Daily Challenge

July 29th, 2023 - The Fight to Lose

I saw him sit down on the couch, slouching his back with unreadable smile on his face.

"Do you see it?" I pointed out an invisible entity behind the girl on my right side.

"Wow." Amusement tinted his expression. "Yeah. I see her."

I threw my head side way. "And?"

"And what?" His smile hadn't faded, it's getting wider.

"Do we need to do something? Or not?"

"Let's get going." He stood up and walked to the door. "Are you coming?"

"Oh, right." I snatched my phone on the kitchen island and run to him. "We better get this thing done."

"You bet."
______

"If you eat her, you won't have another meal anymore for I will kill your master." My right hand were gripping a man's hair and the other were holding a blade on his throat.

I eyed my subordinate. His brown suit soaked in blood. He was panting heavily, but his focus didn't waver. I got his glance, a sign for me to come forward.

I entered the room, dragging the groaning man. My shoes splashed on a pool of red liquid after I passed through the door. I heard other splashes behind me. My subordinate was cursing something in mumbles.

The room was quite dark and smell fishy. It's almost black all over. But I could sense some movements in a corner. A cried of help was heard faintly.

"Light," I whispered a spell and the room was filled with small bright orbs. Two figures were seen in splatters of red.

"Aunty, help." A girl stretched her hand to me. Tears and bloods mixed up on her face. A pale hand with long nails on her cheek, holding her head still. "Please." She coughed up some blood, making her long straight hairs sticked to her mouth. Her gaze fell on the floor and her hunched body was starting to tremble. She lost too much blood already, but the pale creature kept pulling her up.

The man on my feet was gagging and throwing up. The look of his own daughter being eaten alive made him weak. He couldn't stand on looking a beast digging a hole on his daughter's neck and slurping the life out of her.

"I said 'stop'!" I yelled. Behind me, my subordinate was ready with his bow and arrow.

"No!" The man who I thought was almost fainted now was lunging toward the ready to shoot weapon. On my reflex, I drove my sword through his shoulder and pinned him down back to the floor.

A screech was echoing in the room. When I looked at the source, I saw the arrow had already pierced two bodies. One was the girl who held the stuck out rod from her stomach. The other was the pale entity who was howling in pain behind her.

"I'm not going to die just with this toy, you fool," It groaned at me. "For my maker is still alive." It laughed in a high pitched voice before fading and gone.

Both my subordinate and I run to the girl. Her life thread was so thin, I almost couldn't see it. I murmured some spells to alleviate her pain.

"We got a pathfinder." My subordinate pointing on someone who entered the room. "And we have the strands." On his hand, a glistening silver thread was forming.

"Good. Both of you go find that shit, I'll catch up in a moment." My eyes on the teary bleeding girl.

"Alright."

"Girl, do you hear me?" I asked after her breaths got steadier.

"Aunty. You are here." She smiled beautifully amidst the gushing out blood from her neck.

"Yeah, sweety."

"You save me. Thank you." I only smiled, for I didn't save her. It's impossible.

"I'm sorry about my Papa. I.."

"Shh. It's okay. Just rest." I caressed her hair and she noded.

"Thank you, aunty." She whispered and closed her eyes.

I held her body in my embrace. Her breaths got faint and fainter. My heart got tight and tighter.

"Promise me, girl. Just run up those stairs. Leave the regrets behind." I felt tears rolled down my cheeks. "Promise me to just ascend. And I promise we'll met again on the edge of the sky." My last words rolled out my tongue just seconds before her hand dropped to the floor.
______

I putted down her body and pulled out the sticking out arrow. Despite her tore neck and holey stomach, she was looked beautiful in her deep slumber. I took her hands, placed them on her chess, and cleaned her face with my handkerchief. I whipped down the tears and blood which stained her fluffy cheek.

At that time I saw her life thread broke off and the shadow like entity came down engulfing her. "Be delicate with her, please. She's one of my beloved." The shadow affirmed my words and flew away.

I looked down to the lifeless body in front of me. "You are so pretty as always. I'll missed you a lot." I could feel the sad clod in my throat was burning up, sending fire to my brain.

I got up, and walked to where my sword stuck. I held down the hilt and said some flaming spells till the blade turn red, sending pain to the man who still had the blade embedded in his shoulder.

"It will stop the bleeding." I pulled out the sword. "So you still have time to cry for your daughter." I walked to the girl's corpse.

"Madame, we are here." Some men came to the room.

"Good. Clean up this place. Be really careful with the lady." I glanced toward the grunting man. "Throw him to the level zero. I'll take care of him later."

"Yes, Madame."
______

I was still running, checking out the beacon my subordinate put up for me to follow. The ray was turning from yellow to green, then red. He found the target and needed my help. So I putted more speed to my feet. I also laced a spell at my shoes for running through the grass land.

"Please wait. I will erase that beast from existence and come to you."

I shout another spell and leap to the night sky.
______

°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
°
(⁠づ⁠｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡⁠)⁠づ