I stood there and simply watched it die. The fight had been won, and after a very long day, I felt I could finally let myself relax a little. Plus, I was somewhat proud of myself. There were things I could've done better, of course. I should've attacked the front first while I still had the full length of my sword; if I hit it deep enough, it would've gone down faster, and I would've been at less risk. But I pushed these thoughts away to mull over later. The job was done, and I deserved a minute to rest.
It continued to thrash for a while, somehow staying afloat the whole time. The adrenaline rush started to wear off about the same time the blood fountain started to reduce in volume. As it did though, I noticed something strange. Behind the thinned blood fountain, I saw two small birds sitting at the peak of a roof. They had the body of a dove, but one was a pure, gold-tinged white, and the other was an elegant black that reflected purple in what little light there was. They were peacefully watching what was happening, occasionally chirping to each other.
When the Lure finally ran out of blood, it fell out of the sky, landing with a dull thud. Immediately after, the birds took to the sky and fluttered away, each taking a separate, meandering path, but headed in the same direction. They were quickly hidden by the rows of buildings, and I turned my focus back in front of me. I guessed it was only a matter of time before the others showed up, but I didn't have much to do in the meantime. It then occurred to me that I was completely covered in the Lure's blood, and as soon as I focused on it, I started to feel incredibly uncomfortable. I reached for my cloak to use as a towel, and only then noticed it wasn't around my shoulders. After a few seconds of trying to wipe the blood off with my hands, I sighed in defeat and took my shirt off. I used the outside to get big stuff off and used the mostly dry inside to try to get the small stuff, but the blood was almost gelatinous, making it near-impossible to remove. I had already given up on getting it out of my hair, and had moved onto debating the pros and cons of going bald.
As I was wiping myself down, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to find the four people that had ditched me earlier now standing in a line with weird looks on their faces. Well, only three of them were standing as the Mayor was sitting on Bear's shoulders. He was holding his gun and cane, making Bear almost look like he had four arms. I smirked at the sight and threw my once-white shirt over my shoulder.
"I'm still alive, and I'm almost as shocked about it as you are."
They didn't respond and just kept looking at me. As the silence crossed the threshold of astonishment into awkwardness, the Mayor finally spoke up.
"Kid, look down for a second."
I gave him a questioning look but did as he asked. The ground beneath me was splattered with blood, which wasn't surprising, but there was nothing of not apart from that. As I started to question him though, my eyes moved to my now-exposed torso. My veins had turned black and were pulsating. My skin was greyer than usual too, but that wasn't as concerning. I hadn't noticed it before as it was masked by the rest of the blood that was on me.
"Well, that's new. Should I be concerned or is this just something that happens sometimes?"
"No clue. First time I'm seeing it. If I were you, I'd be a bit concerned, but since I'm not you, I'm interested."
"What do we do about it?"
"Can't fix something you don't understand. Only thing we can do right now is wait and hope it gets better on its own."
"That's it? What if it kills me?"
"I'll make sure you get a nice funeral. I could probably finagle a medal out of someone for you, if'n you want."
"Oh, thanks. That's very reassuring. I'm sure you'll find the best jar you can to put me in when I turn into ooze."
"Of course, only the best for the loyal soldiers of the Church. Speaking of which, Erin, get the rest of the blood off him and see if that helps. Bear, put me down and get me a chair."
Bear plucked the Mayor off his shoulders by his shirt collar, setting him down in the middle of the street. He then walked over to the closest building and punched a hole in the wall, stepping inside. In the meantime, Erin walked up to me and, after a moment of inspecting me with her head cocked, waved her hand, which now had a soft gold glow. My whole body then burst into gold-edged white flames for a bit under a second, just short enough to stop before I started panicking. I worriedly checked myself for burns, and quickly noticed I was now spotless, including the layer of dirt and grime that built up throughout the day. Even my shirt had been cleaned.
"Well, that's convenient, if a little terrifying."
