The Blessed Omin

*chapter 10*

Raya:

We were paralysed to our spots. My breathing was lost, rapidly pounding against my heartbeat. The deformed claws clutched in closer to pull up whatever this thing was. The cacophony of scraping metal and falling rubble racketed my ears and induced a sense of impending doom in me. I shot my head away from the area hoping this was all a dream and this wasn't happening. I stared at the bare wall which had Levi lunched on it. 

As much as I couldn't look back, I also couldn't bare to look at this guy in such a state, it was a gruelling decision. But my time to make that decision was cut short when the whole rooftop fell silent. The air fell colder than before which made my rapid breathes turn into streams of steam which flowed around my face. What was worse however, was the hollow screech which echoed from behind me. As I turned around, I was met with the most dreadful and horrifying thing I had ever seen...

What stood roughly three meters away from us was the embodiment of what some call a mechanical terror. Scorched, frozen, overgrown. It was an artificial hell. It towered over us being at least 20 feet tall, with its deformed and crooked body overflowing with a maelstrom of wires and rubble. Its arms were unequal, one being long and twisted, ending in a sharp point which seemed so sharp that it could cut stone like butter and the other arm was shorter but had a sharp and malleable claw which could grasp us all in one handful. 

Although, its face was what stood out to me, its jaw was unhinged lingering around its chest and its teeth were hooked like Velcro so what ever came in , could never escape, almost like a venus fly trap.

I turned my head slowly towards Omin and Grayson. Omin looked terrified while Grayson looked infuriated. I swear he was about to explode.

"What... is that thing?" Omin asked his voice trembling against the howling wind.
"Honestly, I don't give two shits about what it is, all I know is that it isn't goo-"Grayson replied.

Grayson was cut short when the machines arm raised into the air and swung down at us. Me and Omin barely skidded out of the line of fire, unlike Grayson who was struck on his left side and sent rolling to the edge of the rooftop. We now knew what we were up against. A death game, the test. The android wrenched its left leg up into the air if with malicious intent.

 The air gushed around the appendage as it hurdled towards us.

 Me and Omin both launched up into the air away from the impending destruction, like a squirrel jumping from a branch, hoping to not be crushed by its unnatural mobility. The roof had collapsed, the rubble spewed over the remaining flooring. I was barely clinging on to the narrow edges of the shattered supports.

 Tears were now welling up in my eyes, we couldn't survive this, we cant do this, what even is this? 

Im going to die.

This thing couldn't be defeated by the hands of a mere four new adults who barely knew their own potential. That's when a faint flicker bounced off my dread filled tears, a flicker of hope.

 A chance.

It was the sword.

 Omin never actually through it down he simply just immobilised it by getting it stuck in the wall. The slim chance we had, the chance to take our own lives into our hands, anyone would try, after all,  the drowning man would always take one down with him. 

Wait but what about Grayson and Levi? Where are they? How could we protect them? And what about Omin? He was barely hanging on as well, clenching onto a bent metal pipe embedded into the once was floor. I shut my eyes which then proceeded in a single tear shedding down my cheek. I had to let go, even if I broke a leg.

  So I did.

When I had crashed down , excruciating pain ran down through my back like streaming acid rushing against my skin, so I crawled. I crawled through the sharp glass, as the pain shot down my leg, rubble and most importantly the constant hollow shrieks which were now warped and twisted which awfully contrasted my grunts as I tried to stay quiet. I grasped the handle of the sword tightly like I trying to strangle the 'life' out of it , oh the irony, seeing as we were likely to get strangled at this point. 

But I still couldn't stand. How could I fight if I couldn't even move? My mind imploded with the weight of my dreadful thoughts and I lost hope, the light from my eyes had disappeared, all seemed worthless.

I closed my eyes as the last of my energy drained from my immobile body.

"RAYA!" A scream echoed throughout the smog, probably Omin or Levi I couldn't tell as my vision blurred.

Suddenly, the ubiquitous darkness that covered my eyelids collapsed into a flowing reservoir of light, it was like the deepest remnants of hell was lifted into grace. I opened my eyes slowly, it was, what was the word? Stunning. 

The world which had seconds ago been cold, barren and terrifying was now bright and warm once again. My arms and legs were wrapped with silk like threads of luminosity which seemed to almost be alive in the way they moved. As they swirled and twisted around me, I felt a surge of energy rush through my whole body and I could now put pressure on my feet and back. And so I stood. I stood with the new hope I had found.

"OMIN" I shouted among the dust.
"IVE GOT AN IDEA BUT IT WILL ONLY WORK IF YOU CAN DISTRACT THAT THING!" My voice ricocheted across the walls hoping for a reply.

"I CAN TRY BUT YOU HAVE TO BE QUICK WITH WHATEVER YOUR TRYING TO DO." I heard in reply,

Our conversation stopped abruptly when one final ear-splitting roar came from above us but this time it was like a war horn declaring death to all of us.

 I took one last futile glare backwards into the direction of Omins voice, hoping he knew I was looking. I then turned towards the android, with not a stare of terror but anger and determination. I started sprinting towards a pile of rubble which was roughly four times the height of me. 

How Im sprinting? I don't know, it was what my moms church would call it, a miracle.

The dust had nearly cleared by this point and we could see this wretched things form appear again. The silhouette was now littered with spot lights which travelled across its torso. Where the hell were those coming from? I clutched onto a metal pole sticking out of the pile and turned frantically towards the source of the light.

There was Omin, he had both hands in front of his face which pooled light into the surrounding areas, almost like car lights trying to distract a nearby deer. Even so, I had to keep focus, if I got to the top of this pile without getting spotted maybe I could take this things sight out for good. At that moment, I heard ruffling coming from the other side of the building. It was Grayson, thank god he was okay, to be honest I kind of forgot about him given the situation. At least I knew he was okay.

I tracked my eyes back onto their finish line, the top was a mere 2 metres away when I felt an invigorating pain shoot through my palm. Damn it, of course there was sharp metal in this pile I'll need to get that checked out after this is over. I now had to drag my body up.. I was nearly there, come on. I now stood at the top of this pile, contemplating the full extent of the destruction this thing caused through one attack, if this wasn't a machine I couldn't even begin to imagine what it could do. It was now arched over almost snatching for anything it could grab and rip apart in a ruthless frenzy, whacking walls and debris. I couldn't gain my footing especially with how unstable this pile was. I tried to brace myself down to the 'flooring' when I was flung backwards and the earth disappeared beneath my feet.

I shut my eyes to let myself refuse the reality that I was going to die. The only last remains of me would the last cold tears which slipped from my eyes like a raindrop in reverse.