Thunderous stomping rushed towards them. The clones charge forward, colliding together in a big mesh. Yunga immediately breezed into them. A big chunk of the force blew away like dust in the wind.
As more of them vanish, another one takes its place in an instant. She kept sweeping through all of them, but it seemed to be of no use. No matter how many she wiped out they just kept spawning in.
“It’s so fun watching you do all of this effort for nothing.” Piper mocked through her clones.
“I’m gonna find you soon, you can’t keep hiding forever!” Yunga responded.
So much dust was bellowing up that it was clouding up the surrounding area. It was a light brown fog that engulfed her. Zunci could do nothing but just stand there, a few pebbles flew past her and some huffs of dirt blew by. She lowered her rifle and ran around the cloud to see if she could get a better angle.
Rounding some trees a Piper apparition stopped her dead in her tracks. Startled, she accidentally fired a shot. The bullet traveled through it and the clone faded away. More popped up and surrounded her in a perfect circle.
“You’d think I’d forget about you?” She taunted.
Zunci gritted her teeth. “You’re not real.” She trotted forward, phasing right through the vision.
“I can just follow you, you know?” More showed up.
Ignore her, pretend she doesn’t exist. It’s only stupid tricks she can’t hurt you.
Zunci mused. Stomping along as Piper continued to mock her, she tuned her out.
Think! She can basically pop clones out of nowhere but there has to be an origin point to it, somewhere she’s hiding. And there has to be a limit or some way she can see us. Behind a tree is most likely the case. This spell has to require concentration to make them appear wherever she pleases.
She stopped in her tracks and her eyes lit up, like she had some sort of revelation.
That’s gotta be it! She’s already busy with Yunga, having to constantly spawn clones. She also needs to focus on me. But I can’t take these out en masse like she can. I have to find a way to overpopulate her senses, overload her brain so she’ll slip up.
“You ok?” Piper continued to yap. “You ok in there? Or is it just sinking in that you can’t do anything?”
Zunci leapt into a sprint, heading deeper into the forest of clones.
“Where do you think you’re going!?” They chased after her but pretty slowly.
Yunga came to a screeching stop, she was out of breath. Even though she destroyed hundreds of apparitions, there still is more than she can count.
“Well how’s your plan working out for ya?” Piper laughed. “I mean, I appreciate the effort but oh my god you’re pathetic. Did you really think that you could sweep away every single one of me. Stupid bitch you are.”
Yunga stood there panting in heat like a dog, taking the barrage of insults.
“My deal is still up in the air for you. It’s your last chance to-”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Piper sighed. “Fine then. Let your friend down for all I care. Makes my life a whole lot-” She suddenly stopped talking, it was like she was interrupted but there was barely any sound. Besides the crunching footsteps in the distance of Zunci.
All of the clones just stood still, standing straight up with their arms to the side looking forward like a mindless zombie. She looked at them in bewilderment.
“Zunci! You know what’s going on?” She shouted out.
“Huh?” Zunci halted. “Whatcha say?”
“I said-”
Even though Zunci stopped rushing forward, there were still sounds of leaves crunching and twigs breaking. Someone else was running, and the sound was getting distant. It was coming from the exact direction she was heading towards.
“Found you.” Yunga proclaimed confidently.
Zunci turned her head to the sound too. A brief flash of the bland gray clothes rushing behind a tree further off into the distance. “Is that her? I can’t tell anymore to be honest.”
“Has to be her!” She zoomed off yet again, bouncing onto the bark of a tree and dashing towards another one. She zig and zagged through the forest, only to see a familiar sight. A huge array of Piper’s popped up suddenly in random spots again, completely losing track of her.
Yunga leapt off the tree and slammed down on the ground, sweeping a huge lot of them. Looking up she just saw all of the clones running away in different directions.
“Running away now huh? What happened to the tough act?” She was now mocking. “All of that talk just to be a little pussy.”
My dumb mouth is running but I have no idea where she went. There has to be a way to tell the difference.
She was pondering in her head.
Wait! Didn’t Zunci say she shot her in the leg. That’s how we even tracked her in the first place. But if I remember none of the apparitions had any wounds. Just look for the one with the bullet hole in her leg, or she might be limping away from us.
“Zunci! Look for anyone who has a bullet wound! Even better if you spot one limping!”
“Got it!” She surveyed the area, rifle in hand.
Yunga zipped around chasing down the fleeing copies. Prancing on them only for them to dissipate away. Even with the knowledge of the wound, it’s still hard to identify as they’re not facing forward.
The tell has to be more obvious, it just has to be.
She thought to herself. She hunted down more visions, with them splitting off from each other. But something was peculiar, the clones were getting weaker in a way. They were more sloppily put together and some of them just faded away on spawn, and the more they ran away they started to evaporate. She didn’t even need to hit them to make that happen, it just did that naturally.
