Sweat burning my eyes and gripping the axe, I stood there. For what felt like hours I just stood there waiting in the silence. I nervously shifted and adjusted my sweaty grip, straining my ears for any sound. Eventually, I started to relax as nothing else happened.
Just at that moment, I heard the faint thuds of footsteps from the street. In a burst of motion, I retreated to the kitchen and put my back to the interior wall breathing heavily. I picked a handheld mirror and angled it so I could see around the corner to the front door, my breath unsteady. It was too early! I was supposed to have more time!
The footsteps grew closer and closer. I lost my grip on the axe as my fingers slipped and dropped it on the floor. I leaned down and fumbled to retrieve it with one hand, mirror gripped in the other. I pointed my eyes to the floor in case it was close by and could see me. The footsteps stopped in front of my door and paused. Nothing happened. I strained my ears again, but everything was silent as the figure stood there without shifting an inch.
Finally, I heard the figure take a few slow, heavy steps to its right. I nearly jumped out of my skin as the wind chime started clanging as it suddenly unfroze. I sat there tensely peering through the mirror, trying to shift the angle so I could see. The next windchime in line unfroze. I could see the high visibility ribbon begin to dance in my view through the mirror. The figure passed by the window and I only got a glimpse of yellow plating before I hastily looked away and withdrew the mirror.
Shit, it was Enemy!
As Enemy continued to circle the house, I now realized my mistake. Now that I knew that Enemy was in the area, the windchimes were hurting me. I couldn’t hear Enemy's steps over the clanging chimes. If it doubled back then I would be screwed. With its muffled steps, I was now blind to what direction it would come from and what it was doing!
I froze in place, unsure of what to do. I wiped my forehead with my forearm with the hand holding the axe. I stood with the mirror in one hand and the axe gripped in the other. I wanted to move but I was frozen in fear that it had stopped and was just waiting for me to look. It only needed to catch me with a passing glance and a little focus to eliminate me. I stuck my hand back out around the corner and scouted out the main room with the mirror, but I couldn’t see Enemy anywhere no matter how much I shifted the mirror every which way.
*Crash!* I whirled around as the back door shattered into splinters and a thick arm burst through it. I fell to the side as little chunks of wood sprayed all over, several bigger pieces embedding themselves into the wall next to my head.
I lay on the floor and instinctively curled inwards. I hastily shifted the mirror so I could see, forcing myself to not instinctively look toward the source of the chaos. Another crack sounded out as Enemy pushed its way through the shattered frame of the door. As it stepped through it seemed to pause for a moment to take stock of the room. It stayed stationary as it glared into the mirror.
I let out an internal sigh of relief as nothing seemed to happen even as it stared me down through the mirror. I tilted the mirror in my hand to get a better look even as I scrambled to my feet. It took a step towards me but suddenly stumbled onto one knee as it went for another step to my surprise. It struggled in place for a moment, until in frustration it released an unearthly screech.
The pressure wave from its mouth emerged like a grenade blast and the shockwave lifted me off my feet and blew me out of the kitchen and out into the main room. I dropped the mirror, which shattered into little pieces as it landed on the floor behind me. The axe lay in front of me on the floor. Dust rained down from the ceiling and loose chunks torn loose from the force of the blast fell down.
— — — O — o — O — — —
Dazed, I stood and instinctively looked back into the kitchen, leaving the shattered mirror on the ground. Luckily Enemy was preoccupied and didn’t punish my mistakes. It was being pushed every which way, being battered by some kind of invisible blows from every angle as if from invisible fists. Eyeballs popped and chitin cracked under the rain of invisible blows. But even as I watched, Enemy shook itself and drew its foot into the air and leaned forward with all its body weight.
The blows continued, but Enemy accepted the hits from the invisible force as its foot descended. With a thunderous stomp, Enemy shattered the tile of the kitchen floor and cracked the concrete beneath. I stumbled and began to feel a sense of crimson tinted anger invade my thoughts. More rubble fell from the ceiling and I coughed as the dust irritated my lungs.
