18

First step in a new world II

Ise

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Their feet slowed down as they arrived at the edge of town. They couldn't believe what they saw. Burning beams, collapsed buildings, and corpses of goblins littered the path forward. Chaos surrounded them.

This sight resembled the gates of hell. A corpse of a giant wolf marked the end of the village. Blood and ash covered the street. And in the distance, the edge of the forest had changed into a collection of raging torches. Trees were burning with an unnaturally strong fire.

But their shock was for the person that stood in the center of this hellscape.

A woman clothed in black with a blood-red knife.

This figure encapsulated death, even more so compared to that fearsome goblin.

Between her legs, the muscular captain lay on the ground. The cloak of the wolf's skin had long since been lost as they saw its skin for the first time. Carvings. Symbols of a language completely foreign to them were carved on its entire body. And the countless old scars were now accompanied by new ones.

In front of their eyes, even before they could reach them, the overwhelming black figure was cutting into this creature like a madman.

***

“TASE ME!” Alduin shouted with the last of his strength. “NOW!”

The gruesome sight in front of her and his powerless voice overwhelmed Ise. Her body shivered. The creature, struggling in Alduin’s arms, would have devoured her if it wasn't for him.

Even one leg was enough to push itself to the edge of the forest. All while in a deadlock, it still showed such strength. They had almost arrived at the burning trees, but watching this goblin escape was no option.

Alduin's eyes were firmly locked onto her. She knew what he meant. In a storm of ash and blood, she was faced with a cruel choice.

Her body moved. The black box, something the goblin was hyper-focused on, evaded the sharp leg that aimed at her and landed on Alduin.

‘Please survive!’ Ise's heart tightened with hope that this would be enough to kill their enemy.

A gruesome groan sounded out. Alduin started bleeding even more as his muscles tensed up past their limit.

The monstrous creature could no longer move its neck had been completely locked. Its tongue hung out of its throat and its veins started popping as it could hardly breathe.

And then a crack sounded out.

Ise jerked her head up with hope. But a horrific sight waited for her. The shoulder that locked Alduin’s chokehold in place had snapped cleanly. Alduin’s grip had loosened. Yet Ise’s hand didn’t move, as much as she wanted to pull the black box away from Alduin’s body.

Kicks were thrown as the goblin spasmed. But now it had a way out. The goblin pulled its arm free from his chokehold.

However, the lock around the goblin's arm and neck had changed. Now, Alduin's entire strength was focused as his left arm tightened on the unguarded goblin's neck.

Then a second snap could be heard. The sole arm that Alduin used to choke the goblin had succeeded. The neck of the goblin had broken. But before she could pull away, another crack sounded out. With the last strength the goblin had exerted, Alduin’s forearm had snapped.

Bones became visible. Two sapient beings had finished their deathmatch.

Completely exhausted, the pummeled Alduin was nonresponsive. Yet Ise could not breathe a sigh of relief.

“Please don’t die!” Ise pushed the goblin away from Alduin’s body and turned to look for something.

But the moment the goblin landed, it had already sprung forward. Large sharp teeth protruded from its mouth, and even with a crooked neck, a gaping thigh, and two immobile arms, its pure viciousness kept it moving forward.

And Ise broke down.

Much the same as Alduin.

Ise completely blanked out and ran to the goblin.

The spearhead had come loose as the goblin broke free.

And now she finished what Alduin had started.

“Why don’t you just fucking die!” Ise lost her mind.

A timely kick against its body sent the goblin a distance away from Alduin. The teeth that almost tore through his throat had narrowly missed their mark.

And this time, the receiver of the kick had changed. With a groan, Ise collapsed to the ground.

Her shattered rib cage made her cough up blood. Her kick had been completely inferior to the one she had received. Blood slowly dripped down her stomach, a white bone pushed out of her stomach.

But in turn, the goblin that hunted her had disappeared. What lay there was an exhausted vicious creature that seemed to know its end was coming. Yet this was the same reason why it pushed itself so far.

A creature like this wouldn’t take defeat lying down. Especially when it still had a mission to fulfill.

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Like a cornered rat, the goblin sharpened its claws and prepared itself to launch itself from his leg.

But Ise was faster, a black box that was turned on flew from her hand toward the goblin.

Unfamiliar with its effect as a projectile weapon, the goblin used its leg to dodge this box.

Yet that same maneuver proved to be fatal.

Ise, whose eyes only death conveyed death, jumped without regard on top of the goblin who lost its balance.

“You should have just died.” The passed-out Alduin had triggered something in her. Everything she had been through up until now accumulated until this moment. And finally, it burst.

Her eyes, which were naturally narrow and sharp turned lifeless as they stared down with madness. For the first time, the goblin’s viciousness had been trumped.

Her dagger descended. Ise stabbed with a swift motion. Her hand gripping the remaining handle of the speartip, it was like slamming her fist on the table. The edge of the blade landed on the pupil of the goblin.

The menacing beast had been dominated. The blade only sank deeper. Right until the bottom of her fist hit the cheekbone of the goblin.

And her dead eyes stared at the remaining eye.

Only now a small smile showed on her lips.

“You should have just died,” Like a broken record she repeated the sentence. And like this, she stood up and walked over to a knife that finally struck her vision.

The menacing agent of death returned. The goblin staggered forward trying to escape into the forest but Ise pushed it down.

As if it had never been a threat at all, the large kitchen knife descended.

“AAAACKKKKKK!” hatred started to be submerged under the fear of death and the sheer pain it felt.

“You should have just died.” A gruesome smile was the last thing this creature saw as his other eye was pierced.

