Ezra looked into the glowing eyes of the girl kneeling beside him, shuddering as her hands wound themselves around his neck. Trying helplessly to raise his own hand to peel hers away, it uselessly dangling in the air, fingers bent at impossible angles, their insides more akin to powder held lovelessly together by ruptured threads and flowing crimson. Pain was completely absent, as if his body deemed it unnecessary to tell him just how broken down he was, or perhaps it could simply not tell him anymore.
“Patience has limits, little mongrel.” The slightest hint of frustration, bearing itself with the disdain in her voice, her constant Cheshire smile at its weakest yet. She leaned in closer, her voice losing its soothing quality. “You have run amok for long enough. The novelty I assigned to you for your constant audacity is running very thin,” she pauses for a second, the two Wormheads around now daring to come closer even in her presence.
“So much potential in you, and yet you would rather die among filth?” Her eyes half-closed; there was actual frustration in her voice. “Hundreds have seen their worth and taken action to grow. What is keeping you? The goodness of your heart for your fellow students? Don’t try to make me laugh.”
She rose from her kneeling position, looking down at Ezra, her arms crossed, the air of dismissal she tries to conjure clashing helplessly against the rising bitterness in her voice.
“Is this all you choose to amount to, then? Fine. The wretched, stubborn little thief dies. Alone.” She turns around, but not before giving a promise. “Oh, and that little Lamb you so heroically assisted? I will make sure to watch as he matches your fate. To think all you did was to prolong his suffering. I will tell the ones smart enough to listen to take their time with him.”
Out of all the things she tried to break him down with, it was the mention of someone else dying that rekindled some of the wrath Ezra was experiencing in bursts ever since this insanity started. He tried to find the strength to get up. He tried to tap into what he had before without even knowing what exactly he wanted to influence.
The girl turned around, her usual smile all but gone. “This?! This is what garners your wrath? This is what turns you towards desperation? You hopeless little fool... to lie to yourself even now.”
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
The lower bodies of the Wormheads began to shudder, almost as if trying to contain the excitement of finally being allowed to rip into Ezra again, but with a quick look from the girl, they stopped in an instant.
Ezra tried to repeat the same thoughts he had back when he escaped her for the first time. That unending need to defy, to escape. But his thoughts couldn’t drift anywhere but self-preservation.
His body refused to listen, too broken to be commanded by him. Frustration having grown ever rampant , the slight buzzing of the creatures, like flies
“This is even better than I had hoped, seeing you struggle like this.” She appeared in front of him again, still no sign of the smile she had before. “
“You only deceive yourself. Selflessness is death. Compromises are rejections of potential. If you wish to die, then at least impress me before you do.” The more she spoke, the more she seemed to be disappointed that Ezra wasn’t listening, that he didn’t understand.
“I have seen you.” She said it almost quietly. Genuine. The meaning of it completely lost on Ezra.
“Sorry to disappoint,” Ezra said through gritted teeth, still attempting to get up, new scratches on the palms of his hands from helplessly grinding them against the ground again and again. “Why don’t you heal me up and see how much of a pain in the ass I can be?”
Had Ezra looked at her, he would have noticed that she was taken aback slightly, having been used to only receiving short insults until now.
Suddenly that buzzing again, followed by an angered question aimed towards them. “You wretches, can you not — “ Her intended insult cut short by intense gurgling coming from further away, followed by sounds of wet squelching and heavy lashes against metal.
The commotion caused a second wind for Ezra, now rolling to the side, noticing that the Wormhead behind him had disappeared, and with it the girl as well. Her presence vanished completely, unlike the presence of the creatures that had only gone out of sight.
More clashing. Intense screeching and then swearing. First from afar, then closer.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Lyle tumbled out of the shadows, face covered with some fabric, a slight tint of yellow in the surrounding air. The moment he spotted Ezra, he lunged towards him. Lyle got behind his back, grabbing him under his arms.
"You idiot,” Ezra blurted out, coughing violently as he was pulled along. “Shut up! Let me think!” Lyle shouted, struggling to carry Ezra with him.
Ezra, meanwhile, tried to think of ways to help, even if only a little. “Backpack… cleaver.” The words seemed so easy, yet only gurgles came out. Breathing became harder and harder until there was a constant burning, followed by a sudden umbral embrace.