Dagger

Chapter 42

Forest shifted his weight, but his facial expression remained the same. He was trying to act confident, trying to convince himself, even though he was terrified. His hands were sweaty and his body temperature was rising, his stomach in knots.

Master peered down at him, a smirk played on his lips, his eyes glinting in the mid afternoon sun. He extended his hand towards Forest. "Ah Forest. I trust you have some valuable information to us." Forest looked at Melody then back to Master with uncertainty and hesitation. Master nodded at Melody. "We'll trade her for you," Master looked him in the eyes again. "Come back to us," he said, trying to coax his to join them again.

Forest looked down at the ground and closed his eyes. He wished everything and everyone would vanish, his problems solved. He flipped the dagger in his hand so that he was now gripping the blade. He slowly made his way towards Master. His greedy smile broadened. Marcus stepped forwards, devastation in his eyes as he cried out, "Don't do it!"

Melody too watched, defeated, as he closed the distance between him and Master. Forest caught her eye, they were pleading, begging him to stop. As he looked away, he could see out of the corner of his eye that she struggled to get free from the member. She was held back, forced to sit back and watch him crawl back to the enemy.

Forest looked into Master with determination. He handed him his dagger, handle first. Master gladly took the weapon and put his large arm over his shoulder. "Great choice! Great to have you back!"

"I was always loyal to you. I have the information you need, but you didn't have to capture her," he gestured to Melody. "Plus you're already winning."

He shrugged and turned him towards Melody. Her face was filled with hurt and disgust.

"No matter, you still need to be punished."Forest's brow furrowed in confusion as he looked up into Master's face. He gestured to the member holding Melody. Forest's gaze followed his gesture.

Melody squirmed under the members grip. She violently shook her head and tried to back away from the other member that approached her. "No!" She screamed in protest.

Forest's eyes widened with realization and horror. Master had tricked him. The member brought down their shiny metal weapon as Melody squirmed. The blade cut her with a loud slicing sound. Her arm thumped as it collided with the concrete.

Her body dropped to the ground. Her arm no longer attached to her. The members stepped away from her with no remorse or any evidence that they cared.

Forest yelled in grief, and yet the sound didn't reach his ears. He leaned forward, intending to run to her side. Maybe, just maybe if he made it to her in time, he could save her. But of course Master was there. The weight of his arm around his shoulder weighed down on him. He struggled to get free from the man's grip, but once he did, he turned and faced him.

His face was contorted with anger and grief. "We had a deal!" His nostrils flared as he attempted to contain some of his anger.

Master looked at him with indifference. It didn't matter to him that she was dead. "We did have a deal." He looked out into the people fighting before him. "Now, where is that pesky Prime Minister Kettening? He has to pay too."

"You really are delusional. Do you really think I would help you after you broke our deal?! And the last time I checked, the government isn't corrupted!"

Master shifted his body to face him again. "You are corrupted as well then, if you truly don't see what's wrong." He sounded calm, but anger was rising inside of him.

Forest halted as Master returned to looking for Kettening. At least that moment, two metal Kunais sliced through the air. The tiny sharp metal weapons had wedged themselves in the throats of the two members. Forest shot a grateful smile towards Kieran who sat beneath a tree while Reselda bandaged his leg. He smiled back and saluted him.

He knew exactly what to do next. As Master noticed the lack of his minions responses, something hit the ground hard. Herb had grabbed a sledgehammer and it rattled the concrete, throwing off Master's balance. Although, he quickly stabilized himself.

Forest stood over him and kicked his side. He hit apart of his arm and thigh, causing his dagger to clatter to the ground. He quickly picked it up when Master had elbowed him in the gut. He stumbled backwards as Master stabilized himself again.

Herb crept up behind him, his mace over his head ready to strike. Master twirled around and grabbed his wrists before he could knock him out. Herb's face turned from anger and determination to pain. Master twisted Herb's wrists and grabbed the sledgehammer before it could fall out of his grip. Herb quickly withdrew his hands. Master swung the sledgehammer and Herb quickly dodged it. Forest stormed towards Master and plunged his dagger into his shoulder blade. Master slightly withdrew and grunted in pain. Nonetheless, he grabbed Herb's hand again and twisted it. Herb punched Master with his free hand, but he didn't let go of his hand. When Master looked back at Herb, his face was bleeding. With a malicious smile Master then tightened his grip and flung Herb into a nearby tree. His back collided with the hard trunk of a tree, causing a loud splinting sound to echo.

His attention was now back on Forest. He swung his dagger, but Master continued to advance. Kieran threw the rest of his Kunai at him, but they all seemed to lodge themelsevws into the wall of the city hall behind them. Forest didn't blame Kieran for his bad aim, he was in pain.

Forest wedged a Kunai out of the wall and flung it. He wasn't really expecting it to hit Master square in the chest. It didn't seem to bother him too much as he simply pulled it out of himself. Master brought his hand up, and it collided with the side of Forest's head. He shoved his head into the exterior of city hall, his face squished. He then lifted his head from the wall and close to another section where a Kunai was lodged into it.

His head was inches away from the sharp blade. Then he felt the side of his head sting. He grunted in pain and scrunched up his face. The Kunai's metal had began to puncture his skin, blood dripped from the wound. Blood ran down Forest's face and onto the once shiny metal of the Kunai.

Then Marcus ran forwards and grabbed the arm the held Forest's head. When Master looked up into his eyes, Marcus threw a punch. His lip began to bleed and he let go of Forest, who quickly withdrew from the Kunai.

Master punched Marcus back, his head turned from impact and a red cut formed on his cheek. He then pushed Marcus backwards and he stumbled to the ground. Marcus took his sword and quickly attempted to stab him in the leg. Master quickly grabbed the blade and plunged it into Marcus's stomach. Marcus's eyes filled with shock. His vision filled with crimson blood - his blood. Master stood over him for a second before Forest charged at him. He leaped into the air and clung to Master's back. He reached his arms back, trying to grab at Forest. He tried to stabilize himself on Master's back, just when he began to stumble backwards. He crashed into the exterior of city hall, the blade of a Kunai digging into his back.

"Dammit Kieran," he muttered as he tried to pull himself away from the weapon, but it was no use. He wasn't moving unless Master did. Forest gripped Master's head and lifted it up towards the sky. His neck was now more exposed as Forest brought up the blade of his dagger.

"Your making a mistake," Master said. Forest hesitated as he spoke. He knew he was only trying to get inside of his head. He gulped and flexed his grip on the dagger, the Kunai digging into his back as a remainder. "This city will fall. I tried to save it. Don't say I didn't warn you when you find yourselves scrambling to stay alive."

Forest shook his head to refocus himself. "No. You were just delusional. You never woke up to the reality and realized you were the one that was killing humanity." He gritted his teeth and pushed the blade of his dagger into his neck. He swiftly pulled his arm back, revealing a bloodied slit.

Master's body fell, and him along with it. Once he was on the ground again, a sigh of relief escaped him.

A small white snowflake had landed on Forest's skin. It chilled him, his brow furrowed in confusion as he curiously looked up into the sky. White snowflakes speckled the sky and landed quietly on the ground.

Denial still clouded his mind as he slowly got up and looked back at where Melody's body should've been. He had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. All that was left of Melody on the concrete was a pile of blood and her dismembered arm.

The fleeting rays of sunshine lit up the ground as snowflakes fell down around Forest. Hope fluttered in him stomach, maybe Melody wasn't dead after all.