DEMON HUNT

Chapter 20: The lord of the snowy mountains

        The atmosphere becomes tense as Mundo stares down the blade pointed at him. Mario's palm is covered in Humberto's blood, the bleeding continues. Mundo is a step away from them. Mundo seems to be weighing his options. Jolie doesn't seem to care about what is going on.

Mundo: (thought) This guy is definitely no pushover. No matter how you read it. However, is he fast enough to reach me before I get to those guys? That sword he's wielding was already a problem in the hands of that kid. This guy brings a whole new threat to the picture. Am I suddenly outnumbered? No! Never! Numbers never mattered to me. It won't now.
That guy killed Talon. I don't care about anything else. I'll make him pay! I'll make him...

   Lisandro interrupts once again.

Lisandro: It's a cruel thing, what you did to that kid.

Mundo: Huh? Giving me a moral lecture now, after killing my brother?

Lisandro: Asking him to choose between his comrades, and making him bear the guilt for their loss. That's cruel...even for a demon.

Mundo: If it irritated you so much, why didn't you try to stop me then?

Lisandro: I couldn't. I was at Tora.

  Mundo becomes surprised.

Mundo: You mean to tell me that you were at Tora when that was happening? You jerk!

     Lisandro mutters to himself again.

Lisandro: Left hook, right jab and left kick.

     Mundo charges at Lisandro, but Lisandro dodges his attacks almost effortlessly, leaving Mundo in confusion.

Mundo: What just happened?

    Lisandro suddenly appears beside Mario.

Lisandro: I'm afraid he won't make it. Please spend his last moments with him as best as you can. No one deserves to die lonely.

       Before Mario could nod in response, Lisandro was gone. Mario whispers to Humberto.

Mario: Anything you want to say?

Humberto: Hmm?

Mario: Anything you want to say?

Humberto: I'm gonna die, aren't I?

     Mario doesn't reply. Humberto smiles.

Humberto: You can tell me. Dying doesn't seem so bad after all. My back hurts. I bet I'm all covered in blood. Make a joke about it, Mario.

   Mario replies in a low tone.

Mario: No. I can't.

Humberto: I'm really going to die...

   Humberto clutches Mario's shirt with both his hands, making it difficult for Mario to apply pressure to his wound. Humberto loses his cool as tears run down his cheeks.

Humberto: I don't want to die. Please help me, Mario! Please. I really don't want to die. Please...

      Humberto takes his hands off Mario's shirt as he returns to a resting position, sobbing more silently.

Mario: I had the chance to save at least one of you. I was asked to choose between you and Yash...but I didn't. I couldn't do it. I couldn't make the hard choice. Now...now, you're both paying the price for my indecisiveness.

Humberto: What if you had picked Yash? What if you picked me? Someone would have had to die either way. However, maybe that would have been better than having to bleed out. I can almost feel my blood cells depleting.