The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 62

Just before their bodies collapsed, Hailey looked at the man laying at the other side of the room again. She looked at the emptiness of his eyes, at the lack of color in his face and she imagined it being Ash. She saw him, his dark blue eyes void of all the emotion it usually held, a dead ocean. Hailey forced her focus back on the real Ash that wasn't dead... yet.

Their swords clashed with a sound so loud it rang through the whole room. They stood for a while, motionless, their swords above their heads, in a competition of pure strength. Ash was already shaking but Prince didn't even show a drop of sweat. He seemed to be only entertaining this little show. It looked like he could push Ash away anytime he wanted.

Prince soon got bored and took one of his swords to slash it at Ash's calf. Ash screamed with pain, staggering backwards. As an unexpected immediate recovery, Ash slashed a wide arc that should've cut at Prince's lower stomach. His dodge was too fast. He became a blur that moved behind Ash and cut the back side of his other leg.

Ash dropped to his knees but this time he held back his scream. It was only a muffled groan. Still, it was more than enough to tell Hailey how much pain he was in.

Prince was walking back, giving Ash space to get back up, taunting him. Hailey prayed Ash wouldn't let his ego get the best of him. As it turned out, it was a good thing she got her prayers done, because she was about to have her hands full.

The door was still open, and some demon must've heard the noises. It was slowly stepping inside, not immediately seeing who was there. The monster was a slithery, reptilian creature completely covered in slimy scales. It had a long smooth tale that was swooshing around, and its feet and hands ended in claws longer than Hailey's fingers. Its mouth hung open to reveal razor-sharp teeth dripping with even more slime. Its yellow slit-eyes slowly passed over where Prince was and focused on Hailey. It started slithering towards her.

It took her a moment to remember she wasn't completely helpless. She grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow. Her hands were shaking, the point of the arrow going back and forth.

Breath. Focus. Hailey told herself. Pull... Aim... Shoot!

She missed. The arrow clattered to the ground next to the reptile. It noticed and quickened its pace. There was only enough time to shoot one more arrow, then the thing would be too close.

Try again. Breathe in, breathe out. Pull. Aim. Shoot. This time she got the thing straight in its eye. At first, she thought it hadn't affected it because it continued towards her but then it stumbled and dropped down, dead. Hailey let out a sigh of relief, even though the monster was lying scarily close to her. If she moved her foot, her toe would touch it.

Hailey looked at the gaping hole in the wall. The reptile demon wouldn't be the only one, more monsters would come. She had to close the door but even if she had any idea on how to work the touchpad, she would be awfully exposed.

There was a screeching from just outside, then the sound of claws scratching the walls. The moment Hailey saw something furry coming around the corner, she shot another arrow. Except, it wasn't aimed at the demon coming around the corner but the touchpad. It buzzed but then the door started closing. It wasn't very quick but apparently, the demon was either surprised by the movement or not interested enough to react quickly because it didn't come in.

They were encased in darkness. Hailey now realized that this might cause a problem for Ash. Who knew, maybe Prince could see in the dark. Luckily, both of them were equally surprised by the sudden loss of light. Then, as if controlled by a sensor, the ceiling lit up and the room was illuminated again. Hailey could've marveled at how realistically the artificial light resembled natural light, but she was too distracted by Ash's condition.

It wasn't going well. Prince was very good at finding Ash's weak spots, places that his gear didn't properly protect. Every time Ash struck out Prince was long gone, drawing blood from yet another part of Ash's body.

Ash's reactions were getting slower with every wound. Actually, the pace with which his reaction time was declining was shockingly rapid. Even well-trained humans would not have been so badly affected. Then Hailey understood. Prince's blades were poisonous. It wasn't a fault of Ash's strength. In fact, it was probably a miracle that he was still up and fighting at all. Well, up was a broad term because Ash was falling back on his knees again.

Ash managed to get his dagger stuck in Prince's shoulder, but he wasn't going down and Ash would be dead soon if Hailey didn't do anything. While Prince groaned with irritation and pulled the dagger out, Hailey aimed and shot an arrow clean through his arm.

"What the―" Prince exclaimed. His eyes were wide with surprise, an unfamiliar and pleasant sight to Hailey.

Ash took advantage of Prince's moment of distraction by sucking on the wounds he could reach and spitting out a mixture of blood and a bright green substance.

"You think you can get away with that," Prince said, his voice shaking with anger. "You idiotic―"

Hailey didn't need to hear the end of his sentence. She shot another arrow, aimed at his heart. It was a well-armored spot, but her goal was not to hit him this time. She knew his reflexes were too quick now that she lost her element of surprise.

Prince caught the arrow with his bare hands and spun it around to throw it back at Hailey. She ducked just in time but when she got back up, Prince was standing right in front of her. With the butt of his sword, he hit her in the face, and she went down instantly. Her head hit the ground with a skull-breaking force and the world started spinning like crazy.

Vaguely, Hailey saw Prince raising his sword above her but then someone tackled him football-style in his side, and he was thrown off his feet.

Hailey's vision cleared just enough for her to see Prince getting up slowly, shaking with uncontrollable rage. He looked at Ash, who was getting up too but with far less strength than his opponent. Prince picked Ash up and flung him across the room as if he didn't weigh anything.

Hailey gasped. She heard bones cracking when Ash hit the concrete floor; it was the most horrible sound she had ever heard.

Now, Prince was walking towards her. Both Alex and Ash were unconscious now and Hailey had nowhere to run even if she would've had enough strength to get up. She tried scrambling backwards anyway. Her back hit the wall.