Yunga sprung from tree to tree noticing the same pattern. It was getting tiring to do the same routine over and over again with the same result. Though the more she hunted the more she picked up that only a few were so weak while others were the same and even stronger.
I have to be getting closer.
She caught herself on a tree branch and stopped to think to herself.
She must be producing them at mass to cover her trail but she’s got to leave herself open while she’s doing that. Maybe, just maybe, that the apparitions get stronger the closer they are to her. That's why most of them were so easy. That’s gotta be it.
Looking down she saw the slightest tint of red, the crimson blood trail from earlier. She smirked as she leapt off and onto the ground.
“Thank you Zunci.” She said smiling.
Zunci was trying her best to catch up, running in the direction she saw Yunga zip off to. Seeing the clones in front of her fall one after another in a blurry haze. Though being able to see and hear her zooming through the whole place it was still hard to tell where they were exactly.
The huge thuds of Yunga crashing into the ground started to grow distant and moved all around her. Even with her thorough efforts she couldn’t follow.
“Dammit, I wish you weren’t so fast Yunga.” She spoke out of breath. “Though it’s a blessing you are.”
Out in the distance she saw another Piper. She sighed, thinking to herself to be just another clone. Though this one was limping, hopping away in terror. A sudden burst of excitement grew out in her.
“Ha!” She spoke out. “That’s her for sure!”
I couldn’t see any wounds but none of the others were limping away, that was it! Thank god I landed that shot, makes this a whole lot easier.
She sprinted towards Piper as she hobbled past some trees. Copies poured out from her body like it was a faucet. All of them splitting off in different directions, all running normally.
“Well, there’s further confirmation.” Zunci quipped. She followed the mass hoard, blowing through more fakes.
In the crowd of Piper's though it’s still hard to spot the real one even if you know the keen difference between them. It’s like sensory overload, her eyes got lost in the wave of clones spewing out. It had no sign of stoppage either; it kept unloading like a constant waterfall.
But no matter where she was heading they were being produced in the same spot. Directly in the middle and continuing forward, though you couldn’t see it, it was where they were being largely pumped out.
Zunci clenched the rifle in her hand harder. “Don’t shoot to kill, but we have to stop her. This’ll keep going on forever if I don’t. Better than being stuck in this endless cycle.” She stopped for a moment and tracked down the pattern. Aiming near the lower half of the body, she held her breath and focused.
Time seemed to slow down as she concentrated hard on the one spot. Slowly pulling the trigger with her finger, a lightbulb ticked off in her head.
Got it!
The bullet fired out of the chamber, soaring right through the apparitions and hitting spot on in the lower calf of Piper.
She unleashed an agonizing scream as she collapsed to the dirt. Every single clone poofed out of existence.
Yunga was about to prance on one right as they disappeared. Bewildered, she looked around, trying to pinpoint the location of the screech.
“Over here Yunga!” Zunci was heard cheering. “I got her!”
“Good fucking going girl!” She launched off the ground in a hurry.
Piper used her arms to try and crawl away as both of her legs were unusable. Desperately digging her nails into the dirt and dragging her limp body across. Panicking and sucking in air through her teeth, seething in the pain. Tears formed as she tried her best to pick up the pace, knowing it was all worthless anyways.
Yunga came flying towards them. Jumping branch to branch, ultimately ascending high up right above Piper.
She turned her head back and saw the horrifying silhouette of Yunga in the sky, her shadow overlaying her as she blocked the blinding sun.
“No please!” She pleaded.
It was already too late as Yunga crashed down on her back, digging her knee into her spine. Placing her palm on the back of her head and slamming her face down into the dirt.
“Finally.” She said, squishing her face down more.
Piper started whaling though muffled by the ground. Her head was pulled back up and her dirt ridden face was smeared with snot and tear streaks.
“Please don’t kill me!” She begged. “I’m sorry I’ll give you the knife and everything else just don’t kill me!”
“That was the plan anyways.” Zunci ran up and said. “Trust me, you would’ve been dead already if that was our goal.”
“Thank god.” She stopped crying.
“Zunci help stop the bleeding.” Yunga commanded. “Unfortunately we can’t let her die, not yet.”
“Thank you.” Piper said softly, trying to make sure they didn’t hear that.
Zunci pulled out some medical aid stuff she had in a sack and treated the wound as best as she could at the moment. Enough to stop Piper dying of blood loss but not properly treat the wound so it could heal better.
“Since you were all high and mighty with your deals, let me offer you one.” Yunga spoke to her so smugly as Zunci wrapped her legs. “We keep you alive and you’ll lead us to the knife. Then head off, and as an extra, hand you some supplies so you don’t end up dying slowly and painfully. Deal?”
