Witchblood hunt 1 pt3- A Fateful Wednesday

The morning passed by in a heartbeat, and the evening soon followed. A Lion-kin man strolled through the village, taking in the autumn evening. Leaves fell from the nearby trees and were gone with the wind. The Alphas’ boastful bursts of laughter can be heard across the nearby landscape.

“Huh? What’s this-” the man felt a bug land gently on his arm, and he took to his surprise to examine it- “a Butterfly? That’s odd; I’ve never seen a Butterfly like this before.” Indeed, the insect was very strange-it hardly even looked like a real, living butterfly; more like an animate piece of blank paper, folded into the shape of a butterfly.

He looked up in the sky, and noticed that the bug brought some friends over- several more of these living paper constructs fluttered gracefully in the autumn sky, landing on any flat surface or field they desired. Most of the Lion-kin outside stopped what they were doing to view this majestic spectacle.

A sudden, faint whine caught the Lion-kin man’s ear; his ear followed where the noise was coming from, and it tracked it back to the Butterfly on his arm. He noticed that the paper insect took on a soft, vibrant red hue. The others followed their friend’s example and started to glow the same hue, and whistled the same frequency.

“Oh, no-“the man gasped in realization that he had caught on to what these paper bugs were doing- “everybody, ru-!” the butterfly ignited into a sudden and powerful bang, taking his arm with it, and sent the poor pedestrian flying several feet away.
The rest of the insects exploded immediately after- one by one whole parts of houses, if not the full houses themselves, were being blown up; the once flowing plains tore apart and formed several craters twice the size of a small pond; the shockwaves from the explosions and debris killed whoever was unlucky enough to stand near them.

When the mandrake oil began to wear off on me and I woke up, the house shook violently form what was happening outside. I felt someone grab me and threw me over their shoulder, but I couldn’t see them nor hear them; my senses are still dazed from the oil, and left my vision blurred and my hearing muffled, if not almost deaf.
(W-what’s…going on?) I thought to myself. I called out for my mom and dad in my confused tongue as I was being carried away; but I suppose I shouldn’t have expected myself to hear them call back. But I felt a hand brush over my hair in a similar motion that “assures” me that everything will be all right. (When will these drugs fully wear off?) I asked myself. I can’t see, hear, or even talk straight. Whatever I could see was just a dizzy blur. Whatever I could hear were just muffled noises. But now that I think about it, maybe it’s better if the drug kept me dazed like this, I don’t even want to know what’s happening outside.

Meanwhile back out outside, the chaos never seized. A cloaked man with a long, white beard walked calmly amongst the bedlam without the slightest detection from the Lion-kin. But the Alpha Male approached him with extreme hostility, the anger in his eyes burned like a forest fire.

“HEY, YOU!!!” The Alpha snarled with his blade drawn and pointing at the man’s neck, “YOU SENT THOSE BUTTERFLIES HERE AS YOU WERE ABOUT TO ENTER OUR VILLAGE!!! YOU DESTROYED MANY HOMES AND KILLED MANY LIVES-!!!” His loud voice echoed throughout the entire village, and caught the ears of every Lion-kin outside that were distracted by the bedlam. Soon an entire mass of kin backed the Alpha up against the hooded man.

“That was the plan, yes.” The cloaked man replied back to the Alpha in his old, cold, and cynical voice.

“YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN KILL ALL OF US WITH PITIFUL CREATIONS, BUT YOU’VE MADE ONE VITAL MISTAKE- OUR PRIDE IS TOO STRONG TO BE WIPED OUT SO EASILY!! NOW, YOU WILL FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT!!” The mob behind him seconded his motion, and cheered for him to deal that punishment to the outside invader.

“For some reason, every word you say amuses me, but I don’t know why- maybe it’s because the pride of your youth possesses your voice. Or is it that you are so uneducated about the difference in power between you and I, you make yourself look big and strong? Either way, I’ll teach you to respect your elders, boy.” The Alpha Male did not take those words very lightly; only, they have further angered him.

“LET THOSE BE YOUR LAST WORDS, WITCH; MY SWORD WILL TASTE BLOOD, AND YOUR SEVERED HEAD WILL TASTE JUSTICE!!” The alpha raised his sword arm high in the air ready to serve the witch justice. But with his right hand and a motion as fast as lightning, the hooded man backhanded the Alpha Male’s head clean off of his spinal cord, before he ever had a chance to swing his sword down. At the sight of their leader’s quick death a wave of fear swept the kin mob that stood in the way the witch.

