Anathema 2- Overrun
Avril
The rain fell around us in a downpour, pooling into muddy puddles on the muddy forest floor. Our footsteps sunk deep into the soft ground, the imprints quickly filling up with the fresh tears of the heavens. A rumble of thunder rang above our heads. I pulled my Red Napoleon’s cloak over my head.
Rainwater seemed to penetrate my entire body, making my clothes cling tightly to my skin. I let go of a shiver and walked faster behind Iro. In the distance, I could hear him humming a soft melody.
“So what do you know?” I called out in front of me as another clap of thunder resounded above us.
“Not much more than you, Sweetums,” Iro replied, his voice soft and muffled by the downpour, “I saw the newscast and that’s it.”
Damn, I thought he would at least know something else.
“What are you planning to do once we get to Kerning?” I asked, picking up my pace. Another brisk wind blew through my hair. I grinned to myself.
Iro used his Timeless Knuckle to part away the dense foliage and shrubbery that blocked our way. The way he treated his surroundings, I could deduce the exact way he acted. He was never for stealth, but rather was the one to burst into a room with guns a-blazing. The amount of noise he made was unbearable as he crunched through the wet environment.
I on the other hand, relied on speed and secrecy. People used to tell me I should have been an Assassin or a Chief Bandit, but I would rather be dead than be bereft of my Shinebow. Looking down at the raindrops quietly pattering off of my golden dragon, I smiled. It was my life and soul; I could not imagine a life without it. Up ahead, Iro’s voice floated back, bringing me back from my thinking. Bad Avril, bad girl…
“Who said we were going to Kerning?” Iro replied with a smirk. I furled my eyebrows in confusion and sped up once more.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I stepped in front of his way, impeding his path.
“See for yourself,” Iro nodded and pointed ahead.
We were on top of a cliff, the L Forest separating Henesys, Lith Harbor, and Kerning City stretching deep before us. Off in the distance, I could make out the faint outline of the skyline of Kerning City. Though the grey clouds lingered dangerously low, I could still make out the numerous fires raging in the City of Thieves.
“Looks like they’re screwed,” I whispered to myself, quietly thanking myself for not becoming a Thief. The rain continued to pound down without mercy, threatening to drench the entirety of Victoria Island. A flash of lightning lit up the sky like day as a clap of thunder hastily followed. The Gods were still at war.
Suddenly, a distant cry pierced through the falling rain into my eardrums. It sounded like a wild Tauromacis or a Kargo, but that couldn’t be. They resided only within the depths of Sleepy Wood’s Ant Tunnel.
“You hear that?” I asked Iro quietly.
“Yea… I hear that…” he murmured. Iro walked up to the edge of the cliff and looked down. “That’s a long way to fall…” he said absentmindedly to himself.
Then, a pounding met my ears. Pivoting around, the footsteps sped closer and closer; I could hear a faint ragged breathing from our left where the cliff descended into the level of the L Forest. Taking a cautious step backwards, I fitted a single arrow into my Shinebow.
The panting became a low snarl as a disheveled man burst out of the trees. His head whipped around, observing Iro and me for a brief second. His front was soaked with blood mixed with rain, and he had a huge chunk of flesh missing from his abdomen. Nevertheless, he charged without hesitation.
“Stop right there!” I shouted as he advanced, “I’ll shoot you!”
When he did not respond, I released the arrow, sending the shaft shrieking through the rain into the man’s heart. I watched in satisfaction as he stumbled forwards, breaking the arrow shaft and imbedding the arrowhead deep into his own torso. He fell about fifty yards away from us.
But then, he got up, and continued his frenzied rush for me.
“The F…” Immediately, I snatched another arrow and this time, impaled the man through the skull. His body tumbled forwards like a ragdoll and came to a rest a foot away from me, sending a spray of dirty rainwater onto my legs.
“Hmm, interesting…” Iro’s nonchalant voice pondered. I looked around in disbelief. Right as I was about to start swearing at him for not helping, he cut me off, “You gotta shoot them in the head. That makes sense now…”
“A little help would be appreciated,” I spat and looked back out towards Kerning City. They had already gotten so far. It would be a matter of hours before they overwhelmed Henesys. I had already lost hope for Lith Harbor.
“Avril,” Iro suddenly perked up, “Hush for a while, Darlin’.” He froze, his ears pricked up to detect anything out of the ordinary.