“Sure, whatever.” She pouted.
“Great, see that wasn't so hard now was it? Could’ve saved you from the two broken legs if you only complied earlier.”
She growled.
“All patched up.” Zunci exclaimed. “Did the best I can.”
“All good.” Yunga responded. “Now.” She grabbed Piper by her torso and lunged her over her shoulder. Her face facing forwards right next to Yunga’s. “Lead the way.”
“First let’s get out of the forest. Then I'll know where to go next.” Piper said.
“Hmmmm, do you know how big this forest is anyways?”
“Not that big, just head in a direction and you’ll eventually find your way out.”
“Now you're finally being helpful.”
“Oh shut up you wench!”
“You’re one to talk.”
The both kept slinging insults back and forth as they continued hiking forward, with the sun slowly going down in the horizon, the dawn of the first day coming to a near close.
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeEN9ag3vM
It was a silent trot through the dreary cave. Shug’s wound was still seeping blood through his clothing. He held it close and clenched his teeth, trying to stop the bleeding. Bouncing up and down on Li’s back made it even harder.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Brentha asked concerningly.
“Yes I am.” Shug responded. “It just stings.”
“We’ll get that treated right away when we get back to Jinlin.”
“That’s if you two survive.” Li butted in. “Now quit your jargon and come up with a game plan, we need to know how to kill her.”
“Right, right ummm…” Shug started to trail off. “Shit, is there really anything we can do? You saw earlier she was gonna snap us like twigs then she started freaking the fuck out. We can’t rely on that to save our asses.”
“Might be our best bet.”
“That’s leaving it all up to chance! There’s some other weakness there has to be.”
“Bullets seemed effective on her.”
“That’s only if we get the drop on her first. If she surprises us like last time we’re surely dead. A well placed shot isn’t going to save us at that point.”
“I don’t see any other way.”
“Wait, Huune said something about smashing crystals. That’s solely why I have this club.”
“I didn’t spot any.”
“Well, they gotta be somewhere. He wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise. Maybe that's the source of her power? I don’t know how magic works. If only Shanta was here with us.”
“I think you might be right.” Brentha added on. “Or I hope you are, because it’s all we got.”
“Heads up!” Li warned. “Another cloud coming up!”
Another dark mist blocked their path again. Leaping forward with stride, Li confidently galloped through. Their vision engulfed in black with the consecutive ups and downs from the hops. Just like before, in a brief few seconds they flew out the cloud.
Being met back again with the glistening crystals, the track being illuminated ahead showing a gradual curve to the right.
“Oh crap, we’re way behind.” Brentha said.
“I’ll pick up the pace!” Li spoke. Outstretching his legs to get a longer stride.
“Don’t push yourself man.” Shug cautioned. “You’re already pretty beaten. You’re friend tore your chest almost to shreds-”
“Like I said before I’m fine!” He barked. “Besides they weren’t my friends anyways, just some stupid tricks to get under my skin.”
“That doesn’t change any-”
“Drop it Shug or I’ll throw both of you off of me, you got it? Stop buying into her illusions.”
He was taken aback, his eyes dropped and his eyebrows slumped down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to anger you.”
Li didn’t respond.
He looked at Brentha and all she could do was shrug. Looking concerned as both of them reached the same conclusion in their mind.
Springing along the track at high speeds, Li amped up his momentum. He was almost as fast as the carts from earlier. Approaching the curve sooner than expected, a noticeable second rail that seemingly came out of nowhere was connecting to the main railway.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Li said, halting to a complete stop at the intersection point. “It should just go in a big loop. Dammit! She switched it up to get away from us.” He slammed his fist down.
“Are we sure they went there?” Brentha questioned.
“Of course there’s no other fucking reason.”
“Then let’s go, we've gotta catch up!” Shug exclaimed.
A train whistle bellowed out and echoed in the distance. The headlight of a conductor cart cropped up out of the distant fog. On top was Angeline, looking forward at the trio.
“Shit!” Li shouted out. “Get ready!”
Brentha whipped out the rifle as swiftly as she could. Angeline reached out her hand, telepathically taking control of the weapon, plucked it out of her hands and threw it off the track, into the chasm below. Continuing to pick every single one of them up off the ground and dragging them along as the train barreled past. The locomotive was even longer than earlier. Ten carts loaded up full with crystals.
They were being propped up by their necks in the air, hovering over the steep drop below following the train. It was a struggle to breathe but it wasn’t impossible, the grip was tight enough to keep them still but not to crush their throats. They were all trying to talk but their voices clamped up and just squeaked out incoherent nonsense.
“Well what a coincidence.” Angeline spoke out, her voice mixing with the masculine tone and her regular speaking voice. “Makes this a whole lot easier.”
