Adriana
I break into a run, trying to keep up with Eros, with both of us trying our hardest to avoid getting hit. There are more archers now, from where I have no idea, and although there doesn't seem to be as much as before, it's still difficult for us to remain unhurt. I watch from behind as a couple of arrows skim past Eros's arm, grazing him slightly. He doesn't even seem to notice, his posture seeming undeterred - it doesn't even seem as if he takes much notice of the arrows that whip past, not seeming worried in the slightest that one of them could potentially kill him. He just keeps his hammer gripped in his hand, swinging it calmly and with ease at any of the creatures that block our path. They scream in agony, but despite their obvious pain they never appear too wounded, and though I don't find myself looking back, I can tell that eventually they will get back up, potentially to follow us. Even with my chakrams, I barely stand a chance. I doubt that they would be hindered enough by my own attacks for long, with how little I know about how to fight. And yet with the current circumstance I have to ignore the tight feeling in my stomach, pushing back any thoughts that paint me as weak.
As we run, I also try to ignore Alec's beastly form in my periphery, but this proves just as difficult. At this point Kellen barely has to fight, as Alec's claws tear through the other creatures and tosses them aside, leaving their bodies squirming on the grass, now stained with their tar-like blood. My heart leaps when I hear him let out a high pitched malicious screech, causing some of the creatures to cower. This doesn't stop them for long, as they leap mainly towards Kellen. However, they don't seem to notice him changing.
Kellen's wolf roars, sounding as if in pain. His wolf, which despite the blood-soaked fur had previously been quite cute, was now changing. He is clearly in pain, but continues to fight, most of the creatures being occupied by his companion. His body becomes slightly larger, his skin stretching and leaving leather like patches void of fur spanning parts of his form. His mouth hangs open, his already deadly fangs becoming longer, just like the ones Alec has. His claws become longer, and soon he has transformed so much that he no longer looks like a wolf, rather a nightmarish creature; a wolf hybrid, standing on its hind legs and howling as it attacks.
A sharp pain on my arm brings me back to the present. I had not realised that I has stopped running, too focussed on Kellen's new form. While I has been stood watching, an arrow has grazed past my arm, thankfully not cutting too deep.
I turn my head away, trying to focus solely on Eros, who is now running back towards me. Once he notices that I have seen him, he shouts for me to follow.
A low growl prevents me from doing that however. Eros immediately stops, turning his head in the direction of the sound. Once I am beside him I stop, following his line of sight to find the wolf from before, it's empty white eyes glaring at me. I take a hesitant step back and move behind Eros, who for the first time develops a more tense stance, gripping his hammer as the wolf lets out another growl. That's all it does however - it makes no move towards me, making me question it's motives. Surely it just wants to get rid of us, so why hasn't it done anything?
I can tell Eros could hear my thoughts, though I'm guessing he's thinking the same thing, his brow furrowed slightly as he watches Roma and waits for him to make a move, never taking his eyes off of the wolf.
His face changes instantly, eyes widening. "I won't let you."
I look back towards Roma, seeing that he is now focusing on Eros, teeth bared and mouth twisted into a sort of wolfish smirk. He starts to stalk towards Eros. I take another hesitant step back, bringing my chakram up closer to my chest, watching Eros for his reaction, though he doesn't seem to give one. he stands his ground, his knuckles turning white.
Roma takes a small leap forward, taunting us as we both stagger backwards. If he could, I'm almost certain he would be laughing at us. Eros reaches his arm out and pulls me further behind him, holding his hammer out in front of him. Normally I'd be a little pissed about being manhandled, but to be honest with the way that Roma is currently looking at us, I feel it makes more sense not to challenge Eros this time. However I have no idea what he plans to do, if anything. He doesn't appear to be willing to make an attack.
It doesn't take me too long to figure out why. Behind some trees near to Roma, a few of the creatures approach. If Eros attacks Roma, they will surely join the battle and we will be overwhelmed; while we may just be able to ward of the creatures alone, with the wolf involved, I don't see that we stand a chance.
My chest tightens as I see how many are approaching.
We're so screwed.
Turning my head slightly, I notice that there is a clear path to our left, but it wont be long until that is filled with the creatures too as they continue to move closer to us. It might be our only potential way out of this, but I know Roma is probably faster than both of us.
Eros's hand squeezes my arm - I never even noticed he hadn't removed it, but I know he knows what I had been thinking. He takes his hand away, his body forming a more offensive stance. Roma glares at him, stooping as if preparing to pounce.
"Ria..." my grip tightens on my chakram, the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears almost too loud to hear him.
He turns slightly, looking at me in the corner of his eye. "Go." He grips his hammer, and Roma leaps forward. I know immediately that there is no room for argument.
As fast as my heavily protesting body will go, I leg it. To where, I have no idea.
Some of the creatures surrounding the area start clumsily making there way towards me, gradually building up speed which makes me push to go impossibly faster. I can hear Eros and Roma fighting, with the latter snarling loudly, followed by a thud - though I try not to think about what that sound means.
While trying to avoid numerous arrows, I stumble, almost having at least one of them hit me. In that split second, the creatures start to catch up to me, one of them finally close enough to swing a club at me. I duck, managing to avoid being hit, and then lunge forward, slashing my chakram's blade at the creature's outstretched arm, slicing it almost clean off. The creature drops it's club and wails, staring at it's flopping limb. Another creature not to far away from it reaches out and touches it's hand, voicing a strangled "Oooh!" sound as its own hand becomes covered in the bubbling blood.
