by K R Leikvoll
I was beginning to get tired. Whatever buzz Kirin's blood had given me was starting to wear off. Plus, the lack of sleep for almost 48 hours. I wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the cold, hard ground with a thin blanket. I definitely took beds for granted. Hell, even sleeping bags. Even through my exhaustion, I had anxiety. With Lydris being knocked out, how would we be able to tell if something was on our tail? What was worse…
"I have to, um... pee," I said, standing up. It would’ve been relieving to see Jason Voorhees in the woods instead of demons, and either one would definitely get me. I walked past Lydris and Kirin into the brush. Annoyingly, Codd followed.
"I can do this alone, you know."
"Lass, if you get eaten by a monster because nobody is there to protect you, we all lose. Just accept it," he said, polishing off his bottle. We walked for a couple minutes before I ducked behind a grouping of trees.
"So how is Kirin supposed to get better?" I asked when I returned. Codd shrugged.
"Someone will probably have to let him sacrifice and trust that he won't accidentally kill them."
I shivered. No way he wouldn't kill someone if he was at that point.
We were almost back to the clearing when my foot caught on something hard. I tripped, nearly face planting. I was lucky enough to catch myself on my arms, but I still pulled something in my back. Before I could curse about the pain, I heard a branch break behind me. My heart dropped into my gut.
"Scream, and I'll rip out your throat," a deep voice said over my shoulder. Something hard pressed into my back, nudging me toward the clearing. I wanted to scream, run—do anything—but I didn’t know how far I could get without knowing what was behind me. I urged the ring to shield me so I'd have a chance to get away. Nothing. Codd didn't even know! I watched in horror as he turned near the fire without me! When I was a few feet from the tree line, whatever it was held my clothes. It forced me to hang back.
"I applaud your effort, truly. Futile, but you tried," a soft voice said through the trees. I could see a figure standing in front of the fire.
"How long have you been following us?" I heard Alexandra's voice say. She had a desperate tone of voice, as if she was near screaming. The figure chuckled.
"Long enough to know that someone is going to try and fuck me with a knife."
Whatever was behind my back started pushing me into the clearing. The figure was coming into focus.
It was a woman. The first person I had seen that was a similar height to me, only I would use the word "person" lightly. She wore black armor that was eerily familiar, and as usual, I couldn't tell why. It covered her in scales that went all the way around her throat in a high collar. Her gloves and boots had black claws on them that looked like they could be used at close range as weapons. She wore a thin, black cloak underneath her giant spiked pauldrons. On her sides, she had two long daggers that glowed faintly in the darkness. She also had a massive bow made out of something that resembled glass on her back. It was hard to make out exactly what material considering how translucent it was. Her skin was medium gray, darker than Kirin's eyes, like a shadow on the moon. The woman's hair hung nearly down to her waist in two thick black braids. They were braided around her large pointed ears which were adorned with various hoops and bones. Her eyes were paralyzing; two giant orbs the color of blood. Even the whites of her eyes were a deep red. They actually glowed in the darkness. She had full, dark lips that hid multiple pairs of fangs, revealing her demonic nature. Something about her reminded me of a spider.
Codd held his bottle defensively in his hand like a weapon.
“Don’t—” I tried to call out to him, but it made no difference.
"Die, bitch!" Codd yelled, smashing his bottle into the woman's face. In a fluid motion, the woman caught a falling shard of glass and slashed at Codd. Blood splashed onto her armor as he crumpled to the earth. I let out a horrified scream. The blood started bubbling from the slash on his neck. His eyes were fearful as he choked to death right in front of me.
Kirin and Alexandra were both on their feet now. Alexandra had an arrow drawn pointed directly at the woman's face. Kirin had heard my scream and was facing me.
"She killed him!" I yelled numbly in disbelief. Only one brief moment before we were walking through the woods…
"I originally came for the worm, but then I saw our new friend, and I could not help wanting to meet her," the woman said, turning her attention to me. When our eyes met, a wide, fanged smile grew on her face. She held her clawed hand out to me across the field, demanding I run into her arms. "Morgan, bring me the girl."
