Until Dawn: Last Light

by Simas, Jennifer Nicole

  “Stubid hool!” it raged, its words distorted; the tongue’s absence didn’t go unnoticed. The Sythen snarled upon hearing its failed attempt to speak. It hissed at me, splattering blood and saliva across my face. It burned through my skin like acid.

  I shrieked as its tail slashed at my reaching arm. I recoiled it, grasping the sliced skin to contain the bleeding until it fused back together. The whipping tail had returned almost immediately, slamming into my side and rolling me ten feet to the right. I crashed through a tree, crying out as ribs broke beneath my already bruised skin.

  Teeth lunged at me and I prepared for death. After all, one of us had to die. It was the only way to ensure that I didn’t hurt anyone ever again.

  Its enormous jaws chomped shut no more than an inch away from my face. It struggled with all of its might to get to me. Ryuu had returned. He stood behind the beast, sweat pouring from his forehead. “Go,” he panted, using every ounce of his mental strength to hold the Sythen back. He’d accomplished the near impossible in order to save my life.

  I struggled to find my feet, limping into the tress. My moves were lethargic and clumsy. Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to heal fast enough. In the distance, like a mournful song, helpless souls cried out for mercy. Their screams pierced the night air. The darkness was bred to destroy.

  My footsteps were scattered and erratic as I trampled over broken branches lying on the soggy ground. My frantic footfalls echoed into the distance leaving an audible trail. My left foot caught an exposed root and I tumbled to the forest floor. For a few anxious moments, the thick mud held me captive.

  When the crash sounded from behind me, I knew what was there.

  The hot breath of the beast scalded the surface of my skin; the foul stench of it ambushed my nostrils. Hypnotized by the mouth full of bloodstained teeth that crept toward me, I forgot to breathe. My lips parted in a silent call for help. Blood trickled from beneath my fingernails as I clawed backwards in desperation, attempting to pull myself further from my attacker. It was useless. It had me right where it wanted me.

  I felt them before they made contact, jagged and unmerciful. My eyes locked onto those blood-red eyes that I’d come to know so well. That was it. It was finally over. The elongated canine teeth broke through the skin of my abdomen and I released a blood-curdling scream that I was sure no one would ever hear.

  Hot liquid leached over the surface of my skin, absorbing into the Earth beneath me. My fists beat wildly against the Sythen’s snout in a feeble attempt to free myself. It tightened its grip on me and I screamed again.

  The Sythen moaned and released my limp body, spinning around. The stub where its tail once was grazed the side of my face, black blood trailing down my temple. While the beast was blinded by pain and rage, I tried to drag my body away from the pool of blood I lay in. Alec backed the beast further into the trees with his blade pressed firmly against its long throat.

  “Get her out of here!” Alec bellowed as he lunged at the Sythen.

  Josh rushed to my side, tucking my long lost sword into its proper place on my back. He picked me up into his arms and ran through the trees. When we stopped, Josh set me down onto my knees in a pile of soggy leaves. I gasped for air, both hands place firmly over my gaping wound. My chest heaved as I struggled to breathe.

  “You need to get out of here, Zoë. We can handle this by ourselves. And don’t you even think about dying on me. Do you hear me?” Josh cupped my face in his hands, ice-blue eyes piercing my soul. It amazed me how such an icy color could be so warm. His lips pressed gently against mine, lingering for what felt like a lifetime before pulling away. “I won’t rest until it’s dead,” he swore. “You will be free again.”

  My fingers tightened over his, unable to let go. “Please, I have to tell you something. I need to tell you something, Josh. It’s important. I–”

  “Zoë,” he cut me off, his lips brushing against the corner of my mouth. “Tell me when all of this is over. I’ll see you soon. I promise, Zoë. I promise.”

  With that, Josh disappeared into the trees, swallowed up by the shadows of darkness.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I had no desire to move. I’d impatiently awaited Josh and Alec’s return for nearly ten minutes. It felt more like two hours. I knew I was needed elsewhere. I glanced over my shoulder, peering through the trees for the hundredth time. There was no sign of life. Every twenty seconds I tried to remind myself that they would be all right. Why did I need to convince myself of something that I already knew?

