THE LAST KEEPER-Chapter 61: STOP

Sagiri did not have to move fast before the scene in front of him came into sight. It was a helpless scene with Kaka frantically throwing his daggers at the beast to try and distract it from kiuga, while he still dodged too fast even for Sagiri to keep up. Kiuga was hanging on a branch, unconscious. It was remarkable that he was still hanging on by his hooked robe, even in his unconscious state. The snake was ignoring Kaka as if he did not exist, and it was only focused on devouring Kiuga.

Its mouth was wide open, its fangs inching dangerously close to kiuga. N’varu immediately joined in the action, releasing his dagger to the creature’s back. The snake did not pay any attention to him at all, either, and the situation was starting to look desperate. Sagiri, without thinking, moved in the direction where kiuga was hanging helplessly.

"What are you doing?!" both Kaka and N’varu yelled in unison. Kaka more from irritation and N’varu from worry. Sagiri did not move too close, but he could feel the snaked intention. Its feelings were not malicious but more those of protectiveness, just like a mother hen protecting her chicks. Worst of all, it could smell blood coming from Kiuga, and that is why it was hellbent on devouring him. blood called onto the snake.

danger was on the horizon.

"Fire the red flare!" N’varu yelled, and Sagiri immediately reached for the flare in his side pocket. It was the purple one he fumbled to put it back and retrieved another one. It was the red one. He sighed in relief, lifting it to the sky, his thumb tightly on the trigger. Just as he was about to shoot it, his legs lost footing on the branch, and both he and the flare went tumbling to the ground. He jumped after it and caught it before he hooked his rope to a branch to avoid hitting the ground. He used the momentum to swing himself upward to a higher branch, where he perched upside down with the back of his knees.

Even suspended upside-down, Sagiri could clearly see that the situation between the two boys had grown even more desperate, and the snake was now inches from devouring him. Sagiri, in that moment, could taste the fear coming from Kaka. The guys were like a bad mixture, but they always stuck together. The fear was so distinct even as he moved with all his strength, throwing his daggers at it from all angles. It was the fear of losing someone close to you, and Sagiri could almost taste it as if it were his own. The snake’s skin is made of scales and as hard as a rock, and they all bounced off of it. Sagiri pulled himself up quickly and propelled himself closer to kiuga so fast he even surprised himself. It was as if he were being propelled by Kaka’s fear.

Stop!!

"Stop!" His voice bellowed. The command came from within him. The power inside of him must have registered the fear as his own and stirred to life in that moment. The snake’s deep rasps and low vibrations that it had been vibrating through the ground died immediately. Even its muted clicks it had been making deep in its throat to show its irritation died immediately. The forest went dead silent, everything coming to a standstill.

Sagiri could not understand how he had stopped the beast, but he could feel it fighting against the invisible force even as it remained perfectly still with its fangs wide open. N’varu and Kaka stood still for a moment and turned their gaze to look at the staring match between Sagiri and the beast. The snaked will was strong, and Sagiri could feel the invisible bindings starting to break.

"Get kiuga!" he yelled, and Kaka, who was already moving, did not hesitate. He moved so fast, as always, going for his still unconscious friend. He retrieved another dagger, quickly cutting Kiuga loose from the branches. He threw him on his shoulders as if he weighed nothing before he started moving in the other direction. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

N’varu was still frozen, watching Sagiri with admiration as if he was watching what he had wanted to see for a very long time.

"N’varu move! I won’t be able to hold him for long," Sagiri announced, feeling the mountain of the snake breaking through invisible restrictions. He had a feeling that whatever he had done had nothing to do with his voice but more with his eyes. He also had a feeling that if he looked away, the snake could come for him next.

"Use the flare!" N’varu yelled, moving fast to come to Sagiri’s position. It must have been Sagiri’s wishful thinking to even think that the guy could go before him. Sagiri was still holding onto the red flare in his hand. Upon N’varu’s instruction, he lifted his hand with his thumb tightly to the trigger. He, however, did not aim at the sky but at the mouth of the huge snake in front of him. He did not hesitate when he pulled the trigger, letting the snake burst of light move into the snake’s mouth.

"Let’s go!" N’varu yelled. Sagiri, however, did not have to wait because he was already moving. They moved quickly, following Kaka, who was even carrying kiuga, and with only one hand to hook himself and move in the air was still fast as if Kiuga’s weight did not bother him.

They did not go far before a faint light lit the woods behind them, and a roar of both irritation and pain followed, tearing through the woods. Sagiri was sure everyone in the woods or outside heard it. It seemed the snake was hard on the outside but tender on the inside. They did not stop to check. The beast might have been fighting to protect its young ones from intruders, but they had injured it, and it was going to come at them harder than last time to seek blood.

The rain downpour had increased, adding insult to injury, the goggles got blurry now and then, forcing them to slow down. Just then, they made contact with others who seemed like they were just coming back to aid them. They were surprised to see the other guys arrive.

"We found a cafe and realized you guys were not behind us, so we came back," Ulekai yelled, trying to get the other four to hear him. He was in the company of Zoliath, Zazarie, and Bukata. "Banga is making a fire, and Maita is protecting him," he continued, but Kaka did not care to hear whatever he wanted to say.

