The Star, The Demon, and The God - 39. First Blood

Luno

“Tobi!” I scream and run to jump in after him.

Just as I am about to jump into the black water, a strong arm grabs me and pulls me back.

“Don’t,” The Sailor says. “We can’t lose you too!”

I don’t care! I need to save Tobias!

I try my best to struggle out of his grip but I swear this spirit must be made out of stone!

“Help him,” I plead. “Please!”

The Spirit Sailor picks me up and twirls me around till I am behind him.

I am about to turn back and jump into the water but the Spirit Sailor beats me to it.

Like before, no splashes or ripples occur when he sinks into the blackness. It is almost as if they have both been dipped into a jar of ink!

Strange little white lights begin to drift up from the pool. They rise up and drift up into the sky.

What are they doing? Are Tobi and the Sailor doing that?

The lights come together and all of a sudden a giant pillar of light shoots up into the sky and past the canopy of the forest.

I stare at it with wide eyes, fear setting into my nerves.

Why do I get the feeling this light is not good?

I jump backwards when a hand surges out from the darkness and grabs onto the edge of the water.

Next, Tobias’ body ends up being tossed over in front of me.

Quickly, I hurry to the Sailor and reach for his hand to help him get out of that scary black water.

His hand is so cold right now!

I almost ended up being pulled into the blackness when I tried to help the Sailor. He ended up having to get himself out.

His teeth chatter and he rubs on his arms to try and cool himself off.

“Help your friend,” he says, jutting his chin to Tobias.

Kneeling down next to him, my heart starts beating faster when I realize how pale and cold he is.

My eyes begin to water simply from seeing him like this.

My hands shake as they hover over his chest. I am desperate to feel any sliver of life that could still be in him.

A shaky exhale comes out when I sense that he is only sleeping.

Still, he is on the thin threads of meeting with death right now.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on my healing magics, willing to bring warmth and strength back into Tobi.

He was only in there for a short time! How did he get hurt this badly?

“I-I’ll check with you in a bit,” I sniff, not looking up at the Sailor.

The Sailor shushes me and the sound of his weapon unsheathing reaches my ears.

Opening my eyes, I look back at him and see he is staring at the pillar of light.

No...he is staring through it!

A glint in the pillar grabs my attention.

It’s the necklace!

Tobias had fallen into the pool with the necklace but he did not come out with it! Is the necklace the reason there is the light?

Bringing my hand to Tobias’ chest, I see that he is stable enough to be left alone for a moment.

Drifting into the air, I carefully fly closer to the light and reach out where the necklace is floating. It spins around and shines as if it is trying to tempt me.

“Careful,” The Sailor says quietly.

I nod to him and turn back to the necklace.

With a great amount of determination, I thrust my hand into the light and yank the necklace free.

As soon as the necklace is in my grasp, the light dies down instantly.

Once again, we are shrouded in the darkness of the forest.

Wind brushes the mossy ceiling side to side.

Something does not feel right. Something has changed and I do not think it was from the necklace.

“Come here,” I say to the Sailor. “Let me heal you.”

He shakes his head but keeps his eyes on the woods around us.

Does he feel it too?

“I’ll be fine,” He says. “I don’t need your healing.”

I frown.

That is awfully cocky of him.

I felt his hand. I know he is not feeling well! He is weak and he needs to be fixed. Who knows if that strange water has long lasting side effects.

“Please let me fix you a little bit,” I beg slightly.

I really don’t want him to get hurt!

He huffs in annoyance and turns to glare at me with his angry wolf face.

“Only for a second,” He says. “Make it quick.”

He walks over to me and stabs his greatsword into the ground and kneels next to it.

This...this feels weird...having someone kneel like this.

Trying not to let it get to me, I reach out with my hands to touch his face.

I squeak when his hands grab both of my wrists.

“What are you doing,” He barks in anger. “Don’t you dare touch me like that! Surely you can do this without touching this wretched face!”

I get yelled at a lot by Tobias and he sometimes puts the heat onto me, but seeing a wolf face get so riled up and scary makes me tear up in fear.

The Sailor sees it on my face before he sighs and closes his eyes, bowing his head.

“Forgive me,” He says, barely a whisper. “You look...you...nevermind. Just heal me already. Get it over with quickly.”

He drops his arms in defeat and stares at the ground.

Hesitantly, I keep my hands at least a few centimeters from his head. My hands are shaking quite a bit, but I try and concentrate on healing this troubled soul.

I’m not too sure on how I am supposed to take that honestly.

Is he angry at me? ‘You look’? What about what I look? Who hurt him in a way that would let him act like this?

While I heal whatever death that was clinging to him, I also send in a few waves of calming energies to try and make him feel better. I don’t want him feeling guilty for yelling at me. That is not his fault. I am sure he had he reasons.

“I’m sorry if I offended you,” I say. “I swear I didn’t mean any harm; I only wanted you to feel better!”

He shakes his head and stands once again.

