Panic, confusion, and worry shot through Shintaro's limbs like lightning, sending him straight into action. He dropped onto his knees beside Zeke, not caring to watch what Amy did next. He only heard her hurry around the collapsed man and rush outside to look for the other man. 

Quickly, Shintaro pressed his fingers against Zeke's neck as steadily as he could. When he found what he was looking for, he breathed a small sigh of relief - but began to panic again when he realized that Zeke's pulse was slowing.

Shintaro frantically rolled Zeke onto his back, finding that he had several flesh wounds along his arms, face, and torso. They were all bleeding profusely, but the worst wound was a long, deep scratch along his chest that ended just above his collarbone. 

Taking a deep breath to remain calm, Shintaro immediately went through the motions that he'd memorized as a doctor. He carefully pulled the remains of Zeke's shirt from the wounds, sliced them away with a shard of Light Magic from his fingertips, and gently yanked the bloody piece of clothing away. He then pressed both of his hands against the deepest part of Zeke's wound, sending his Light Magic through his arms and out of his palms to close the wound as best he could. 

Fiery hot pain seared through Shintaro's chest, and he bit down a sharp gasp of pain, gritting his teeth. The pain slowly eased into throbbing, then vanished quickly, assuring Shintaro that he'd done all that he could. Pulling back, Shintaro knew that he wasn't finished yet. 

Gently, one by one, Shintaro healed each other flesh wounds that he could find. Thankfully, there were only four more, and they weren't nearly as bad as the first cut. When Shintaro finished, he saw Zeke's jaw relax in relief, but the man didn't open his eyes.

As Shintaro leaned away, he noticed that Moon was peering over his shoulder with a curious look directed at Zeke. "This is the man who had the relic, isn't it?" she asked curiously, tipping her head to the side down at him.

Shintaro nodded, remembering that day with a twinge in his stomach. Not only did he lose his son, he'd simply given into the crushing weight of despair and defeat. He vowed never to let himself do such a thing again. 

"Is he alright?" Ruby's concerned voice asked from the living room. "I don't know who he is, but he didn't sound alright a few minutes ago." 

"He's okay now," Moon replied, leaning away from Shintaro's shoulder with her hands on her hips. "He'll probably be in some pain for a little while, but it looks like Shintaro did what he needed." 

A female, strangled cry from outside snapped their attention away from Zeke. 

Shintaro shot to his feet, turning toward Moon frantically. "Help him inside," he told her, and thankfully, she obediently bent down and hooked her hands under Zeke's arms to pull him in. Shintaro whipped around and rushed outside, calling his magic to his aid.

Amy was struggling against a tall, muscular man, who was holding her by the throat. The side of the man's head was bleeding, as if he'd hit it against concrete. His face was contorted with amusement as Amy wriggled against his grasp. He was clearly a Dark, based off the blade clutched in his left hand. His brown hair was close cropped, buzzed away around his ears. 

Shintaro started forward, but before he could do anything, Amy took action. Her hands wrapped around the man's forearm, and she wrenched his whole arm sideways, forcing the Dark's hand to open from her throat. As she did this, she whipped around so her back was facing the man, and, keeping her hold on the man's arm, yanked him toward her. He collided with her back, but Amy hardly moved. Instead, she leaned forward so abruptly that the man let out a startled cry. Amy threw all her force into her arms and lobbed him over her shoulders, slamming him into the ground on his back. Barely giving him any time to catch his breath, Amy rolled him onto his stomach, pulling his arm behind him in an arm lock. She moved behind him and pressed her knee onto the small of his back, holding him in place.

It all happened so fast that Shintaro felt like he'd barely blinked, and then they were suddenly on the ground.

Then Amy whacked the man on the back of the head with her fist, and he fell unconscious. 

Huffing in annoyance, Amy stood straight, spotted Shintaro, and grinned sheepishly. "Um, hello," she said awkwardly, waving her hand. 

"Are you alright?" Shintaro asked, moving toward her almost warily. 

"My neck's going to be sore, that's for sure," she said with a shrug, "but other than that, I'm fine." She turned to the Dark and put her hands on her hips with a scowl. "This the guy Zeke was fighting against, but why? Why would just one Dark follow him around to hurt him?" 

