Survivors

Chapter 31: Xain

Chapter 31: Xain

 

          How did they find us here? How did they even know anyone would be out here? This definitely isn’t good. Whenever carnagion are involved, it’s always deadly. No one lives unscathed to tell the tale of a battle with carnagions. They’re either deeply scarred and traumatized, or dead.

          It’s taking all I can not to panic. Panicking now would endanger us both. I know they’re rapidly approaching—not sure to how many—but I can’t move.

          “Xain,” Jada tugs my arm. She’s scared. Deeply scared.

          “Run,” I say and grab her arm. We both take off through the trees.

          It doesn’t take us long to reach a tall and sturdy tree. I hoist Jada up it and hand her the bow and quiver of arrows. I then climb up and take off my bag. I secure it to the tree and hop down with the Shadow in hand.

          “Take out as many as you can,” I say, “I can only hope that there’s not many.”

          With that thought, something smashes through the woods. It looks like a man, but it’s grayish in color. It has long, slender arms that are attached to long, clawed hands. Its legs are half human and wolf-like. The only covering it has is the tattered and torn brown pants it has on. It stands on its hind legs and roars at me with big, razor sharp teeth and red eyes. As if on cue, others similar to him—I’m certain that it’s a male seeing as how there are some that are distinctively female—come charging forward. There has to be at least twenty of them, and they’re closing in quickly.

          I extend Shadow and ready myself to attack. As I do, I hear arrows being released. One is a dead on head shot, but others just wince in pain and continue onward. I can tell that this is gonna be hell. I lash out and take off one’s head and jab another in the heart. I double back and duck in time to avoid being sliced by one of their claws. In return, I cut off its arm. It bellows in pain as I turn and spear one in the stomach, but one grabs me around the neck with so much force that I feel as if I’ll black out.

          For the first time, I’m seeing one of these ravagious creatures up close. Its breath almost knocks me out. Up close, I can tell that these creatures must have been human. I remember that I still have knives all around my body, and pull one from my hip and stab it right in its eye. It roars and throws me against the tree. I now see that it’s the same monster whose arm I severed. He collapses as another lunges for me, but this one catches an arrow right down its throat.

          “Get up Xain,” Jada shouts from her tree. She’s scared. “I’m almost out of arrows.”

          She drops down my swords and I catch them right as a carnagion approaches. I duck and its claws hit the tree, shooting wood chips from it. I chop off the leg and dart away, twirling to cut one in half across the mid-section. I’ve cleared at least a fourth of them, but they don’t seem to be getting easier. They don’t even seem tired. Even the ones who have arrows sticking out from them like pin cushions or have missing limbs are still closing in to fight.

          I’m backed up against the tree. I know this is the end. I look up at Jada who is now more scared than ever. She has an arrow drawn, but this time it has a string tied to it. I look down at the tree and see that it’s sticky. It also has a string attached to it.

          “Xain,” Jada says softly, “get away from the tree.”

          “Jada,” I say, “what...”