November 6

“Wait… Execution. Is it… because of Kyo not killing me that day?” I almost thought out loud.

Without thinking, I dropped to the ground and rested my body on my arms placed behind my back as I faced upwards staring into the nothingness above me.

“Because of me, huh? Yeah. It must be. Why do I feel like this? I barely have lived in this world and already feel like I have done a major wrong even though I don’t understand what is going on.” I was smiling the whole time as I said that but inside I could feel the cracks beginning to show, almost like a hammer striking frozen plastic.

“Listen up, Mr. Tealwoe. Is it because of Kyoko saving me? Is it because she wouldn’t kill me? Why would the king want to kill his own daughter? It must take a big man to want to do that.” I started to regain my senses as I slowly raised myself back up, swaying and staggering as if in a deep trance.

I removed The Dark Veil for now as my hand, if by reflex, pulled out the dagger from before. Lazily, I held it in front of me, swaying along with me.

“I cannot answer that, you do not deserve it. We Tealwoes are proud beings; you need to show that you’re not as pathetic as you look in my eyes after that stunt. You even gave yourself a better chance with that last attack; maybe it will be easier than you think.” He was mocking me now.

I felt my head tilt downwards but my vision shot upwards as my teeth gritted against itself in anger.

The beast started running full force as his right arm hung limply to his side, listlessly flying in the air behind him.

The beast was either smarter than I first anticipated or just really stupid because he decided to swing the aforementioned broken arm at me.

I dodged the attack but was quickly met with the left. I felt and heard the crack of two of my ribs, the pain felt as if I was struck by a moving sedan that had no intent of stopping.

There was also no stopping my body from flying to the right as if I was a puppet with no string attached. The blood found its way out of my mouth onto the dirt road under me. Sadly the feeling of my ribs beginning to heal themselves wasn’t any better than the pain of breaking them.

Now, I am pissed. My teeth were still tightly locked as I cracked my knuckles and lengthened the blade of my dagger. Long enough to make the enemy rethink his strategy, he did not let his guard down a second though.

He let out a fierce growl but it only made me angrier. I started running at him, the pain was still burrowing into my chest but I blocked it out.

The Tealwoe moved left rather quickly, which was almost unbelievable due to his size but still wasn’t enough to throw off my attack. He is facing a tracker/marksman after all.

Out of the corner of my eye as I made a sharp turn, what looked like a shiny object was heading closer. As my body transitioned into the light of the enemy, it was too late. The object had hit my head at an unbearable force.

As the blood started to run down my face, blurring out the vision in my left eye, I started to hear the footsteps grow closer. I managed to wipe some of the blood off of my face but sadly it kept coming.

My reflexes seemed to slow but were enough to throw my blade up in defense as the shielded arm of the enemy started to bear down on me.

I don’t know how I was still standing but the vision of Kyo started appearing in my mind, a support system maybe? I guess the movies weren’t lying.

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That thought and vision brought a smile across my face and a little chuckle escaped my lips. The Tealwoe did not question this but must have taken it as a challenge as he started to bear down with even more weight but I could see that it was energy that he did not have to waste as he started to shake.

Still chuckling I looked up at the enemy, left eye closed and a smile on my face. His body language did not change much but I could tell his strength was starting to falter.

I used this opportunity to roll to the right and used the time until his arms hit the ground to gain some offensive. I used my speed as my main strength and ran at the beast with my blade held high over my head as I swung down into the already broken arm of my enemy.

The arm fell to the ground as if a log falling onto the forest floor, my gaze fell with it. The object that permeated in my vision was not of the arm but of an object, glistening and round. As my vision centered on the object, I realized that it was a steel object in the shape of a… helmet?

I looked up at the monster in front of me and noticed his face in full. A scar across the left eye and a permanent scowl laced across that barren forehead bearing two silver eyes that glowed anger and shined hate. When looking into the two voids, I was finally able to see its pain.

Even though the pain should have been excruciating, it still managed to swing at me with all his weight resting now in his functional arm. I barely dodged it but the jagged metal of his arm brace snagged my right shirt sleeve and tore it off.

I didn’t mind it. Actually, it seems to give me more mobility.

I finally have the upper hand in this fight, now to attack offensively. I started to run at the now injured animal, he decided to take another swing. As was in the downward swing, I took the opportunity to slide underneath the attack and his legs.

I brought back The Dark Veil and turned to thrust the end blade deep into the middle of the beast’s spine. I then pushed the button and saw as blood shot with the blade out of the front of the animal.

The blade returned and clicked back in place. I quickly jumped a few feet back in defense as the Tealwoe fell backwards with a sputter and thump.

The silence after the attack was almost painstaking, for the air around us and my own conscience.

I walked over the enemies face, kneeled down, and asked him one question before he left this world as a Tealwoe.

“Forget the question from before, I have a new one. Was it worth it to murder this many people in such a quiet village?” I asked in a sympathetic voice while looking into the scar ridden left eye of the death that lay beneath me.

“You already… know our… motto. We only… do what we… are told. We are… told to kill, so we… do. So yes, it was. My… people will… live on due… to this. Isn’t… that a… decent enough reason?”

“No, not even a little,” the beast drew its last breath and the words I really wanted to say rang out, “murder is never the reason. Killing should only be a last chance option, if at all.”

Murder is slaughter without reason; killing is the stage before murder and after self defense.

I closed the beast’s eyes, stood up, and headed towards the store.

As the thoughts in my mind started to return back to normal, I started to struggle keeping them consistent.

Am I becoming a monster?