“Hmm, judging by the expressions on your faces, I’d say I have successfully reduced the “mighty” Lion-kin race to a bunch of mere piss ants.” The man spoke to himself in amusement. “Now the fun part for me begins, and so will the worst part for you…”

By the time my vision and hearing cleared up somewhat, I saw that I was somewhere in the woods. I hadn’t the foggiest of how I got here, or let alone, who brought me here. Unexpectedly, a voice popped up from nowhere-

“Oh, Nate, You’re finally awake!” A worried Taylor hugged me as if she thought I would never wake up again. “This is bad! I mean really really bad-!”
“Whoa, Taylor, slow down-“

“How can I slow down when that is happening?!” She pointed out toward the village, and what I saw was horrendous- the village is burning. Craters filled the once majestic plains. Our people are at war, with whom I can’t identify form far away. The very sight tore at my soul again and again, and not only filled me with angst, but also with anger simultaneously. I can’t sit here and just watch my village burn, I need to do something! I rose up from the ground, as if I was going to charge head first into the danger-

“Nate, what are you doing?!” Taylor suddenly grabbed hold of my arm.

“I can’t just sit here and watch our village burn, Taylor! I’m going to join the fight!”
“But mommy said we have to stay here, and-“

“And what- be safe while we watch everyone we love die?! Our home is being invaded, Taylor, can you not see that?! Are you just going to let this happen?!”

“But we can’t do anything about it!” She cried out to me. “We can’t fight; how are we going to defend our home if we can’t fight?!”

“Maybe we can’t fight, but it’s not right to just sit here and do nothing!”

“Nate-!” I absolutely did not want to stay there and argue with her, so I did what I had to do- I headed towards the battle being placed in the village. (I won’t let her stop me from fighting. It’s fine if she stayed there and be safe, that’s what she’s all about. But the gods will smile upon me for taking this valor and welcome Death with open arms and clenched fists!)

The hooded man walked through the on-going battle as if it was a walk in the park. He walked passed many Lion-kin fighting back his origami soldiers, and many dead bodies lying on the road and headed for the village church close by.

He had reached the church only to find the Village Elder camped inside performing his daily worshipping routine. In front of him were two humble Lion-kin idols- one of a man who held a bow and arrow ready to fire, and another of a woman entwined by cloth around her body, holding an apple.

“Beautiful statues, aren’t they?” The elder said to the hooded man without turning around to make eye contact.

“Indeed, they are; they are magnificently crafted.” The man replied.

“These two were said to be the first of our kind.” The elder lectured. “Rex the Hunter taught our people good hunting etiquette and the necessary techniques for war. Regina the Enticed said to have multiplied our race twelve-fold in five days, and taught us love, appreciation, and happiness.”

“Your history lecture is good, but that’s not why I’m here.” The hooded magician simply replied back. The Elder slowly turned to make eye contact with his adversary. “Are you aware of what’s happening outside? Your village is burning to the ground, chaos is erupting, and you’re just sitting here like you haven’t a care.”

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

“Oh, let’s just say that I’m a generous wanderer doing your race a remarkable kindness. Every time I enter a Lion-kin village, I...remove the villagers from the premises. But as I expected, some disagreed about my methods, so I happily demonstrated to them first hand; as I did with your Alpha Male.” The elder’s ears pricked up when he heard of this news. His words filled the Elder with anger.

“You’re a monster, mass slaughtering innocents for your own gain.”

“Yes, yes, I'll agree with you. Unfortunately for you, you’ve exploited my weakness for conversation for long enough. It’s about time I put you down with the rest of your pride.”

“Where you’ll be going, there’ll be no light.” The Elder hissed with his old, beaten down voice.

“For now, worry about where you are about to go-”

the magician struck down The Elder with a single bolt of lightning generated from his palm. The majesty of how he did it was more than what The Elder actually deserved. An Origami Soldier stood behind Mots, and spoke to him in a language that sounded more like a code-

“111, 10010 1000111010 1100 100110 1000”

“Let Witchblood arrive,” he immediately interpreted, “this village didn’t have what we’re looking for. Finish off the rest of the village.”

“010, 111” when he turned around his coat tails fluttered with a careless and majestic motion. before Mots left the church he took one last look at the Elder, who is now just a crackling, sizzling corpse that looked like it was about to burst into flame any time.

“Necessary techniques for war,” hmph; I never knew that flailing your weapons around aimlessly and recklessly was considered a “necessary technique.” He mocked the Elder’s words. “But I’ll admit I’ve come to respect their elder more than I expected.” The hoodless man disappeared from the spot in the blink of an eye.

