Victor limped past all of the blood and bullets mixing into the sand as he entered the mouth of the cave. Wisps of red smoke were clouding his vision; there wasn't much time. The other stragglers of the group quickly followed him in, eager to avoid any sort of fiery death on their first mission. Once he was safely within the cave, he fell on his back and relaxed his muscles. This was a grave mistake; all it did was let in more pain that he had been blocking out. He tensed up again and looked outside. He gasped, and realized that Tasha was still out there, and facing down the monk, no less.
"Get inside!" he yelled, his diaphragm protesting in a series of convulsions that it had to move in its current state.
[hr]
Back at the forward camp, Colonel Basque Grand stood patiently, waiting for any signal that the Special Operations team had found their way up to the temple. His wounds had finally been bandaged up, though he still held a hand over the freshest one out of instinct. His XO walked up to him and pointed up to the temple on the hill.
"Sir, are you seeing what I am?"
Sure enough, there was a sight to see there. Red smoke was drifting up over the rock walls around the hidden location. That was the signal for support. Basque Grand punched his fists together in anticipation, but his second in command looked at him aghast.
"Sir, you'll re-open your wounds if you do that!"
"Or maybe I won't." Grand replied cryptically. He pointed back towards the center of the camp. "Go see to the new prisoners, make sure they're secure. And don't come back here until I say you can."
The XO stared him down for a moment, but finally gave a dejected salute and scurried away, leaving him alone. The Colonel reached inside of his pocket, finally isolated enough to make use of it. He came out with a tiny red gem, no bigger than his pinky finger.
"Let's see if you're as good as those scientists say you are."
A crackling, red energy emanated from the stone as he accessed its power. Below him, sand combined and mixed with the tiny particles of metal hidden within, quickly reconfiguration into the largest cannon he had made yet. It was a jumble of dozens of barrels all welded onto a single, massive howitzer. This was definitely going to destroy whatever it hit. He gave a little countdown in his head, and fired the behemoth gun. Twenty shells rocketed into the dry Ishvalan air.
[hr]
Torul was laying on the ground, nearly broken, and looking up at Tasha as she prepared to kill him.
"Okay old ban, I can offer a quick painleths death. Your gone anyway."
His head bowed. That was when he heard the guns go off. The realization struck him like a ton of bricks.
Before Tasha could process what was happening, Torul had jumped back to his feet. He was heavily favoring one, but the fact he could manage it at all was a testament to his skill. He charged her in what otherwise would be an almost comical hopping, but with his speed and power she couldn't mistake the threat. Spark tried to get another grip on him, but her efforts were in vain. Torul managed to twirl his body around all of her strikes until he was nearly bashing skulls with her. Then he used his one good arm to grab her uniform by the collar and raise her up into the air.
By rights, the monk should have fallen over there from the sheer weight and imbalance of carrying another person at his age. Instead, he continued his hop forward, even as the others drew their weapons and took aim at his fragile form.
Torul reached the entrance of the cave and stopped in his tracks. With a single toss, Tasha was hurled into the haven with her companions. The others stared on in confusion as he backed away from the cave, and finally fell onto his back.
Leo was the last one in, and threw up a wall to fully seal off the Amestrian's haven from the coming bombardment. Torul rested on the ground outside, staring up at the sun about to go down past the edges of the cliffs all around him.
"Perhaps it's a little arrogant, God, but if you would, let my message reach these children. They have more to live for than living the rest of their lives as do--"
He never finished. The artillery strike hit the monastery with everything it had, and flames washed out the entire alcove.
[hr]
Over a mile away, the Ishvalan refugees exited the tunnel. Their leader perked up his ears as he heard a sound that no one else could. They tried asking him what had happened, but for his sake or their own he would not tell them. All they knew was that his head was bowed in prayer for the rest of the journey to their new home.
