While White-eyes was staring at Red, Leigh was contemplating on what to do when the child began to pick itself up. Looking at the golden eyes of the being, Leigh realized it was staring straight at her. It didn’t seem possible from such a distant, and apart from that, she was well hidden.

Crouching down, golden eyes followed her. Impossible. The shade hid her well and her peripheral vision was excellent so her body wouldn’t have been seen leaning from the tree even if it had been day. With the child’s eyes still staring unblinkingly at her while it stood, Leigh was sure now. The child really was looking at her.

Unfortunately, so did White-eyes and Red. Unbelievably, Red stabbed both of them using not only a short sword he’d withdrawn, but with his empty hand as well. He turned quickly after withdrawing both from the others’ bodies and ran towards Leigh.

My God, he’s fast. Avoiding a strike from his sword, Leigh slashed at his middle. He dodged it by leaping back from her. Red really was quick. But his speed was unnatural for a human. Leigh continued blocking his strikes and countered as well. Engrossed in her fight with him, Leigh tried not to faint from her earlier blood loss. She also didn’t notice the child crawling in the background, clutching its bleeding side.

Red was soon getting slower with each wound that Leigh inflicted. His arm was already nothing but a burden from all the wounds it received from when he used it as a shield. His sword thrusts were beginning to lag. Leigh felt herself slowing down as well, but she clearly had the upper hand. Her swordsmanship was above Red’s. It became clear that however fast Red was, he evidently wasn’t a fighter. Still, Leigh felt wary of him. Had it not been for his arm, he’d have died already. Also, his unnatural speed and agility had helped him dodged some of her strikes.

As they stared at each other, catching their breaths, Leigh asked him, “Who are you?” He didn’t reply and merely glared at her –the red of his glowing madly in the dark.

“He is a Neo.” The child answered from behind her. Red went still. Barring his teeth, he growled at the child before leaping back into the shadows.

“Wait!” Leigh went after him.

“Don’t!” the child shouted when she’d already run a few feet towards Red’s direction. She stopped her pursuit. Red’s scent was gone. He was probably already far away. Impossible speed! He couldn’t be human!

Sheathing her swords, she turned and walked towards the child. Kneeling down, she checked the wound and saw more coruscation. It seemed to be coming from the blood. As it was shedding, it was turning into sparkling dust. Frowning, Leigh drew a cloth and tried to stop the unusual bleeding.

“It’s useless. I’ll die anyway.” The child looked up at her; it’s eyes had become a dark green rimmed with the gold of earlier.

Gasping in pain, Leigh put out an arm and leaned on the tree next to the child. The sudden ending to her fight had taken away the energy she’d received from the exhilaration of fighting. Dizziness slammed into her and made her feel weaker. She’d used up to much of whatever little strength she’d had. So…tired. My body feels so heavy. Leigh looked back at the being and watched it as closely as it did her. “You are no child.” She meant it in two ways. The being clearly wasn’t human and now that she was this close to it, she could put no age to that face. One blink and it seemed older, another blink and it was even younger than earlier. “How old are you?”

“How old are you? You are not human yourself, are you?” Blood began pouring from it’s mouth. Leigh nodded but said nothing. She herself did not know her age but she was sure that she’d already lived a couple of lifetimes in terms of human years.

“Are you Zodiac?”

Leigh blinked. Am I what?

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