I ran towards the village as fast as I could, as if I ran for my life. But I finally arrived, and a familiar scene played before me- the burning, the screaming, the steel against flesh, these were the same sounds that were in my nightmares. I became paralyzed for a second from the realization. I-I never knew that my dreams tried to warn me of this! I heard a scream from behind me-

“Nate, come back!” Taylor must’ve followed me the entire time. I didn’t notice until now. “Nate, we need to get to the forest! It’s not safe for us to be here!” But I still didn’t listen. When I broke from my shock I grabbed the nearest weapon I could find- an iron short sword that I looted form one of the bodies. “Are you even listening?!”

“I just got here; it’s too late to turn back!” I charged into the war-stricken village without a single regret. (If my nightmares are really coming true, I need to find mom!) A fierce column of fire erupted somewhere nearby; something could be happening there. Courage wasn’t the only thing that pushed me to run towards the explosion; more or less so was curiosity. I just hope I can find mom soon. I have a feeling that I will find her.

I was not the only one who had their attention caught by the explosion. From every street corner, I saw monsters that I’ve never seen before: they looked like they were folded from paper, and probably just as thin. Their coned heads weren’t connected to a neck; they looked like they were a part of the torso. They were as tall as grown human men, and walked like they had a very bad limp in one of their legs. And from what I can see, they only have one arm- one long, pointy, and sharp arm.

My heart started pumping frantically, and I began to think to myself- (what’s happening? What am I feeling? I want to run towards them, but my feet feel so heavy; like I can’t even lift them! ) the monstrosities limped towards me in a large horde, I can’t even count how many there are. I gripped my sword tightly, and I tried to control my breathing. (These things should prove no problem to me; they’re just paper after all.) “I’m going to kill you all!” I shouted as I found the courage to dash madly at them.

I never minded the fact that it was just me against an army of them- in fact, they might be better off outnumbering me; it wouldn’t be a challenge if it was just me against one of them! I swung my sword at the first demon I met- it connected with its chest, and made a clean cut right through it. The next one in line attacked me with its sword arm- I blocked it as quickly as I could, and countered by cutting its arm right off. I swept at its knees with my weapon, and it gently flew down to the ground- I stomped it into the dirt several times. “You don’t…go around…destroying…people’s…villages!”

But one of the demons flanked me on my left when I was distracted, and sliced my arm really deep- I screamed in pain, I never actually realized how sharp their sword arm really was. I looked at my wounded arm, and saw that the demon butterflied it straight down to my elbow. Its friends circled me closer as I sat on my knees bleeding out- they want a piece of the fun.

(W-what should I do now? If I do nothing, they’ll tear me apart.) I thought to myself desperately. (I need to get out of here, and quick!) I forced myself out of the circle, tackling every demon down in my path. But I left myself vulnerable as I ran, and each of them took quick shots at me as I escaped. I broke through the perimeter, shirt torn and filled with cuts of various depths along my back. I knew that if I focused on the pain, focused on the bleeding, I would slow myself down. I had to keep moving; or else they’ll either cut me into ribbons, or I’ll bleed to death.

I hid behind a destroyed wall of a house so that they won’t find me; I don’t know how much time I had before they actually will. I made use of the time I had by using my torn shirt to bandage my butterflied arm together- I figured I might as well, since I couldn’t wear it anymore. I tied it to my arm tightly, to cartelize the wound. It was still bleeding, but not as much as it used to. “I…kind of regret…fighting all of them now.” I said to myself. “If I stay here...they might find me. Can’t let them…finish the job…so easily.” My body felt heavy when I tried to lift myself up. I barely had the strength to stand; I lost too much blood from my arm. “Can’t stop now…must keep going.”

My feet shuffled across the ground slowly as I moved out of my hiding spot. I poked my head outside to view my surroundings- great hordes of those things are still roaming about, scavenging for survivors. “Great, more of them…” I huffed to myself in a hushed tone. “No use outrunning them…I’m moving just as fast as they are; maybe even slower. I could fight one at a time…but they’re all in groups. Dammit, I can’t just hide here forever.” I saw another column of fire erupt; it looked like it was moving closer to me.

I heard a woman shouting from the distance-

“You think you can all take me on?! I’m going to burn you all to a crisp-!” a serious fireball scorched out from the passageway nearby, I saw a dozen paper demons helplessly burned into ash. A tag team of Lion-kin rushed out of the scorching mess- there were my dad shooting a bow and arrow, and mom using fire magic; I have never seen her use magic before, she looked so cool using it!

“Mom, dad, help; I’m over here!” I shouted. Mom didn’t hear me over the fire, but I caught dad’s attention; he saw me huddled behind the wall- cut, bloodied, and barely conscious. He ran as fast as he could towards me worriedly. He wanted to hug me, but restrained himself. He looked worried that he could’ve hurt me more than I already was.

