When I see a vast expanse appear on the horizon, I nearly have a heart attack. Which may seem weird, but after a couple hours of travel, seeing anything at all besides moving Shifters and dead foliage is a big surprise. At the sight, my stomach starts grumbling furiously, probably more ready than I am to reach the ocean.
We continue to travel, our footsteps pounding in unison. But now that we can see the end, it seems like we are running at a slower and slower speed. I find myself impatient, and I speed up, the rest of the group keeping up easily. The ocean grows larger and larger, along with my excitement.
It finally creeps upon us, and we can finally slow down to a steady walk. The others cheer beside me. Ray seems especially excited, jumping up and down with his backpack in his hands.
Xavier looks at me, and we make eye contact. His face is twisted into a tentative smile, and it is easy to notice that he may have a few misgivings about the whole thing. “What is it?”I ask softly, not noticing that my arm is swinging towards his until it brushes against his side. After the contact I jump half a mile into the air, edging away from his body. “S-sorry.”
“Mona,”he laughs, “no big deal. I’m just pretty tired.”His expression is strained, doing nothing to alleviate my concerns.
“Yeah right. Don’t think you can get away with not telling me,”I warn, wagging my finger at his face. This time his features crinkle into a genuine smile.
“It’s really nothing. I’m relieved that we finally made it.” He starts walking into the wind, spreading his arms wide. I narrow my eyes after him, unconvinced.
The sand is like pure crystals, each grain soft and illuminated by an unearthly glow. The trees have shifted into ones with skinnier trunks and long, generous branches. They are similar to those that appear at a normal beach, and it leaves me with the same sense of awe that I experienced years ago. And on either side, it seems to last forever, the white expanse continuing as far as I can see. The only thing is that there is something so empty about this atmosphere. Maybe it is just the lack of color, or the chilly air, but the beach doesn’t seem as inviting as I remember.
There are small plants by the edge of the beaches. Immediately Danae rushes over to it, fingering the leaves with avid fascination. I leave her to it, putting Xavier’s backpack by the base of a tree. Just as before, I place my toes in the sand, hoping to immerse myself in the beauty of the moment. My feet disappear, sinking in to my ankles.
It feels nice, and I’m not unwilling to admit it to myself. Pretty much exhausted, I sink to my knees, and then to a sitting position. Watching the others’ reactions with interest, it surprises me how happy they are behaving. Griffin is walking towards the water, and Ray is lying on his back. Danae is holding several ripe fruits in her arm, heading towards the outskirts to probably set up some sort of camp.
“We shouldn’t stay here long,” Xavier says, looking in my direction. I return the look, baffled at his words, yet receiving the same ominous feeling about these ghostly beaches. He’s probably right, but I need a minute to myself… to rest.
“Don’t be a party pooper!” Ray laughs, jumping immediately in the water. Once he hits the water, his face immediately turn stark white. He freezes in place, startling both me and Griffin, who was about to jump in.
“What’s wrong?” He asks, taking a step back. Ray says nothing, his face now an scary shade of blue.
“Ray!” I stand up, and run over to the shore. The water rises and falls, but he doesn’t move an inch.
I inwardly groan and take a step into the water to grab his arm. As soon as I make contact with the ocean, I immediately understand Ray’s reaction. This water… is something else.
“Wow, it’s like stepping into liquid ice,” I complain while wrapping my arm around his. “It’s probably not healthy to stay in here for too long.” Tugging him out of the water, I practically have to drag him at this point. “Good grief,” I mutter quietly, bogged down by his weight.
Xavier is waiting at the edge, and he hurriedly rips Ray away from me. “Always getting into trouble, huh?” He asks, slapping Ray heartily in the back. The action seems to shake Ray back to life, and he awkwardly jumps away.
“It’s pretty cold out there. I advise not jumping in.” He uncomfortably shivers, and I run to grab him a dry shirt.
“I’m thirsty,” Griffin says out of the silence, “does anyone have some water?”
“I don’t think so,” I reply while shuffling through the bag. “We ran out early today. You could drink from the ocean, but…”
Oh no.
Everyone’s face darkens as they have the same revelation I am experiencing. I don’t really know why it hit me just now—when it hadn’t on the whole journey up here—but it hurts like a ton of bricks.
