Chapter 29 S2

A week earlier, in Komalt

Jabiru advances through the wild forest, machete in hand. With precise, powerful strokes, he cuts whatever obstructs his path without hesitation. Behind him, several members of the organization's special forces follow. They had been roaming this planet for several months, tracking Holmyr. 

On several occasions, they had come within a hair's breadth of catching up with her, but she had either managed to escape, or they had come across a group sent by Zorkiel and had had to eliminate them. Except that each time, the sangrin had managed to vanish into thin air. She knew this planet like the back of her hand - she'd obviously been born here. Sangrin were very discreet creatures who blended in perfectly with their environment. They rarely stayed in one place for very long, so they knew the planet they inhabited very well. Jabiru and his men were at a disadvantage. 

The fatigue accumulated by months of tracking was beginning to show, and the members were losing patience and hope. On several occasions, they had tried to communicate with her, but she had never agreed to listen. The angelic traveler knew it was a lost cause, since in her situation there was no reason for her to trust anyone. He was well aware that they would have no choice but to defeat her to force her to accompany them with the regent, whatever state she was in. 

As he thought about all this, Jabiru mechanically advanced through the primeval forest of Komalt. Just as he was about to give the order to stop for lunch, he came to an abrupt halt. The men behind him stopped immediately at his signal. 

What's going on?" asked one of them. 

-A cliff," said Jabiru. We're on a cliff and it stops here. As the vegetation underneath is very high, it looks as if the earth continues at the same level. 

He sighed. It was a perfect trap, like the many they'd tried to avoid over the last few months. Holmyr was leading them into deceptive places where the slightest misstep could cost his life. Had he not been vigilant, he would have fallen from the height of the cliff and would not have been able to open his wings to catch himself because of the dense vegetation around him. This woman was more than intelligent. She was extremely competent. She was a formidable foe and he regretted having to face her. 

-Get out the stakes, we're going to climb down," he ordered. 

The group complied, tired and weary of the leech's ingenuity. They took out their gear and began rappelling down. It took them more than half an hour and at least three ropes before they finally saw the ground. Just as they thought they had finally arrived, one of them dodged a knife at the last minute, which whizzed up to him and ricocheted into the rock beside his arm, nicking his skin in the process. 

-Jump! She's got us in her sights!" shouted Jabiru to the troop, who dropped to the ground as best they could. Fortunately, they were almost there, but knives began to fly from side to side at an incredible speed. Jabiru quickly coiled up his rope and started moving towards the source of the knives. He was soon running. She wasn't far off, he could feel it. Surely she had set this trap to get rid of them once and for all. 

Behind him, he felt his men start to run. They had rage in their bellies. If they could end this stalking now, they would finally be free of this burdensome mission that was beginning to drag on and on. Jabiru only hoped they wouldn't make the mistake of acting out of impatience. They had to persevere to the end, or risk losing their skins. 

Jabiru extended his energy perception to feel the knives coming at him. This way, he could avoid them while making rapid progress. He was impressed by the precision of the shots, despite the distance and density of the vegetation. He accelerated. The fever of reaching his goal took hold of him too, and he had to force himself to calm down internally and keep his wits about him. 

As he concentrated on his breathing, he almost fell into a ravine again. Unable to stop himself, he launched himself into the air and opened his wings. Fortunately, the vegetation had stopped dead in its tracks. With all his senses alert, he observed what lay beneath him and was surprised to see bare, grey, striated stone beneath him. The forest had suddenly stopped. But he didn't have time to think any longer as a volley of knives came hurtling towards him. He swooped to escape and plunged to the ground. At the same time, he swore inwardly as he searched for an escape route. He was completely exposed. 

As he climbed back up to the apic from which he had fallen, he saw two of his men fall to the stone floor with no chance of escape. One of them managed to hold on to the wall with the strength and blood of his fingers, slowing his fall and saving him from certain death, but not the other. The latter crashed to the cold stone and bounced with dislocated joints. 

Jabiru pursed his lips. He'd already lost five men. It was too much. He could not wait to put an end to this disaster by any means necessary. So he made a decision. He would confront Holmyr directly, even if it meant putting his own life at risk. He had to try and reason with her, or they'd never get anywhere, and more of his team would die in this senseless hunt. 

