50 (Second Part)
Neddin wraps his rags around the stump and squeezes hard to stop the bleeding. Determined to survive, he heads down the mountainside as fast as he can, intent on rallying his hunters and convincing his people that all the blood spilled that night is the Lancasterian's fault.
(And if that doesn't work, I can always gather the most loyal and found a new tribe, avoiding falling into the same mistakes. I gave too much freedom to these worms!)
Thinking of animals reminds him of the bite on his leg, forcing him to limp and go slower than he would like.
(I must also find Zell. I understand taking out Maaca and Bironte, but Zell is my best warrior, he would never fall at the hands of a foreign barbarian)
He doesn't need to reach the bottom to find Zell. The rising pillar of light startles him, and the ensuing deafening gale drives him to stick his back against the rock. He stares speechlessly at the line of light, and at the humanoid silhouette floating, gigantic, within the glow.
The glow subsides, shrinks in diameter, becoming a thin line that gives way to a levitating red colossus. The trunk is a brilliant crimson, the same with the virile limb that hangs between those legs that end in bird claws. Instead of arms, four wings, each two meters thick and ten meters long, almost like feathered tentacles, move at the wrong time. Over its shoulders, the hawk's head opens its beak and lets out an eardrum-twisting squawk.
Neddin covers his ears in response, unable to comprehend the vision rising above his people. Fear and confusion paralyze him. Zell does move, clumsily, but with brutal force, he lashes his two left wings at the top of the mountain, hitting more on one side than the center. The mountain shakes and cracks in response.
Pebbles and boulders rain down. Neddin loses his balance and collapses, bouncing off the paths he had left to descend.
His body comes to the bottom bruised, with most of his bones face down, his face oozing blood, several teeth missing, and his limbs bent in inhuman directions. The bloody bubbling that blooms between his lips proves that he is still alive. Stones clatter in his vicinity, and from the dreary scream that erupts from the people's houses, he understands that more elements are coming down.
He hears a meaty thud. Then another one. He sees a foot. A leg. The last of the bodies to fall is Zakary's, who is left with his jaw unhinged and his face unhinged 30 centimeters from his own. Those wide, dead, accusing eyes lead Neddin to cry out in a cry for help that is lost in the gurgling of his own blood and the general din. His cry stretches for a few seconds, and ceases when the temple of contemplations strikes, extirpating all beneath it.
...
Chester retrieves the katana from the ground. Nods to the little pig, it jumps to him, and jumps under his vest. In his left arm the Lancaster carries the princess, and in his right hand he holds the metalcorona blade.
He casts a glance at the feathered titan. The mountain crumbles from the blow a moment ago, and by the way the creature raises its wings, other attacks are coming.
The Lancaster roars, bows its knees, and makes a dash in the direction of the mutant. With an animal-like clumsiness, the wings are directed in its direction. One of the tentacles sweeps over the top from the right, threatening to send him flying. Chester throws a slash and slices off the appendage, the tip of it flies off and the stump spews a geyser of blood.
Another wing comes at him, this time diagonally. Chester leaps, spins in the air, and cuts it too. New scarlet rivulets form. The hawk screams, more out of fury than pain. The upper right wing tries to crush the Lancaster, Chester keeps running towards Zell, but seconds before the wing pulverizes him, he spins on the ground and dodges it.
The appendage crashes into the crown of the mount, which ends up unraveling. Chester jumps before the surface that supported his feet turns to pebbles, and lands on the wing.
The swordsman runs along the tentacle, leaving the mountain behind, and every second getting closer to the core of the body. Without slowing, he buries the sword in the bone, and though it offers resistance, Chester uses every ounce of strength in his legs to run without dislodging the sword. Behind him a ridge of vital fluid rises.
He can almost feel the monster's fetid breath. The last wing tries to knock him down, but Chester leaps forward and leaps toward the hawk's head.
The boots land on the beak, cracking it under the force of the impact. The Lancasterian, the princess, and the little pig peeking out from the vest, are reflected in the black, reason-free eyes. Chester extends his arm and penetrates the titan's right eyeball with the tip. Zell screams again, this time undoubtedly in pain.
The creature's back is thrown back. Its levitation power gives way. It loses height. Chester holsters the katana even deeper, and uses one foot to smash the other eye with stomps, no pleasure or pride, only rage. The force of each kick is equivalent to his impotence, and the blue of his hair has long since disappeared under the blood of his enemy. The tribals, below, scurry away to avoid the colossus falling on them.
Zell ends up on the ground, causing a tremor. His head, weakened by the Lancaster's attacks, explodes on impact. The rotting gray matter flows like a spring, showering the tribals who had not moved far enough away, including Gaita and Suri.
The Lancaster rolls on the ground and lies on its back, its eyes fixed on the sky that slowly but surely takes on its infamous nocturnal luminescence. The piglet jumps out of the vest and shakes free of the dirty blood. The tribals surround Chester, they see he is not alone, and a few recognize the girl with the sealed eyes.
La Cuna cries. Chester, however, pays no attention to them. He wipes the dirt on Nadjela's face with his hand, wanting to see her peaceful expression again, almost as if sleeping. But there is too much blood.
Chester was determined never to stain Nadjela with his rotten essence. Even in that he failed in the end.