Azrael: the finale (ch. 18)
Turns out, I was in the void for quite a while, it was already the 21st and the clock was already rushing towards midnight. All we had to do was get the necklace on his neck and then Pyrrhus and I had to hold hands. That's at least what I saw in the vision. As simple as that sounded, it was much easier said than done. He had fully recovered and was currently levitating twenty feet of the ground. Robert was absolutely amazing. He was summoning fire from his feet and flying around him, blasting him with fire repeatedly.
"Robert! Over here!" I yelled and he flew down. I threw the necklace at him and he caught it. He knew what he needed to do.
"Distract him!" He yelled back.
How were Pyrrhus and I supposed to do that? I looked around for anything. All I saw were the bodies of hundreds of unconscious people and creatures. All of them were just starting to wake up.
That's when I remembered the unicorn. She was still very much conscious in the void. Maybe I could call her. I had no better ideas so I brought my fingers to my mouth and whistled as loud as I could. Meanwhile, Pyrrhus was morphing into his feral form. His canines grew into huge fangs, his limbs elongated and snapped into different shapes. He dropped on all fours and he grew until he was about ten feet long. He turned into this huge cat-goat hybrid and roared loudly, his tail swaying and burning.
"Do you really think you can stop me? Your power is nothing compared to mine," the man taunted.
I heard a gallop behind me and saw the unicorn running towards me. I quickly bowed, just in case, before talking to her:
"Can you help me distract him?"
She whinnied and gestured to her back with her head.
"Really? You would let me do that?"
She scoffed, as if to say "don't get used to it, punk." I jumped on her back and held onto her neck. She took off running and power thrummed in her horn. Suddenly, searing white blasts shot out of it, painting the sky in hypnotically beautiful swirls and patterns. And it worked. The man looked up and that bought Robert just enough time to sneak up on him and clasp the necklace around his neck.
Pyrrhus pounced onto him and brought him down from the air. Everything went silent for a split second before a huge explosion knocked Pyrrhus away behind the tree line.
"Pyrrhus!" I yelled after him. Before I could do anything else, the man got up and snapped his fingers. All the beings on the floor stood up in less than a second, their eyes milky.
"Destroy them!" He bellowed.
Now, I was very skilled in hand to hand combat, but there was no way I could take on so many. I drew my knife and braced myself. The unicorn reared and charged straight into them. I sliced and stabbed who I could, trying to only injure them, not kill them, since they were possessed.
"Uhhh? Moonshine, can I call you Moonshine?"
The mare whinnied. I guessed that was a yes.
"Great! Moonshine, we need to get to Pyrrhus!"
She picked up speed and made a horseshoe turn back for the woods. I looked back just in time to see Robert surround himself in a ring of fire.
When we got to him, Pyrrhus was barely conscious, back in his regular form.
"Hey, Pyrrhus? Can you see me?"
He blinked. "Are you on a fucking unicorn?"
I chuckled, figures that that would be his first question.
"Yes, I am. Moonshine, can you help him?"
She bowed her head towards him and power thrummed in her horn again. In no time, Pyrrhus was back on his feet, good as new.
"Oh my Satan! Thank you so much!"
She scoffed and gestured to her back.
"Well? Hop on dude!" We rushed back to the clearing.
The situation was not good. Robert was surrounded.
"BACK! BACK OFF!" He screamed while blasting fire at the various creatures. I could tell he was getting exhausted.
"It's best you give up little one. I still might spare you if you surrender."
"Then you shall see what my true power looks like."
"Some power, yet you can't even take off a stupid necklace!"
"I struck a nerve, didn't ?" He blasted another wave of monsters away.
"Moonshine, could you break the spell they're under?"
She neighed and stomped her hooves. I guessed that meant no.
"I guess that means we have to knock all of them out. What do you think Pyrrhus?"
I jumped off Moonshine, as she started trampling them, and started taking them on one by one. Pyrrhus transformed again, taking out dozens at a time. After less than two minutes, all of them were back on the ground.
"YOU IDIOTS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" He screeched, but I could hear the fear in his voice. His eyes were wild. "I OUGHT TO KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!" He raised his hand and pointed it towards me. A long metal spike sprang out right towards me. I ducked. It curved to the side and before I could warn him, I heard a wet squelch.
"Look out!" He managed to get out as he collapsed on the ground, blood spilling from his abdomen. I turned back just in time to avoid the other spike, but to my horror, it curved again, this time piercing right through Moonshine's skull.
Time stopped for a second. I never felt so hollow in my life. There was this deep, numb pain in my chest. I was so devastated that I couldn't even cry. I was then filled with rage. Rage towards everyone. Rage, and this disgusting self loathing, for letting Robert get hurt. I knew something was going to happen to him since he wasn't in the visions, yet I seemed to forget about that. This was all my fault.
"AZRAEL!" I heard Pyrrhus scream. He pushed me out of the way as another spike whistled right by my ears. He took my hand and pulled me up. Moonshine's horn started glowing in that same white light from my vision, shrouding us in it. This was it. I let its power pass through me, filling up every inch of my being. I gripped Pyrrhus's hand tighter and opened my eyes. I focused all of the energy in front of me. Everything went completely quiet. A ray of light pierced through the man, disintegrating him on the spot.
Then, everything fell dark. The wind whistled quietly around us. It was over. I almost let myself celebrate, but I was brought back to reality by the sound of Robert choking on his own blood. In the pitch black dark I could barely see him. I dropped to my knees beside him and tried putting pressure on his wound, even though, deep down, I knew it was hopeless.
"Robert... please stay awake, please," I pleaded.
Pyrrhus came to our side with a fire in his hand so we could see each other. Robert shuddered against him for warmth. His eyes were glassy but he still had a smile on his face. "You guys did it... You kicked that fuckers ass..."
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Oh Robert... It's going to be okay, I promise, we'll find a way," I said as I brushed the hair away from his face, my hands trembling, trying not to cry. "Pyrrhus, are there any healer ghouls? Please..." I begged.
"Azrael... It's too late..." He whispered. I knew it was true.
"I love you dude..." Robert managed to get out.
"No. No, don't say that, we're gonna be okay, okay?"
He closed his eyes and his choppy breathing came to a halt.
"Robert? Robert? No! No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO!" I wailed. "Oh Robert... I love you too." I held him in my arms and sobbed.