She pulled Li closer to her, shoving Shug and Brentha to the side. Hovering them over the collected crystals in the rest of the carts. Filled to the brim, shining brighter than the ones below.
“I knew I couldn’t trust your friends to carry out a simple task, but I had hope.”
She loosened the grip on Li, barely enough for him to speak. “Fuck you!” He was able to creak out.
“I see, being bleak runs in the species.”
“You killed my friends-”
“You bastard? Is that what you were gonna say?” She snickered. “Predictable.”
Li looked at her, the fire burning in his eyes and the rage flooding in.
“I didn’t really kill them, you know? Their fate was WAY more painful than you think.”
“Shut up!”
“I destroyed their bodies but not their minds. I took their souls and reconstructed their anatomy, obviously with some imperfections. Nonetheless I trapped them in a body they couldn’t control.”
“Stop lying! I saw them all disappear, you can’t fake that!”
“Oh” She started laughing. “That wasn’t just some illusion you saw. Look, you clearly have a misunderstanding. The body can die but the soul never will, it’ll be trapped in an endless limbo, so all I did was take it and give it a new vessel. You could say I was doing them a favor by giving them life again. Though miserable because they had no say, but they were living, and there’s no lie with that.”
“No, it all doesn’t make sense! None of this makes sense! I don’t understand.”
“Good, you shouldn’t anyways.”
“You’re just messing with my head, none of it was true. It can’t be!”
“I’m tired of talking to you guys anyways, it’s been fun but I’ve got important matters to attend to. I’ll leave you off with this. When I throw your useless body down in the chasm I want this to linger on your mind.” She pulled Li directly towards her, now both of them being face to face. “Your friends felt the pain when you killed them. Every stab, every gunshot, everything. They were begging you to stop, begging for you to not kill them, begging you to set them free. And when you die and get dragged down to hell with the lot of ‘em, I want it to haunt you that you couldn’t save them no matter how hard you tried. You’re pathetic, and a failure of a friend.”
Li’s eyes were streaming with tears running down his cheeks and trickling down on the crystals. He closed his eyes and his mind went blank.
A screeching scream snapped him back to reality. Angeline was shrieking again, she regained control of her body.
Everyone dropped out of the air. Shug and Brentha fell on top of the crystals. They were razor sharp, some of them piercing into them but only being skin deep, stopping before they dig in deeper in the flesh. Li slumped down and leaned against Angeline as she continued wailing.
“Destroy the crystals!” She cried out. “It’s the only way to destroy him!”
“What?” Li said, both of them were basically hugging each other.
“Kill him please!”
“No, no, no, no.” He pleaded. “If we kill him we kill you.”
“I would rather have that than suffer more in this body.”
“No! I’m gonna save you, I’ll take your soul or whatever out of this body and put you in a new one, I’m gonna-”
His sentence was cut off by the sound of something breaking, akin to glass shattering. Li swiveled his head around and saw Shug smashing the crystals with his bone club. Angeline squealed and hugged him tighter.
“What are you doing!?” He snapped.
“She said we need to destroy the crystals.” Shug responded. “I’m only doing what she told me to.”
“Stop! We’re gonna save her, we don’t need to kill her!”
“There’s no other way!” Angeline retorted.
“No! Angie, I can’t lose you, I’ve already lost everyone else I can’t lose you! I’ll save you and you’ll come back to the camp with us in a new healthy body and we’ll go back to our cot and-”
“Li! You can’t do that and you know it. Please, just end the pain.”
“Angie, I-I-I love you I’m not gonna-”
Angeline’s claws unsheathed and she plunged them right through his abdomen. His voice stopped and he looked down slowly. His eyes widened as the slow realization that his stomach and spine was completely cut through. Blood drooled out of his mouth, he tried to speak but he only wheezed.
Angeline smiled as his body went limp and leaned heavily into her. “Out of everyone you should’ve listened to, it was your own friend. But look what happened.”
“Li!” Both Shug and Brentha shouted.
“Like I said earlier, you’re pathetic.”
She whipped her arm around and Li’s lifeless body flung off the train and into the crystals below. A final tear flowed out of his eye as his torso and head got pierced through by multiple crystals, blood splattering everywhere tainting the blue glow.
“His soul wasn’t even worth sucking out of anyway.” She fanned her claws, trying to shake off loose droplets of blood.
“You motherfucker!” Brentha screamed out.
“Forgot both of you were still here, more nuisances to add to the pile-”
Shug brought his club directly down on a group of crystals, shattering them into pieces. Angeline howled in pain as she collapsed to her knees.
“Don’t worry Angie!” Shug shouted out. “We’ll put you out of your misery!"171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpjqEw0aad
