章節 17: Emile vs. Hollowed
Emile stepped into the empty room. His blood boiled and he clenched his teeth.
'Emile, the healer.' Emile mocked himself.
The healer who was stopped from healing his sister, who was prevented from doing the one thing he was expected to do.
Emile readied an arrow and preemptively aimed it at the silver gates across from him. The bars began to rise and Emile instantly released the arrow. It shot through the air and slid through the bars of the gate until it was swallowed by the darkness that haunted the hallway.
Emile readied another arrow just like before, but this time he waited for whatever lurked in the darkness to emerge into the light. A low grumbling shook the air and Emile's hairs stood on end. He pulled the arrow back even tighter.
When the off-putting noises finished, an arrow burst into the light and exploded towards Emile. Emile instinctively released the arrow he had prepared then tried to sidestep the fast approaching arrow. The arrow dug itself into Emile's shoulder as another arrow burst forth. Emile dropped to the ground and safely avoided the second arrow.
Emile grabbed his bow and retreated to the back of the room, but the wild creature continued to remain in the darkness. Moments passed in tense silence. Emile readied his bow for a third time and launched another arrow into the hallway only for it to come flying back out towards him.
'Is it copying me?' Emile thought. 'Or is it just using my own arrows?'
Emile put his bow to the side and opened the small satchel he had wrapped around his waist. The satchel was his solution to organizing different types of seeds. In his satchel were six different pockets and each pocket housed its own unique seed.
Although it may seem surprising, the Fallen Sky kingdom had an enormous inventory of seeds. The issue was that they were lacking fertile land to grow the plants. There were a few farms within some of the many active districts, but they were each run by the kingdom itself and produced food for the masses.
As a result, the kingdom only bothered to grow plants that were considered essential, i.e. plants people liked to consume such as fruits, vegetables, wheats, and rices. The kingdom had neither the time nor the desire to grow any of the more exotic plants, but Emile had a use for them. And Jazz had access to the kingdom's inventory since some of the seeds and dried herbs were ingredients for potions.
Emile slid his hand into his satchel and pulled out a perfectly round white orb. Emile thought it looked a lot like a gumball. He cocked his arm back and threw the white seed into the dark hallway, as it left his palm Emile flooded the seed with his essence. The seed unfurled in the air. Long, wispy roots stretched across the empty space while a single bud grew exponentially in size. The bud cracked and piercing bright light broke out from the petals as the flower eviscerated the darkness.
Standing in the once dark hallway stood an unbelievably tall bi-pedal creature. The beast was completely hairless and its skin a lifeless gray. It had long arms that swayed besides the creature's knee caps.
The dreadful monster was rocking back and forth, almost as if its hammer-shaped head was too heavy to hold up and so it had to continuously sway it back and forth. Emile couldn't see any eyes on the creature. The only feature on the rectangular face was its mouth, which crept across the entirety of its head.
Emile narrowed his eyes and stared at the creature. He knew he recognized it, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. While searching his memories for the characteristics of the beast, Emile began rocking along with the creature. For a few minutes that was all that happened. Emile and the creature faced one another and rocked in unison. Back and forth and back and forth.
Suddenly, the creature stopped rocking. Its long leg reached forward and it took a step towards Emile. Then another step, all while Emile continued to rock back and forth. The creature stood in front of Emile. The top of Emile's head barely reached the creature's chest.
The creature raised its arms up to its head and pushed its slender fingers into its mouth. Using both of its hands, it pried its jaw open revealing a bottomless gaping hole filled with spiraling teeth that traveled deep into its esophagus.
Once its jaw was fully extended, the creature placed its wet fingers on Emile's shoulders and pushed down to make sure Emile didn't move during this last step. The creature pushed its open mouth directly above Emile and then slowly began to lower its body, hoping to consume Emile in the process.
Meanwhile, Emile was still trapped in a daze, unsure of the events transpiring in reality.
'Is it a Horned Giant? No–no–it doesn't have horns. Perhaps it's an Abyssal Demon? The description said its skin was extremely pale, but is that right? No, that can't be right. The Abyssal Demon is on the same level as a Royal. That kind of power could destroy kingdoms, let alone be used as training for a Chosen.'
Emile had been brainstorming the creature's identity all this time. His eyes had long ago become dazed and unreliable. Even the clear shift from light to dark had no effect on Emile's perception of the world.
The creature's mouth sealed around Emile's neck, his entire head fit inside the disgusting maw of the beast. Soon, the teeth that spiraled around the creature's throat began to shift and move. First it was a couple teeth, then the entirety of the creature's throat erupted into a violent vortex made of ragged and rotten teeth.
The first tooth cut into Emile, slicing across his forehead. Another tooth cleanly split his ear in half. Cut after cut ripped apart Emile's head. The more it spun, the tighter the vortex became until it would eventually mince Emile into an easy to swallow paste.
'It's a Hollowed!'
The moment Emile answered the question that had been controlling his mind, his senses came crashing down on him. Unbelievable pain rushed through Emile's body. Every instance of torture he had endured in the trance attacked him at once.
His face burned to an extraordinary degree. The teeth of the Hollowed slowly tore apart his skin and flesh, but Emile's gift repeatedly regrew it over and over. It was a constant tug of war between the Hollowed's throat and Emile's remaining essence.
Emile threw his hands up and began attacking the smooth head of the Hollowed. But every time Emile hit the head it shifted more teeth deeper into his flesh. Emile dug his nails into the Hollowed's skin. Tore its flesh apart. His fingers tried to grip and wrap around anything and everything they could get a hold of.
Screams of agony could be heard, barely though, since they were muffled by the maw of the Hollowed. Emile's body convulsed and his legs bent and pushed at unnatural angles. He was trying anything he could to escape death's grip.
Finally, Emile reached down his body and grabbed the knife he always kept on his belt. He plunged the knife deep into the Hollowed's chest and then did it again and again. Emile used all his strength to repeatedly rip and tear into the Hollowed's body with his knife. Blood gushed onto the floor. An intestine rolled out of one of the incisions and the Hollowed's legs buckled.
The razor sharp vortex started to slow down which made the pain even more unbearable. Quick slashes were accompanied by a stinging sensation, but slow, ravenous cuts let the victim feel every fiber of their being tear into pieces.
Emile's arm screamed in exhaustion as he raised it once more. Emile lunged the knife into the Hollowed's chest again, perfectly rupturing the heart of the creature. The teeth vortex stopped and the pressure around Emile's neck loosened.
Emile pried the jaw of the Hollowed off of him and stumbled back onto the floor. His head was painted red. His hair had long been shaved away and his face was so deformed from the handful of severe lacerations it looked like he had multiple mouths.
Emile heard the door behind him open along with the sound of the gurney rattling over every bump. He let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the floor.
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