Dalakethnon's Intentions

This is an unlikely match and the odds are not in my favor. How can I hold myself against this monster? I'm running out of juice, every inch of my body aches from the inside out, and my senses are starting to give out. I can't feel a thing. Am I bleeding or all of this blood is already here before we even got here? Blood. All these commotions block me from my distaste for this substance but it's all coming back to me now for some reason. I feel every inch of my skin prick, sending shivers to every system in my body that is still functioning.

          "Vaaatic!" That breathy voice will haunt me until the end of time. "The witch has to die!"

          Dalakethnon sends out a bloodcurdling scream and then charges towards me. The sinister aura emanating from him in every strand is like a drop of boulder after boulder to my weakening body. I look around to see if there's anything useful to prevent this inevitable death from the hands of the beast but all I see are constant rubble, darkness, and the rage from the monster itself. Not until I hear a familiar pattern of strong and steady paws hitting the ground. I'm not alone after all. Masid is with me until my last breath.

          Masid passes through behind me, snatching me away by biting my tunic and running off to a safe distance. "Pull yourself together, Vatic!" He reminds me. "No one will die here, right? Pull. Yourself. Together."

          "You must leave me here as well, brother. Leave me here. I'll deal with the beast."

          "Deal with him? Aren't you seeing yourself?" The panic in his voice is evident. "You look like a mess! I'm surprised you're not even bleeding to death or even bleeding at all." 

          "My healing spell might be in effect all this time. I'm not so certain. I'm sure though internally, I may have some broken bones and smashed-up organs somewhe–" I cough, vomiting out everything we had for lunch with Mother.

          "You're not in the condition to fight anymore. Come, I'll get you to safety."

          "If we both leave, he'll just chase us down. If one of us stays here, there's greater chance to flee, find the girls, and leave this place."

          "I'll stay then."

          He's not in the most perfect of conditions as well with all those scratches and bruises he got from all this mess but he's willing to sacrifice himself to keep us from harm. He's a good friend or maybe he's just good at performing his task. I know Mother had him for me as a familiar at first and a friend second. I just want to believe that despite that, he and I see each other as genuine brothers. We've been through a lot, we've faced a lot of difficulties, accomplished a lot of challenges, and won a lot of triumphs. I know his intentions are pure and true.

          "I've had enough stubbornness in a day, brother. Don't be this difficult."

          "What then? You want me to follow your absurd wish to flee and leave you here to die? There's no way, Vatic."

          "I've lost you once, brother. I will not let that happen again."

          "What happens to 'we'll be together always'?"

          "Just listen to me, Masid!" My anger almost mirrors the rage boiling aggressively from within the beast. "I'll handle this!"

          "How?" He doesn't waver. I hate this side of him. "I dare you to tell me how you will handle that?" He looks intently at Dalakethnon who's currently occupied in laughing, crying, and screaming hysterically from a distance then back to me.

          "I'm not so certain but it is something. Before I do it, I need you to leave this place. It will not be safe here." My tone calms, hoping that he will listen to me this time.

          "You don't dare to tell me whatever it is you're planning? I take great offense, Vatic!"

          "I'm sorry about this, brother. You leave me no choice." I look at him in the eyes. I contemplate in the last second but I have no other option. If he won't follow my wishes voluntarily, I will make him follow. "Reirrab. Leper."

          The remaining hum in the air that I can sense made its way into my core and has been the fuel to ignite my flame magic. Heat resonates throughout every bone, muscle, and skin then I let them form a spherical barrier entrapping Masid inside. I watch him protest but to no avail. He's trapped just as I planned. With a little hand gesture, I let the spherical barrier shoot out away from me and eventually out of this place. The look on Masid's face makes me wonder if what I'm doing is the right thing to do but I've already gone this far. I have to do this now or all of us will die.

          "Reirrab. Leper." Dalakethnon mimics using the same layered voices of the departed. For a heartbeat, I brace myself for what's about to happen. I lean on my shaky senses to prepare for what's about to come.

          A couple of heavy breaths later, no barriers were formed and no uncommon heat source was conjured. I was careless to let myself think that the monster is able to do magic. No tales and fables say that the beast can. How could he? There's no chance for him to be able to mimic my ability. The only things he can mimic are the voices of his victims. I know that for sure now. It's obvious that I'm still in a great disadvantage but that small win gives me a little sliver of hope that I surely need. Aside from that, I still have a trick left under my sleeve.

          You are the curse, Vatic. Portia's declaration plays on the back of my mind nonstop since she told us that. It surely made me think hard and deeply. If I am truly The Nymph's Curse, what is it that I can do to defeat this beast? If I'm processing this right, there's a chance I can kill him altogether. That would be beyond thrilling if that is really true. The Gods haven't really left us here to have meaningless deaths. The only problem is I don't know how to conjure the curse. Do I need to chant something like I always do to activate my spells? Is there something I need to have for the curse to unleash? Once unleashed, will I be able to control myself? Enough. Just. Do. It.

          The laughter reverberating from deep within him to this entire dungeon doesn't cease to send terror from my head to my toe. However, there's something else I'm just now noticing. That enigmatic voice of the man seems to be saying something but being muffled with all the laughter, then all the crying, then all the yelling. I can't figure it out. It must be just my imagination with all this pain and lack of energy to do any of my spells. I can feel my limbs numbing, steeling. I must end all this now before my body gives out.

          "Mother, what should I do?" I mutter to the ceiling, keeping myself from crumbling down.

