Chapter 49: Hope....Is Not Reality
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐.....๐๐ ๐๐๐๐!
I quickly duck as the body of a Forest Tiger flies towards me. After it passes overhead I immediately take off again toward Taleena.
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐!
I couldn't tell how severe the injuries Taleena had at a distance, but I knew she wasn't in a good spot. She had stopped moving since I started my sprint toward the platform, dodging bodies all the way up. The demon was much more powerful than Snarf. It was like an adult fighting children. If it weren't for their numbers advantage and high maneuverability due to their size, I'm pretty sure they all would have been turned to paste by now.
"MOTHER! PLEASE BE OK! GET UP! I KNOW YOU CAN!"
I can hear Fiona screaming as I dodge the body of Tarman coming at me. As I start forward again, I hear quick footsteps behind me. I turn around and see the Forest Tiger from earlier running back, I grab it by its mane as it runs by, and let it drag me to the platform.
"HAHAHAHA!!! GLORIOUS! GLORY BE TO DEMONS! NOW LET THE NEXT ONE COME THROUGH!!!.....WHAT IS WRONG?!? WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG THIS TIME?!?"
I can hear the masked woman's scream. It seems the portal will continue letting more through, but for some reason the next one is taking longer than expected. I start to feel the familiar sense of fear welling up inside me again. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ! ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด.... ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ?
Time slows as I'm being dragged by the Forest Tiger, I look at where Fiona is chained up. If I look closely it looks like one of the chains is partially damaged, Taleena must have done something when she was up there. ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ? ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ญ?
I didn't have any better guesses or ideas, this was all I had to go on. I blinked and the world returned to normal, then I reeled back my arm, and threw my scythe toward the damaged chain link. When it hit it, it seemed to get stuck for a second, but after a moment it forced its way through and severed the chain. ๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ขl๐ญ, ๐ช๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
"NOOOOOO!!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!"
The fiery portal began to flicker and then quickly collapsed on itself. The red moon receded, and all that was left was the bright white of the full moon.
I released my grip as the Forest Tiger passed by Taleena, and slid over to her. I look over at Fiona and seem safe for now. My minions have the demon and mask wearers busy for the moment. I look down at Taleena and I lose my breath. She has a gaping hole in her chest, it was a miracle she was able to yell anything to me with this injury.
"Taleena! Can you hear me? I'm here, I'm late, I'm fucken late, but I'm here."
I put my hand on her cheek and tried to gently nudge her, trying to get her to open her yes. Slowly I see them open, and she looks up at me with a small smile.
"....I....knew....you....would....make it."
"That's right, I made it, here take my blood to heal up! Then I'll bring you over to Fiona."
"...t-too late.....too....much damage.....dying...."
"NO! YOU CAN HAVE ALL MY BLOOD! JUST TAKE IT! FIONA IS RIGHT THERE! WE DID IT! DON'T STOP NOW!"
Tears well up in my eyes as I start to scream at her to just take it all from me. I started to try and take her to Fiona, but I felt a gentle tug as she stopped me.
".....you owe me remember.....you said you would....so please just take my blood....."
My voice lost strength as I looked into her dimming eyes. She lifted her hand and placed it on my cheek. It felt ..... cold, the gentle warmth she normally exuded was gone.
"....promise me...take care of....Fiona.....protect her...."
I tried my hardest to hold back my tears and looked at her. I don't know why I felt so much emotion from her death, I had just met her after all. Even though our time was short.....it was probably one of the happiest of my life, how pathetic is that?
I wanted to cry and scream more, but I realized that wasn't what I should be doing. I needed to put her at ease and send her off with as much happiness as I could. I put on my best smile.... ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
"I promise."
"....thank...you.....I'm sorry....I couldn't fulfill....my.....prom....ise....."
I could hear the sounds of battle, the roar of the demon, and Fiona's screams behind me. At first they were muffled as I gently placed Taleena back on the ground. As I closed her wide open eyes with my hand, the sounds snapped back to full volume.
"Reaping Scythe."
I resummoned my scythe, and ran over to Fiona. She looked up at me, shock and despair on her face.
"Mother.....mother.....mother....she....she....."
"I'm sorry."
That was all I could say, there wasn't time for anything else, and I wouldn't know what to say either. I hacked and slashed at the remaining restraint, and finally she was free. Fiona blinked a few times before she realized she was free, and then immediately scrambled to her mother.
I didn't look at her as she went by, I didn't have the courage to look at her in the eyes again. I shifted my view to the demon and worshippers. The battle was.... not going in my favor.
"Blood Needles! Blood Needles! Blood Needles! Blood Needles! Blood Needles! Blood Needles!"
This was the first time I had seen my [๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ] not able to completely go through an enemy. This demon was by far the strongest thing I had faced up until now. I tried throwing my scythe at it, and the demon quickly deflected it with a swipe of its hand. It then immediately went back to defending against my minions. It looks like it doesn't even see me as a threat right now. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ? ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?!? ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด?!?
As I was bemoaning my own existence the demon turned as it tried to swipe at a rabbit, and I saw a large wound on its lower torso. Up until now nothing I threw at it did much damage, but then where did that wound come from? My minions definitely weren't showing the ability to deal that much damage so that only leaves.....I turned my gaze to Taleena.
She must have been strong in her transformed state, strong enough to deal a heavy blow to the demon. This also might be another reason my minions were lasting so long, it was fighting with a large injury. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ ...
A thought I knew I shouldn't consider came to the forefront of my mind. Everything that I cast [๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐] on was strong, stronger than when they were still alive. If Taleena did that much damage before, then if I brought her back it would give us our best odds, but if I did that.....I'd be defiling her corpse and enslaving her.
Fiona would probably curse and hate me.....I would curse and hate myself as well. I didn't want to do this, I shouldn't do this, if I had a choice I wouldn't, but right now..... I had very little options left. I couldn't do enough damage myself, I could feel my mana starting to run low, and at this rate we'd all die here. ๐ ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅi๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐? ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต....๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
I hurried over to Taleena's corpse. Fiona noticed me coming and looked at me with eyes of anger and caution.
"What do you want?!? Just leave me alone with her! You just let her die! You can let me die here with her too!"
Those words...they cut me to the bone, she was right, I had let Taleena die. I had lost myself for some reason, and I had let her fight alone. This was my fault...but I would face my punishment after I had made sure Fiona was safe. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ! ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ! ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
"Move."
I grabbed Fiona by the shoulder and tossed her aside.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! CAN'T YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!!! LEAVE HER IN PEACE!!! LEAVE US ALONE!!!"
I grit my teeth and ignored the young girl. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ....๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข.
"Arise and serve me."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone