GRAVICTA

CHAPTER 38.

Zed struggles for his life but in vain. The demon probably is squeezing the life out of him. Decklan screams and throws the Devil's Trident towards the demon and once it gets in contact with the beast, it releases Zed.

Picking up the Trident, Zed races into the circle again and screams loudly, causing us to cover our ears. I wonder what it'll be like without this barrier helping to reduce the sound. I'm just glad that it's almost over.

I look back into the ruins to see that Zed and Decklan are both now on the ground, bleeding and not moving. I hold back a scream, trying not to be annoying as everyone around me are also watching this.

Three demons are now visible and both Zed and Decklan are not even in the circle. The Trident is also not in Zed's hand. Decklan tries to stand up but a demon attacks him and knocks him out. Zed slowly crawls towards the circle, trying not to be noticed as the demons roam around, growling angrily.

"This is really bad. This is really, really bad," I say.

"They were hit out of the circle before Zed could scream well, it seems. We're out of options. Decklan needs to get up and throw that Trident to Zed again," Mrs Purplestorm says as we watch Zed desperately making his way towards the circle.

He's almost there but a fourth demon appears, lifting him up and flinging him away. He hits his body against a wall and loses consciousness.

~'~

ZED'S POV

Everywhere turns dark and I feel myself drowning in something. I don't know what exactly it is but it sure is very cold. I hit the bottom of the darkness as I hold my breath, trying not to die.

"Junior you're going hurt yourself,"  a voice echoes and I open my eyes to see a small white-haired boy running somewhere.

"I can't chase you anymore cause mommy's tired,"  the voice says again and I turn to see who it is.

"Mom?" I say but she doesn't hear me. She walks up to the young boy, who's now standing with tears in his eyes. She places a kiss on his forehead and smiles.

"Now, I know that you had a fight with your papa but I don't want you running off that way. I'm sure he didn't mean to scold you. He just has some family business to handle,"  she says and the young boy sobs, rubbing his eyes.

"But we're his family,"  the boy says, pouting and looking at mom.

"Of course, we are. But you've got to understand that no matter how things turn out, the whole of Gravicta is family,"  mom says and the boy stops crying but doesn't say anything.

"A true man never quits trying to protect his family. You too will understand that someday."  Mom taps the boy's head and hugs him.

Her last words echo in my head continuously, making me cover my ears and squeeze my eyes shut for comfort.

"Why am I remembering this right now? I already lost the family I was meant to protect. Why should I care about anything else?"

My eyes snap open as I remember the current situation in Gravicta. The answer to my questions has been in my head all along. Aside from the fact that Gravicta is family, I also have people I really want to protect so I am not supposed to quit.

I use every bit of strength in my body to swim back up, struggling as I feel myself almost losing consciousness completely. Light can now be seen at the surface as I forcefully make my body move and in no time, my head comes out of the darkness.

~'~

The pain on the left part of my body makes my eyes fling open. I gasp for air, trying to stay awake. Scanning the environment, I see that demons have evaded the place and Decklan is struggling to fight off one. Looking outside, I see the others are still inside a barrier and some demons are trying to break it.

"Zed you need to end this quickly!" Decklan's voice grabs my attention.

I search the place and see that the Trident is quite close to where I am. Despite the blood leaking from my body and my blurry vision, I pick myself up and race towards the Trident, grabbing it and running towards the circle without stopping.

Decklan sees this and escapes the demon, racing towards the circle too. I guess if I can't end it, he'll have to try or at least be there to help me finish it up. We both run until we make it into the circle but before I can scream, a demon hits me again. I hold on tight to the Trident but Decklan grabs it too quickly without thinking and we both scream.

"Stop!" Our voices echoing through every corner of Gravicta.

The demons stop moving and then bow their heads, growling lowly. Decklan lets go of the Trident and I take control quickly before anything gets in the way.

"Leave here and go back to hell immediately. Do not come back afterwards," I say loudly and they all start to disappear one by one.

I watch as the ones here disappear until they are all completely gone. I smile, looking at everybody to make sure that they are alright. I don't know why Puffer, Rigo, Buttertooth and Filn decided to come with us even though they couldn't do much but I'm glad they are fine.

Decklan holds my shoulder and laughs. "We did it bro. We did it."

"Yeah. I protected my family," I say, smiling even brighter than before. My mind feels at ease. "Did you see that mom? I did what a true man should do."

"Are you okay?" Eva says as she touches my whole body.

"Are you checking me out?" I smirk and she slaps my arm making me wince in pain.

"Oh shit. I'm so sorry," she says but before I can reply, I feel consciousness leaving me and I fall to the ground.

"No, no, no! I think I killed him," is all I hear before everything turns blank, again.