The Novel's Sidekick

Chapter 28 21: Moonless (2)

The thing that made the screech was just before me, waiting to devour me whole. It had six or eight legs, I couldn't tell because my attention was focused on its maw. A horrifying maw, twice the size of my head. I reckoned it could bite my head off easily with all those sharp, dagger-like teeth. It was something that came straight out of my nightmares.

I spun at once and dashed, not giving the horrendous thing another look. The thing that came straight from a nightmare worked its legs and bolted towards me, squeaking all the way.

It was certainly not like the majestic roar of a lion, but it filled me with horror, nonetheless.

My speed was far swifter than usual, yet I had problems keeping away from this nightmare beast. Not to mention the load I was carrying on my back. This nightmare creature had more legs compared to all my limbs.

The thought of abandoning the wounded man came into my head, but I just could not do it with a clear conscience—not to mention, I'm not sure if the thing would leave me alone after doing that. Then I recalled that the creatures of nightmares only chase after the ones that are frightened.

Am I frightened? Absolutely.

To be added, being frightened was an understatement. I had only seen the creature one quick moment, yet everything about the creature drew every primal fear out of me.

The shiny dark skin had no fur and was reflecting some of the burning light around us. It had no apparent eyes or nose, but I could be wrong there. It was half a dozen metres long and about a metre tall, with that horrifying maw. I have nothing to say about the maw, apart from the fact that it could crush my head and living soul with just one bite.

The nightmare was getting closer and closer, and remembering its appearance only made my fear worse. I tried the Knights' breathing technique as well as the Visualisation that helped in manipulating the Spirit Force.

Fortunately, there was some spirit force in this person's body.

The person's body I am inhibiting now was clearly not Scar's. I did not know what happened or how I hopped from one body to another, nor did I have time to ponder, as the creature was coming to swallow my head.

The visualisation did help in decreasing the fear; though it was not all gone, my body was not stiff in the slightest. The breathing helped as well. I imagined the flame, rolling on the ground. Leaving the man there, I stood up, facing the nightmare face-to-face. Eye to eye. No, not eye to eye. My eyes were on the chainsaw—like a cavity.

The fear that I pinned down a moment ago started to find its way to strangle me again. But it's too late to be led by fear.

I imagined the flame and the crimson fire rose in my arm, and so did the axe in my arm. I jerked the axe towards the head—the maw of the nightmare creature. It made a deep mark in the maw as the creature squealed. I managed to keep the stances I learned in the few days and withdrew.

Something did not feel right. The flame I was using did not appear to be the raging and dominating flame of Purgatory, but simply a spirit flame. The quick conclusion I came up with was that I was not inhibiting Scar's body, but someone else with flame-attributed spirit force.

"Damn!" I screamed as my ears grew numb with the cursing. "Damn, damn, fucking damn it!"

The nightmare creature bolted at me, and I screamed again. The axe was raging in flames and so was my mind, which raged in the only song of burning.

I jerked the axe in my arm and jumped straight at the creature. The knife-like teeth seemed to mock my presence, but that did not stop me. I came in just at the top of the creature and dropped a heavy kick on its head. Lurching the axe in both hands, I swung it around in its long neck.

The creature wailed and jerked its body, trying to fling me away, which it succeeded easily. I had no grip on its body, so needless to say, I was flung a dozen metres away into the ruins.

My back hit the concrete, and I felt like hell. Fortunately, there were no sharp metal splinters there. I did not know how many bones in my body were broken, yet I still tried to get up. A couple more cracking noises came, with a couple more bones breaking as I stood up, using the axe.

Gasps of breath escaped from my mouth, and I gazed at the abomination again. It looked at me too, though I saw no eyes in its head.

The eyeless monster screeched and bolted towards me. Six legs, I muttered.

I ground my teeth and worked my legs to get out of the way. Its head hit the wrecked concrete and wrecked it even more. In that short time, I lurched upright, struggling to have another go.

"Why am I here?" I screamed and swung the axe on the large body of the abomination like a madman. Before the thing could scream in pain, it threw a kick at my gut, flinging me away.

A yelp escaped from my mouth as I was flung away. Again.

I shot half a dozen metres away, and the pain had not gone numb. Dizziness consumed me, as I coughed out blood on my limbs. I couldn't even make out the direction.

Why am I here, just to suffer?

"Am I just here to suffer?" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Answer me, you fucking author!"

The only answer I got was the warping screeches of the eyeless nightmare creature. It hurled at me again, baring its knife-like teeth.

I tried to muster what was left of me, which was not a lot, if I am being generous.

My legs gave way and the thought of giving up came. I roared with everything I had and started rolling away from its path. But in the end, it was all for nothing. Before I could muster the strength to pick my body up, the knife-like teeth crushed my head.

And blank!

First, it hurt like death, and then I woke up from the nightmare.

I screamed, sitting upright instinctively. My breathing was heavy, like a wretched dog on its way to death. Breaths of fast air escaped from my mouth as I had trouble breathing. My ears were buzzing with the loud beeping. Sanity was only a word in my mind, as I had just experienced death in the blink of an eye.

I did not know what it felt like, as I was numb with pain. The only feeling I got there was emptiness. Vast emptiness.

"Scar?" The voice of a girl came into my ears, and it brought a little sanity to my mind. I blinked a couple of times as my vision cleared out.

Yasmine was before me. Her face was pale and her eyes were worried, looking at me.

"Are you alright? Scar?" she asked again, clasping my arm.

As I tried to answer, I felt her palm on my hand. "I . . . I don't know . . ."

"You are fine," she said and hugged me, rubbing my head that was crushed by tens of knives like teeth a moment ago. My mind began to register that I was alive. "You will be fine."

I tried to believe her, and my body gave way to her softness. "It was a . . . nightmare."

Yasmine stayed in that position for a couple of minutes and only let go when my breathing got better. My mind calmed down a lot by then, though I still had the afterthoughts.

I found the others were looking at us. Other than the unconscious Ben and Lorne, Kyle and Lily were sitting next to them. The others were staring at me with a peculiar gaze. Except for my underling, who was looking at me with a worried gaze, and Yeriel, who was looking at Yasmine and me, there were two more people.

A lady with her hair tied up on her back. She had pretty features, but my eyes drifted off towards the male next to her, wearing dark sunglasses. The lady was rebutting the man, who did everything to ignore her rebuttal.

The man appeared just as described in the book. He was cool and handsome even when he was doing nothing. And when he does stuff, he does it with style. This is one of the strongest men in the realm, or he will be. He is the mysterious Adarsh Starlight.

Then I remembered about the moons. The reason we went through all this hassle. I looked up, and a sigh came from my mouth. There were four moons in the sky; the fifth one, Sar'moon, sat when I was unconscious.

All this hustle for nothing. And it wouldn't be wrong to say I died for nothing.

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Edited by Mystereies. Proofread by kqwxz.

The chapters are usually 2k words long, but if it goes over 3k words, it will be parted into two parts.

As for the 'only to suffer' part, its meme intended.