“Do I really need all of you standing around? Go do something useful, like guarding the tunnels,” Kane waved away the other Decimators till there were only a couple left. Hunter was back on his feet watching the other man carefully.
“What should I do with you?” Kane tapped his finger to his lips thoughtfully. “I could kill you, cut the head off the beast as they say. Do you think the other Protectors would listen to me if their leader was dead?” he frowned when neither Hunter nor Kydlin responded. “I asked you a question” he growled.
“They would never listen to you,” Kydlin said angrily. Kane nodded and sighed.
“I guess that is true, but they would listen to you wouldn’t they?” his question was directed at Hunter who still refused to answer. “Of course they would! You’re their leader! They would do anything for you especially if your life was on the line.” Kane laughed.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Kydlin said. Kane cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Why wouldn’t I? Threaten Hunter’s life and Protectors would do anything to save him. I thought I proved that earlier. Don’t deny it when he was choking you would’ve done anything to save him,” he smiled at her.
“That was for a different reason completely,” she said quietly. Hunter’s eyes flickered to hers confused, but she continued on. “Not every Protector would try to save him. They know he would rather die than let you rule,”
Kane considered this. “So what you’re saying is, that not every Protector is as selfish as you?” He asked. She nodded then looked away shamefully. Kane watched her almost with pity then he looked back at Hunter.
“As much as I admire your resistance to talk it’s starting to annoy me,” he said frowning. Hunter still stayed silent. “What a great time to prove my point,” he looked back at Kydlin. She still was staring at the ground. She reminded Kane of a sad dog. “Look at me Kydlin,” he ordered her.
“No!” Hunter finally spoke, but she had already met Kane’s eyes. She suddenly put her hands to her throat and her eyes went wide with realization. “No! Leave her alone! Kane I’ll speak just leave her alone!” he said quickly. Kane laughed and snapped her fingers. Kydlin coughed and she took deep breaths. Tears glistened in her eyes and she buried her face into Hunter’s chest. He put his arm around her and held her close kissing her head.
It seemed Kydlin had realized just how doomed they were. Kane grinned at the touching scene. “Look at yourselves. You are each other’s poison. You will do anything for each other.” Hunter looked back up at Kane unafraid to meet his eyes.
“Kydlin was right to call you a coward,” he growled. Kane shrugged looking unruffled.
“I simply specialize in weaknesses,” he said. “Call it what you will, but I think it’s wonderful. Everyone has weaknesses after all,”
“That means that you do as well,” Hunter pointed out. Kane grinned.
“A brilliant observation! Now I have enjoyed our chat, but I’m afraid we’ll have to continue it some other time. Maybe when I decide what to do with you we can talk again. Take them to a cell.” he ordered the Decimators that were still around. Hunter held Kydlin even tighter glaring at the Decimators. He wasn’t about to let them take her to a different cell than his. A distant sound reached his ears. He wasn’t going to let them take her to a cell at all. Kane heard the same sound.
“Get them quickly,” he urged the Decimators. Kydlin pulled away from Hunter hope in her eyes. She looked up at him then turned to face the Decimators. There were at least four of them not including Kane. The sound was now growing louder. Down the tracks Hunter could see a train charging toward them. It seemed that even though the station was abandoned the trains still used the track. One of the Decimators rushed forward toward Hunter. Hunter twisted to the side letting the Decimator shoot past him. Shoving his arm into the Decimators back, Hunter sent him sprawling onto his face.
Beside him Kydlin had her whips out and was fighting another Decimator. The train was nearly at the station. “Kydlin, get beside me!” Hunter called to her over the roar of the train. She gave a final lash of her whip to keep the Decimators away then ran to his side. Over the sound of the train they could heard Kane yelling.
“Now!” Hunter yelled as the train rushed past them. By pure luck one of the side doors was open. Kydlin jumped first landing roughly in the car. Hunter jumped just a second after and narrowly missed getting grabbed by Kane. He laid on the floor of the car where he had landed and breathed heavily. That had been close. He prayed he never had to see Kane again. Suddenly he went alert and sat up.
“Kydlin?” he looked around and spotted her sitting in the corner. Her head rested against her knees which she had pulled up to her chest.
“He’s a sick man,” she said looking up at Hunter. Her eyes were red. Hunter knew what she was talking about. The way Kane spoke was as if he was dissecting something and he smiled in a sickening way. Hunter moved over to Kydlin sitting beside her. He put his arm around her and let her lean into him.
“Kydlin when you were talking to Kane…” he stopped. She was asleep. Hunter frowned, still pondering Kydlin and Kane’s strange conversation