  Worrying wouldn’t help anything.

  I was weak from blood loss. I tried standing to my feet before stumbling back to the ground. I wasn’t healing as fast as I normally did. Maybe it was because the wound was too deep. Maybe it was because I wasn’t sure I wanted to heal. I wondered how long it would take one of the Chosen to bleed out. Minutes, maybe hours. I held firm to my side, my blood hot against the palm of my hand.

  I couldn’t wait around. People were counting on me. It was my destiny, the reason I was created. Baldric had to die. I had to find the strength to push forward. There wasn’t time for weakness. We couldn’t afford to fail.

  I rose to my feet, steadying myself against a nearby tree. Once my legs stopped shaking, I unsheathed my blade and stormed out into the clearing, making my return to the bloody battle.

  Screams echoed across the land. I sliced through two of the General’s men on my way to Jade, neither of them returning to their feet. The pain in my body was ever present. I gripped my abdomen, blood leaching through my shaking fingers. I tried to push it out of my mind, to become one with the pain as William had taught me to do. That seemed like so long ago.

  Hundreds of arrows sailed through the air, knocking another Sythen from its flight. Less of the serpent beasts roamed the skies. With the falling rain, visibility was minimal. I limped blindly, using my other four heightened senses to attack. I yanked my blade from the belly of a large soldier and shoved him to the ground, stepping around his dead body.

  Baldric chuckled from his high perch on the strange horse-like beast. It seemed at least one of us was enjoying the show. He was the master, they were his slaves; he was the King, they were his servants; he was the puppeteer, they were his puppets; he was the chess game, they were his pawns. He didn’t care for their well being, not the slightest bit. Each of them was expendable and, in his deranged mind, any of them could be replaced.

  “Jade, watch out!” A young voice called out from behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder to find a large soldier barreling toward Jade. Scott yelled as he ran at full speed in her direction. It seemed like Jade couldn’t quite turn fast enough. Scott collided with her, throwing her backward as his large axe intercepted the muscular man’s blade.

  “You stand no chance against me, boy!” the burly man raged. “Out of my way!”

  The man picked Scott up by the throat and hurled him to the side, proceeding toward Jade who now stood with her back against one of the tree trunks and her blade held firmly in the palm of her right hand. Scott proved to be the perfect distraction. The side of her mouth lifted as she flipped her sword in her hand, egging him on. He growled and charged at her.

  “No, Scott, don’t!”

  Scott leapt in between the blade and Jade, taking a through and through of cold, hard steel to the chest. He cried out, dropping his weapon and wrapping both of his sweaty palms around the sharp metal. He coughed up blood and struggled to maintain his footing. I saw his bare chest convulse as he gasped for air.

  Laughter rose into the air as the man shoved the blade further into Scott’s body. The force of the second blow sent Scott and the blade on a collision course for Jade. She dropped to the ground. The tip of the blade embedded in the base of a large tree trunk, holding up Scott’s limp body.

  More laughter erupted from the man. “Ha. Shish kabob,” he sneered.

  I snarled as I brought my blade down on the back of the man’s skull. I felt the crack. He fe
ll to the ground with a permanent smirk carved into his grim face. Again, my blade met his flesh, and again. When I was finished, I cut off his head – just to be sure he was dead.

  I ripped the sword from the soggy wood and Scott howled in pain. He collapsed into my arms and I tossed the blade aside, his blood splattering across my body. It was hard to distinguish his blood from my own. I pressed my hands over his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding.

  “You fool,” Jade hissed, scrambling to his side. “I was fine without your help! This is what I was created to do!”

  “Enough!” I snapped. “The damage is done. Stop being such a cold, heartless bitch and get him out of here. Now!”

  Jade pursed her lips, glowering at me for a minute. She nodded stiffly and lifted the scrawny teenager into her arms, carrying him back to the castle, to Annie and the nurse. I doubted he’d make it. For someone to die for one of us, it was unacceptable.

