Chapter 8: The Weeper

'F-f-f-fuck!'

Bo was frustrated to say the least.

He was unused to this kind of discomfort. The combined feelings of pain, tiredness, and thirst were torturous.

It felt like hours had passed since he first lay in the pit, as he had been trying to fall asleep since then.

It was dark. The treetops hid the moon from the ground below them, only creating narrow rays of moonlight in various places.

Only two red dots shone clearly in the forest, and towards his direction.

Bo wasn't aware of them, turning around in the dirt, mixing sweat with earth.

As time passed, the red dots got bigger, getting closer.

He may not have been aware of them, but they were certainly aware of him.

Every time they got closer, a collection of sounds that seemed like falling mud was heard in a disorderly manner.

The red dots, even if very slowly, got closer to Bo until finally reaching him.

Two dark shapes reached towards Bo.

It took time for them to reach him, moving as slowly as a sloth.

Each second that passed produced disorderly sounds of mud falling off, until finally, the shapes reached Bo, each one pressing on one side of Bo's torso.

Bo, who had gone through a hard day and night, couldn't react properly and only by instinct, shoving whatever had taken hold of him away, but he was unable to. The hold on him was too strong, making him cough from pain.

He was slowly lifted in the air.

It was hard to see what it was, darkness and adrenaline creating a bad combination, but a hole somewhere above let in some moonlight, letting him see.

"What... the hell!" Bo shouted.

They were hands, unnaturally dark. They were huge and long, like those of a big monkey. The difference was that a monkey had fur, while these hands were smooth.

He screamed. His body wanted to panic, but going through multiple painful deaths made his mind clearer. He was more afraid of experiencing death once again.

Still, his adrenaline was up, and not being used to these kinds of situations made him act rashly, forgetting about the sword lying right next to him.

Bo, letting out a loud primal scream, started hitting the dark hands, trying to get himself free.

The hands were soft and looked to be made out of fat, and the force of his hits made small parts of the hands fall off. Weirdly, the hands didn't lose their shape.

Suddenly, he started hearing weeping from the direction of the red eyes.

The weeping voice was weird, as if it were purely an imitation.

It sounded like a lot of breath was coming out, and only a little of it managed to make a weeping sound.

A feeling of uneasiness started building up.

He didn't give the feeling much thought at first, but it was familiar, making him experience a flashback.

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The memory, which should have been hazy, was clear as day, his new power at work.

It was dusk, as the sun was setting to his left, coloring the sky in orange.

To his right stood Abi, weeping.

He and Abi were standing above their brother's grave.

It was smooth and white, and seemed new.

Abi was crying while he was trying to comfort her.

Not being able to bear it any longer, she ran away.

They were there by themselves, so Bo should've run after her, should've stopped her. He should've comforted her and taken her back home.

Yet, subconsciously getting an opportunity, he broke down.

His knees weakened, and he fell on his knees, a tear streaming down from his eye.

'Why?!' he thought, 'Why did you have to be a hero?'

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The flashback stopped, tears now filling his grimy face.

'Why should I fight?' he thought, tears streaming down his face.

'I'll die anyway, like Cal...'

The hands, leaving below them a pile of mud like substance, dug into his abdomen.

The pain was deep, feeling like something was shoveling his insides out.

He should've screamed, should've protested somehow, but memories of his brother flooded him, making him give up.

How could he continue living when he lost his role model, best friend, and big brother?

After a couple of seconds, the hands dug out a grey round orb.

It was the size of a hand sized stone, but it was shining brighter than the figure's eyes. Brighter than the moonlight from above.

Its contents were ethereal, a shining grey mist was moving inside of it.

The hands stopped moving, the figure mesmerized.

The hand that dug the orb out lifted it carefully, while the other hand dropped Bo to the ground, the drop making him wail in pain.

Slowly, it lifted its hands towards the two red eyes.

The orb had a faint glow showing whatever was near it in the dark night, making Bo able to finally see the figure.

The creature was big, at least twice his size.

It was humanoid yet alien.

Clumps of its skin, dark blue in color, were sliding down its body. Each looked like an accumulation of dark blue fat.

The figure's whole body was filled with them, sliding from top to bottom, making its skin seem as if it were about to fall off.

Its arms were long, longer than its body.

The orb was creeping towards the body of the creature, the hand that was holding it slowly folding in two.

Each motion of its hand made some clumps fall off, and every time they did, the whining became briefly louder, each time making Bo feel worse.

Eventually, the orb reached the red eyes, enlightening the its face.

The face was crowded with clumps of sliding fat, similar to a melting candle, not leaving a place for facial features. Only its eyes were left unperturbed, somehow blocking the clumps from concealing them.

A wide hole opened up in the middle of the supposed face, the creature trying to consume the orb.

'...n-No!'

A feeling rose up in Bo. It was weak at first, but the closer the orb got into the hole, the stronger it became, until finally, when the orb was almost inside it, it rose above every other feeling that he was going through.

The strong feeling stamped out all of his thoughts, making his mind focused, his vision sharp and clear.

It was an undeniable feeling of loss, and it came straight for the orb.

Seeing that the orb was about to be consumed by the creature, the feeling directed him to an answer.

He felt that if the creature consumed the orb, something worse than dying would happen.

Reminding himself of his brother's sword, he took hold of it by the hilt and swung it at the creature's hands.

Weak and unused to the sword, he only cut a small part of the skin on its hand, which didn't even draw the attention of the mesmerized creature that was already putting the orb in its improvised mouth.

But, shaking the melting hands of the creature made the orb fall down to the ground below.

Both the creature and Bo noticed it. The creature started reaching for the orb once again, moving slowly as before.

Bo, as a last form of rebellion, swung the sword at the orb, moving by survival instinct.

The world slowed down.

While the monstrous hands were trying to each for the stone sized orb, the sword was swinging at it in a faster rate, Bo putting all of his will towards reaching it, trusting his intuition.

The great sword, reflecting the light from the orb, was quite beautiful. Its metal was polished, as though the sword were newly made. Its hilt was golden in color, the color reminding him of Cal. The guard black and smooth.

The sword hit the orb, shattering it completely, not leaving a trace, the world returning to its usual pace.

The red eyes, shocked, looked at the place where the orb shattered and started wailing, louder than ever before.

Sadly for the creature, Bo died the instant the orb shattered.