Glass

Chapter Thirteen: All in Flames (Part I)

The world blurred as my arms were taken and dragged backwards. Three men surrounded me, pointing their blades to the sky at the shadowy creature. Ahead, Rafael and Zolin swung wildly, forming a circle below the beast where the others could fire their crossbows until it lowered into their manmade trap.

With scarlet blood seeping from the arrow in its side, the feathered serpent flapped its wings, engulfing people within them and pushing them around into disorientation. It hissed and screeched viciously, whipping its gigantic tail over the legs of my men and shoving them fat away into the fiery ground. I heard yells and cries as metal plates scorched the bodies of their owners, and capes and hair caught aflame in all the chaos. The serpent screamed again and gnashed its teeth - two rows of sharp, red blades - and cut through the arm of a swordsman as easily as biting down on an apple. He screamed out and fell to his knees, but the beast would not give him the mercy of death as its attention was torn away from him, and towards the tallest man of the group.

Rafael stood readily. But his eyes were bulging out of his head, and his breaths could be seen lifting and falling from his chest from paces away.
"Argh!"

He swung with all his might, but the blade barely cut through the feathery scales.
"Argh!"
He tried again. Nothing. The beast would only shed blood from the gash - no bone, and no flesh. Others came to his aid, all ferociously swinging and slicing with the sharpest, strongest blades in Mendessa. And yet not a single one could penetrate. Even the bows, which had stuck themselves into the serpent's body all over, merely plugged the wounds they had made.

Those who were scorched and wounded stood to their feet despite their agony. They growled through it, matching the sounds of their enemy, struggling to keep up with their futile assaults against a beast that simply could not die.

It took the hand of another and crushed it with its jaw, and in the same movement, it flung its great tail and flung Zolin several metres away. The small soldier got up, struggling to breathe, holding the small sword which had no chance among the others of killing the serpent. He spat blood; and a single tooth.
"Zolin, no!" I yelled out, but the anger in his eyes did not even glance in my direction. He stumbled, but against his pain, he broke it into a sprint. He growled like a lion, gripping the sword so tight that I could see the veins in his hand turn white.

He leaped into the night, sword pointed ahead. The serpent headed for him, teeth bared. I could only watch as his foot headed for the serpent's mouth.

The creature's fangs were slamming shut, but Zolin put all his weight on its jaw, keeping it open for just a split second, using it as a platform to catapult himself into the sky.

He flew high above its feathered mane, and manoeuvred his sword to point down into its skull. I wanted to shut my eyes, but they remained open.

With an ear-splitting screech, the sword pierced the back of the creature's head.

Zolin was flung off once again, landing inches from the fire. The beast was somehow not vanquished, and only grew angrier. With the hilt of Zolin's sword sticking from its head, it thrashed around, knocking away the soldiers; taking the longsword from Rafael's hands.
"Protect the prince!" Rafael yelled out to the three surrounding me, but they were rendered just as speechless as I was. Their eyes glazed over the fire, and their bodies shook when the serpent turned our way.

It sniffed, and when it did, it felt like it was taking in all of the breathable air around us. And with a single look in my direction, it charged for me.

I was frozen still like I had been in the dream. The only thing keeping me from sinking into the mud was the fact that it was arid and crackling at my feet. I remained that way, even when the men around me attacked it, only to be brutally shoved aside by the gigantic wings. I tripped backwards, feeling sick to my stomach, and despite how many men had come to my aid, fighting the beast in unison, its gaze fixated on me and me alone.

With a mighty roar, the ground and sky vibrated.

"You…"

It spoke, somehow without moving its mouth. Its beady eyes burned my soul.
"I smell your blood. I know who you are."

The others continued to fight, to no avail.

"Your father killed my father."

I crawled back, but it only pursued.

"And your kind… your filth… killed my kind."

Its claws ripped at the throats and faces of anyone who kept on trying. Emiliano fell to the ground, his hand over a bloody eye. Rafael picked up his sword and stabbed its palm, but once again, it stayed stuck there, only amounting to drops of rotten blood. Zolin clambered at the scales, riding up the tail, reaching out for his sword once more. With a slam, he crashed to the hard, singed ground, whacking his head. I looked on as he did not get up. I waited for him to move, but he did not. I hoped and prayed in my mind, but Zolin was still.

"And then you stole what was left of us," it grumbled deeply, and a gust of smoke boiled from its nostrils, "You…. You give me back my brother. I know it was your kind who stole him away from me. You give him back!"

Its roar shook the air once again. Anyone who was left standing toppled to the ground, their skin stained with gashes and bruises.
"I-I… I don't…" My breath was too shallow to let me speak. My lip quivered.

"Arghhh!"

With the sword of another soldier, Zolin stretched up and pierced deep into the feathered serpent's throat. With all his might, he leaned across, opening the wound until the leaking of blood became a waterfall.

The hot, rotten-smelling liquid dragged me in its current, dunking me up to my chin and forcing me to slide metres back with my arm reached out, holding onto nothing.

Zolin's crooked voice echoed in the night. I came to a stop, lying on my back and staring above at the stars, unable to move. I coughed and sputtered away the sourness at the back of my throat, listening out for the inevitable silence of death.

At first, I barely noticed it, but Zolin stood above me, holding out his bloody hand.
"Andres?"

My body turned cold but I forced myself upright, drenched in the warm, viscous fluid. I felt something squishy touch my hand, and when I dared to look at it, I held back vomit at the sight of a severed throat.
"Come on. We have to get out of here."
"Get him up."

Rafael and Zolin took my arms, with Rafael holding me higher and faster than his comrade. My legs shook and threatened to fall once my feet touched the group. Somehow, I managed to stay upright with their support.
"W-Where's… Where's Emiliano?"