Griffin sticks a single finger in the water, swirling it around and then flicking his tongue at it. “It’s about as salty as the Dead Sea,” he comments, smiling dryly.
“What the crap,” I mutter in a scathing tone to myself. “What was I thinking? And I thought we were getting closer to a water source…”
And we were, I correct myself mentally. Except it’s a salty mess that everyone can look at and not drink while we are dying of dehydration.
I put my head in my hands, slumping against the base of the tree. Mona, you should be better than this.
“Mona.” Ray walks up to me and takes the shirt from my hands. “It’s okay. We’ll just keep going after this.”
“But… what if we don’t find anything?” I ask him, nervously clenching my fists.
“Well, that’s pretty pessimistic.” He grins. “Although I guess it suits the rather anticlimactic situation we got going on here.”
“Yeah, unfortunately we need to leave before long,” Xavier says, repeating the same worry that I know has been haunting him since we reached the beach. He starts to gather up our belongings from their locations on the sand.
“We can gather our energy for a minute,” I say weakly, “It might be a few hours before we reach another water source.”
“We can… but just remember that every minute we spend here is a minute we have to continue without any water.” Xavier scans the area, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Xavier, what’s wrong?!” I ask him, frustrated by his unexplainable behavior. “You never act like this.”
He whirls around to face me. “Do you not feel that?”
I just sit, staring at him openmouthed, while at the same time trying to feel exactly what he’s feeling. I concentrate for a minute, focusing on the wind and the waves as they roll towards the beaches.
“Nope. I got nothing.”
Xavier crouches down and covers my ears with tender hands. “Don’t think. Just feel. And smell.”
“What the crap…” I close my eyes, draining myself of thoughts and feelings. As I do so, a slight wrinkling of the nose reveals a strange, familiar scent that has the hint of some odious flavor I can’t identify. “What… is that?”
“I don’t advise staying here to find out,” He replies, edging towards the outskirts. “The scent is much stronger than it was a few minutes ago.”
“Doesn’t that smell like… human? Or even werewolf?” Ray asks, standing by my side. His eyes are closed, his face bent in concentration.
Xavier’s eyes widen. “You’re right, Ray. What the…”
Griffin is staring out into the distance, as if searching for something. “Look!” He calls, and then immediately starts running. Terror enters my heart, and I start shaking nervously. What could be out there?
The cold takes over my body, and even as Xavier tugs on my hand, the fear only increases. This is something unlike anything I have ever felt in this world. But, like most things, there is some nostalgia associated with the emotion that unsettles me.
“Hey!” I can hear loud shouting in the distance, and immediately I start to run towards them. Xavier looks at me as he starts running as well, and I can see his concerned face in the corner of my eye. But I disregard it, speeding as fast as I possibly can towards the others. They are all stopped in a strange semicircle, piquing my curiosity in the worst of ways.
“What’s going on?” I ask breathlessly as I approach them. My knees are heavy, so I lean down and put my hands against them. With my head down and a heavily beating heart, I feel the apprehension building beyond control.
Finally, I cast my gaze upwards, and nearly jump a hundred feet in the air. “What the… no…”
A blonde man is lying before us, covered in blood, and drenched in sweat. He looks to be barely conscious, his eyelashes fluttering in a struggle to stay awake. With his clothing ripped down the back and side, strange indentations had been made in his body that could have never been made with human hands. Newfound chills ripple down my spine.
“Wes?” I ask, the name flowing as easily from my lips as it did with the others in my group. Yes, I know him. I could never forget that golden hair, tumbling past his ears and glittering in the sunlight. In this current state, the brightness has been dulled, tainted with both red and brown.
Xavier is ahead of everyone else, walking towards him and trying to lift his body without touching his wounds. “What… happened?” He asks with concern. Wes’s eyelashes flutter, and eventually his eyes flicker open. As soon as his consciousness is fully gained, he immediately starts kicking and thrashing, attacking Xavier weakly. “Wes? Wes! It’s me!” Xavier yells, trying to pacify him.
