I know they love me no matter what, but this form isn’t very beneficial at all. At least I haven't found it to be.
I see Lynx and Knots wrapping themselves around a soldier’s waist as Reaper and Knox play tag with their own prey. Ryker, always the show-off, is handling his fair share as he takes on multiple soldiers with his tentacles. Just one touch, and a few soldiers start to convulse before going still from his toxins.
Serafin slinks around the fray of soldiers by Ryker, and I keep pace parallel with her until I see Rez’s back in her line of sight as she’s fighting with her own guard.Shit, that has to be her goal.If I call out to Rez, it will distract her. Any person who’s watched a horror movie knows better than to call out someone’s name.
Before I can get to her, Serafin stabs Rez in the left shoulder with her blade. Rez quickly slashes through the soldier’s neck with her glaive and turns to slice her opponent behind her, but Serafin is too fast and has backed up.
Fuck.Serafin raises her arms and starts to make fast, tight circles. I’ve seen that move before, and her underwater cyclones aren’t pretty.
Damn, I need to be in front of her right now,I think, and with that thought, I collide with Serafin’s hand.
‘What the fuck?’she yells as I jerk back in shock. I had no idea this form could teleport.
Talk about a handy advantage! As I move, I realize Serafin shifts along with me, her one hand against my chest. Her face distorts into all sharp angles and razor teeth.
‘Zeke!’Rez yells.
I managed to stop the water cyclones from growing, but Serafin is powerful in her own right, and she sets two free in the grotto. One cyclone veers off towards the entrance; the other easily pulls Levi and JP towards its center as Rez desperately tries to reach me.
‘Let go of me!’Serafin snarls, grabbing another dagger from her S.I.N. box. Her eyes shift slightly before she tries to plunge the knife into my side. Instead of it penetrating the skin and going deeper, I feel the knife skim over my side and into the tar at my leg.
‘Fuck!’Serafin screams as she pulls another knife while her eyes flash with determination.
I have no idea if my tar is going to save my life, but I urge more threads of thick black tar to wrap around her body, forcing her closer to me. If she’s closer, she won’t be able to shove those knives into me.
‘Die,’she hisses, just as I see a flash of turquoise come up from beneath me.
‘No, you,’Rez growls, slamming into Serafin, knocking her out of my grasp.
No! Rez, what are you doing?
Rez and Serafin tumble in a blur of blue, propelling away from me. Horror fills me as I see bright red blood mix with their scrambling bodies as they continue to fight. I can’t tell who’s hurt, as their bodies are entwined. Their tails pump back andforth as both of them swing their arms as if they have weapons in their hands, while their insults ring back and forth.
I’m afraid that if I try to help, I might hurt the wrong one. But if I try to use the tar whips, it seems to help. I grind my teeth, but decide to say fuck it and help anyway, but before I can, I feel someone grab for me.
‘Ugh, what is this?’a soldier yells, looking down at his hand and the tar that’s rapidly spreading up his arm.
‘Your worst nightmare,’I hiss, feeling the tar heat up, causing his skin to rapidly bubble and peel back, exposing his bones.
‘It’s fascinating, isn’t it?’ A breathlike whisper reaches me as a ghost of a cloaked rider appears by the soldier.
The black robe and scythe in his hand pretty much give away who I’m seeing. The question is, why?
‘That is simple, young one. You need to wield the scythe of Death, and what better way to do it than in this form while your tar whips work.’
My eyes travel back to the tar as it continues to crawl up the soldier’s arm, over his shoulder, and across his chest.
‘Death can be a beautiful process, one that needs to happen to allow others to be reborn and live once again, but it’s a balance. It’s the one thing I did not learn, and I paid the price in the end. I hope you do better than I.’
It’s not until my tar starts crawling up his throat that I’m broken from the hypnotic spell where his screams flicker off note that I feel as if I need to end his suffering.
Turning to Death, I ask, ‘How? How do I wield it?’
‘You simply call your weapon to you, and even in this form, you can control it by thought.’Death extends his arm out with his palm up, the scythe lying in his hand, and beckons me to try.‘Go on.’
Focusing on the scythe, I picture it coming to me, my weapon, a part of me, my soul, and it blinks out of Death’s hand, floating in front of me. There’s an absence of light around the weapon as it pulses with energy, but I focus on the soldier and command the scythe to silence him by cutting him down.
Fuck, what am I doing?
