The Splintered

Power is a Double-Edged Sword

I found the cave three clicks from my direction, as I crouched next to a large tree. From what I could see the cave used to be a street of some kind to exchange supplies and such, but once the queen started stacking bodies it caved in. Not all the way but enough to ward off visitors. I waited a while to see if the queen would emerge from her hole but to no avail, the sunset was starting to dim the sky so it was now or never. I slid down the hill I was on and noticed a trail of eight corpses, they weren't bloody and looked deformed. Then I realized something, how are new abominations born? It clicked in my head too late as four of the eight corpses shifted into abominations, I drew my katana. They weren't wolves this time if sirens could fly that's the image I want you to picture, I was able to relieve two of their heads before they could crawl out of the ground. The other two got free though and started swiping their massive talons at my head. The first scratched my face and helmet, the force set me rolling to the ground. I rolled into a stance just the other to swipe my face again knocking my helmet off my head. Spitting blood to the side I yelled.

"Come ON!"

I was getting sick of this play with your food shit, one screeched at me and flew down with their claws. To their surprise, I half slid to the ground to glide the tip of my katana into their stomach, Their momentum did the rest as I sliced the first one open int rolled to a still stop on the ground as the second one took my shoulders with its talons and lifted me off the ground. Slamming my back into a tree it hissed to bite my head off but I dodged just in time as its teeth hit the wood instead, taking that opportunity I stabbed it in the neck as it screamed I Sparta kicked him but his grip was strong so ended up using him to break my fall. Just when I collected myself, the four other corpses had shifted and now were nowhere to be seen.

"That's just great-"

Something huge charged into me, knocking the air straight out my lungs. I gasped for air starting to crawl a bit, as four huge bears for abominations surrounded me in a circle. The part that scared me the most was they weren't attacking me at all, just continuously circling me like I was bait- Wait where has the queen been this whole time? Something shot out from the darkness of the cave, once it lodged in my back I yelled in pain as two or even three more veins of something dug into my spine.

You are different...

A shudder ran through me, lifted off the ground with ease I was turned toward the queen. She was a mix between a jellyfish, a woman, and a turtle. The venom she was spewing out through her tentacles were sending so much pain into me I started to go into shock.

You will survive, but you will not be the same once you wake.

Feeling a sharp needle puncture the back of my neck, I gagged feeling painful memories start to well up. My father, mother, and Ezra continued to flash over my eyelids in clear detail.

"No...Stop...STOP!"

I screamed, but I couldn't hear my pitch through the yells of different voices going through my head. After images of myself started to spread, the pain shot through my skull and bones I couldn't do anything but suffer. Then suddenly the queen dropped me onto the ground, mud and leaves stuck to me as I jerked going into a seizure. Blood dripped from my cheek and nose before my eyes rolled back behind my head.

NO! Ezra!

"NO! No!"

Gasping awake Dex was pleading for me to calm down.

"Hey! Hey, it's alright, breath."

My breaths were too shallow as I started to push back on Dex crawling away some.

"You'll die too! I-"

Dex unexpectedly backhanded me which lightly snapped me out of my panic phase.

"Alright, you seem to be listening now."