“Forget this even happened. I would rather not dwell on this any further. We need to get moving for the desert.”

I nod and tend to Tobias again.

Kneel in front of him, I press my palm to his chest and stomach and close my eyes.

He is alive and well now. I can’t tell if he is passed out or sleeping though.

I nudge his shoulder slightly. “Tobi? Are you sleeping?”

He doesn’t budge or move.

“Tobias we need you to wake up,” I say, touching his cheek.

The Spirit Sailor shushes me.

Not this again…

I am about to get onto him for shushing me for the second time in such a short time, but he is staring intently at a spot in the woods.

Following his gaze, all I see are skinny white tree trunks, swamp water, and more hanging moss.

My body freezes when I hear a splash in the distance.

I want to believe that maybe a piece of moss had fallen off and into the water, but nothing like that has happened since we arrived. It has been nothing but silence here.

“What is it?” I whisper to the Sailor.

He shush me again.

A low groan can be heard in the direction of the splash.

The Sailor steps in front of Tobias and I. He prepares himself into a battle stance and grips his sword and shield.

What sounds like steps on the water can be heard from the trees. They get closer and closer.

My heart beats faster and faster as the mysterious creatures makes its way towards us.

The creatures finally breaks free into our opening of the woods.

It’s hideous!

At first I think it is some kind of moss monster that was born here, but no, I realize that is simply the color of their skin! This is no creature of the forest.

What we are looking at is an angel!

The angel wears the same armor as they usually do only everything has been tinted green. They no longer wear their mask. A disgusting green faceless head is revealed. Old bandages try their best to cover them up, but those bandages look old and torn apart.

That can be said about everything about this angel.

They look like a corpse that has dug itself out of the ground after centuries! Even their wings look awful. You can see the bones of the wings. Barely any muscle and feathers remain on this poor angel.

“What’s wrong with them?” I gasp. “Should we help?”

I glance at the Sailor but he glares at the angel, not at all making a move to put his weapons away.

The angel also has their weapons free. They wield a green tinted sword that drips with some kind of black substance.

Now that they are closer, I can smell them now. They reek of death and decay.

It makes me gag.

The angel wails out into the mossy sky before running at us wildly with their weapon raised and ready to strike.

It swings their swing down hard at the Sailor but he blocks the attack easily with his shield. He swipes out with his sword and cuts the sword arm off the angel!

The same black substance that was dripping from the sword sprays out from their arm socket, coating the water around them in the nasty gunk.

“What the hell,” The Sailor breathes before turning to me. “Have you ever seen something like that before?”

I shake my head and stare in shock at the scary angel corpse.

The Sailor steps closer to the dead thing and nudges its body with his shoe.

“Shouldn’t it be a pile of golden dust right now?” He narrows his eyes. “Something is wrong. I don’t know what could have done this, but it isn’t right.”

He reaches into his bag and fishes for something.

I keep close to Tobias, not daring to leave him alone incase another of those things makes a surprise entrance.

The Sailor pulls out the hand mirror that allows us to speak with Drulai.

On the mirror, there are a couple of small jewels that line the bottom of it. The Sailor breaks one of those jewels.

Colors flash onto the mirror like oil does to water.

After a short time, the image changes and brings up Drulai’s face.

“Yes?” She smiles. “I trust you are all making great progress?”

The Sailor marches back to the dead angel and turns to mirror to show it to Drulai.

“Any idea what the hell this is?” He growls. “You never mentioned something like this being in here!”

Since the mirror is facing away, I can’t see her expression.

“I...I’ve never seen such a thing before,” I hear her say. “Is it truly dead?”

The Sailor grabs a sword and stabs it into the angel’s head. The gooey black blood spills out in wet chunks.

“Can confirm it is dead,” the Sailor says dryly.

The Mother Goddess is silent for a moment as she stares at the corpse through the mirror.

“One more thing,” The Sailor says, turning the mirror towards Tobias and I. “That pool almost killed the demon. You are lucky it didn’t.”

We shouldn’t blame her. She didn’t do this. She didn’t even know what would happen!

Not wanting her to worry too much, I quickly say, “He is fine now! I’ve been healing him and he is stable. He should wake up soon hopefully.”

She isn’t really look at me. She is staring off in thought.

“I will get back to you,” She says. “I am going to speak with my children and see if they know anything about this. Be safe please!”

As soon as she finishes her last sentence, the mirror turns back to normal and reveals my reflection.

My eyes widen when I notice another green creature stalking its way behind me.

A wail comes from behind me and I twist and bring my hands up and close my eyes, waiting for whatever is going to happen, happen.

The scream cuts off into a nasty gurgling sound.

Looking up, I gasp when I see the Sailor had thrown his sword and see that it has pierced the fallen Angel’s neck.

Black fluids drip down its broken armor as it collapses, splashing Tobias and I with the swamp water.

More moaning can be heard around us now.

Everywhere I look, another green angel corpse can be seen making their way towards us.

