Arisu [ #JustWriteIt - Horror - Complete ]

Chapter Sixteen - 'Till Our Last Breath

"Disregarding the gruesome art.
The boy ran over,
And tried to fix his friend's still-beating heart."

A forceful sweep of his hand sent a legion of spiralling shadows towards the rabbit of bones.

The shadows crashed into its glistening hide, slipping through the bones and swirling out of control once inside it. The rabbit thrashed in panic, trying everything it could to get them out.

Concentrating, he narrowed his eyes and worked to expand the chattering shadows outwards. They did so with a frightening pop; blowing the rabbit apart from inside out.

That spell left behind a trail of smoky substance - reminiscent of gunpowder.

It drifted erratically, zigzagging through the air until it was finally dispersed into a faint trace.

Bones tumbled about, some completely whole and only burst from their interlocking sockets. They landed with a clatter - some breaking and some remaining intact.

Coryn held his breath.

The bones shook. Then flew back together, snapping into place once more to form the same nightmarish creature as before, with another addition; nightmarish spikes that ran along its spine and limbs.

He slowly exhaled. Wearily.

Another tremor shook the floor beneath his feet; they were getting more violent now. Would it ever end?

Coryn mindfully cast a shield over himself again; saving himself from a swipe of the rabbit's sinister paw. The spikes added a nice touch - ripping through the shield like it was paper.

It doesn't matter how many times I destroy it!

He abandoned the broken shield and retreated, reeling backwards and out of the path of the rabbit's blade-like tail.

It keeps coming back - with special features!

There seemed to be nothing he could do, no end to the tremors and the tremendous beast that now occupied half of the quiet study.

What can I do?

The pain in his wounded shoulder demanded to be known; stinging at the back of his subconscious. Blood was congealing in it, but he'd lost plenty along the way.

Just as all hope seemed to be lost, an idea struck Coryn's desperate mind.

Clear as the bell that rang overhead, eight times in all.

His ears were filled with the sound of bellowing thunder as lightning struck the tower again, leaving the sturdy bell thrashing wildly.

That's it!

Almost forgetting how to breathe, Coryn sent a whirlwind of diamond flames towards the rabbit by the ways of a chant.

His heart leapt and pounded in his throat.

I have to get to the roof - now!

The skeletal nightmare absorbed the blunt of the fire with ease - proving that his attacks were dealing less damage with every passing second.

Coryn made a decision that weighed heavily on both sides.

He snatched the grimoire out of the air and darted under cover of the fire, coming out unscathed on the other side.

With a roar, the skeleton thrust its tail towards him and swung, slicing the very tip of his ponytail. But it was too slow to stop him from escaping to the windy hallway once more.

A chase began; the rabbit rampaged its way through the hall without any care for the damage it was doing.

Coryn could feel the powerful jets of smoke pouring down his neck from its nose.

He heard the tremendous commotion and he knew how close he was to a surefire death.

His guess about the rabbit being slowed down by its weight was correct - but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

Blunt swipes of its paws and strikes from its tail was what he needed to avoid at all costs. As it lolloped behind him, he rattled off incantations to throw obstacles in its path.

The strongest of barriers was broken through like a sheet of honey - the shields were torn down like masts in a storm.

But they did the trick and kept him alive.

Coryn took a sharp breath as he scrambled into the attic, running off the fallen door like a ramp.

He whispered under his breath, a wheezy sound that came from his hollow throat. A circle of white fire erupted all around him, blocking off the rabbit's path.

The beautiful glass window that he'd been admiring earlier wasn't made of stained glass - it was tinted with blood.

Realizing that made breaking it so much easier.

And break it he did - a soild blow from a magical mana mallet. The shards toppled and span, disappearing into a murky pond below and getting embedded in the floating red gore with a sickening squelch.

The rabbit burst through the fire, dispersing it with a humongous gale. Coryn was buffeted by the wind; it shrieked and nipped at his face, flew through his tangled hair wildly.

He bit the fleshy inside of his cheek and took hold of the soild window frame with both hands. Pulling his entire weight onto the windowsill was agony to his shoulder.

Lightning flashed through the dark attic; illuminating the skeleton's silhouette as it crouched to spring...

And shadowing his own as Coryn flicked golden threads from his fingertips and wove them around the bell tower's vast shape; giving him something firm to hold onto as he began to climb.

[Sometimes I don't know what I wanna say in these author's notes. With love, from Phantom.]