I was feeling tired, but it seems my work here won't be finished until every single one of this horror inducing soul beasts were destroyed. But the very talent of this soul beasts, made it somewhat hard for me to kill them all at a stretch. They could touch me a million different ways before my sword would have touched them, but there was no going back now. I willed a sheath for my sword into existence, and hung the sword on my back, then I willed two guns into my hands. These things were not the only ones capable of attacking at a distance.
I ran forward, shooting aimlessly, with how densely packed they were, I was sure that the bullets would be taking out a whole lot more of them than when I was aiming at them. I think I caught them off guard, as quite a few of them had already died before I began to feel the effects of their illusions again. I felt a wind blow heavily at my feel, and I stumbled to the ground, a ground that had now turned into a grassy field that had turned into tiny blades of grass that were as hard as metal, and as sharp as swords.
I felt the grass pierce into my body, even going so far as piercing through my neck. Peculiar thing about this grass was that the moment they came In contact with my body, they began to grow rapidly, elongating and stabbing even deeper into my flesh, tearing and piercing at my organs as they went by. I let out a gasp of pain. As I gritted my teeth in agony, and tried to get up.
But then the blades of grass in my body, began to twist and roil within my body, growing and wrapping around my organs and my bones, tying me down in a way that even most ropes would be unable to.
I arched my back in pain as I lost strength in my body, and fell straight onto the grass once again.
This time even my face fell into the grass, and was not spared from the assault as the grass sprung up and stabbed into my eyes, forehead, nose, lips, and cheeks. I almost screamed out in agony as my vision turned red and then finally black, I couldn't open my mouth, or these grass would go in too. I began to pull myself up with every strength capable of being mustered within my body at the moment, but the grasses were not willing to let me go, they twirled deeper, and dug harder into my body, holding me down with a will that rivalled mine.
But I was not willing to remain lying down on the ground. I know that if I could just kill the soul beast controlling this illusion, then my pain would be over, and my sight would return. And even though I was extremely panicked about not being able to see, my senses were a little stronger since I had killed quite a few soul beasts, and had absorbed the soul energy that they were made from.
I pulled harder, and had to let out a moan of agony as the grass cut at the insides of my body, the blades of grass in my eyes hurt the most, because I could feel them scraping at my brain, knocking at the door and almost at the point of piercing through.
I shook my head and body hard to dislodge them, injuring myself a little more in the process as blood began to spill from my eyes and body flowing down is soft rivulets that left my nostrils expanded at the rich smell. I dragged myself up with a sudden burst of strength and felt a lot of the grass dislodged from my body, but with their exit, there was an audible pop, as my eye sockets felt hollow and empty.
The pain was blinding, they took my eyes. I bent down just as fast to look for my missing eyeballs, but the grassy field below me had turned back into a normal stone floor. There was no sign whatsoever of my eyes laying about, no matter how much I searched.
The wounds in my body had disappeared, but my eyes were not back. To truly defeat the soul beasts, I had to either beat their illusions, or kill them. Usually after every illusion was beaten, everything that had been injured would return to normal, but this time my eyes were not back, they were still missing. Maybe...….No! I can't accept this, I have to search harder.
I spread my area of search, rubbing and scratching my hand at the hard ground, maniacally searching for my eyeballs. It was not as if I could restore them if I finally got them, but I needed them, they were a part of me, and if I could just find them, maybe I can figure something out and get them back to normal and right into my head where they belong.
"NO!" I screamed out in frustrated anger.
I couldn't find them, for God sakes where were they. But there was nothing, no matter how hard I searched. I got back up to my feet in despair, before hearing those soul beasts moving again. I couldn't see them, but that doesn't mean I can't kill them.
"BANG!, BANG!, BANG!"
Everywhere I heard a sound, my guns were pointed at that direction, sight or no sight, I could still pull a trigger at a cloud of clustered soul beasts, and I was not letting up. I knew I was killing them, because with every bullet released from either gun, I could feel a stream of soul energy fly into my body. I was killing them, and I was getting stronger for it. But I was not satisfied, the rage in me could not be stoked, so I turned sideways, making sure my back was facing the wall of golden crystals, then pointed my gun towards both end of the corridor, then I pulled every single smidge of soul energy in my body, sent it bubbling towards both guns, and pulled the trigger.
