Soldier of Time

LVI: Flight and Calamity (1)

The Deer opened his eyes and saw a beautiful young woman arranging the water on a table at the side of the room. Rudy, who was trying her best not to wake up the mercenary, froze when she felt the young man’s head move.

The girl turned very cautiously, and her eyes met those of the Deer as he watched the young woman from the chair where she was chained.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up,” the young woman said very calmly from her place. She was looking at the same as the mercenary was watching her calmly.

Slevin was smiling when he said, “Yes, you interrupted my comfortable sleep in this chair...”

The young woman smiled naturally, and a question was formulated in her mind. She thought for a second, and then she asked, “How can you be so calm?”

“I don’t feel any threat coming from you. You actually express a strange and warm feeling. It’s nice. You don’t match this place...”

The girl looked around her, and then her eyes fell once more on the Deer, and she said, “I don’t like this place. Mr. Hanibal said that I could meet you if I came, “The girl said excitedly just to see the situation and add, “He didn’t say it would be like that. I’m very sorry, Mr. Deer.”

“No problem,” the Deer said casually. He then added while he looked through the mirror towards the door, “You should get out of this place. It’s dangerous, girl.”

The young woman nodded and calmly replied, “Mr. Hanibal said that I could leave as soon as the exchange is finalized...”

After saying those words, the young woman looked at the Deer, and a lump in her throat formed strongly. She thought about how that journey would end for the Deer, and although no one had told her directly, she could imagine what the end result would be.

The Deer caught her thought and, with his natural smile, asked, “He will kill me before the exchange, right?”

The young woman stood up at the question and held her breath only to see Sharon enter the door and lean against the door frame to say.

“You know that’s how you’ll end up. There is no other way. Hanibal won’t let you go to keep chasing him.”

The Deer looked at the face of the young woman who just arrived in the mirror, remembered the fight he had had with her on the train, and said, “I know, but what I don’t understand is what are you doing here?”

“It’s an old job. It’s not easy to earn a living for people like us these days.”

“And will starting a war be a good business?”

Sharon looked at the ground, a hint of guilt reflected in her gaze as her fingers tapped on her hip.

The girl looked at Slevin before she said, “We didn’t know that he wanted to do that...”

“But now you know, and you’re still here.”

“No one escapes from Hanibal, Deer... You know that better than anyone...”

The Deer smiled as Rudy nodded at Sharon’s affirmation. Just thinking about betraying Hanibal was foolish for anyone.

The eyes of these young women were filled with fear with the possibility that Hanibal would place them as one of his targets. Betraying him was out of possibility.

The Deer smiled and asked, “Do you know why I’m still alive?”

Sharon walked fully into the room and placing her hand on Rudy’s shoulder, which seemed disturbed by fear of her. She said, “Because your people got Steven.”

“Bingo!” Slevin said promptly before he added, “Steven is very important to Hanibal, so much so that he keeps me alive so he can get him back. And as long as he does not have Steven, his wounds will not heal, and his ability will not return to its full.”

An idea was drawn on the back of Sharon’s head when she squeezed Rudy’s hand a little, and she said, “The conversation is over, Deer.”

And with those words, he dragged the girl out of the room. The Deer imagined what would be the course of that conversation that the young women would have, and he hoped that the seed that he had planted would be enough to help him escape.”

Several kilometers from that place on the highest floor of the new house that was now provided by Karen herself, the girl watched the entire city.

Her phone did not stop ringing with calls from Jolanda and the assistant Chancellor, but the young woman did not answer.

Looking in the distance, she observed how in the yard, Johan towards his routine of trying to find the essence of the Deer, the last three days he had tried to capture anyone, but it was obvious that the intervention caused by one of the members of Hanibal’s squad was very effective.

Her phone rang again and the young woman, watching the screen, realized that it was Lucio. She took a deep breath and hit the answering option, and she placed the receiver in her ear to listen.

“Listen, well, Lieutenant! You better tell me where you are right now!”

The young woman met her gaze with that of the beast-man in the garden who shook his head to inform her that there was no luck.

The girl looked at the sky, and calmly she said, “Boss, I have the command. Do not worry...”

The attendant gave a frustrated snort, and with suppressed anger, he asked, “Karen, tell me immediately where are you?”

“Sorry, Boss, I can’t do that. It would be a tactical mistake, and I have already made many.”

“Karen, the situation is getting out of control. In less than a week, the deadline will be met. Tell me immediately, where are you?”

“Don’t worry, boss, I’ll find Hanibal...”

And with those words, the girl hung up the call. When she turned around, she looked at Trixie and Simon, who saw her behind her.

The smiling mercenary asked thoughtfully, “Do you think he’s the rat who sold us?”

“No,” Karen said as she began to walk confidently, “But it is irrelevant, from now on, we will work alone. Our guest woke up...”

“That’s right….” Trixie answered as the young woman walked before she went through the door, and the girl turned and, looking at Simon, said, “We will recover the Deer...”

And she continued on her way. Simon looked at her with curiosity. She no longer saw the angry young woman who hated everything about them.

She seemed much more confident and determined. The image that the young woman gave her was of security as if she exactly knew what to do, and that reassures him.

Trixie looked at Simon, who was smiling calmly, and asked, “Do you think we can find him?”

The young man nodded as he watched her. The smiling girl added, “I would like to hope for him. But…”

“You do not have to. Just help me, and we will make it happen.”

The young woman observed him, and a lot of curiosity unfolded in her mind. There was something in the relationship between that young man and the Deer that she did not fully understand. Troy had mentioned various things, but curiosity overcame her sanity.

“Troy told me how they defeated the child soldiers...” The girl asked.

Hearing that, Simon lowered his gaze and buried it firmly in the ground, and his remorse brought back anxiety and memory that haunted him.

He ran his hand through his blond hair, trying to clean up that memory, and with a sigh, he said, “It’s not something I like to talk about...”

The girl looked at the soldier’s reaction, and she immediately knew that it was a mistake to have asked, and at that moment, she was about to leave when she heard Simon say.

“I don’t like to remember that part of me...”

Trixie looked at him calmly and said, “I will not be the one who forces you to revive it...”

The young man placed his hands on the balcony railing, and with watery eyes, he said, “I wish I could feel different, but not even saving his life ten times could I make amends for what I did...”

Trixie looked at him for a solid minute, her mood had completely changed, and now thick tears were falling from his eyes. The young woman walked slowly.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him as she said, “Troy told me what they did to you. Anyone would have yielded...”

“Not the Deer,” Simon answered as he continued observing the young woman. “He would have endured.”