Monster King

Chapter 27 - Shattering

“You're late.” Nick huffed.

I came to a stop at the edge of the forest, where Nick was leaning up against a tree. Clearly looking agitated. 

“Ya know, you could always just give me the bracelet.” I retorted. 

“You don’t know where a damn thing is, smart guy. It be like giving a monkey a map.”

“Oh your sooo funny.”

“Not as funny as your face, scar boy.”

I grumbled, just wait till I can fight…

Nick smirked and pushed off the tree.

"Alright, let's go." 

I followed his lead and headed out into the forest. We walked for a bit not saying a word to each other, until Nick broke the silence. 

“So, how’s your mother doing?” 

I blinked a few times. Did, did he actually care to know? Is he playing at something?

“She's, unchanged.” I mumbled. “There was some intense damage to her spine, they don’t know if she’ll ever walk again.”

A pit formed inside my stomach. Saying it out loud, it definitely hits different…

“That’s ruff man.”

I sighed and I remembered what Nick told me about his mom. About the curse. 

“Yeah it’s, it’s hard. I wish I could do something for her ya know? She’s done so much for me. All I can do is visit. And I can’t even do it that long, the spirits still freak me out.”

“I know the feeling, the helplessness. It’s hard for Guardians of death to get, or even use healing items. The guardian of light has a curse on them too. So we're pretty much stuck with modern medicine.”

“He’s such a bastard..” I grumbled.

“The worst kind of bastard.”

“He should just die.” We said simultaneously. 

He stopped walking and turned back toward me, and I looked up at him. Then he cracked a smile.

“Listen ki-, bro. If you want to help your mother, and your friends. You need to become stronger. That isn’t gonna be the last time a monster comes for you. We're like a delicacy to the Tenebris, because there are so few of us.”

Casey came to mind.

“I see, that’s unfortunate..”

I have no idea how to feel about that…

“All of our lives are unfortunate, but whining won’t solve anything. You just need to become strong,just living is a big middle finger to that light bulb prick.”

"Dad mentioned something about soul attacks, could you teach me that?"

"I think you should stick with the stuff you're gonna do today. Soul strikes don't do much against the Tenebris. The shadow manipulation will be good for hiding your Telum. Plus a pipsqueak like you could probably use Skelton summoning."

"How thoughtful…"

Eventually we came to a stop in an open part of the forest. The trees shaded us from above like a roof, while a few streams of light broke through the leaves. 

"Boa said she'd drop my blade off in a bit." I said to Nick. 

Who just nodded and started stretching. Just before I could really relax, I heard footsteps coming from the border of the woods. I glanced over to the sound and I was a bit surprised.