“We need to go now,” The Spirit Sailor shouts as he runs over and pulls his sword from the Angel.

I try to pull up Tobias but he is too heavy!

“Tobi!” I shake him. “You need to wake up now!”

Blades striking together can be heard as the Sailor blocks off an attack.

I bite my lip and slap Tobias hard on the face.

Still nothing!

The Sailor growls and bashes his shield against an angel’s head before thrusting his sword through another’s chest.

“He won’t wake up!” I shout and try to pick Tobias up by his shoulders.

I grunt and whine when I can barely pull him through the swamp water.

He is too heavy!

The Sailor sheathes his weapons before turning and picking up Tobias as if he is nothing. He tosses Tobi over his shoulder like a sack of flour and he turns to me.

“Let’s go,” He says. “You need to protect us alright?”

My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it is about to burst any second now.

“O-okay!” I say, my voice shaking.

The Sailor turns and starts running in a random direction. I keep up with him easily since he is carrying Tobias on his shoulder.

It sounds like seagulls on a beach in here. The angels constantly screech and shout as we run away.

When I look over my shoulder, I just about freeze over when I see what looks like tens of hundreds of angel corpses chasing after us.

Seeing that makes me run even faster.

The swamp water has completely soaked up my clothes now. It feels like it is dragging me down and it makes this all so much scarier! Each slow step will only bring me closer to those coated sharp blades!

More screeching can be heard above us.

When I look up, I see three corpses flying in the air even though their wings are practically nonexistent!

Clenching my teeth together in fear, I swing both my hands upwards. My magic jets two streams of water upwards from either side of the Spirit Sailor. I use it as a shield but I also send the water higher until it crashes into the angels and sends them falling down onto the ground with us.

We run past them and I get a small moment of relief knowing that I kept them both safe.

“Nice one,” The Spirit Sailor calls out.

I huff out a small smile between breaths but I keep moving.

Glancing over my shoulder again, my smile instantly disappears when I realize that there are even more flying angels that are chasing us now!

Where did they all come from? Why are they here?

Their energy does not match the one of this forest so who sent them?

Running through this dark water is awfully hard to do! You can barely see anything underneath it! No roots, holes, or other bumps!

I have to be extra careful to make sure I don’t fall.

My mind is telling me to fly but there are so many of the flying angels plus all the moss in the trees, I am too scared to!

The sound of chains rattling above us can be heard.

When I look up for the source, a giant box falls down on top of us!

I run right into the side of the box since I was in the middle of running. It sends me backwards and I fall flat on my butt.

Wait...no! I was the only one who got caught!

“Help!” I shout and stick my arm through a small hole. It allows me to see in front of me.

The Sailor slides to a stop and looks back at me.

His eyes widen and he runs back for me.

He freezes in place.

Screams and groans completely surround me as the angels run and fly past me. They completely pile onto the Sailor and Tobias!

“No!” I shout and pull on the metal bars in desperation. “Tobias!”

I can’t even see through the swarm of angels that are surrounding them! What are they doing?

Just when I think all is lost, the angels slowly begin to dwindle down and seperate.

Flashes of the Sailor and Tobias can be seen.

The angels are holding them up by their arms!

The Sailor struggles against their grip and tries to bite and tear at the angels but his efforts prove useless.

His right eye is bleeding at the moment. They must have cut him!

My heart feels like it stops when I see they are holding Tobias in the same way only instead of trying to keep him still, they hold a knife as if they wish to slit his throat.

All sounds around me feel like they have faded away.

The angels have begun to punch and kick at the Spirit Sailor.

My chest heats up at seeing all of this.

Water slips into the box beneath me. It spreads along the walls until the inside is completely lined with water.

Pushing my hands out, the pressure of the water breaks the box and I am free!

My hands shake with anger and they ball up into fists.

I drift upwards into the air and the wind picks up around us. It twists around me at my command.

The angels all turn to me and stop their abuse to Tobias and the Sailor.

Lifting my palms upwards, all the angels are lifted up with a thick sheet of water.

Only Tobias and the Sailor remain on the ground.

Lifting my chin, I command the water to spin around me, forcing the angels to struggle from their attempts at escaping.

Hissing can be heard as the water begins to heat up rapidly.

The Angels begin to shriek and cry out in pain as they begin to be boiled alive!

They will not hurt my friends! Not now, not ever!

Simply thinking about what these creatures could have done sets me off with another wave of anger and the water only gets hotter and hotter.

Their skin begins to burn and their armor only makes it worse for them.

Good! I want them all to burn!

~~~
~~~

Morgoren - The Moon God

I smile as I watch the Star kill my minions.

What a glorious day this is! He has finally done it! He has finally killed!

Oh, I am so very proud of him! It almost brings a tear to my eye! You can’t blame me when this is something I have waited on for so long!

As he takes his first bits of life, he only becomes that much easier to bring back into my grasp!

Do not worry dear Star. You will be mine once again!