I finally looked over my shoulder and was met with a mouth full of teeth. A beast somewhat resembling a wolf stood behind me, as big as a bear. It had eyes matching the woman's and dark fur that almost seemed like shadows flowing off its body. It snarled and shoved me in the back with its muzzle, almost making me trip again.
Kirin grabbed Lydris' limp form and hurled it at her. His body flew toward her, unconscious and probably dead.
"Take the worm and leave. You can't fight all of us," Kirin said sharply. I could see his scythe forming in his hands. The wolf was still shoving me toward the woman. I started trying to move away, but its teeth gripped into my shoulder blade and kept me moving. My cries of fear and pain did absolutely nothing to help my situation.
"My choices are kill you and take your weapon, Famine or take the Nephilim. Tempting choice to stay and play, but the girl is a far better prize," she said. I was only a few feet from them. Kirin held his scythe in front of me and the wolf.
"You will not take her. Draw your weapon and fight!" he yelled. The woman sighed.
"Morgan, take the worm and the girl," she instructed, pointing at Lydris' crumbled form. Kirin moved his scythe to slash at the wolf, narrowly missing me as the wolf picked me up completely in its massive mouth. I almost thought it was going to swallow me.
"Help me!" I screamed trying to fight the wolf off. I punched at the wolf's massive red eye. In response, the wolf tightened its fangs on me. I didn’t understand why they weren’t attempting harder to stop them.
"Kirin, don't let them take me," I pleaded in fear as the wolf leapt easily behind the woman's shoulder. She grabbed Lydris and threw him on the monster's back.
I could see the shadows rising from the ground, only this time they flowed into her hands. After a few moments, she held smaller, dagger-sized blades. Both formed into crescent-shaped scythes. Two of them. They had an aura of red reflecting in the flames, as if they too were on fire.
Before the wolf leapt into the woods, hauling Lydris and I away, the woman hovered next to my face. She held her hilt to my cheek.
"Rest now, beloved," she whispered wickedly before everything went black.
Chapter Thirteen
My eyes fluttered open as I came to. I was moving so impossibly fast that it felt more like I was flying than anything else. Dead, cracked ground soared beneath me. I noticed I was in pain before I noticed I was entirely in the wolf's mouth. The only part of me that wasn’t being covered in its disgusting drool was above my shoulders. Its teeth were tearing into my muscles through my clothes. The puncture points were immensely heavy, and any time I shifted, they ripped deeper. Lydris' limp body was in front of the woman, who was riding on the wolf's back. She was staring intently into the horizon.
"Let me go," I grunted as I struggled with the beast's mouth. I tried to use my arms, but I was too pinned to lift the line of fangs digging into my shoulders. Even my weak kicks to the inside of its jaw did nothing. I heard a hair-raising laugh above me.
"You don't want to be put down here," the woman said, gesturing to our surroundings. I forced myself to look up slightly so I could see. We were in an abandoned city, encompassed by cracked white towers that touched the sky. All of the buildings were made of marble, obviously devastated in some kind of attack. The architecture slightly reminded me of the Greeks, but these structures seemed worn down with time. I was less focused on the city
, though.
I was more focused on the demons we were passing. Every single one was unique, grotesque and deadly. My screams were smothered by my fear. Some were smaller than me, others were larger than the demons Kirin had fought so far. It was getting harder for me to breathe as a panic attack seized me. They weren't going to be able to rescue me. They wouldn't be able to make it that far, not a chance. This was the end of the line. I wouldn't last very long. Guess I wasn't going to make it home. My stomach dropped as the wolf leapt into the air.
It landed on its feet on a bridge above where we had been. The jump caused it to sink its teeth further into my flesh.
"Let me go!" I screamed out finally, repeatedly kicking the wolf on the inside of its mouth. Its jaws were getting tighter. I was only a moment from attempting to bite its red eye out.
"That's enough, Morgan," the woman said, hopping off the beast's back. She lifted Lydris' body over the only part of her shoulder that wasn’t barbed like a feather. "Drop her."
