The effect pulsed and vibrated into the air. The creature's eyes darted upwards, looking directly at him as they crashed back down to the first floor. The creature thrashed its bone arms wildly, attempting to collect itself.
The moment he decided to use the power, it ripped through his system waves of nausea and blood poured from his face. A pounding headache left him on the floor for a second. His body felt sore all over, and his muscles strained nearly to the point of being useless. He crawled towards the wall as the creature's horrific sounds slowly turned into voices.
It screamed out in an amalgamation of screams and whispers, hundreds of different people all calling to be saved and freed from the curse of this creature.
An unsettling deep voice rumbled from the crowd.
"YOUR VERY IMAGE IS UNSETTLING TO THE MASTER. ALL HOLDERS OF THIS TIME SHOULD NOT BE!"
It charged him.
And yet somehow, he lived.
Sophia bashed open the door and pulled him out of harm's way, dragging him by his collar.
The screams of the blood crazed creature were hot behind them; its whispers begged for mercy and hungered for his death.
Adam looked out towards it as he was dragged away.
"I HEAR YOU ALL. I WILL COME BACK AND SAVE YOU FROM THIS MISERY, NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!"
The beast looked over, momentarily stopping in its tracks as if it could understand what he said. For several moments, it was as if it realized what it was. A scream ruptured into the sky, and it clawed at its own face.
Adam could barely walk. He felt nothing but pain, and his consciousness faded slowly into black.
Sophia dragged Adam through the halls of the stone buildings and went to the door, seeking the scout, but no one was there. She banged at the door and uttered the words from the previous men.
Nothing occurred. She cursed softly under her breath and turned around, a stabbing pain in her gut and a flare of tension, fear, and anger flooding over her.
She readied the charred spear and watched as the beast dragged itself toward her.
As she held Adam in her arms, she poured her thoughts into Rain.
"What do I do?"
The amulet responded to her:
"Do not fear action. Fear that your helmet will be with the others. Fear that your inability to act is how you failed."
Sophia listened but said nothing.
She charged the beast with the spear, stabbing it once in the chest and backing off.
The creature screamed a horrifying guttural screech and charged at her, slashing its claws wildly. She dodged these swings effortlessly a quick sidestep, a duck below death. Her heartbeat pounded and her eyes shone. The fear in her mind was the only true weapon keeping her alive. She dashed behind it and grabbed onto its maggot-ridden back.
Screams continued to bellow from the creature as it rammed into walls to throw her off. It attempted to grab her, but she continued to pierce its skin until she was slammed into the wall and fell to the floor.
Bloodied, she stood up, crimson dripping down her face and clouding the vision in her left eye. She rose slowly.
The creature turned swiftly to meet its attacker once more. Sophia lunged at the creature, spear ready, prepared to meet her end. Fear wrapped around her neck like the men that once attempted to end her life. It was suffocating. She felt the cold whispers of their voices. She did not invite death, but for once, she wished to meet it face to face.
The creature's bony clawed arm swung down a slice that would easily behead a normal man. But she was no normal man. She was a knight of Bant. One who ate demons. Quickly, she steadied her blade, sinking it into the chest of the monster three times in rapid succession.
It stepped back for a moment, its horrifying eyes looking as though they begged. But she ignored them. The beast was cornered. She felt nothing but fear and that fear kept her mind sharp and her emotions steady.
The creature attacked once again, lunging at her, its maw opening to try to snap her in two. She jumped over it, slammed her boot into its face, and embedded her spear into its neck. The blade snapped off in its flesh, and she stood aghast the one thing that had kept her sanity was no longer.
Her hands began to tremble. Her faith and morale broken, the beast stumbled toward her. Sophia dragged herself backward, her heart pounding, her stomach heaving. Her eyes began to water, and she merely held her face as the tears dropped.
The creature slowly dragged itself forward and looked down at the crying young woman. For a moment, it simply peered at her. Then, the beast caressed her cheek, cutting it slightly as its bone limb brushed against her skin. Blood fell onto the creature's limb, and it slowly walked away before succumbing to its injuries.
She sat there and continued to cry, clutching her chest and sitting in the corner of the broken building.