Chapter 1
“Are you scared?”
“No, I have this look on my face because I’m having So. Much. Fun” My breath was slow and deep but my partner's was anything but. At the end of this one of us would be dead, probably both but optimism is generally prefered. We only had around 2 minutes before they came, Leo could only promise us so much time.
The footsteps are getting louder. They used to just be in the background but they’re coming closer. Only seconds left.
I look over to my left to see Athena, her head is low and her sword is drawn. Dark black hair cropped close to her ears. Tanned skin shining in the setting sun. I turn my head back to the top of the cliff to see the first paw emerge. Following closely behind it came what seemed to be a wolf, but wasn’t. Its head was pointed, like a wolf, but the eyes were a deep blood red. The torso was badly misshapen and the coat was patchy and had a silver quality to it. The elder beasts.
Athena and I stood our ground as they pounced. The first one went for me and a smaller group went for her. It was a big brute and went straight for my neck, I blocked its claws with the first swing of my blade. It leapt again and this time cut my arm, I grunted in pain and stabbed clumsily at the chest, barely touching any vital organs. I swung again and this time got a deep cut on the face, it retaliated by aiming for my leg and was stopped by a blow to the spine. Crumpled to the ground, another animal took its place. The fight had officially begun.
After roughly 10 minutes the number of creatures had lessened, with bodies littering the rock floor. I checked to my left, seeing Athena still going strong, that woman had the resilience of an emperor penguin. Only three elder beasts were still in a fighting condition so I ripped off the sleeve of my shirt, trying it around my arm where the cut was still bleeding and stepped forward to the bigger of the three. A quick and powerful hit to the head knocked it out, an easy target to drive my sword through its limp body. The last one let out a deep and menacing growl, pulling its teeth back and jumping into action. Even though it was the smallest of the pack, it was clearly the most agile, jumping in and out of range to attack both of us.
“Athena, quick, distract them so I can get around the back,” I called out to her. She snapped her head toward me and nodded once. Quickly and effectively she struck her blade on the ground, the sound of metal on rock rang through, causing the elder to wince, pause, then pounce, all focus of me gone out the window. Now that we were attacking from both sides it was harder for it to stay ahead. It turned in circles, careful not to expose it’s back for too long. I knew we couldn’t keep waiting, more of them were coming and I don’t think we could last another round. Taking advantage of the exposed back, I stepped forward and ripped through the flesh on the hindleg, it howled in pain as it stumbled forwards and collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. I was about to do the same when the footsteps started up again. Although they were distant, it wouldn’t be long before they found us.
“Demetrius, we have to go, they’re on our scent” I groaned and started following her down a narrow path. We picked up the speed and soon we were running, not much longer until the safety of the boat. As we rounded the corner I saw the water’s edge, I wanted to speed up but my injuries were screaming in pain. My feet were slowing down but I needed to go faster, I couldn’t seem to control my legs properly.
“Demetrius, please. We cannot rest now, just a few more steps and then we can relax” I vaguely heard Athena call. I knew she was hurt and that we both needed help. She crossed back to me and tried to drag my body to the boat.
“No, leave me, you can care for yourself, I will only weigh you down” I could hear a sob escape her lips.
“Don’t be silly, it’s just a few more steps, come on” it was pointless. The cloth on my arm was soaked a deep crimson red and a bite mark on my leg was green with the toxin from the elder’s fangs. She started trembling and another cry sounded. The footsteps in the distance were getting louder.
“Go, go before they find you. I’ll be ok, it’ll be ok” Athena let go and crossed to the boat but kept her eyes on me. “Athena leave. It’ll all be over soon enough. Tell the village what happened, about Leo. But for the love of God. Go.” She finally pulled up the sail and kicked off from the shore. I could barely make out a soft “I will” before the wind picked up and she was gone.
I didn’t have long, with or without the next round of elders just around the corner. Those fangs were vicious and no one lasted long before their body gave out. It was just a matter of time. I could hear their panting them now. So close to me. I closed my eyes and let my head drop onto the ground. In less than 30 seconds they were uppon me. Teeth sinking into my skin and ripping out chunks. I was screaming some awful sound, it was agony. Feeling my blood pouring out from vicious wounds made me want to vomit. I opened my eyes once more and saw what was left of my body. I could see most of my organs, I put my hand over where my heart was, feeling a hot wet pounding under my fingers. I couldn’t grasp the concept, that was my heart, the thing that kept me alive for 19 years. I was in so much pain. Then suddenly, I wasn’t.
Slowly I opened my eyes, I had finally found the end. End of the road, end of the universe, end of existence. Whatever you want to say. I had finally gone forever. As soon as they were open, I had shut them, a blinding white light tore through my eye sockets. It slowly started dimming and I could see a shadowy figure ahead of me, out of the light I saw dark blond hair, a hard chisled face and welcoming eyes.
“Leo?”
