The Guardian Of The Grave

It was way beyond midnight, and the crowd still waited. Some were asleep, some were wide awake, some were praying, and some were talking. The tiny pots containing the honey-water offering remained untouched and unmoved. Until a flock of birds with a large red beak and dark feathers encircled them. 

"Hey, look over there!" The kids pointed it out. 

They have never seen such a bird in their lives, and it did not belong to any of the forest that was nearby, and if it did, the hunters or the villagers would've known. 

Slowly, one by one, each of the birds mounted on top of the three pots, consumed the substance, and flew away in a matter of seconds.

The crowd woke up to what had happened, and it froze them. 

"Did you all see what I just saw?" It was the voice of one of the women from the Plateau. 

"I don't believe this..." An old lady cried. 

"Was it the bird that drank the offering for all these centuries?" Everyone stood up in disbelief. 

"It can't be…" 

"No!" 

Every one of the believers, dressed in white, cried. They were unable to swallow it. The beating of hearts stopped momentarily in them; their eyes widened, and they screamed, defeated.

"This took the lives of so many people. Innocent and undeserving. This God you all bowed to. What was it all for? You threw us all away from this place just because we didn't believe in something you did. You separated us, banished us... All for a fuckin' bird to make you understand that your God is not real." The woman laughed uncontrollably with tears in her eyes. 

They laughed, and they cried.

"The war is done and dusted now." 

"No. We still believe in our Goddess…" An old man cried from elsewhere.

"Yeah right." She replied sarcastically.

"I don't even care if this 'new god man' comes back or not at this point." She ended and went to sleep on the cold sand. 

Generations of prayers, rituals, tradition, duties, battles, wars, and what not. All for nothing. Everything was crushed to the ground, like their village. The Village Of The Goddess was its name, but what would they call it now?

…

The bladed arms plunged through Redyn and cast out his guts. His flesh and blood poured onto the snowy ground. 

The figure was almost as tall as Yin, with three heads and six arms. Each of the heads had a long beard but no faces, and it didn't talk. The bright white figure sent fear through everyone who stood alive there. 

"Hehe. Now that's definitely a ghost." Neilus shivered. 

Old Slinton looked amazed at the figure and gently walked closer to it. 

"O' The Three Supreme Elders…We yearn and pray for your guidance." Old Slinton bowed down excitedly. 

The figure placed all six hands on his head.

"Bless me, O' lords." Old Slinton smiled.

And it ripped his head off…And threw it off the cliff.

…

"Fuck." Vegas cursed. 

…

Everyone left were fighters, so they prepared.

Wes Grand stepped forward and drew his sword from its sheath, and Neilus took his sword as he wore a scared smile. Vegas gripped Juno, Colt pointed his sword at the figure, and finally Yin Kang walked in front of everyone and whipped out his sword. 

"Ahh!" Neilus yelled for everyone to rush. 

Yin leaned forward and delivered the strong first blow at the figure, and it hit. The figure gets pushed back a bit with its six arms now blocking. 

Vegas leaped herself with the help of a tree on the side and propelled Juno into the blocked arms, but it got pushed back to her. 

Colt, from a safe distance, slashes his longsword at the hip, and it cuts through. The figure grabs hold of his sword and pushes it out.

Neilus tried going for the head on the right but was immediately blocked by the three arms on that side. 

Wes Grand rages forth with a deadly stare and pierces through one of its hands. 

It was a marvellous attack. 

Vegas flips from the tree and lands behind it. 

The figure swiftly removes the sword from its hand and turns back to face Vegas. 

Neilus manages to slide under it to assist her.

The figure's six hands were shifting into sharp objects, and everyone tried attacking it from all sides. 

Wes and Yin swung at its back; Colt leaned in closer and aimed for the half-cut hip; Neilus aimed for both legs; and Vegas went for the head. 

The figure understood the sequence and immediately put up its six arms to block it from every angle, and it did. All their attacks hit the hands, and they stayed invincible. 

All of them repeatedly and continually performed the same attack from their sides.

