The cave was still and quiet.
Jacer body was still. In the settling chaos he felt like nothing more than a living statue among the scene that showed clear signs of a life or death struggle. His memory reflecting over his failings while the cave’s cold temperature tried to pin him into place like a delicate butterfly, his over caution preventing him any sort of escape from this nightmare. If wasn’t for the fact he was just fighting for his life moments ago and his worries were just starting, he might’ve been proud. His mind was inwardly debating on his options. Deep in his heart was an unsettling sensation because he knew if he pulled away too soon and without absolute proof this fucker was dead, he could end up cutting his life span down to seconds. The thought was an unpopular notion compared to the years he aimed to live.
Was relaxing his guard worth the risk for both him and Dom?
Dom… at thinking of the name, Jacer's brown colored irises shifted to his peripheral vision for a moment. He could easily glimpse his step brother sitting in the cleared space about thirty feet in diameter. The fourteen year old was shivering and terrified, his figure was just five feet from where the struggle had ended. His blonde hair almost blended into the white around them, matted by the streak of blood and dirt down his face side. Dominik’s arms propped his torso upright, his blue eyes stared in complete shock at the monster his brother had become. His younger brother's left arm was bleeding from the cut underneath and staining the rips in the coat keeping him warm. It was obvious he was infected. Both of them knew it, and the sands of time ticked down to see what Jacer would do.
Inside, Jacer was debating on his choices. If he shall continue the duties he was saddled as an older brother or take the easiest and most obvious way out. It was a question the magnus dreaded answering the most.
The faint ache started in his extended right arm and at his half bent waist, bring his focus to the current matter. His hand rested near the blade base and his figure hunched over the Enslaved at his feet, the thing now bleeding out its mercury life. Every few moments his warm breath misted from his lips into the cold air and showed he was still alive. The frost nipped at his exposed skin above his collar, his face set in a blank expression, while the rest of the parka wrapped about his frame. Besides the heat from rapid activity, it was the only thing that kept him from freezing and did not hinder his movements. His coat’s bottom half reached down to his waist, stopping around where his utility belt was tracing the waist band. Several of the smaller pockets were flipped open to reveal the magazines remaining. His pants were cleaned of any dirt and grim thanks to him being shoved into the snow a few times, his thick boots wet from having to wade through the snow up to a foot deep.
Little red scratches and bleeding wounds were already mending rapidly, restoring him back to his original state. However, his muscles still registered the burn from his earlier activity and his chest heaving slightly.
He was using Ebium’s Pride to balance, a five foot by ten inches guan dao, with his right hand comfortable resting under the blade's base. The other was on the end about two hand widths from the middle, nearest the spiked end, while he used to pinn the corpse to the ground. The blade’s edge had buried itself into the chest cavity and pushed the metal casing inward, severing where the "heart" should be in half. To any organic being, this was a clearly a death blow.
Too bad, Jacer thought, this creature was no longer organic. Making that assumption almost got him killed last time, and it was a mistake he intended not to make again just to extend his existence even in this hell for a little bit longer.
Paranoia seeping into his instinct, Jacer began to rattle off his remaining supply for his Phoenix Mark V almost instinctively. His Nix, as he nicknamed it, was a specialized handgun with some pretty handy features: a DNA lock suited for him and Dom’s use, targeting laser pointer, and the capability to fire off MASS rounds without them exploding in the clip. MASS was short for Magik Activated Specialized Shots which in short were normal bullet rounds infused with his magik and sorted into four types: Ice, Splicer, Shocker, and Tracker.
Currently he had used a complete set of normal magazines and several Spicer rounds that had pelleted the metallic humanoid’s figure into scrap metal, making the surface appear like it had been hit by buckshot instead. This meant he had a fully loaded normal magazine of twenty bullets and the second with only nine left. Four MASS magazines, each with their own assignment of round types. First magazine he recalled had two splicer rounds left, causing him to recount the exact combination in each one. One held ten untouched Ice rounds, the second was a mix of five Trackers and Shockers, and finally last held four Ice and six Shockers.
It all amused him a bit. Originally he had been on a scouting task so he came prepared for human trouble and less for Ensalved, something he regretted. He had let another minute tick by before he dared to move. Jacer slowly brought his outstretched left leg forward, adjusting his balance to his right to compensate for his movement, then pressed his uplifted foot firmly into the Enslave’s shoulder. It didn’t move when he started to slid his left hand forward on the glowing guan dao. Jacer inhaled and started to tighten his fingers for grip then jerk it free. It made a protesting screech. He flinched at his being so close as his ears twitched at the high pitch sound. To ease the pain and complete his task, the man shut off his hearing for a moment letting it return to normal until he was done.
