An ear-splitting scream jolts me awake.
Marshal—who's been awake on watch—is already turning his head toward the source. He shoots me a concerned look.
"We need to go," he whispers, hopping to his feet.
I look over to Kate. She's stirring but definitely not awake. Marshal's already creeping into the forest toward the source.
"Benji, pick her up if you have to."
I try shaking Kate gently, but she just swats my hand away.
"Benji."
"Ok ok," I whisper back.
This wasn't the time to be embarrassed. Someone out there is in trouble for crying out loud. 'Get a grip.' I growl internally. I haul Kate's sleeping body onto my back.
"Let's go," Marshal says, shifting from foot to foot. I follow quickly behind him as we sprint toward the source.
After sprinting for a couple of minutes, we arrive to a horrifying scene. I can barely even take in my surroundings, before the overwhelming smell of blood assaults my nose. The once peaceful campsite was now painted with blood. Two of our schoolmate's bodies lay strewn on the ground. The muscular guy has his throat slit, and the girl next to him has her stomach torn open—it even looks like something ravaged her insides.
I look away before I throw up. Marshal looks as disgusted as I do. I really hope Kate wouldn't wake up right now, but the smell of blood is so potent that I'm sure she would. I didn't want her to see this horrible scene. Almost unconsciously, I release a small amount of shadows that snake up my arm and wrap around her eyes.
Marshal and I exchange glances. We're both very aware of the distinct scraping noise. We can't see what's making the noise, but we're sure it's just beyond the trees ahead. I release more shadows forming them into the shape of five ice picks.
Whatever this thing is, it's likely a melee fighter. I nod to Marshal—he readies himself as well. He releases water from his hands, hardening it into the shape of a thick spike. He then concentrates for a moment, changing something else.
It isn't steaming so it must've been something more subtle. As he hefts the dense-looking water staring ahead with his intense blue eyes, he almost looks like a different person right now—his usual grin but a memory.
He nods, confirming he's ready. We start creeping towards the scraping. Kate is awake now on my back—trembling. She's scared, which wasn't meshing well with my own fear.
As we continue to approach the sound, we soon see the creature. It's tall and boney, its skin black as night, and there are spikes all along its body. It's scratching the base of a large boulder. The panicked hyperventilating of its victim is very clear now.
Marshal wastes no time, vaulting his spike into the creature's skull. He releases the water from his influence and it freezes in an instant. I blink my eyes in shock, but despite the ice spike now in its head, after only a moment of pause, it reaches up with its spiny hand and crushes the ice.
It turns toward us with a very concerning lack of a head. I fling all five of the shadow picks I created into it. The creature doesn't even flinch. It laughs an inhuman laugh and continues its approach.
'Expand.'
I command the shadows, as they're still under my influence. They try to do as I say, but are faced with resistance. 'Dammit, stop holding back.' I curse at myself internally, but my outstretched arm is trembling. The creature pauses again, seeming to mock me with its posture alone.
'Expand.'
I command again, but yet again I'm faced with resistance. Marshal's gazing at me with a slightly concerned yet curious look. The creature feels its body, like a mime, as if it's concerned. It then pretends to convulse, before laughing its inhumane laugh.
'Tch, come on, Benji. Where is that confidence that made you make an entire shadow scythe.' I think, suddenly becoming more aware of Kate's presence on my back.
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. 'Be daring.' My mom flashes to mind. 'Be brave.' then Kate by the fire. 'Be…cool.' then Marshal back in the arena. My eyes shoot open. The creature has slunk a little closer. Marshal has a water-short sword at the ready, but he's still looking at me. I give him a smile, before returning my gaze to the creature.
'Expand.'
The shadows obey, and this time succeed. They force its flesh to rip and tear. The creature's now making a weird sound between a wheeze, and a scream. It's twitching horribly, but still moving. Marshal and I take a collective step back.
'Condense, then expand again.'
An audible cracking and tearing sound is heard as my shadows mangle its body. It twitches falling in a heap in front of us. I let go of a breath I'd been holding, letting the shadows disperse.
"—Good stuff, Benji," Marshal says, giving me an approving nod, but instead of responding I swiftly move over to the boulder.
There's a small crevasse at its base that is covered by a solid barrier of shadow. I crouch placing my hand on it. "Don't worry it's safe now," I say. I wait for a response or for the barrier to go down, but nothing happens.
Kate slips off my back. We exchange worried looks, and she kneels by the boulder. "He's not lying, the monster is gone now so just come out," she tries. Once again no response, other than the girl's hushed breathing. I sigh looking over to Marshal, he simply shrugs.
I walk over to him with Kate in tow. "I'm gonna try to pass through her shadows," I tell him.
Marshal nods, "Alright, but I'd also like to know what exactly happened here."
I nod walking back over to the boulder.
I kneel in front of it and place my hand on the barrier. I imagine the shadows wrapping around me and inviting me in. They give me resistance, but she's tired. They'll let me pass but refuse to disperse, I accept this, passing through.
I fall through into a really tight crawl space. The girl before me has long silky black hair, and her eyes are erratic.
"Don't panic I'm just here to—" I start, but she wrestles me to the ground. She punches me over and over in a flurry of blows.
I block the best I can, but in the small space, it's hard. She cries as she beats me. "It's not my fault, It's not, It's not," She repeats. Her blows become slower and less powerful. She's sobbing now gripping my shirt and crying into my chest. "It's not It's not," she continues.
