Hunter Williams:
The dark was engulfing with the cold pricking our skin as soon as we arrived in this ghastly surrounding. "It's here," She whispered and her eyes squinted in disgust at the foul smell of something rotting. It was hard to see where we were going but the putrid smell was getting stronger with each step we took.
And there it was, the origin of the rotten smell and it was holding Elly hostage. She was in a stupefied state and her hair was drifting as if she was stuck in time with her body hovering in the arms of the shadow looming over her whole body. Its eyes stared at our approaching body; it didn't move or react to our presence.
"Is this the curse?" I asked as this was the first time I have ever seen something like this. "I've never seen one either and the book I read only explains the smell and no physical description." I must admit, this kind of novel approach might not have even been recorded or known as possible. "Should we attack it?" Gwen sounded uncertain about what we should do. We have been standing here for a full minute and it hasn't even flinched or done anything except staring at us. "Let's not do something hasty. You'll grab Elly while I looked out for any signs of attack." I voiced out my order out of habit but she didn't mind and nodded. She put up her hand as a sign for me to wait, then, reached something in her pocket; a miniature toy sword. She chanted something under her breath and it enlarged into a real sharp-cutting sword.
"I'm not sure if this helps but I cast with my magic. Hope it can do some damage to it." The weight of the sword shifted into my hand and I thanked her. Gripping the handle and tried a few swings to familiarize the weight and force I needed to use reminded me of how I've trained Elly during training. She could hardly hold the sword up never mind swing it but with determination and hard work, she was getting better.
I nodded as I was now ready and armed, she cautiously close the distance and reached for Elly. I kept my full attention on the shadow, my heart was beating loud and I could feel the adrenaline pumping in me. At that moment, Gwen's hand caught hold of Elly - she stopped and looked up to the shadow before giving her a pull. Elly limp down and fell down on top of Gwen as they came crashing down. She groaned at the sudden weight but the shadow noticed his missing doll let out a piercing shriek.
Comprehending the situation that had triggered the shadow to began its attack, I promptly pulled the girls behind me and got into position. "Do you know any offensive or defensive spells?" Before I could catch her reply, the shadow swung its hand at full speed and from its momentum, I knew it was going to be a heavy blow. The distance between me and the girls was far enough, getting closer with its hand - I dodged under and took a big leap, turned my body to face it before giving it a full-force swing at the hand. The hand dropped with a heavy thud and it shrieked again.
Not waiting for its turn, with all my speed, I charged towards it and cut it again and again - nonstop and continuously. However, the effort became in vain as it generates and closes the wound. I thought the screaming was showing positive results but despite the pain, it wasn't fatal.
I was losing my energy as I stood between it and the girls as a shield. I was breathing hard and sweat trickled down. Every slice and dodged, I tried looking for its weak spot but none was found. It kept growing.
It had stopped shrieking but it kept making grumbling and rumbling noises constantly. It was hard to depict what it was saying. The last swing took a toll on my body and my heart beats rapidly as if it was a ticking bomb ready to explode. I was exhausted from the impenetrable looming body that I wasn't aware of its newly generated hand swinging at me. I was tossed a few feet behind the girls from the hard blow. I quickly tried to stand up but my legs were shaking and my sword was nowhere near me.
He went for another swing but now it wasn't me as a target but the girls, Gwen had been trying spells to wake Elly up but nothing worked. It would be useless to bring an unconscious Elly back, we need to find her but we were wasting our time fighting this thing. She was looking at me worriedly and glanced at the moving hand - too late to avoid. I shouted and then came the roaring thunder as if something had come clashing with the hand. Gwen was shocked at the shield in front of them that had protected them from getting a painful hit. She looked down onto her hands before glancing at me. Her eyes were now amazed, it took me a while to realize that I was the one who did it. I clasped my hands and the shield exploded towards the shadow and it flew away in pieces.
"That's new." I sighed in relief. Feeling my magic surging in me, I looked at the sword and it went flying. "Guess, I'm still worthy." I laughed at my own pun and took a steady step towards the girls. "You guys okay?" Elly was still motionless. "I think she's not waking up with that thing still here." Gwen voiced out in concern. "But it's not getting any weaker." I was frustrated and tired. The shadow was generating back and that's when we saw the teardrop-shaped heart that was glowing red.
It was half its shape and the heart was still visible, with my last energy, I ran and charged at the heart. It shrieked even louder than before and it was beginning to hurt. "STOP!" Someone yelled furiously and before I knew it, the sword wasn't on the heart and Elly was standing in front of me.
I was stunned at the sight of the anxious lady that was ceasing my attack.