"Yes, as long as I get the power level right. Thanks for staying still."
Bear walked back out, chair in hand. He set it in the middle of the street and placed the Mayor on it, moving to a spot behind him. I put my shit back on, then Erin and I then walked in front of the two of them. The kid stood a ways back, as always.
"What do we do now? Is the wave over?"
"For the most part, yes. There're a few things to do yet, but nothing for you. Bear, what was the situation at the fort?"
"Everyone's dead; nothing worth going back for."
"And what happened before that?"
"The wave overwhelmed them quickly. The situation was unwinnable. I buried myself under some rubble and hid my presence. I came out when the movement stopped."
"I was hoping for something more special than that."
"There wasn't."
"Then what took you so long to get here?"
"I gave it some time once the wave passed. I jogged most of the way. I saw movement in the city when I was about half a mile away, so I started walking."
"Well that explains that. Nothing more we can do at the fort, so let's finish up here and get going. Us four will grab what we need to from the town hall. Kid you check for survivors."
"Which kid?"
"The one I can see and am currently looking at."
"How do you want me to do that? There's a whole town for me to look through."
"Pick a spot and get started. We'll come grab you when we're done."
"If you wanted to get me out of the way, you could just say so."
"I could, if that's what my goal was. That would also defeat the purpose of telling you to look for survivors."
"There are survivors?"
"No."
"Then why would you tell me to look for survivors?"
"They say that you die twice. Once when you, you know, die, the other when the last person who remembers you forgets. Maybe I just want you to keep these people alive a bit longer."
"You won't tell me no matter what I say, will you?"
"Nope. This isn't a fight you can win, so maybe consider there's a reason for what I'm saying."
"Or you could just tell me and I could find what you want me to immediately."
"Just do it. I promise I'm not putting your life at risk again. Now, shoo."
"Ok, fine. Where do you- wait, hold on. We never talked about you using me as bait to kill that thing."
"Now, I might be old, but according to my memory, you killed it."
"Sorry, I tend to get defensive when I have some horrible monstrosity bearing down on me. It doesn't excuse the fact that you all ditched me and let that thing nearly kill me."
"You had it handled. Why step on your toes when we can just sit back and watch the fireworks."
"You were perfectly willing to let that thing nearly kill me."
"You're repeating yourself."
"If I hadn't seen that thing before, if I didn't have some idea of what I was up against, I would've had no chance-"
"Stop. You saw the Lure? You were close enough to see it and you walked away?"
"Yes, and if I hadn't, it very well could have killed me."
"That was the point, numbnuts, and you not saying you had seen it is what actually almost got you killed. A Lure is constantly on high alert until the instant it moves in for the kill. It needed to think it had a sure kill to drop its guard enough to let me get a line of sight on it, and the only way it would think it had a sure kill is when it's about to kill you."
"Great plan, it's just too bad that thing was coming at with a literally palpable fury and was expecting a fight, so it never dropped its guard. You couldn't have at least run the plan by me first?"
"Well, it must've dropped its guard if you were able to kill it, and what do you mean by 'a literally palpable fury'?"
"Thanks for not even considering I might've had the skill to kill it on my own."
"You don't."
"Thanks for the input, Erin, but reality seems to say otherwise. As for it being angry, I meant what I said. When it was doing its mind thing to me, I could feel it's anger and irritation at not being able to kill me before."
"Alright, fine. Sorry for using you as bait. You've given me some stuff to think about. Now, go do what I told you. I want to get out of here."
"Fine. I'm not dropping this here, though."
"I'd expect nothing less. Now, lets the four of us get going."
They were off in under five seconds. Bear picked the Mayor up and jumped up onto the closest roof, moving him to his shoulders while he was in the air. Erin quickly followed, and the three of them were out of sight. The kid stood there watching them go, giving me one last look before sighing and walking off. I similarly sighed before going off in a different direction. I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking for, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be seeing the four of them again until I found what the Mayor wanted me to find.