THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: THINGS GO WRONG I

”Can you stop?!” N’varu yelled for the third time but sagiri did not care for him anymore. He was running faster than he ever did, surprising even nvaru. Even after he scaled the small rock and jumped to the other side he could not find the weird duo. He kept running further in the direction they disappeared. He did not stop even when a yellow flare went off behind him. It seemed team 25 was calling in help to report the intruders. Of course that was the sane thing to do.

He finally stopped after a while and groaned in frustration deep in his throat.

”Stop following me!” another yellow went off a few hundred feet from them. It seemed team 25 were leaving a trail of alarm signals while they chased after him. They had completely broken formation and they were now out in the open chasing after him. ”Tell the others to leave me alone too.” he gritted. It was around 10 at night if he could guess. As midnight approached he felt even worse than before and there was no way he could stand still. It’s not like he could not feel himself coming apart deep down he knew he was losing his mind from the pain, lack of sleep and his own body falling apart. He more than anything did not want to hurt anyone in his moment of weakness. He could understand what was happening to him or what he was but he still knew he did not want to hurt any member of team 25.

”You are losing control. You need to calm down.” N’varu chastised but sagiri could feel worry rolling off of him. even him did not seem to know what was happening to Sagiri. sagiri chuckled deep in his throat. His laugh was humorless.

”I know that. I don’t even know what I am or who I am or what is happening to me. Now leave me alone.” sagiri snapped, turning around to leave but a third flare went off. right behind them. team 25 plus Marana had finally caught up.

”What is wrong with you, recruit? Do you wanna die? Kaka snapped, not looking a thud bit tired. Just irritated.

”Stay away from me.” sagiri turned around swiftly, his voice low but full of command.

”Well that is not possible since we are supposed to babysit you.” Maita snickered.

”Well if you don’t want me to bury you alive you need to stay away from me. now.” sagiri snarled the last part. Another wave of pain tore through his body just then so hard he staggered before he fell to one knee, both hands going to his head. It felt as if his own head was bursting open.

”Hey N’varu, what is wrong with ’blind boy’ now?” Kiuga asked totally at a loss of words what was happening to him. ”Does his condition also drive him mad?”

”So we are now babysitting a mad person. perfect.” Kaka said totally ready to beat the madness out of sagiri. ”Let us just bind him and carry him until his illness fades.” kaka added and the others nodded. They had only once seen him act like that in the dining hall when he first arrived.

”Stay back!” Sagiri warned when they tried to approach. ”You all need to leave and get away from me now.” he warned again with difficulty. It felt as if he was finally going to burst open. He fell to all fours before crumpling to his belly. He did not know where to hold on to so he just rolled around wailing in pain.

”We are completely out in the open. With the fired flares and commotion we are basically fodder for an ambitious team.” Zoliath said, shifting from one foot to another.

”Lets hope the help flares keep them away from this region.” kiuga answered, still not phased.

”What is happening to him?” Marana asked to step forward but nvaru held her back.

”Don’t!” he warned.

”Leave!!” Sagiri groaned in pain. He panted trying to breathe but if he wasn’t on fire he was freezing and it fluctuated quickly leaving him a trembling mass of pain. He was in so much pain that he wished he could just die or kill for it to stop. He forced himself to stand to his feet, but did not lift his eyes when he spoke up next. He did not want to lift his eyes to look at his teammates when he cut ties. He did not want them to protect him anymore.

”I want you to leave now. We are no longer a team. And when principal Senraki asks later, tell him ”I wanted to kill you.” He gritted the words with.

He did not get to turn around however because before he could even force his feet to move a force hit him so hard from behind. Two daggers entered his skin all at once. They both pierced through his fatal organs. He did not want to admit it but in that moment he had felt their hate as they approached but ignored it. The pain had been too much that he wanted it to stop. When he felt their killing intent he welcomed it. It was like a dream come true. He did not know any other way to escape his pain so he had acted as if he didn’t hear them approach. Perhaps he had confronted them and said all the right words to piss them off because he wanted the pain to stop. They were the only people who hated him enough to grant his wish and it had worked. Perhaps it was the reason he had chased the duo. Perhaps he had it coming. All at once the pain in his body stopped as if registering it as dying. A sadistic smile took over sagiri’s face. He had managed to beat his own body. But at what cost?

