I find myself in dire constraints, bound to a battle alongside an entity I truly despise. Never have I ever thought of myself being aligned with the one I wanted to strike down the most. But being in this difficult situation has forced my hand to once again do the unthinkable.
My eyes start moving from left to right as my head follows suit. These monsters in front of us with fists the size of small boulders gives me chills down my spine as I have never heard or seen such power well above my own. Each swing they take feels like a strong gust of wind that can take out a whole city block. Their horns seem to span about four feet upwards from their heads as if piercing the sky. All three of them stood about twelve feet tall making it harder for us to do combat with them as their enormous shadows obscure our vision further in this dead night’s peak.
Our initial plan was to divert two behemoths and isolate one of them to create a one-on-one situation, believing that it’s better to fight one than all three at the same time. The Demon suggested that it will be the bait; to lure in the other two as it believed that it is quicker than me by a mile. I would argue with that statement, but we had no time to dawdle into such trivial matters. I realized that it would be best for me to take advantage of the situation. I have better odds at surviving with a single monster than the Demon that has two on its tail; better that it risk its life rather than my own.
I try to find ways to strike down the one in front of me. I hope to find a weakness on its humongous frame. I run further away from it and create a large amount of distance between me and the isolated behemoth. I plan to take it out with a lunge using my sword, to pierce its chest and strike its heart. I just need a large amount of momentum as I don’t know how thick its skin is and how much force I would need in order to penetrate its ribs.
I take a deep breath and channel my energy to my toes. I push off the ground with full force and dash across the field at top speed. I reach for my left hip and try to grab my sword. It was then that I realized that my Onyx Blade was missing from my side. I was planning to do a dynamic lunge, but now I’m going 80 miles per hour with nothing but my hands to use for the impact.
As I draw near to the behemoth, I was suddenly taken out midstride. To my surprise, I found myself in the arms of the Demon as we both plummet to the ground, making a human-sized crater on the soil beneath us. It cupped my head in its arms as if protecting my neck in the process. I pulled away from it and looked up as I see a ghastly image from the distance.
On our left, one behemoth piercing the other with its horns as they both hit the ground. It cut through the other’s body slicing through it thoroughly and had its horns stuck inside the body of the other. The behemoth that struck the other shook its head breaking free of the dead one’s carcass and looks back towards us while the other one slowly approaches us from the right.
“You devised well, but your execution was poor. I followed suit to what you had in mind, and I adjusted it to the situation accordingly,” the Demon said.
“But either way, it was a good plan, something was just missing from my side that I hadn’t noticed until now,” I said to it with curiosity.
“Your Onyx Blade, did you happen to lose it?” It replied.
Honestly, I don’t know where I lost it. I might have lost it when we were hit inside the Groundrocker a few hours ago. It was the first time in years that its scabbard wasn’t holstered beside me. I didn’t notice that I lost it before when I bathed earlier as well, but now that I’m in the heat of battle, I long to grasp it, in need of its strength.
“Raise your head, are you not the fiercest warrior in all of Ironhart?” It said.
“I am. Are you suggesting that I am weak?” I replied in irritation.
“No, but your face draws deep regret, a sense of wary and fear,” the Demon said whilst taking a few steps forward.
“Go and look for your blade, we cannot win this battle with half of your mind lost in despair,” it added.
“I’m the Commander of the Ward Smiths, damn it! Don’t talk down on me like some lost child!” I screamed.
“Nearing death has stricken your body. Without your weapon, you fear the battlefield unlike before; realizing this truth, you now tremble to your knees. Look at your hands as they shiver, knowing that your true strength lies within that prideful blade of yours, the blade that owns your identity,” he replied to me calmly.
I looked at my hands; they were shaking like never before. I might not want to agree with it, but the Demon’s right. The blade is what made me who I am. The fierce Onyx Blade that everyone admires and respects. I have accomplished so much with that sword by my side, using it to aide me in all of my battles. I treated my sword as no mere weapon, tool, not even a friend, I treated it as a part of me; my body and soul, my true heart and strength.
Without it, I realized that I am just a mere individual, a lost soul stuck in a shell of a human being. Who am I and what am I to do? Two days ago, I said that I would want to be my own individual, not a pawn or servant of our leaders and of Extol. To be able to decide for my own and to find out the truth to myself, my life, the people I loved and cherished. But now, what I found is a woman wanting to be someone she is not. As the feeling of emptiness wraps upon me, like back then, a child that has lost something precious to her.
“The Onyx Blade is only a title; the sword is only a weapon. Great titles can never be attained by someone unskilled, by someone who falters in the direst of times. Weapons are nothing if their wielder is not a seasoned warrior. You are not a sword nor a title of great feat, you are a woman of pride, dedication, brilliance, and strength. The Onyx Blade did not give renown to the warrior, but the warrior gave renown to a simple black sword,” The Demon said as its back was turned towards me, facing the two behemoths in front of us.
I was still in trance when the Demon suddenly disappeared. I heard the behemoths roar. I snap my eyes to the distance where the sound came from and see that the Demon confronted the two behemoths head-on. It was like a pest, a fly if you will. Its speed is unlike before. I couldn’t clearly see it move, it was like a ghoul, a flying shadow zooming across the air.
One of the behemoths tries to catch the Demon with its gigantic hands but it hits the other on the face. The behemoth that was hit hits back, using its shoulder to ram the body of the other . All this is happening while the Demon is dashing and jumping on the behemoths bodies to pester them.
