2 Chapter 002: Family Torn Apart
"Run! Shelly! Kelly! Run and don't look back!" Their father exclaimed to them. "Shelly, protect your brother! I'll catch up to you both soon."
His children, who both watched as their father slaughtered the six goblins, stood there stunned. They stared at the beloved mother that cooked them their favourite foods, sang beautiful songs for them at night, baked them their first birthday cake and too much more to count. She laid on the floor of the house lifelessly with her eyes devoid of colour. Her unclothed body covered in grey goblin liquid, scratches, froth and more grey liquids pouring out her 'used' mouth.
"What are you both still doing here? Their father glared at them while he used his arms to shield the blows of the clubs. "I said RUN!!!"
Their father's words dragged them back to reality. Shelly grabbed Kelly's arm, running towards the forest.
The three goblins turned to chase after the two children, cackling to themselves with their tongues hanging out their mouths.
"Where do you think you're going?!" The father grabbed the ankle of one of the three goblins going to chase after his children. "I'm taking you to hell with me!"
The two goblins ran ahead without noticing that their third was left behind. Trying to escape his grip, it lifted its club to swing at his head, but before he could attack the father he pulled the goblin flat to the floor.
Mustering all his strength left, he threw himself atop the goblin to pin it down. The father opened his mouth wide, exposing his teeth like they were fangs.
"CHOMP!!!"
The father's teeth sunk themselves into the goblin's neck like a wolf tearing into a rabbit's throat.
"Ack! Argh! Gah!" The goblin scratched and punched at the father's head, trying to free itself.
The dying father, with his teeth clamped into the also dying goblin's throat, could only watch as the other two goblins got away. Very soon, he was going to die. His vision turned black, his breathing stopped and the last thing he heard was the cracking sound of fire on wood.
Everyone and everything in that house was DEAD!!! A mother ravished to death by goblins. A father killed by his wounds and goblin poison. The filthy goblins annihilated by a raging human beast.
The fire quickly spread throughout the house. The wood became weaker due to the flames that ate away at its strength.
"CRASH!!!"
The house collapsed atop the corpses. The burning wood cooked into their bodies.
"Just keep running! Just keep running!" Shelly chanted to herself. "Everything's gonna be okay!"
"Kah! Kah! Kah!"
The laughing of the two goblins chasing shot more fear into them.
Shelly noticed her brother lagging behind. She knew Kelly couldn't outrun them at his pace. A bitterly selfless idea came to her mind, but it would risk her own life in exchange for her brother's life. With no time to waste, she painfully made up her mind.
"Kelly, keep running and don't look back". Shelly stopped running and picked up a stone.
"Wait! No! No! I won't leave you!" Kelly stopped along with his sister.
Was he going to lose her as well?!
"Trust me! I'll catch up to you." Shelly tried reassuring her brother.
"Liar! You're gonna-"
"Just shut up and RUN!" Shelly interrupted, shouting.
The distraught Kelly turned around, running once more. Leaving his beloved sister behind, he ran further into the night forest, his tears trailing behind him.
"Good boy…. Now stay alive." Shelly watched as her only brother sprint away from her as instructed.
"Kah! Kah! Kah!"
Snapping her back to reality, were the two cackling goblins approaching her. She threw the stone, hitting a goblin on the head, then immediately ran to her right. She aimed to give Kelly enough time to get away as far as he could.
As expected, the goblins ran after her. Shelly used the forest to her advantage, hiding in the tall bushes. The goblins chased after her but were soon confused as to where she was.
Shelly stealthily watched as the goblins unknowingly approached her hiding spot.
One of the goblins clicked its teeth and turned to the other one saying, "Boi! Dat wei!"
Even though the goblin's pronunciation was bad, Shelly could tell that they were planning to go after Kelly.
"If they run after him now, they'll catch up." Her fingers touched a stick close by and she picked it up. "I won't let them hurt him… no matter what!"
Right as the goblins were about to leave, Shelly threw a stone hitting a tree nearby. The goblins quickly looked in the direction of the noise. Shelly ran out of the bushes and jumped at the nearest goblin, catching the two distracted goblins by surprise. The nearest goblin to Shelly only saw her shadow cover him, as she leapt towards it.
