Rowan's POV
"Shockers to the front of the formation in battle position, the rest cover the rear!" I heard Serin shout from the front of the caravan.
I lightly propelled my legs with some pulsar and began running along the right side of the formation at full speed; the workers and civilians grouped together to take defensive positions with the improvised weapons they had, such as axes or machetes. It was clear this wasn't the first time they had lived through something like this.
As soon as I arrived, I saw a panlagor biting Miss Serin's sword, while she launched a kick powered with large amounts of pulsar at another beast.
I frantically turned my head in search of Luke. I soon found him and felt relieved—he was fine, but it seemed he had gone into shock. His hand trembled while resting on his sword, his face pure terror. I was about to go help him when, at that very instant, I felt something lunge at me from my side.
slash
Daren and Claire, who had begun following me at some point during my path to the front, intervened between the beast and me.
"Go to Luke," Daren spoke, dragging out his words; he had been the one who stopped the monster with his body.
I nodded and turned my head again to look at my brother, but at that instant my eyes opened abruptly. He was still there, paralyzed, with the only difference being that now a panlagor had noticed his presence as well and was heading toward him at full speed.
Several things crossed my mind in that millisecond, but I didn't have time to go over them, so I simply used all the pulsar I could and enhanced all the muscles necessary to run. I moved in a direction closer to Luke so I could intercept it before it reached him.
In an instant I was already there. My speed was incredible—perhaps not superhuman, but reaching its limit. I unsheathed my sword, slid near the beast that still hadn't noticed me, strengthened my arms with the little pulsar I had left, and made a deep slash across its left leg.
The beast fell tilted in my direction and finally focused on me. It launched a fierce bite where I had been standing, but it was already too late—I had passed by and was now on the other side. I gripped my sword with both hands, stopped abruptly, and brought it down with all my strength toward its neck.
I pierced skin, muscle, and even bone, but I didn't manage to sever it completely. Even so, the panlagor fell lifeless to the ground.
I took a deep breath and turned to see my brother with his mouth slightly open as he looked at me. There was still great horror in his eyes. "Luke, wake up now, you need—!"
"Girl, finish that beast right now!" As I tried to calm my brother, I turned at Serin's shout. I looked in the direction she was facing and saw Claire pointing her sword at the panlagor. It was on the ground, immobilized by Daren, who was holding it in some kind of lock. The issue in this situation was that she, for some reason, seemed to be hesitating to take the animal's life.
I looked a bit farther back and saw why Serin was shouting so desperately from a distance—the fifth and last panlagor was just a few meters away from Claire, who was now paralyzed as well. I tried to propel myself again, but it was useless. I had already overexerted myself too much and, even if I could, I seriously doubted I would make it in time.
"Claire, move away!" Daren shouted, his voice loaded with panic.
I began running toward them, even though I knew it was almost useless. Maybe the beast would miss. Maybe Claire would react. Maybe—
Then I saw it.
A dagger crossed the air in front of my eyes, straight toward the panlagor. As it lodged into its flesh, an electric flash ran along its trajectory like a contained lightning bolt.
At that very instant, Serin appeared where the blade had struck. She grabbed the dagger with her left hand, spun with precision, and in a single clean motion of her right-hand sword, decapitated the beast.
It seemed everything had ended. All the beasts had been defeated, and apparently no one had died or been seriously injured.
I sheathed my sword and turned toward where my brother was. He was still staring at the 'battlefield.' "Are you alright, Luke?" I asked.
He blinked a couple of times and seemed to regain some vitality. "Y-yes, I… I don't know what happened to me."
I didn't really know what to answer. I wasn't very good with words, much less at expressing my feelings in order to comfort him or anyone else.
While I was thinking about what to say, someone took my shoulder. "We've reached our destination, so Rowan, come with me and help unload the things from the carts. You, Luke, need to calm down a bit—go splash some water on your face at the river, it'll do you good." It was Serin, and when I turned to look at her I noticed she was covered in blood. Fortunately, she noticed the situation and stepped in to help in some way.
"Y-yeah… thanks," Luke replied in a dejected voice and a failed attempt at a smile.
I walked with Serin toward the group of workers. "Thanks."
She raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for what?"
"I'm not very good with words, and I didn't know what to say to my brother," I said, somewhat embarrassed.
"It's my job as leader, don't worry about it." She paused for a moment. "And by the way… excellent move earlier. Even though you pushed your body to the limit with that single attack, you still need to train your body more to do that kind of thing without exhausting yourself right away."
"I'll keep that in mind."
***
I helped unload all kinds of things from the horses and carts—axes, saws, tents, supplies, etc. After doing all that, I went with Daren to set up our group's tents and the campfire.
"What happened today was really… intense," Daren said as he let out a sigh and sat on a log we had placed as a seat.
"It was."
He smiled and punched my shoulder. "And what you did was simply incredible. You slid, then cut its front leg, and finally its head." He let out a laugh. "That beast felt what we feel in every fight against you."
I laughed a little and shook my head. "How is Claire?"
His expression changed to a more serious and melancholic one. "She's fine, I guess. She didn't tell me much. I really don't know what she might be going through right now." He stretched back. "I'm worried about her, and that's strange. Usually she's the one worried about me for being the younger one."
"Don't worry so much. She's a strong girl," I tried to reassure him, though it was somewhat hypocritical on my part. Even if I didn't show it, I was in the same situation as him regarding Luke.
He laughed in response. "Same to you, my friend. Luke is strong too."
I was a little surprised. I know that generally I have a rather blank expression and you can't easily tell what I'm thinking, but it seems that now it was a bit… noticeable.