Clash of the Gifted

Silence finally settles amidst the area I stand in, as the two remaining survivors of the party that rescued me have now fled the scene, in accordance with my wishes. The body of the monster that had taken a few of the others lives has now been fully disintegrated, leaving only the mashed up corpses of the dead.

Clearly, the same rules don't apply for humans as it does for the monsters.

The smell of the rotting corpses begins to waft into my nose, and I notice the decomposition of the corpses already beginning to take shape. The hollow sand covering the cold floor of the halls has now risen to cover the individual parts of the remains, as if swallowing the bodies into the halls for the rest of time.

…hang on. Maybe it’s not so different after all.

After looking around for a brief moment, I begin to slide my longsword’s blade across the walls surrounding the area. The sound of the sword gliding softly across the hardened walls becomes painstakingly irritating to hear, but I continue on in earnest.

“Come out, come out, come out.” I softly iterate to the walls I walk alongside. “If I continue to do this, surely more creatures will arrive…and your precious plan will go up in smoke.”

The sound continues, until a few screeches of other monsters can be heard in the distance.

“Uh oh…looks like my invitation is beginning to look pretty attractive,”

I grab the hilt and slash the walls with an even greater force, creating a more intensely irritating sound that results in more aggravated monsters.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no! Whatever shall we do! It doesn’t look like we have much time!…”

Suddenly, a small part of the walls begins to quietly slide open, showing two hands reaching out slowly to grab hold of each end of the narrow doorway.

“...Chen.” I end with a satisfied expression.

Chen grabs my hand and rushes towards the corner that the party had originally planned to escape towards for the night, dragging me along with her. However, even before we have the chance to make a break for the safe zone, I notice what appears to be a very large, decayed swift bird heading straight for us. And unlike the other birds I have seen in this place…

This bird can fly.

And it is flying straight towards us at lightning speed.

With a blood thirsty expression.

…maybe I shouldn’t have done all that…

It becomes a race to see who can reach the path where the corner lies first, forcing Chen to kick it into high gear. In that instance, Chen crunches her backfoot against the hollow sand covering the cold floor, and blasts herself forward, surprising me to a great extent as I am forced to practically flail along with the increased set of motion.

This woman sure is full of surprises.

The momentum and shorter distance to the corner works in our favor, as Chen reaches the corner first with a final burst of speed that launches her into the air. With myself still flailing along to her quickness, Chen grabs the edge of the corner walls with her right hand, and swings her left arm across in order to launch me into the corner with full force. I crash against the ground about three times before I am barely able to look back and see Chen continuing her own motion to swing herself around the corner at full speed. The claws of the swift bird come into view, inches away from grabbing Chen’s slim fit body. Fortunately, she manages to escape from its clutches in the nick of time, and flies into the safe zone right behind me. However, unlike me, Chen lands on the ground perfectly fine, before rushing over and jumping on top of me and placing a small dagger between her hand and my throat.

“What is your problem, huh?!” Chen screams in frustration, “Who sent you to kill me?!”

Suddenly, Chen stops, and inspects my body from head to toe.

“Wait…who the hell even are you?” she asks while nearing the dagger towards my Adam’s apple, causing a small cut to appear.

I begin to laugh, undisturbed by the weapon, “Weren’t you listening in? Or were you too unbothered?”

Chen continues to stare at my face.

“I get it. Kids grow pretty fast these days, don’t they?” I end with a cheeky smile.

Finally, Chen lifts one of her eyebrows as she makes the connection, “You’re supposed to be that kid? The one we just saved a couple of hours ago?”

Without a moment to spare, I manage to flip Chen onto her back after twisting her torso with my legs, and take hold of her dagger in the process.

“Not much of a kid now though, am I?”

Chen tries her hardest to resist, but remains unable to escape from my clutches. I look around trying to find my longsword, but remain unable to find it amidst the darkness. My attention then returns back towards Chen.

“Don’t worry. Your hold was pretty solid. It was just your strength that couldn’t match up. Hmm. Come to think of it, have you ever been in the military?”

Chen spits on my face. “What’s it to you?”

I laugh as my face draws near to hers. “Save that play for later,”

Chen grins, even while struggling, “So that’s your thing? Save the show for later? When I’m unconscious, or what?” She spits in my face once again, this time hitting my left eye directly. “You men are all the same. Some of you just know how to hide it better.”

How cute.

I slowly glide my tongue across her right ear, causing her to shake uncontrollably.

“Eaaasy now. I only want one thing from you…and it certainly isn’t whatever your mind is leading to.”

Chen pauses, as she stares at my sinister expression. My voice deepens and the vessels in my neck begin to pop out.

I want it.

“Where…is your mark?” I ask softly.

As soon as the word mark leaves my tongue, the pupils in Chen’s eyes begin to dilate, until her irises turn into a dark purple that emulates a faint light within the deep darkness of the area surrounding us. I feel Chen’s heart begin to pulsate rapidly against my forearm, as if guilty of a crime in which she knows to have committed. Moments later, the veins in her neck begin to glow the same light in which her irises hold, and slowly move upwards towards the top of her head.

…magnificent.

