Tav didn't want to die either. The second lizard lunged at us, and Tav took the hit, stepping in front of us as the claws tore through his skin, flesh and bones. In one swift motion, Tav's right forearm was ravaged. But he didn't scream out in pain. He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and brought his left arm down. In that moment, his bones shifted back into position, the muscles and tendons knitted themselves into place, and his skin sealed back.
With his left arm, he struck the nose of the lizard as it got too close to Tav, and tears in the skin of the lizard appeared, ravaging the front of its face as it jumped back in fear and confusion. I didn't understand it at first, but it slowly made sense. Tav had used his Charity blessing to heal the injury, and had lashed out, inflicting the injury back at the lizard.
It worked in concept, but for Tav to actually kill the lizard, he would have to sustain fatal life-threatening hits, heal himself and attack the lizard again, which sounded like a suicide idea, and not something Tav was capable of. He reeled back too, coughing and retching up vomit and blood, probably as a side-effect of exerting the blessing. We were still stupidly outmatched.
Fisher's screams continued to whip through the air in crescendos as almost all the skin had been removed from his back, the blood flowing out from the exposed, red surface of his body. Like the severed leg from earlier, only the muscles were visible on his back. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why would a predator do something so sadistic and evil instead of just eating its prey whole? That would be faster.
With every scream I twitched in agony, even though nothing had happened to me yet. I don't want to go through that pain. I don't want to experience that. Why? Why—
"Get up, Bon. No. Get up Reygir!"
I looked up to who had spoken. Tav. The second lizard still encircled us, planning its next move as it licked its scaly lips.
"What did I tell you? We're going to open up and walk through that third path together! We can't die now! So get up! Fight! At least TRY!"
What the fuck did he want me to do? I was naturally too weak to do anything. Even if I was back to normal, back to the real Reygir, the lizards were too powerful of a foe to fight. I could only brace myself for the pain, for death. But the death wasn't going to come quick as Fisher's screams reminded me. And still, I did not want to die.
The other lizard jumped in for another sweep, and it caught Reni in its jaws, breaking his leg swiftly and tossing him to the other side, letting him writhe in pain. Smart, sadistic idea. Quickly immobilize your prey so you can move to the next ones, then come back later to slowly flay them one by one.
Now it focused on the three of us wholeheartedly, letting out a low snarl as it dove in.
Kuti swung the wooden box from her back to her front and undid the brass latches. Just like the night from two days ago—God, it seemed so fucking long ago—Col, the Waiter, fell out. Her glossy, empty eyes, overgrown hair and nails reminded me of what I had looked like before I was woken.
"Why the hell are you letting her out of the box now?" I yelled at Kuti as she stared wide-eyed at the lizard. Its eyes locked in on Col, the most defenseless prey at the moment.
Even Tav seemed completely baffled. Kuti dropped the box, lifted Col's light figure, and said in a small voice:
"Fetch."
She threw Col to the other side of the forest as if she weighed nothing, then began running backward, out of the forest, her escape route secured.
Tav and I stared, slack-jawed at what had just happened.
Kuti had thrown her great-great-great-great-something grandmother, abandoning her to be eaten. She had sacrificed that life for her own and run away.
How could someone be so fucking heartless, throwing away all their humanity, even in the face of death?
The second lizard took the bait and dove to the other side of the forest to get its free meal.
"We need to go," Tav yelled to me, shaking me out of my frozen stupor. Kuti was merely more than a shadow at this point.
Fisher was at the brink of death, his screams nothing more than wet, bloody gurgles. Reni had been disabled, writhing on the ground, clutching his broken leg. I didn't feel any strong connection to them—that wasn't why I was still stuck in position.
"Get up, Bon!" Tav screamed, coming to pick me up himself. "We're not dying here! We'll run as fast as possible and get more help. Hopefully from Veraque herself. Even from the entire camp if we have to! Just stand the fuck up and MOVE!"
It was because I was still scared. I was a pitiful little shit who had wet myself at the sight of danger. Even now, with this small window of opportunity, I couldn't move. I was petrified. What if there were more lizards here?
As if it heard my question, a third lizard pounced on me, pinning me straight to the floor. My face hit the wet soil as I tasted and inhaled soft dirt and ants, preventing Tav from dragging me out of here.
The claw pressed harder on my back, and I could feel my ribs breaking inside my body.
Why?
Tav stared at me, then at the third lizard on my back, and he took off.
Why?
I looked forward, and in the darkness of the forest, a hundred paces ahead of me, I saw him—the owner of the purple-hemmed cloth. The man who had served me food and urged me to get to work.
Our eyes connected, and the last bit of life seeped away from him. The skin on his back was gone, his stomach gouged out—all intestines and vital organs missing, leaving only the void of the cavity.
I never even knew his name.
Why?
Reni's cries had diminished to soft whimpers. Fisher's screams renewed as he was turned onto his front, the lizard licking his stomach, preparing to tear it open and devour his guts.
Why?
Why did I have to die like this? Why was I so fucking unlucky?
I cried. Really cried. Hot tears of fury and pain streamed down my face as I felt the lizard's hot breath on my skin.
Why couldn't I have just completely jumped off the cliff and died there? Why couldn't I have died from the food poisoning?
Why?
Why did I even wake up? I could have just been kept in Waiting until the end of the universe or some shit. I could have died from the moose attack. Why did it have to be something as terrifying as this?
Why?
I felt the lizard's tongue on my calf, each maxilla scraping against my skin as it slowly started to rip apart the skin from the flesh.
Why?
I shook with all my might in its grasp like I was having a seizure, but it wouldn't budge. Its tongue sank deeper into my flesh, sending ever stronger waves of pain to my brain.
A low, rhythmic sound—almost like human laughter—reverberated from its throat. The sick bastards were enjoying this.
Why?
Why did I not want to die? I deserved this. It was painful but deserving end for me. I couldn't even do anything meaningful. Fisher had fought bravely with a sword, Reni had attacked with the flare, and Tav had used his blessing against the lizards. Even though what Kuti did was disgusting and cowardly, I was worse.
And yet, I couldn't resign myself. I still fought to stay alive.
Why? Why? Why?
"That's enough."
A deep, calm voice filled the forest, pausing the lizard's movements.
The pressure lifted from my back as if the lizard had decided I wasn't worth eating anymore. But that couldn't be it.
I recognized that voice.
Veraque Mitis. Kindness. Her gown danced in the wind as she held up her hand to the lizards.
Their noses twitched and eyes blinked. They tried tearing into my skin to continue flaying me, but it wouldn't work. Their tongues weren't able to move with enough force to tear the skin off.
They tried biting my leg. I felt the teeth on my skin, but they wouldn't pierce through.
So Tav was right. Her Hole Mandate was—
"Holy Mandate of Heavenly Kindness," she said, and I could tell she was angry. "Zero Violence Zone."
Nothing epic or cinematic happened, but the lizards seemed to understand what was going on. Slowly, since they could no longer eat the meals they had struggled so hard to get, they began getting up and moving deeper into the forest.
It took five whole minutes for them to fully leave, after completely realizing there was nothing more to get out of this situation.
I was shaking. I was still alive. Soft fingers held my shoulders as I struggled to stay conscious.
"I'm sorry I left."
I closed my eyes.