I think I have a moment to rest, but she switches on me again. She pulls me up by the shirt, up close to her desperate face. "You think I killed them don't you," she weeps.
"I don't," I retort.
"You do," she says. I try to explain but she interrupts me.
"Shut up! You're lying, you're going to report me aren't you," she practically screams. "M-my family I-I can't…I-it's not my fault. It's not," she sobs. She starts to try to pummel me again, but I catch both her wrists.
"We just wanna help—" I say, trying to get through to her, but she's not listening to me. She struggles and fights. It's difficult to move in the small space, and familiar pain is rising in my face. "Dammit—Listen to me," I yell, emboldened by the pain now coursing through my face, "If you didn't kill them prove it to me—"
"Huh?"
"—Tell me what happened. Don't accept I won't believe you," I say trying to keep the pain out of my voice, "Stop running away from whatever happened—just talk to me." Tears are streaming down her face. She stares at me for a moment, taking in my words. She's shaking badly. She takes a few deep breaths trying to compose herself.
"W-we set up camp for the night. We didn't see any m-monsters," she stammers. "So on my watch, I only closed my eyes for a moment, then I smelled the blood…the blood…oh I didn't—I couldn't've known," she finishes her panic starting to rise again. "I did nothing wrong right," she whispers, "It was a mistake."
It's almost like she wants to convince even herself. I almost want to tell her what I know she wants to hear. "You didn't kill them," I start, "But even you can see that—" She gives me a sad tortured look that makes me stop. She looks away as we lay in silence for a while. I continue to hold her wrist just in case she tries to hit me again.
"I'll let the barrier down," she says suddenly after a while. "But please know. I didn't—I didn't want any of this to happen," she says, looking deep into my eyes. Her body goes limp as the shadows disperse.
"Apologize to their families—" I whisper to her, "Learn from this and accept what happened." I try to give her a soft reassuring smile. She gives me a slight smile in return, no longer able to do much else.
'Magic exhaustion. She must have put her everything into that barrier—though I can't say I blame her.'
I work on shuffling out of the crawl space. When I'm out I drag her mostly paralyzed body out along with me. Kate and Marshal walk up to greet me.
"Is she okay," Kate asks. I nod my head, and she relaxes.
"That's good, but did you get her to tell you what happened," Marshal asks. I look at the girl again realizing I don't know her name. While she couldn't move at the moment her eyes look calm enough, so I hope she's prepared.
"She dozed off on her watch and well—was lucky enough to smell the blood in time."
Kate looks troubled, but still wears the same concerned look for the girl. Marshal however is wearing a strange look, almost like he was boiling with rage that froze over. After staring at the girl for a while Marshal speaks up.
"C'mon we've got to bring her back to the arena."
It's still early morning so we still have time. I nod my head hefting the girl onto my back. Marshal takes out the map, studying it for a moment. "Alright, follow me," he says, tucking the map away before going into a full-on sprint. Once again Kate and I are somewhat startled, but we snap out of it quickly and chase after him.
After some more running, we break through the tree line. We're a bit further off but we can see the arena in the distance. The distant approach of the sun warms the dark sky. As we approach the arena entrance, we can see the headmaster sitting on the steps. The nurse stands near pouring him some tea.
"Ugh, why do I have to wait out this early? No one's gonna finish the trial that quickly," he says, taking a swig of the tea.
"Well you never know Headmaster," the nurse responds curtly, staring directly at us.
"Mornin' Headmaster," Marshal says.
The headmaster screams, almost spilling his tea. "My word, what are you doing here," he asks, clearly flustered. He studies Marshal for a second.
"Cranel," he inquires.
"That's my name," Marshal responds.
"Well, What are you doing here," the headmaster asks again, staring hard at us, noticing the girl on my back.
"Oh my," the headmaster gasps.
"Yeah, it would appear tragedy has struck—my party and I tried to get there on time but we were—too late," Marshal says. The headmaster silently beckons the nurse to check on the girl. The nurse tells me to lay her down, I comply.
The nurse leans over and starts gingerly feeling the girl's body. At this point, I look away embarrassed. The headmaster has his head in his hands. "I always know it could happen any year, at any moment—but," the headmaster looks up at the girl, "It never makes it any easier—Khris was such a sweet girl. And her party—"
The headmaster bites his lip in frustration. "Where are they—their bodies I mean—I will need to tell their families when I can and I'm sure they'd like to see them," he says.
"Back in the forest—Get me a map and I can show you roughly where—though you'll know when you're close," Marshal says—whispering the last part grimly.
The headmaster nods—taking a deep breath recomposing himself. He slips a hand into his robes and hands, Marshal, a map—I assume to be the surrounding area—and a piece of white chalk.
While Marshal works on the map, the headmaster's gaze falls on me. He then blinks in disbelief, apparently seeing me for the first time. He lets out a disbelieving laugh, then after a few moments of laughing he finally says, "I almost didn't believe it. You're Sandra's boy aren't you," he asks frankly.
I nod—slightly uncomfortable. It's always weird hearing people address my mom by her first name.
Though his face is still sad, the headmaster smiles. "I'm glad your invitation got to you. I was afraid Sandra would burn it," he says, laughing wryly. Though I'm curious about the backstory that led to that train of thought, Marshal has already handed him his map back.
"Thank you. Truly. You three best be off now—shoo shoo—you have a trial to finish," the headmaster says waving us off.
I'd almost forgotten about the trial after everything that happened. Marshal and Kate start walking off. I shoot a worried glance back before following after them. We pick up our pace to a jog. Heading right back into the thicket.