The Forsaken Arts

Chapter 64: Ambushed

In the armory, Iwai sat hunched over on the floor unmoving. The chaos from outside had found its way into the kingdom and the familiar sounds of war echoed throughout the corridors once again.

Suddenly a woman's scream abruptly woke her, causing her eyes to shoot open. She began to hear an eerie sound, like that of fabric tearing and the snarls of a wild beast.

Quizzical of the sound, she got up slowly to investigate its origin. On her hands and knees she began to crawl towards a crate that was meant to have been shipped days ago.

The closer she drew to the crate, the louder and more savage the noise became. Carefully she turned the corner just enough to let the horror sink in, she quickly jerked back and pressed herself against the crate, holding her mouth shut with both hands to keep from screaming. 

On the other side of the large wooden boxes were two creations feeding on the corpses of her fellow soldiers. Iwai was in charge of the small division that was sent to the armory to retrieve weapons to aid in the battle, but now she's the sole survivor of a failed mission.

Blood was splattered everywhere, fresh limbs were scattered around as the creations continued picking at them like vultures.

She briefly flashes back to when Cecilee ordered her to retrieve their weapons, specifically to the moment where she selected the now deceased to follow her.

They're... dead. It's all my fault, I... I killed them. She thought while trying to contain her sobbing. Their blood is on my hands.

Slowly removing her hands from her mouth, she quietly picked herself back up. The ongoing war can still be heard in the background. The sounds of steel against flesh and demons snarling and clawing are heard, as well the cries of those that can't defend themselves. 

I don't know if I can do this, I don't know if I can stop them.

Unaware of her presence, the creatures continued to feed. One of them took another generous bite from one of the bodies and began to chew with its mouth open. Deciding she would strike while they were distracted, she slowly took a step around the side of crate but the sound of her stepping in a puddle of blood alerted the fiends.

Shit!

The creatures stopped gorging themselves and turned to face her while snarling with blood dripping from their mouths. One of the creations advanced slowly, teetering from side to side while the other returned back to its meal, ripping out the heart of Vic.

Iwai stood frozen with fear and disgust as the creation slowly raised the heart to eye level. Its ridged teeth sank into the heart, till finally it erupted spewing the blood contained within.

She put her guard up then dodged as the creature lunged at her snarling, showing the torn and chewed up flesh in its mouth. Turning around, it charged at her once more but this time she countered with a powerful front kick, sending it flying back.

After turning and landing a series of combinations on the creation that had initially began its slow advanced, she finally knocked it to the ground.

Just as Iwai was receiving the confidence boost she needed, the first creation threw what was left of Vic's heart, hitting her in the back of the head and causing her to stumble forward two steps.

"The hell?" she said while rubbing her head.

As she felt the texture between her fingers, Iwai turned to see the bloody remnant on the floor.

"Oh c'mon!" she yelled in disgust.

She looked back up just in time to greet the claws of the second creation as they raked across the side of her face, leaving four gashes. Holding her cheek, she stumbled back into the arms of the creature that was still behind her.