It kept blocking.

Vegas noticed something.

"It's protecting more than it's trying to attack!" She informed. 

Vegas changed the sequence by rolling away from her side and jumping in the air. She went for the head again, but got blocked again. 

"It's protecting its head! Go for the head!" Yin commanded. 

"Ya fuckin' ugly ghost!" Neilus yelled.

Everyone broke out of their position, but it gave the ghost a split second to attack.

It furiously struck them with its blade-like hands, which threw everyone to the ground.

Their heads spun, and their weapons scattered. 

"Ow!" Everyone groaned.

"The three heads… We gotta decapitate it. Be careful and stay close." Wes announced.

But Vegas was nowhere near them. 

"Vegas!" Yin yelled as he looked at her body lying on the ground. 

The ghost was moving close to kill her off. 

"Ahh!" He grabbed his sword and ran. 

On the perfect step, he jumped and slashed through the head on the right. 

"ZZZWWW!" It screeched like a rat. 

The first head fell to the ground and turned into ashes in an instant. 

"Fuck ya!" Neilus yelled at the victorious attempt. 

Yin panted and helped Vegas to stand up. 

"ZZZHHHHWWW!" It kept crying in pain. 

Everybody else stood up and tried to run away from there, but the ghost, with its two heads, looked dead at them. 

"I, Sworn Guardian Of The Grave…Shall Turn You All Into Dust."

The ghost spoke.

"Great! Now it talks." Neilus commented.

The ghost ran at them. 

"Hey!" 

It looked back. It was Yin's voice. 

"Fight me if you can." He challenged. 

The ghost chuckled and ran straight at him as the six arms diluted into four. It became faster and stronger. 

It charged its hands at his body, and Yin blocked it with the sword with sheer strength. But it repeatedly smashed at his defence and broke through eventually. Yin fell to the ground, and the ghost delivered rapid punches to his body. 

The rest of them stopped spectating and sprinted forward. 

Vegas picked up Juno and went for an attack. 

The ghost was finished with Yin and instinctively elbowed the nearest attacker, and Vegas was thrown in the air, and Juno landed near Yin's body. 

Neilus threw his weapon from his hand and caught Vegas with both arms. 

Wes Grand and Colt were face-to-face with the ghost. 

They halted and stared at the tall ghost. 

"AHHHW!" The ghost screamed and kicked both the defenceless men powerfully. 

Wes and Colt fell and slid along the slippery and icy ground, but Wes's weight stopped him, but Colt's body went further, and out of nowhere, he was latching onto the cliff's edge in dread. Beneath him lived death. 

"Colt!" Neilus carefully dropped Vegas and rushed to pull him up.

The ghost looked at Vegas for a brief second and ran straight at her.

Vegas stood up courageously, but she realised Juno wasn't with her.

So she closed her eyes to accept her fate. The picture of her mom flashed in front of her, and for some reason, the face of Yin Kang appeared. 

"He was my only friend." She thought.

Her body shook, and the sound of a blade plunging through her body rang in her ears.

But she didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes, and in front of her was her commander, Wes Grand, with blood severely dripping down his body. 

"NOOOO!" Vegas cried with rage.

The sound woke Yin, and next to him was Juno, waiting to be held.

He clutched it steadily and ran forward. The ghost was not looking at him, and again he jumped on the perfect step and slashed through the left head. 

Wes Grand's lifeless body fell to the ground. 

"ZZZHHHHWWWWWW!" The ghost screeched louder this time. The second head turned to ashes, and the four arms were diluted to the last two. 

As the ghost squealed in pain, it blindly got hold of Yin's body and hurled him off the cliff.

...

Yin was gone.

...

Out of sight.

...

"NOOOO!" She screamed.

Vegas lost consciousness, and Neilus managed to pull Colt from his near death, but a new one was awaiting them behind them. It was down to the last three. 

The ghost stared directly at them. 

"We're about to be one of those frozen skeletons, aren't we?" Neilus cried, trembling.