I Get Blood On My Hands

Palleus, Yumii and I rushed out of the town hall straight into chaos.

Villagers screamed in panic, running around aimlessly, tripping over each other in the mud. Black smoke had already started rising from the houses near the main gate, thick and acrid, stinging my eyes even from a distance. Fire arrows flew in waves across the compound, trailing orange embers before burying themselves in thatched roofs. The loud clang of gongs and the rhythmic marching and yelling of an approaching army echoed from further down the hill, growing louder with every second. The main gate was already getting rammed open, splintering under repeated blows, archers on the walls dying one by one, picked off before they could even let loose a second arrow.

How did nobody notice the giant army right by our door?

Palleus yelled at his men, screaming at them to get weapons from the vaults and to assemble in front of the main gate. He himself grabbed a spear from the shaking hands of a man lying in the dirt.

"Come die with the rest of us men!" He laughed as the man looked at him while pissing himself.

"He's unwell," worried Yumii while staring at the freaking-out man.

He's pathetic, I thought… Just like I once was.

"Move!" yelled Palleus, kicking the guy's boots until he stumbled to his feet, slipping as he ran on the mud towards the enemy.

Palleus grabbed a soldier rushing by to bring equipment to the front and pulled a small round pill with carvings out of the man's pouch, handing it over to me while snacking on his own. My eyes widened, reaching out immediately.

"Amazing!! I can't believe you actually have some."

"What is this?" questioned Yumii.

"A sigil pill. It's like reinforcement arcane, but condensed, short-term, and very strong," I explained.

I'm surprised Palleus can still handle it at his age, this thing kicks. I bit into mine, a surge of energy and power rushing through my veins as I swallowed it. My body tensed, everything seemed to slow down around me, my vision clearing up to the point I could see the sweat droplets on the archers' foreheads as they stood on top of the watchtowers. My heartbeat went through the roof, my eyes and ears pulsing with every beat. But I felt lighter than a feather, and stronger than Gods. I feel SO good, I thought with a chuckle, flexing my hands.

"Grab some armour and join us at the gate!" screamed Palleus, pointing towards a small tool shed as he shoved his coat to the ground, revealing shiny new iron armor with spikes on his pauldrons.

One of his guards attached his longsword at his hips, and they marched on towards the fight. Right, I shook myself, gonna need some protection, this tunic isn't going to do much against a blade.

I began moving towards the armoury when Yumii stopped me.

"Don't move," she told me as electricity cackled around the faery's hands.

Uh, is she about to blast me to bits? I thought nervously as Yumii put her palm onto my sternum. My clothing began shifting, thickening and refitting itself on my skin until parts of it turned from tissue into dark leather, wrapping my entire body in lightweight protection. Woah, it's so comfortable too! But Yumii wasn't done yet. Whispering a quick incantation under her breath, my friend touched, with each of her fingers, ten spots around my newfound armor, a thin red layer glowing above my body.

"There! Well protected," clapped the faery, smiling wide, "don't get hit too many times, though!"

"That is awesome!" I took Yumii in my arms, lifting her off her feet for a second. "You're the best, Yums! I can't wait to test this thing out!"

"Ehhh?!" exclaimed Yumii, her face a deep shade of pink, throwing her arms up in the air as I ran towards the half-destroyed entrance gate. "Did you not hear what I just said?!"

The situation was critical when I arrived: Palleus was nowhere to be found but I could hear him yelling his orders from the defense line on the ground, many soldiers on the palisades had already fallen to the arrows thrown by the raiders' archers, the front gate was about to fully break open, some enemy raiders already making their way through just to get speared to death. I rushed up to the watchtower to have a look at the Angels' forces.

Their banners rose high above their ranks, but didn't carry the symbol I expected. Instead of the usual wings on a heart were drawn wings with a six-armed figure and a screaming, eyeless face. Did the Angels merge with this new cult? I wondered. I ducked as arrows flew by my head, picking up a spear lying next to a dead man's body and threw it at the one who shot at me. Have at it!

A semi-translucent shield appeared above my target, the spear shattering in the air. What was that?!

"They also have arcanists," said Yumii, appearing next to me, wearing her own set of armour.

She's pretty much unmissable, I snickered at the colourful green, orange and purple armor the faery had made for herself.

"You're quite recognisable," I commented.

The faery smiled wide, closing her eyes, content.

"I know, right!"

"It looks good on you."

I couldn't bring myself to tell the woman she was a walking target with a glow stick attached to her head.

"Aww, thank you," Yumii beamed.

"Anyways," I cleared my throat, "how do we deal with these arcanists if I can't reach them?"

Yumii giggled.

"You can't, but I can!"

The faery aimed her palms at the ground, breathing in and out slowly, closing her eyes in absolute focus. Arcane energy gathered around her, so dense it formed a mini tornado around her, the blowing wind whipping my face, some loose objects lying around were thrown out of the watchtower. Just like against the tsunami, I remembered. Yumii began grunting loudly, sweat forming on her forehead, arms shaking as if she was trying to rip something very dense apart.

There's no way! I realised, rushing to the watchtower's edge, ignoring the arrows flying at me as the earth itself began shaking and trembling. Yumii yelled, the arcane rising up in the air, burning the ground in circular motion. She pulled her hands apart with difficulty, nails clawing the wood under our feet.

CRKKKKKKKK!

I looked down. She's actually doing it! The earth split open underneath the raiders' army, swallowing half their forces, dropping them to their deaths onto stone spike traps. Only an arcanist, who'd been standing closer to the front, managed to escape the rift out of all of them. He stared at us, purple eyes glowing through the smoke that rose from the hole in the landscape. Is that you, Hollow? I growled.