"Lead the way!" He seethed, and Ulekai could tell that the guy was in an even more sour mood than usual, so he just nodded, leading the way. They did not move far before the low-lying cave came into sight. The opening was hidden behind a shrub, and Sagiri wondered how they had found it. The only explanation was the adrenaline. A small fire was already running, powered by some small branches. Maita and Banga were moving around the cave collecting branches. The cave seemed to have another opening to the back, but the cadets seemed to have ignored it.

Zazarie and Bukata stood guard at the entrance while Zoliath and Ulekai joined Maita in collecting firewood. Kaka picked a spot near the fire and laid Kiuga down gently.

"Support his neck," Sagiri said when he went to retrieve his hand. "His back might be hurt, and it might get damaged if his neck isn’t supported properly.

"What? You are a doctor now?" Kaka asked, shooting Sagiri a glare, and for the first time, he felt like he deserved it.

"My stepmother is a healer," Sagiri answered, getting on his knees beside kiuga and holding onto his head. Kaka did not say anything more. A stepmother could mean that maybe his father had two wives.

"Is your mother also as weak as you, or did you get it from your stepmother?" Kaka asked with venom, looking at Kiuga with worry. Sagiri could not feel any malice coming from him. Only worry was oozing off of the guy in waves, and he was just taking his frustrations out on him.

"I don’t have a mother," Sagiri answered, and everyone turned to look at him. "I have a stepmother and father," he finished, sensing the confusion from the others. He proceeded to check the heartbeat of kiuga while Kaka watched him carefully.

"His heartbeat is normal, and his breathing is getting regular," he said, and kiuga finally stirred.

"Why are you guys so noisy?" he said, stretching as if he had just woken up from a peaceful slumber.

"King Bami, I know you are stupid, but I did not take you to be mean too. why are you asking Sagiri such questions?" he said, his eyes still cold.

"Well, how was I supposed to know he doesn’t have parents?" Kaka said in a low tone, but his tense expression steadily went down. His eyes, which were knotted tightly, were now becoming full of life as he watched his friend finally stir awake.

"You behave like a beast," kiuga said, still lying in Sagiri’s hands.

"I will kill you!" Kaka bellowed, going to slap kiuga, but retracted his hand at the last second as if remembering kiuga was injured. "Don’t go parading yourself in front of a beast if you are too slow," Kaka seethed, going to sit on the other side of the fire.

"Well, make sure to carry me properly next time you almost burst my stomach open," kiuga said, finally fluttering his eyes open and moving closer to the fire instinctively.

"You were awake?" Kaka’s voice rose an octave.

"Only half the journey," Kiuga said unbothered.

"I will kill you right after a healer confirms you are fine," Kaka said, but his earlier anxiety had receded as he stared at the fire with a deadly expression.

"Can you hear me?" Sagiri asked, ignoring their usual back and forth.

"Of course I can hear you, Sagiri the blind, I’m not as dead as you," kiuga said.

"hypocrite. you say I am a beast, yet you lack manners and call someone by their disability," Kaka said, warming his hands by the fire.

"How many fingers I’m I holding up?" Sagiri ignored the two yet again. He needed to understand how badly kiuga was hurt. He seemed like the guy to joke while he dies. he lifted three fingers in front of Kiuga’s face.

"Mmh, four," kiuga answered sincerely.

"I think he might have a brain injury. We need to shoot a yellow flare and call for a healer," Sagiri said quickly. Rusha had always told him that brain injuries were the worst, and he needed to see a healer. If his brain was swollen, then he needed even faster urgent care. Kaka shot to his feet again, a worried expression edging to his eyebrows.

"I’m kidding, Sagiri the blind, I know you are holding up the three fingers," he laughed softly, but Sagiri could tell he was in pain.

"Don’t play about something like that. grow up." Kaka chastised, rubbing his brows in frustration. If Kiuga wasn’t already in pain Kaka could have beaten him to a pulp.

"Spoken by the guy who stopped growing at two," kiuga shot back, groaning slightly.

"From a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in?" Sagiri asked again.

"I think six, my back hurts like crazy. I tried to break the fall, but who knew the grave scale had it out for me and was not charmed by my looks at all," kiuga said, and Kaka could tell that if he was admitting it to be a six, then it was at least an eight.

"I should have let it eat you since it’s your noise that woke it up," Kaka said, trying to hide his worry.

"It is your fault for chasing me," kiuga returned.

It’s only almost midnight, I will go get some herbs to make him medicine, pain medicine, and some cold-preventing herbs for everyone," Sagiri announced, laying kiuga gently back down. "Don’t move until I’m back," he instructed, heading for the door.

"I’ll go with you," N’varu said without hesitation."

"I’m coming too. I can’t look at his face any longer," Kaka announced too.

"Me too," Ulekai said, standing from his position by the fire.

"No, you protect kiuga and make sure he is warm until we are back," N’varu said. "You are in charge until Kiuga is back in shape," he added before the three disappeared into the rain. Sagiri knew it was urgent to collect the herbs, and he did not care about being caught by other teams. Because of the heavy rains, however, he knew there were fewer chances to be hunted.

"I saw some herbs in the direction of the grave scale. We need to go back there," Sagiri announced, and the other two looked at him as if he had grown another head. "The grave scale is sensitive to noise, which is why we stirred it. We are not going all the way to his nest, however, the herbs are just not far from his turf," he continued.

"This easterner will kill me." Kaka cursed, but he was already unraveling his hooked ropes. Sagiri could almost feel the determination to save his friend.