Dawn- An age of Darkness

The monster's groans gradually slowed. More and more spears grazed by, but my thrusts didn't stop.

The groans at one point stopped for good.

"Daarc, calm down. It's already dead!" Jowy shook my shoulder.

"SHUR UP!"

I didn't listen. I kept thrusting my sword until I passed out from loss of blood and exhaustion.

"Young hero. You have proven your worth. My other half may have acted on rage, but know that, we were betrayed by your benefactor and kin. We harbor great hatred but our love is infinite. Hate us, kill us, free us. The world is cruel and humanity itself is the root of all evil, not the gods nor the demons. But maybe only humans can amend. I leave the rest in your hands. Farewell. May you not end up a god?"

"What was that?" My head hurt and I held it in my hands. I was lying on the grass and my whole body stung with immense pain. I could faint at any moment but there was a noise near me. Alisa was crying in the background. I looked around and both Jowy and the old man looked flushed. They had wounds and their faces were pale and emotionless. It was morning but the sun hadn't yet risen.

My memory came back to me. "What happened to them?"

"She won't make it…"

To be honest I kind of knew that. But even so, it was too much for me to digest. It was like all the air from around me had vanished. I couldn't breathe. "Can't we take her back to the village?"

"They won't be able to heal her… we need at least a high potion or an elixir. But I don't think she would last till noon. It's a miracle that she even made it past the night."

"What about Biteria?"

Jowy didn't look at me. "There were no traces of her…"

"You mean she's still alive?" I didn't want to ask it.

"I don't think so but-"

I didn't want to hear that either. So I asked the question I didn't want to ask. "What about that thing?"

"After you passed out the croc head came alive and revived the whole thing. It glared at us and your unconscious body. We thought we were goners but… two massive bat wings grew, and it disappeared the very next moment. It left a gemstone and-"

We didn't talk past that.

I was on the ground covered in herbs and I sat down with slow motion. That damn thing's claws had cut my body like butter but the pain wasn't even the least of my concerns. Brenda was lying in a bed made of all our sheets and Biteria was missing. Plus we didn't have any horses. The situation was worse than anything I could have imagined.

I forced myself to get up and moved closer to Brenda; I could barely crawl. The wounds from before were taxing enough, and now I had new wounds to contend with; it really was a miracle I could move at all. The others didn't try to stop me. I wouldn't have, even if they tried to…

"There's a good Priestess in that village. Maybe…"

"Daarc!" It wasn't a shout. The old man couldn't bring himself to shout.

My eyes watered. I didn't know what to do anymore.

"Is-that you Daarc?" Brenda's voice quivered and there were traces of blood on her torn clothes. Her wounds were covered with herbs but I could see the depth and horror. There was a potion in my bag and I had just remembered that.

I brought it out and held it in my hand.

"Drink this!"

"Save-it for yerself. I don't think-I-I'll make it. Ye need it if-ye want-to-live and make out-o- of the forest alive-"

"Don't say that!" I shouted despite my wounds. She stopped my lips and smiled. "After you-"

I couldn't smile back.

"It was my choice." Her voice went smoothly and she fell asleep.

I felt terrible. No, I felt worse than that. I didn't know what to feel anymore. I just didn't.

"Calm dow-" The old man was here and he was trying to console me. But it just wasn't working.

Wait! Could it be that, this forest!

Suddenly my memory jolted. "Old man! What are the odds of there being a statue in this forest!?"

"Two statues back to back? I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing that was nearby but there could still be a possibility."

"But it would be very low. Think about it. There was a statue in the sacred forest. And if there was another one in the forest right next to it, even if that was true- wouldn't that monster already have devoured it?" Jowy said.

"Statue? You mean the one like in this forest you mentioned?" Alisa said.

I ignored them: I ignored them all. I didn't care if the possibility was grim. As long as there was a possibility I needed to aim for it. I just had to. "You'll have to lend me your shoulder yet again old man…" I said. It was a request. I knew I could count on him. But I didn't know if he was willing to let or not.

"Ha ha ha, don't worry, I'll make sure you make it worth my while later." He laughed but there wasn't any joy in his words nor were any sign of gladness; only sorrows and grief existed there.

"Can I count on you with her, Jowy?"

"Very well…" He said.

I don't know if it'll work or not but this is the only option we have!

We marched into the dark and gloomy forest, one step at a time. As its name suggested, it was covered with thorns; there were vines, plants, and even leaves which had thorns on them, everywhere. Even the small animals that were in had thorns. I didn't see any undead anywhere near us which was a bad sign.

Did that thing already pass through here?

The forest was mild in smell and there weren't many signs of monsters. Normally that'd make me happy but this time it was more like a curse. If there weren't any monsters that only meant, that damn God was here. And if he was here then he might have even come across the statue. However, we didn't know if there was even a statue, to begin with.. I grinded my teeth and looked ahead. When will this end?

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