“Is that seriously all of them?” Victoria whined as she rested her spear across her shoulders, tilting her neck side to side to relieve some stiffness. “I was just getting into the zone.”
“If that’s your excuse for only having nine kills to my twelve, it’s not very good.” Saphira replied with a cheeky smile as she watched the blood evaporate from her blade. Victoria sighed and scratched the side of her head, setting the back end of the spear on the ground.
“What was the bet again?” She asked, looking at Saphira with one eye closed.
“Loser buys snacks.” Saphira answered, and Victoria looked up at Samuel with a nervous smile.
“Hey Sammy! You said your family has a bakery right? Can you hook me up with some treats?”
“Don’t you go dragging me into this!” Samuel snapped back. “You lost, you pay! I was never part of your-” he fell silent as he looked past the girls, his eyes narrowing.
“Heads up! One more entering from the forest. North side!”
The girls turned in the direction he called and readied their weapons. The air slowly filled with the sound of steel scraping against stone and the slow, ragged breaths of an Afflicted. The sounds made the hairs on the back of Saphira’s neck stand on end, and she felt her heartbeat pick up. Something felt wrong.
The creature came around the corner of a house and Saphira felt a cold sweat form on her brow. The Afflicted stood on two legs, roughly two meters tall with thick stretched muscles all across its body. Its face and jaw had stretched forward like that of a dog, yet its skull and eyes were human, long hair spotted around what little skin remained on its scalp. But it was the arms that made Saphira’s blood run cold through her veins; the left arm was muscled like the rest of its body, with a large, savage looking clawed hand at the end. But the right arm was mutated with bulging muscles and tendons, a spiked bone protruding out of the elbow, and what should have been the hand was instead a mess of throbbing muscles with five wickedly curved blades sticking out of the pulsating flesh; like a hand made for slaughter.
“Ah ha!” Victoria sang as she spun her spear around, adapting a low thrusting stance. “This one looks big! Let’s make it interesting and say it’s worth five points!”
“Victoria wait-!” Saphira turned to her comrade to stop her, but she was no longer beside her. A dust cloud and a stream of blood hung in the air where she had been standing. A house behind Saphira swayed as its exterior wall was crushed, and Saphira’s eyes lingered on the blood as it splattered to the ground. Slowly they followed the blood back towards the house, and Saphira’s heart began to pound in her ears as her eyes trailed up Victoria’s legs and waist, then the trail of guts leading to the Afflicted as it clutched Victoria’s upper half in its clawed hand, its blades pinning her to the splintered wall behind her.
Victoria’s eyes glazed over as she reached forward blindly, her spear fallen to the ground, blood running from her mouth. Without a sound she went limp in the creature’s grasp. The dust around them settled, and Samuel screamed in rage and sorrow at the sight of his teammate.
The beast turned to the sound of Samuel’s wailing, dropping Victoria’s body as it did so, and took a step forward.
“You bastard!” Samuel screamed as he fired every arrow he had the creature, each one pinging harmlessly off of the beast’s skin. The creature’s legs tensed up, and Saphira turned to Samuel.
“GET OUT OF THERE!” She screamed as the beast exploded off of the ground. Samuel leapt from the roof top as the beast crashed into it, scattering wooden debris all over as the Knight tumbled through the air, a deep gash across his left eye socket; the eye no longer there. He hit the ground and rolled, running towards Saphira as the creature turned to face them, exhaling a violet mist from its mouth as it stared them down.
“What… what the hell is that thing?” Samuel panted. Saphira’s knees shook as she watched the creature slowly lumber towards the edge of the roof.
“It must be… a Terror…” She stammered, her mind racing through what Professor Deer had told them about the Awoken Afflicted. She looked over at Victoria again, her body filled with dread and terror as she saw the spear had reverted back to the weasel, the tiny Spirit using the last of its strength to crawl back to its Master’s hand. Saphira tore her eyes away, tears burning through as they dripped from her lashes.
“Victoria…” Samuel muttered, his hands shaking as he gritted his teeth. “I will avenge you…” His grip on his bow shook as he turned his eyes up at the Terror. “I will make this fucker pay!”
Saphira shielded her eyes as a sudden blinding light burst from the left side of Samuel’s neck. Peering between her fingers, she saw that his Brand was the cause of the light as it grew and shifted, changing into the rough image of a falcon’s head.
“He Ranked up!?” Saphira thought in shock. Samuel lifted his bow up as the Terror hopped down from the roof. Gripping the bow’s string, he pulled it back as the wind roared to life between his hands, creating an arrow out of the vortex of wind. The Terror rushed at Samuel as he loosed the arrow; the missile striking the beast with the explosive force of a tornado, throwing Saphira through the air. She tumbled across the ground a ways before coming to a stop against the wall of another house. She shielded her eyes from the dust that the wind had whipped up as she got to her knees. She heard something thunk into the wall beside her as the winds died down, and she opened her eyes to see Samuel looking at her with wide, empty eyes as his head teetered on the ground next to her; his body impaled on the Terror’s claws.
