I Lose A Part Of Myself

The sword shrieked against the wall as it slid on the stone, sparks flying.

"Say that again, I dare you!" I rushed after the agile monster in a blind rage.

"I'll smash his pretty little head like a pumpkin and make you crawl at my feet to bring him back!"

It cackled, dancing around to avoid my strikes.

"RAAAAH!" I stabbed at its chest.

This time, the creature stopped moving and caught the blade in its hands, the weapon flinching as the monster flexed its hand until...

SNAP!

The blade came apart like shattered glass. Wha-?

A hardened-steel foot kicked me square in the chest, sending me flying backward. I rolled and got back up on my feet in no time, only to drop back down to a knee, blood pouring from my throat, my lungs burning and aching.

"Let me tell you something, little girl," the creature walked towards me. "you have no idea what you've stepped into. You were never supposed to be here!"

I spat to the ground, clots of blood splattering over the cold stone.

"You’re right…I don't even know who you are!"

"I know!" The monster ripped away some of its hair, "That's the worst! All this planning, for some brat to activate my angels’ artifacts in the middle of nowhere and screw it all up!”

My head snapped at him. What brat…? Damien?

"Your angels?"

The monster stopped in its tracks, its smile returning slowly and wildly, a disturbing glow appearing in its eyes. Its voice became raspy and multi-layered, like many spoke at once.

"Yesss… My angels. You don't think your little community came under attack just because you poked the nest with Dandelion’s revolts, did you? Your friend stole something of mine."

The creature bent forward in laughter, holding onto its stomach, the chuckles resonating in the corridor. My head began spinning again, my mind holding onto one thought. His fault, his fault, his fault.

I roared, getting back up onto my feet to stab him with my broken sword. The evil creature flicked its hand, sending my weapon flying before it caught me by the neck, lifting me off my feet. I struggled, swinging my legs as I felt air run out of my lungs, the grip on my throat so tight my eyes rolled back within seconds.

My cursed blade came flying through the ground, cutting through the monster’s arm.

I dropped to the ground, my legs bending underneath me, my head smashing against the stone with a loud CRACK. I lost all control over my body, unable to move, feeling a hot fuzzy liquid spread in my head.

"So fragile... You should be grateful to die by the hands of a God Slayer."

God Slayer… Is he The Hollow?

"Why… us?"

"Hm," The thing tapped its lips, grinning, "Neither you or your husband weren’t part of my plans. But I won’t ignore an opportunity like this one."

The creature's skin cracked, chunks of it falling to the ground and turning into blue-dark pulsing moss that immediately spread all over the ground. It covered every inch of the corridor as more pieces fell. The monster lost all human resemblance, and reached nearly three meters in height. Its surface was entirely black, with blue veins sprawling all over, along with the occasional human face floating onto its skin before disappearing. It grew more legs and arms than I could count, some holding onto the roof and surrounding walls. It had a long snout with distorted rows of teeth all the way into its purple glowing throat, spikes covering its back, its belly covered by snapping mandibles.

I grunted, using the black blade to get back up onto my feet. Despite the energy surge I felt from grasping my unforgiving sword, I still felt like my head was wide open, and struggled to balance myself. I'm not scared of you. I clenched my jaw. The monster roared and swung its stretching limbs at me, sharpened flesh like spear heads trying to pierce my head.

BZZZZ!

A yellow glowing lightning bolt smacked the creature's head, turning its attention onto its attackers. I looked back, my chest squeezing as Atos jumped in front of me, punching the monster in the mouth, Yumii following up with a yell and collapsing a wall on top of it.

"Are you hurt?"

Atos held my shoulder, wiping his hand with disgust as black liquid stuck to his skin. I fell back down to my knees, mind fogged by the fading adrenaline. Am I dead or dreaming right now?

"She's definitely got a concussion," Yumii told him, her hand glowing green on top of my head.

I sighed as a wave of warmth spread through my body.

"I can still fight."

"No," denied Atos, "let's just run."

