Re: Zero Ghoul

19# The White Whale

Subaru was slipping from his seat. Not horizontally, vertically. Also, the earth dragon was complaining and shaking. In a split second, his mind processed what little information he had. He was falling, the carriage was falling, they were falling, REM WAS FALLING!

Rem!, Subaru cried out as he opened his eyes. Then he saw the carriage being turned around, Rem on the seats in front of him. She was awake, and shocked too.

- WE HAVE TO MOVE! - Rem shouted.

Subaru incorporated as he looked for an escape. The right windows showed the starry night. The big one on behind too. The front window, where the still tied earth dragon thrashed, showed only darkness, as well as the left windows.

- FROM THE BACK! - Subaru shouted, extending his hand to Rem.

She took it, and both struggled to move out of the progressively turning carriage.

Both jumped without thinking, and so, Rem and Subaru were airborne, many meters above the ground, dimly lit by the moon. Subaru glimpsed at his side, and managed to spot what seemed to be teeth as big as his torso. Could it be... No! His priority was Rem!

- Hold on to me! - Subaru told Rem, pulling her close.

She clung to Subaru, him lifting her so that he would be the one to take the blunt of the fall.

He focused on seeing the floor, and stretched his free arm towards it. There was no way he was going to fall upright. But perhaps he could spare Rem from any harm.

Subaru pressed Rem tighter against him, and shifted as the floor got closer, and closer, and closer. Until...

Subaru hit the floor first with his open palm, then his feet, and then his whole body. He impact squeezed all the air out of him, but his resilient body didn't suffer any heavy damage. And Rem was cushioned by Subaru's arm and then, body.

Wasting no time, Subaru let go of Rem, and looked back as he got up. And his fears became true.

A shiver ran down his back. A pale colossus under the moonlight. It looked like an enormous fish, or a whale. A month that could swallow a whole house. Protruding on top, a huge white horn, and over it, a pink halo.

The thing looked at them, a huge yellow eye that seemed to see through Subaru.

This, was the White Whale.

Also, it apparently had swallowed whole the carriage along the earth dragon. So making Rem run away was out of the picture.

Subaru glanced at her, slowly getting up.

- HIDE! NOW! - Subaru ordered.

Rem looked at him as if she had not understood him.

- I am not leaving you! - Rem replied joining his side.

The White Whale let out a lazy howl, as it motioned to face the two.

Subaru looked to the Flügel Tree. The roots around it were thick, the whale couldn't reach the tiny gaps among those.

- You are not getting in this fight! - Subaru told Rem as he hoisted her by the waist and ran.

- Subaru! - she complained confused and offended, held over Subaru's shoulder.

He dashed at the nearest intersection of roots. There, Rem could stay protected from any attack of the whale.

- Subaru, I can fight! - Rem argued. - You cannot win this alone!

- I can and I will! - he replied, getting closer to the narrow space between two thick roots.

- Let me help you! - Rem pleaded.