“Nate! Thank Rex, you’re alive! What happened to you? Is your sister still safe?”

“Taylor is still safe; she’s hiding in the woods.” I replied. “I saw a column of fire erupt earlier, and decided to find you guys. I took on some of those things a few minutes ago; one got me good on my arm.”

“Yes, I can see that; we need to get you out of here!” He stood me against himself, and slowly helped me out from the building.

“What about mom? Will she come with us?”

“She’s capable of handling things right now. And I prefer not to disturb her when she’s…like that. Let’s go!” He picked me up into his arms, and carried me as fast as he could. “Susan, I have Nate! We need to get out of here!” He shouted.

“I’m having too much fun right now; I’ll meet up with you!” She replied back as she kept casting fire magic against the monsters. What scared me was that she looked like she was enjoying herself too much.

“Susan! We need to get Nate out of here!” She stopped what she was doing to look at me nearly dying in dad’s arms. She snapped out of her bloodlust, and ran to us.

“Were you really converting back to old habits when your child is dying in my arms?” He harshly questioned her when she arrived. “You agreed you wouldn’t do that anymore.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry; I got caught in the moment! It’s been too long since I had an opportunity to use my magic.”

“You’ve had your little opportunity! Now let’s take Nate, and go!” He barked.

Mom and dad ran through the village to find the main street. Mom covered him by blasting every paper demon she found.

“Dammit, how many of these things are there?!” She yelled. “I’m going to run out of magika soon!”

“I don’t know,” dad replied, “But Witchblood should be coming soon! They reached the main street, but they were outnumbered by those monsters- a number greater than they’ve faced so far! This isn’t good; Susan, how are you doing on magic?”

“I’m almost out of energy, I need to recharge.”

“Those were…what almost killed me…” I spoke to dad light-headedly.

“Yeah, I know, son. Here,” he passed me on to mom, “go with your mother. I’ll keep them busy.”

“No, Anthony! You can’t fight those alone!” mom pleaded to him.

“You can’t change my mind now, Susan. I want to be the obstacle between them and you. I’d rather have myself die, and one or both of you survive, than have all three of us die.”

“But you can’t kill those things with a bow and arrow! You need fire magic!” She broke down frantically.

“I’ll make sure to tell Samantha you’re doing alright when I see her.” Out from his boot, he pulled his hunting dagger. He stood ready to fight for us, and wanted to prove it.

“Mom, dad will be alright, right? Mom?” She couldn’t say a word; she only watched with teary eyes her husband dauntlessly fighting off demon after demon. His dagger cut through them like air, he made quick progress from one to the other. But as she feared, their numbers were too great for him. I watched him get blindsided form behind, and stabbed through the back by its long sword arm. Mom gripped me tightly as she watched in fear, and me in anger, as he fell to his knees with every demon taking a stabbing turn at him.

I couldn’t take the sight of it anymore! The demons attacked him like a pack of wolves killing a deer faun! I attempted to free myself from my mom’s grasp, and feel to the ground hard when I did.

“Nate, what are you-?”

“You bastards-!!” I cursed them as loud as I could; I wanted to lift myself from the ground, but my weak body wanted the opposite. I crashed to the ground again. “Why must you blindside your prey, and never face it directly?! It’s because you don’t have a face-!” I chucked a rock at one of them as hard as I could, and it penetrated right through its chest. It turned around angrily; it and its friends limped towards mom and I. “Come at me! You are all just paper! I can knock you down with my breath-!”

Mom’s arms wrapped around my chest, and she forcefully tried to pick me up; I kept kicking and screaming, all she could do was drag me across the ground.

“Are you out of your mind, Nathaniel?!” She yelled at me.

“I should ask you the same thing!” I shouted back. “Dad told you what to do; but instead, you stood there watching him get slaughtered!”

“Nate, Witchblood is almost here; I can see them out in the horizon! I need to take you to the woods!”

“Oh, sure, now you thought about doing it! You know when that thought would’ve been useful? Literally two minutes ago! We might as well wait here and die, while Witchblood arrives too late.”

“That’s not what your father would’ve wanted from us!”

“But did he want us to do nothing as we watched him die?!” She couldn’t respond to my question- she was scrambling for words to say. “I’ve seen how you acted earlier- you were more concerned over your “opportunity” than me. Face it- you are unfit of being a mother.” She was never aware that I was conscious at that time. Those words were the final pieces to her emotional destruction.

