Akuma

Chapter 4

A/N: Blah blah blah, same warnings. If you're still here and not comfortable with all that, I hate to disappoint you, but that's basically going to be the book the entire time

I tightened my grip on the stick as I continued to watch the female. She was close to breaking concentration since Edien and Akumu were really going at it now.

Finally, her eyes quickly flickered to check on Edien. Once she was distracted I lunged at her. However, she moved last second and barely avoided getting her right eye poked out.

She stumbled back slightly before recovering and swinging her stick back, as if it were a blade and was actually sharp on the edges. Which it was not.

I quickly lifted my own stick to block the blow, even though it wouldn't have done much damage regardless. I then batted the female in the stomach as retaliation.

She recoiled, looking amazed that I blocked her. Before she could recover and attempt to attack again, Edien let out a cry of pain.

I suppressed the urge to turn, and instead reached for Akumu's conscious to see what happened. They had "accidentally" shoved their stick through Edien's arm, right in between the radius and ulna.

The girl was wincing with sympathy. Seizing the chance I was given, I threw the stick as hard as I could, blindly hoping it stayed on course.

Of course, it didn't. My aim was off, so instead of going through her head, like I planned, it punctured her left lung. It also didn't quite go all the way through, either. Instead, it had gone entirely through the lung, but not back through the back.

She screamed, but it sounded like she was drowning as she did so. She fell down, still attempting to scream. Once she did fall, a wet, squelching and crunching noise could be heard. The girl tried to scream louder, but they were practically gasping for air while being face-down in the dirt.

At this point, Edien was also screaming. Since the girl was down -and would be for a while- I turned to fight Edien. Akumu backed up to be closer to my lunging distance. Meanwhile Edien looked like he was having an existential crisis. He was still screaming, although, it was a bit quieter now. He looked nervous, as if he was trying to decide whether to run or continue fighting.

Once he had finished screaming, Edien took a few steps backwards. In response, I took a couple steps forward. Edien's eyes were wide open, he wasn't just scared, he was terrified. He was terrified of me. As he should be. I thought smugly.

Edien switched his stick to his right hand, since the other arm had a branch through it.

"Do not come any closer," He said shakily. I took a confident step towards him anyways, he flinched.

"Stay where you are!" Edien said with a bit more force. Any sort of playful attitude he had before was gone. I smirked as I replied, "Okay."

He looked relieved for a split second. Then, I summoned my bow, and he looked just as frightened as before, maybe even more so.

"I'll stay where I am," I stated, placing an arrow in front of the bow string. Akumu padded to stand beside me, looking more like a large cat now. Edien glanced at them before taking a few steps back. Some seconds later, he turned tail and ran.

"Akumu, fetch," I stated, slinging my bow to be around my back. Akumu launched themselves to catch Edien for me.

I stood still, waiting for Akumu to return. I looked back at the girl, who had managed to turn their head so they could breathe. She took big, gulping breaths, as if she was a fish on land.

Her eyes were dulling, but a spark of her will to survive occasionally flickered across. I turned and walked over to her before crouching down to look her dead in the eyes.