CHAPTER 4: THE NIGHT AXE (PART 2)
Yolotl sputtered, shielding his eyes from the flying debris, cursing the beast for its assault. Once again, the two were knocked to the ground.
"Show yourself, you old hag." The monster growled, pounding against one of the trees that had not fallen to the ground. It did not take much effort for it to clear the area of the trees.
“Toci, I will not ask again. Or shall I dispose of one of your playthings, hm?" It threatened with a deep cackle. The creature's threatening words, or rather, the fact that it was talking to an empty area within the forest, while slowly destroying part of it, left the two boys baffled. Why was this monster so desperate to find someone named Toci, who clearly seemed to despise them just as much as it did? The two boys were bewildered.
The two of them only remained quiet as the creature continued to wreck the woods. The destruction of the trees was astounding, and all it took was a simple slam of its fist.
Yolotl's dark eyes flickered over to the axe laying in the grass. If he could somehow reach it and get up fast enough, then he could take out one of its legs. Well...At least try to. On one hand, the monster could instantly crush him but if fate favored him today then he could seriously injure the beast and they could escape without any other trouble.
"No. Yolotl!" Hyats'i begged, pulling him out of his thoughts. The older teen was horrified as he gripped his friend's shoulders tightly. "You'll be killed." The idea made him shudder, not wanting to see the kid he considered almost like a little brother get torn apart before his very eyes. It was too much to even think about. Yolotl sent him a cheeky smile. A knowing glint in his eyes.
The boy wrenched himself out of his grasp and jumped up. His legs felt like lead as they swung him forwards. From behind them the creature finally took notice of the boys once more. As soon as he stood Yolotl charged towards the axe, the beast's howl of fury giving him goosebumps. In what felt like seconds, the two boys ended up tumbling through the dirt, landing harshly onto the ground with Yolotl on top and Hyats'i just barely managing to kick the axe towards them.
Without another thought, Yolotl grabbed the weapon and lifted himself back to his feet. He spun around, his hands tightly gripping the axe as he glared at the creature with fire in his eyes. He would not go down like this.
The beast's attention was turned onto him now, all its pent up anger and frustration being unleashed on him. In one last attempt to remove the headless monster's focus off the two boys, Hyats'i snatched up a broken branch and ran towards it.
"Over here!" He shouted, moving forwards. The creature stayed rooted to the spot, its fingers clenched into a claw shape, and it scoffed.
"Insolent." It raised its hand and swung it down, aiming for the boy's head. In a panic and last-ditch effort to save his best friend, the short boy jumped in front of Hyats'i. A loud clang sounded through the air as Yolotl was smashed backwards into a nearby tree, the impact causing it to crumble against his weight.
But Yolotl was left standing, defiantly blocking the creature's claw with the axe. The tattooed boy seemed more shocked than anything, he hadn't expected that to work. The beast's hand seemed to crack along the surface, burnt and blackened marks forming in the cracked skin and eating away at the flesh around the wound.
The teen almost let the worn-out axe slip through his fingers, unaware that his hands were even shaking at all. He swallowed thickly, sweat rolling down his face as he slowly lowered the axe and stared back up at the beast.
Yolotl was...terrified and overwhelmed, in a matter of minutes this whole situation had changed so much and yet nothing seemed to make any sense. His whole body seemed to tremble with a heavy force and the axe in his hand seemed to almost burn his hands.
He suddenly couldn't breathe. His chest ached and pain spread throughout his body. The skin of his hands felt like it was peeling off the bone. The longer he held the weapon the worse it got. The copper became hot to the touch and its warmth spread to the wooden handle attached to it. His hand burned under its touch, his skin itching uncomfortably with every passing second. Was this a divine force at work, punishing him for trying to defy whatever was happening?
Yolotl's teeth clenched and his knees buckled beneath him. A horrible mix of emotions swirling within him. The heat was unbearable, like flames dancing up his arms and clawing into his flesh. He stared at his hands with bewilderment, they seemed to almost glow a faint golden color that resembled the sun's warm rays. With wide eyes, he stumbled, quickly throwing the axe aside, making the weapon fly and slice into the bark of a tree the beast managed not to destroy.
'What the...?' He breathed.
There was no time to think, the headless beast roared in rage and pain and lunged at him. Yolotl was in a daze, just barely able to roll away from the creature's advances, though, what seemed to be luck allowed the brunt of the blows to strike that same tree his axe did. Yolotl looked over at his injured friend, as he crawled around on the ground to avoid another near deadly blow.