“No… no way…” she muttered as the Terror bellowed and whipped its arm to the side, throwing Samuel’s body from it. Saphira could now see that Samuel’s attack had dealt a heavy blow to the creature; its right hip and side were all torn apart, several exposed bones clearly snapped off and a large chunk of meat missing from its waist. It was clearly moving much slower as it turned and started to make its way towards her, and Saphira got to feet, her hands shaking as they gripped her sword. She stared in horror at her hands as she tried to steady her blade.
“Come on…” She begged herself as the Terror slowly approached her. “Come on!” In her mind, images flashed before her eyes from her past; a blade cutting into her face, a bald man’s demented smile, a mansion on fire; a kind man’s outstretched hand.
Saphira felt a wave of calm come over her body, and she sidestepped the Terror’s claw as it thrust it towards her. She rotated around its right side and swept her blade through the beast’s skin, drawing several lines of scarlet through the air as she moved. The Terror spun around with its claw and Saphira ducked under its attack, her blade slicing into the beast’s legs as she dropped. It struck down at the ground with its left hand, and she rolled to the side, rising to her feet with her blade readied.
“No time to think. No time to waver. I hesitate, I die.” She told herself as the Terror charged again. Her blade parried the beast’s claw as it pushed her back. Her eyes fell once again to the wound on the beast’s side. “Samuel… thank you.” She thought to herself as she crouched under another swipe from its claw and rushed past its left side, drawing several more cuts on it. She turned back to the beast as it whipped around, dragging its left hand through the ground and throwing up a cloud of dirt and dust. Saphira leapt to her left to avoid the cloud, only to have the claw come swinging at her in mid air.
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“Shit!” She screamed as she brought her sword up to block the attack. The claws sparked against the steel, and Saphira was thrown through the air. Her lower back smashed into the upper edge of a house’s roof, and she cried out in pain as she ragdolled through the air before hitting the ground heavily. Saphira got to her knees and winced as she felt her left wrist was dislocated. Placing the handle of her rapier between her teeth, she grabbed it and popped it back in place with a muffled shriek. She took her sword back in her right hand as she tested her left, making sure it was still useful. She got up to her feet and looked around to see where she had landed; she wasn’t too far from the street where the blacksmith’s shop was. The area was much more open than where she had been before. The house she had crashed into exploded as the Terror came charging through it. Saphira leapt to the right to avoid the debris, only to leap into the waiting left hand of the beast.
“Is it learning my movements?” She thought as she was snatched out of the air and slammed down into the ground. Saphira coughed as the impact drove the wind from her lungs. The Terror looked down at her for a moment before raising its right claw up, pointing it at her throat.
“Damn it! I can’t move!” Saphira tried to free her arms from the Terror’s grip, but couldn’t. “I’m sorry everyone…” She thought as tears filled her eyes, squeezing them shut. “I’m sorry.... Gerand.”
Yet the blow never came. Instead she heard a strange scrapping sound, followed by a gruff growl. Saphira’s eyes slowly opened. She saw a rough round shield over her head, pushing the Terror’s claw off to the side. She blinked as several drops of red blood dripped onto her face as she turned her head to look at her rescuer.
“It’s no time to be taking a nap there, lass!” She heard a rough, masculine voice speak as the Terror slowly backed away, relinquishing its grip on her. The old man from the square now stood over her, a heavy single hand axe in his right hand, its blade buried in the Terror’s collarbone as the shield in his left hand pressed against the creature’s right arm, one of its claws digging into the man’s upper arm as he had been unable to fully black the attack.. “Up you get girl! Or is that title of Knight just for show?” The man barked, and Saphira rolled away from the two and rose to her feet, brushing the tears from her eyes.
“Thank you.” She said, readying her sword.
“Don’t thank me yet lass,” the man said as he pushed away from the Terror, pulling his axe free from its neck. “Thank me when this thing is dead and we are still kicking.”
“Abraham!” A voice called from down the street. The old man and Saphira turned to the source and saw the Blacksmith and his group standing at the mouth of one of the streets. “Hang on!” The Smith shouted, “We are coming to help!”
“Get your sorry arses the hell out of here before I kill you myself!” The old man, Abraham, shouted. As though to agree with him, the Terror faced the mob and let out a blood curdling shriek. The group turned and ran back up the street, the Smith shouting “All yours Old Timer!” before vanishing from sight.
~
Draco swung his blade in a broad arc, cleaving an Afflicted’s head from its neck as the echoes of a shriek caught his ears. Both he and Jethro turned to face the direction the sound came from, each boy wearing a worried expression.
“That’s where Saphira’s group is.” Draco said, sweating running down his face.
“Sam and Victoria are there as well,” Jethro said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.