He grabbed me and put me onto his back without giving me time to argue, and began sprinting in the corridor. I guess that's not such a bad idea. The monster roared in the distance, pulling itself out of the rubble.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" I moaned, head pounding in pain.

"Being a shit father, I guess," he sighed. "I never knew how to be a dad… and you're right, I never tried to figure it out. There were no training exercises on how to be a good parent in the army."

"It's supposed to be instinctive, I think."

Atos chuckled.

"I guess I'm not cut out for it, then."

On that we agree.

"I'm sure you agree."

"..."

"Look... I drink and I act out, because being an asshole lets me forget all the shitty things I've done and seen. I didn't treat you horribly because I regretted taking you in… I treated you horribly because I'm a mess… I never regretted the time I spent with you. You've brought more joy to my life than I ever thought I'd experience. I just wish…" He bit his lip. "I just wish I'd figured that out sooner. There's no excuse for the hurt I've caused you."

"You're right, there's not." I stared at the floor.

The man carrying me dropped his head to his chest, sprinting blindly in the corridor. My mind barely registered Yumii continuously releasing arcane onto the beast rushing behind. Ugh, why am I like this…?

"But…" My heart aching, tears swelling up in my eyes. "Despite wishing you'd been a better father, I know you still care... Dad… I just need some time to figure it all out…A part of me will always love you, even if I don’t forgive you. I guess that’s what being someone’s child does to fools."

I choked on my words a bit, clearing up my throat to free myself of my overwhelming emotions. Atos sniffled, wiping his face as we took a turn, the sound of stone breaking apart coming closer and closer to us. I looked back to see how bad the situation was, Yumii still flying next to us, blood pouring out of her eyes and nose, gritting her teeth.

"Look!" yelled Atos, forcing me to look ahead.

A white door frame was beaming at the end of the dark tunnel. A way out!

Yumii suddenly dropped to the ground, yelling as the creature managed to wrap a hand around her leg and smash her into the walls with unbridled anger.

"NO!" I jumped off my father, immediately falling to the ground as my legs gave out, my vision filling with black spots. Why?! I breathed as hard as I could to recover quickly.

You will lose everything.

I won’t lose without a fight!

Screams and rock smashing echoed in the background, my mind oblivious to it all until I shook my head, my senses snapping back to me. I saw Yumii laid on the ground, blood leaking from the wounds covering her entire body, and Atos struggling to contain the beast, many of its arms shredding his tunic and armor, smoke rising from Atos’ chest.

"DAD!"

Fear took over my mind and summoned my weapon to my side, the dark fog condensing into a spear.

A sharp pain rose through my head and I dropped to my knees again, the pressure of the energy causing me to cough up blood, my eyes, nose and ears leaking the red liquid as my weapon dissipated. Not now! I pushed myself beyond my limits.

"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM!" A black spear rose from my shadow.

My body trembled from the stress, blood pouring from all my pores, skin steaming from the energy that traversed my body.

"AAAHHHHH!"

I trusted my other senses to compensate for my loss of vision, and threw the spear hard. The weapon whistled in the air, flying true and burying into the creature's body. It twisted around, growling in agony, ice spreading through its limbs, but never let go of Atos, who was clearly running out of strength, getting overwhelmed by the unending slashes.

"Go!" He pushed the monster into a nearby hole. "LEAVE!!"

I dropped to the ground, holding onto my aching stomach, and reached out a hand towards him.

"DAD!"

I sobbed, crawling, my nails gripping the stones underneath.

Yumii grabbed my shoulder, herself barely managing to stay on her knees. Atos smiled at me, ignoring the frenetic monster attempting to eat him whole.

"It's okay, Zo. Keep going."

The ground collapsed beneath him and the monster, both disappearing in the darkness.

"DAAAAD!"

I reached a hand out, coughing up more blood, sticking my forehead against the cold, wet floor.

My vision twisted and distorted, fading as the exhaustion finally defeated me.

Atos…