Return of the Fallen Volume 2 Chapter 5
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch5
*SCREEeeeeeeeeee!*
*SCREEEeeee!*
Two loud screeches echoed out from somewhere in the darkened forest, causing alarm bells to go off in everyone’s head.
(Shit, that wasn’t too far away.)
Kazuki could tell the distance between him and those demonic birds weren’t too far off. If they have even half the strength that the previous screeching monster did then the threat they posed was too much to face at the moment. With Sam injured and everyone’s nerves being completely on edge, the type of fight everyone could put up at the time would be significantly worse than the last fight and that was only if the incoming enemies only possessed half the strength.
*SCREEeeeeeeeeee!*
*SCREEEeeee!*
Once more these demonic sirens filled the air. This time they were much clearer indicating just how much closer they had come within the last few seconds.
Kazuki inspected Sam’s wounds and urgently asked.
“Your wounds shouldn’t affect your movement too much, you can move on your own, right?”
Sam gave a small nod and stood up but he was still unsteady on his feet. After that bird had rammed into him earlier on, Sam seemed to be a bit sluggish.
Kazuki didn’t have time for a tough attitude and used a bit of ki this time to have a look inside of Sam’s body.
(Damn, four of his ribs are broken and he’s bleeding a bit internally. Guess flying back first into a tree at that speed is too much for even a tough bastard like Sam.)
“Shin, give me a hand with him.”
Sam wanted to protest but Kazuki shot him down.
“You have several broken ribs so if you move about on your own, your gonna wind up collapsing. The two of us will help support you and there will be no objections, got it?”
Sam continued to give a dissatisfied look, but in the end he relented with a nod.
Kazuki and Shin helped lift Sam and Kazuki gave an order.
“Asuna, you carry Nunully, Kimi, I’ll need you at the front to light the way, and Danny, you bring up the rear, got it?”
Danny started to shake on the spot.
“Wait, I have to be at the back. Can’t…Can’t I help carry Sam and someone else handle, *Gulp* what’s behind us.”
Kazuki was in no mood to argue and it didn’t really matter so he switched places with him and took Danny’s sword. He would have taken his own but it had become unusable after the fight.
“Kimi, let’s move”
Just as Kazuki said that the world had gone silent.
(Not good.)
Kimi held her hand up and a small orb of light floated a few inches above her palm and she ran forward. As everyone followed, Kazuki’s eyes peered into the forest and scanned for his enemies. The group had taken too long to move and the enemies were already upon them.
*Whoosh*
A gust of wind kicked up behind Kazuki and he knew what was coming. As soon as he felt a small force of wind on the nape of his neck, his feet had sent him forward.
If what Danny said was true then the one these birds were aiming for was none other than Sam.
Kazuki moved like the wind and arrived just behind Sam and the others in less than a second. Turning around on the spot, Kazuki had little time to look as he put power in his lower body and with one powerful thrust, he forced the sword in his hands forward with everything he had.
*Gashcink*
Danny’s words were accurate and his sword that now lay in Kazuki’s grips was the same as well. One of the birds saw Sam’s large figure and took him for the biggest threat and attacked without hesitation. It had swooped in on him with quickness and appeared ready to ram Sam at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately for it though, Kazuki had arrived a fraction faster.
With a vulnerable and open chest exposed to all of Kazuki’s strength, the sword found its way deep into this bird’s flesh.
*SCREeeeee!*
Hot blood splashed Kazuki directly in the face and covered him from his face down to his stomach. The sword had sunk 7-8 inches but abruptly came to a stop as he hit bone. Kazuki wished to force the sword deeper but the bird’s bones were incredibly dense and tough, causing the sword to become stuck. Kazuki tried to pull the blade out but his hand had become drenched in slick blood, making his grip slide just a bit.
That and the bird’s reaction speed was quick as it felt death upon it and with a powerful kick, its taloned foot slammed into Kazuki’s chest like a war hammer.
*Hur*
Kazuki couldn’t help but release a painful groan as his body was sent flying backward into the nearby Shin. The two tumbled to the ground and almost knocked Danny and Sam to the dirt as well.
Kimi and the others stopped running ahead and Asuna shouted in concern.
“Ryuta!”
