Chapter 42 - Sniping

There was no time to lose. Jude did not know how powerful Hylik was, and he had no choice but to kill him outright. So he closed his mind to the outside world.

Patterns crossed the synapses of his mind like people crossing the road. They sped up, though Jude's perception had the reverse effect, making it seem like time itself was slowing. Hylik's lips moved more slowly, but Jude still moved at his regular speed.

He swung his gun around to the front and turned down the power setting to about medium strength, so that he didn't injure his friends. He put the gun in front of him, and pulled out a feature that he had never used before.

Jude had long known that his rifle could double as a sniper rifle, but had never actually pulled out the sights, as there had never been enough to hit somebody with it. He laid down on the ground and pointed the crosshairs at Hylik's head. However, it was difficult to aim, as the tension of the moment was leading Jude to breathe more rapidly, causing the crosshairs to bob up and down.

Jude took a deep breath and held it. He pointed the crosshairs at Hylik's head, and they remained there as Jude tensed the trigger. There would only be one chance to kill Hylik this easily.

The trigger was moving slowly, even to Jude's perception. It was all nerves now, and Jude could do nothing to combat it. Sweat began pouring over his face, and his hands twitched from being nervous.

Two things happened simultaneously. The trigger reached the firing point, but Jude also flinched at the last moment due to nerves. The shot was off however, and Jude slowed time more to watch it travel to Hylik, hoping that it would still hit.

Hylik was aware of the shot, as were the guards, who almost instantly had their guns ready and aimed at Jude. Still, the shot would easily hit Hylik before a shot came from the guards.

It hit. Though it did not hit in the head, where Jude had intended, but the waistline. A massive explosion rocked the area, blowing Jude's friends back, as well as the guards. Hylik was very obviously incinerated in the blast.

What had caused this? Jude checked his gun again, and sure enough, it was set to the low level that he thought it was. Hylik must have had a grenade around his waist that was hit by the shot, exploding on contact.

It was still too dangerous to go down and rescue his friends, but as he watched, something strange was happening. The people from the motel seemed to wake up. The rubbed their eyes and looked around, a an expression of wonder and bewilderment crossed their minds. What had happened to them?

The guards dropped their guns, not knowing what had happened. So Jude decided to risk it and ran down to his friends. Relik was unscathed, and recognized Jude immediately.

"Jude!" he yelled. "Jude has come, just as we thought!"

Jude ran over and embraced Relik, tears pouring from both of their eyes. They had not seen each other since Jude had gone hunting all that time ago, when the village was destroyed.

And then Jude looked next to Relik. Lying on the ground was Tyra. She was not moving. Jude ran over to her and knelt beside her. He took two fingers and put them on her neck, searching for the pulse through her jugular vein.

It was there. Tyra was still alive, however the shock of the blast must have knocked her unconcious.

Relik had already roused the two females that Jude did not recognize. He brought them over to Jude, and introduced them.

"Jude, this is Kysandra, our leader, and Sylva, one of our best hunters. Kysandra, this is Jude. He has come."

Meanwhile, the other members of the Free Council were coming over to see what was going on. One of the guards, Ralyn, came over, not carrying his weapon or anything. Kysandra immediately moved the five away from him, figuring that something was up, however Ralyn did not make any aggressive motions.

Instead he looked at them and asked "What is going on? I feel as if I have been sleeping for the past few days."

And the other people of the Council nodded their heads in agreement, including Krynn who stood in the crowd. Jude embraced him, happy to see his friend again.
He had finally been reunited with his friends.