Heart of the Storm

I lashed out my vines threateningly towards where Dan stood. The vines met nothing but thin air. He dodged them. I swung my vines faster, violently. They looked like whips, too fast for others but Dan still managed to evade my attacks. Then, an explosion. One of them threw a smoke bomb at me. It burned my eyes and made them teary. I was a second late. Dan's leg shot up and hit me in the abdomen. I dropped gasping to my knees and just managed to protect my face from another kick. I got up, only to get knocked over again. Ris jumped with both feet and kicked me on full force on the hip. My vines did not have enough time to react. I started laughing. They looked at me, puzzled.

"What? I mean, isn't this amusing? You all seriously want to get rid of me now."

"You started it. I don't know what happened to you in the demon world, but you've gone too far", Ris said.

"We won't let you kill innocent people. The Black Thorns was established to protect everyone from the likes of you." Dan's words stung, almost.

I got too distracted and did not see what was coming. Something pierced through my chest from behind. Then, I was pulled back. Arg! I yelped. I saw the chains attached to the weapon stuck to my chest, the other end held by the commander. I tried to yank it off. The commander pulled on the chains again and I fell back on the ground.

"Do you really think you've succeeded? Do you think this will kill me? I am immortal. And I have no heart."

"Is that so? Then why are you bleeding?"

I stared at my chest and the commander was right. Blood was dripping from my wound - red, fresh blood. I pulled a root from the ground and cut the chains with it, then I pulled out the sharp weapon which was soaked with my blood.

"I'm glad you came here commander. You saved me the trouble of luring you to death."

"You talk big for someone who's about to lose. Look around you. Your demons are losing. We'll exterminate you all and peace shall be returned."

"Peace? Even without the demons, there will be no peace. Humans fight each other everyday. Humans kill each other."

"But human conflicts can be dealt with proper conversation. Humans are not as barbaric as demons."

"We're both just fighting for our kind. You're fighting for your survival, we are fighting for ours. Let's see who wins."

"If survival was the only thing you wanted, then why come here? You and all these other demons could have just lived in peace in your own world", Dan said.

"Because part of me wanted to see you", I blurted without thinking. "But it doesn't matter now. There's no going back for me, is there?"

Aaaahhh! More trees grew from the ground. Their branches attacked every human near them. I grabbed a branch and broke it off. I ran towards the commander. A sea of arrows rained on me. I clenched my teeth and created a shield. A few arrows got through. One of the arrows made a deep wound on my cheek, another hit me on the thigh. Then I couldn't avoid the chain, it caught my wrist. The soldier tried to pull me closer to him. Since he wanted to close the distance between us, I pulled him closer to me instead and grabbed him by the neck. I lifted him off his feet. The little soldier wriggled in suffocation. Then, I suddenly recognized him - one of the children from the orphanage. So he became a soldier, after all. Badump! There it is again. Another heartbeat. I let go of the soldier and placed my hand over my chest where blood was still dripping. Slash! Someone stabbed me in the stomach. It was Mike.