Saber (a post-apocalyptic fantasy)

3 - The Lair

 In my excitement about the food, I got lazy.

Rule #5: Hunger makes you stupid.

I didn't check the room. It must have been hiding in the corner this whole time. Shades are more lethargic at night, but still deadly when they're hungry.

Red eyes glow in the night, and my first instinct is to freeze.

Don't let them look you in the eyes!

That's what gives you away. I've walked right past Shades in the woods, with my hood up, and head down. You can outsmart a Shade if you're clever about it. But this Shade saw me rummaging through human food stores. Shades don't eat human food. They eat raw flesh.

Shades are scrawny but quick. In the light of the sun, they can run twice as fast as I can. But at night I have a shot.

This one is different though. I've never seen a Shade so large. As it crosses the room, the Shade's gray muscles ripple against the tattered shirt it still wears from its old life. Its human life. It crosses in front of the door, trapping me inside.

Its red eyes glow brighter.

It knows what I am!

Before I can draw my bow, the monster is on top of me, and my arrow is lost in the dark. Its breath smells foul like a death pool. I thrash out, reaching for my sword, but the Shade drives its weight down, pinning my shoulders to the ground. One hand manages to wedge against its throat before it can bite down for a feast. My other hand grasps helplessly for my sword or my arrow, but finds only a jar.

I ease up my fight and the Shade thinks it has won. It leans forward for a delicious bite into my neck, but as it shifts I smash the jar into its head. Glass flies everywhere, some of it wedging into the beast's face. It shrieks and lurches back. But then, there is a creaking sound. A trap door opens up from the floor, and another creature emerges.

Shit!

That's where it came from!

How many more are down there?

I scramble back to my feet, searching for my sword. My fingers close on cold steel. I find the handle and swing around. The blade lodges in the arm of the first creature and sticks. As the Shade shrieks in pain, the blade is wrenched from my hand. But the doorway is open.

All I can do is run. Maybe in the dark, I can lose them.

I make for the world outside, but the other Shade is too quick — quicker than I've ever seen. Before I reach the door, it leaps on my back, throwing me to the ground. A sharp pain shoots up my shoulder. My head throbs.

But then, the weight is gone.

The Shade disappears.

At first, I think I'm dead, and I've gone to the World Beyond the Sun. I blink, but the world is a hazy dreamworld. A dark blur flies past me, and I think it's more Shades.

Papi didn't scream when they ate him, and neither will I.

But no fangs sink into my neck. There's commotion, but it's muffled like a dream, too. I must be dying. Or this is some sort of death dream.

Then, a hand grabs mine. A soft hand. It's pulling me up, jerking me back to reality.

"Come on!" a voice shouts. "Run!"

The blurs clear, and there's a girl tugging on my arm. She can't be older than ten.

The Shades are still here. Someone else is fighting them, wielding a blade much like my own. The sword arcs through the air beautifully, and long dreads of hair whip around in the moonlight.

"Now, Saber, now!" the girl screams.

How the hell does she know my name? But I don't have time to find out. I scramble to my feet, my shoulder aching as I push up from the ground.

The blade-wielder thrusts with her saber and impales one of the Shades through the chest. It crumples to the ground in the storeroom.

The little girl and I stagger out of the doorway, and the other Shade comes flying out with a shriek, its mouth gaping wide. I've never seen a Shade move so fast.

The girl lets go of my hand, and suddenly, her hand is on a dagger at her hip. She lets it fly, and the Shade lands at my feet. Dead.

Thank you for reading SABER!

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Discussion: Who are these girls? And how could the little girl know who Saber is?