The atmosphere turned tense once mum spoke. Those who were seated burst to their feet panicked.
We were unarmed—all except Ren and his paper sword Hossam and, heavily outnumbered by creatures that were hard to damage.
Thinking on the abilities we had, there was; healing, death by touch, enhanced physicality, names, animation, whatever ability the last guy has, and me..... Emotions. Most of which couldn't help in this situation.
'What I would give for Kendali and her telekinesis, atleast she could fly away'
Fly..... that's it.
"Let's climb the trees again" I screamed. "If we get on the trees we could wait them out."
"No" The young guy refuted, the one who had managed to remain unknown throughout.
Did he expect us to fight?
"We need food. That means we need to kill. We can not hide from the monsters." He continued.
"You can't be serious. They are hundreds of....."
"What do you think would happen if they decided to wait us off." He cut in.
To my complete shock everyone else agreed. Even mum stood ready for a fight.
The taste of their resolve only made me uneasy. Maybe because I saw how much fear was underneath.
This was a fight of cornered animals.
"Do you know how to use that thing Old man?" The guy spoke to Ren, pointing at his sword.
It seems he was fond of nicknames, but Ren didn't even look old, he looked younger than Dad atleast.
Ren only nodded in response, already getting pissed at how he didn't call the sword by name.
"Good." The guy replied, completely oblivious to the fact as he lightly tapped Ren on the shoulder.
He did a little stretch then pulled two knives from his clothes.
'How did he get those? The house?'
I watched as everyone gathered into a small battle formation.
They started discussing a plan when mum and Theo walked over to me.
"We are splitting up" Mum said "Those with combat abilities would fight, while those without are to stay away from battle."
Theo only nodded in response, he was never the type to personally get involved in anything.
Only four remained behind.
Our only fighters.
We only waited a few seconds before the creatures arrived in a frenzy.
Last time fear drove them to us, this time it was hunger.
The mounds of flesh flooded in our direction. Their skin tearing open to feed on anything unlucky enough to be on their path. Not even their own species were spared.
They tore into one another before even reaching us.
They formed no limbs, only huge mouths as they ripped flesh off of each other, till they were small enough to swallow. Many of them covered in dripping blood.
Oddly enough they personally made no sound, only the rustle of trees and logs in their path marked their arrival.
Fear tore through our ranks before the monsters even came close enough to attack.
I erased it from myself, instilling instead a sense of hope I knew was false.
Our fighters on the otherhand didn't get that comfort.
Blood stained the first monster to arrive a muddy red.
Dad led the attack.
He landed swift blows while being careful not to prolong contact, allowing Ren to sneak behind it.
The sword swung, light as paper yet more deadly than steel.
Red blood poured in buckets from a cut that almost severed the creature, yet the monster was only slowed a little, taking time to reassemble itself.
Ren hacked at it. Over and over till his black suit became coated in blood. Only his sword remained pristine white.
And yet it continued to regrow from its pieces like it was nothing.
Suddenly a high pitched screech halted everyone in place. Loud enough to turn my head dizzy.
Dad and Ren retreated to see Vicas' hand on a monster.
Death came ugly and brutal as the monster crumpled into itself.
Screams poured out of it, starting and stopping at different times from every hole in it's body. It's skin bubbled as it convulsed, desperately struggling to find form as blood leaked out like water in a loosely woven basket.
A disturbingly long time passed before it turned still.
Then silence.
A new form of fear took form in the hearts of all those who witnessed.
But the monsters didn't slow once.
The one that was hacked had fully healed, yet was tackled down by two of its kind until nothing of it was left.
Then those two fought amongst each other forming bigger teeth to tear into themselves as they consumed each other increasing their size.
More monsters continued to pour.
Dad and Ren joined Vicas, working with him as the centre piece as he killed the creatures that weren't cannibalising on one another.
One touch was all it took for the monsters to turn into a pile of meat, dripping blood.
Some completely burst apart never regaining form, the sounds they made were like water balloons run over by a car—a loud splash and then blood.
Some died very slowly, their screams fading into the battlefield as the group moved on the next prey. And yet more poured down.
Wide eyed and with my heart threatening to tear I felt everything.
On one side, a maddening hunger that fed cannibalistic urges, on the other side fear, despair and then the nothingness that came after death.
All that amplified by the screams coming from one side of the battle—the side where Vicas roamed.