The wolf obeyed immediately and dropped me to the ground. I hit the marble floor, crying out from the pain. The massive fang-shaped wounds through my shirt were practically embedded in my shoulder. I stopped looking when I saw the white of my bones. They were deep enough to make me bleed to death, that was for sure.
The woman grabbed me by my hair and began dragging me toward a massive doorway. I desperately grabbed at her wrists, but she had no trouble pulling me into the building. Parts of my scalp were being torn off; it was nothing compared to the wounds from the wolf's teeth. She set Lydris down by the door before continuing deeper into the room.
It reminded me of a church. The marble ceiling rose into a giant steeple. At the top, it let in the light from the stars outside. The inside was barren of any furniture; it was just the stone walls and darkness. There were no other sources of light beyond the tiny glimmer from outside. Underneath the point of the steeple, on the ground, there were giant chains attached to the flooring. Chains that the woman was dragging me toward.
A large metal collar was embedded in the ground, and she lifted it toward me. It made no difference that I wanted to resist as she clamped it around my neck. I kicked, swiped, clawed, tried everything I could, but she had no issue handling it. The collar was leaning on my shoulder wounds, digging in and giving me no choice but to lean my head downward. It was so heavy, I wanted to rest my head on the ground. The woman clamped shackles onto my wrists and ankles next, all connected to chains attached to the ground. She wiped her hands together and left me there. I wanted to scream and fight, but the lack of blood made me weak. I succumbed to kneeling on the cold ground.
The woman came back with Lydris in her arms and the wolf following at her heels. The giant demon, Morgan, padded over and laid down behind me. I was half expecting it to rip my head off, but it didn't. It just looked at the woman keenly.
She laid Lydris down on the ground and removed the rag around his eyes. Thick, nasty blood clots and diseased tissue had grown over where his eyeballs had once been. Disgusting, green puss leaked from the left one. He smelled like a corpse; he looked like a corpse. Maybe Alex's final punch had killed him.
The woman pulled off her giant shoulder plates, boots, gloves, belt and weapons and set them against the wall. She took off various silver rings, her cloak, and the remainder of her armor. It came off like snakeskin. Underneath, she was wearing incredibly basic black pants and a flowing black tunic. She seemed as threatening out of her armor as in it, though. It was as if there was a constant shadow surrounding her that made the air cold.
She returned to Lydris' side with a small shiv in her hands. She poked a hole in his rags and ripped them off with a clean cut, exposing his naked, wounded body. I was in too much pain to care about his nakedness; I was only trying to stay conscious to see if they were going to kill me or not. Lydris' skin was beginning to turn light gray. His nails had been torn off or were close to falling off, both on his hands and toes. He had definitely not been washed in twenty years, I was willing to bet.
The woman took the shiv and sliced her wrist vertically. Her black blood instantly started pouring out of the wound all over Lydris before she was able to get his mouth open. Once he was situated, I watched her delicately position her wrist against his teeth. It only took a few seconds for him to jolt awake. He didn't move away; he wrapped his skeletal arms around the woman's wrist and pulled it as close to him as he possibly could. She responded by cradling him in her arms like a baby, letting him drink from her wound. I was disgusted to see his eyes changing. The rotten flesh seemed to melt off. It was as if the very cells of his body were working at an impossibly fast healing rate to recreate his eyes. He started making actual swallowing noises, hinting that his tongue had regrown as well. Lydris even seemed to be gaining muscle mass as he fed from her.
"I always knew you'd come back for me," he said when she ripped her wrist away from him. His voice was different now, slightly deeper and less psychotic sounding. She moved from underneath him and stood back up.
"You thought wrong, worm. I've merely come for your knowledge. I don't let those live that betray my trust," she said with obvious irritation. Lydris shuffled toward her and hugged her knees.
"You can't kill me! You know I have always been loyal to you. Maybe not to Vince, but to you! I've never loved like I've loved you!" Lydris said, kissing her legs. She kneed him in the face and used her foot to pin him to the ground.
