"Wh-What is this dark presence?" I said running at full speed to the village.
The presence I felt was cold and depressing. I sent chills down my spine.
"I can see people," Xylvia said right behind me. "A lot of them."
The people that she was talking about didn't at all look like normal people. Well obviously you wouldn't some people with claws, fangs, fur, or a tail would be normal either, but these people looked...different.
"Hiro!"
I looked behind me and saw Xylvia jump straight at me. She knocked me on the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I asked a little frustrated.
"Those people...I...remember them." she said.
"Who are they?"
"They're...the Army of Darkness."
Another chill ran down my spine from those words.
"So that explains that presence I just felt." I said.
"We need to get out of here now." Xylvia said helping me up.
"We can't just leave those people," I argued. "They could be killed."
"They're...already dead."
I didn't know what to say anymore. I wanted to try and help those people, but I didn't want to force Xylvia to come with me after hearing about what happened to her mother.
"Xylvia," I said. "Go back to the entrance of the caves. I'm going to head to the village."
Xylvia looked at me like I was asking for death.
"Are you crazy," she said in frustration. "I can't let you do that! You'll get killed!!"
"I can't just leave those people to die! They don't deserve it!
I was also getting frustrated, but I also understood why Xylvia was completely against the idea.
"NO," she shouted while suddenly wrapping her arms around me. "I won't let you. I don't want to lose you to!"
She was starting to cry again. Damnit. I did it again, and, again, I doing nothing about it. What could I do?
"Xylvia," I said. "I can't just leave them to die. I promise, once I get as many people as I can out of there, I'll come back for you."
Xylvia looked up at me with teary eyes. I knew that she didn't want me to go, but I couldn't just ignore those people.
"You better keep that promise," she said. "I love you too much for you to die on me."
"Wait, what?!"
Xylvia froze. Her face turned little red and her cat ears-were springing up and down. She was extremely cute.
"OK FINE," she suddenly exclaimed. " I admit it, I'm in love with you Hiro!!"
I felt like I could die a happy man after I heard those words. I felt something warm in my chest.
"In know that this is probably the worst time to be confessing to you, but at least let me do this before we charge in there like maniacs!"
Xylvia then grabbed on to me tightly and closed in on my face until her lips met with mine.
It felt soft and warm. It was much more than the last kiss we shared. I didn't really know what to do, so I just wrapped one arm around her and placed my hand on the other arm on her cheek.
We stayed like this for about a few seconds before we backed our faces away from each other.
"We're in this together Hiro," Xylvia said. "I'm with you no matter what happens."
"Are you sure that you want to come with me?" I asked.
Xylvia simply nodded. That was good enough for me.
"Alright then," I said grabbing her hand and running towards the village. "It's time for another adventure!"
The people of the village were running all over the place. The nearest village from the one Xylvia and I were currently at was about a ten to fifteen mile walk.
"EVERYONE, FOLLOW HER," I shouted at the top of my lungs pointing to Xylvia. "SHE WILL LEAD ALL OF YOU TO A SAFE PLACE!!"
I ran inside as many houses as I could to get people out of there. Luckily, everyone listened to me and ran as quickly as they could to Xylvia.
"IS THIS EVERYONE?!" I asked to one of the villagers.
"NO, THERE ARE STILL SOME PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE!!"
I looked over to where he was pointing at. There were crimson flames everywhere in that direction. It was risky, but I couldn't just leave them.
"EVERYONE FOLLOW THAT THERIANTHROPE GIRL," I ordered while pointing to Xylvia. "SHE WILL LEAD YOU TO A CAVE ENTRANCE!! YOU'LL BE SAFE THERE!!"
I then ran as fast as I could to the wall of flames that roared and cackled in front of me.
"HIRO!"
I turned my head and saw Xylvia behind me with a worried look.
"BE CAREFUL YOU CRAZY BASTARD!!"
I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Then, I took off towards the orange and red flames.
I grabbed two small vials of water from my backpack and flipped the caps off of them with my thumbs. I splashed them on my hands and prepared a chant.
"AQUA SHOT!" I chanted while pointing my hands at the roaring flames.
Huge cannonball shaped balls of water shot out from my hand and straight at the flames. I was able to dim the flames down just enough for me to run across them safely.