The dark purple streaks of light finally nestles atop her forehead, until reading out the words: SIGNUM MALEFICA.

“So this is your gift?…” I ask, marveling at the revelation before me.

“Wait…you knew? You knew I had a mark this entire time?” Chen asks, frightened.

“Shhhh…”

I near my face closer to hers once more, licking my lips slowly in anticipation.

“I’ll be taking that…”

Placing my lips firmly on top of hers, I begin to suck the air out from her airways, trying to pull out the mark she has in order to make it mine. Chen pauses briefly, with her eyes open wide to signify her complete shock; until finally breaking out of her carelessness to pull her face away from mine.

“Are you insane?!” Chen screams.

I wipe my lips and gasp for air, swinging my head back to look up to the empty stone ceiling above. Laughter ensues, as I cannot help but look forward to the mayhem I will surely be able to both encounter and escape according to my own whim.

Monsters. Humans. Safe zones. Death zones. All is now mine to see. I…am now inevitable.

However, before I am able to completely celebrate, I pause to look towards Chen once again to check that I have now attained my new gift.

…huh?

My mark still remains on her forehead, meaning that I failed to retrieve it properly as my own.

“...what is the meaning of this?” I ask, confused.

Chen twists her face, appalled at my reaction, until finally wrestling me off from her.

“So you really are insane! Did you seriously just try to steal it by sucking me dry?! You seriously thought that you could just force it out of me and take it for yourself like that?! An idiot?! Are you seriously that much of an idiot?! No! An absolute buffoon is what you are!”

“...you’re blushing a lot, you know,”

“A buffoon! The biggest of buffoons! Die! Just die this instant!” she retorts, turning even more red in the face.

“Calm down, calm down. What are you getting so worked up for? I’m simply taking what is rightfully mine.”

“It’s literally ingrained on my forehead and you are still saying that it’s yours?!” Chen screams.

“...what is to come is still surely mine.” I answer confidently with a shrug.

“...seriously, what is wrong with you?” Chen asks with a creeped out expression.

Suddenly, Chen picks up her dagger and holds it out towards me. A strange dark purple light begins to emanate from her, revealing the feathers surrounding the area we are currently situated in. The feathers appear to be frozen in place within the air, and yet can easily be shrugged aside to the point they cannot be felt properly by the human skin. Plenty of these same feathers remain on the floor, and plenty are also stuck on the ceiling above our heads.

So this is what the safe zones look like? It’s like a bed of white feathers…just that they now look like they’re coated in pur…ple…

My attention sharply returns to Chen, and I am left astonished. On top of Chen’s shoulders lies matte black claws with golden anklets, and above her head lies the large head of a statue representing a Chinese deity with an intense expression of rage. Large matte black wings appear behind her back and small matte black wings appear at the tips of her naked ankles, causing her to look like a mix between a masquerader and a deity herself. Her pupils have once again dilated to the point that it has completely swallowed her irises, causing her eyes to appear completely pitch black.

“Just die already.” Chen calmly states, as her voice carries a much deeper tone that echoes across the area. Chen prepares to launch the dagger towards me as if she is playing darts, with my head being the target and the area between my eyes being the bullseye.

Suddenly, the deity’s head atop Chen bellows out a deep call, saying, “Stop.”

The forward motion with the dagger and Chen’s hand comes to a halt, as Chen’s eyes seemingly return to normal. Her gaze remains focused on my eyes, causing me to reflect on what actions my body has taken in defense of the situation.

Without even realizing, the only action my body had instinctively taken was to stick out my tongue as long as possible.

When did this happen?...and why?

“Where…”

My eyes slowly glance towards Chen once more.

“...is your mark?!” she spurts out with a deep voice.

Suddenly, I feel myself begin to levitate, and my arms, head, and legs begin to twist in a horrific way that causes me great pain and distress.

“Stop! What the…stop this!” I scream out.

I feel a strange heat coming from my chest, enabling me to feel the first bit of warmth I have had since I arrived in this place. However, the heat becomes unbearable to feel as it scorches my innards to a great extent.

“Enough!” I scream out even louder.

My muscles feel a great sense of distress as it feels like they are being constantly ripped out from the bone, only to be put back together at the same time. My head feels dizzy, and my consciousness continues to pull me in and out of the situation at hand. After everything, lasting perhaps a minute or so of intense pain, I finally feel myself back on top of the weightless feathers decorating the safe zone’s floor. In trying to stand up, I look towards my hand and see a golden orange aura leaking out from it. The same aura appears to surround my entire body, until I see black claw marks surrounding my naked ankles and lower calves. I turn my head behind, and see four wings of a griffin attached to my back. Even my vision has now turned completely bright, allowing me to be able to see perfectly in the darkness as if it were completely filled with light.

“So…you have a mark, too.”

I slowly turn back towards Chen, noticing her annoyed expression. Suddenly, a realization hits me as I look towards the presence of the being perched on top of her.

“Tell me,” I begin to ask, “If there is a strange being perched on top of my head as well…what does it look like?”

“...like a three headed beast.” Chen replies, “A tiger on the left, a leopard on the right…and a dragon in the middle.”

Laughter fills the area, as I cannot help but be amused.

“...magnificent.”