Wasting no time, I leave the two confused creatures behind, but the time it took to occupy them has cost me. More of them are closing in, and though I don't look behind me I can tell that I am virtually surrounded based on the cacophony of gurgling around me. My breath catches in my throat as one of them scratches as my back, ripping at my top. As I turn to see it, it grabs at my shoulder and I slash the chakram's blade at its side, though this does nothing to deter it. I try to push it off me as it claws its dirty nails at my chest but its body is too heavy for me to move, and I instead lose footing. My chakram falls from my hand and cuts into my knee as it falls.
Another creature, now close enough to aid my attacker, swings its club at me. It hits my side, winding me as I have no opportunity to duck down. I try to bend down and retrieve my chakram with no luck, as it is kicked to the side and I am yanked to the side and struck again with a club. This time my side feels like it has gone up in flames, and I scream, but I try to carry on fighting. There's no opening for me to run, so I lunge at one of my attackers, grabbing at its club and trying to pry it away. The creature's hand pushes at my stomach but despite the burning pain I don't relent, bringing my other hand up to it's face and digging my nails in, trying to scratch at its eyes. I succeed, the creature shrieking as its grip loosens, allowing me to yank the club from it. Now holding it with both hands, I begin swinging it towards any creature that approaches, and though it makes them stumble slightly it doesn't appear to hurt them, so they continue to come closer. I realise that if I want to get out of this in one piece, I need to get my chakram back, so I quickly scan the floor to find it. I see it not too far away, just behind most of the creatures, so I head towards it, trying to hit the creatures out of the way for just long enough for me to make my way through and grab my chakram.
My plan works, and I pick up the chakram, throwing the club out of the way in the process. I unclip the two blades at the centre, now able to have one blade in each hand. However, the time taken to do this has allowed the creatures to get closer again, and one of them grabs at my shoulders, pulling me backwards. I try to slice it with a blade but don't manage to cut deep enough to do any real damage, and its blistery hand comes around my front to grab at my neck. Its grip is extremely strong, and immediately it becomes difficult to breathe. Again I try to slice at its arm which I now have a better view of, and this time it works, not seeming enough to hurt it much but distracting it for long enough for me to move away.
I now try to run again, slicing my blades at the creatures in my way, which for the most part seems effective in distracting them. Although it is still difficult, as they continue to grab at me and attempt to pull me back. One of them manages to grab at my hair, but they soon let go when I turn and its elbow becomes the next victim. This provides me with an opening to get away, and not wanting to stay any longer, I take the opportunity.
A slight feeling of relief floods my chest - there is considerably less creatures in the surrounding area now, as I assume they were all occupied with me, so it's fairly easy to pass through the trees to God knows where. It almost feels peaceful, as despite the fact that I can still hear the creatures in the distance, the sounds get ever further away to the point where I can now hear the birds around me, chirping as if there isn't an army of creatures destroying their homes.
My side still burns, but I push on, a slight dampness forming on my upper cheek. But I don't feel a bit of sadness, I just wish I knew where I am supposed to go. I don't know where any safe houses are, and I don't even know if Eros is alright, but I can't safely find that out. I'm lucky that the chakram's blades are deadly enough and that the creatures were obviously not very smart, because otherwise with my inexperience I should not have made it here in one piece.
The urge to take a break catches up, and I look behind me to see how far away I am. At this point I can't even see the creatures, so I stop running, trying to catch my breath. My side now seems to sting an incredible amount more than I remember it doing during the chaos, and I find myself having to lean against a tree for support, clipping my chakram blades back together so that I have a hand free. I lift my top to find that my entire side is bright red, with a few lumps forming here and there. I poke about at it a little, finding that nothing is at least badly out of place, although I'm sure I couldn't have gotten this far if there was something seriously wrong. I'll just have to hope that it's only a bad bruise for now with not really being able to get to someone who might know better. I just wish I had some painkillers, or even just my phone, which isn't in my pocket, though I can't remember if it ever was before or whether it just fell out.
I close my eyes, taking in as deep a breath as possible without hurting my side. I know I have to keep going, but I just feel the urge to sleep, my body not feeling all that willing to move, the adrenaline from earlier having worn off and exhaustion now taking over and my body going into a mildly relaxed state.
Quickly, however, I am forced to snap out of this. A deep rumble reaches my ears, and my eyes snap open, following the direction of the sound. I move away from the tree, Roma's empty white eyes staring at me as I do so. I quickly unclip my chakram again, holding one blade in both hands, knowing that I wont be able to run from him now. He stalks closer, and I clench my hands tightly around the handles of my blade, slowly stepping back. He notices the movement and I hear his murderous growl. My eyes widen. I turn, attempting to run. But by that point, he has already pounced.
I feel a sharp pain, which spreads throughout my entire body, and I feel extremely dizzy, black spots filling my vision. For the first time since all of this chaos began, I feel true hopelessness, knowing that I can't fight, and nobody can save me.
Author's note:
This one took a while but hopefully now I have quite a bit of extra time more will be on the way shortly!!
★Please vote & comment★