Shintaro narrowed his eyes at the unconscious man, steadying his facial features. He didn't recognize the man, but that didn't mean much. 

Suddenly, startling Shintaro, Amy whipped around in a blur. Before Shintaro could register what was going on, he was thrown backward by a force that he couldn't see. He collapsed backward, landing harshly on his lower back and elbows. When he looked up, Amy was standing in front of him, her back to him, her feet aligned with her shoulders in a ready stance. Her arms were flying faster than Shintaro could see, but he caught the glint of knife blades against the sun, coming from the pouches along her belt. 

After a few more moments of Shintaro watching her in dumbfounded awe, Amy stopped throwing the knives, dropping her trembling arms at her sides. Her shoulders heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. 

Shintaro quickly got to his feet, wincing at the small flare of pain in his lower back. He rushed to Amy's side to see what she'd been chucking knives at so aggressively. 

He found three more Darks pinned to the thick trunks of three individual trees, each held against the trunks by the knives caught in their clothing. Each one had a knife in their leg, not so they would bleed to death; but enough to give them too much pain to escape. Two were men, while the last one was a younger woman who seethed with rage at her captors; but didn't say anything intelligible.  

Shintaro frowned at each of them, trying to piece together what they'd been doing here. Had they been following Zeke and the other Dark? Or had they happened to show up just then? If so, how many more were hidden in the trees? Was this all of them? 

"Are there any more of you?" Amy spat breathlessly to the Darks pinned in the trees, standing completely still as she stared them down with rage. "Are there any more of you demons hiding in the trees?" she yelled when they didn't answer her. "I have more knives, you know! Talk, now, and I won't bring them out!" 

"N-No!" the smallest man blurted quickly. "It was just us four." 

"You're with him?" Shintaro asked roughly, gesturing to the unconscious man on the ground. The two men nodded, while the girl continued to seethe with hatred and pain. 

Shintaro walked forward, assessing each of them with anger. "Did you have reason to attack him?" 

"He managed to escape," the girl suddenly spat. "He picked a fight with us for attacking his town, and now we're here to finish him off." She struggled painfully against the knives that pinned her to the trees.

"YOU ATTACKED HIS HOMETOWN?" Amy raged from behind Shintaro. "OH ALRIGHT THIS LADY IS GOING TO GET IT."

But before Shintaro or Amy could make a move, all four Darks vanished with a flash of Darkness, taking three knives with them and letting the rest clatter to the ground.

"WHAT?!" Amy screamed, and Shintaro tensed in anger, feeling the urge to yell just as she had. 

They'd just let four Darks escape from their grasp, when they should have knocked them out and taken them captive. 

Shintaro had let them get away. He hadn't thought about the simple teleportation spell that could take many people along. He should have used his magic to keep them from using theirs. He should have knocked them out when he'd had the chance. 

Now they were probably going to The Dark Lord to report to him what they'd seen. 

Which meant Brethren was going to know where they were hiding.

Which meant they couldn't stay here.

Amy took a deep breath through her nose, walking stiffly by Shintaro to gather her knives from the ground. Her shoulders were shaking in anger as she leaned down and picked each knife up carefully, putting them back into the pouches of her belt. 

When she was finished, she turned and walked angrily back toward the house. Shintaro followed her with his eyes as she marched toward the doorway. 

But he noticed something off.

Amy usually walked with a casual alertness, carrying herself with a relaxed gait but a ready stature. 

She wasn't walking with her usual care.

Instead, she was standing perfectly straight, her back stiff and her shoulders tense. Even her steps were ginger and short, like she couldn't rotate her hips fully. 

But she was leaning very slightly to the right, putting more weight on her right leg as she walked. The steps on her left leg were just quicker than the ones she took with her right. 

And on the bottom left corner of her shirt, just above her hip, was a stain of red. 

~

ANOTHER CHAPTER IN ONE DAY?!?!?! (Well, for me XD. I don't know what y'all's time is, so...) 

I hope y'all liked this chapter!! 

BUT WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO NOW?

THE DARK LORD IS DEFINITELY GOING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THEY'RE HIDING!!

AHHHHHH-

Anyways, LOL. 

Thanks for reading!! Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon!

Love y'all!!

P3ac3!!~~