He moved forward.
Step by step.
He enjoyed every trample…
Aegon Targus…
I knew it was him even before I really understood who was in front of us. No one needed to tell me. His aura was screaming the truth. His presence was crushing the air so much that we almost lost balance every second. It felt like my lungs would explode. In only a few seconds, he reminded me that I was nothing. That all my achievements were nothing. I became again a cursed child who was about to be slaughtered by something stronger than everything he had faced before.
His veins were glowing with a strange color, like his blood was always moving, ready to spill. His eyes… were madness and fascination at the same time. And this smile… happy… horrible.
It was like killing was something pleasant for him. It was impossible to see him as a human anymore.
Lyra was shaking with fear, overwhelmed by everything, she pressed herself against Elias.
— ahh… ah we need to run… Elias what do we do… Elias…?
Elias, horrified, said nothing. His fingers were shaking too and his body wanted to run away, but his eyes stayed fixed on the silhouette coming closer.
Asha growled, but her voice was shaking.
— This is not real…
Dorian had an expression I cannot even name. He was always laughing, always making stupid jokes even in the worst situations, but now he was staring at Aegon with his mouth open, eyes wide like they wanted to leave his face, unable to say a single word. His teeth were shaking so hard it looked like he wanted to break them.
I felt my Thorne pulsing. My blades were begging me to run without looking back but my legs did not listen to me anymore.
A bad shiver went down my spine.
My life was almost flashing before my eyes. I remembered my mother, my old neighborhood, the dark streets of Work Town, the pain of my accident, the Dragon, the giant, Kael… but all of this was nothing compared to him…
Because he was the worst…
And one question kept coming back in my head, again and again:
Are we going to die here, today, right now?
We survived a titan in the depths of a dirty swamp. We defeated Kael and his men. Yesterday night we were laughing like a family. And now we were facing this abomination, like the world was punishing us for believing, even for one moment, that we were safe here. That the world could be kind.
I was naive… it never was…
Aegon stopped a few meters away. Blood was moving around his feet like an obedient sea.
He tilted his head a little, his smile becoming even more twisted.
— Hehehe you are shaking like little cowards… what do we have here? Honestly you are too clean and well dressed to be from Arcadia, and you recognized my powers… but you are surely not members of Xilon. They have courage and they would never shake like you right now…
Nobody dared to interrupt him. Even our voices refused to speak. We could only suffer his questions…
— Oh… don't tell me… you are heirs… am I right? he said with a happy face.
— HE IS COMING!!! I screamed.
He simply raised his hand.
And the blood answered his call.
The blood of the dead servants rose like puppets, making a liquid scream on the stones. It gathered into a red torrent, like a rising tide. Every drop was vibrating, moved by a strange will.
Elias created a dome of debris in panic but the liquid entered through the cracks, moving like a hungry disease and crashed into him. He was thrown backward, hitting a truck, losing his breath, then the vehicle exploded.
Lyra screamed his name, running to put her hands on him but a mass of blood jumped and hit her like a whip, sending her into the ground. Her body did not seem to react anymore.
Asha, fearless, jumped like lightning.
Her thunder halberd cut the air, slicing one of the blood arms forming, but the mass was already rebuilding, like nothing happened. A red hand came from the ground, grabbed her ankle and threw her into a wall, then another, then another. The walls broke under the impacts.
— Asha! Dorian shouted.
He released a desperate sound wave against death. Windows exploded everywhere, the street broke like shattered glass. For a short moment, the blood moved back like it was disturbed by the wave, but Aegon did not move even one centimeter. He was cleaning his ears, amused.
— Interesting… a strong voice and powerful waves… you must be from the Veyras family but unfortunately for you I never liked singers, kid.
In one instant he rushed toward my friend. A huge mass formed in front of him before Dorian could understand, like a deformed beast, and fell on him.
My body moved forward to protect Dorian. Aegon did not slow down at all and the collision was worse than being hit by a missile. I crossed several buildings before stopping. Aegon was merciless but I summoned my blades. They cut everything they could so I would not crash into obstacles, spinning around me, then I rushed at him at incredible speed to try a counterattack before it was too late for my friends.
My fire blade wrapped around my arm like a snake to strike with speed and power. My fist hit his face and sent him flying out of the street. I managed to push him away, but what was the point… every time I hit him, the blood moved to the part I attacked. It felt like hitting a horrible giant sea.
Still I did not stop. I kept hitting again and again. My heart was beating like it would explode but nothing worked.
His horrible hand hit me in the stomach. I fell on my knees trying to breathe, but Aegon was not merciful. He lifted me from the ground by grabbing my head and smashed me against the broken stones many times with cruel violence. The taste of iron filled my mouth. I had many broken ribs. I was coughing blood. The world was becoming blurry.
Dorian screamed again to push the monster away. His throat was bleeding. His waves were weaker and hurting him every time he tried to use his sonic scream. He fell on all fours, almost spitting out his vocal cords.
The clouds above became dark, heavy, suffocating, and then the rain started falling, like a curtain of tears. Was the sky sad for us? The drops mixed with the blood, making the metal smell stronger. The ground became a pool, and this place became our grave.
The vision was a nightmare.
Aegon was enjoying himself like a child playing with new toys. Around him, the tides of blood were forming horrible weapons, blades, whips, daggers, and every movement was enough to crush me.
Lyra was not responding anymore. Elias was out.
Asha, barely standing, only had her will to stay conscious.
And me, on my knees, body broken, I was tired…
Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why.
It was not even a fight.
It was an execution.
He had already defeated us mentally before the fight even started.
The rain was falling harder. Lightning crossed the sky, drawing monstrous shadows on the walls of Arcadia.
Someone was going to die tonight.
And we all knew it.
Some of us would not go home.