Hajime Isayama - Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City, Part 1

They were at breaking point. They all knew it.

The party of wagons thundered across the interior, throwing clouds of dust into the air. There were dozens in view. Their total number was even greater.

Nonot the interior. It had ceased to be the interior.

It was the reason they were fleeing.

A group of Titans approached clumsily, their arms lumbering forwards. They were all stark naked. Outwardly human in form, they had heads that were either abnormally large or small, arms that were too long or short. Their eyes gave no hint of intelligence. They were a variety of sizes; even then, the shortest looked almost twice the height of a regular person. With nothing to which to stage a comparison, the plains made it impossible to scale their distance.

Get cracking! Full speed ahead!

Do whatever it takesbuy them time! Keep those Titans back!

The soldiers of the Garrison urged their horses on, vying desperately to safeguard the wagons. The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was all but useless in the open plains. Left with no means to permanently fell the Titans, the soldiers could do nothing more than buy time for the evacuees to break free.

Rita was astride one of the horses. The animals were valuable assets, each the equivalent of a life fortune. She was still a rookie, only in her second year of service, but shed received special permission to command a steed.

In order to protect the citizens of Quinta District.

The wind was harsh, bitingly cold against her exposed ears. When her admission to the Garrison had been decided, she had chopped off her long blond hair. Due to this people often mistook her for a manor more specifically, for a boy.

In view up ahead squatted a Titan with low-sloping shoulders. Plastered over its face was an expression of melancholy. This didnt mean the creature was in any way grieving. The Titans didnt harbor anything that resembled emotion.

The slope-shouldered Titan began to stretch an arm forwards. Beyond, a group of people scattered from an overturned wagon. With a broken leg, its horse thrashed like an insect in its death throes. The other wagons were giving the area a wide berth.

Somebody?!

Rita looked frantically around. None of her senior troopers were available to help. One was busy acting as a decoy, galloping fiercely away with three Titans in chase. Another had landed on a fallen Titan and was attempting to hack through the vital spot on the nape of its neck. As she watched, a Titans fingers pinched the head of another of her fellow soldiers. Her ears picked up the mans screams. She looked away, suppressing a sudden urge to cry.

No one could aid her. If she was to save the defenseless evacuees, she needed to do it alone.

She heard a sound like thunder rip through the air. Friendlies, firing artillery from the top of the wall. Rita pulled sharply on the reins and made a beeline towards the overturned wagon.

You can make it

She readied a blade in one hand.

The Titans fingers were already closing on an evacuee who hadnt managed to get away. She was just a child, a little girl of about five, in simple clothes and with black hair bunched around the nape of her neck. No doubt terror-stricken, she had sunk onto the ground and was gazing up at the Titan, her small eyes stretched wide. For a split second, Rita hesitated.

Save the horse, or the girl?

Theresnothing to even consider.

Steadying her aim, she fingered the trigger on the hilt of the blade. An anchor fired from the barrels slung around her waist, and they oscillated violently, held fast by her leather belt. Wire cut through the air and the anchor caught hold of the Titans neck. Rita immediately readjusted the trigger, setting the wire to reel in. An incredible pressure exerted itself on the belt strapped around her body. She caught her breath as the world flickered dark.

The wire pulled her abruptly forwards. She gave in to the momentum. Her body began to rise, up and off the saddle where she sat. The wire spun into the cylinder on her back. The force of pressurized gas.

Rita was propelled rapidly up towards the Titan, to where the anchor had struck it. Her mount receded into the distance behind her.

The Titan cocked its head slightly and, still squatting, brought its half-outstretched arm back to pad around its neck. Rita twisted the hilt of her blade, pulling it at an angle to release the anchor from the Titans flesh before its fingers found the wire. The action did not diminish her inertia.

She pirouetted in midair, simultaneously readying her blade. Graze the Titans flank, then slice through its neck. That had been the plan, but it wasnt going to work; for whatever reason, the Titan had abruptly risen to its feet.

Thats what you do?!

Rita crashed straight into the creatures belly. She flipped, started to tumble, and hit the ground with her shoulder. Spasming in even more pain, she let out a senseless wail and came dangerously close to dropping her blade. Somehow managing to pull herself onto all fours, she lifted her head.

The Titan was gazing down at her. On its face, the same melancholic expression. It bent its torso forwards, blocking the sun, and reached down with both hands.

Fear. Dizziness. Her bladder threatening to release. Yet

Im not done yet!

Summoning all of her courage, Rita unsheathed her second blade. Brandishing one in each hand she swung them through the air, slicing through the Titans fingers, which were each as thick as her arm. Fingertips the size of clubs rained down, all severed at the first knuckle. Unidentifiable plumes of steam began to gush from the remaining stumps. Rita could feel the stuffy heat on her skin.

Wearing the same melancholic look, the Titan withdrew its hand and gazed at its fingers, which were already regenerating at an abnormal pace. For the briefest moment, the Titan seemed to have forgotten about Rita and the evacuee.

Run! Rita shouted over her shoulder.

The girl showed no reaction. Her eyes were focused on a single point behind Rita. There lay the upturned wagon. Next to the horse, which was no longer moving, Rita could make out a couple of human forms, also unmoving. Perhaps the girls parents. Rita gritted her teeth.

Come with me!

She turned her back on the Titan and sprinted towards the girl. Slipping her two blades into their sheaths, she scooped the girl up. The girl weighed more than expected. I guess kids are heavy too, Rita noted despite herself.

Rita!

The thuds of urgent hooves approached. When Rita looked she saw Wilco, one of the recruits from her year, racing up to them. His right hand wielded a blade and the reins of his steed; in his left he had the reins of the horse Rita had left behind. Though vigilant of the Titan, he came to a stop before her. The two horses shook their heads and wheeled their front legs in the air.

Get on, quick!

Thanks.

Rita ran over, hauling the girl with her. Wilco brought his steed around then kicked off towards the Titan.

Rita boosted the girl onto her horse, keeping Wilco in her peripheral vision. He flanked the Titan and sliced right through the tendon behind its ankle. He briefly disappeared into the steam erupting from the wound. Rita pulled herself up and got into the saddle.