I awaited my death, frozen in fear, but a loud wail pierced the forest, and the warm substance splattered on my face was what made me move
Damian stood to my side, his sword bloody, and it was only then that I noticed that the beast was missing part of its arm that was only inches away from my face a while ago. I looked to my savior, but his eyes were trained on the beast's eyes, colder than I had ever seen
The beast growled at his attacker while Damian held his sword before him, ready for the battle to come. I was no fool to remain there; it was clear I would only be a liability. I had yet to see Anson, but I knew he lurked somewhere, bidding his time. I slowly backed away, making sure not to draw its attention, and with each step, my heart drummed. I was only a few feet from death, but every step back reassured me that it could be my saving grace
The two were now engaging in a fierce fight, and I hissed when the Wendigo slashed on Damian's arm, his arm bled from the deep cut, but the man in question did not falter. He went at it with unwavering determination, a soldier through and through, I thought. Both were fast and agile, and if it weren't for the fact that our lives hang in the line, the scene looked like a perfectly scripted dance, ' the dance of death' I would call it
I had moved a good distance from the two before I was pulled behind a tree and was met by two familiar starry eyes that looked down on me with relief. Anson held me still in front of him, I hadn't even noticed I was shaking. He smiled. That little reassuring smile that somehow always managed to scrub off a good chunk of the fear I had, I had seen that smile a lot these past three days.
A loud groan from Damien had us both looking towards them, and Anson clasped my mouth to prevent the scream that was about to come out. Damien's chest had been slashed by those claws, a bigger and deeper slash than the one before. he had his left hand a few inches from the wound as he heaved, his breath ragged. Tears clouded my eyes, and I realized I had put so much hope in the man that seeing him almost defeated shattered me, and any chance I thought we had at surviving this
Anson cursed as worry clouded his features, his eyes set on the beast, and that worry was quickly replaced with burning anger. The beast had sword marks and wounds all over it courtesy of Damian's vigorous fight, and although it seemed he had taken the bigger fall, at least he had made some damage, notably from its heavy breathing and unstable stance.
Anson moved and what followed was another wail a long and deep cut formed on the Wendigo's back from one shoulder to its lower back, it turned to face him eyes blazing with pure hate and growled a deep intimidating growl that flowed into the depths of my body raising all my alarm bells but I stood, I won't run I said to myself.
A new battle raged between the beast and the newcomer sword on claws. Damian was now on the side, breathing deeply, somehow he still looked unnerved, determined, a soldier still ready for battle, but bidding his time to make the killing blow
The battle went on, Anson having gained scratches of his own, although not as deep as his brother's. I did my best to try and remain hidden while still making sure I had a view. Seconds trickled by, and I was getting restless. We had to find a way to end this quickly. I had to help somehow, but how? Arrows! Before we came Damian had handed me two sets of arrows he claimed were made of silver and a shot to the heart using them would certainly kill the beast but I had given them to Anson before I began my little act the only thing I had were the daggers on my waist gifted by Anson although it was pretty useless. I would probably hurt myself before even putting a scratch on the wendigo
I looked around in hope of spotting the bow and arrows since Anson clearly didn't have them on him. I searched the area, the dark making it hard to see, and soon sighed in relief when I found them hidden behind another tree. I guess this was the time to show off my skills
I walked back to the tree I had been on, appreciating the fact that the Wendigo had not bothered to look for me yet, taking out a silver arrow, I aligned it with the bow, and walked to a clearing, exposing myself. I aimed at it and breathed deeply, while the beast moved unaware. Too engaged with Anson to notice me, but that also caused a problem; it made it hard to aim directly at its heart, and worse, the arrow could very much harm my newfound friend. I bit my teeth, I had to shoot even with the risks involved
So I pulled on the bow, breathing evenly and relaxing myself just as my instructor had taught me, it was now or never. I released the arrow and watched as it lodged itself in our opponent. The Wendigo let out a roar and turned so quickly towards me that the action could have easily snapped an ordinary neck.
The beast seemed taken aback, but it smiled wickedly at me, the arrow still stuck just below the back of its neck. I took out another arrow, the action now riling it
It stumbled towards me, ducking at the approaching sword, then sprinted in my direction, not as fast as it would if it weren't injured. I quickly aimed at the chest area and released the arrow, praying the heavens carried it to where I was aiming.
It stopped and staggered back, its glowing eyes focused on me, mouth slightly ajar, as its remaining hand tried to reach for the arrow now perfectly lodged in its heart. We stared at each other for those few seconds before Damian, who was now back on his feet, sliced its neck with his sword, glowing in blazing blue
The skull-like head plopped to the ground with a small thud. Eyes now hollow, but somehow still looking at me, I gulped, still rooted to my spot, just staring at it
"Lyla," someone called, breaking me from my trance. Anson was by his brother's side using his magic to tend to his wounds. I moved quickly towards them and knelt beside him
"Will he be okay?" I asked, taking in the wound on his chest
"He should be fine, I don't have much energy on me, but I'll try to heal him as well as I can for now."
I watched as that mist moved around the wound, slowly patching it up until he stopped
"Why did you stop? Is your magic gone?"
"No, an infection is forming, so I have to take care of that before I can heal him any further," Anson said, but his brother held his hand
"We have to do the necessary first; you can finish later."
"But…"
"I'm strong enough to withstand it for an hour or more, we'll be done by then."
"Done with what?" I asked, looking between them
"We need to burn the heart and body," Anson replied, "It's part of a procedure to make sure it doesn't reanimate."
I inhaled sharply at the possibility, "It can do that?"
"Part of their charm," Anson said, a cheeky smile on his face
"I'll do the honors, Ans you can take her back…" Damian started, but I quickly cut him off
"No, I want to be here." The man only looked at me with those unreadable eyes, then nodded
He took out a sharp dagger from his boot, then walked to the corpse. Anson blocked my view and only said it was best I didn't watch the whole thing, but the sound of blade on flesh was clear, Damian was probably taking out its heart
"The heart and body have to be burned separately, think of it as removing the spirit from the body, it helps completely destroy it," Anson explained
"Wanna do the honors?" Damian asked, looking at me as he held out something