Rising Hope - 6

Spirits of hate, dozens of monsters who consumed their corrupted source. Turning their souls to waste, corrupting them with some sort of essence. One that needed to be purged. Continuously and enthusiastically.

Was that what was written? 

Poetic verse after poetic verse testifying the nature of the monsters, of the need to kill and exterminate them as the vermin they were.

Cursing the very heavens… who had been so cruel as to have created such an abomination. Truly that was what was written within.

Spite filled messages calling for the complete and utter extermination of not only their numbers but their souls.

A hate filled response, for the remembrance of their loved ones… of the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, son and daughters… all who had died in the pursuit of their own deaths. 

Truly?

It felt almost… underwhelming. As if there should be more wrote upon those pages. The book I had been given, that I touched so tenderly. A book thrown half-hazardly at me and commanded to read.

It had been but a mere half-hour. And even now, outside the walls, in the surrounding area. I had not yet seen a single sign… a single soul walking among the same path. 

Not even that disgusting taint. That which suffused the souls of the many, giving birth to monsters of all shapes and kinds.

And when we stopped, a guiding hand placed my back against the carriage. Her other patting my head lightly.

"Stay here." She spoke, "I'll be back." 

I still flinched at the contact but when I watched those tainted souls grow closer, a sort of hate as they skulked towards our form.

And when the dust settled, when the bait that had been set was cut. Taken by those that had been tempted by the very smell of fear. Through noses far greater than our own.

What then was a straggler to do, when he saw his very comrades broken down by nature itself. By the cruel irony of steel as it rendered flesh from flesh.

When it fled and came upon me. A helpless boy. I tried to push it away from me, the club that tried and failed, time and time again, to take my consciousness from me.

Yet when another swing came, pounding my skull I found myself touching the taint of that beings soul.

Of the corrupted monster… and by… what I would call instinct, I found myself healing her. Of the essence that corroded her soul.

And when I opened my eyes once more. It was not to the sight of that red soul, tainted and corrupted by forces beyond my understanding.

It was pure… fractured but pure. Giving me some warm gesture as it faded into the void of existence.

"What…?" I questioned, singing to the wind… to the absolute void. Piecing together clues and trying to come to some whole conclusion. Only to find none.

…

[Lyra pov]

Mud met my shoes, staining them. And when I turned towards the monsters, their noses sniffing in the air. Eyes red with desire.

For they had not come of their own volition. No, it was a special concoction made specifically for their kind. The rabid goblins that they were. 

They had a sort of sense of smell for fear. So potent that it could beat even a bloodhound in their ability.

Many had tried and failed to understand the biology behind their noses but none had succeeded as I had. I was able to make an extract from… places… that would simulate the stench of fear in their noses and draw them towards us.

It was why there were so many. But as I unsheathed my sword. The very leaves on the ground growing in my presence. I found myself worrying not about my own safety but that of Gabriel.

As he sat unprotected.

That was why I needed to be quick… to be fast and swift. For there could be no survivors. Not here… not now.

One rushed me, her hand holding a small club… with rapid eyes and dexterity to match. A speed that belied their small frames.

But it was not enough as I stomped my foot. Several thousands of formulas whirling through my mind. A simulation of life as I enacted my will upon the world.

Only then did the goblin stop in her tracks, finding herself pierced by a newly grown vine. Yet it didn't stop her from throwing that hate filled club over her head. Right before she croaked.

I scoffed and weaved between the attacks of the others. Slashing when I needed to and creating dozens of entangling vines that stemied their movements.

But I was not so unharmed by this procession of attacks. A cut here, a slash there. Paralyzing poison that seeped within my blood.

Usually… and after a day or so… I would feel the effects and have to rest for another week.

However…

I glanced at the carriage. At the boy sitting within. His hands held tightly as he prayed for my safety. A smile settled over my face…

I wouldn't have to wait so long and maybe I would actually be able to save up some money.

"Oop~" I sang, smiling as I cut the face of the goblin. Relishing in her pain. Grinning like a loon as she bled out, screaming in that oh so delicious rage of hers.

"A~nd done~" I sang once more. Letting my back fall over the carriage, watching as Gabriel rushed over to me, placing his hands over mine and healing my wounds.

Honestly I could just gobble him up right now… But no, that would be too insensitive of me. I needed to wait.

Maybe then he would open up?

Maybe?

I turned and tried to smile as best as I could. But then the scent of the potion hit me. Of the disgusting taint it put upon the surroundings.

Then… and only then did I start to move. Hurrying Gabriel into the cart and back to the city, my arms -who I had thought would be so stiff- felt like literal air. There was nothing wrong with them. All was healed by his touch.

And for that I was truly thankful.