Civilization

I kneel next to the two girls and cut off the ropes bounding them and removed their gags.

"BEHIND YOU!"

My back concaves forward and I feel the air leaving my lungs. I see darkness for a split second and the next thing I knew I was under a pile of wooden rubble. I cough out blood and I could feel the splinters digging into my skin. I slowly push the wooden planks off my back, waving my arm around to get a grip on my surroundings but everything was spinning. I try to reach for a wooden pole but for some reason, I kept missing it, my hand would seem like it was grabbing the pole until the last second where the pole dodges me.

I place my hand on my head and feel a hot liquid dripping down my face. Slowly, I look at my hand. A deep crimson liquid covers it and then the pain comes in all at once.

I scream. Like someone was opening my head. I start to pant, my breath becoming more ragged as time went on.

Questions pop into my head one after another.

What hit me? How do I get out of this mess?

It hurts.

Was it wrong for me to try and help? What about Sylvia?

Ah, it hurts!

It hurts!

It hurts!

IT HURTS!

"LUKE!"

I hear my name somewhere.

All I feel is my head splitting open and the hot blood running down my cheek pooling around my waist.

"LUKE!

Stop. I'm. I'm tired. I should have stayed at HavenFall. I should have been the one to die. Not Oscar.

"GRAB MY HAND, YOU IDIOT!"

I see something. Light? Heaven? Was this what Oscar saw?

I reach out with my hand to grab it.

I feel, warmth around my hand. Like an angel holding onto me. I start to see clearer.

My angel. Shoulder-length black hair with blue highlights. Her sapphire blue eyes were, red with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Sylvia…?"

"Come on! You said you were going to help them right? This is the best time to do it!"

My head felt heavier than my body as I sway slightly as I get to my feet. I look around hoping to find something. I see Sylvia pointing towards a direction and my eyes slowly follow her fingertips.

I see it, the blond girl struggling for air as a goblin even larger than the hobgoblin holds onto her neck. It had moss green skin with hands larger than its face, two large dirty yellow eyes with black slits in the middle and a long red tongue poking out of its mouth.

"What is that…?"

It was so different from normal goblins and even the Blood Ogre looked more normal than that. Some sort of weird mix between goblins, snake eyes, tongue and gorilla hands.

"It's a failed evolution from hobgoblin to goblin general."

"A monster can fail an evolution?"

I look at Sylvia with a newfound curiosity. Not only did she help bring me out from the depths of the abyss but it looks like she has a lot of hidden knowledge.

"Normally they can't but this monster has been forced to evolve. See the neck? It has a black hourglass with a diagonal line through it that's the mark of one of the Kings, Kronos. A king that is more of a mad scientist than anything. He creates monsters by attaching parts together or experiments on them and forces them to evolve forming those hideous things."

"Whatever it is, Sylvia help me save them."

"Of course! Why do you think I went and saved you?"

I rush towards the monster and howl at the top of my lungs, signally the adult golden wolves to come back and help me. At the same time, the pups came out from their little hideaway and growled at the monster bearing their little fangs.

I see the blonde girl start to struggle less, her movements becoming more sluggish. I grit my teeth and toss my knife at the monster hoping to distract it in any way possible. By sheer luck, the knife hits the monster in the eye making it release its grip on the blonde girl. Grabbing the blonde girl by the waist, the silver-haired tanned girl moved out of the way allowing me to pass by her. With a nod of my head at the girl, I turn towards the monster.

The monster growls lowly at me, I was so close to it I could see its saliva drool out of its mouth, forming puddles on the ground. Its scent makes me nauseous and I could feel the small breakfast I had forcing its way up my throat.

Its eyes stare at me and I stare back. Luckily for me, I was stalling for time. Waiting for the wolves to come back, each second it spends doing nothing is a win for me.

My knife is planted on the ground near its foot, while the other was held by Sylvia. I had instructed her to move around the encampment slowly while I did my best to distract it. I can only hope she can get into a position to attack the monster as soon as possible.

Suddenly, it screamed at me. Its loud high pitch scream pierces through my eardrums. I grip my head tightly, the head-splitting pain coming back to me. Barely keeping one eye open, I try to move my feet away but I can't move.

Not before long, I stopped hearing it in fact, I could not hear anything. Not even the sound of my heart beating. I look around trying to access the situation and I could only see Sylvia's mouth moving in the far distance and her pointing towards me.

Once again, I got knocked into the air. My feet left the ground and my body was temporarily suspended in the air but I did not hear the monster move.

I finally realise that it took away my ability to hear. That scream must have ruptured my eardrums or something. Relying only on my sight now is difficult. After getting punched again I focused more on the fight trying to collect as much information on the monster as it punches, kicks and uses its long tongue to attack me.

Bruises start to form on my stomach, chest, arms and legs but I don't give up. The wolves have arrived to help and while I can't hear them I could see them tearing the monster's flesh off its bones.

The wolves were angry and they were ready to destroy.