A Hero With/Out Time

Chapter 15: Their second chance. (Part 6)

I finally remembered. She still hadn't arrived which meant there was still a chance. "Ardent your barrier is hiding us isn't it?"

"Well as a by-product yes," he nodded.

"Lower it now!" I yelled. "Taylor slow that thing down. Do anything you can to distract it."

"On it!" she nodded firmly and as she left I could swear she was smiling.

"Ardent anytime please!"

"Okay," his eyes met mine. There was no time to explain and in that brief glance I saw his trust in me. He clapped his hands and the shimmer covering the village centre collapsed.

"Help Taylor!" I took out my bow and aimed. Ardent began to cast his magic firing his bindings towards the monster. Unlike last time the monster didn't thrash at them blindly and with a more grace than was comfortable avoided and cut through the rest. It was enough time however for Taylor to reach it and like the first step of a dance her knife dragged across its thick skin spilling black blood. The wound healed just as quick but as it raised its fist Taylor vanished only to stab against its side. Her fluid motions were clearly more than the monster could handle as it seethed in rage swinging its meaty claws at shadows.

Suddenly it roared and Taylor flinched. It was all the time needed to end her and she could only widen her eyes as the deformed arm went to crush her. I released the tension in my body and with it my bow flexed unleashing a powerful groan as the wood was pushed to its limits. Ordinarily I'd never be able to pull it back so far but as my heart clenched and blood dripped from my mouth so did my muscles strengthen. My arrow fell into place at the exact right moment knocking the monster off centre and as its arm swung Taylor managed to step back lessening the blow to a graze. A graze however was more than she could handle. In an instant she was flung away crashing into the window of one of the village houses.

"Taylor!" I screamed after her and tried to stand only to fall back down.

"Rain!" Ardent warned me as ahead of us the monster charged. It batted away Ardent's attempts to stop it and finally did the same to Ardent himself. He flew away into the forest leaving me with a broken leg staring at the hulking mess. The overbearing smell of rotting meat and within it two eyes open wide in delirium. Surprisingly they were still the same as the women's. Maybe somewhere inside she was still alive, not that it would help me at all.

"Well I fucked up," I sighed and drew my sword. Despite my internal bravado my hands shook and a hesitant fear gripped my heart. I activated my mana only to let go immediately. Anymore and my heart would burst. Though I doubted it would even work as the monster's attention was squarely plastered on me. I pointed my sword towards its chest, "Do me a favour and end it quickly."

Its fist came crashing down but never hit me. I could only breathe in relief as the tension within my muscles faded. Why did heroes always leave it to the last possible second? Was it a special trait they had or was it some twist of fate? Regardless she appeared, her white hair flowing free behind her as her sword held back the monster's fist.

"Looks like I made it just in time," Lara said through gritted teeth.

"Honestly like ten seconds earlier would have been really nice," I responded bluntly.

The monster screamed blowing back my hair and sending an unpleasant smell into my nose. I almost fainted just from being so close but Lara wasn't fazed. She held her ground and releasing a yell of her own pushing the abomination back with a powerful swing.

"It's not my fault," she huffed. "If you had sent us a message I would have come sooner!"

"Yeah... I'll explain later but could you just kill the damn thing first," I sighed tiredly. The tension in my body had collapsed. "You also need to check if Taylor and Ardent are still alive."

"What?" Lara blanched.

"I'm not dead yet," Taylor coughed suddenly beside us. I was too weak to be surprised.

"Just Ardent then," I leaned back on to the ground. "Off you go now. Ah, also there's a bunch of villagers in the houses around here so don't break them."

"You-," Lara began to complain but the monster screeched first. It was filled with even more rage than before and charged forward. I closed my eyes as the sound of a fierce fight broke out. There were thuds that sounded like thunder. Grunts of pain and shrieks that tore through the sky. At one point Ardent limped out of the forest and in the end a powerful ray of light descended from the heavens ending everything. It would have been an amazing sight for anyone watching, but I wasn't, not fully at least. My part was over so excuse me for not seeing the end. It was okay though, because I had complete faith that Lara would win. There was no way she wouldn't.

When I opened my eyes again it was over. The village centre was filled with craters but the houses were unharmed, well aside from the window Taylor had crashed through. As for the abomination, it was gone. It was unfortunate but the Imperium members Ardent had taken care of had been killed when the monster first rampaged leaving no one for questioning. For me however I could finally rest easy knowing that they were gone. Now Axel would be safe.

"Hey," Lara poked me in the shoulder.

"Hello Lara," I smiled barely awake. "It's been awhile. How are you?"

"I could be better," she brushed off the lingering dust on her clothes. "So care to explain what just happened?"

I looked at Taylor and then Ardent. The two of them turned away. "A bunch of things happened...."

"Is it just me or are you being a lot less polite?" Lara folded her arms.

"Until Ronalt gets back I'm a free man," I replied. "But you're right. After all you did to save us so I guess I owe you an explanation. Just keep it a secret." I gazed at the village. She hadn't seen them but they were demons. I had to wonder how she would react. And so I told her everything that happened, or at least everything that happened this cycle of my life. From the time we left till now.

In the end Lara just looked at me the same as always, with those pure innocent eyes untainted by the worst of this world.

"You've been through a lot," she said with sympathetic care. "You did well."

I laughed, "It could have been worse."

A presence spiked behind me and someone barged into the village. Dressed in a travellers robe and carrying a heavy hammer, Marley huffed, "I finally found you! Lara why did you leave me back there?"

"Ah!" Lara screamed. "I'm so sorry I forgot."

Marley stomped her feet, "You drag me into this damn forest and then just forget about me?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Lara bowed. "Look I found them. I'm sure Rain can make it up to you somehow."

"Hmph, fine," Marley begrudgingly accepted. I'll just ignore the part where I had just been used as a bargaining chip.

"Marley could you heal them? Taylor and Ardent are a bit bruised but Rain's leg is broken."

Her eyes locked on to me. I shivered, "Umm I have some potions hidden away. It's fine, if I can just get them I can fix myself."

"No!" Lara stood in front of me as if to stop me. Really it was a moot thing to do. I wasn't going to move myself. "Marley will heal you right now."

Taylor yawned, "Just do it so I can get so sleep. I've been up all night."

"Rain what about the village?" Ardent asked as he looked at the destruction sadly.

"We'll have to explain and fix it later," I replied. "We're in no shape to start now."

"That's right, you all need rest. Come on Marley," Lara ushered us and like that the night came to an end. I didn't know what to expect for tomorrow and a part of me really wasn't looking forward to it but on the bright side, at least I was alive.