We walked toward a grassy field, something tugging me from the center of my chest. I could feel her now, a faint trace that sent a thin covering of electricity over my skin. I’d marked her, and now I was thankful that I had. She was near.
Sampson moved up beside me, carrying a weapon of his own that he had little time to learn to use. “Do you think she’s out there?”
I pointed my head forward. “Yes. Run.”
Silently, we raced through the tall grass. It was just me, her father, Sam, and a few of my people, but I had to hope that would be enough for now. Black masses suddenly appeared above us, swooping through the air and then shooting down at us. One shadow wrapped around one of my people, pinning his arms and weapon to his side, and squeezing him. The creature tightened its body like a vice before breaking my guard’s bones. He flopped forward like a rag doll before we could get to him.
We fired our weapons at the shadows, igniting several in the sky like deathly fireworks with our specialized bullets and hitting the creatures, but they did not go down easily.
Sampson shoved me forward. “Go get her. We’ll handle this!” he shouted.
I didn’t hesitate and ran at full speed to where I felt her presence. And then I heard her screams. Panic clutched my heart and pumped my legs faster. I willed myself to take on some super speed that I never had.
I finally saw her in the distance, struggling against who I assumed was Argo. A portal opened behind her, but his shadowy appendages wrapped around her waist, preventing her from climbing through. I shot at the creature, burning the shadow wrapped around her waist. Now free, she stumbled forward toward the portal.
“Go!” I shouted, my voice forceful and booming so that she would not argue with me.
She hesitated, face twisted in conflict.
“Now, baby!” I yelled.
She let out an agonizing cry before stepping through her portal and leaving just as the creature tried to reach out for her again.I shot my rifle in succession, lighting him up before he pulled away and dropped low to the ground, hiding within the grass. I knew he would be hard to kill, but I just needed to destroy him to pieces or behead him. That was my sole focus. Camilla would never be safe until I got rid of this thing.
I felt him before I saw him, an icy breeze against my back, and I spun around, shooting my gun, but nothing came out. I was out of ammo. Argo smiled before launching an appendage at me, wrapping it around my left arm and yanking. If I moved away, I knew he’d pull my arm out of the socket; the grip was powerfully strong. I dug my claws into it and ripped it apart in one movement, just as another shadow wrapped around my leg and pulled, dropping me on my back.
Argo stood above me, limping my way. He was hurt, and I was glad my weapons had done some damage to him. I assumed that was why he didn’t crush me like I’d seen earlier with the other creature. However, that didn’t make him less dangerous.
He shot out another shadow, and I batted it away, but it wrapped around my forearm, tightening. I sliced into it with the claws of my other hand, which was soon covered in another shadow. More limb-like shadows sprang out of him until my arms, legs, and neck were twisted in them.
Argo reared forward, glaring down at me with dimly lit yellow eyes. “You never deserved her. Her father told me all about how you pushed her away. You had her, and you let her go. I will cherish her.”
I snorted, twisting in his grasp. He was strong but not impossibly strong. All I needed was to get one hand free and stop him from squeezing my neck so tightly I’d pass out. “You’ll use her up. Just like you tried to do to her father.”
“I will love her,” he spat, his grip tightening around my throat. “Before you came, I was showing her just how good I could make her feel. Make her forget all about you.”
Rage blared in my mind before it went dark. Focused on only one thing: killing this piece of shit. He had touched her. Violated her. I would destroy him. I would burn him alive and rip him apart. And then I would get Daria to bring him back as a zombie and kill him again. And again.
My breath caught short, the shadows cutting off my air, and I knew I was losing time. Despite my challenging relationship with my father, he had taught us to fight without weapons. We were warriors first.
I pulled every bit of my strength into my right hand, despite its healing state, and pulled against the shadowy restraints, ripping them away. I then connected that fist in the jaw of the creature, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone. My hand was on fire, my own bones most likely bruised or cracked, but I didn’t care as I continued to pound my fist into him with abandon.
The fucker cried out, losing his grip on my hand, and toppled to the side. That’s all that I needed. I ripped off his hold on my other hand and used the talons there to drive into his chest as if they were several knives. What looked like black blood splattered across my shirt, neck, and face, but I didn’t care. I needed him dead, and I needed it to hurt.
A sharp, blazing pain tore into my chest, knocking the air out of me. I looked down to see a shadow appendage pushing through me like a sword. My vision dulled, and I shook my head, trying to stay alert. I had to stay focused on killing him if it was the last thing that I did, and it might very well be.
Pushing through the agonizing pain, I clawed at him again, feeling another stabbing burning in my stomach. He screamed out with each swipe of my claws as I shredded his skin and muscle, scraped at his bones. Weakling.
I coughed, finding it harder to breathe with each movement, but I wouldn’t stop. Blood sprayed out of my mouth, but Ineeded to keep going. I would die killing him, and that was fine if it meant Camilla would be safe.
I lifted my hand to slash him again, knowing that if Argo was able to strike me one more time, it would be my last move. I could barely breathe, and my body was riddled with pain and damage, but if the last thing I saw was his death, I would be at peace.
A shadow sprang out in my direction, but suddenly, a blast of fire burned the appendage to ash before it connected to me. Another gunshot came, this time meeting Argo’s shoulder, jerking him backwards. Wasting no time, I slashed my hand across his throat, ripping it out. He looked at me with wide eyes, reaching his hands to his destroyed neck. Another shot blew away his head, splattering me with more gore.
I looked in the direction of the shooter, finding Camilla standing there with one of our specialized rifles, an open portal behind her. “I told you to stay away,” I growled.
She twisted her lips, lowering her gun. “You’re welcome. In what world did you think I’d leave you after all this time?”
I coughed again, feeling the metallic taste of blood seep from my mouth. “How?”