“X-Xavier,” He whispers, and then gradually gives up on all resistance. “Hurry… can’t stay…”
We all turn to look around, anxious for what else could be on the coast. The markings on Wes’s back indicate that we could be facing a real enemy, and in a world with no rules, who knows who or what could be the threat. And there’s no ignoring that our group is weaponless, with the exception being my spirit spears.
Another head appears from the forest, glistening with iridescence. We all turn to look at him as he barrels onto the coastline. In a similar state to Wes, with his clothing in tatters, he casts a glance at the ocean and curses beneath his breath. Turning to look at Wes, he sees the rest of us and his mouth opens wide.
“Xavier? Mona?” Jake asks, clearly surprised to see us. But the surprise quickly dissipates on his rugged features, leaving only resignation. “We’re probably cornered by now. Do you guys have any weapons?”
Xavier narrows his eyes. “What’s going on?” He questions Jake, who rolls his eyes in response.
“No time to talk. Just run,” he speaks in a clipped tone, and immediately starts off again. He’s heading north, supposedly in the direction of the castle. I can hear him loudly shouting expletives as he approaches the outskirts.
“What the crap is going on?” I ask angrily, trying to survey the forest with a more perceiving eye. To my alarm, I can make out some humanlike bodies, making their way out onto the beach.
Xavier, still carrying Wes, starts to make his way towards Jake. “Come on, we all fight together,” he says in a commanding voice, and then turns away. His bare feet stomp through the sand, and even though his voice is calm, his shoulders are shaking in either fear or exhaustion.
Now having gained clarity of the situation, I start running with all my might. The space beside my arm glitters as a large, silver spear forms within my fingertips.
I can see them, a multitude of Shifters in either physical or spirit form converging upon the coastline, and these are nothing like the others I’ve seen. Red eyes glitter in dark, pulsating bodies. Each one of them looks thirsty, tinged with the insanity that comes with emotions such as hate or envy. Some have delved into the surrounding foliage, with glowing tree trunks for torsos and blood red veins running down the heads to the roots. They have human like shapes in that they don’t look as sturdy or as thick as a normal tree would, and the arms are made of branches gathered together, while possessing intimidating elasticity.
Jake pulls out a small dagger, his face twisted with some of the same madness that the Shifters possessed. “Get ready,” he growls as the first Shifter in physical form rips from the underbrush and runs faster than any normal human being should.
Without a second thought I raise my arm and throw the spear with all of my strength. Exhilaration fills my chest as it hits a Shifter square in the face, wedged deep into the wood, and it sinks to the sand in temporary anguish. But that doesn’t last for long, and it soon pushes itself up by the roots and edges closer to our group. “What’s going on?” I yell, astounded at its resilience, “I just hit it!”
“You have to literally destroy it,” Jake says grimly, cracking his knuckles, “I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened to me since yesterday when they found us.”
A bow starts to form next, probably more suited to my needs as countless voids cross into the sand. “Cover me! I’m going to go for the Shifters in their spirit form!” I yell, the first arrow already in my hand and fastened to the string. Jake casts a glance at me, obviously confused, but I don’t try to clear it up for him. I let the first one fly, feeling grateful to myself for all those training practices I’ve taken in the past week or two. As it passes through a Shifter, the creature just evaporates, but strangely I feel none of the pain that I had grown accustomed to when attacking them. There is no guilt, but liberation. These twisted creatures are way past the point of no return, and it’s time for judgment.
As Griffin tries to block a tall Shifter from pouncing on me, I let out a swarm of arrows that mostly hit their targets. After several fall, Griffin turns and looks at me. “That never gets old.” He laughs energetically.
“What?”
“Seeing you throw an invisible spear and actually knock down stuff with it.” He smiles at me, and then turns to the next enemy. He pulls a small pocket knife out of his pants and jumps the Shifter that’s the closest.
Jake throws his dagger to Yi, who’s flickering in and out of human vision, and immediately long, glistening talons protrude from his fingertips. Although I don’t have enough time to really watch him fight, it is amazing to see him slash at the trees and almost rip them in half. I’ve never seen him fight before, nor most of the others.
