The Wounded Knight

Chapter ~ 8#

The following day after finding a proper staff for Nix which currently was a newer shepherd's staff that stood at about my head height. She and I went out to hunt; though I was still curious what was going on in those woods. We ended up walking into the woods in question; and I soon felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking back I see Nix staring off in a direction with her ears raised as though she heard something. Looking in the same direction I see she was looking towards the mountains. I give her a nod as she begins leading me towards the direction she had pointed in earlier. Tracking through the forest for about half a mile I could begin to faintly hear something.

Though it was difficult to make out what the sound was in the beginning. At first it sounded like faint thumping; maybe some unknown animal hitting a tree? After another half mile we soon came to a clearing; and here I could definitely hear something. It was faint and un rhythmic; I leaned down slowly listening for where the thumping was growing louder and louder. After a few moments I could hear the thumping growing loudest as I stood near the center of the clearing. I looked at Nix and asked her if she could move the earth; she was only able to move a few feet of earth though as the spell she used wasn't accurate.

But it helped considerably as I rubbed my fingers against something after digging down a little bit further. When I cleared away the dirt I saw what was buried was an old wooden chest. A large rusted metal lock on it; I stomped at the wood around the lock finally knocking the top part of it free. The top of the chest flew open seeming to break at the things as a pair of pale arms had pushed the decayed chest top off with great strength. I stepped back as I noticed a similar figure slowly rising from the chest. The ghostly pale skin; the clothes that seemed to have decayed as well; shown by the various holes dotting it. Her long blond hair that seemed disheveled as she But the one thing that drew my attention more than anything else was the look in her eyes. A look I had seen in my grandpa and other friends. Her dark blue eyes look over to me slowly stood up.

empty like still water that hides a horror. Without hesitation she charged at me; and with inhuman speed she wrapped her hands around my neck and forced me down to the slanted dirt wall of the hole. I could feel her fingernails trying to dig into my neck; I tried punching her in the ribs but it seemed she lost her sense of pain. Feeling her grip growing tighter and tighter I took hold of her arms and broke them at the elbow. I then kicked her away to the other end of the large hole that had been dug. She let out an angry wale as she stumbled back to her feet. I kept my eyes on her as I watched Ice reach up from the ground and begin binding the mad soul into place where she stood.

I placed a hand to my neck; feeling something move down it. When I pulled my hand back into view I saw it was blood I had felt. I turned around and began climbing up out of the hole. The sound of the mad woman's wales was clear. She almost sounded like a wild animal that was operating on pure instinct. Back at the top of the hole I looked to Nix who quickly rushed over and began treating the small cuts I had gotten. Once some bandages had been securely wrapped around my neck like a collar I looked back to the woman we found. I guess I had tuned her out for a moment as the last time she was growling and walking. While now she seems to be speaking albeit mostly broken sentences that were filled with anger. I could make out a few words she was saying though what she was trying to tell me was hard to understand.

"Why... you protected us... why did you... give her back!!!" The last part she yelled out followed again by an animalistic roar.

"Hey Nix, can you make out what she's saying?" I asked which seemed to earn a curious gaze from her.

"Sir... I can't even understand if she's speaking a common tongue." Nix said which got me curious as well.

I looked down to the mad girl seeing her breathing heavily as she stared up at me.