I ran forward and scooped the axe from the ground from where it lay among the rubble. I charged into the kitchen as the Enemy winded up for another stomp. The invisible blows seemed weaker than before, barely causing the Enemy to shift at all at this point. As I charged, I began a large overhand swing blindly. The axe plummeted toward Enemy and sliced off one of the oversized fingers as it hit a gap in the chitin plates from the arm raised to ward off my blow.
Not expecting the lack of resistance, I overextended and stumbled forward past Enemy, even as it screeched in pain behind me. I continued my motion until I caught myself on the wall in front of me. I turned around to see Enemy raising its foot for another stomp, ignoring its injuries and bleeding finger stump. I braced myself against the wall and drunkenly stumbled to my right as the floor shook as the stomp landed.
— — — O — o — O — — —
I coughed and turned back around as I readjusted my grip on my axe. Enemy’s leg was already lifting for another stomp even as I turned. Underneath its foot, I saw an unnatural red glow shining through the gaps of the shattered concrete.
Suddenly the invisible force came back with a vengeance and held Enemy’s leg in midair as it burst into motion again. Enemy struggled and pushed with its leg still raised mid-air. The invisible force released it resulting in a lackluster impact.
Enemy raised its foot again.
The invisible force stopped the flow at the last instant. The two forces struggled, but as time passed the invisible force slowly weakened. Enemy’s foot raised for one final time and stomped, but this time the invisible force was barely able to slow the blow at all.
The world shook as the blow landed.
I looked through the gaps in the concrete, past the red light, and saw something beneath the shattered concrete. As soon as I saw it, my world narrowed to only the intruder and defending the Seed. Red fog filled my mind and animal rage pulsed deep in my chest. A faint screech in the distance echoed my rage. An eye on Enemy’s chest met mine and a mental bridge tried to form. The rage severed the connection as soon as it formed with a mental slap and screech in the back of my mind. The bridge formed and dissolved several times a second as I charged the enemy, hardly aware of what I was doing.
The remaining eyes on the creature all narrowed at once in frustration as it focused on me. As I approached, it swung its arm at me even while still winding up for what I knew would be the final stomp. I ducked to dodge its clumsy off-balance swipe and whipped my axe upwards in retaliation. It leaned back to avoid the blow, but I managed to slice off several of the whipping tentacles on the bottom of its face that didn’t withdraw fast enough. It hissed in pain.
I shifted the axe in my grip and brought it behind me to follow up with an overhand blow. Just as the blow was about to land, I fell to the floor as Enemy’s foot slammed into the floor and shook the world again.
With a screech of triumph, Enemy stared down at the seed exposed for the whole world to see. Enemy kicked me with its foot as I lay on the floor, punting me into the closest wall. As I flew through the air, the axe slipped from my grip and flew away.
As I impacted the wall, I felt something snap in my chest, and as I took a breath something clicked. I stiffened and hit the floor hard. I leveraged myself upwards into a sitting position. I took a few more shallow breaths each accompanied by the click of shifting bone. I tried to stand but my legs were weak and my head was fuzzy. My left leg was twisted the wrong way, with sections of bone piercing the skin. There was blood everywhere. I was bleeding. But the rage pushed me onward with growing intensity as Enemy stooped over and reached its arm down toward the exposed Seed.
I weakly reached out and felt my right hand weakly brush part of the axe handle next to me. I looked and it was just out of reach. My fingers, slick with blood couldn’t find purchase on it as I went to grab it. With a grunt, I leaned over and fell to the floor again, finally close enough to get a good grip. My fingers curled around the axe handle.
I could hear the impacts as the Enemy hit the floor over and over in the center of the house to clear the final few concrete chunks between it and its prize. One chunk of concrete was sent flying and went through the wall next to me. I rolled to my side and coughed as I used my free arm to crawl closer to Enemy.