'Dammit, what do I do?' The sweat dripping from his forehead fell into his eyes, stinging as he rubbed them away. His body burned, the tips of his fingers hurt to move, and the skin felt weak, brittle even, as if the slightest brush of wind would tear it right off.
"Enough of this! Come out, Toci!" The beast howled again, spinning around in a way that showed it was trying to search for something. "How cowardly, you are."
Still, there was no response to the beast’s call.
But there was a faint whisper.
Was it his head playing tricks on him? His sense of awareness slowly melted away. If only to protect himself, Yolotl cursed and called to the world, but the pain was unbearable.
‘Yolotzin.’ A low voice called out to him. That voice. Yolotl could recognize it anywhere. It was snarky and condescending, but the boy could hear the underlying tone of worry and desperation.
He glanced up at the monster and then at Hyats'i but it seemed he was the only one who heard the disembodied voice. The headless beast thrashed around and slammed its hands against the ground, knocking down the remaining trees but still the forest remained silent.
'Feel how the sun's energy flows through your veins and how the sky's warmth fills your very being.' The voice softly said.
How vague. Yolotl gritted his teeth as he dodged yet another massive blow. How the heck was he supposed to do that? Yolotl yelled and rolled underneath the monster's legs, lurching out of its reach. Once he was a safe distance away, Yolotl took the small break that the beast afforded him to take a look at his hands, still clenched in tight fists.
"Flow." He whispers, digging his nails into his palms. "Like the sun."
'The sky, the trees, the air...Breathe.'
The last words faded out but the power was undeniable. It flowed through him, rushing through his skin. It felt like water, moving and powerful but when he closed his eyes and focused it felt warm like he was surrounded by the heat of summer. He wanted to get to the source of this, the wellspring.
'Breathe.'
The ground under them shifted as the creature forcefully pulled that tree out of the ground, the axe easily falling out of its place within the wood and bouncing across the ground. The brilliant golden color fizzled out, leaving the copper axe unremarkable as the young man took note that the axe had turned a dull brown color once more. With a loud grunt, the beast flung the thick tree into a collection of fallen logs and he climbed onto its rotting remains to survey the area once more, no doubt still in search of this 'Toci' person. The young man finally managed to pry his hands open to stare in awe at the brilliant glowing gold of his palms. There was not a single wound on his skin, the soreness still lingered but now there was something more. An overwhelming power that filled him to the brim.
This was an undeniable call.
Yolotl took a step forward, the grass beneath his feet singeing slightly, his gaze snapping back to the headless beast before turning to stare in the direction his best friend was currently trying to reach. The urge to move, to charge forward, and run was ever present, and he didn't think he could hold it back if he tried. And so...he charged.
Dirt flew through the air, sending dust everywhere as Yolotl was running through the crumbled logs and scattered branches. He couldn't slow himself down, a burning force pulled at his heart, urging him to run towards the monster itself.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hyats'i screamed. The taller boy struggled to get to his feet, still clutching his chest. And when he managed to stand, he started to run towards his friend, trying to drag him out of harm's way. But Yolotl didn't listen to him. Instead, he looked straight into the dark depths of the monster's void. He stared into the beast’s chest, how its entrails seemed to move around inside of it. How the black, gooey, tar-like blood dripped out from the cavity in its body. How its heart was visible, beating, pumping.
As though in a trance Yolotl threw his hand forward, the tip of his finger barely grazing the creature's open ribcage.
"Down, boy." It commanded, and before the young hero could register the words in his head, his body gave way under him. But it did not stop him. Rather, he clawed at the earth with his nails, as if his life depended on it, and like a worm crawling on the ground, he got closer and closer to the monster until he was beneath it. His eyes never leaving the pulsating heart that beat rapidly, angrily inside the gaping cavity that served as the monster's chest.
"Your Tonalli burns brightly, boy." The being spoke. This time, however, it no longer held the edge of anger and hate that seemed to be characteristic of the thing. Rather, it seemed curious. "To so desperately seek to die. It is quite rare indeed."
The headless being laughed at the notion.
Tonalli. The sun's warmth. His inner fire and courage.
His destiny. His calling.
Destiny? Calling?
It meant nothing to him.
For what did that word even mean in the face of this all consuming pain? This madness?
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