The Veil: Reimagined

Chapter # 39

"Hey, (Name), we have a new task for you, the information about the assignment is in these files," Haqir threw the folder on the study table, in surprise, she yelped back in her chair, "you alright?"

"Yeah," she picked up the file, pretending as if nothing happened, "wait, it says right here, that I'll work with a companion?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?"

"No, not at all," she said, her lips stretching into a smile. With a nod, Haqir left her and she glanced down at the paper reading the name out loud, "Aahan Ashlings,"

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The Atmosphere is silent, and the crickets chirping can be heard now and then. She walked down the muddy path in the woods, that is supposed to lead her to her companion for today's mission. She knows that the man is a member of one of the elite clans, but never met him directly. The reason behind this is that (Last Name) is not on friendly terms with the said clan. But apparently, it is deeper than unfavorable feelings for one another.

"Ewww," some indecent animal pooped right on the path, that she stepped on without noticing, "Not my combat boots!" she scrapped the foot along the rough bark of a tree.

But soon she heard an unsettling screech that brought goosebumps to her arms, increasing her heartbeat. Frantically, she searched for the source oinhumanehandne scratch that settled anxiety in her being. When found nothing, (Name) decided to walk the path she was formerly walking on.

It is getting dark by every minute and she still hasn't found her companion. The woods are eerie and unsettling as if someone is constantly on watch but she can't find the thing peering at her with disturbing eyes. Giving her the looks that keep you up during the night, in fear a monster will crawl out of your bed in her most vulnerable state and attack.

But (Name) is not easily scared by such whims of fear, she witnessed great horrors all her life: horror inflicted by curses and men alike. She kept walking, and the sun completely disappeared from the sky.

"This is taking more time than expected," she whispered into the dark, taking out her smartphone for some source of light.

She still hasn't found the curse or the man she is to accompany into the woods to kill that special-grade curse. She has been walking for more than an hour, coursing through the big trees and shrubs of weeds. She decided to stop by a tree, and navigate her surroundings. She climbed the tree, went to the top branch, and looked around. The surroundings are just more trees by miles.

"What is going on here?" (Name) jumped down, landing gracefully on her feet, "this feels like a hoax, but I can't be sure,"

She is surrounded by hundreds of lower-grade curses, but they are of no trouble and she exorcised them in seconds. Sighing, she yelled, "HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE?!!"
 
But there is no reply, she agreed on sprinting over the trees to get a better view down the trees it is too dark. She heard the unsettling shriek again, now she wasted no time running towards the source.

(------------------------------------------)

(Name) found the source of the shrieks, she saw a man on a girthy branch, and from the way he is laying over it, she concluded he is injured. She stopped in front of him, "Hey! Are you okay?!" she asked.

"Oh, you are here," the man picked his head off of the rough bark and looked at her with steel eyes, "took you long enough," he brushed the dark strands out of his face. (Name) ignored the rudeness and asked, "what happened? Weren't you supposed to meet up with me first?"

The injured man sighed, "well, yes but something happened, the special grade is a real piece of work, it got me while I wasn't paying any mind to it,"

"Is it your first time fighting a special grade?" his silence is all the confirmation she needed, "Where is it now?"

"Down there somewhere,"

"Got it, just stay here," she jumped but the man is not done telling her about the curse yet she did not listen, he sighed, "they were right when said she doesn't listen to anyone,"

(Name) is looking for a special grade. Hearing the familiar shriek again, she wasted no time following it. She saw the edge of a river, the water shimmering under what little glow moon offered. What caught her attention is the being on the river bank, munching on the dead body of a wolf. She readied herself for the upcoming battle.

She charged at the curse with velocity, punching it in the back as the curse flew into the river disappearing from her view.

But the curse isn't dead as it rose from the water, now that it is facing her (Name) noticed its unsettling attributes, it has a deer's head but a human's body, and blood is smeared all over its body, She concluded the blood is from its victims.

The curse stood there as if testing her, and then it shrieked; (Name) felt her heart jump out of her mouth at the shriek. The curse attacked.

She tried moving out of the way but realized her feet are frozen to the ground. The curse, holding a weapon made out of bones, is charging at her and she can't move a finger. She is punched in the gut and thrown backward, tearing several trees.

"What the hell was that?" she stood up, readying herself again for another attack.

But her eyes widened when she glanced down at her hands, they are trembling from fear, "why am I scared?" the curse attacked again.

But this time she dodged but very poorly, as her legs are also giving up, "(Name), breath in and breath out," 

The curse jabbed her several times, but (Name) can feel the vitality coming back into her limbs. She kicked the curse into the ground, stepping over its ugly face.

But the curse grabbed her foot, slamming her onto a giant rock.

It shrieked again, installing the same fear into her bones as before. She can't move, no matter how hard she made an effort.

She figured out the reason behind its power, it is the shriek. The curse pummeled her to the ground, making a grove. She forced the curse off her. (Name) decided to do the first logical thing that came to her mind, she stuffed her pointer fingers into her ears and pushed them so far back that they touched her eardrums and injured her ears that it leaked blood.

She no longer can hear anything.

She looked at the curse, it opened its mouth to shriek but (Name) can no longer hear it.
She sighed, "well, you had your fun, now it's my turn."

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"Hey, you still there?" she asked the man, and he glanced at her

"Why are your ears bleeding?"

"What? What happened to that curse? It's dead," she exclaimed, "I can't hear you, my ears are healing because I injured them to kill that curse."

"I can see that,"

She plopped down beside him, "I'm (Name), have we met before?" at her question, he averted her eyes to the opposite side, "the woods were a hoax after all, no wonder I got lost."

"yes, miss. Oblivious,"

"Anyway, I no longer have a reason to stay here," she stood up, giving him a small smile, "take care, Mr. Blatant."

Author's note:

Sorry for the late update, I have no excuse except that I've been really busy lately with school. I'm still not done with the work.

I have a phonetic transcription assignment for my Linguistics class and when I tell you it's painful to make it's not an exaggeration.

Anyway, thanks for all the votes! Lots of good wishes to you all.

Bye~