Behind me, I dragged the axe. It scraped and jumped as it moved over the uneven floor, and I struggled to keep my grip on it with one arm. As Enemy went to throw concrete pieces away they would occasionally stick like glue as the invisible force held them down.
I heard the enraged screech from outside again, this time from the end of the street. I was right behind Enemy now crawling and weakly pushing with my good leg for maximum speed. But not fast enough. Another blow and one last concrete chunk was thrown to the side, and the black chitin was exposed.
NO!
I scrunched into a ball and slightly sat up into a squat with my bad leg dragging behind me. With my good leg bunched under me, I pushed upward with all my might and desperately swung the axe, burying it in the invader's leg. With a screech, it toppled to the side.
It flailed out with its injured arm as it fell and pulverized my other leg in mid-air and sent me spinning away. My vision blackened at the corners. By now, I barely felt the pain as my mind only fixated on my goal. I rolled over as Enemy crawled forward and reached for the Seed, the axe still embedded in its leg. I reached out as if to plead with it.
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NO!
Enemy reached the edge. It raised its fist.
NOOOooOOoO!
Its fist came down and the black chitin of the Seed shattered and gave way to the pink flesh beneath. The blow punched through and little pink chunks went flying every which way, splattering the ceiling above the hole and Enemy’s face. The little chunks quivered like little pieces of gelatin. Sharp agony shot through my whole body and I spasmed in the wave of pain that immediately followed.
Through the waves of pain, I barely took note as the front door shattered behind me. Ally burst into the house and rushed into the kitchen. My thoughts were fuzzy. With amazing speed Ally rushed forward with an agonized screech and leaped over me. The running kick impacted Enemy just as it twisted around to inspect the axe embedded in its leg.
With a meaty *Thwap*, Enemy went flying. It smashed through the walls and went flying into the backyard, leaving a massive hole behind it. As I lay there, the ceiling of the kitchen began collapsing around me as the exterior wall began to give out. Ally leaped out through the hole in the wall to follow Enemy outside. My vision faded more at the corners as chunks of rubble rained down around me.
Everything felt so distant.
— — — O — o — O — — —
I crawled toward the hole in the floor unconsciously as a cataclysmic fight continued outside. It just felt like it was the right thing to do. Everything dimmed, and my world narrowed as I dragged myself forward on my arms over the rubble. My mangled legs dangled uselessly behind me.
As the screeches and crashes continued outside I reached the pit in the floor exposing the Seed. I turned my head and saw a glimpse of the fight outside in flashes. Ally was now smaller than the invader somehow. Enemy had swelled in size, looming over Ally now. However, Enemy still seemed heavily injured. It limped on its leg and seemed uncoordinated. It's blows unfocused. Most of its eyes were punctured except near its head and one of its arms moved stiffly at its side. In the short exchange I watched, Ally kept piling on the blows and Enemy was continuously pushed back.
Just as I thought the fight was won, Enemy pushed back with a second wind. With a surge of strength, the battered invader pushed past its opponent, throwing it to the side by shoulder checking it, and rushed toward me. The rubble from the back wall and collapsed roof stood in piles blocking its route. One blow of its fist shook the ground and sent the rubble in its way flying in every direction, clearing its path toward me.
It barely slowed.
Ally was in hot pursuit but it wouldn’t reach us in time. Enemy just had too much momentum by now. I tipped myself inside the pit with the Seed and rolled down the slope. I shifted so my body laid over the Seed protectively. I lay there for a fraction of a second, in pain, until some instinct prompted me to stick my left arm into the exposed pink flesh below me. Pink strings like long thin worms peeled off and implanted themselves into my arm as I watched my doom approach. The longer I watched the more entered until the flesh of my arm roiled like boiling water. Worms emerged and leaped from the limb before diving back into the flesh, leaving my skin rippling like it was water in their wake.
