Einar and I stare at each other in confusion. Someone else is in here? How? We were the only ones in the room and no one could've entered without either one of us noticing. After a few seconds of collecting our thoughts, we nodded to each other and Einar gently places me on the floor.
"Who goes there?" Einar's honeyed yet orotund voice bounced around the walls of the room as if nothing was there to catch it. The silence that followed echoed louder than all else in the room.
After several seconds, the steps of a person could be heard by anyone in the room. Out of the shadows came a figure, it looks almost human! It has features of the average teenage male. It would completely blend in as a human if not for the unnatural white and red hair, the scythe in its hand, and the odd marks on the area around one if its eyes.
"I go here, Azai. I'm sure you remember me." the figure's stentorian voice travelled directly into my ears. Einar and I look at each other, confused at what the man said.
"Who is Azai?" I say as I use my sheathed sword to assist me as it's difficult to stand on my own.
The boy steps forward to get close to Einar, "Don't you dare play dumb with me, Azai!" he shouts close to Einar, waving his scythe around carelessly,
Both Einar and I sense that whoever this boy is, he's powerful. We jump backwards to create some space between us and we both bring out our swords, preparing ourselves for when he would attack.
"Woah there, I'm not here for a fight," the boy stepped back, "They are," he raises his hand to point a finger to the ceiling.
We look up at where he pointed. It's just the ceiling, nothing special, really. Suddenly, some purple lights appeared on the surface of the ceiling.
"What's the meaning of this?" Einar asked the boy in confusion. The boy didn't respond, just continued pointing. We both look up again. The lights started moving, leaving trails behind them like a pen. The lights don't move quickly but seem to be creating a shape: a diamond. After the lights created the diamond, they spread. It's forming other shapes, the picture the lights seem to be creating looked familiar to both Einar and me.
When the lights finished moving, my body took over. I can feel my body sweating uncontrollably, my knees started shaking, my arms getting weaker. The picture the lights created is the same as the mark I saw in the last battle I fought in; it was the Mark of Destruction.
"Einar! Watch ou-" I got cut off by the ceiling bursting open. A large group of people emerge from the hole and they quickly surround us.
"THEY are looking for a battle," the boy steps back to make room for more to come in, "I would stay to see you lose but I have duties to take care of. I bid thee adieu." The boy laughs hysterically then vanishes in a cloud of dark feathers.
"Captain, look." Einar taps my shoulders and signals me to look at the intruders.
I glance once more at the people in front of us and see something that makes me sick to my core. They are not humans; skin eroded, clothes ragged, bones showing, worms emerging from all over their bodies. These are the same creatures that I was scared of when I was a child, the Undead. The damn Undead.
"I think I'm going to vomit." I can feel what I ate for breakfast trying to go up my throat. The smell is just too much, I can't handle decaying bodies.
"Captain this isn't the time, they're coming!" The Undead bastards started moving. They're not quick, but I know enough to know that they're powerful, somehow.
I nod to him and look at the Undead, "Weapons at the ready!" we both raise our swords in preparation of the coming battle.
"Attack!" I shout as we both run into the crowd of enemies, slashing and stabbing our way through. We can't rush to the exit either. We need to keep these things in here and kill them all. It'll be a big issue if we let them loose.
***
We continue fighting for who knows how long. I stabbed my sword into one of them but can't get it out. I'm still exhausted from my fight with Einar, so I fall to the floor. Within a few seconds, the Undead rush towards my exhausted body. I can feel their hands hitting my armour and trying to pull me apart. It's too much, it hurts. I should fight back but my body's too tired to move...
"Einar...I'm sorry..." I close my eyes, it's hopeless to resist at this point.
"Don't give me any of that!" his shout travelled directly to my ears and woke me up.
"You are the Captain for a reason, Mot-" he stops himself for a second, "Silvia! You don't just quit! You have the strength to persevere through any challenge! For the love of all that is holy, FIND THAT STRENGTH!"
I try to move but I can't, my body refuse to move a muscle, "I can't move, Einar."