" BRAACCKKKK, BRAACCKKK!"
The sound of both gun shooting was like the sound of thunder on a storm blessed day. I felt the vibration and the force of those bullets reverberate through my hands as they left the muzzle of both guns bringing my rage and anger to the abominations that took my eyes. For a minute everything was silent, even the trajectory of the bullets were as silent as a still winter morning. Then.
"KABOOM!, KABOOM!"
The force of the explosion from both sides, released massive waves of force that went crashing through the numerous ranks of soul beasts, until they met each other and impacted with a loud boom, like the ripples of a cup of water. When they met each other, it was like the ripples meeting the edge of their container, and so they went back the way they came heading straight for me. I felt a thick pressure as the force approached and invaded my body, then I felt as if I was being pressed and pushed from both sides. Then I had this falling sensation, before suddenly my eyes opened.
I was back in the tower, but the atmosphere was very different. There was a very thick smell of blood in the air, and I could smell smoke and burnt flesh. I looked down at my hands, at the place where they were placed on Asha's stomach. I could see her eyes, they were grey, empty and lifeless. Obtuse black lines spread from the seal to every inch of her body, the poison had spread, and she was gone.
I felt my breath hitch as it suddenly became difficult to breathe. The grief threatened to break through and encompass me, but I held on, I pushed it down. This has to still be the seal, this could only be an illusion, it has to be. So if this was an illusion, then I had to defeat this illusion, I had to find my courage and get out of it. I could see now, so this had to be in my head, it's all in my head, it has to be.
I looked at Asha once again and choked hard as I noticed the bloodied tiny form beside her. It was vaguely human, and curled into a fetal position, it was fetus, our baby. Out of his mother's womb long before his time, and dead by her side. Denied life before he could even ask for it. But this was a lie, it has to be a lie.
I got back up to my feet and turned my back at the gory scene, I was surprised to see bodies upon bodies littered on the ground like sands on a beach. People I knew were there, the vampires, Teluna, Nisi, Dwayne and his granddaughter Xaseah still clutched in his arms. Guilt, pain, agony, despair no words could describe this feeling, I felt desolate, and above all, I felt empty.
I made my way outside the tower, taking care not to step on any of the bodies littered around. When I came out, the blue district was no longer the blue district. Big plumes of smoke and fire rose over the horizon as screams and painful wails rent the air in their despair. What could have happened? I stumbled, and looked down to see Asare, with half his face burnt away, clutching at my feet and holding me down with all of his strength.
"You have to run! He's lost his mind. He's not the same anymore GO! Before it's too late ARGGHHHH!"
Asare turned over in pain, and I could see a massive part of his chest cavity missing. His heart was exposed to the air slowly beating down as the will that kept him alive slowly dwindled to nothing.
"Tell me Asare, Tell me who did this, tell me WHO IS HE?"
Asare summoned whatever was left of his strength as he clutched my shirt and pulled himself closer to me, his eye wide with pain and delirious with despair and blood loss.
"It. Was. You!"
And then he fell limp in my hands, his eyes closed and his heart no longer beating. Then his body began to turn grey, then they broke apart like the ash from burnt cigarette, floating away with the gust of wind that carried death with its howl. I watched helpless as he faded away, lost, in pain, and confused. What did he mean.
"Finally, you're here. I was wondering how long you were going to spend breaking the seal over a dead body."
That voice, it was so familiar, intimately so. But I really didn't want to turn around, I didn't want to see or look. It all felt so real, so painful, so insane. Was this the truth of my reality, or was this still an illusion. It was different no doubt, powerful in it's own right. But it felt like something those soul beasts should incapable of. Everything they had done so far, was to affect my perception, to do things to me, to torture me. I found it hard to believe that they could create an illusion of this scale. I could feel the air, I could feel my beating heart and despair it carried.
"are you going to turn around, or do you need me to do it for you. I don't have all day."
I never thought that this voice, 'my' voice could contain such malice, arrogance and wickedness. But I had to see this, it was the only other option available right now. I turned around and faced...myself.