"What's this feeling?" Code staggered backward, sweat sliding down his grime filled face.
The group watched in silence as the pot-bellied man's devastated body slid down the trunk with a squelch, leaving thick red trails of blood behind.
The footsteps grew louder and closer.
Ran swiftly turned to Kael, his heart hammering hard, threatening to rip his chest open.
"This feeling..." he whispered. "It's terror."
Code's gaze darted across the survivors: Tenò, Soudra and Elara who was trembling.
His breath caught, but strangely, the thought that went through his mind wasn't the approaching monster. It was the profit: 'Four percent.'
"Shit. What the hell is wrong with me?!" He bit his lower lip hard.
"Maintain formation!" Kael barked, his voice echoing through the forest. "Now!"
The group fell into arrangement, sword weilders forward, healer and Code at the center, and Ran and Kael at point.
Code teeth chattered, as he formed a shaky grin amidst the dread, Elara stared at the ground, body shaking, and Tenò and Soudra gripped their blades with weak and white-knuckled fingers.
When it seemed like everyone would collapse in fear, Kael's voice boomed fiercely. "Everyone raise your damn heads. We have a job to do, goddamm it!"
Code blinked, head rising to Kael's back.
"If we work together, we survive. Remember, only the living get paid." His jaws clenched, and his next words came softer, as if he was talking to himself.
"We can...We will survive."
Code's pulse slowed, he clenched both of his fists until his nails pierced his skin. Determination surged through him, his teeth gritting.
'Yeah. I can survive. I will survive.'
"No matter what. I'll go home with my four percent profit!"
He glanced left to Elara who still looked blank, but a light spark of encouragement flickered in her eyes. Tenò and Soudra straightened, gripping their weapons tightly as they steadied. Ran's gaze hardened, veins bulging around his face and neck.
"That's the spirit," Kael said quietly, as he scanned their faces.
CRASSHH!!
The rumbling drew closer, as trees shuddered and the ground bucked.
"Ran..." Kael braced himself, while Ran nodded, chest heaving.
The footsteps became like thunder, nearing the group. Code swallowed again and again, repeating the same fucking words. "I have to survive. I can't die yet. I haven't even lived. I need my four percent—"
"It's here," he breathed.
From the black wall of the trees hauled out a foot the size of a small house, pale in colour.
Kael and Ran recoiled from the view, fear gripping their hearts. But Kael recovered first, teeth baring, as he jerked back.
"Now!!!" He shouted.
SHIUUUUN!
Metallic impacts echoed as Tenò and Soudra launched forward, blades flashing and slicing through the air. They reached the demon's foot, letting out desperate battle cries as they sliced forward.
But just as their swords were inches from connecting...
SMASH!!
A hurricane gust ripped through the terrain, sending sand and debris flying towards Code's face.
Silence fell immediately.
"Ugh...ugh..." A desperate grunt snapped Code's eyes open. He gradually turned, gaze crawling across the blood droplets on the floor to the tree beside them.
"What?" He froze in horror. Sliding down the trees trunk was a smoothened mass of meat smattered with crushed bones and drooling blood.
Tenò was no longer recognizable.
Code's gaze shifted toward the demon, tracing its massive outstretched hand dripping with Tenò's blood. His eyes twitched as it met the demon's. This creature made the monsters in horror films look like a comedy skit. A grotesque display of flesh with two twisted horns and a grin that ran didn't run from ear to ear, it ran from eye to eye. In its wide maw dangled the half-eaten corpse of the remaining three who had fled earlier.
"Ahhh!!!" The scream snapped everyone's attention towards it.
Soudra dangled in the demon's tight grip, his ribs already crackling, eyes bloodshot.
"No! No! It hurts!" He cried, struggling and thrashing, but the demon's hold only tightened.
The whole group stood frozen in horror as they watched the scene. No one dared to move or even breath.
The demon's fingers squeezed harder, and when Soudra's body reached its resistance threshold...
BURST!!
Blood, intestines and viscera painted the canopy, as his eyes and teeth rained down.
Soudra's screams died mid-breath. He was silenced forever.
Code's mouth hung wide open. His legs shook so badly he thought they'd fold.
The demon gobbled the food in its mouth, before stepping it down with Soudra's blood. Then it turned its cold and menacing gaze towards the group, thick ropes of saliva dripping down its maw.
Code looked at Elara. She had collapsed to her knees, kept trembling uncontrollably and whispered the same words over and over.
"I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die..." Tears cut tracks through the dirt on her cheeks.
"Hahaha..." Code's laugh came out cracked and hollow.
SHIUUUUN!
A sharp sound tore through the air; the sound of steel being drawn, as Code and Elara lifted their heads.
Kael stood upright, and in his hands were two curved axes with the moonlight sliding off their edges.
"I refuse to fear," he growled through clenched teeth, as he swung once, shearing several trees clean in a single arc.
A dark blue light erupted from his palms, coating both blades.
"I'll kill you!!" He roared, voice echoing through the woods. Then he twisted back, axes crossing, staring straight into the demon's maw.
"Ran..." He called and breathed, gaze fixed forward.
Uh?" Ran rasped, leaning in, as Kael whispered something too low for Code or Elara to catch.
Then the fight ignited.
