Game (3)

Steel pierced flesh as monsters cried out in pain. An onslaught of monsters was taking place in the streets. A huge group of people moved as they were guarded by their fellow man. Hordes of monsters charged at them, but they were cut away by their united front.

Like clockwork, the monsters would charge and die, taking away those that were injured to feast on, then they would attack again stronger. It was a cycle that went on every step of the way in the humans' plot to escape the city.

Anders was at the forefront, leading the push, while Fiona healed those who were hurt. This was the only move they could make; the back alleys where they were staying were overrun with these grotesque creatures. An attempt to escape was the only way to survive.

Anders' silver estoc pierced through the brains of a mutant as sparks burst from its inside.

A charred corpse fell before him as he let the other monstrosities take away their prize. He wiped his head as he looked to see how far they were from their destination.

'At this rate, it will be another hour before we make it. We're going too slow; all these people are dragging down those who can fight.'

He looked back into the core of the group and saw the sick and hurt, young and old. Anders sighed as he and the others prepared for the next wave.

Monsters crashed against them, and some people were hurt, sometimes losing one of their comrades.

The wave ended as the attackers took their meals, and Anders made a decision and went to find Fiona. When he found her, she was tending to the wound of a little boy. The child had a scratch on his knee, so she applied an ointment.

"All better now, return to your mother now."

They ran away deep into the group as Anders walked up to her.

"The wave just ended; we will begin to move again until the next."

"Good, is there anything else?"

"Yes, I need to talk with you privately."

Anders took Fiona closer to the line where fewer people stayed and told her what he thought of the situation. He advised leaving behind those who were slowing them down. At the rate they were going, they were going to be easy pickings for the elites on the wall.

Fiona listened but didn't agree; by the time Anders was halfway through talking, she yelled at him in anger.

"How could you suggest such a thing! I don't know what you've gone through, but I fear you've changed for the worse if your moral compass is this broken. They are people, not baggage! If you suggest something like this to me again, I will throw you out!"

"We both know that will only weaken the group, you need me."

"Enough!"

Fiona pushed Anders away and returned to the inner group to continue healing the injured.

Anders gripped his sword, jaw clenched. He didn't understand her naïve optimism. Surviving meant making hard choices.

'If we're slowed down, none of us will make it. Some need to be sacrificed for the greater good. She needs to understand that!'

The group continued on as men died defending them. After the latest wave of attacks, only half of the defenders remained able-bodied enough to fight. Several of them were heavily injured to the point they would die without proper medical help.

It was around this time that monsters began to break through the defensive line and into the inner parts of the group.

Anders turned as he heard screams behind him. The wave finally finished, and he and the other men were exhausted.

The screams were like a jolt of energy that kept him awake as he ran into the cluster of people. He came upon 5 dead with one of the mutants above their bodies, gnawing on the bones.

His sword immediately found its place in the creature's back as it screamed in agony, its flesh contorted and moved like it was separate from this entity of animal instinct as it surrounded and tightened around Anders' sword.

"Everyone back away; it's one of the evolved ones," Anders screamed as he tugged on his sword, pulling the monster with it.

"Evolved" is what they called the mutants that ate enough of their brethren to gain some weird ability. There were some with extra hard skin, others with barbed tongues.

It was different for each one that attacked, and they even had increased regenerative abilities.

As Anders tugged, he heard a voice echoing through the surroundings.

"How will you kill it? You and the others have been only barely surviving by using the other experiments to kill each other. Now with this improved one in your midst, how will you survive? Do you want to forfeit the game now, fallen apprentice?"

Anders looked around everywhere for the priest but found no signs of him. The priest's voice came from all directions as if he was all around them at once. It was obvious he already knew what they were doing; it was a foolhardy plan to begin with.

'I should just make a break for it, yeah. I'm only 2 blocks away from the exit. I can hold off the attacks of the Church's goons.'

Anders' thoughts spun as his instincts for self-preservation kicked in. His thoughts no longer lingered on those around him but only on himself.

The only problem was he needed his sword. The one crippling weakness of his technique was that he needed an estoc made from core silver.

Without it, the technique would lose efficiency, and any other material or sword used would crack or break.

In desperation, he decided to use one of the high-level moves of the technique, something he had never done before.

Although he had perfected the technique itself, putting these moves into action was highly dangerous in itself and could cause massive damage to the user. This was the reason one needed the Body of Light Augmentation, but even then he stills needs practical training to direct the 'flow' described in the technique.

Heat rose around Anders as sparks of what seemed to be lightning formed. The electricity flowed into his sword as it traveled towards its point. The heat around him began to even affect his surroundings as people inched farther and farther away as the heat rose.

Everyone's eyes shone as the monster began to bloat and suddenly exploded into chunks of flesh. The corpse showed no signs of regenerating as the remains were melted and charred to a point of extreme.

The disgusting smell of burnt flesh entered the nostrils of everyone present. People held their noses while using their hands to direct the smell away from them.

Anders didn't care about the smell as he held his arm in pain; there were slight burn marks covering his whole arm, turning it black.

The priest's voice once again echoed from an unknown direction. "Well, that was something! No wonder you were the lord's first pupil! Almost makes me sad you switched sides. Anyway, I will send in the elite soldier now. Can't have anyone escape and the like! You understand, yes?"

With that, Anders killed the evolved mutant, but with it, more dangers were to come.