My hair rose up on my head and arms, the sky growling above me. I grabbed a panting and exhausted Yumii and jumped out of the tower, plummeting towards the ground.

A massive lightning bolt struck the watchtower, yellow electricity running down the wooden structure, blowing it apart immediately, the shockwave sending us howling towards the ground. Yumii reached a hand out, blowing all the air out of her lungs, an air bubble wrapping around us and breaking our fall. We bounced once before the bubble popped, dropping us onto the ground.

We both groaned in pain, helping each other get back up on our feet. Damn arcanists, I thought while cracking my neck.

"THE GATE IS BROKEN!" yelled one of Palleus' men, getting his throat slit open immediately by a raider's axe, their army pouring into the seized military compound.

Now it's getting interesting! I bared my teeth, already smiling at the approaching bloodthirsty men. I looked back at Yumii, whose face looked whiter than mountain snow, hands reaching out as electricity and a glowing air wave wrapped around her arms. She looks terrified, I thought, but she's not shaking one bit.

"You've got this, Yumii," I comforted her as I grabbed a sword off a dead man, rolling my shoulders. "Do not hesitate, and do your best to stay afar."

The faery looked at me a second without a sound, before nodding.

"O-okay."

Right, I smiled. Let's free this place from the pest! I roared in my mind, adrenaline and rage finally taking over. Yumii drew the first blood by flipping the ground upon which the attackers stepped, flattening a bunch of them with a loud CRUNCH. Their allies ignored their dead friends and rushed past the front line Palleus had improvised, the formation breaking apart as panic took over their ranks. I stared down the sprinting, lightly armored mad men, drawing a plan in my mind. My grip tightened around my blade's handle.

In a blink of an eye, I had launched myself forward, the energy from the pill still surging through my veins, my muscles drawing every bit of strength I could produce. I closed the gap to the first raider, who stared at me, eyes wide, as I practically jumped straight into his open stance, his axe still high up in the air to strike me. I smirked at his shock, and swung my blade through his throat, blood spraying and watering the plants nearby. I followed through my swing and slid on the ground, stabbing through a raider's leg, Yumii cutting his screams short by chopping his head off in half with a stone frisbee to the face. That's my girl!

"Come at me!" I roared, parrying a man's swing, kicking another in the knee before slitting his throat and stabbing the first through the ribs. 

My victims dropped to the ground, dead, within seconds. I kept going, advancing towards the next wave that penetrated the village. Yumii yelled behind me, the grass all around me turning into tiny shards that shot upwards into the attackers' legs whenever they stepped on it. The purple-eyed men screamed in pain as the small green spikes dug deep into their limbs. I finished them off easily, throwing a smile and a thumbs-up at the faery.

"Keep it up!"

But things took a turn for the worse when multiple waves of enemies rushed in at once, completely overwhelming the few defences in place to protect the village. Raiders rushed inside the encampment, dragging women into dark areas of the village, cutting down any who stood in their way as they ran straight towards the houses where villagers had fled to hide themselves.

"Protect the villagers!" I ordered Yumii.

"Okay, but you better not die!" screamed the green-haired woman as she ran after the enemy.

No promises, I chuckled, turning back towards the men running at me with murderous intent.

Feed us their souls, craved the madness within my weapon.

For once… I’ll allow it.

"Alright, boys," I let go of my sword, a pool of shadows forming underneath my feet, the grass nearby freezing as if it was the middle of winter.

A cruel, twisted smile formed on my lips, my body tensing and steaming with energy as my hand wrapped comfortably around my shadow sword.

"Let's see what your guts are made of!"

The men never saw my blade coming. I rushed forward, ground cracking under my feet, wind whipping my grinning face, striking down the first two with a single swing. I stood still a second, watching the men gargle in their blood and the light run out of their eyes.

"I barely grazed you…" I said, teary in disappointment.

"AHHHHH!" yelled a brave fool, sword aimed at my stomach.

My lips stretched to my ears as I dropped back into a fighting stance.

"YES! That's it!"

I sidestepped the man's swing and let my sword swiftly run over his stomach, the sharp metal silently slicing his guts open. He dropped to the ground, moaning and crying out in pain. I ignored him, moving onto my next target, who shook in his boots at my approach.

Purple eyes suddenly stared at me through the smoke that covered the ground and wrapped around me. I stopped in my tracks, staring at them.

"Well," spoke the familiar raspy, multi-layered voice echoing around me. "Aren't you getting a little distracted? I'm beginning to think you don't really want to see your husband again."

"You don't know shit about what I want."

"Is that so? I'm willing to bet you want your husband back, as well as your father, and the friend my followers slayed in my honor. So greedy, tch," mocked the voice, the sound of battle completely faded from my mind, my full attention stuck onto the creature that haunted me.

"Aren't you willing to bet that I will rip your limbs off one by one?" I countered, flipping my blade in my hands, my stomach twisting with eagerness.

"How impatient!" The voice taunted smugly. "You're bringing back such fun memories… Oh, the joy I felt tearing your little sea lion apart! With how he screamed and begged for his life, you'd think he was only a child!"

The voice laughed, the air distorting with its every breath. I growled, hands white around my sword's hilt, I'm going to destroy you, Hollow!

"I simply cannot wait to do it again… which one of your friends should I play with, this time?" pondered the creature.

"You'll never get the chance!" I roared, lunging forward into the smoke, consumed by rage. 

A large shadow, at least six meters tall, appeared above me. I looked up at the war elephant's trunk swinging towards my face. Crap!