Xavier has set Wes down and started smashing everything with his cr@zy Earthquake punch, a look in his eyes that is both feral and bloodthirsty. Griffin doesn’t really have a special talent, but he is incredibly agile with his small knife, amazing me with his strength as he repeatedly stabs a Shifter in the sides and head. Danae is just carefully watching Wes, measuring his temperature and warming his body from the chill of the wind and water. It is amazing to see everyone using their talents and just in general working together towards survival.
The most impressive fighter, however, is definitely Ray. I had never seen his talent before, and it amazes me to witness it now. Surrounded by probably the largest number of Shifters, his body has grown about twice as big in the wake of the oncoming threat, covered in hair and rippling with muscles. His hands look almost like paws, with sharp claws, and his face is covered in hair so it is nigh impossible to see. So this is the Beast talent.
It is funny because the pack had mentioned their powers several times before, but absolutely nothing beats seeing them in their culmination. As I continuously fire off arrows with mediocre accuracy, they continuously fend off attacks with the Shifters running after me. And these creatures are not normal in the least. They are fighting machines, able to continue through near anything. And even now they are flooding onto the beach in countless numbers.
I swing a tall mace to the m0nsters in front of me as Griffin tries to hit them with the knife. “Take them now!” I call as they fall to the ground. Griffin casts me an amazed look and then leans forward to stab them one at a time. I can hear him groaning as one of them lashes out and hits him in the side. I feel pressure closing in on me from all sides, my conscience blurred with red.
There’s way too many. We are putting up a good fight, but for every one we kill, five take its place. Anger courses through me as two of them make it through the others to Wes and Danae, both of whom don’t notice anything.
“Watch out!” I scream as I throw a glistening spear directly towards them. It heads straight through the two Shifters and vanishes when it reaches Danae’s body. I cry out when the Shifters collapse on the sand, running towards them and stabbing them with my newly constructed sword, actually splitting them in half this time. At this point weapons are just magically appearing left and right, and most of the time I don’t even know what they are when I throw them. The appearances seem to be fueled by my emotions, in desperation the sword, in hope the spear, and in sadness the arrows.
“Mona!” I hear Griffin’s voice to the side and immediately turn to see three Shifters bashing at his body without mercy. His face is bleeding, dark blood running down his nose and neck.
There is just too much. My attention is constantly diverted, diluting my chance for action by introducing so many possibilities. I am losing myself, losing the rationality of free thought in the face of so many enemies.
I call his name and shoot several arrows into the faces of the attackers. Casting a glance at the rest of the beach, it looks to be covered in bodies and blood, most of which is ours. I grab Griffin’s arm and tug him over to Danae and Wes. “Help him,” I tell Danae firmly, and then turn back towards the battle.
My vision is suddenly, without any warning, knocked out as I am hit in the stomach. I double over, coughing violently. I feel dizzy, and fall over completely as my consciousness starts to fade away. All I can think is that it’s over. This pain now corrupting my body will inevitably take over.
I look upwards to see a huge Shifter leaning over me, swinging a huge branch directly in front of my body. I snap my head back, but I can tell it is going to hit me anyways. Fear like nothing I have ever felt before seizes my heart.
There is a loud growl as a flash of color races across my vision. “Don’t you dare touch her!” Xavier yells as he jumps at the Shifter with his arm outstretched and his hands clenched into fists. As soon as he is close enough he punches it with such strength that it literally bursts into pieces. Right after he does so, he races back towards me and cradles me in his arms. “Are you alright?” he asks, staring into my eyes.
“P-put me down. You need to fight,” I protest, and then he sighs in response.
“I can fight and carry you at the same time.” He smiles, and then slings me over his shoulder. I grab his neck while battling the temptation to give up my consciousness. Surveying the area, I can see now that the attack has abated slightly, with Yi having dropped his invisibility, and Jake not wearing that same look of desperation. But my eyes widen as I turn my head to Ray’s side of the beach.
“Xavier, Ray!” I call, and he turns his head. Literally covered by ten or more Shifters, he seems to have been knocked down and halfway morphed back to his regular self. Xavier starts running, barreling through some lone Shifters on the way.
“Ray!” He calls, while punching a few of the Shifters surrounding him. On Xavier’s back I still manage to produce a small spear, throwing it weakly into another that was beating on Ray’s head. As we get a clear view, I gasp as I see several terrible injuries cover his neck and body. One of the Shifters must have been striking him repeatedly with the scourge-like branches, because the same puncture marks I saw on Jake are abundant on Ray’s chest.
