บท 239: The River
A sudden thundering of wild roars could be heard from behind. Snow snapped toward the direction behind her and noticed a horde of skeletons emerging from the ground. They were like weeds popping out to grab hold of everybody's feet in an attempt to bring them down. Some were unfortunate enough to have their foot caught, tripping onto the ground.
Sharp battle axes and swords followed quickly behind, smashing into their flesh. Screams of pain echoed out in chaos, frightening everyone who was nearby. There weren't many fighters in this group, making this quite an unexpected
Nobody expected a sudden surprise attack, causing more and more to mindlessly rush into the waters to get onto the boat.
A boney finger grabbed hold of Snow's ankle. Snow snapped her foot forward, throwing the kick out from under her. The skeletal hand popped off into an arch. With a spinning kick, she knocked the skeleton's head right off. It rolled a few feet, stopping in front of another skeleton.
"I need fighters with me!" Snow yelled. Her sword, White Gryphon, flashing in front of her.
A handful heard her call. They rushed in to stay in her vicinity as they pushed back whatever they could from swallowing them whole. More and more people splashed into the water, forgetting about the dangers.
Suddenly, in the water. Daphne screamed.
"Get off! Get off! Get off!" Daphne was halfway up into the boat, but some skeletons were attached to her hips, trying to pull her down. The skeletons were alive, and they weren't allowing her to live.
"Crying out loud, I told you!" Jay said back with anger. He was blasting light magic spells one after another, trying to head toward her direction. But he could not go any further as he was stopped short by a wall of skeletons that were crawling out of the water.
They were all surrounded.
More and more cries of fear were heard all around them. Many of them were getting slaughtered by the skeletons. Others were being pulled into the water by the skeletons swimming under the water.
One by one, the boats started to turn around.
Alarmed at the sudden change, Jay yelled to Snow. "Saintess! The boats are leaving!" He cried out in panic. Bright flashes of light were blasted out in front of him, incinerating the skeleton.
Snow glanced over the shoulder. She realized what was happening. The boats were leaving quickly as more and more people were dying.
"Quickly, head to the boat!" Snow yelled, changing the direction of the fight. The other listened, staying close behind her.
Magic power blasted out from her, flashing in one strike. All the skeletons disintegrated from sight, leaving behind nothing but ashes. More and more of her magical light energy was poured out all around her, trying to take down the hordes of skeletons on land.
Jay was splashing in the water, trying to reach Daphne.
The longer and harder she struggled, the more she was being dragged into the water.
"Daphne, use your magic!" Jay called out over and over again, but her screams overshadowed his yells. A blast of magical light ball shot straight at the skeleton held down onto Daphne's wrist, disintegrating it underwater. But before he could cast another one, Daphne was pulled in viciously.
"Daphne!" Jay kicked a skeleton back into the water, followed by a blast of light magic.
Snow jumped in. Coldwater shocked her very ankle, causing her teeth to chatter. She had never felt such chilling water before that even made her bone groan with pain. It was as if she was pushing through a thick sludge of water and ice, slowing her down.
A ball of powerful flash of light flashed out around her. The one's trying to hold her down was pushed back. Some splashed around, trying to get back up to grab hold of her. Others turned into dust, allowing her to keep pushing forward.
"Daphne!" Snow dove into the water.
A rush of cold smashed into her face. She held her breath and opened her eyes.
It was a creepy scene underneath the water. The glowing seaweed and the skeleton were reaching out toward Snow. She could see the faces of the past deceased, glowing eerily with the skeleton.
There were hollow with white eyes that stared back at her soul. Reaching and grabbing in the hopes of dragging her into the depths of the darkness.
Snow didn't allow a single skeleton to come near her. Her magic continued to expand and grow, pushing back the skeletons that were trying to reach out to her. The more she poured, the bigger the bubble around her became.
