"What do we do now?" Oskah asked.
Dulkha did not answer.
The shadow hand waved the sword, almost defiantly. He then fired the first blow at Oskah, who parried the blow with his electrified mace, which sparked on contact. The creature screamed; the lanterns wavered. He was afraid of a light that was not his light. Oskah had an illumination, but he didn't have time to express it.
The sword reached out and hit Dulkha hard. "No!!!"
But he, without saying a word, became evanescent, a pile of bandages which soon afterwards came together again. Oskah and Zen gasped.
"I did it instinctively. I don't know what happened."
"What the hell are you ?!"
The creature screamed. It was not a single voice, but several voices together that scarred each other inside those blood-colored lanterns.
The creature, after realizing that the boy covered by bandages was too difficult a target, decided to focus on Zen. He, having understood the intention of the creature, got up with difficulty and managed to avoid the devastating blow. The tree took a full blow, and several branches of light stirred within it, like pathways of glittering nerves.
Oskah remembered the enlightenment.
"Guys ... I think I understand something!"
"That you are an incompetent idiot?"
"No, shut up! I understand his weak point."
"Oh yeah?! And tell me, what would it be?"
Oskah didn't answer, grabbed the electrified mace, squeezed it, activating it, pointing it at the creature. Fortunately for him, she just attacked him again, in the same way as before. The blade collided with the electric joints of the club, causing an even stronger spark than before.
The creature screamed loudly, its shadow hands evaporated, and the blade dropped, the lantern lights flickered harder.
Oskah turned to Zen and then to Dulkha, their eyes showing that they had understood the intentions.
Zen stared at his sword, he had to take advantage of it to retrieve it, but the weapon was too close to the creature.
Dulkha, without saying anything, attacked the creature with the sacred bandages, this unexpectedly managed to grab them, blocking them.
The creature was distracted, hurt, Zen thought it was time.
I must squeeze my ass and go, it's the only way to redeem myself from the fool I've made with these losers, he thought. In a second, an inscrutable moment.
Zen launched, giving himself a thrust of enormous power, grabbed the sword, felt the asphyxiating heat of the creature, the sickening density of the shadows that surrounded it. He looked into the creature's eyes, he didn't explain why, but he did. He watched her as the blade was stuck in his neck, and as the shadows evaporated, the lights exploded in a supernova of light and death.
The creature's mask crumbled, leaving an oblivion in its place.
Zen drew back his sword, lights and souls came out of the lanterns, singing of joy and pain.
The pain and fear of reincarnation.
The creature had disappeared, in its place, a tombstone with written on it.
Love me.
The tombstone flamed slightly with a bluish light; the blood was gone.
Zen fell to his knees, exhausted as are the gladiators who survived the slaughter. He was not satisfied, just exhausted and light. Lighter than before, for sure.
Dulkha looked at the scene and said nothing, Oskah did the same. They said nothing until they reached the northern city, the city of frost. Throughout the road, they spoke only through their breaths and weary footsteps.
The ground began to turn white. Pieces of scrap began to replace the strange roots that made up the forest. In the blink of an eye the trio found themselves in front of the gate that marked "Filaspera".
"Here we are, then ..."
"What the hell is that?"
In front of the small cave that introduced the village, a boulder obstructed the way, leaning through a long cold tunnel. At a closer look, the boulder turned out to be a large unknown wreck.
"I think I know the reason for Filaspera's isolation." Oskah said, thinking aloud.
"Yes, we have the reason in front of us." Dulkha concluded.
"What the fuck do we do now?"
Oskah turned, looked at Zen with eyes sharpened by his weariness, and said ...
"Let's go back."
Zen was stunned.
"Seriously?! All this way for nothing?!"
"It's nothing. We have the reason; we can't do anything else."
"Yes, we can, damn pussy, let's move the boulder and slap them all."
"Why slaps?" Dulkha asked.
"Shall we move the boulder?" Oskah laughed heartily, with a hint of hysteria. "They haven't succeeded in two months, can we?"
"Why slaps?" Dulkha asked.
Zen shook his head. "Look ... Division Head Bitch sent you here for a reason. No?"
Oskah was stunned by Zen's thoughtful tone. "What reason?"
"Think about it, shit, he could have sent anyone, the first jerk that happened, if she wanted a simple report, an innocent little bullshit walk…"
Their speech was interrupted by a verse. The verse possessed something human, but only in the little remnants corrupted by an unknown source.
Oskah and Zen shivered.
A silence followed in which no one dared to speak.
There was no sound.
"Why slaps?" Dulkha asked.
Oskah looked at Zen with fearful eyes; he could no longer hide it.
"Do you want to go in again?" Zen lowered his eyes, did not answer.
"Do you really think the Division Chief really cares about taking our worth into consideration? The worth of his soldiers, of the scouts who die, get injured, and go mad more and more?!
WE ARE SLAUGHTER MEAT FOR YOU, FOR THAT CITY!
And yes, you were right to leave, I would have done the same, indeed, I had been thinking for a long time about leaving that place ... "
Oskah grabbed his electrified club, pointed it at the whitewashed earth beneath his feet.
"You're right. It's a shitty place, YOU ARE DAMN RIGHT!"
Oskah threw the bat, full of anger. There was a dry sound, the ground was soft and absorbed the sound.
At the same moment, a catastrophic and screeching sound began behind them. Oskah was afraid to turn around, he saw that Zen's mouth was wide open. He turned around.
The huge wreck was gone, it had been thrown a few meters from the entrance, far enough away for them to enter. Dulkha was turned in the direction of the entrance, his bandages shining, they were about to rewind into the boy's arms.
"Can we slap them now?" Dulkha said.