Enemy’s head became visible from within the pit for a moment before it slammed full force into the slope of the pit behind me, unable to stop its momentum. As it slid down the rubble, momentarily stunned, I struck. With a burst of strength, I rolled over and pointed my left arm writhing with the pink worms at Enemy’s face. With the crunch of bone and flesh, my arm exploded into tiny chunks, and the mass of worms was blasted directly into Enemy’s face in a solid cylinder.
The worms went into a feeding frenzy as they landed and burrowed into Enemy’s flesh. After a moment, each worm would reemerge in a spray of gore before diving back in to feast again. Enemy swatted them and twisted around to smack them all as they dived in and out of its body, but it was almost totally out of functioning eyes now. Its blows were uncoordinated and clumsy. It protectively lifted its arms to protect the four or five remaining eyes on its head. But it was almost fully blinded and thrashed drunkenly as it attempted to stand.
I looked at the stump where my arm used to be.
It wasn’t bleeding. How odd.
Enemy began twitching as it stumbled towards me, collapsing when it was only a few steps away, worms still burrowing through it. I let out a sigh of relief.
Wait! My eyes widened as the twitching grew more intense and Enemy rolled forward down the slope toward me. The worms all pushed out of its flesh and crawled away in every direction. Enemy thrashes grew more intense like it was having a seizure and I felt waves of heat begin to waft from its direction. Ally rushed in and leaped into the pit between Enemy and the Seed and me. Ally took a step toward Enemy, whose heat was growing more and more intense by the second. With both hands, Ally reached out and grabbed Enemy by the ankle. A large chunk of wet flesh fell from Enemy's chest and squirmed on the ground.
I felt my skin begin to burn.
With a heave, Ally spun around and in perfect hammer throw form launched Enemy out of the pit and back outside. With a deep ‘WHummmmmfffff’ that I could feel in my chest Enemy exploded into an intense fireball that consumed the backyard. The flames washed off the frozen neighbors' houses like water off a duck’s back, barely affecting them in their frozen state. The wall of flame approached us as the grass burned and unfrozen soil from the yard went flying with the pressure wave, scraping the earth clean. The flames reached the walls and began to consume everything in the kitchen in moments.
For a moment, the fire passed over us, not sinking into the pit. But after a moment, a wave of darker reddish flames formed above us and rushed down into the pit all at once towards us. Ally took a step forward and held out an arm and all its eyes squinted at once. To my shock, the flames roaring towards us suddenly diverted away as if there were a bubble shaped invisible barrier around us.
The reddish flames flowed around us until it raged all around us. Tongues of Flame would suddenly jab inwards, only to twist away after Ally glared at them. After several seconds, Ally dropped to its knees but kept its arms raised. Finally, like it was being crushed by a giant fist it slammed into the ground face first. The barrier cut off and all I could hear was the roaring of flame in my ears as the raging Flame seemed to pause for a moment before rushing inwards all at once.
Ally stood and screeched with all its might. The sound wave scattered the reddish flames away from us. It seemed to scream as it huge chunks of it were scattered and destroyed. For a moment, I thought Ally had won. But from above us, a wisp of flame survived and struck out toward the Seed. But as it made its way rapidly toward the Seed, Ally threw itself in the way. The fiery blow landed on Ally's chest. The flame took its rage out on Ally and burned up its way up its chest, to its shoulder in a line of flame. As Ally thrashed, the flame unnaturally leapt down and burned Ally’s calves and ankles until Ally fell over and began rolling on the floor.
The fire suddenly gave off less heat than before.
Ally screeched in pain.
The flames looped over Ally’s back while the creature continued to thrash and roll in pain.
The fire grew dimmer and colder as time went on.
Finally, the flame gathered in one spot on its shoulder, leaving charred lines behind as it gathered. Ally rolled again, and as soon as Ally was at the right angle, the flame launched itself as a fireball directly toward the exposed Seed. All the remaining flames that burned on Ally snuffed themselves in an instant, joining with the fireball as it left.
The fireball flew as if in slow motion. It was going to be a direct hit.