Determined, he turned on the wing and resumed his course towards the origin of the knife-throwing. Just then, a violent gust of heat lifted him abruptly into the air. He held back a groan of pain and folded his wings as best he could to protect them. When the gust of wind stopped as abruptly as it had started, he plummeted to the ground at dizzying speed. Just before impact, he opened his wings again and his torso scraped the stone before he regained his height. This leech was formidable. She knew perfectly well how to use her environment to her advantage. 

He extended and deepened his energy perception so as to be able to detect the waves of hot air coming from the ground and avoid them at the last moment. At the same time, he continued to navigate his way through the knives that continued to spin towards him with the same breathtaking speed. In a chaotic, jerky ballet, he finally managed to get closer to the source of the throws, and caught sight of the dark red silhouette of the Sangrin. 

He squinted and focused on his target. Behind her, an immense waterfall was falling from the sky. The flying knives redoubled in number, forcing him to make detours to get closer. The noise of the water destabilized his thinking and made his mastery of natural energy much more difficult. All the more so as the waterfall was overflowing with natural energy, which was diffused by the water falling into the pool surrounding Holmyr, standing on a pebble emerging from the surface. 

Jabiru frowned and redoubled her efforts to avoid the sharp blades Holmyr mastered with her natural energy. She was incredibly gifted, her energy connection must easily have exceeded 80%. It was something very rare. But whatever her level, Jabiru wasn't going to let it happen. He was determined to put an end to this sterile battle here and now. 

The angel propelled himself upwards with a powerful wingbeat, and with his right hand, grasped the hilt of the katana he wore on his back. The blade emitted a sharp ooze as it left its scabbard. He had no time to think about anything as more knives came hurtling towards him. With a powerful sweep of his sword, he sent them flying. But others came at him again. He then decided to combine a powerful blow with rapid acceleration towards the Sangrin.

He regained his height and executed his plan. Holding his katana in both hands, he threw a blow so violent that the water around Holmyr flew up, making holes in the water. Without wasting a second, the angel took advantage of the situation to charge towards his adversary. As the water drained from the pool at the foot of the waterfall fell with a crash, he found himself barely more than a metre from the sangrin. Trying everything, he let the knives scrape his skin and dig into his feathers to gain time. 

Seeing his desperate attempt, Holmyr swung his arms in a wide arc around her. Obeying his command, the water rose in a column and struck one of the angel's wings. The latter winced in pain and tried to maintain his trajectory as best he could, but a wall of water rose up in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks. Jabiru was excellent at projecting his natural energy, but not so good at insufflating it as Holmyr was. Although they were both insufflators, their different techniques made them very difficult for each other to combat. 

Finally, he managed to reduce the distance between him and her to less than a metre. With his energy projected to the maximum in front of him, he managed to ignore the pain and thrust an arm forward to seize the sangrin's forearm. On contact, she swung her arm backwards, taking him with her as she fell. They both fell into the water. Jabiru didn't let go. He had finally managed to get his hands on her. 

Once underwater, her body transformed and a green mermaid tail tinged with golden grooves replaced her legs, while her wings disappeared to be replaced by gills on her back. Blood spurted from his wounds every time he flicked his powerful marine tail. Holmyr struggled, but Jabiru did not loosen his grip. But more blood escaped from his wounds and diffused into the water. The leech's movements weakened. He remained alert and didn't loosen his grip until he was sure she was too weak to struggle. 

But just as he was about to surface with his captive, he sensed danger approaching at high speed. That's when he saw a huge fish with a jaw full of razor-sharp teeth hurtling towards him. At the last moment, he managed to avoid it. With his hand still firmly on the leech's arm, he avoided a second fatal attack. For her part, Holmyr began to struggle violently again. She seemed to have anticipated the blow. 

This woman was definitely too dangerous. Of all the enemies he'd faced, she was undoubtedly the most terrible, for her intelligence and her ability to apply her knowledge to the situation at hand. For that alone, he respected her infinitely. He was close to dying because of her, but he had infinite respect for her. As the strange fish attracted by his blood charged at him again, he hurriedly drew Holmyr to him and placed her in front of him. He had this crazy theory that she'd know exactly what to do to defend herself and get rid of him. 