"One and the same," she said, raising her voice. Lydris rubbed her foot and her leg with his disgusting fingers. His hands were needy, as if he couldn’t resist touching her.
"No! He was a traitor!" he breathed. "He sought his own end. You are the prophet. I have always followed the one, true prophet!"
The woman picked him up off the ground by the throat and held him in the air.
"You dare speak ill of him to me?" she yelled. Her voice reverberated off the walls. Despite being choked, Lydris managed to laugh and stroked her cheek.
"You are the one who killed him, not me, darling," Lydris said. Upon hearing this, the woman dropped him to the ground. She turned away.
"How did you do it, my Queen?"
Her eyes, despite their glowing, grew pained.
"I did what was necessary," she whispered. Lydris tried to hug her from behind, but she shouldered him off. "Do not touch me. Ever."
"No, tell me! How did it feel to make him bleed?" he asked, smiling as though they were playing. She rammed him in the throat with her arm, shoving him against the wall. The marble cracked with the force.
"Come on, Lazarus. You cannot expect me not to be curious!"
The woman was Lazarus, the one I had heard about killing that fabled Vince person! I remembered Codd's report. How did she get all the way across the ocean? I was in the epitome of "deep shit."
"I follow the will of the Void. It speaks through me. There are no other details you need," she hissed in his face.
"Did Lord Nakarius mention killing Maundrell at all? And that bloody Ash bitch?" he asked with wrath flashing in his eyes. Lazarus scowled before releasing him.
"Not yet. He is not worth the strength. Maundrell will come to me for the precious Nephilim. I will simply take Famine after he has fought off my army," she said, crossing to the other side of the room to rummage through her stuff. Lydris shook his head in disgust.
"You idiot! How could you leave him alive? I've seen you slaughter a hundred men by yourself, and you are worried about fighting that Maundrell bastard!" he yelled angrily. If anyone had a reason to hate Kirin, I assumed it would be him.
"Watch your tongue before I remove it again," she said sharply. Lydris rolled his eyes in response and sat down—right next to me.
He smiled and pulled my hair, forcing me to look at him. I furiously tried to swipe him away, but the chains held my arms to the ground. He laughed at my poor attempts to struggle. I was disgusted as he inched closer and started touching the parts of my skin exposed from the wounds. The thought of his dirty skin
near my wounds…
"Stop!" I yelled, squirming as far from him as I could. He giggled and tugged me back by the chains.
Lazarus looked up and peered at us curiously. She approached me with hesitance, but I was more focused on Lydris who was trying to peel my clothes off.
"Enough..." she whispered.
"You see it, too, don't you?" Lydris asked. He grabbed the chain connected to the collar and pulled me practically into his arms. Lazarus bent down next to us and stared into my eyes. She put her gray, cold hands on my cheeks and forced me to look at her. My face moved from side to side so she could examine every part of it.
"Immediately," she whispered, finally replying to Lydris. She leaned her face close to mine and inhaled deeply. Whatever whiff she got wasn't enough. Lazarus shoved Lydris away and tried pulling me into her arms. I thrashed my head and body around to avoid her widow's grasp.
"And Eve!" Lydris added excitedly. "A Nephilim! A true Nephilim! I doubt the universe has ever seen something so obscene!"
Lazarus was barely paying attention to him. She was holding my face so tightly it ached. I could feel her nails ripping my skin. Her other arm was forcing me into her grasp, unrelentingly strong.
"Leave us," she whispered. Nobody moved, besides my struggling. "Leave us now!" she yelled, her voice shaking the very foundation of the building. The giant wolf pushed Lydris' naked body out of the room. I heard the heavy stone door slam.
Lazarus tucked her face into my shoulder.
"You smell just like him," she moaned, rubbing her mouth on my ear.
I started to shake from a mixture of bleeding to death and fear. She put her black lips to the base of my throat. When she bit into me, it wasn't dark and romantic like literature made it seem back home. It felt like a wild animal was trying to eat me. My skin and muscles tore away with little effort. I let out a pained wail and tried to push her mouth away, but I couldn't. I was helpless to her attack. She was enjoying my suffering.
