Genesis sprints light-footed at my side with Bagels on her head and I still hold Rins' hand, leading her on over the now visible roots that the monsters revealed and scraped cruelly. The pace isn't unreasonable and I could run on like this for days, if need be, I can carry Rin too. Bagels clings to Genesis' head squeaking wildly when there's a pit. We are careful never to get closer than the bare and slight visibility of them ahead of us as no risks are necessary.
"Genesis, Hester? Did she go this way?" despite the tension and fear I whisper over to her and motion with my hands, she barks with a yes and I nod. It is then that the grass and soils right underfoot are healed and Phoneix now holds at my side. He is greeted by a nod from me and Rin.
"Come on! Let's go!" Phoneix yells in a confidence I do not understand, apparently untouched by the fear the air holds and the death the monsters have befriended.
"What! Are you crazy!" We have to raise our voices over the thunder noise of feet in front of us.
"Just trust me, okay?" I am extremely hesitant but nod, clenching my jaw.
Phoenix raises his speed, Rin, being a normal human girl, cannot keep up at this advanced pace so I take her on my back without her permission in my desperation that I do not understand either. Genesis is panting and Bagels squeaks in protest. I feel so damn alive.
Life on the line truly, in a place that hopes cannot survive, where the shadows are deep and lush, how the storm of desperation and savage time lavashes with the crimson bloods of life. This place that sucks away humanity is where I feel alive because this is a place where I must fight to live non-stop.
We gain on the beasts easily, coming up behind them swift as a wind, perhaps you could say we are the winds as they have gone away and hidden far away. What on Earth is Phoenix planning to do?
"Rin! Can you fight? Do you have a weapon?" Phoenix yells now and barely hear.
"Yes, but I have no weapon!" She yells back.
"Can you run above with Rin Claire? Get her a branch then we will start killing them off from back here, we cannot get in front of them in time." Phoneix commands and I bounce onto a pinpointed branch above.
Each thought must be like lightning, one mistake has serious consequences, each branch is a decision, each millimeter movement matters up here, and each decision must be smart and instantaneous. I feel Rin reach out and hear a loud crack as she now has a branch as a weapon. Kol sits silent at my side.
"Ready? Hold on, I won't let you go, we do one attack, come up here, then back down and repeat, go it!" I shout over the thrumming and she agrees, wrapping an arm around my chest as I need my hands to fight.
Looking below, I pick out a bear. Perfect, a nice wide landing platform and predictable movements. Then I let go of Rin, her legs tie around my waist and I take out Kol, finding a gap in branches I jump down, a few twigs scrape my face. Luckily my timing was accurate even with a different weight I have now.
The bear roars and rears up as expected, I immediately slice its throat, Kol burns and so does the Key for a moment, but then all my senses heighten, I feel powerful and agiler, time is slowed and my mind is in a sharp focus. The bear falls and then I move onto a moose, standing now between its antlers and killing those around it before killing the moose and moving on again.
I bounce from one beast to the next, now, however, leopards begin taking notice and trying to kill us. With this I gaze up, finding a low branch, I push off the back of a deer and grip the branch, using the momentum to swing us up and again run in the canopy to recover and find a new spot for attack. With a glance back, Phoenix is in an ultimate fury, eyes burning, face contorted in anguish and animosity I do not understand.
No. No time for this. I do not completely understand our reasons for attack, but I trust Phoenix and do know that these monsters have no good intention left in their being. Lucky for us, the spider dies when you kill the puppet it uses, as it fills the carcass so any attack can kill it.
"AGAIN!" I scream and land on a deer, kill it, a leopard comes from behind, I put our lives in Rins' hands, and she does not fail me, the giant cat falls, the dead Imazana slipping out to be crushed. Fires reach up high behind us, it seems Phoenix has set many afire; this is a very effective method as it will spread nicely.
These creatures are easy to kill because they are so focused on getting somewhere to do something. Next time we rest in the canopy I increase my pace to move ahead of Phoenix's fires. I feel so cold inside, killing all these creatures, blood splattering me all over, gushing from wounds I inflict, hearing bones crunch, but this is what must be done to live. Still, death surrounds us and the only noise is the many feet and us. Still, hope is dead. Still the sun hides, and still, the winds are scared.
I believe we have gone through half already thanks to the fires Phoenix spread and we now are at the head of the group. If we could just trip them all...
"Trust me!" I scream and leap down right in front of the entire pack of savage monsters walking with death and despair, with Kol, I run from one side of the front lines to the other the blade slices through all front legs and a few necks and chests. Rin takes off a few heads too, he eyes purely focused and unblinking, staring death in the face with confidence.
And she's done all this with a simple stick.
YOU ARE READING
Tyranny: Onwards
FantasyThis is Part 2 of the book Tyranny (The Key). They have yet to find Blaze and Dagwood, to reach the other Wizards, and get to the Sword of Siron. But this is just the beginning of what they must do and what they will end up attempting. Cover Picture...