A sharp scream tore through the air. It was Marana as her eyes widened in horror. There was a moment of silence as every member of team 25 froze. Even kaka who always held a prideful look looked taken aback. The looks ranged from shock, to horror to dumfounded. Galka war academy might have a military oriented academy but none of the guys had ever killed a person. Perhaps the Bami clan had but there were chances that they had not. Watching him die in front of them would be a first for most of them if not all to watch a person die.

The twins pulled the knives out before they lunged them again with as much force in fast durations.

”The dead can’t talk.” They whispered in both his ears in unison. It was admirable how far the boys were willing to go to save their skin. Sagiri had been standing close to a long shadow cast by a high rising rock and the twins had chosen to stay hidden, pulling the hood of the combat to their face. They retreated as fast as they had arrived and disappeared into the darkness. They were truly vermin who only chose to stay in the darkness. Sagiri fell to his knees and he could feel as blood gushed out of him. The pain had finally stopped and that was a plus. He did not care that he was dying. He only cared that he could not see Rusha and Bakuru again and that made his heart ache for the first time. With something he could only describe as pain. Real pain.

”Sagiri no!” N’varu yelled, moving so fast across the small space to catch him. He could hear him properly and his voice sounded like it was in slow motion. He watched himself fall forward in slow motion but he never landed on the hard ground because nvaru caught him. He could feel life draining out of him and he did not know quite if he had lived well or if he had even lived at all. He was going to die without knowing who he really was and even finding his benefactor sounded like a distant memory he did not care about. He watched as Kiuga physically froze. It was the first time he had seen the guy freeze. When their eyes met for only a moment he saw fear in his eyes before it was gone in a moment as if a switch had finally flipped.

”Banga and Ulekai fire two red flares now!” He gave the order and the two boys who were still frozen were staring at the scene in front of them, staring at him dying. The three yellow flares had not been answered yet and the boys might have not thought about it much before but now panic was beginning to sip in. As they fumbled to retrieve their flares Kiuga turned around

”Zazarie, Bukata, you are the fastest on your feet. Run to the gate and don’t stop. Get a healer as quickly as possible. Explain to them that a cadet has been stabbed. Move!” He said tightly. His voice was stable as he gave the order to the two boys whose feet seemed frozen to the ground. Kaka and Maita did not need any instructions because they were already moving into the darkness to find the culprits. The Bami tribe really lived to its name. They did hesitate in battle.

N’varu held onto Sagiri but sagiri avoided looking into his eyes. Marana came to a stop beside him too, wiping tears from his face. She tore the loose ends of the konate combat suit and pressed them to the wound with shaky hands before she placed N’varu’s hand on it. She tore the other side and placed it on the other wound. The clothes got soaked quickly and sagiri could tell it was futile to try.

”You will be alright.” She encouraged another set of tears pouring down her face. N’varu had not said another word as he stared down at Sagiri with so much emotion that if it could seal wounds sagiri would be walking.

”I failed to protect you keeper.” he said lowly more to himself.

”Perhaps it’s good if I don’t exist.” sagiri whispered, feeling his last of strength slipping away. nvaru gasped at his words and moisture formed in his eyes. Just then two the toe red flared shot by banga and Ulekai lit the sky colouring it a beautiful red. Just like the colour of his blood. It was beautiful.

”Carry him, we need to take him back to the gate.” Kiuga gave another set of instructions.

”I think not. All of you go to sleep now, boys.” A voice cut in barely after Kiuga finished speaking and Sagiri watched in horror as all the boys fell to the ground helpless. It seemed that she could have hypnotized them even during their first meeting in the woods or earlier on in the night but she deliberately waited for this moment. As if they were waiting for him to fall.

”Thought you could put up a fight but it seems someone just made it easy for us,” a feminine voice spoke. The weird duo had resurfaced again as if they had been watching the whole exchange all along and they had waited for the perfect moment to take advantage of the chaos.

”Night night boys. He is now ours. she said and the manboy carried him as if he weighed nothing just like he had carried the girl and ran into the night.

”Now you be a good boy and stay alive a little longer. We have a good medicine genius on our team.” She laughed as if he wasn’t bleeding half to death. He should have been scared that they were taking him away but he was dying and he did not feel worried. he

’I really went and did it, thinking I was getting my wish but I have ended up falling into my enemies laps’ Sagiri thought weakly before his consciousness faded away and he passed out or away.