[Juliana's PoV]
'A skull is right next to my feckin face. A SKULL is right next TO MY FECKIN FACE!'
Stay calm, stay calm.
Juliana pressed her lips together and did her absolute best to keep from breathing as the skeleton continued looking at her. Maybe if she played dead it would leave her alone? She was close enough anyway; all she'd have to do was punch herself, and boom.
Dead.
A soft light flickered in the skull's eyes as its cloak began billowing wildly. Then it opened its mouth wide, so far that its jaw was almost a 90-degree angle. Its bones clacked together as a sick snapping sound cracked through the air.
'Please don't eat me. Don't you fecking eat me!!!'
A soft laughter echoed in the skeleton's throat as it lowered its skull further down, to the point its indent touched her nose. If the thing was alive, it would look like it was trying to kiss her but its jaw dropped to the floor.
Either way, Mr. Hungry's advances were not appreciated. Even though she was still unimaginably weak from her injuries ('I let my guard down for a dam second!) she still raised her hands, feebly pushing against its ribcage.
The laughter simply grew louder and more guttural. Her soft skin was illuminated by the glowing light in its eyes.
'You're not eating me, and you're not fecking cooking me so that you can eat me!!!'
Unwilling to become Mr. Hungry's snack, she pushed even harder this time. To her surprise, he even budged a little. Even more surprisingly, she no longer felt completely weak. Just 90 percent weak.
Laughing to herself and then instantly regretting doing so due to a sudden pain in her side, she pushed even more. This time, the skeleton didn't budge. Instead, it simply laughed even louder and harsher the more she struggled.
'I'm gonna break your damned ribcage!!!'
Once again she pushed against Mr. Hungry and his ugly face. He moved back further, and she even felt a little revitalized. The exact opposite sensation she expected to feel when fighting for her life.
Her face was illuminated with the light of a star. Still, it wasn't close to blinding. Despite its source, it felt weirdly comforting.
And with that comfort came more and more strength. Soon enough the stupid thing was gonna be shoved completely off of her.
'I don't know where this burst of strength came from, but thank you!'
She could finally laugh without pain as she pushed the Nephilim Fallen completely off her, breaking apart its ribcage in the process. Then she stared at the sun for a second in disbelief. She wasn't dead!
The dead was dead!
A pattering sound of metal pushed her from these thoughts of victory. Enemies. Enemies, Enemies. Always motherfecking enemies. She sighed before taking a deep breath and jumping to her feet.
A soft cry escaped her lips as she shot through the air, jumping at least 4 feet into the air. 'What the heck?!'
After landing unceremoniously she looked at her arms and legs, which were far more toned than before. Almost dying wasn't supposed to do that.
The continued clunking of metal caught her attention again. Putting aside her newfound strength, she looked in the direction of the sound and saw dwarves.
A shetton of dwarves.
She counted over 20 of them, with their golden armor and ugly faces. One was an especially ugly pug face with an indented nose, small squinty eyes, and an abundance of hair. Scrunching her nose, she thanked the gods that she was bound to Nick and not some Dwarven Progenitor.
Speaking of, where was he?
Searching the battlefield for him, she only saw dwarves. And on the ground some sort of red light...
Blood.
Looking closer, she now saw strands of skin and armor. A few tufts of hair. Her mind filled in the blanks, showing her his body as it was sliced apart. Even though she didn't see it, she could envision his body as it was sliced apart, the pain he felt in his last moments.
Her breath caught in her chest as she realized the horrible truth. She let her king die.
Lightning danced around her fingertips as her gaze hardened. The dwarves, who were so ready for war, now looked at her with fear. They gave each other a hesitant look, one that she didn't care to see at all.
Those vermin killed their king, her king.
Such a disgraceful act could only be met with death.
Her lightning intensified around her fingertips. What was just a soft humming, barely discernible to even her, crescendoed into a mighty storm that could shake all of existence.
Scarlet lightning lit her scarlet eyes, a bright and dazzling array of blood-red lightning. Without speaking a word or even uttering a sound, she raised her hand.
All of the built-up lightning coalesced into a single point of raw energy– an energy built to annihilate. There were no cries for mercy, no sound of retreating feet. There were no arms to raise their weapons or shields.
Instead, all that remained was their armor as it settled on their ashes.
Yet she knew her king was still gone. The one purpose in her life was gone. She didn't even remember anything else, there was no past life to return to.
Before a cursed tear could even form, the sudden cackle of bones pulled her from her despair. Her eyes wide, wondering if that skeleton she killed had revived, she turned to find something far worse.
There were 2 more of those skeletons hovering over Amelia and that one guy. Mr. Stick was nowhere to be found.
'He didn't seem like the type to run.'
So then they probably got him too. Soon one of those skeletons would kill her. None of them were safe if they could kill even a Progenitor like Nick.
The smallest comfort they could have was peace. In their final moments, none of them deserved to have some freaky skeleton towering over them. She already killed one of them, these 2 shouldn't be a–
'Wait, what is it doing?'
Just like before, a soft light brighter than a star illuminated from the skeletons' faces, coating Amelia and the guy's faces. More than that though, it appeared to be... healing them.
Why the hell would they do that?!