The two behemoths then started to ram each other using their large horns. They were grinding their horns together like testing each other’s strengths. Then, a strong gust of wind blew by me along with large cracking sounds. I look to my left and see that the Demon hit a row of trees like bowling pins; breaking them in half in the process. My eyes opened wide in shock as the Demon looked to be in terrible shape. The Demon looks battered and probably has insurmountable concussions from just that one devastating hit. I can only imagine if I were the one to be hit with such great force; it would most likely lead to my death.
I run towards it to check if it’s still alive. It was in the middle of two tree trunks broken in half. It was bloody, one of its glass lenses shattered and its mask was badly beat up. I lean in closer to take a better look at its face. It had a slash on the left part of its dark wooden mask. I suddenly remembered that it was I who made this dent.
In one of our many encounters, I remember that the Demon had knocked my Onyx Blade out of my hands as it palmed my right hand with great force, making it numb for a few minutes. At that time, I had to use my left hand in combat. I tried to reach for my sword, but the Demon threw it far away, striking a concrete wall about ten feet from us. The backlot alley where we had the encounter was surrounded by Ward Smiths all over, but I had them stand back and ordered them to only respond when I needed them to.
I remember that I looked around and saw a broken glass panel. We went head-to-head, tooth and nail as always. But at that night, I was faster, stronger, everything just felt different.
I remember overpowering the Demon at some point. It missed a step, and I kicked it. The Demon blocked my kick with its forearms, but I sent it back a few meters as it crashed through a bakery store window. It was deep in the night, so no one was inside the bakery that time. Bread cluttered the floors and broken glass flew everywhere along with some flour that cushioned the Demon’s impact. I ran to the Demon and sat on top of it, pinning it down as I start hammering its face with my fists—my left hand holding my right.
I went in for the kill, I grabbed a broken glass i found beside us and tried to stab the Demon on the forehead with the shiv, but it quickly dodged its head, making the shiv graze its mask. It grabbed some flour and threw it to my face and kicked me off.
When I opened my eyes, I only heard shooting as my Smiths secured the perimeter but, in an instant, the Demon was gone. Back then, when I walked out of the bakery store, I looked up and saw the moonlight shining upon me. I felt that I was close, I was near to my goal on beating the Demon one-on-one.
I check on the Demon, trying to see if it was still alive. I see the slash on its chest and found fragments of unusual material along with what seems like bloodied cotton fibers, which looks to me like it was only its body armor that was heavily slashed. I place my hand inside its armor and check for blood. I can feel a cut, but it seems that it’s nothing serious. I rip off a portion of the Demon’s armor on the front and put my ear to its chest, trying to check it was still breathing. I run my index and middle finger on its neck and check for pulses, which it had but in slow successions. It was still alive, maybe even just barely.
Suddenly, I heard a loud roar from where the two behemoths were fighting. The two behemoths threw each other around, punching and scratching each other as their blood spilled across the grassland. They were turning the place into a battle pit—soil and grass flew everywhere. They fought across the field, even stomping through the dead behemoth’s carcass without a care for one of their own.
Their battle was intense. As the mindless beasts move from left to right, I realized where their battle was heading, they were drawing near to where Shinji and Jade are. I had to think of a way to stop them or maybe to direct them away from that location.
“Leave, I’ll distract them. Try and make your escape,” the Demon said as it sits up.
“No, my comrades need me. I need to do something,” I said to it.
I look and try to find something usable. There are stones here, broken branches and wood pieces from the trees. I continue to look around, then I see the head of the dead behemoth, completely severed from its body, probably from the rampaging done by the other two.
“Can you move?” I said to the Demon as I reach out my hand to it.
“Yes, just give me a bit more time to heal,” it said as it grabs my hand.
“You’re going to need months to heal, and that’s with proper medical help which I doubt you’ll have,” I said to it as I pull it up.
I told it to grab Shinji and Jade, move them to the other side of the stream. I’ll distract the two behemoths as the Demon’s injury would only hinder me from going all out the battle.
“Are you certain?” the Demon said as it questions my plan.
“Yeah, pretty much. I have another plan in mind, but it can only happen if I can get their attention,” I said to it as I loosen up my knees, grabbing some sticks and stones in the process.
“I understand. Scream if you need some assistance,” the Demon said to me as it limped its way to Shinji and Jade.
“Yeah, right, that’s the last thing I’ll ever do,” I replied as I walk away from it going to the left.
I tap my toes to the ground, taking a deep breath. I look to my right and see the Demon running to Shinji and Jade. Now all I must do is to get these two behemoths where I need them to be.
As I reach the behemoths, I start throwing some stones on their heads, but they didn’t bat an eye, they just continued fighting one another. They look beaten down with blood all over their bodies but still filled with rage, relentless in their battle. To get their attention further, my second plan was more dangerous but should prove to be more effective.
I look at them and try to decide what to attack first. The one on the right strikes the one on the left and I see it falter back, making it sit on the ground. I raced to the one sitting and jumped on its head, pulled out the sticks on the pocket of the hooded vest I’m wearing and stabbed it three times on the right eye. It growled and roared in pain as I jumped off.
The one I struck in the eye slowly got up. It slammed its fists to the ground and with its bleeding eye, it faces towards me and in its rage, it screamed a loud, deafening roar. I scramble to get to the trees, near where the first behemoth that had died. The next phase of the plan was to get them close enough to me to be able to stab even one of them with the dead one’s horns. I just need to raise that dismembered head in the exact moment to be able to stab them.
I reach the dead behemoth’s carcass. But the one I struck on its eye stopped halfway through its pursuit. I’m puzzled as to why, but then a large shadow cast over my head. The shadow gradually grew as I realize something was coming at me. I jump back and use my forearms to block my face from the incoming debris, but it did little to protect me as rocks and dirt still hit me on the legs and shoulders.
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