The wind stilled for an instant and the rustle of the petals abated with it, leaving the only sound in the forest of flowers the delicate drip of blood as it rolled down the huge man’s fingertips and pattered to a small pool at his feet.
“You weren’t here before,” Diego said. He spoke as if he tasted every word as it left his lips, choosing them carefully and intentionally. The scent of blood wafted so strongly from the bodies around him that even Alex’s nose could pick it up. It mixed with the sweetness of the pollen and honeyed smells in the air, nearly making him retch on the spot. Diego didn’t even seem to notice it. “You aren’t from the town.”
Alex didn’t let himself take a step back. Showing fear to a predator was as good as lifting his jaw to expose his throat and closing his eyes to wait for the inevitable end — and there was no doubt about it. Diego was a predator.
Even if the bodies hadn’t been strewn across the ground at his feet and blood painted across the pale canvas of his body, it would still have been as obvious as the color splashed across the petals of the flowers above them. Alex could see the hunger in Diego’s beady black eyes, the desire in his taut muscles.
“What makes you say that?” Alex asked. Claire moved behind him and hunched her shoulders, but it wasn’t out of concern. It took her time to use the blood she’d gathered to change her form. She was trying to keep out of sight as she shifted for as long as possible.
“I memorized the faces of everyone that adapted to the new world,” Diego replied. He looked down at his right hand and rubbed his fingers together, looking mildly surprised at the blood covering his hands. His gaze lifted back to Alex. “You weren’t one of them.”
Ah, yes. The actions of a very sane man without any psychological issues whatsoever. How the hell did this guy get to Novice 6 already? He’s literally twice my level!
“I’ve been traveling,” Alex said. He longed to give Glint an order to attack, but he wasn’t even sure what order to give yet. Sending Glint at the man now would just result in the small monster getting crushed to a paste. This wasn’t a fight that could be won through brute force. He needed time. “How’d you hit Novice 6 so quickly? That’s impressive.”
A gentle smile passed over Diego’s features and he wiped his hands off on his shirt, leaving long, bloody streaks across the already soaked and torn material. “Found out that killing people is just as good as killing monsters. ‘Specially the strong ones. So I did both.”
I suppose there’s no point denying it when I literally saw it happen.
“I can tell,” Alex said. Claire was still shifting behind him. If Diego noticed, he didn’t care. Perhaps he didn’t think there was anything a Novice 3 and 4 could do to him. He’d probably killed a number of other people their rank already. “This isn’t your first group, then?”
Diego didn’t stop smiling. He just nodded. “You’re different from the others.”
“Is that so?”
“You haven’t started running or screaming yet,” Diego said. He drew in a deep breath through his nose and let out with a satisfied sigh. His eyelids fluttered and his fingers twitched. “Are you like me?”
Exactly what I want to hear when staring down a literal psychopath.
“I don’t know if anyone’s like you,” Alex said honestly. He’d managed to keep his tone even thus far, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the act. Every fiber in his body was screaming to pick a choice. To run or to fight — but to do something. Standing here and talking felt like dragging his nails across a chalkboard.
“Phil always said that too.” Diego’s head tilted to the side and hands clenched. The grass beneath his feet, soaked through with blood, squelched as he shifted his weight. “I think he was right. I wish he didn’t break so easily. I didn’t mean to break him. He was just so… fragile.”
There’s no doubt that there’s something seriously wrong with this guy. I’m not sure he’s all there in the head… but you’d probably have to be if you can do this to a group of random people.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Alex said.
“Oh, it’s okay. I got stronger after he died, so it’s fine,” Diego said. He pressed a red hand to his chest. “He’s with me, now. In here. Just like the others.”
“I… I’m sure he is. You must be tired after doing so much work. Maybe you should sit down and take a nap?” Alex suggested. “The grass looks really comfortable, and the breeze is great on my skin.”
“That’s fine. I’m not tired. I’ve never gotten to be outside for this long before,” Diego said. Something in his gaze shifted and his eyes refocused like those of a cat staring down its prey. “You remind me of Phil.”
Something in Diego’s voice changed. It wasn’t the tone — he sounded physically the same. It was far more primal than that. Alex didn’t know what it was, but tingles raced down his spine as something deep within him screamed a warning.
“Glint, protect me!” Alex yelled.
At the same instant, Diego burst into motion. Blood splattered as he drove a foot into the ground and launched into a charge. His enormous form wasn’t anywhere near as fast as Alex was, but he still moved with terrifying speed.
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Glint ran to meet the charging train of a man, his mirrored claws shimmering in the light. It was like watching a mouse challenge a gorilla.
“Prioritize survival!” Alex called as he grabbed Claire and threw both of them to the side in a sprawl of limbs to get out of Diego’s path.
It proved to be the right move. He had no clue if Glint managed to reach Diego, but the ground beneath Alex bucked under the force of Diego’s heel driving into it. He rolled over just in time to see the huge man skid to a stop just feet away, his enormous mitts already reaching out for them.
Claire’s sword carved down for Diego’s arms, clasped in clawed hands. A ripple of silver passed across his skin as her sword struck him and it rebounded with a resounding clang. She staggered back and Alex leapt to his feet.
