Fractures: Rewritten Chapters

I Should Save Her...But I Can't

First published on July 13th, 2021

Point of View: Rain

Everything I see is covered in a layer of powdered white. The only thing I hear is the sound of my breathing and the crunch of snow under my feet. I trudged along in the snow, trying my best to keep up the pace while carrying Stella.

It's the day after the ambush at our campsite. Stella was impaled in the shoulder and my left eye was cut during combat with that assassin, Djinn or whatever he called himself. Stella was bleeding badly but between her healing magic and my bandages we managed to stop it.

It would be ideal for her to rest after sustaining an injury like this, but I do not want to risk getting attacked again. If one of these assassins sent by the Nether King has already got past Zeganirn and managed to catch up to us, what is stopping more from following us? We have to be on the move, otherwise our situation would become even worse. On top of this, Stella was not feeling well so I had to carry her, slowing us down even more. Not to mention this snow on the ground is not helping me to disguise our footprints. I sigh inside my head. Why wasn't I paying attention? If I just concentrated a tad bit more on my surroundings, Stella wouldn't have gotten hurt and-

I felt her stir on my back. I glanced down the cliff, prayed silently and quickened my pace. Please Stella not yet this is the worst place for you to wake up- I was so focused on getting past the narrow part of the cliff top that I almost didn't hear it. It was quiet but I heard it. It was like...a snarl. A mixture of a dog's snarl and a human's attempt at it. I realized a second too late that it was coming from Stella.

She growled and seized my left shoulder with one hand and the other reached for my neck. Panic coursed through my body in the form of adrenaline. I let go of the Ender Sword and dropped her from my back. However, her right hand still managed to scratch my cheek when she fell off.

I whipped myself around to face her as I felt the cut starts to bleed. Stella is crouching on the ground and snarling like an animal. There's not a trace of humanity in her eyes. Instead, it is filled with feral rage and hatred, an originated-from-bones kind of hatred.

"Stella, what-" I couldn't finish my sentence before she tackled me off the cliff.

I landed with my back in the snow with a snarling Stella on top of me. All of the air was knocked out of my lungs and my neck made a crack noise upon impact. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I kicked her off me before picking myself up.

I quickly backed up to put some distance between myself and Stella. She's gotten back up and growling at me again. I shook my arms. Good. Both can still move. Thank god there's like half a foot of snow on the ground, otherwise my back would receive some serious damage. Every single breath I drew in is followed with pain and the ache in my neck told me that I definitely pulled some tendons during the fall. Great.

Stella's growling turned into a pained cry as she clutched her head, doubling over before falling onto her elbows as a black haze surrounded her. Oh heck no. I've seen this before. I knew what's going to happen, and it brought back some bad, bad memories.

Slowly, while keeping a firm eye on Stella, I repositioned myself in the clearing so there's a fair distance between us before drawing my diamond sword. Her growls and snarls have gotten deeper and more beast-like. I forced myself to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm down my racing heart and stop the images from flashing in front of my eyes: the crimson castle, the duel, the same dark haze that consumed Abi... I shook my head. Focus! You've dealt with one before. You can do it again!

With a snarl, Stella stepped forward as the dark haze dissipated. Well, what used to be Stella anyway. This beast, a hellhound to be exact, looks nothing like Stella with its dark grey coat, spikes and that giant pair of ibex horns.

I held my gaze against its blazing, soul fire coloured eyes. That's right, come at me. I readied myself as it charged at me, jumping just in time out of the way of its fangs. It turned around and pounced at me, but I was ready for it. I rolled to the right, letting it face-plant itself in the snow. The hound let out a yelp of pain as snow and ice hurts them. I know this because I learned it with a broken rib from the Nether Princess.

Quick, right now! She's open on the sides! I leaped up from my crouching position and raised my sword, ready to slash its neck. But then I hesitated. What am I doing? This beast was Stella just minutes ago. What if she's still in there? What if I could save her-

Pain gripped my left bicep, quite literally, as Stella has sank her fangs into it. With one swift motion, she picked me off the ground and flung me behind her to her right.

I flew about three yards in the air before landing on my injured arm. Excruciating pain shot through my left arm upon impact. I winced at the pain. Come on. Come on, get up! Struggling not to put weight on my left arm, I staggered back up.

Clutching my arm as I feel my blood seep through the fabric of my hoodie, I looked up and saw my sword has landed about six feet away from me, with the hound standing about five feet behind it.

I stared into those blazing soul blue eyes and stood firm. I knew that even if I made a dash for the sword, I would not make it in time. Even if I managed to grab my sword, I would put myself in its direct line of attack. And I knew it knew I knew that.

The beast that used to be Stella paced back and forth, not taking a step closer but at the same time baring its fangs at me. Its lips drawn back in a...smile?! I felt my blood boil with rage. It's taunting me! Not only taking over Stella's body and consciousness, this beast has also stolen her intelligence and is blatantly jeering at me right now!

As much as it pains me, I have to accept that Stella's gone and my top priority right now is to get out of here alive. But how can I make my escape? Running is certainly not an option as the hound could outrun me in any situation. Fighting is my only option. However, the Ender Great sword is still on the cliff and my diamond sword has been rendered useless. I still have my hunting knife strapped to my boot, but what good is a 5 inch blade against a beast that could break an iron sword with its jaws? I need a weapon, but where else can I- Wait.

Without breaking eye contact with the beast, I pulled up my inventory and checked it with my peripheral vision. There's nothing of use aside from the Wither Book. Well, I only know one spell and it's a defensive one, but it is worth a try. I pulled out the book. It felt heavier than I remembered in my hands. The beast, having realized that I have not given up yet, let out a roar and charged at me.

Panic grips my mind as I scribbled out the rune  in the air. I took in a deep breath and shouted, "Annihilius!" I watched as the white orb shoot from the book and strike the hound in the face.

The hellhound stopped dead in its tracks and started furiously shaking its head. I took this chance to sprint to the spruce tree standing close to the edge of the clearing. I was about to throw down the book and climb it as fast I can when I heard a noise. It sounded like whining but different.

I glanced behind me. The beast started pawing at its face while wining loudly. I'm confused, that spell was supposed to disarm the charms or spells your opponent is using on themselves and if they don't have any, it will just stun them for a few seconds. Surely that wouldn't have done any damage to this oversized wolf, right?

The growls and whines have became louder and the hound started to rub its face in the snow. But doesn't that hurt them? Becoming increasingly concerned by what I'm seeing but unable to find the strength to run, I pressed my back against the trunk of the tree. All of a sudden, the hound threw its head back and let out a long, mournful howl. I flinched despite myself. There was so much pain in that howl, and it sounded like Stella's psyche crying out for help.

The hound shook its head and opened its eyes. The scleras are black but the irises are the same shade of blue as Stella's. The hound looked around, clearly confused. I felt a tiny flicker of hope. Could it be? Is she back?

"Stella?"