The two turned back to the hole in the fence as two more Afflicted lumbered through.
“Go,” Jethro said, gripping his axe. Draco looked at him in surprise.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to leave our assigned area?” He said, a taunting grin on his face. Jethro ignored it.
“That sound we just heard,” he said, narrowing his eyes at the Afflicted as they slowly approached, “I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”
Draco shrugged, though in his mind he fully agreed.
“You got this?” He asked, turning to leave.
“You were just in the way.” Jethro replied with a grin.
Draco laughed and took off down the road.
~
Saphira watched on in awe as Abraham battled the Terror. The old man’s dark skin glistened with sweat as he fought, axe tearing through skin and bone as the shield blocked and pressed back against the beast. The Terror’s large claw swung upward at Abraham’s chest, and he caught it with the shield, the force throwing him back through the air. The old man landed in a crouch, sliding back along the road next to Saphira.
“I never should have retired,” he panted, sweat running from his face as he stared at the beast with a grim smile. “I’ve gotten slow.”
“Are you alright?” Saphira asked, and the old man spat on the ground.
“Nothing a cold ale won’t fix.” He replied, rising up to a standing position, towering over the teen. “We have to get rid of that damn arm.” He continued, eyeing the large clawed limb. “It can strike deceptively fast with it. If it wasn’t for that wound in its abdomen…” He trailed off, giving Saphira a grim look.
“What about your arm?” She asked, eying his wound. Abraham eyed the small hole in his upper bicep and shrugged.
“I have had worse. Tis but a scratch.”
The Terror appeared to get impatient as it let out a shriek before rushing towards them. Abraham ran forward, meeting its charge with his shield. The two collided with a loud metallic clang as claws struck shield. The beast’s left arm swung around at the old man again, and his axe met it with a wet cracking sound as the blade bit deep into the flesh and bone.
Saphira rushed around behind Abraham, dashing out from the left and poising her rapier.
“Silver Stitching!” She cried out as her blade rapidly struck at the Terror’s right arm, perforating the thick muscles with dozens of holes from the girl’s rapid-fire stabs.
The Terror roared out in pain and turned away from the elder warrior, taking a backhanded swing at Saphira. The girl thrust her rapier through the back of the creature’s hand and, in a low twisting motion, avoided the attack and twisted the Terror’s arm around, giving an opening to the beast’s main weapon for Abraham. And he took it.
With his shield arm free the older man spun, striking the shield into the Terror’s left arm, knocking it back. Continuing his spin he slammed the axe edge into the creature’s wrist; or at least where he assumed its wrist would be. The attack did not go in very deep, so Abraham followed up by slamming his shield down onto the back of his axe. The blade bit a little deeper, but still failed to cut through. And the Terror was done with the pain the two warriors were subjecting it to.
With another mighty shriek it took a leap back, pulling its impaled claw towards itself as it did so. Saphira was yanked off her feet as she kept her grip on her weapon, spinning through the air as the creature twisted its arm back. As it landed back on the ground a few feet back, it struck Saphira with its left arm; the impact hitting the teen at an odd angle while she was upside down in the air. Her left elbow and shoulder popped under the strike as her arm was pressed in against her side.
She felt her ribs crack before the blow sent her flying through the air, her sword sliding free of the Terror from the impact; though her grip on it slipped as she was momentarily stunned from the pain. Her world was a tumbling whirlwind as she flew through the air, and she tried to brace for the impact with the ground, but her mind was too far away to get the message to her body. When she finally came to a stop, it was not on the hard dirt that she had been expecting, but instead in a soft yet firm grip of two arms under her lower back and behind her knees. She heard a familiar voice let out a grunt as she felt herself bump into a muscled torso and, after her surprise had passed, looked up to see the reassuring face of Draco.
“Draco….” She said, stupified, “what are you doing here?”
“Oh you know, thought I’d come for a cup of tea, try a local delicacy, kill an overgrown pest. Sweeping you off your feet was not on the list of to do’s though.” He said with a charming grin. Saphira sighed and pushed her right hand into his face as she let herself out of his hold and returned to her feet. “Where’s the rest of your group?”
Saphira froze at these words, her eyes going wide momentarily. Her back shook as she reached to her dislocated arm and shook her head.
“Wha…” Draco’s voice seemed distant. “You dont mean they’re-”
“That thing….” Saphira cut him off sharply before snapping her shoulder back in place with a wet ‘pop’. “We were no match for it. If Samuel hadn’t wounded it before it…. I wouldn’t still be here.” She said through gritted teeth before her elbow was also snapped back in place with a nasty crack.
Draco’s eyes rose from his Squad Captain’s back to the Terror, which gave out a vicious shriek as it turned to face the two. His eyes narrowed as his expression turned dark; baring his teeth as his sword reappeared in his hand in a flash of fire.
“I’m going to turn this bastard into charcoal!” He growled.