The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 04

The skeleton hunters

Bernard could not believe it, even in self-defense he had killed a villager, it was not very typical of them to use violence against people in that way, but he was aware that the situation had demanded it; the man fell to his knees on the ground panting and wiping the viscous dark blood that had splashed on him. The man took a moment to bow to God with his hands and stood up to join his companion.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you here again," Bernard said to his friend, still sighing in a hurried manner and observing the grotesque corpses with utmost astonishment. Liz nodded her head giving a slightly disguised smile and putting her gun back in its place.

"You know I'm glad to see you too, but how did you end up here?" She asked him, feeling an immense calm after seeing her best friend alive.

"Have you seen what these people look like? " Bernard asked him, still terrified, "Have you noticed the appearance of these things, they look like corpses, but they move and act like demons. I have never felt death so close.

"Neither had I," admitted Liz when she saw the sores that the beings had on most of their faces and the tremendously dry white and gray tonality of their skins, as if they were suffering from anemia and leprosy simultaneously.

"I was walking along the northern area, and I found this town. I couldn't feel a fly in the streets and I followed the stream," he said pointing to the water stream. "The place was unoccupied, except for one person, it looked like a normal young man dressed as a peasant, to whom I approached hoping he would give me some information, and it was then when he looked at me with that horrible face, roaring and with a murderous look on his face. I swear to you that not even in my childhood there was...." Bernard didn't want to complete his sentence, apparently there was something he was too embarrassed to confess, and although it was very obvious to Liz, she questioned him.

"You knew what, you know that you can trust me and that between us we should not have secrets" When Bernard heard that, he grabbed his face and showed a gesture of despair "come on, it is not the first time that we have to work together in adverse situations".

"I didn't have the courage, I ran out screaming for help, but I only managed to get the attention of the others and this is where you see me.

"But you were able to put up a fight in the end for your life" she answered him to comfort him as she approached him giving him a gentle pat on the back "I was petrified too after my first encounter" she paused and continued "If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have gone through what I went through".

" What for?" Bernard asked her, now calmer and with great astonishment to know what his companion had to tell him.

"I'll tell you later, now we have to meet with Max".

Liz and Bernard planned their route out of town to head towards the meeting point they had planned together with Max. Although the apparent calm they had achieved was nothing more than an opportunity to take a sigh. Before long it could be seen from the opposite side of the chapel square how other of those demonic creatures approached carrying oil lamps to light the way while emitting eerie roars that made the skin of the most intrepid bristle. Once again Liz could watch as Bernard panicked, but without giving him many words she tried to motivate him to stay calm and prepare to face the threat. She drew her weapon and her friend followed her almost stupefied lost in the piercing stares of the villagers that were coming closer and closer towards them.

As the mob of just over ten approached, the agents retreated. Bernard without fully comprehending what was happening glanced back out of the corner of his eye holding his gun tightly to find something that pushed his panic level almost to the limit. It was another creature different from the other villagers trying to surprise them from behind, he had a hunter's outfit, a long jacket and a big hat, he carried a long rifle on his shoulder, his skin had reached the last stages of decomposition and revealed his bones to a great extent. On his face, most of the skin was absent and only one eye occupied one of his eye sockets, creating the image of a human skull.

"LIZ, WATCH OUT!" shouted Bernard.

Liz immediately noticed the cadaverous claw on her shoulder and knowing how to react, she grabbed it with both hands and managed to throw him to the ground, making the hunter's musket fall to the side. Faced with the situation and the astonishment of seeing the horrible monster, she ran towards him and pointed her gun at him without taking into account that the villagers had stopped in front of her. The monster got to his feet without any difficulty and struck Liz a heavy blow to her chest propelling her almost a meter away. Bernard tried to shoot at it, but the bullets failed to inflict significant damage. The monster ran towards him, but faced with the impossibility of fleeing, the agent tried to confront its fears by firing at it from closer range. The impact was not very effective; after emitting a piercing roar, the hunter hit him, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to drop his weapon, managing to scratch his arm with its skeletal claws.

Bernard found himself in the same predicament as before. Already on the ground, the creature jumped on him and prepared to bury its claw in his chest. Liz reacted by firing a couple of shots at the monster's arm, forcing it to stop. With a great recharge of adrenaline and courage, the girl ran towards her partner seeing how the cadaverous creature lost its attention on him and prepared to respond to the agent's attacks.

Liz was decided and was firing constantly at the monster without significantly wounding it. The hunter had fallen to his knees, brought one of his claws to his clothing and incredibly quickly extracted a whip to lash his adversary on the wrist. Liz was forced to drop her gun and very sore she fell to the ground on one of her knees clutching her wrist tightly; she stared at the mark of the whip, the pain was unbearable. The monster was approaching her wielding his whip to give her his final touch, but the girl refused to allow her opponents to defeat her. A feeling of determination and adrenaline took hold of her; still in pain, she got up and ran to confront her aggressor with body attacks.

Bernard watched the gloomy gazes of the villagers while his companion defended herself from the monster with powerful direct blows and kicks; her attempts to restrain the being were in vain, the hunter took advantage of an opportunity to hit Liz in the stomach and throw her to the ground. With incredible agility, he managed to perform a whip in the direction of his adversary, but his action was stopped by a third hand that grabbed the tip of the whip and pulled in the opposite direction; it was Bernard. However, the creature defeated him in strength and responded likewise, drawing him towards him and knocking him to the ground with a violent blow.

The agents retreated, still dejected on the ground at the intimidating gaze of that eye embedded in the horrifying face of the thing walking towards them. The hunter wielded his whip tightly and lashed the ground with surprising skill. Liz and Bernard crawled along, recognizing their slim chances of getting to their feet without receiving a lash, until behind them they heard footsteps similar to those echoing as the other one approached. With a mixture of curiosity and fear, the agents watched their rear to find two more of those fearsome skeletal creatures in hunter's garb wielding their hunting rifles.

The beings walked toward them and nudged them with their rifles to beckon them to their feet. Liz and Bernard felt defeated and helpless in the uncertainty of knowing what the creatures would do to them. After obeying, they were taken tightly by the arms and tied by the hands, while their opponent of a few minutes ago approached them giving the impression that he had something important to communicate to them.

"Das Spiel ist vorbei, ihr kommt mit. Oder ihr stibt! (The game is over, you better come with us, or you will die)" said that thing pointing at them with its rotten claw and a high difficulty to pronounce the words with a hoarse voice timbre. Despite not understanding their words, the fact that they were still alive told them that they would be taken somewhere.

"What now?" Bernard asked his companion, very worried about a possible fatal destiny, but he noticed how Liz was trying to keep calm.

"Wait," answered Liz seriously, feeling how the other hunter pushed her, forcing her to move, "we'll get out of this together.