At the last moment, the pink worms I had thought had fled revealed themselves. They had crawled back and regrouped in a ring near the Seed amongst the rubble. As one, they emerged and threw themselves into the fireball as it approached the Seed. As each sacrificed themselves, the fire maintaining the fireball grew ever more dim and cold. The fireball sputtered weakly, the flames flickering now.
But there were no more worms to weaken it now.
It kept moving, growing closer to the Seed by the second. Somehow I knew that if the flame reached the Seed then the flames would burst into renewed life and consume us all. The flame grew closer and closer… then with a blast of air, a chunk of concrete flew over my head and blasted through the ball of flame.
The fireball dispersed into a cloud of floating embers.
The small cloud of dispersed flecks of flame was less than ten feet from the Seed now. With a whoosh of air, the floating flecks recondensed back into the fireball.
But the flame had grown weaker.
The fireball lurched into motion, moving toward the Seed slowly in short bursts of movement. It lurched side to side as it moved like someone stumbling to the finish line after a marathon.
Wham! Ally threw another chunk of concrete through it and dispersed it again. The fireball condensed again, now smaller and barely bigger than my thumb. It floated almost directly above the Seed now.
The thumb sized flame drifted down, floating this way and that in the wind. It almost resembled a candle flame now. I watched as it danced above me. Ally threw another chunk of concrete. The fire dimmed until it was barely visible, barely giving off any light, but managed to dodge enough to avoid the projectile.
The flame moved closer.
Five feet away now. *Whoosh*! This time the concrete chunk missed. I could barely see the flame through my rapidly narrowing vision. The flame was descending still.
Four feet.
Three feet.
I glanced over at Ally and met one of its eyes. A telepathic connection formed. I looked back at the small ember two feet above the Seed. I couldn’t believe this was how it would all end. I sensed dull triumph emanating from the spark as it made its final plunge to the Seed. I felt Ally pull on our connection before it released one final projectile. The triumph of the spark quickly morphed into panic as the spark used its last energy to blast downwards.
But it was too late for it. The concrete chunk blasted through the flame, blasting it into oblivion. The projectile carried on and shattered into a million pieces as it blasted into another pile of rubble, sending up a cloud of dust. The dust suffused the area like fog. I sensed the will of the flame struggle for a moment as it struggled to reform before it finally failed and was snuffed out forever.
Above me, the mundane flames merrily consumed everything around me. They danced and laughed in the ruins of my home. The smoke wafted upward into the open sky as I lay there, feeling numb. I glanced over at Ally, the Eldritch's eyes were all closed as if it was asleep. It lay there bonelessly, limbs splayed and covered in severe burns.
As I looked away, the unnatural focus of the last few minutes faded away and my vision began cutting in and out again. My thoughts became more muddled. The darkness closed in. I rolled back over and stared down into the pink flesh of the seed for a moment. Something washed over me, and in a moment of clarity, I stuck my remaining arm into the pink flesh again. This time there were no worms. The flesh pressed inward like it was taking a firm grip on me. A firm handshake for a business meeting. Or like compression socks for my arms...
As my consciousness finally faded, I could dimly feel myself being pulled down into the Seed. After a moment I was now surrounded by warmth on every side. It was comforting, like a warm blanket. I felt safe. I relaxed and began to drift off to sleep. I felt a wave of melancholy wash over me. Because I somehow knew that this would be the end of Serenity.
And despite the horror... he had good memories here too. A sense of wonder at the world frozen in time. Spending hours just watching the arrangement of falling leaves unmoving. Laughing as he ran around and unfroze everything around him and watched them fall to the ground. Watching Ally's joy at him presenting it with utensils. Just relaxing in relative peace after a long week at work. I realized that I was sad to see it go. After all of these years of subtle resentment, I had forgotten my initial wonder. How ironic, that he could truly only appreciate it now that it was too late...
The darkness took me, and the Seed began to unfurl...