Kazuki coughed a few times and a line of fresh blood spilled from his mouth. Still, he managed to get to his feet. Asuna and Shin looked at him in concern but Kazuki simply wiped the blood from his face and said.
“Shin, your sword.”
Shin was concerned for Kazuki but he knew there was no way he could take his place. The fear he felt right now was palpable, like if he wasn’t careful it would consume him. Right now all he could do was hand over his sword to Kazuki and hope that he could handle it.
Asuna grabbed Kazuki’s hands.
“Are you OK, that kick looked awful.”
Kazuki shook her off and gave her a serious look.
“No time to talk we have to keep moving. Kimi!”
Kimi nodded and she ran forward once more while lighting the way.
Kazuki gave Shin and Asuna a look.
“Move.”
Asuna carried Nunully and Shin and Danny again supported Sam and the group moved swiftly through the forest.
Every now and again, Kazuki could see one of the birds flying high above the trees. Kazuki recognized it as the same one that kicked him because Danny’s sword was still embedded in its chest.
(I must have missed all of the important parts if that dumb bird is still alive and following us.)
Kazuki was just grateful that its kick wasn’t as powerful as its full-on body ram. If it were, Kazuki wasn’t sure about whether or not he’d be able to stand up afterward.
Besides that though, Kazuki was actually surprised by Kimi’s guidance. She wasn’t leading them to any certain location but was instead moving towards denser and denser parts of the forest. She was making it so the birds above couldn’t easily descend.
The group traveled like this in no particular direction for several hours. The bird above though kept following. Every few minutes it would release another spine-tingling cry, as though to say that it would chase them to the ends of the earth.
One thing that left Kazuki with an ominous feeling though was the second bird. They had traveled for who knows how many miles and yet the second bird had yet to make an appearance. Kazuki had clearly heard two separate calls from above but had only seen one bird. Kazuki couldn’t tell if it was trying to hide its presence or what but with Kazuki’s eyes it could not fully escape his vision but what glimpses he saw left him flabbergasted.
Every once and a while he would catch a small glance of a wing or a feather would fall from above. That’s not what worried him though. Instead, it was the size of said feathers. The first bird he killed, a feather from that one was only 2-3 inches long. And although he didn’t get the best look at the bird that had kicked him, still a few of its feathers came loose during the exchange and again, the feather was merely 2-3 inches in length. The feather that he had discovered though…it was 7 inches long at least.
A thought occurred to Kazuki but he dare not believe it. If the feather was any indication of the size…
A few beads of cold sweat collected on Kazuki’s face as the image of what may be appeared in his head.
Kimi’s sudden shout tore Kazuki away from his thoughts.
“Look! Look! Is that a village.”
Looking ahead, Kimi had discovered a small village but upon closer inspection, something was not right.
Racing into the village, the world was silent. This time however the cause was not the birds above but something else entirely.
There were only around 30 or so buildings but surrounding these buildings was a massive amount of debris. Not only that, the buildings that were there, were so badly damaged that they were beyond disrepair. There were also odd elongated black rocks sticking out of the ground in every direction. The scene was just too eerie and weird
This village was completely abandoned.
Kazuki and the others saw a large building in the center of the village and headed for. It was at least three times as big as the other buildings and was made of stone. Kimi came upon the door and with a powerful kick, she broke through it in one go. Everyone flooded in behind her but she suddenly stopped, which in turn everyone followed after her to bump and trip over one another, causing everyone to end up piled on top of one another.
Kimi was the first to scream.
“Get off of me, you’re all too heavy, I’m gonna die.”
“I’m heavy, I’m completely squashed. Whose leg is that?”
“EH! Someone just touched my butt.”
A myriad of shouts rang out one after another until Kazuki roared at everyone.
“SILENCE!”
Everyone’s mouth slammed shut and their tongues moved no more. The room became as quiet as death itself and no one even dared to breathe. They had run for so long and became so exhausted that for a split second they had forgotten the deadly scenario they were just in for the briefest of moments. With Kazuki’s shout though, like a bolt of lightning they once more realized the situation they were in and spoke no more.
One minute passed then another and another until Kazuki finally released a long breath.
*Phew*
“It seems that monster has left us for now.”
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