Shadowlight (On Hiatus)

Chapter 4: The Cloak

That was when it leaped out of the trees - a hideous creature with clumps of greasy, matted fur and eyes like two swirling abysses. Lumina screamed as it let out another choked howl and stood upright. The monster seemed to be blind because instead of looking at us, it stared straight ahead. Then it lunged for Lumina, it's fangs gleaming with black poison. 

"Lumina! Protect yourself!" I shouted to her. But she dropped her sword and stared in horror as it  ran at her. At the last moment, Zane jumped in front of her and the creature bit down on his shoulder. With a cry of rage and pain, Zane pushed it off and shot it, until there was nothing left but a charred mess and a muddy scrap of fabric. Then he stumbled over to a tree and sank to the ground.

Lumina finally came to her senses and ran over to him.

"Well, this is just shit," Aaron announced, "we have no healer, barely any medicine, and judging by the look on his face... not a whole lot of time."

"You think I don't know that?" Liam yelled.

"Look, I'm not trying to question your authority, but maybe you should have put a little more thought into putting together the search party," Aaron replied.

"Well, if you're so smart maybe you should be the leader, you -"

"Will you two shut the fuck up!" Lumina shouted, shocking them into silence. As we looked on, she tore off a strip off fabric from her cloak and tied it tightly around his bloody shoulder. Then she grabbed his other hand and pressed it hard.

"You... you stupid, heroic idiot! L-look what you've done n-now," she whispered, her voice trembling with unshed tears, "I-It was aiming for me. I-If you d-didn't have to be so damn b-brave, y-you'd be okay." He just smiled at her and took a wheezing breath, then another, and then nothing.

"Zane! Zane! DON'T YOU DO THIS TO ME!" she screamed, shaking him like a madwoman, "GET UP! GET UP RIGHT NOW!" When there was no response she leaned against him and cried. We tried to pull her off of him, but she clung to his lifeless body, weeping into his shoulder. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

We backed away, deciding to give her some space - at least for a few minutes - and do a quick patrol. The boys wandered off in opposite directions and I went to examine the monster that had attacked us. The piece of shredded fabric looked oddly familiar, so I snatched it up and stuck it in my  pocket.

Then I moved away from the creature and sat down on the boulder I'd woken up next to. I took out a needle and thread to sew up the slash in my pant leg while I waited for the boys to return. But sewing is pretty difficult when your eyes keep filling with tears.

"Riel! Riel!" I screamed. Her eyes were wide with shock as she clutched at her bloodied stomach. She whirled around to face the Umbra who had stabbed her and shot him through the neck with one of her sunburst arrows. Then she stumbled back and leaned against the wall.

"Come here, angel," she whispered, her voice laced with pain. I rushed over to her as fast as I could, ignoring the boy cowering and crying in the corner. At that moment, the mission didn't matter, all that mattered was making sure my mentor - my mother - was okay. As soon as I got to her, I pulled off my brand new cloak and tore off a long strip of cloth. I tied it tight around her waist to staunch the blood, but it soaked through in seconds. Frantically, I tore off another piece of fabric and wrapped it around the first, but it soaked through too. I tried to tear off another scrap, but she stopped me with a gentle touch on the shoulder.

"It's no use, my little Seraph, there is too much blood."

"But if we can just staunch it for a few minutes, we can get you to the Sanctuary and patch you right up!" I protested.