The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 26: The Black Witch

"YIN! BEHIND YOU!"

Sasha's terrified scream broke the healer from his thoughts, his head swivelling, his watery blue eyes widening in utter horror.

The headless body of his brother was charging at him, full of life and vigor. And in his arms, Vao's severed head grinned up at him.

"Gotcha, cunt," he growled.

The axe slammed into Yin's katana, the healer's mind running rampant with raw terror. Vao shouldn't be alive. His head was cut off. But the head opened his mouth wide, biting down on Yin's thumb. With a shriek, he dropped Vao on the ground and rolled away, standing shakily to his feet. Vao's body bent down to pick up his head, holding it high into the air. He looked ecstatic.

"I-it worked," he whimpered. "It worked! It bloody worked! I've done it!"

Tim and Chuck ran past him, not daring to look back even as they left the room. The adventurers stared at the headless thief, Sasha's voice rising into a scream again. Salem clamped a hand over her mouth. She felt sick. "V... V-Vao...?"

Vao tilted his hand, his head aimed at them. His lips curled into a smirk, his eyes flaring with glee.

"Y... You're..." Yin trailed off, leaving Vao to laugh.

"That's right, Yin! I told you I threw everything away!" He snickered. "I gave up everything for this day! I've thrown away my humanity, Yin!"

Their hearts stopped. That wasn't an offence to the Church. That was an offence to the God of Light himself. Vao had committed a cardinal sin and turned himself into a nonhuman.

The banshees began to wail again, Salem recalling something from her encyclopedia.

When banshees screamed, it didn't always mean someone was going to die. There were legends that they were accompanying a very specific type of nonhuman. The very nonhuman Vai had turned himself into. A dullahan.

Vao tossed his head into the air, catching it in his hands. His eyes swivelled between the adventurers hysterically. He had lost it, his paranoia crippling him.

Darkness exploded around him when he charged again, driving into Sasha with the speed and power of an artillery shell. The tomboy shrieked through the air, Vao whistling loudly. "That's it! I'm bringin' the madlads!"

The animals and insects spilled through the cracks in the room, rising like a wave behind Vao. The dullahan laughed happily as the bugs swarmed Sasha, the elf screaming in terror. He tossed his head into the air when Ozpin charged, his body two-handing his weapon and smacking him away. In an instant the knight was swarmed with squirrels, the man screaming and swatting at his armor as they climbed inside. With one kick, he sent Pock slamming into Pyrrha, catching his head in his hand. He twirled his axe, pulling his flashiest moves. "C'mon, you rotten cleric! I'm an affront to your god!" He cheered.

He blasted towards Yin, their magics sizzling as their weapons collided, sparks burning through the air. The cleric gritted his teeth, his eyes watering. "Have you lost your fucking mind!? Turning yourself into a nonhuman is insanity!"

"Maybe you're right! I got too a-head of myself!" Vao snickered. "And yeah, I'm as mad as a bag of coked up ferrets! I just can't believe it actually worked!"

SMASH!

The healer slammed into the ground under the weight of Vao's axe, rolling out of the way as the blade crashed down where his neck head been only moments before.