Ryan grabbed her rifle and pistol from its case and they sprinted into the woods. Five slick black creatures splintered from each other and tore through the woods.
"Shit, split up." Ryan said. Nadia nodded and they angled away from each other. Nadia pushed herself harder but she could barely keep up with the two creatures in front her. She quickly drew an arrow and fired. There was a yelp of pain and she knew she hit one. Stopping to catch her breath the creature turned on her. It was a hell hound, a massive fire breathing mutt. It's skin was covered in tough stony armor. She saw her arrow poking out in between to plates.
It charged her and attacked her legs. Knocking her down she put her hands on its jaws and pushed it away from her neck. It kept getting closer and closer, it's putrid breath choking her. The mark on her hand glowed and she blew it's head off with a blast of force.
She wormed her way out from underneath it and sat there. Her right leg was torn up and the creatures bite had caused it to become infected. She managed to stand up and limp. The bushes around her shook and she relized she was surrounded. More and more of the hell hounds emerged from the brush.
"All right you bastards, come and get some."
The beasts snarled and charged her as one. She pressed her hand into the ground and it shook. Spires of rock and dirt erupted from the ground around her. Some were skewered on the spikes but the rest just broke right through them. One roared and she fired down its throat. Her leg was in agony as she tried to run. A shock of lightning she desperately pointed behind her took out another but five were still pursuing her.
Their bodies seem to liquify and stretch has they grouped closer. They melted into each other, growing larger by the second. The newly created demon was splintering and crushing trees as it thundered through the woods. The twin tusks growing from the side of its jaws drew closer and closer to her.
She rolled away as a burst of flame incinerated everything in front of it. It continued to stampede through the forest as Nadia lay against a tree. Her head had smacked into the bark and dazed her. She crawled forewards and pushed herself up. She drew a glyph in the air then fired an arrow through it. It stuck into the demons leg and started tracking it. It made a sharp turn towards the clearing where Ryan's truck was parked.
"Not so fast." She said grinning.
She formed another glyph and lined up her shot with where the demon would be. She fired and the arrow flew like a bullet. With a thunderous roar it turned and came barreling towards her. She tried to jump into a tree but it swatted the oak and pinned her under a cart sized paw. Nadia struggled to push it off her but the pressure steadily grew. She couldn't focus long enough to draw a glyph. When she felt her rib cracked she tried to muster all the energy she could.
"Death's Gate!" She screamed. The world turned black around her. Her details faded away and she looked into the green pool behind her. She felt the power flood her limbs and she snapped back into the real world.
"Get off me you stupid bastard." She drew a glyph on its paw and it jerked back as its paw was consumed by ice. She stumbled away and drew a new glyph.
"Time to die." She fired into its head. Green festering rot ate away at its face. It bathed her in flame, burning away the ruined portion of it's jaw along with the forest around them. It's lower jaw hung from one side and a ruined eye socket stared at her.
In the center of the carnage Nadia stood there. Her clothes steamed but she was unharmed. A circle around her was untouched by the firestorm.
"I'm not that easy to kill." She fired and four arrows sank into its chest. She kept firing until the arrows formed a glyph. She charged one last arrow and launched it. It struck the center and the creature started to shake. It cried and yelped as it's body swelled and exploded. Nadia was showered in blood and various other meaty bits.
"Bloody hell, this is disgusting."
"What happened over here?" Ryan said strolling over.
"The bloody thing exploded. I thought they turned into dust."
"They do, just not immediately." The blood on her body disappeared as well as the Death Field. The scorched forest grew back around them. Nadia felt the power from the Death Gate flow out of her body and her body cried out in pain. Her leg gave out and she felt one of her ribs scrape against her lung.
"Nadia, are you okay."
"No." She coughed up some blood and rolled onto her side. Her skin was burning up and some of the marks on her body were smoking. "Help." She moaned.
"Hold on Nadia." She picked her up and cradled her to her chest. She ran back towards her truck. She took off her shirt and used it to tie Nadia's bleeding leg. Ryan laid her down in the back seat and climbed into her truck. She dialed the apartments house phone praying someone picked up.
"Hello?" Grim said drowsily.
"Oh thank christ, Grim it's Ryan. A pack of hell hounds escaped in the woods. We killed them but Nadia's in real bad shape. Prep the table and tell Katie to get ready."
"Got it, Selena and James will escort you up."
Ryan tore through the city and screeched to a stop in the parking garage. She climbed out and grabbed Nadia. James and Selena met her at the elevator. They rode it up to their floor and hustled into the apartment. Grim had cleared the table and put a plastic sheet over it. Katie pulled on a pair of gloves and unrolled a sleeve of scalpels and tools.
"Get her on the table now. Selena, I need an IV bag. James I need you to hold her down. She's got blood in her lungs, I need to open up an airway."
Nadia was choking on blood and crying. Katie put a rag in her mouth and said.
"Sorry honey but this is going to hurt. She grabbed a hollow needle and pushed it into her chest. Nadia let out a wheezy gasp and her breathing steadied. "Alright I got to stop the bleeding and infection in her leg. James, Grim, hold her tight."
Katie opened a bottle of disinfectant and poured it on her leg. She screamed as it foamed up.
"Selena bandage that, after I reset her rib we have to wait for her body to heal the damage to her lung."
She didn't even give Nadia warning and snapped the rib back into place. She let out one final agonizing scream and passed out.
"There is nothing else we can do, just make sure that leg stays clean." Katie tossed her gloves into the garbage and disappeared into her room with a beer.
6590 words down, so many more to go.
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Death's Stigma (NanoWriMo14)
Action(Very Rough Draft)The human world has become so corrupt that death can no long hold back the tide of creatures attempting to break free from his realm. As a last ditch attempt to stop the flow of undead he has spread his power through out the world...