Xavier bends down to check his pulse. “I don’t feel anything,” he whispers weakly, causing me to gasp. What… this just… can’t…
“Ray, you just can’t do this!” I scream pointlessly into the distance. Xavier stands up, and turns slightly to survey the rest of the battlefield. He seems surprisingly calm, but tears are pouring down his face in a betrayal of his real emotions.
I just can’t help but think that there is something wrong with the picture before me. That Ray is breathing, that he will open his eyes, and nothing will be amiss. That he would say something like “were you fooled?!” in his low, flippant voice, and immediately jump back into the battle. I try to push forward this proposed reality while wondering, if I wish it enough, that it could become the actuality.
“They seem to be… backing off. But Griffin…” He narrows his eyes and immediately starts running. Griffin was standing up when he clearly shouldn’t, the only one who could fend off the ones attacking the wounded, and pushing two m0nsters to the side.
“What are you doing! Ray-”
“I can’t think about him right now, Mona,” Xavier says through gritted teeth, “or I’ll fall apart before the battle is over.”
I realize he is right, but at the same time I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to believe any of it—that any of this is real, that there are m0nsters such as these who are so merciless, emotionless, and cruel.
He helps Griffin for a few minutes while I lie on his back, images swirling before me. A wave of nausea almost overcomes my body, and the entire battle starts to blend together after a little while. I have no clue what’s going on anymore, struck blind by the intensity of my emotions. There was something about Ray’s bloodied face that makes me feel so guilty, and defeated.
I jerk up as Xavier jumps backwards to swing his fist at another Shifter. “I think they are leaving for some reason,” He comments wryly, “luckily for us.”
The Shifters do seem to be retreating, the sea of monsters abruptly turning as if they had suddenly received a direct order. As if spellbound, I watch them turn away and march backwards. They step over their dead without a second glance, having no emotion whatsoever. These are not representative of the many Shifters I saw dotted within the forest, full of desperation, hope, and longing. These are be@sts, mere m0nsters that cannot be salvaged.
Immediately my gaze shifts to the side where Ray had been fighting. My eyes widen, and I start shouting in alarm. “Xavier! Look!”
There is no body over to the side of the beach, only hundreds of tree trunks and scraps of bark. In such a h0rrific scene of destruction, the only thing missing is the only thing that I wanted to be there.
“Where’s Ray?” I ask with tears streaming down my face, knowing that I won’t receive an answer. Xavier starts running, but I know no amount of speed will change anything.
“They took him,” I murmur chokingly as Xavier frenziedly checks the area, “they… took him. How could they be so cruel?!” I burst into sobs as I grip as Xavier’s back.
I never thought of Ray as my best friend, or even liked him half the time I knew him. But I had grown more attached to him over this short while than I could even acknowledge, and now a piece has been ripped out of my heart, and only a gaping hole remains.
Splatters of blood are scattered along the coastline where they must have dragged him. I try to follow the trail, but soon give up as the tears blur my vision. I drop to my feet, sliding off Xavier’s back, and soon find that I don’t have the energy to even stand. Xavier wraps his arms around my body, sensing what I could never say, and leans forward until our bodies are just barely touching.
“Xavier… you saved my life,” I start, acknowledging him in a halting voice, “thank you. I owe you.”
He nods, his blue hair blowing in the fierce wind, looking not at my eyes but past me entirely, casting his gaze into the furtive unknown. I realize that even though he is here, he is not, and at this moment—what he is, he isn’t. There’s a questioning of identity that comes with every h0rrible situation, whether it is realized or not.
I can hear the others coming closer, but their approach is about the last thing I recognize. Caught in the pain of the indefinite moment, I lift my face up towards his and let my lips rest against his cheek.
Xavier’s arms tighten around me, almost to the point where I can barely breathe, and his face tilts so that he can brush his lips against my eyelid, and then my temple. Once again, his hand rubs up and down my back, as if confirming my existence.
“I’m here,” I whisper, knowing that for the first time since I met him, he is the farthest away of all of us.
***************
TO BE CONTINUED
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