  I winced, stumbling to one knee as pain shot through my side. Blood trickled over my hand and down my leg. I bit my lip and straightened up. I had to push the pain behind me. I had to finish what I came to do.

  Baldric’s remaining soldiers scattered and retreated back into the trees and out of the kingdom. They left their dead and wounded behind. Our army, what was left of it, stood in front of the castle walls, hanging on to life by a thread. I tried to count the dead bodies, but the number just grew and grew until I couldn’t bear to count any more. There wasn’t a cemetery in all the land big enough to accommodate such a number.

  “Why do they retreat?” Joy asked, making her way toward me.

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled without returning her gaze.

  “It can’t be over that quickly, can it? I mean,” she hesitated, “they’re winning.” She nibbled on the corner of her lip. Her eyes were glued to the horizon.

  “No,” William said solemnly. “They’re regrouping.”

  A long stream of lightning electrified the blackened sky above us, a crash of thunder echoing throughout the land. A man chuckled in the distance, his silhouette drawing closer. An eerie beat followed after him, keeping perfect rhythm with each passing second. I held my breath as they marched toward us. It was the drum roll before the execution, and Baldric was eagerly waiting to pull the lever.

  A heavy fog settled over the land, as if it wasn’t already hard enough to see. The General’s men circled around us, creeping through the trees and inching their way toward the castle walls. William was right – they’d regrouped. A number of the serpent beasts lined the top of the castle, hurling archers over the edge.

  It was anything but over.

  “Have no mercy! Kill them!” Baldric barked orders at his legion as they reproached, pouring in around him, stampeding toward us with swords raised. They yelled out animalistic calls. Did they even fear death? If they did, they hid it well. Maybe he had them so tightly wrapped around his finger that they couldn’t even remember what it was to truly live in the first place.

  “Prepare!” William shouted, his voice carrying in the wind. “No fear!”

  Steel crushed against steel as I sliced through three soldiers at once, trying to keep the masses at bay. I withdrew my blade and embedded it in the next soldier and then the next. I was unsympathetic to their mission. I had my own: destroy the General. My body ducked and dove without a thought, slicing through anything that came within five feet of me. Eventually, Baldric’s army would run dry and we would stand face to face with our real enemy. But, his army was anything but “dry.” More soldiers poured into the kingdom, charging straight for us.

  I dropped down to one knee as Ryuu’s blade sliced through a woman behind me. My toes traced a circle in the ground as I spun, impaling three more soldiers that crept up behind him.

  We needed Alec back. We were stronger when we fought together, and we were already missing Annie. A woman fell at the hand of my blade, spitting on me as she dropped to her knees. I brought down my sword again. Her headless body toppled over and I kicked it out of my way.

  “There are too many! We’re all going to die!”

  There were too many and we would all die, but what choice did we have? We either fought and died or gave up and died. I’d much rather die for something that I believed in than to simply give up and bow down at the Devil’s feet. I would not bow down to the enemy, not now and not ever. Baldric had a plan for me and I was going to make sure he never got the chance to see it through.

  It was pointless trying to keep track of how many I’d killed. The number was far too great. My blade sliced cleaning through a vampire’s neck and its head sailed backward, plummeting into another soldier’s chest.

  From the corner of my eye, something caught my attention. I turned toward the forest. It was Alec. He and Josh had finally returned. The beast behind Cindy’s death, behind my insanity, was finally dead. I suddenly felt free. Relief washed over me and I exhaled. Just like both men had promised, my mind was my own again. I took a few steps toward Alec and stopped dead in my tracks.

  I was such a fool.

  Alec towed the King’s sword – Josh’s sword – behind him. He limped sluggishly away from the trees and into the clearing. Sensing my gaze, Alec looked up at me. His eyes locked with mine and I gasped for air.

  “No,” I mouthed. My eyes begged him to tell me otherwise. It couldn’t be possible. It couldn’t be.

  Alec looked at me with sad eyes, his shoulders slumping. He shook his head, confirming my worst fears. He moved closer to me. It was written all over his face.