Ise’s dead eyes merely looked down. With the pull of her arm, the blade followed the muscle and completely descended towards its knee.

From its two eyesockets, tears of blood poured down.

“The arrows you shot,” Ise coldly said, “Can’t be compared to this.”

What once was an imposing creature, the epitome of a hunter, was stabbed for the third time. The blood-red hunter lay there, and the dried-up blood was painted over with a new coat of red.

The last remaining hope of the goblin had been destroyed. A puddle of blood had started forming. The shocking movements the goblin made started lessening and even more, the almost constant shrieks were no longer deafening.

“Now you suddenly want to die?” Ise spoke up as she pulled the blade from its knee. “Where is the spirit you showed earlier?” She had completely lost her mind. Her pain and shock completely shut down her rational thought.

Every sentence she muttered was a stab into the goblin. Every limb had been cut open. In both its arms the bones could even be seen.

“I haven’t even paid you back for all the people you killed. All those lives lost, only for you to lay here crying.” A small shiver could be heard in Ise’s cold voice.

“My neighbour’s daughter died from an arrow. Her mother was bitten to death by one of you beasts as well.” Every description ended with a stabbing motion.

Her escape had come at the cost of others’ lives. It wasn’t her choice, but when she ran through the street and saw the corpses, the reality she tried to rationalize bombarded her.

She stopped talking.

Her movements slightly paused.

Her gaze grew more intense. Every convulsion of this beast was an assault on her own existence. Merely the thought she ran away from this thing. The thought that Alduin lay there, having to sacrifice himself for a mere chance of killing their predator.

A balance had broken in her mind, an endless darkness engulfed her. Yet the chaos in her mind was not reflected on the outside. A very calm motion was made.

‘If you’re here, I might as well find out what you are.’ The sharp blade slid over the body of the goblin. Every muscle was closely followed by the tip of her blade.

Every place of least resistance was pierced with an effortless motion. And the cries that almost died out started coming back.

‘That must be a nerve.’ Ise calmly observed. The enemy Alduin saved her from had disappeared from her sight. What lay there was only a husk of a creature.

The rage and hatred she felt had turned into something else. The tears that almost came left without a trace. Only the cold ghastly stare of the woman was left. Standing above it. Using this moment to its fullest.

Time seemed to pass by slowly but it didn’t take long for Edward and Leon to arrive.

Both men were out of breath, the last shriek of the goblin had pushed them beyond their limits.

Especially Leon, having passed both Veleda and Theo, he managed to arrive right behind Edward.

“What?” Leon was the first to speak out. Both men stood there utterly in shock.

A large goblin, one with strength unequaled by men, lay there powerlessly.

That sight in itself was hard to believe, both men came prepared to fight yet there was nothing left. Only the once harmless woman was stabbing the creature like a madman.

“ALDUIN!” Edward looked past Ise and ran forward toward Alduin.

The young man was writhing in pain. Unbelievable convulsions made his muscles seem to have a life of their own.

Like this, everybody had caught up and the treatment of Alduin and Ise began.

***

“He won’t make it!” A broken voice rang out between sobs. “He needs treatment right now!” Lydia instructed as she tied Alduin's wounds.

His heartbeat was slowing down. His response rate was diminishing rapidly.

"What should I do?" Edward tried to remain calm. Alduin’s struggles were decreasing in strength.

“Cloth! I need to bandage his thigh!” Lydia pressed down on the blood-soaked leg of her son. Sharp nails had left a deep mark. “Veleda, brace his forearm!”

Alduin was tied onto a stretcher, their movements had been rapid the moment they arrived. Yet everybody was visibly shocked at what they encountered.

Leon had to watch the surroundings but his eyes couldn’t focus. Two people were dying in front of his eyes.

Alduin was receiving emergency treatment but Ise was also covered in blood.

Her hands held a bone protruding out of her stomach. Yet the blood on her arms and face wasn’t hers. Looking at her hand which was pried open by Theo he could see a large kitchen knife.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what transpired here. No, it was something he witnessed with his own eyes.

“Leon," Edward spoke. He couldn't help but sympathize with the young man who stood there unmoving. But there was no time for him to be unresponsive.

"Leon!" Edward grabbed Leon's shoulder and jolted him awake.

"What? uh. What?" Leon stuttered. From his pale face, it could be seen that he was visibly disturbed.

“We’re moving towards the doctor's office, run towards the church and get Alpons!” Edward pushed his back as he heard Veleda shout at him.

"Grandpa," The brace was completed “He's shaking again!" Veleda couldn't stop crying as she moved her hands over Alduin's body.

"His back, His back won't stop bleeding," Her quivering voice said. She saw the stretcher gradually dripping with blood. No, everything was already covered with blood. Her hands, the edges of her white sleeves even marks on her face after wiping her tears.

“We’re moving now Lucas, Theo!” Lydia held her son as the stretcher was lifted up.

They were lucky the doctor’s office was a recent addition to this town and was located at the edge, almost undamaged by the gas pipe explosion.

Edward held his rifle close. He didn’t say a single thing but walked closer to Ise to support her.

Moving towards the emergency room, Ise’s eyes finally stared at him. Dark and cold, a sharp gaze, yet it looked through him before landing on Alduin once more. Only now, a semblance of emotion could be seen in her lifeless eyes.

But in Edward's eyes, the only thing differentiating her from a dead person was the fact that she was standing on her own legs. Her ghostly appearance had turned mute the moment they arrived.

But it was undeniable, the reason they survived. The reason Alduin still hadn’t died. It was all thanks to her.