          "My Swan." I hear that enigmatic male voice right next to my ear. I can feel the beast's breath whipping past my neck.

          I look back down and flick my sight to my right where the voice is coming from. Dalakethnon is right in front of my face, breathing heavily. Is it just me or does his appearance mellows? His ears aren't as pointy, his teeth aren't as sharp, his bulky frame shrunk compared to how it was, and his glowing red eyes have become something like… mine. I see my emerald green eyes reflecting on his. In this sudden appearance, I mustered the last of my strength to jump away and pray to the Gods for me to be able to avoid his next strike.

          "V-Vatic." He says as if finally talking to me. "Bleed." His eyes glisten. I don't know if it's because of the natural light or the lack thereof but I can see the corner of his eyes water.

          Although still terrified, my curiosity is fighting with everything else to make itself known. "W-Who are you?"

          "Bleed!" He seems to be swallowed by extreme agony all of a sudden. I can see his exterior form shift from his monster stature to his more humanoid form and vice versa. The mist all around us is thickening. His voice sounds like a broken radio with it changing with every breath.

          "B-Bleed!" A voice of a wailing boy shrieks. "Now!" A muffled voice of a girl whispers.

          My subconscious lets me look at my hands which are already raised, trembling. Then, I hear a thunder strike from up above. The lightning provides a quick but striking white flash. With a sudden blink, my surroundings become tinted with that familiar crimson hue, and my entire body warm from being soaked with… blood. I look towards where Dalakethnon is and what I see sends knives to my core. Instead of the beast, there's a mob of people. Dead people. Something tells me there are the souls of the former residents of Hiraya. Children, elders, and among them is… Straus?

          Like how I saw him in the picture back in Aela's cabin, he sports a beaming smile for everyone to see. The others with him are smiling at me sending me an indescribable calm. As if this scene couldn't be more outlandish, the appearances of these people flash to the scene right out of my nightmares and back to this calm picture with every other heartbeat from their smiles and peaceful auras to their dark hollow eye sockets and their void-like mouths. I'm losing my sanity out here.

          "Bleed, boy!" That enigmatic voice of the man came back. It turns out, it belongs to Straus.

          Without even realizing it, I already am gripping one of my daggers with my dominant arm tightly and aiming the blade at my left palm. The images from a decade ago resurfaced. The dying kids, their parents dying with them, and Mother dragging me off to safety. The dead bird from years ago which I believe Mother healed and teleported back to the wild. And that family of grizzlies lying lifeless in that clearing somewhere deep in the heart of the forest. All the dots are connecting now. I have my suspicions before but those suspicions are now making sense.

          "Portia is right. I am the curse." That brief yet eye-opening trance halts, sending me back to my dreadful reality.

          I see Dalakethnon a few paces away and seems to be out of his trance as well. He's directly looking at me with hunger in his glowing red eyes. His sudden change of appearance seems to just be part of my daze because he's now back to his otherworldly horrifying form. I don't want to think about it but he seems to become even more gnarly than he was previously. Before he can even make up his mind and come at me charging and finally finish me off, my palm is already bleeding from the cut I did.

          The beast becomes disturbed, losing his focus. "Portia is right." He still continues to mimic my words. "You are the curse." Straus' voice seeps out.

          Whatever happened to those who came in contact with my blood or even sensed the whiff of it is not happening to the monster. Instinctively, I stab my left shoulder, cutting myself down in the direction of my elbow. For some reason, I couldn't care less about how much blood I will lose. The important thing to do is bleed. A subtle yet skin-prickling aura echoes from my core to all directions which means, the curse will hit the beast and once it does, it'll be the end of his years of terror.

          He falls to his knees, grabbing his throat. The ground quakes with a steady stream of rumble. He seems to be losing his ability to breathe. More. Give me more. A dark crimson substance burst out of his eye sockets and his mouth. His eyeballs turn red and the pool of blood in his throat obstructs his ability to let out the mimicked screams of those dead mobs he devoured. Is this really happening? Dalakethnon is fighting for his life right in front of me. This is going to be the end of the line for the Beast of Hiraya.

          It's a mistake to let my guard down, letting a wave of relief wash over me. Instead of dropping flat on the ground, the beast musters the last of his strength to stand up and charges at me with arms preparing for his final blow. The curse isn't strong enough to finish him. What am I missing? Is it the distance or is it something else? I don't have anything else aside from the curse. I have to make a gamble. My heartbeat rises as I prepare myself to remedy the gap between us. Then, I charge at him as well. The blood flowing steadily from my left arm sends some of its splatters everywhere as I raise it, aiming for what I believe the beast's weakness is.

          Before we make contact, I jump as high as I can with the help of some flame magic to propel my heavily injured body. I land on the beast's neck. With his mouth slightly ajar, concealing the pool of blood overflowing from his throat, I muster a small amount of hum specifically on my left palm, and put it inside his mouth. Then, my palms sense a strong enough explosion to let me squeeze the rest of my arm into his mouth. My bleeding arm is completely gushing blood out from my wounds and directly to his mouth. This should do it. This just must.

          "Thank you," I hear Straus' voice echoes all around me as soon as the monster finally drops lifeless to the ground. I try to stand up and look for the source of that voice with what's left of my strength but I can't see anything –anyone. "Vatic."

          I manage to heal myself to stop the bleeding but I don't have enough strength left to look for my comrades. "I'll just rest my eyes for a moment." I close my eyes, letting out a single teardrop.