No matter how hard she struggled, Jabiru held her firmly in front of the beast with both arms. At the moment of impact, it opened its mouth wide and produced an ultrasonic noise that twisted the angel's ears. The fish stopped instantly. It looked at her strangely for a moment, then, as if frightened, turned back. 

Jabiru wanted to surface and drag behind his captive, but there was nothing he could do. His body refused to move. His hand clamped on the leech's arm, he stood there motionless, completely stunned by the ultrasound. Breathless, Holmyr, unable to shake off his flu, dragged him to a cave behind the waterfall. There, she dragged him as best she could across the stone floor and threw herself at him with a knife against his throat. 

She pressed the blade against the angel's neck, who coughed under the pressure. Gradually regaining control of his movements, Jabiru slowly raised his hands to his head, open as a sign of appeasement. 

-I've...come to...help you..." he said with difficulty. 

Holmyr shook his head. She was out of breath herself, but was trying to maintain a firm grip on the knife handle. 

-If you look... in my chip there's an official identification from Prince Seiran mandating me to find his mother," he explained slowly. 

His fishtail had disappeared now that he was on solid ground, and his clothes had returned thanks to his transformation bracelet, which automatically replaced the clothes he'd had before his transformation on his body. He didn't move. Holmyr seemed hesitant. Clearly, the long hunt had exhausted her too. That was surely why she had tried to end it here. Now that Jabiru realized that the sangrin had led her here voluntarily since the start of their hunt, it blew her mind. Surely she knew that the angel would be the only one capable of seriously threatening her and had thought of the perfect place to cause her as much trouble as possible using her biological peculiarities. 

To say he was impressed was too weak. The feat the young woman had achieved was nothing short of brilliant. Jabiru was not a weak opponent, he was among the most renowned angels for his fighting techniques and above all his ability to track people down thanks to his talent as an insufflator-perceiver. She was the first person capable of challenging him like this, even if it meant risking her own life. 

Slowly, the angel moved his index finger closer to his left wrist and activated his chip. Ever so slowly, he selected a box and brought up an official document signed by Prince Seiran. He inverted it so that the Sangrin could read it. Which she did. Slowly, the pressure on the angel's neck eased. He could see her eyes skimming over the document several times. Then she looked at him skeptically. She didn't seem convinced. 

-I've come to help you protect Prince Seiran's mother," he continued softly. I'm with the organization and we want to help you get her to safety. Prince Seiran is with us now and would like to be able to see his mother again, who he doesn't even know if she's alive or dead. I promise I mean you no harm. 

Holmyr stood there motionless. She seemed to be inwardly debating the pros and cons. Jabiru gave her time. She read the document again, then finally decided to trust him. Slowly, she withdrew the blade from her throat and removed herself from his body, on which she had sat astride to hold him in place. Jabiru couldn't help breathing with relief. But the sangrin did not let go of her knife and continued to scrutinize the angel with circumspection. 

Without making any sudden movements, Jabiru slowly straightened up and rubbed his neck. He could still feel the blade against his skin, ready to dig in at the slightest misstep. He smiled at Holmyr, who was still watching him intently, then turned around. He could feel something behind him. That's when he discovered the huge tube emblazoned with green liquid in which Prince Seiran's mother was floating. 

-Woah... What in the world..." he exclaimed in surprise. 

He watched the tube with fascination and awe. It was the first time he'd seen such a thing. He stood there gaping, while Holmyr looked at the regent with tangible pain in his eyes. Jabiru softened instantly. He understood why she had fled at the risk of her life. She cherished the person floating in the tube more than anything. His gaze fell on the stump the sangrin had hidden with a piece of cloth tied to her left shoulder. This arm was undoubtedly the best expression of her attachment to Regent Meohle. 

-She's in one piece and looks alive, so that's good news, isn't it? I don't think Zorkiel went to all that trouble to preserve a dead body. 

Holmyr didn't reply, but his dark eyes betrayed his intense reflection. Slowly, Jabiru straightened up and held out his hand. Carefully, he helped her to her feet. 

-Let's take her back to Prince Seiran first, I'm sure he's eagerly awaiting news of his mother. And the organization will certainly be able to help us with...this," he pointed to the tube. 

Holmyr, who had finally let his guard down, nodded. Jabiru smiled. He was happy to have finally put an end to what was, to date, the most dangerous mission he had ever undertaken.