"DON'T YOU QUIT ON ME, CAPTAIN! HOW IN THE EVER-EXPANDING HELL ARE YOU GOING TO GET STRONGER IF YOU CAN'T EVEN FIGHT A FEW UNDEAD?" he shouts as he continues fighting off the waves of Undead. He's right. I can't give up! I just need to find my sword.
Despite the damage they're doing to my body, these Undead don't seem to not have the strength to break through my armour, at least not for the time being. Moving would give them more area of my body to hit, if I'm going to move, it should only be a few seconds. Otherwise, I might end up getting killed off. I heard from somewhere that one bite from these and you'll be devoured, turn into one of them, or both, I need to keep my armour on at all times.
I scout the area, looking for my sword. Nothing but enemies.
I concentrate and think to myself, "Alright Silvia, just breathe. You have time before they kill you. Wow, pessimistic much? Alright, just rest up a bit and regain some energy."
It hurts, it hurts a lot. Not just my body, but also my pride. Silvia Allexis, the Captain of the Knights of the Holy Order, at the mercy of a few Undead. It really pisses me off that all that I can hear is the grunts of these Undead bastards; that all I feel are their attacks: every hit, every tug, every push; that all I can see are their decaying bodies and my sword stuck in one of them.
Wait! MY SWORD?
I blink multiple times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. My eyes weren't playing tricks on me! It's unmistakable, it's my sword that is stuck in one of the Undead in the sea of foes. I need to move, and quick.
I try to get up but it seems in vain. They're all grabbing onto me, practically bolting me down to the floor. The only way I'll be able to get away is to remove my armour. F*ck it! There's no other choice!
One by one, I remove the hinges that secure my chest plate, leaving one on for when it's time to make my move. I try to do the same for my leg armour, but that didn't work out well. They pulled off my leg armour and dug their teeth into my left leg!
"F*CK F*CK F*CK F*CK!" I shout out in pain. I've fought through wars worse than this bite, so why does it hurt so much?
"Captain!" Einar shouts as he tries to reach me but is overrun by the endless waves of Undead.
"FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLE EINAR! I'VE GOT IT ALL UNDER CONTROL!" I say as I kick off the Undead that's biting into my leg and remove my chest plate to rush toward my sword. I jump up and dash toward my sword, dodging the waves of blows, grabs, and bites. Since I took most of my armour off, I'm vulnerable, especially since I got my leg bit, I need to avoid them as much as I can.
I finally reach the Undead which has my sword and pull it out, opening a wound that spewed out a lot of blood. Then I throw the bastard towards the others to buy me some time.
Einar just narrowly escaped the Undead and made his way to my side, "Captain, you're bit! You'll turn into one of them!" he points to the bite mark on my leg.
I look down at my leg, trying to locate the wound. Only the calf has been affected so far. Here goes nothing.
I raise my sword above my head and let gravity assist me as I move my arms in an arc that will end in my sword hitting my leg. I brace for it as I bring down my sword with all my strength. Successful hit; my leg's been cut off.
"Captain, what are you doing!?!"
"This is what you call resolve, Einar!" I place my sheath where my leg used to be and push down. Hard! It reached deep within my leg to be at the same level as my other leg, the sheath had my femur within it, holding it like a sword. I scream out in pain, not being able to hold it in. I hold my sword close to my chest and face the waves of Undead, "I'm more than prepared to lose all my limbs!"
I adjust myself to a position where I can attack. Einar and I continued fighting them off. It was at this time that the Knights responded to the commotion and aided us in battle.
***
"Wonderfull. Alpha seems to have much-hidden power within her, waiting to be unlocked, however; Azai seems to be lacking greatly. I need to report this to my Titan. I'll be back for those two." Thanatos' familiar voice came through the All-Seeing Eye.
"I see the progress, I'm satisfied, Thanatos. Sadly, this Remnant can't transfer you my message so I can't tell you that your grand news has already gotten to me." I think to myself for a while.
"I guess I'll just act as if I didn't know."