The demon's left arm shot forward like a cannon and Kael met it head-on.
He swung his axes, slicing off the demon's flesh as its limb exploded into wet rolls of meat.
"Shrieeeekkk!!" The demon staggered.
"Feel the pain you gave us, vermin!!" Kael roared. He surged forward, air rippling in his wake.
Another arm swung downwards.
Kael carved it in half and erupted upwards, the demon's blood covering his entire body.
Woah!!" Code gasped in awe.
Kael floated in the air above the monster's skull, looking down on it like God upon sinners. "I'll make you pay!!" He roared as he dove downwards, axes first, forming a comet of descending blue light.
Code's lips curled into a hopeful smile, as his heart calmed. "We can win. We can actually win."
The group held their breath altogether as they watched Kael descend like judgement upon sinners.
"Kill it!!" The group said in unison.
'And I get to receive my pay and leave here alive,' Code prayed.
Kael spun through the air, blurring into a shining boulder as he connected with the demon's skull. But just as his axes were about to strike...
The tables instantly tilted.
The demon gradually turned its head, until its face was facing Kael's.
Its maws twitched, lips splitting into a mocking smile as his mouth tore open, revealing a set of knife for teeth.
"What?!" Kael gasped in horror. He attempted to slow himself mid-air, but the momentum was too great.
"No!" He begged, already centimeters from entering the demon's mouth.
"No...no...no...no!!!"
PLOP!
He fell into its mouth with a splat, erupting saliva upwards. With a swift desperate motion, he ran through the demons jaws, attempting to jump out, but it was too late.
The demon's jaws snapped shut, devouring Kael's body. Only his legs and a few drops of blood remained. The rest was devoured.
Code looked upwards to the moon.
Munch. Munch. Gulp.
Everyone could hear it; the chewing, the crunch of bones, the squelch of flesh, the gulp of blood, and...
Kael's wails. His final cries and gut-wrenching screams.
"It's over..." Code muttered. Tears weren't coming, sweat too wasn't pouring.
"You bastard!!!"
Code lowered his head, sighting Ran. He was screaming, clutching what was left of Kael.
"You motherfucker! Curse you! How dare you?!"
But the demon? It's grin only grew wider.
"It's pointless," Code whispered grimly, placing a hand on Ran's shoulder.
"Get those fucking hands off me!" Ran snapped, slapping Code's hand away.
"Don't act like you know me. You don't know anything! You're just a child who's had it easy!" he screamed, tears sliding down his cheeks.
"Kael..." Ran whispered, clutching the remains. "He was more than a friend. He was my brother."
Flashbacks struck his mind.
He remembered Kael's final words, the ones only he heard before the end.
"Ran..." Kael had called, as Ran leaned in. "We can't beat it."
"What do you mean?" Ran had asked, eyes widening.
"But I'll distract it," Kael continued. "In that time..." his tone had turned grim.
"...Run!"
...
"Why? Why did you have to die?!" Ran screamed. "I should've been the one."
"Oi!" Code cut in, clutching his shoulder. "This isn't the time to cry. He's gone, but he gave us a chance to escape," Code said, glancing at the demon which was busy regenerating its arm.
"We can still make it," Code added. 'Without the group leader, I won't get any payment!' he screamed in his head.
"You bastard!" Ran yelled, slapping Code's hand away again. "Don't act like you care! You think I don't know? You only care about the profit, don't you? The reason you stayed when others left, you knew you were useless and weak! But you stayed because of the profit!"
"You know what? Fuck it all!" Code retorted. "I didn't come here to die, goddamn it!"
"And you think I'd pay you after this?" Ran sneered.
Code's gaze darkened. "Don't fuck with me," he warned, hand moving toward his dagger.
"Heyy!!" A scream pierced the air, halting them.
"Uh?" Code and Ran turned to Elara, whose trembling finger was pointed at something behind them.
"Hehe..." Code forced a nervous chuckle. "What... what is it?" he stammered, and this time, sweat poured down his face.
He looked at the ground, and saw a massive shadow looming over his. Ran froze, cold air blowing out of his lungs, heart thudding.
'I have to get my payment... sorry, survive!" Code's mind spiralled.
'Survive... survive...'
"Survive!!!" he screamed, bolting forward. He took the first step, but before he could take the second...
CRASH!!
The wet sound made him freeze mid-step. He looked down. His arms were intact. His legs were still there. His head still thinking.
It wasn't him.
Elara raised her hand to cover her mouth, as she fell to the ground.
Code turned, and a wave of blood and gore splashed across his face.
"Ran?" His heart skipped, as he stared at the half body before him. Ran's body, from the waist up, was gone. Even Kael's remains had vanished, reduced to red.
"My... my four percent?!" Code muttered, shaking as Ran's legs fell to the ground. His chest pounded violently, threatening to burst.
"I don't want to die! I can't die here. I still have a long life to live!" Code screamed in his head. Without giving it another thought, he bolted into the woods, screaming "run," as he dashed past Elara.
"Gyaaahh!!" Elara hurriedly scrambled to her feet, following after him.
"My payment matters, my four percent cut matters, my profit matters...But my life matters more!!"
He kept muttering the words like a mantra as he disappeared into the darkness.
Now he understood.
Life was real. Death was real.
And neither cared about percentages.