When his blade pulled completely out, the corpse shuddered then slumped on its back completely dead. Jacer was sent back a few steps because of the strength required to jerk it loose. His weapon hang loosely at his side while dripping the darken silver blood upon the grey rock. He moved his dark haired head to examine it briefly then flicked as much as he could off onto the body, his thick figure turning on heel toward his younger brother.
While each step was casually eating the distance between them, Jacer’s thoughts fell on how different they looked and how easily people were surprised they were brothers. The older man had dark hair cropped short on the sides and slightly wavy over top, his hairline parted on the left side on his head top. A slight shadow of a goatee was showing around his mouth and chin, making Jacer's soft features look much more mature compared to his twenty-four years in age.
A foot from his sibling, Jacer came to an abrupt stop and bent down on one knee to retrieve something. His arm stretched out and fingers dug against the stone while he scooped up the gun he had lost. The Enslaved had disarmed him during the fight forcing him to use his melee weapon. When placing his gun into the holster, his other hand had flipped his weapon over his tilted head and heard it click to the military grade magnetic clips on his back. Several of them were attached to a thick strap placed diagonally across his back. This kept his guan dao in place when not in use, making it easy to draw in milliseconds.
Normally Jacer would've powered down his senses but his nerves were so jittery, he felt more comfortable keeping them on. He even switched on his hearing again should his final kill shot had not been enough to finish the creature. His sober expression broke when he rose to his feet, ignoring the last rains of his ache, then bent over to give Dom a hand up. The fourteen year old's boot made a scuffing sound across the surface in his aid up.
"Talk quietly, I got the cat ears on," Jacer jested, referring to his enhanced ability, his right index finger pointed to his right ear.
It was obvious, of course, due to the magik molded on the outer edge and seemed to curve outward from his head. It give them a slight catty appearance at the side though this wasn't the only altercation in his looks. The bottom of his face and and eyes showed similar features, giving him a slight mismatch appearance, adding canine and hawk respectively. They enabled his own senses to mimic these particular animals without physically creating the organs that he lacked and permanently changing him completely. If any attempt were made to cut them off, the blade would go right through unhinged or affecting the senses.
Not hearing a word from Dom, Jacer paused long enough to spot Gizi scramble from his hiding spot among the pillars. The little genetic spliced cripple bobbed from deep snow bank to another, the winged otter nearly being smothered by white snow each time his face skimmed the surface. Jacer’s sight lingered on where the original dove like wings had been. He could only guess they had been lost to an unknown accident. Now they had been replaced with a poorer and more steampunk version on the back, the gears grinding slightly with each radical twitch. It didn't seem to dampen the little critter's spirit in the least. If anything, Gizi seemed blissfully ignorant of his loss.
Letting his brother's pet close the distance, Jacer continued.
"Now..."Whack!
"Shit Jacer, that hurt!" Dom blurted when Jacer thumped him upside the back of his head, the youth's hands pulled to rub away the hurt. He bend it enough to avoid Jacer's eye contact though that didn't stop the magnus from fuming or flinching at the sound.
"First off..watch your mouth. Next... what the hell were you thinking?!? And following me here of all places!” Jacer snapped with a quiet yet assertive tone.
He didn’t want to make his ears hurt again while he chewed out Dom, his face twisted up in a hard glare. Dom wasn’t paying attention as the teen’s arm fell to his side. His other arm cradled his wounded one, eyes staring away in guilt. Jacer still hoped there might be a chance his younger sibling wasn’t infect, his simple denial entering his mind, but his common sense dampened his hopeful spirit. Their conversation was quickly interrupted when the otter plowed into Dom’s legs. Immediately the kid tumbled into Jacer’s side causing the magnus to snap his right arm out and wrap about his brother’s middle, stopping Dom from stumbling into the hard ground.
A sound, soft and uninviting, caused Jacer’s cat eat to dart to the side where it adjusted to hear it better. It caught his attention causing his head to turn and try to locate the source’s. The whole time his gut getting a nasty sensation something was about to happen. His eyes still flickering about the scene to seek out someone who shouldn’t be there, he pushed Dom quickly back to his feet. While both males were ignoring the otter, it seemed Gizi had also sense their unwanted guest and was getting rather antsy, his short figure starting to retreat to the other side of the boys and toward the light.
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