her also start doubting that they had a chance to survive after their plans completely collapsed on them.

"Wait, wait, wait, you old fool."

Salina interjected.

"Do you want to kill everyone here?"

She said, scolding Algazuma who realized after her words that he was about to start a fight inside a camping area. He scratched his head acting apologetic.

"I just could not help myself, sorry."

An old scary man trying to act sorry was not a pleasant sight to see.

"Since you want a real fight, and with this person saying she is a third circle witch, why don't we move from here so we can fight freely and Algazuma will allow you to change."

Salina said looking at Sidruline.

"Awe, now that is a good idea. I wouldn't want the person who is responsible for my daughter's death to die so fast. I want them to slowly die as they struggled with all they have got thinking they have a chance to survive.."

Algazuma said with his hand on his chin like he just had an 'out of this world' thought. Sidruline, seeing that she had a lifeline to hold on now tried to not show her relief.

"I wouldn't mind fighting here, but I do not mind you thinking you can defeat me once I have changed either."

She said, trying to act cool. Salina just looked at Lariote who had not taken his eyes away from Swelya after seeing that it was Algazuma who had joined them.

'What do I do? I want to kill both of them myself but after I forgave Lariote, it would be cruel to not let him redeem himself for what happened.'

She thought.

"Lariote, you can have her."

Lariote who was looking at Swelya just wishing to have the chance to fight her was surprised to hear Salina say he should take care of her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, the way Alati talked about you before she was killed was clear that you had won her heart. I am sure she would not like it if I take away the opportunity for you to get her being killed in your house off of your shoulder. Just do not underestimate her, ok."

Lariote was liking the new Salina. Infect she was not new but back to treating him like she always did but with Lariote not believing it. Sheyken was also surprised as he thought they might never talk, let alone talk like this ever, after the incident. Swelya had a smile on her face.

"Do not worry. I will make her wish she was never born."

Salina liked the answer.

"I will give this misled idiot the death he deserves then. I am the executioner of the guild after all. Alen, you are making me do a job no one before me ever did, how shameful of you."

Alen had nothing to say. He had made his decision a long time ago. He now believed he had a chance to live as dealing with Salina did not ensure he would die without a fight then if he had to deal with Algazuma even if the three of them took him on. Through all this, he just wanted his butt whole again.

Sidruline gave Swelya a nod, which meant that she must kill Lariote and run away afterward. Them thinking they were all easy targets, talking about killing them easily and the fact that they wanted to allow her to transform when she was at her weakest now, she praised their foolishness. The only problem was that she did not know what was going on with the trap they laid for Seduralto as the fighting seemed to have stopped too soon.

"Sheyken, I am leaving you responsible for everyone here. If it so happens that they kill one of us and they come to take you, you know what to do."

She did not know why Esiyana was on the ground sleeping yet but she trusted Sheyken to take care of her and the rest. Sheyken nodded and had the cursed needle at the ready as her saying those words only meant that to him. To be ready to use it since it was the only powerful weapon that she knew he had.

Sidruline, Swalya, and Alen then turned around and run to the opposite direction of the camp. Lariote and Salina followed, leaving Sheyken who was relieved and with Algazuma. He gave him a nod of approval that gave Sheyken confidence. He did not know how the old man got there or who was keeping watch of the Teleportation station if he was there, but he was thankful. After nodding back at him, the sand around him instantly turned into lava, and he dove under.

"Kill those arrogant mage bastards."

Sidruline said as the three ran.

"For All mother."

Swelya said with conviction.

"For my..."

Alen stopped himself as he almost said 'For my butt'.

The three then scattered as they went in different directions with Lariote and Salina following their respective targets. There were no words that needed to be said between the two of them as they thought they would see each other in just a bit.

Swelya ran for a few minutes with Lariote following her. She turned around as she wanted to hit him with a surprise attack as she lunched a punch aiming for his face. He dodged it as he tilted his head making him look upwards as the punch missed him while scratching the tip of his nose. She had anticipated that he would do so as she launched something like the projectile that was in Alati's skull from the palm of the same hand she had attacked him with as Lariote tried to reposition himself so to face her direction. It disappeared in his chest where she had aimed it right before her very eyes. She smiled for having successfully killed him with such little effort as it was aimed at his heart.

"Bitch, this is not the same Lariote you met that day who you fooled by disguising yourself as someone so perfect."

Lariote said with a cruel smile on his face. Swelya looked at where she was sure her projectile had hit him but there was no visible wound.

".... How?"

She managed to ask in surprise. Lariote just looked at her and spoke.

"Have you not wondered why your wound never bled that day?"

At the same time, Alen and Salina had stopped running and were facing each other.

"It's a shame I cannot kill you over and over Butt Chaser."

"Stop calling me by that name!"

"What, Butt Chaser, I cannot hear you. Speak up."

Knowing that Salina was just messing with him, Alen kept quiet.

"Awe, you do not want to talk now? After killing two of your own friends how do you feel? Do you feel vindicated?"

"Those fools deserved to die."

Alen said with spite.

"Awe, is that so? Tell me, since you hated the name so much, did you ever sit down and tell them you do not like it? Or anyone at that?"

Alen kept quiet.

"Mmmmm, seems like someone is even less grown than me. Aren't you 60 years old? Why would are person so old act like a child?"

She said becoming angry.

"Tell me, how many times have you been caught looking at my butt?"

She asked angrily. Alen who had stopped fuming still kept quiet.

"Unlike everyone else who would annoy me, I never laid a finger on you. Infect, I was the one who recommended to many of the grown-up girls during every Mortuus-fintisva to give you a chance and go out with you."

Alen started looking down, not able to look at her.

"You were the one who would mess things up, right? Always talking about your butt and how you lost it and even asking them about their own butts. Tell me Alen, how weird is that?"

She said as her eyes started to turn red which Alen could not see since he did not want to look at her.

"Still, I stopped the rumor that started about that as I told them you were still getting over what happened since you would never recover the part you lost. They stopped and Laker and Pilalo took you in as their friends and this is how you repay them. Why did you not just leave the guild if you felt that way or just show anger or something else either than entertaining the name with a smile every time?"

Alen still kept quiet.

"You are an idiot. You never even took our practices to heart for all those years you were with us. Alen! the first rule of when you are in a fight.... never take your eyes off of your opponent."

When he heard those words, he quickly looked up but was met with the eyes of a beast that were red and fierce but with intelligence for the first time he had known the beast who possessed those eyes. They were close to him as Salina had dashed to where he was so fast that she left the wind behind.

A spinning vortex had formed around her right fist and Alen knew then how much of a fool he was to even challenge the Berserker of Senjira.

'She has grown.'

Those were his last thoughts as his head was blown off in one hit as he never even had his guard up. His headless body fell onto the ground as Salina looked up at the night sky. Her eyes returned to normal for the first time without her going on a rampage.

"You fool. Don't you know how much I respect you all for you to make me do this?"

She said with hurt in her voice as she fell down on her knees as she looked at her bloody hand with hurt written in her eyes.