The Dragon and the Lamb

II. Memento Mori

As men, we are all equal in the presence of death-Publilius Syrus

"Hannah, don't stop running! Just run away from here, run away as fast as you can!" Dragos had barely spoken the words when a large hand swatted him away into an apartment building. Hannah clearly heard the impact even from 500 metres away. 

"Foolish boy," drawled an old haggard voice. Hannah looked up to see the old lady from earlier approaching. Upon closer inspection, she didn't look so old; it was only the way she was dressed that made her look so. Her walking cane was oddly twisted, almost as if she had plucked a gnarled branch from a tree. Her hair was long and white, but it wasn't dull, but lustrous and shiny. The lady was robed in a simple outfit of jeans and a long overcoat, but the strange thing was that she wasn't wearing mittens or gloves. She cackled as she approached, but Hannah was stunned that she could hear the lady's voice even from such a great distance.  

"Hannah, run!" Dragos' voice broke on the last syllable, and Hannah saw the giant hand come down at him. It grabbed him, tossed him into the air, and, terrified, Hannah watched as Dragos' body came down on the cement. Hard. 

Hannah screamed, pulling out her cellphone and dialing 911. 

"Hello, Operator here, what is your emergency?" 

"Oh my God you have to help me, my boyfriend's being assault-" 

With a grunt, Hannah was shoved brutally from behind. The cellphone went sliding into a storm drainer. 

"Hmm, can't have anyone making calls now, can we?" The lady turned and pointed her cane straight into the sky, directly at the setting sun.  

"Venti impediunt! Obstruct the winds!" Hannah watched as the cane ripped apart and began to construct a 1 square kilometer barrier. But the worst was when the lady turned around. Instead of an old woman, she was now a young lady. 

She looked to be about 25, but her looks were the least of her worries. The lady was slowly approaching Hannah with what appeared to be a sword in her hand. It was long and elegant, tapering to a point that seemed to be gold coloured. 

The lady laughed. 

"Do you like it? I use it anytime my masters' summon me to do the dirty work for them! They prefer to keep their hands clean, see?" 

Hannah gasped suddenly. She could sense an ominous...well, there wasn't really a word for it. Something dark was coming. Something dangerous and coming. 

"I have to get help," she muttered as she began sprinting. But the barrier held, and Hannah realized, much to her horror, that she was trapped inside. 

"Why can't I leave? What have you done?" She shrieked. 

"You can leave when I'm done here. But if I get my way, you won't be leaving. I always enjoy having a little snack when I'm done doing my masters' bidding."

Hannah was truly terrified now. She began sprinting towards Dragos' crumpled body. She gasped at what she saw. 

His body was mutilated. Terribly. The bones in his leg were showing, and pieces of his skin were lying around. His arm was bent at a terrible angle, and his neck appeared to be broken. His eyes flickered open when Hannah stood over him. 

"I guess that that's that, eh?" 

Hannah began to cry, her tears falling freely.  

"Don't worry about me," Dragos winked. "I'll be fine, I always am." 

A shadow blotted out the sun. The giant fist was coming down, faster and faster as the seconds went by. Dragos swore profusely. 

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this," he muttered. He forced himself up and pulled out a small comb from his back pocket. Wincing, he held it out in front of him, eyeing Hannah carefully.