The others, who followed behind her, jumped in with her. Swimming closely to her in her safety. None of the other skeletons were able to even reach inside their vicinity. Eventually, a few went up to take a breath and climb themselves up into the boat. Others were lucky to drag a fallen brethren out of the depths of the water and save themselves as well.
Quickly, Snow fluttered forward. Her feet and arm propelling her deeper into the water. The closer and closer, the heavier the skeleton remains seems to appear to stop her. One after another, Snow sent out blasts of light energy in the hopes of killing them. They were blasted away, leaving nothing behind.
Daphne reached out in fear, hoping that Snow could save her. But she had lost her breath, unable to breathe. She struggled underwater as water poured into her mouth.
In panic, Snow propelled forward in her hurry. Her hand reached out, touching the edge of Daphne's fingertips.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes, a giant bonefish swam and smashed into her hand.
In startlement, Snow pulled back, missing Daphne. Both Snow and the bonefish tangled in a fierce battle. Her hand trying to keep the jaws from snapping into her and taking a chunk out of her shoulder. With her fist, she punched with a burst of light energy. With a vicious smash, a large part of its jaws disintegrated.
Snow chest was burning. The air in her lungs was finally about to burst out of her, and she couldn't hold in any longer. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Daphne sinking quickly as more and more skeletons grabbed hold of her body, pulling her deeper into the waters.
With a kick, Snow swam up to the top.
A large gulp of air was inhaled.
"Saintess!" A soldier called out to her. He grabbed ahold of her shoulder, pulling her closer to them both. "Quickly! Get in!"
Disorientated, Snow felt around blindly until she was hosted over into the boat by a few pairs of hands.
"Saintess. Are you okay?" One of them pat her on her shoulder.
"Daphne," Snow coughed, spitting out water. "She's still underwater." With a deep breath, she tried to catch her breath. She struggled to get up, needing to get back in and save her.
"Saintess, you need to rest."
"She's still there." Snow sharply replied, an ugly twist of emotion whirled in her heart.
"She's gone."
"No, she's still there!"
"Saintess." The man held her shoulder. "It's too late."
Snow didn't want to believe it, but she knew that she was too late. Snow gripped her hand into a fist. She punched the very wall a few times, trying to let out some steam. The harder she hit, the redder her fist became. She continued for a few more minutes, her anger not quelling as the more potent it had gotten.
The only thing that upset her was that she felt that she had failed.
Failed to save someone. Snow slipped up, hating the feeling that she was getting from it.
It was an ugly lingering feeling that would grate on her nerves. She woke up early every day, kept at her work out, and stuck to a schedule. But, this was her second time she couldn't get up on time.
Her body felt heavy. Even her mind was groggy.
She shook her head, pushing such thoughts away as best as she could, but like an annoying fly, it came and danced around her head numerous times. Maybe she was just throwing out excuses. She hated excuses, especially from herself. It made her feel weak, incompetent, and an ugly, festering feeling of disappointment.
Snow let out a sigh. She owns her emotions, getting them under control. Lingering in her emotions wasn't something she wasn't going to do. All she could do was get back up.
With her emotions in control, she straightened up to look presentable. When she thought it was enough, she looked straight out into the distance.
There she saw rows of skeletons still lingering on the side of the river, chattering and clacking out loud. Even in the water, the green seaweed swayed quietly as if the past skeletons in the river were no more.
Snow turned her head to the right. She could see a total of twenty small boats with five people inside, breathing heavily. They were all wiped out and tired.
"Saintess?" the man asked again with concern.
Snow raised her hand. Telling him that everything was alright.
The man nodded, sitting back down as a mellow tone lingered in the air.
Snow pulled back her bloodied hand. She pulled it away and hid it from view. All she could do was watch in the distance as they got further and further away.
Only the lingering sense of regret and sadness was present.
She silently crossed her heart to stop as many deaths as possible next time. But even then, she didn't know if she was able to do such an impossible task. All she knew was that she must try as the name of Saintess was on her hand.
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