Descending Shadows: At Death's Door

The demons were closing in on us, and I had already run out of Zavaryan grenades.

“I’m out of grenades!” I shouted.

“I've got one left!” Leslie replied.

That wasn’t going to be enough against the hordes that were headed our way. We’d be able to take out a few, but there would be too many to fend off with our swords—and we definitely couldn’t take the risk with all the civilians that would be caught in the crossfire. But then it hit me: there was enough Zavaryan salt stored in the centre itself.

“Everyone, we’ll have to make use of the salt in the centre!” I said.

“What are we to do with it?” Cindy asked.

“Blow them all back to hell,” I replied.

We rushed inside and threw the Zavaryan salt all over the welfare centre; I opened the gas and let it fill the entire centre as we did so. I told Leslie that I’d be the bait to lure the Serpians in. She didn’t agree to it at first, but we were losing time.

“Position yourself outside, at the foot of the hill. After I run out the back door, throw in the grenade,” I said.

She nodded and said: “Don’t you die on me.”

“Not planning to,” I replied, smiling.

Moments later, the front door came crashing down and the monsters fumbled all over each other to get to me. I kept blocking their way with chairs and tables, and by toppling a cupboard. I was also able to cut a few of them down before I knew I needed to get out immediately. And so I bolted out the back door and, seconds later, Leslie threw the grenade. The thunderous reverberations that brought me to my knees melded with the echoing agony of the demons that we had just decimated: it was a melody of death.

The experience was exhilarating. My heart was racing and my ears were ringing, but at least we took down a horde of demons. I was happy with our accomplishment.

I saw who I assumed was Leslie approaching me from the distance. My vision was a little hazy after the fall, but it soon came back to me.

“Moon, are you alright? Moon!” she yelled as she halted and raised my head to her lap.

“I will be once you stop yelling,” I replied, chuckling.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” she replied.

I grunted, slowly sitting up. “Did we get them all?” I asked.

“Yeah, we were quite lucky. But let’s not do this again anytime soon,” she said.

I laughed, nodding. “Thanks, Leslie. I  couldn't have done it without you.”

“Damn right, girl.”

“Okay, let’s move out now, before more of them decide to pay us a visit.”

“Agreed.”

We left the scene immediately. As we trekked further ahead, Leslie and I heard rustling from the trees to our left, and they were drawing near.

“Leslie…”

“Yes, I hear them.”

“Get them to the panic room, quickly.”

“No, not again. You can’t keep being the bait like this all the time.”

“I’ll be fine. Someone has to get these people to safety. I trust you.”

“Fine… But do be careful.”

Leslie reluctantly left me behind and rushed the others to my house while I held my ground and waited. The surrounding was lit in pale grey. The skies were clear and the full moon adorned the skies. I could hear their growls as they got closer. There were six of them. I drew my sword as they surrounded me, bearing their fangs as they readied their claws.

“Bite me, ugly,” I said, charging at them.

I hewed the heads off two of them in a row before bringing my weapon down on another, slashing through its shoulder as a fountain of blood spurted into the air. Another one swung its claw at me, but I eluded its reach, severing its arm and then its head, proceeding to thrust my blade into the chest of the one next to it. The other two jumped at me right that instant. This was bad: I had no time to pull out the sword and counter. I quickly grabbed my daggers and drove them through their chins as they landed on me. I looked them in the eyes as they screamed in agony.

“Die, you filth!” I yelled, twisting the daggers, making them squirm as the life faded from their bodies.

I drew back the daggers and sheathed them before pulling out my sword from the other carcass before. I sighed heavily, feeling exhausted. “That’s enough exercise for one day,” I said, panting.

But, right then, I was stabbed from behind in a flash. I could feel the venom coursing through my veins. I screamed in agony as I mustered what little strength I had to turn around and strike down the demon that attacked me. But it was too late: my vision was getting blurry, and my head was light. I could feel the life force drain out of me as I fell to the floor face-first. I drifted off…

“Wake up, Moon. Wake up,” I heard a familiar voice.

I opened my eyes. It was my mom. “Mom, Dad… You’re both here! I’ve missed you so much!” I said, hugging them tightly.

“We’ve missed you, too, honey, but it isn’t your time,” she replied.

“What?” I asked.

She looked ahead, and I did the same. Leslie was running towards my body. “Moon! Moon, wake up!” she yelled as she tried to revive me.

“Wait, am I…?”

“No, you’re not,” Dad replied.

“You must go back, sweetie. Jason needs you,” Mom replied.

“You did promise him, hun,” Dad said.

I watched as Leslie cut open my wound and let the blood drain out to save me.

Part of me knew my responsibility back there, but I’ve missed Mom and Dad so much all this time; and now that they were here, I didn’t want to leave.

“I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t your time,” Dad said, “We’ll be together someday, but you need to go back there and fight.”

“What if I don’t want to? I’ve been fighting ever since all this hell broke loose!” I yelled.

“And you’re going to give up now, when your friends are counting on you? When your brother’s counting on you?” Mom asked.

I couldn’t say a thing...not a word. Tears began to fill my eyes.

“We know you, Moon… You’re no quitter,” Dad said, “Now, go…”

“We’re proud of the woman you’ve grown into, Moon. We’ll be waiting for you when the time is right,” Mom said as they both disappeared.

“No, don’t go!” I yelled as my vision faded to black.