In order to use magic, you had to use the elements around you. When there wasn't water to use for magic, I made sure to carry small vials of it around with me just in case. It may have been only a small amount of water, but my water magic level was high enough to put out troublesome flames like these. When using magic, it can increase the atoms inside the element that you're trying to control. The higher your magic level is on a specific element, the bigger the atoms will grow inside the element and the more powerful your attacks or defenses will be.
Once I got through the tough flames, I dashed as quickly as I could to reach the other side of the village. I suddenly stopped when I saw multiple dark figures walking towards me. However, it wasn't the figures that caught my attention. What caught my attention were the countless bodies that lay across the streets, all covered in blood.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I suddenly felt a hand grab onto my leg. I quickly loomed back and saw a man in horrible shape. He was missing both his legs and one of his arms. He also had a piece of glass sticking out of his head.
"Hey...c-can you make the blood...s-stop?" he asked me.
I thought I was going to throw up after seeing him like this. What the hell did the Army of Darkness do to him.
"P-Please...don't let my d-daughter...see me like this."
He then collapsed to the ground. The fingers on his right hand twitched a little, but then he never moved after that.
"No way," I said to myself panicking. "This man is...dead?"
I didn't want to face reality, but it was hard to do that when it was right in front of my face. The burning village. The countless bloody corpses. This was what darkness felt like.
The figures were marching closer to me. I had lost all hope of there being any other survivors out there, so I started to run. However, I heard someone running behind me.
I turned around to see a little girl running over to the guy that grabbed my leg a moment ago. She looked at him and started to cry.
"Daddy," she said. "Daddy, please wake up! We have to go! I don't want to go alone! Please! DADDY!!"
The little girl couldn't have been any older than eight years. Her clothes were tattered and a little burned from the flames. How long was she in that house for?
I suddenly saw one of the dark figures begin to charge at full speed towards the little girl. It looked like the figure was riding on a horse or something.
"HEY," I called out to the little girl. "RUUUUUUN!!"
The little girl looked behind her and saw the figure close in on her, but she didn't move. I didn't understand. Why wouldn't she move? Why doesn't she run away?
I wanted to run to her, by my body wouldn't move. It felt like I was being paralyzed by what I saw a few moments ago. A young man, missing limbs and covered in blood. He was so confused, he didn't even know he was dying. It frightened me.
The figure was only a few yards away from her. I needed to do something. I grabbed another vial out of my pack, flicked the cap off, and splashed it on my hands.
"AQUA BULLETS!!" I shouted.
About thirty bullet-sized balls of water formed and shot immediately at the charging figure. I thought it would be enough to al least knock it off balance, but all the figure did was swat them away. Not with their sword...but with their bare hand
"No way...," I said falling to my knees. "He...swatted them away like they were nothing but flies..."
I had to keep going, but I had lost all hope in fighting. I didn't have the courage like a hero did. Even if the hero was a cocky idiot, he was still much more courageous than I could ever hope to be. I had no faith in myself. I failed...
*SLASH!*
In a quick motion, the figure swiped his sword at the girl. I looked up to see what happened to the little girl, but that was a decision that I wish I had never made.
The moment I looked up...was the moment when I could no longer see her head...where it should've been.
I was only a few yards away, so I could clearly see what had happened. Blood spurted out from where her head should've been, and then her body collapsed onto the ground.
"Eat..."
That word came from the figure that slashed the girl's head off. Suddenly, multiple figures came running from the thick ash clouds and raced over to the girl. They than placed they're hands together and bowed as if they were preying or something.
"LET'S EAT!!" they all said.
Eat?! No. They're not going to...
But they did. They all stuck their hands inside the lifeless body and pulled out huge chunks of flesh. They then stuffed it into their mouths...and ate it.
"T-They're...e-eating her...," I said trembling. "N-No...how...how could you do this?"
I just sat there on the ground an watched as they devoured the body of what was once just a little girl who was looking for her father. I wanted to turn away. I wanted to run. I at least wanted to fight, but I couldn't even get up on my feet. I was weak and hopeless. I couldn't do anything. I was no hero. I let a little girl die because of my own lack of courage. It was my fault.
I...killed her.
"HIRO!!"
I heard a voice calling to me. I turned and saw Xylvia running at full speed.
"HIRO, WE NEED TO LEAVE!!" she shouted.
"Xylvia...?"