Chapitre 117: - Bonus Chapter: Whispers and Wonders
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A/N: This is a small bonus chapter to end one loose end in this story's tale. It is small, and thus will be quick. This is an Arch I'm quite proud of, and I'm glad the story was written. Thank you.
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The scent of blood filled the air, the taste of flesh still fresh on the creature's tongue as it tore through the landscape around them. A figure flung itself through the brush, around trees and over rocks, running deeper into the forest as fast as their legs could carry them.
Their breath came out in huffs, thick and raw with exhaustion as they ran, one hand on their chest, covered in blood as it dripped to the ground leaving a trail as the figure ran deeper into the woods.
Finally, after constantly looking over their shoulder, the figure came upon a clearing of smooth dirt and clean grass.
His breath left fog trailing behind him the higher he went up the mountain, the light from the distant fire still visible even from so far away. The smell of smoke and ash still covered him, masking his scent from the demon chasing him.
He leaned his back against the nearest tree, using this rare chance to catch a breath of fresh and cold air. Blood gushed from a wound on his chest, the cloth of his shirt burned away, revealing the large open gash and burn marks that covered his chest. Black spots dotted the edges of his wound where skin and blood had been burned beyond recognition.
With every movement the man felt pain, a stabbing pain that filled his chest like a dagger piercing his heart. But it was the adrenaline that flowed through his lungs like a drug that kept him going.
"Gods, what I wouldn't give for a potion right now."
He muttered to himself, careful to keep quiet knowing that demons had a keen sense of hearing, even from miles away. At least, he could only hope the beast was miles away.
The man's mind flashed back to his battle just moments ago, fire filled his vision then, and the sounds of steel on steel, clashing together as blood spilt and painted the ground filled him with fear. The battle was rushing through his mind, and all that he could do was sit there and let it.
The man reached to his side, pulling out a dagger from its sheath. Pulling out a small gray bottle with it, he lathered the dagger in a clear, reflective liquid that shined against the solid steel blade.
He bit hard into a small branch as he brought the dagger close to his wound, lathering the flat side of the blade against his burns, as pain shot through him like a lightning bolt.
"Ugh…damn it!"
He tore a part of his shirt in half, wrapping it around his chest, already staining the cloth with a warm reddish gay color, matching his blood that poured endlessly from the wound. However, now he was no longer at risk of becoming infected, but the man knew this was only a false hope.
If he didn't get up now, he would never get up again, and with the blood flowing as fast as it was, he had two choices ahead of him. Either he could set his sights on the nearest mountain and search for shelter in some cave or crevice - even an overhang would do. Or, he could rest here, get eaten by the chasing demon, or bleed out.
Either way, he had a strong chance of dying. But only one offered some small glimmer of hope.
Just as he made up his mind, prepared to set off toward the mountain, he heard a shrilling scream pierce through the air, echoing across the once quiet and calm forest, followed by the most unnerving sound the man had ever heard.
The sound of feeding.
"AGH!!"
-Crunch!
The creature - or whatever it was - smacked its mouth shut over the screaming man, silencing him one and for all. The wounded man had only a moment to turn his head around the tree he was against in time to see a silver armored figure running through the woods before a dark and large creature stuck him down.
Its mouth was red with blood, bits of flesh fell from its teeth like the sloppy eater that it was, before the sound of it swallowing the man whole echoed into the wounded man's ears.
He turned around just in time for the creature to look his way, its red and fiery eyes staring out into the forest, watching for anything that moved.
Lifting its head, the creature took three large sniffs, tasting the air for a smell it knew well.
Blood.
The man kept deathly silent, his heart pounding in fear like a drum in his ears. He needed to keep his heart calm, keep his breath level in order for the creature to not sense him. But it also served to decrease the amount of blood pouring from his wound.
Already the man could feel himself getting light headed, a feeling he fought, refusing to welcome it.
Suddenly, as soon as the forest had grown quiet, the sounds of the earth moving behind him jolted him back to the present, refusing to let himself fall asleep and die now.
The tree at his back shifted, pushing against him where he once pushed against it. To his horror, he realized the monster was on the other side, watching the tree as if it knew.
'It probably does….gods, how am I going to get out of this?'
In his head he could already feel the sobs ready to come out of him, the stress from the situation about to get to him, but he fought them off.
But for how long could he hide?
How long could he keep quiet?
For how long would he have to listen to the monster feast?
And then, the sound stopped.
***
He waited there, leaning against the tree, hiding behind several ferns for hours, watching as the sun rose across the sky, before sinking behind the mountains.
The man could feel himself getting blurry eyed, as he became more and more drowsy, a side effect from his wounds. He thanked the gods he had not fallen asleep yet and died, but there would be nothing to thank if he couldn't get out of here and treat himself.
He had already waited an entire day and it was eating him up inside.
The fear flooded his blood, his mind, and his very soul as he began to feel that he could wait no longer.
His mind was full of demons, clinging to him, haunting him, clawing at his mind for all the horrid things he had done.
He was always the dirty man. The one who did all the dirty work for his employers and yet, look at where it got him. He had hidden bodies, made deaths look like suicides.
He had done so much bad, yet he was well rewarded for it.
He had enjoyed years of peace and power, living everyday like the world should have been grateful he was alive and on this earth.
But now?
He was just a lone and wounded man, hiding behind a lonesome tree in the dead of night with only the moon to illuminate his path ahead.
Finally, tired of the demons crawling around in his mind, pulling at his heart and instilling fear inside him, the man gripped his dagger hard and decided something right then and there.
'If I'm going to die, I'm not going to die hiding behind a god forsaken tree!'
Coming to this decision, the man threw himself from behind the trunk of the tree, the fern parting ways for him to step into the light of the moon shining at full blast tonight.
However, as he laid eyes on the empty forest before him, he could feel the fear he once felt slip away from him, as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.
The monster was gone.
He was safe.
Or so he thought.
Even as he sighed deeply, placing his hands on his knees to steady his shaking legs, his blood rushing everywhere at once as relief flooded him, he felt the hairs on his neck suddenly stand on edge.
Fear.
It had returned.
Slowly, the man raised himself up higher, standing up straight as his head slowly turned around over his shoulder. The nearest tree trunk behind him wasn't a tree at all.
It must have hidden there while he was dozing off.
The monster that stared straight back at him from high above, looming over him, with fiery red eyes. Its dark and black scales blended with the forest background, cloaked in the moon's shadow.
The man's fear returned, striking him like a thunderbolt in a storm of hail and rain.
"Oh gods…"
The beast and him locked eyes, as the monster opened its mouth wide, exposing a long red tongue that licked at the air. The back of its throat grew brighter and brighter as a rising heat wave exited its open maw.
"...please have mercy on me."
Flames sprouted from the beast's maw, spreading quickly over the small clearing as it burned brush and trees to ash and dust, the man's lonely scream echoing across the empty mountain valley.
As the moon rose to its tallest peak in the sky, the light of its flames died out, cleansing the valley in a blanket of darkness once again, as the beast returned to its home.
There it would wait.
There it would keep guard, to ensure no unwelcomed humans would make their way into its valley.
The Viper was free now and it had claimed this place as its home.
Here it would stay.
Here it would thrive.
Here it would live on free till the end of time.
For the wounded man was dead. Marcus would never haunt this land again.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone