Decay of Desire

Section 8

   Maybe I had dodged death in my struggle against Jerry, but this was different entirely. Here I was, surrounded by a band of pirates about to avenge the death of their leader. I recall thinking how horribly it sucked, knowing I would meet my end by such a load of lowly scum. So much for a heroic death. Well, go out kicking at least. I waited, watched their moves as they shifted inward to me. It was only a matter of time before one broke the ring and swung for me. Readying my sword, I turned to my left and blocked the incoming axe aimed at me. The brute behind it broke my poise, and I staggered heavily. Where the hell did one of them find an axe? I couldn't pursue that thought fully, as a rough hand grasped me from behind and raised me off of the ground. "Hey look guys!" A rough voice behind me shouted, "He just walked into me, let's kill him!" This sucked. I swung my sword vainly, desperately trying to keep the advancing bandits at bay. They seemed unfazed by this, proceeding to shuffle towards me nonetheless. Out of nowhere, the hand released me, and I hit the ground, the snow crackling with the intensity of my weight. I turned to see as to why, and the answer surprised me. The big guy had an arrow shaft protruding from his skull. His eyes rolled back as he collapsed, landing first on his knees, then toppling backwards with a thud. Just then, I had hope. A look of sheer shock crossed my face, as I saw Aina and her parents charge out of the trees nearby, rushing for the pirates.

A savage war cry erupted from Rodney, as he dove into the circle. The center of the town exploded into action from there. Rodney cleaved his way through anything in his way, an impressive feat. Cora had armed herself with a bow apparently, and was steadily plucking away arrows at the ring of scoundrels. I looked, but couldn't find Aina in the midst of the fray. Suddenly, someone seized my arm, and began dragging me out of the heat of battle. I couldn't turn my head far enough to see who my savior had been, but I knew all the same. I couldn't forget the feel of that warm hand even if I tried. "I can't believe you actually beat him Evan! I was so scared, watching you just let him attack you like that," Aina spoke as I stood and turned to face her. Fear and excitement lit up her face as she continued, "And then when you closed your eyes, I just knew he was going to hurt you. Oh my god I'm just so happy you're okay!" She threw her arms and me and hugged me tightly. I couldn't help but enjoy it, even given the circumstances. The heat of her embrace, feeling her against me, it was all too much. I had to cut our rejoicing short before I let myself be carried away, now was not the time. I slowly backed away, and motioned towards the raging battle at hand. "We need to help your father before he gets seriously injured," I mentioned. "Yeah," she agreed, "It's just........well I was-" I told her it was okay. We could celebrate my not dying later. I grabbed the iron sword once again, which now felt comfortable to me, as Aina withdrew a stone sword. Together we joined Rodney in the battle for Ridgevale.

I joined in immediately, tackling a savage who was chasing Rodney. He fell to the ground, and I used the pommel of my sword to strike him squarely in the forehead with the iron ball. His head slammed downwards, and he began twitching uncontrollably as his eyes dilated. That was one less to deal with, I thought as I leapt up to deal with the dwindling mass. Between mine and Aina's carving and Rodney's hacking, we soon diminished the former horde of bandits. We somehow met in the middle, all exhausted, our chests heaving for oxygen, sweat beading our brows as we glanced about at the carnage before us. None of us sustained any serious injuries. Rodney had a few slashes here and there, but he had already stopped bleeding. I had a knick or two on me, as did Aina, but I wasn't in fear of dying. Between four people, we had mowed down a clan of battle trained fighters. Speaking of four, where was Cora? I craned my neck, trying to find her, yet to no avail. "Aina, have you seen your mom? I can't spot her," I leaned over and told her. Her eyes widened, and she too began looking around. We told Rodney about this, and his face grew serious. He suggested we fan out and comb through the town for her, which we both agreed to and immediately began our hunt. I worked my way East, towards where I had seen her picking stragglers off on the snow coated incline. My legs burned as I trudged up the slope, aching and screaming for me to stop, but I was determined to reach the top. I locked my jaw and pushed on, panting as I reached the top. There, the sunken two pits where she had been standing were obvious in the snow. However, a separate set of footsteps were imprinted in the ground, coming from a rear angle as to where she was. Just then, it started snowing again, and the tracks began filling up. No, this wasn't good. I stumbled through the drift to where they were, and found there was a second set of prints as well, going in the opposite direction. This was too strange to not investigate, I thought as I attempted to track where they went. It wasn't long before the trail ended completely. Now this was just irritating. The snowfall was very thick here, and a fluffy layer lay freshly on top. I circled around where near the steps magically disappeared, determined to find something, anything. I hit a solid thing, and tripped, landing face first in the banks. I picked my head up, shaking the flakes loose, and went over to what I had hit. I began clearing away snow, and discovered Cora's lifeless body encased in the snow.

I couldn't speak at first; the shock of seeing her was simply overwhelming. Her lifeless face, frozen in shock, and her eyes devoid of any emotion frightened me. Finally, I found my voice. I found I could barely speak, but I called out in a hoarse voice to Aina. I heard her shout something to Rodney, and listened as their footsteps crunched closer to my position. I fervently wished I could protect them from the horror they were about to witness. Aina reached me first, I recognized her light breathing as she climbed the slope I struggled with. I could feel her looking at me, and the stiff body of her mother, and I heard her collapse on the ground. I went to where she lay, and cradled her as tears streaked her face. Unsure of how to offer comfort through words, I decided to say nothing, and just hold her. I could feel her tears dripping onto my pants leg, and begin to freeze over from the severe cold. By this time, Rodney was nearing the plateau of the bank. Paying no attention to us, he ran to where she was, and grabbed her hand. "Cora, Cora you have to get up. You're gonna freeze to death out here. Cora, why aren't you listening to me?" He grew more frantic as she didn't respond, and finally it hit him. "No. No no no no," he whispered, and fell to her side. Time drug by, as we were drenched in sorrow for the loss of Cora. I hadn't known her very long, but she seemed like a great character, and she even saved my life. I felt the familiar lump in my throat return, and I choked it back down. We needed to get inside, even with the sun out now, the air was frigid. I lifted Aina up, and shuffled over to Rodney, who was caressing Cora's face, a look of sheer pain upon his face. "One of those lousy sorry worms must have gotten to her without us knowing," he rasped out. "I know, this is hard," I answered, "But we need to get inside. This weather will make us all sick if we don't take shelter." He asked if he could just stay with her a moment longer, and I couldn't help but oblige him that. This was the woman he loved, laying dead in front of him. I turned, and picked up Aina, who was now asleep. I carried her to her parents' house, and laid her in front of the mantle. Going upstairs, I rummaged around and returned down with a flint in my hand. It was only a moment before there was a toasty blaze going in the room. I sat myself close to the fire, and pulled Aina to where I was and held her head while she slept.