Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

chapter 7 (edited)

Chapter 7

Alexia had been in the city for three days, the place terrified her. The ruined buildings and deserted streets were bad but the zombie-like inhabitants were just downright awful. The silence was unbearable, Alexia hadn't seen or heard a single bird or animal. The zombies made no noise either, as they shuffled about their business. Alexia had spent all the time hiding in the shadows of an abandoned shop, worried that the zombies would attack her at any moment but they never did. She was tired and hungry. There had been nothing at all to eat or drink. The storm had been a blessing for Alexia. It at least provided something to drink. The noise of the storm had been terrible and deafening in this silent world. The rain hammered and the wind howled. The storm had passed and now the only sound to be heard was the steady drip, drip of water. New sounds came to the city which drew Alexia out of hiding, there were voices and then the sounds of the battle. She had been trying to find the source of the noise but ended up getting cornered in an alleyway. Not all the Passus had gone to the crossroads.

Alexia was slowly backing away and cursing herself for being so stupid as the Passus advanced. Glancing in at a broken window Alexia caught sight of her reflection, a young skinny girl with long blonde hair and big blue eyes stared back and in a trembling hand she held a rusted pipe. At the entrance of the alleyway lay her sword, which Alexia had dropped when the zombies had tried to grab her but all they had caught was a chunk of her black robe. The three attackers had stopped and were removing all their ragged clothing. Once naked the Passus advanced again clutching their withered manhood's. Alexia could see every inch of their wasted bodies.  Ugh! This is way more than a girl my age should be seeing, she thought. Alexia continued backing away, her boots crunching on broken glass and rubble. Silently her attackers advanced. The alleyway seemed to be getting narrower. The further-in she went, the buildings towered on both sides and were leaning in on each other. The narrow strip of sky above was getting thinner. Alexia cried out as her boot caught on some rubble, she crashed painfully to the ground. Stunned and dazed she turned to see what she had fallen on.  Oh, you've got to be kidding me! The buildings had collapsed and caved-in, the exit was completely blocked. Panic rising, Alexia retrieved her pipe and climbed back to her feet as the Passus closed in.

***

The tide of the battle changed in an instant, everything happened so fast Tiberius struggled to keep up with it. Brutus howled in pain, two of the Passus had skewered him with rusted poles and were pinning the cat to the ground. The cat thrashed and clawed but it was stuck. Jason saw this and began to go to the cat's aid when Eva's scream stops him in his tracks. Jason turned and watched in horror as a Passus charged into Eva and they both tumbled off the rooftop. Jason hacked and slashed at the nearest enemies. He was torn not knowing who to help. Brutus still howled in rage and pain on the one side; on the other there was no sign of the girl who had clearly come to help him getting up. Jason continued to fight, a raging argument going on inside his head. Although the cat had been his first contact in this world and had been loyal enough to fight with him, Jason knew which one he truly had to help. Jason let out a long stream of swear words then began hacking a path through the horde. Eva was on her hands and knees completely winded. She gasped for breath looking down at the shattered body of the Passus beneath her. As they had fallen off the roof, Eva had managed to get on top and use the Passus to break her fall. Breathing heavily, Eva got to her feet and tried to draw her sword, but a rusted blade was hurtling towards her head. Before Eva could react, a body slammed her aside, Jason cried out in pain as the blade sank into his shoulder. Regaining her balance, Eva drew her sword and the withered head went flying.

"Guess that makes us even?" said Jason as he wrenched the rusted blade from his shoulder.

Eva smiled, as they stood there looking at each other they were both filled with a strange sense that they could trust the other completely. With a nod, they turned and stood back to back, swords raised, ready to fight.

***

One of the naked Passus was ahead of the other two, its lifeless eyes fixed on Alexia. A rotten tongue poked out and licked withered lips as it closed in on the girl. Alexia gripped the pipe tightly in both trembling hands; the horror of the situation was becoming too much; the wasted man was closing in stroking its withered manhood.

"I'm fourteen years old! You sick freak! Take a step closer and I swear I'll bash your head in!"

alexia shouted in a trembling voice.  The Passus leered at her and ignored her warning. Alexia screamed in fear and swung the pipe with all her strength. The sound of shattering bone filled the alley and the Passus dropped to the ground with one side of its head caved in. Alexia's arms scream in protest at the impact, she looked down at the thing lying motionless on the floor. The other two Passus were not put off by their friend's demise. They continued to close in. Alexia tried to raise the pipe again but her arms hurt too much, so she decided to go for knee caps this time. She swings but her aim was off, the pipe connects squarely with a set of withered testicles. The Passus cups himself with both hands, mouth open in a silent scream of pain and falls to the floor. Well! Not what I was aiming for but that seems effective, Alexia thought. The third attacker lunges and Alexia tried to repeat the process but this one either has some limited intelligence or survival instinct. Withered hands grabbed the pipe and tore it out of Alexia's grip. With a scream, she falls and lands sprawled in the rubble. Weak and exhausted, Alexia lies there unable to get back up. The Passus throws the pipe aside and begins to play with itself again. To Alexia's horror the other two begin to rise again. All three stand over her. The one in the middle has a deformed face; half of its skull caved in and the face is a bloody ruin.  Alexia screamed again as the Passus closes in.

                                                                                               ***

Janus had hung back from the battle. He stood on the stairs of a shop and realised he had seriously misjudged his opposition. He surveyed the battle with distaste. The two druids fighting back to back were proving to be a lethal combination. Bodies were falling fast to their blades. They needed to be taken care of. On the other side the twins had recovered and they were also causing a lot of damage to the Passus. Even the cat, though badly wounded and pinned was still fighting viciously. Janus made up his mind and waded into the fray, two broad swords appeared in his hands as he headed towards Jason.

Still invisible to all below, Tiberius watched in mounting horror. He gripped his staff so tightly his knuckles had gone white. He longed to join in the fight but he had the element of surprise on his side and he didn't want to waste it. As the demon rushed into the fight with swords appearing in his hands, Tiberius knew his time to interfere was near.

Eva became aware that Jason's fighting style had changed, his pace had become much faster and more frantic. She beheaded the two wasted things in front of her and turned to help Jason. He was locked in a desperate battle with Janus, his one sword desperately trying to defend against the two of the demon. Eva joined the fight and Janus happily took them both on, a gleeful smile on his face. Even with all their fighting skills, two-on-one was no match for the demon. No words needed to be spoken between Eva and Jason, they knew exactly what the other was thinking. Jason started attacking with high strikes while Eva went in with low ones. Every time one of the demons' blades was there to meet the strikes. The ground was treacherous with rubble, body parts and slick with blood. One misstep could be fatal.

On and on the battle raged but the two of them could not break the demons' defences. One of Janus's blades slipped past Eva's guard and sunk deep into her arm. She cried out as her sword dropped to the ground. An evil grin spread across Janus's face as he drew back his sword for the killing blow. Jason, seeing what was about to happen, dived in front of Eva and used his body to shield her. The blade slammed into Jason's back and ran straight through him and into Eva. Janus threw his other sword down and took a two-handed grip on the sword embedded in the druids. With a howl of triumph Janus put all his force into the strike. The sword buried itself up to the hilt in Jason's back. Eva screamed as the force drove her backwards into a wall. The sword ripped right through her and buried itself in the wall.  Janus stepped back to admire his handiwork, he laughed madly and shouted,

"and that folks is how you kill two birds with one sword!" Both Jason and Eva remained pinned to the wall, motionless. Janus grabbed the handle and wrenched the sword free then turned back towards the battle. The two druids collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.