The Smiling Sword Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Collision Course

Read chapter 11 of The Smiling Sword by IchorX on NovelPedia.

Collision Course Leon finishes his prayer and stands up, tucking his charm back into his shirt. "…Two of 'em gone, just like that," Krim says, looking down. We have laid Cinder and Kite to rest under piles of rocks, leaving them unmarked. It felt stupidly wrong to honour them with names that felt like labels. Labels given to us by whatever sick fuck is behind this stupid torture experiment. What right did they have to strip away everything that made me me? My name, my identity, the people I love. These two are dead and gone now, and I didn't even know who they were called. If I ever make it out of here I won't even know who to break the news to. Out there, someone might have lost a son, husband, father, best friend or brother. I won't let Nari experience the same. Your big brother is alive, Esinara Russel. I am here. *** "Cinder…" Diva murmurs softly. She has a weary, tired, sad look in her blue eyes. If I recall, she escaped the pit together with him, all those days ago. I wonder what I'd be thinking if Neo were the one who died. They were good people, Kite and Cinder. Cinder was always cheerful and nice to everyone, and although Kite might've come off as strange he was nice to me as well. And now, I'll never see them again. I can barely even remember what they looked like. "Next time we'll kill him," Neo grits, fists clenched and fingers digging into his palms. "We weren't ready for him this ti-" "Ready?" Luc suddenly cuts in. "You think anyone can be ready for a seven-foot-tall freak with a bat the size of car door?" "I mean- I'm just saying-" "No, no," Luc doesn't give him a chance to speak. "You're always saying , Neo. Flapping your gums doesn't keep people alive. Putting your back into your punches, on the other hand, does." I stop what I'm doing and look suspiciously at them. I can sense the air changing, and the tension between everyone rising. "Well we aren't all muscle monsters like you, are we?" Neo says bitterly, slowly getting mad too. "Easy," Diva says, trying to break it up. "We all swung. Kite did too. Cinder-" "Cinder froze up and lost his cool," Luc folds his arms. "He went in blindly against an opponent he couldn't match up to and that's why he's now in the ground." He pointed a finger at Cinder's pile of rocks. I look at Diva, who's calm expression has suddenly turned sourly dark. "Shut your mouth," she says to Luc. "He saved you, dumbass! He took aggro of you and-" "And where'd that get him?" Oh shit. I can see Diva snap. What the hell is Luc doing? Is he trying to drive a wedge in the group? Diva darts forwards and suddenly she's got Luc by the collar, squaring up to him, furious. "Say that again, you big piece of shit! I'll put a hole through your neck you-" "Enough, both of you," Elemental says sternly, but neither of them are having it. Luc swats Diva's hand off him and retorts back angrily. "Don't tell me to calm down man. I'm sick and tired of dragging around people who can't pull their weight! You, you, you-" He makes vague gestures at Neo and Jora. "-we're not a rescue mission or a summer camp! We're in a place where one small mistake can cost not just your own but everyone else's lives too!" "You're yapping like you're untouchable," Jora protests, getting to her feet indignantly. "You almost had your head split open back there!" "Yeah, but I didn't, and if it weren't for me, Elemental and Krim you'd be dead right there!" Luc thrusts a hand at Cinder and Kite. "Luc, stop it!" I say angrily, and Krim backs me up. "Yelling doesn't solve anything, nor will it bring back the dead," he says. "Luc, give it a rest…" But he doesn't listen, not even to Krim. "I'm saying what everyone's thinking," he growls. "Weak links get people killed, so we should cut them off before they do!" "So what? You're gonna leave people to die!?" Neo demands. "If that's what it takes." "You're crazy!" "No, I'm alive . Big difference." "Don't bullshit us!" And suddenly it's chaos. Everyone's shouting, pointing fingers, name-s