Re: The Spreading Infection
Chapter 7:Stand and Fight
The deep green ooze dripped slowly from the menacing pincers that drew ever closer to Maria. She drew her blade, but it was no use the spider merely knocked it out of her hand before continuing its course. Maria closed her eye’s waiting for death. A death that never came, she opened her eye’s to see a black ball of energy send the over sized arachnid flying. It screeched in pain as it bent around a tree eye enraged.
“Pick up your blade. Kill it!” Tsuukai’s voice screamed as he fell against a tree drained. The great spider ran fast at Maria who leapt to the ground where her sword lay. Turning to lay on her back she say the beast fly threw the air talons aiming for her head. Using all her strength she threw the blade at the arachnid, and rolled out of its way. The spider landed on its feet letting out one final cry of pain before falling to the ground below.
Maria breathed heavily as she returned to her feet the master of shadows limping to her side. Her face was splattered with blood from the beast, but she didn’t notice she was just happy to be alive. “Good job,” Tsuukai said a weak smile across his face, “Take your blade we must keep going, if they didn’t know our where we are they do now.”
“Are you sure your ok?”
“I'll be fine we just need to keep going.” He smiled a weak smile, his face was noticeable paler and his eyes looked weary.
“I think we should…” her voice overshadowed by loud footsteps, lots of them. Without a chance to think Tsuukai bolted off Maria right beside him as the faces of there pursuers began to show themselves. They ran forward into the darkened forest. A Troll burst out of the forest right in front of them reds flaming, and rotten yellow teeth smiling.
“This way,” Tsuukai said grabbing Maria’s hand and pulling her into a side path narrowly escaping death. They ran for what seemed like hours threw the intertwining forest paths. Slowly the foot steps behind them began to grow softer, and softer till there where nothing more then a whisper in the wind.
“Rest,” Tsuukai panted slowing to a stop.
“Good idea, you cant keep this up much longer that thing drained most of your energy.”
“Don’t worry about my well being for the moment. We have more pressing issues.”
“Your right,”
“We need some sort of plan. We cant run forever especially in my weakened state.”
“If only that snake didn’t drain you, you could fly to the center, get the dragon to save me.”
“We don’t have time for ifs, we need to find away out of this forest.”
“What can we do, if we run we will die from exhaustion, and the forest is too thick to maneuver threw without a path.”
“We could fight them off.”
“Are you crazy, even if you where at full power we are out numbered.”
“What choice do we have? If we run when they find us we will be too weak to fight, and I think we don’t stand a chance at finding the clearing like this.”
“What you’re suggesting is suicide.”
“But it is our only chance, if we can fight them off long enough for my power to regain…”
“But if your fighting it could take hours,” She cut him off.
“Maybe so, but what chance do we have. The way I see it is that either way we are going to have to fight either way. So why not rest while we can. We are rat’s caught in there trap if we are going down we are going to go down fighting,”
“It is too risky…”
“It is our only hope, I refuse to die running like a coward sooner or later we will fight them this way we at least have a punchers chance.”
“Its crazy…”
“That’s why it will work, trust me if we don’t fight now they will over run us and kill us with ease, we have to fight to the bitter end win or lose we should at least give them hell.”
“…”She was silent her face showed fear, fear of loss, fear of death, fear of losing more then her life, “Your right,” She gulped, “We should fight, but you don’t even have a blade.”
“Actually,” His voice trailed off as he unsheathed his saber, “I saw it sticking out of a tree when we where running”
“So what do we do now?”
“Sit and wait,” Tsuukai said with a pale smile as he sat upon a rock awaiting pain. The seconds drew on for what seemed like forever both warriors sat in silence listing for the footsteps, which signaled death. The ground shook as large feet stomped on the ground watching looking. The two stood wordlessly their eyes met. Tsuukai nodded his gently reassuring as he drew his blade.
“You ready?” A pale smile still across his face.
“No,”
“Too late,” His words pierced the darkness as the first of the beasts burst out of the forest weapon a blaze. It roared a disgusting roar, before he could finish his voice was cut short by an arrow. It cut threw his throat choking him. Stumbling back it gave one last gasp for air before it toppled over the life sucked from it. Two more emerged for the depth of the forest, taking only a glance at their fallen comrade the continued.
A massive club fell down where Tsuukai was standing, but he moved in time to dodge the weapon. Dust flew into the air covering the air shrouding the sight of all around. The beast’s eye’s where just above where the dust was. The last thing he ever saw was a sharp blade emerging from the clouds of dust. Tsuukai landed gracefully to his feet to see the other troll lifting Maria up with its massive hand.
A dagger from under the black riders cloak imbedded itself into the troll’s wrist causing it to let go and scream in pain. Maria landed on one knee with her blade in hand. She thrust upwards into the stomach of the ugly beast. Its face twisted with pain before it fell over, not dead but close.
“This is too hard,” Maria said with a smile as four more burst out of the greenery. One swinging for the master of shadow’s head narrowing missing if he had not ducked. Rolling under the things legs he slashed out the back of its knees causing it to drop to them. Tsuukai jumped off its lower back, and using all his weight drove his blade into its neck. One down three to go, He thought warrior instincts getting the best of him. Tsuukai’s black eyes surveyed the area, and to his surprise Maria managed to defeat one by her self. His smile crept away as he saw another rising from behind. Without so much as a second thought he placed two arrows into its exposed neck. Another appeared as the first fell, Tsuukai’s hand reached for an arrow, to his horror he was out. Almost as fast he reached for a dagger, but he had no more of those left either.
He ran to help as the troll grabbed her from behind beginning to squeeze. The instant pain was too much and Maria’s blade fell to the ground useless. Tsuukai was stopped in his tracks as a half dead troll grabbed onto his leg. He was able to fight its gripe, but as he turned to see the other a club connected with a sickening thud sending the black rider into the sky. As soon as his back met with the hard wood everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
The beast slowly squeezed the life out of Maria her face growing paler and paler. He was helpless to save her, He had too he had to make sure she survived to protect her. He…he knew what those emotions where. He felt something that he hadn’t felt for anyone before he knew that he had to save her, somehow. The pain of a thousand knifes rushed threw him as he saw her life fade. As if he had been given a new body one that had been spared the pain he had just received he rose to his feet using all his might he threw his bloody blade into the air.
It spiraled threw the darkened forest air, cutting the wind. For what seemed like hours it flew, but only a second later a blade was embedded into the deranged beast head. It’s fingers loosened dropping the warrior like a doll. With a thud it fell to the ground, dead. Tsuukai rushed to where Maria lay dropping down to one knee he cradled her head into his arms. Her eyes where shut closed thinking she was about to die, slowly as she noticed death had not come her eyes open filtered light blinding her view.
“Are you alright,” A sweet voice no longer harsh, and evil called to her. His face shined bright even with most of his power drained he looked full again.
“I’m…I’m fine, I think,” She managed to get out, “What happened?”
“That beast was crushing you I thought you where dead,”
“Are there more,” She said sitting up quickly as she remembering what was going on.
“Not yet, but there are some close,”
“We must fight,” She said struggling to get to her feet.
“I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up,” His voice lost as three more Trolls burst into the scene clubs in hand they where ready to kill.