  I watched Josh die a thousand times through Alec’s eyes.

  “No,” I breathed. “No, he promised!” Josh wouldn’t be keeping his promise to me, nor would he keep another promise ever again.

  I felt nauseous, dizzy. My mind went blank and I stumbled back a couple of steps, dragging the tip of my sword in the mud. I shook my head, long brown locks coiling around my neck, strangling me.

  I was grateful when gravity took me. I tripped over my own numb feet and collapsed to the ground, muddy water splashing up my thighs. I struggled to keep my head up, salty tears flowing down my cheeks. I had no control over them nor did I have any control over the rest of my body. The world tilted back and forth or maybe it was me.

  Threatening footsteps approached me from behind and I rose to one knee, spinning around and wiping up with the sharp and vengeful edge of my blade. The man’s head sailed in one direction and his body in another. Needless to say, he didn’t get back up. I sank back down to the ground, my hands suctioning into the thick mud. Someone called my name in the distance, but their voice was muffled, faint. My body rose once more, tearing through another soldier’s stomach before returning to the ground. The monster that I was kept me alive, but I wasn’t sure if that was what I actually wanted. But, much like the rest of my life, I didn’t have much choice in the matter.

  I wanted gravity to smother me into the ground, to suffocate me with the weight of the world. I wanted Josh to walk out of those trees, even if that meant Alec didn’t. I wanted, no – I needed – one more kiss, one more touch, one more long embrace. For once in my life, I wanted fate to be working on my side, to be working for me rather than against me. I wanted someone to end my life rather than make me face a life without him.

  “Zoë! Get up!”

  I could hear feet shuffling around me as I slipped deeper into the mud. My head slumped forward and I drowned in the sorrow of my shattered heart, a never-ending stream of tears falling from my eyes. A bare foot splashed in a puddle beside me, the sound of metal colliding with metal tormenting my ears. Alec was hovering over me, trying to shield me from oncoming attacks.

  I wanted to tell him to stop, to let the thousands of blades ravage what was left of my body. But, I wasn’t ready. Not yet. There was one more thing that I wanted – needed. Revenge. And I’d have it.

  I screamed, leaping to my feet. I embedded my blade deep into the heart of one of Baldric’s soldiers. He would be only the first to taste just a hint o
f my pain. I wanted him to suffer, to experience a slow death. I twisted the blade and the vampire howled.

  I stampeded through the General’s unending legion, slicing through flesh and stealing life that was rightfully mine to take. I was relentless, unmerciful. I wielded my blade from one poor, unfortunate soul to the next. I would not stop until it was over, not until I reached him. Until I watched Baldric take his final breath. I’d make him wish he’d killed me back when he still had the chance.

  I unleashed my wrath upon every creature, both living and undead. No one would stand in my way. Something stirred deep within me. I felt wild, savage even. Rain held my hair over my eyes, but it was okay. I didn’t need to see to know exactly what I was doing. This was what I was created to do. Kill. A blade pierced the small of my back and I reversed the direction of my sword, catapulting it into the woman’s chest. I withdrew it and she collapsed to the ground. I didn’t bother looking back. I listened as her heart stopped beating.

  I held out my hand, bolts of lightning shooting from my palm. It came naturally. The electric currents coiled around a group of Baldric’s soldiers, draining the life right out of them. Their bodies convulsed on the ground, smoke rising from their parted lips.

  “No, please don’t kill me!” a young man cried out as my sword plummeted toward his naked throat. He winced as the sharp edge of my blade sliced through the surface of his skin, a trail of blood peeking through the parted flesh. I withdrew my blade and took a step toward him. I gripped his throat, cutting off his air. His face was an inch away from mine – I breathed in his fear. Human.

  “If you switch sides, there will be no turning back.” I growled. He bobbed his head a few times and I released him. The man, along with a handful of his own people, moved hastily around me, joining our ranks.

  My fingers tightened around my sword’s bloody hilt and I pressed forward. Someone had to answer for my suffering. I’d make sure of that.