No one remained cheered. No one celebrated. Only the screams broke the silence. Not even a sense of hope or accomplishment.
More monsters poured.
And suddenly Vicas dropped.
Mum tore into the battlefield immediately without hesitation.
I couldn't move an inch, my physical senses were slowly being replaced by the emotional.
In the midst of monsters Vicas fell flat on the floor. Still.
The team changed focus, panicked and scared they made a small defensive circle, yet no one dared touch Vicas.
The monsters didn't care. Some stumbling to the group after surviving their own species.
I felt mum, her concern and fear as she tore through the battlefield.
Theo shook me, but I felt his fear more sharply than his touch.
Suddenly, something else managed to catch my attention. A shift in the noise that filled my head.
My eyes slowly cleared, as I saw one of the creatures Vicas touched regain form.
I saw as its body slowly stack itself up like sand. Then it moved. Crawling to the nearest corpse and devouring it.
Unlike the other creatures this one moved differently as though calculating.
It moved from corpse to corpse, silent compared to the cacophony of the battle as it devoured.
Slowly it gained mass.
A bigger mouth.
Then Arms.
It moved quickly, Tearing across the battlefield.
I was laying flat on my side, only just noticing the smell of dirt and blood with chunks of wet earth sticking to my hair and ear.
In the distance mum knelt cradled vicas, while the others kept up the defense.
Then suddenly, much closer to me a hunched over form raised itself, sliding to a vertical height. It's arms were long ending in large shovel like tips that lay on the ground.
It had no legs but it stood on what could be called its torso as it's head rotated looking for more prey.
As It turned, its face—A flat plain shape completely covered in red locked with mine.
A crack opened, spreading from end to end in a bloody smile. It fell flat to the ground, slithering towards me like a snake.
It moved slowly—Cautious and Curious, not just fueled by blind hunger.
I pulled myself to my feet in a hurry, only just noticing Theo was nowhere to be found.
Unfortunately, the ground was wet and in my rush I fell, landing hard on my ass.
All hint of caution left the monster, as it rushed towards me.
Its feelings of hunger and need made it clear I had no chance of appealing to it.
And so, with my back against a wall of fear and despair.
I pushed.
Choking out every ounce of feeling and quietening the discordant emotions. Everything stilled as a wave of complete numbness washed over the battlefield.
Everything lost meaning as even the dying monsters ceased their screaming.
The creature halted. Stuck in a fight between logic and the lack of feeling in its being.
But that wasn't the end of my assault.
I locked my eyes on it as I pushed out different emotions, one after the other.
Fear. Rage. Loss. Pain.... Destroying every sense of reason it it's being.
Confusion arose, not just from the creature, but the people caught under my ability as I switched their feelings.
Robbing them of identity.
The unintelligent ones lost themselves to emotions, acting on everything they felt.
Those with reason suffered a more cruel fate as they battled with their feelings.
A cruel and dangerous application of my ability—to replace the feelings of another human, one I swore never to use on anyone else again.
A form of mind control if I managed to override a person's logic with emotions.
I stared, eye to teeth facing the monster as it raged against my control. It's form rippled like water with blood leaking from its teeth like saliva.
From here forward turning back meant death. Especially when the creature was inches away from shredding me under hundreds of crimson red teeth.
Slowly the resistance started to give way, and the creature collapsed itself, turning into a mostly flat shape as it fled.
I was safe. But my job was not yet done. I lay on all fours as I watched the mess that became of the battlefield.
Corpses littered the soil, only some brutally decomposed by Vicas' ability, the other creatures didn't leave behind any scraps.
The creatures resumed their rabid cannibalism, while the humans were still like living corpses.
I pushed again, this time more careful to target only the mindless creatures, filling them with a sense of dread enough to make them flee.
And they did, leaving the battlefield in a rushed frenzy.
I stood, dragging my body through the corpses, their blood only left deeper shades of red on the already bleeding ground.
In the distance our group lay scattered, only vicas lay in the open. Luckily him, he must have slept through the emotional roller coaster.
As I approached the group something stood out to me.
Someone was missing.
The only warning was a burst of pure rage as someone dropped from a tree behind me.
Before I could turn sharp steel touched my neck. And I didn't dare move.
"Give me a reason not to kill you right now." A voice slowly spoke behind me.