Glint descended upon Diego an instant later. The monster leapt from behind him and clawed into his back, ripping and tearing at the huge man’s shoulder. His attempts failed to do anything other than scratch the gray that washed over the huge man’s body in response to the attacks. Diego roared and spun, forcing Alex to duck down to keep his head from being separated from the rest of his body and sent spinning through the air.
He didn’t even try punching Diego. It would be like trying to fistfight a brick wall, even without whatever magic he had that let him harden his body. Alex just jumped back, keeping out of the large man’s reach while trying to retain his attention.
“Have you never tried fighting someone that could actually hit back?” Alex taunted as Glint leapt away from Diego’s grasp, narrowly avoiding getting crushed.
Claire slashed at him again, but once more his skin turned a metallic gray and her weapon rang off. She bounded back with impressive speed, easily avoiding Diego’s next attack, then dashed at him again in a conjoined attack with Glint.
Alex saw the man shift his weight a moment too late. He went to call out a warning, but the other two were already upon Diego, who hadn’t even tried to dodge out of the way. Both of his hands flitted forward like striking snakes.
He caught Glint between them. Several loud, metallic screeches rang out, followed by a crack. A flicker of pain flashed over Diego’s face and he cried out. He yanked his hands apart and dropped Glint’s crushed body to the ground, even as it transformed into a stream of energy and raced into Alex’s body.
Blood ran from several deep puncture wounds in Diego’s palms. By squeezing Glint, he’d accidentally impaled himself on the monster’s sharp body, and his defense had failed to protect him.
He’s only resistant to long, thin cuts, not sharp stabs with a lot of force behind them. Good job, Glint.
“Stab him!” Alex yelled.
Claire drove her sword for Diego’s side without a second of hesitation. He twisted to avoid it, but the weapon’s point still managed to bite an inch into his flesh before a huge hand slammed down onto the sword and sent it spinning from her grip.
Diego reached out for Claire and she weaved back. He barely even seemed to notice. The huge man grabbed at the wound in his side and let out a whimper. “You stabbed me!”
Alex dashed forward and drove his palm into Diego’s back, calling on Glint’s powers as they coursed through his body. Cold metal met his hand and a mirror shard thrust into Diego. It only managed to penetrate his defenses by half an inch, but that was enough to draw a cry of pain from him.
Diving to the side, Alex hit the ground with a grunt. Wind rushed over his head in the wake of a deadly blow. A shadow passed over his head and he threw himself out of the way.
Diego’s foot slammed down with far more force than any man should have been able to muster, no matter his size. The ground shuddered and a rock drove into Alex’s jaw, causing his teeth to crack against each other painfully.
Alex rolled to the side and kicked at Diego’s leg. A spike of glass jutted out of his heel and punched through the bottom of his shoe before biting into Diego’s hamstring. The large man screamed and lurched back.
The air around the mountain of a man rippled in a haze. Alex’s hair stood on end and he backpedaled. Claire did the same. Diego barely even seemed to notice. He lifted a foot and drove it down into the ground with a furious cry.
A deep rumble shook the ground. The earth ruptured. Spikes of jagged stone erupted in a circle around Diego in a wave, rising up to impale anything around him. Alex tripped over a protruding root as he tried to dodge out of the way and went down with a pained grunt.
The spikes ground to a halt just a foot away from him and he scrambled back to his feet, scanning for Claire. She’d also managed to avoid the attack and had climbed over the jutting spikes.
Diego hadn’t noticed her yet. He’d bent over, seemingly having forgotten them, and clutching his wounded leg. Claire didn’t wait for him to remember their fight. She extended a hand toward him and her eyes narrowed in concentration.
The blood covering Diego’s body rippled. It peeled away from him like a sheet, melting together into a thin spike. That finally caught his attention and he lifted his gaze just in time for Claire to send it driving straight into his chest, aiming for his heart.
He lurched to the side at the last second and the spike slammed home into his solar plexus, drilling a thin hole into it. The blood splattered back across him as Claire’s control over it vanished and a primal roar ripped from Diego’s lips.
Alex shifted his footing, swallowing. There was almost nothing left about Diego that resembled a human. The man’s eyes were wide and bloodshot. His breathing came in snarling, ragged gasps. He stood hunched, his hands flexed into claws at his sides as he jerked his head left and right, looking between Alex and Claire.
It’s like he’s feral. What was that saying about not trying to fight something backed into a corner with nothing to lose? He’s wounded badly, but that’s not enough to end the fight.
Alex formed a long, thin mirror spike from one finger and snapped it off. He held it in one hand and reared back, preparing to throw it. He wasn’t exactly a great shot — but Diego didn’t know that.
Claire extended a hand and the blood around the big man swirled again, rising to form spikes all around him. She held them suspended in the air, waiting to make sure she actually landed a finishing blow instead of wasting her energy again.
And then the three of them waited. The room was so silent that Alex could hear the drip of blood against the grass and the thump of his heart in his ears.
This wasn’t a battle between civilized people anymore. Perhaps it had never been. Their primal instincts had been laid bare and were the only thing that remained.
Nobody spoke, but the same truth had imprinted itself into every single one of their minds. Whoever made the first wrong move would lose — and whoever moved first was the most likely to make a mistake.
And so they waited. They waited to see whose self-control would crack first. To see who would waste their move and expose an opening.
They waited to see who would die.