"Leave my brother ALONE!!!"
"SPLACK!!!"
Determined to save her brother, Shelly thrust the sharp edge of the stick, impaling the goblin's right eye and driving it through its brain. Her attack dropped them to the ground. The other goblin swung its wooden club at Shelly's head. She blocked the attack but broke her right arm in the process.
"Ahh!!!" She cried out, the pain immediately stung her.
Before it could take another swing, Shelly used her body to knock the goblin over. She quickly scrambled to her feet and started running once more.
Shelly ran, putting a bit of distance between them until she was met with a small river cliff. She hid in the bushes once more. Her breathing trembled and tears filled her eyes while she clutched her aching broken arm.
In no time, the goblin caught up to where she was. It was furious and growling. Shelly's only way of surviving this was to push it off the river cliff, but the goblin was smart enough to know not to go close to the edge. The goblin was determined to kill Shelly. It constantly swung at the bushes looking for her.
Shelly sat hidden behind a tree. Her tears-soaked face tilted to the full moon, she knew what had to be done. Having finally calmed her breathing, she made up her mind. It was now or never!
Grabbing a handful of dirt, she ran towards the goblin.
"GOBLIN SHIT! LOOK!!!"
Shelly's shout alerted the goblin. It raised its club to hit the dashing Shelly before she could reach it. Anticipating this, She threw the dirt, blinding it. The goblin instinctively dropped the club and rubbed its eyes.
Using her momentum to boost her final attack, she collided with the blinded goblin, wrapping her left arm around him.
"HAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Mustering all her charging 12-year-old strength, she lifted the goblin off the ground and sprinted with it over the river cliff. Amid their descent to the fast-flowing water, Shelly was alone with her thoughts.
"Is this it? Is this how I die? At the very least, Please god-Kalos!!! Let Kelly… be safe!!"
"SPLASH!" They plunged into the water.
"."
A long way down the river, a nun dressed in white, who looked to be in her 50's, walked out from among the trees with a cigarette in her mouth. The bright moonlight glowed on her face as she looked further up the mountains. She saw a huge amount of black smoke rising into the night sky.
She pulled the cigarette out her mouth and blew it into the air, looking at the black smoke with a blank and nonchalant expression.
"That better not reach the orphanage." Her voice had an annoyed tone to it. "Some of the kids have asthma."
Before she could put the cigarette back in her mouth, something abruptly caught her attention. The body of a girl was floating down the river. The nun clicked her teeth, dropping her cigarette and dashed out into the water. She pulled Shelly's wet body to the riverbank.
"Pump! Pump! Pump!"
The nun started giving Shelly chest compressions, trying to get the water out of her lungs.
"Breathe dammit! BREATHE!!"
The nun tilted her head back, pinched her nose shut and blew in her mouth, but Shelly still wasn't breathing.
"Come on kid! BREATHE!!!"
"PUMP! PUMP! PUMP!"
The nun once more started doing chest compressions but more aggressive than before.
"Blegh! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Shelly threw up the water, coughing. She survived. The nun was set at ease, seeing that her efforts weren't in vain.
"Haa! Haa! Haa!"
The nun heard the heavy breathing sounds of something close by. Looking to her left, she saw a drenched goblin.
"Let me guess… You did this to her?" The nun had a pissed-off expression, standing to her feet, glaring at the vile creature.. "Your kind deserves to be wiped out. Every last one of you!"
The goblin charged at her with its sharp nails, having lost its club in the water. The nun flipped her dress up and pulled out a dagger strapped to her leg and dashed towards the goblin. It jumped at her, but she swiftly encased her dagger with wind magic and sliced immaculately through its abdomen. The guts of the goblin spilled out as it hit the ground, its blood staining her white veil and tunic.
"May you suffer in hell!" The nun scorned the monster's corpse.
Having dealt with the goblin, she lifted the injured Shelly into her arms.
"I'm taking you to your new home. It'll be in the slums, but you'll at least have a new family there. You're gonna need it."
She walked into the forest, carrying Shelly and slowly disappearing behind the trees and the dark of the forest.