She lost the will to hold me, she just let me go. My words broke her into a hundred pieces, like thin glass hitting the floor. She fell to her knees speechless; she was too distraught to even breathe. Her face read no sadness-she was too broken to even feel any emotion; it only showed emptiness.

“You’re…you’re right. You’re absolutely right.” She found the words to speak after seconds of distraught silence. “How could I call myself a mother if I couldn’t give a second glance to my child in need? The only reason why I’m still alive today is because of your father. With him gone, what meaning do I really hold? I guess I am better off dead after all.”

I…I never heard my mom talk like that before. I must’ve hit her heart strings too hard. I felt bad for causing her to be like this. “Mom, I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean to say those things; I just got a little angry-”

“What was left of my heart I gave to Anthony; now he’s gone.” She was too distressed to even hear my apology. She spiraled into an even deeper depression; she whispered to herself- “Everyone I love is gone. Everyone. I was kept from joining them. All this time. But now’s my chance; another chance to reunite with her. I can finally tell her “I’m sorry.” Be it by them or me; all I ever wanted to do was tell her “I’m sorry.”

The paper demons closed in on us, and mom was still caught in an emotionless void. I tried to help her up from her knees, and yanked her by the arm-
“Come on, mom, we need to-” but she yanked right out of my grip. She still sat on her knees.

“You’re right, Nathaniel. We should just wait here and die.” (Did my words really suck that much will out of her? Even after I apologized to her?)

“Come on, mom; don’t you think Taylor would be happy to see you alive?” I attempted to persuade her to move.

“After hearing what you thought of me, why should I face her? After all, twins think alike, do they not?”

“No! That’s not true! Nothing I said about you was true!” I couldn’t help but break down with her. Now I know how it felt to be an emotional wreck. “I didn’t mean to say those things to you! You have meaning to us, even if dad is gone! I’m sorry about saying that; I didn’t know what I was thinking!”

Even after opening up to her, even after apologizing as much as I could, she still sat there depressed; she wouldn’t look me in the eye. She stared at the ground with blank eyes. The demons stood over us; we had nowhere to run now.

The demons raised their only arm high in the sky; they are ready to make the final blow. I clenched to my mom and closed my eyes and awaited my downfall. The sounds of horses neighing and galloping thundered through the street. Several men in plated armor launched a counter-attack against the paper monsters. Mom and I watched as the monsters fell one by one by their blades.

A man in plated armor different from the others galloped to us. His armor was broader and heavier-looking than the rest. He took off his helmet, and revealed his square face.

“Do you two need assistance?” He asked us in his deep voice.

“Jakob, please take my son, and find my daughter in the woods. Then, take them to the guild.”

“Oh, Hello, Susan; you’ve gotten...mellower.”

“Nate…please get out of here…”

“No, I won’t leave you.”

“Nate, get out of here!”

“No, mom! I don’t want to leave you!” When I said that, it felt all too familiar to me. Suddenly my tears couldn’t be fought back; I realized where this conversation is going. The burning sounds, the steel against flesh, there’s no way I didn’t forget about it.

“Nate, find Taylor and leave. I’ll be fine.”

“Mom, are you crazy? You need to come with us!”

“Find Taylor and get out of here!” She sounded so determined to stay. I couldn’t understand why she wanted to stay. “I have a daughter hiding in the forest. Take my son and find her.” She said to the guild member.

“But mom, what will happen to you?” My stomach started to cramp and my eyes flowed like two waterfalls.

“Don’t worry, Nate. I’ll be fine.” She looked back at me and I could see the sorrow on her face. Why is she sad? She will be okay, right? The plated guild member mounted me atop of his horse. “I love you, Nate. Please, remember that.”

“Mom, please come with us.” I tried to convince her to actually come, but she remained adamant. The knight abruptly drove off with me towards the forest and mom was driven more and more from my sight. I was devastated when I found out that this was the moment I couldn’t hear in my nightmares-what mom said to me under the clashing of steel.

“Don’t worry; your mother will be all right.” The knight assured me as we rode to the forest.

“How do you know?” I barked back.

“I knew your mother back then. She was one of my strongest witch hunters.” Something about this knight struck me as odd. (His strongest witch hunters?)

“Who are you?”

“I’m Jakob Frost- the Guildmaster of Witchblood.” His words drove a wave of respect through my body. I never had imagined that he would be the guildmaster! “Now, let’s see if we can find your sister, okay?”

“O-okay.” Something in his calm voice unnerved me to no extent- is it because he understood mom on a level that I couldn’t? If we find Taylor, what are we going to tell her? That dad died for us and mom decided to stay behind? I can’t even begin to digest that.