Rune Wielders

Chapter Twelve

Colbie blinked and in that second the bat had flown over them and blocked their only way of escape. She pushed herself past her teammates to stand in front of the bat. It screeched again, causing Colbie to flinch back and force herself not to cover her ears. The piercing sensation came back and made her wobble, getting dizzy. Her temples were throbbing from the sheer sound of the bat.

"Alden? Ruby? You really need to go kill this thing unless we want to fail this mission!" Colbie shouted, sparks flying from her shield as the bat dragged its claws down it.

"Ruby?" Reed whispered, shaking her shoulders. "Are you falling asleep standing up at a time like this?"

Ruby jumped, hearing another, loud screech from the bat that was gaining on them. "No, I'm not. I was thinking," she snapped, readjusting her grip on her swords.

Colbie glanced around, trying to figure out how to get out of the way of this bat. It was going to keep pushing them until they couldn't see anymore and then they would die from it. She was not going to die from a bat, no way no how.

"Colbie?"

"What, Reed?" Colbie said, annoyed that he had broken her train of scattered thoughts. Not that she was going to think of anything anyway, but she could act like she would.

"What if Alden shoots his arrows at the bat wings? He could pin it against the wall and Ruby could...y'know," Reed said, motioning his arms. "I don't know if it'll work but I mean..."

Colbie looked behind her, eyes wide. "That's...that just might work!" Colbie exclaimed, turning her head back in time to see the bat lifting a claw. It brought it down and Colbie slumped onto her knees, holding back the bat. "Reed, get Alden to shoot the bow!" she grunted, pushing back the claw on her shield.

The bat screeched in surprise as it tumbled backward. It roared, flapping its wings in agitation at the resistance it was getting.

Reed jumped, surprised to hear Colbie entrusting the job to him. He swallowed and nodded, darting to Alden and whispering into his ear.

Alden rolled his eyes. "How do you know that's going to work?" He aimed the bow, looking down at Reed. He rolled his shoulder before looking back up at the furious bat.

"I don't but it's worth a shot, right?" Reed asked.

Alden took aim, his hands shaking. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Alden let go of an arrow and it latched into the bat's wing, shooting it backward into the stone. He took another shot on the other wing and lodged the arrow into the tender skin before the bat would manage to break free.

The bat screeched in pain, fangs dripping with drool. It continued to struggle, yanking at its wings in fury and fear.

"How are my arrows so strong?" Alden asked, peering at the bat struggling against the arrows. "Did I really do that?"

"Probably something to do with the runes--Ruby? Can you kill it?" Colbie asked, flashing a thankful smile to Reed as he helped her up. "Please?"

Reed nodded and disappeared behind her into the cave.

"...Do we have to kill it?" Ruby asked, glancing at the swords in her hands. It was already her fault for them getting into this trouble--she didn't want to get in trouble killing a creature.

"Come on, Ruby. You have to," Colbie said, pushing her forward to the screaming bat. "It attacked us first."

"It was my fault..." Ruby muttered, shutting her eyes as she stuck a sword into its skull, feeling the resistance fade.

It slumped, the bat going silent. It stopped glowing, and the wings fell to a gray-black color instead of the rainbow of colors they were a few moments earlier.