I closed my eyes and lost myself in the deep verdant forest. My soul opened up, taking in the environment my physical body could not. Amidst the freezing rain, I could only hear the soft pitter patter of the drops hitting the soil and leaves the trees. Focusing harder, I managed to detect something else, something foreign. Pounding. Shrieking. A lust for blood. They drew nearer; I could feel them now.
“A tree, climb a tree,” both Iro and I said at the same time.
There was a thick, burly oak tree at the edge of the tree line that gave perfect visual of the entire forest that stretched out below the cliff. Iro sauntered over and grabbed onto the lowest branch. With agility unimaginable for a man of his stature, he swung up and made his way through the maze of wood and settled himself on branch higher up the tree, resting his back against the trunk.
Next to the oak was a taller pine tree with more visibility through the tiny pine needles. Gathering up all my speed, I dashed forwards and ran up a length of the tree before flipping over backwards and landing balanced on a tall branch. A few droplets of rainwater fell to the earth: the only sign of my presence.
“They’re coming,” I heard Iro whisper as he looked darkly ahead. He looked like a hermit folded up in his cloak.
I took a single arrow from my quiver and fitted the notch against the bowstring. Muttering a simple spell under my breath, I felt my cold hands suddenly burn as if with fire. The wooden arrow shaft became golden as my soul bonded with my bow.
Then, through the sparse pine needles, I saw a single knotted hand reach up from behind the cliff. The creature clawed at the ground in front of it, and finally managed to pull itself up. I stared into its cloudy, soulless white eyes. It snarled ravenously, sniffing the air for fresh flesh. Blood was already smeared across its broken jaw.
“To hell with you…” I released the soul arrow and watched with satisfaction as it hit its mark. With a sickening thwack, the arrow pierced the man’s skull, snapping its neck back. His body flipped over in a backwards arc and fell off of the cliff, hundreds of feet back into the L Forest to its final resting place. I smiled as the faint thud of his body floated back up over the rock face.
“Nice shot,” Iro murmured approvingly, “But here comes more…”
“Like I said,” I spat harshly again, “A little help would be nice.” Right as I said that, another hand emerged from behind the wall. I shot an arrow towards the ground this time. It deflected off of the surface of the rock and split the hand cleanly in half; a sharp shriek met my ears as the hand’s owner fell to its death.
“This isn’t so bad,” I said to myself as I sent another one into the abyss. Two more tried climbing up; two more mistakes. This was easier than shooting Bubble Fish in a barrel.
And right when I finished thinking that, I instantly regretted it.
“Oh sh**,” I muttered to myself as the distant shrieks suddenly erupted everywhere around us. A horde of these things suddenly burst out of the jungle about a hundred meters away, each with the same bloodlust-look etched permanently on their faces.
Just as I was about to release a volley of soul arrows, I realized they were all chasing someone. It wasn’t until they were about fifty meters away that I finally heard his voice, yelling.
“SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP!” His words had panic written all over them.
“Over here!” I screamed over the pursuers’ screeches. I released an arrow and watched it sail through the air and slice clean through the closest creature’s brain. “Grab my hand!”
I deftly jumped down to the lowest branch and caught his outstretched hand just in time. With a heave, I swung him up, and he landed amongst the thicket of my pine tree. Agilely dashing back to my post, I fitted another soul arrow into my bow and took careful aim. Not a second later, another creature had fallen, the energized arrow dissipating from the hole in its head.
“Thank you… Miss…” the man panted heavily, clutching the stitch in his chest, “I ran… all the way… from Kerning… Good God it’s… unbelievable…” As he tried to catch his breath, I had dispatched another five, but by now, they were only ten feet away. “My name… is… Ethan Grey… and those… you gotta shoot… those zombies… in the head…”
“Yea, I figured that out already,” I shouted over the deafening screeches and moans of the zombies. They crashed into my pine tree en masse and started to climb. I never thought anything would be too fast for me, but as I shot one through the head, two more took its place. It was a losing battle, and I could feel it.
The storm raged on above, showing no sign of relenting. Mere meters below, the zombies continued their frenzied rage for my blood, unrelenting. Swearing quietly to myself, I realized it was only a matter of time before they reached the soles of my Red Arnah Shoes. Spearing another one through the head, my amethyst eyes caught a bloody four-fingered hand, just inches away, reaching up for me.