Awakening [Part 5]

… or so I thought.

I had gotten a tiny glimpse of this earlier when she’d suddenly grabbed me, but Lucia was fast. The aberration’s claws had pierced her breastplate, but not without consequences. In less than a second, Lucia had managed to push me out of the way, draw her sword, and impale the beast from underneath.

It didn’t bleed at all. Instead, a dense stream of sickening miasma leaked into the air from its wounds as the life vanished from its many eyes. It looked more like a lifeless puppet pierced by a sword rather than a living being. Lucia promptly pulled her blade out, and its corpse fell to the ground.

I looked towards the wound she had suffered on her lower torso. There was a definite gash across her stomach, but, although it was bleeding a little, the cut didn’t appear as deep as I had originally thought. She must have acted fast enough to end the wolf’s attack before it fully cut through her.

She took what I assumed to be a combat stance and seemed to be listening carefully to our surroundings.

“If we were deep in the woods, it would be one thing, but this close to the town?” I think she was talking to herself rather than me. She did that sometimes.

The rustling surrounding us got closer, and another wolf-thing burst out from a bush across the clearing. Instead of waiting for its attack or closing the distance herself, Lucia lifted her left hand and pointed at the creature, her thumb extended upwards. She then rotated her hand ninety-degrees clockwise and chanted something strange.

“Ilgres-al!”

A radiant flame erupted from her outstretched finger and blasted towards the monstrosity. Half of the burst scorched its body, while the other half shot past it and collided with a tree. Although the point of impact was thoroughly charred, for some reason I couldn’t explain, the dry wood didn’t catch fire. The wolf collapsed, miasma pouring from its burns.

Before I could process what was happening, the darkness birthed another creature, this time much closer to us. This one was more like a fox than a wolf, but, like the others, it was disformed. It featured a third leg on its left side, and teeth-like spikes sporadically coated its body.

Lucia readied her blade, but at that moment another creature burst out into the clearing, preparing to pounce on me.

I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared.

I was more than useless. Even my mind was freezing up.

The fox-thing leapt to bite Lucia, but rather than strike it down, she took a step forward and lodged her unarmored forearm into its mouth perpendicularly. It dug its teeth into her flesh, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she struck the creature that had me in its sights. It was only after she had secured my safety that she slashed at the fox.

I’m scared. I’m scared.

It fell from her, and even in the darkness, I could tell her arm was very damaged. It was much worse than the gash she had on her stomach.

Why? Why?

I’m scared.

Why would you do that?

I’m scared.

I was in shock. I understood that, but I still couldn’t control it.

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want her to die.

Why?

Why did she do that?

Why am I just sitting here?

Why? Why?

I was unravelling. I was still taking in the sensory information from around me, but I wasn’t really processing it.

The rustling was mostly gone. Several of the puppet-like creatures had already been eliminated, so there probably weren’t many left. In fact, sound only seemed to be coming from one direction, and it didn’t seem to be moving quickly.

But that just made it all the more ominous.

A single figure slowly entered the clearing. It was a human.

Except, it wasn’t. Its skin was gray and withered. Its eyes had no sign of authentic life. It was like a corpse without a soul, more of a zombie than a man. It was as much a doll as the others.

It held a blade in one hand and lurched towards Lucia. It was slow, sure, but Lucia was hurt. If she went on the offensive, she might be able to take it out faster than it could react, but she chose to hold her ground instead.

Soon, I understood why. Its initial sluggishness wasn’t a limitation; it was a choice. Once it had closed about half the distance towards her, it suddenly lunged forward, slashing its blade straight at her neck.

Her decision to play defense worked out, and she managed to block the blow with her sword. The block didn’t have enough weight to it to fully deflect the attack, however, and rather than pull back, the zombie man gripped its blade handle with both hands. Using all of its strength, it then pushed its blade hard into Lucia’s.

It was now simply a contest of strength. Lucia moved her left hand up and pushed as hard as she could on the flat of her sword to reinforce her guard, but it was clear that the damage to her arm had almost entirely drained the strength in that hand. Her opponent, on the other hand, was far stronger than its shriveled body appeared to be. At this rate, Lucia’s push would give out first, and…

Please… don’t…

“Your life is worth so much more than you think.”

The things she had told me not all that long ago were ringing in my ears.

“If you are willing to protect me, I will protect you in turn. I swear it.”

We hadn’t known each other very long, and yet…

“From now on, we are partners, whether you like it or not.”

After everything she had told me, could I really let things end like this?

I’m weak. I can’t do anything. But when I tried to tell her that…

“Don’t you dare say something like that!”

I wasn’t really sure what happened at first. I was incapable of fully thinking anything through at that moment, so my actions were pure instinct.

A metallic ringing.

A deep grunt in front of me.

A soft “Huh?” behind me.

Something had smashed against the zombie’s blade with enough force that it completely snapped the metal in half. It was only after I observed this fact that I realized I was standing between it and Lucia, and in my hand was… a sword. The same sword as Lucia’s, to be precise.

Taking a half glance backwards, I could see that Lucia was still holding Estellous’ Blade. I didn’t understand how this was happening, but I didn’t care. I didn’t have time to care.

Holding the bottom half of its blade, the creature swung at my chest. I didn’t know how to properly use a sword, but even my meager ability was enough to parry its predictable attack.

It was relentless, though, and immediately after having its attack deflected, it went in for another. I once again parried the blow, but it never stopped for long enough to give me a chance to go on the offensive. At this rate, chances were that I’d screw up before I got the opportunity to strike back.

Blocking the third swing, I felt a pain surge up through my right hand from the impact. I didn’t think I would be able to block another.

I was about to panic, but then something red shot past my side. With blinding speed, it curved in front of me and smashed into my opponent. It was Lucia, driving her blade deep into the abdomen of the zombie man. She stabbed with enough momentum to slide forward about a meter before friction brought the pair to a stop.

The creature’s flailing eased, and then it collapsed, lifeless.

I stood there for who knows how long, breathing heavily. Eventually, I realized the sword I had been holding had vanished. I still didn’t know how it had appeared in the first place.

Finally coming to my senses, I jerked my head towards Lucia.

Is she okay?

I was panicking, but when she entered my vision, I froze. This time, it wasn’t from fear; I was stunned by her radiance. This moment reminded me of the first time I had seen her, when I had been entranced by her beauty. She had a gracious smile on her face, one wholly unlike any of the smiles I had seen up until now.

She looks so happy.

“Thank you. You saved me,” she said.

“You say that, but you saved me multiple times.”

“So? Both of us having the other’s back is exactly what I asked for. You didn’t turn your back on me like you were scared you would.” She sheathed her sword and extended her unharmed hand towards me. “So I will ask again: will you be my partner, Layn?”

I didn’t want to face something so terrifying ever again.

But…

At this point, I knew that even if I kept trying to push her away, she wasn’t going to budge. She was far too stubborn and far too kind.

So if that’s the case…

“I can’t guarantee I’ll be able live up to your expectations, but…”

I want to do everything I can to protect her smile.

“… alright. I’ll be your Chain.”