Hermits: Apocalypse

Apocalypse Part 8

Ren. He protecc. He attacc. But most importantly, he got Grian's bacc.

Ren POV

I watched as Grian climbed the tree, disappearing into the foliage. A moment later. I heard his voice.

"I found them!" He called. I felt my ears perk up. His head appeared over the side of the branch he was on. "I can see the-"

An arrow. I saw it too late. 

It flew at Grian and hit him in the gut. He looked somewhere behind me, and toppled over the edge, falling to the forest floor below.

I heard a thud and a crack.

"Grian!" I ran over to where my friend landed. He lay limp on the ground, leg splayed out at an awkward angle. He wasn't moving.

I knelt beside him and checked his pulse. Faint, but there. I sighed with relief.

A snapping branch behind me brought me back to reality. I turned around to look at the (joehills approved censorship) who nearly killed Grian.

Tall, with a black cloak. A bloody sword hung at his side.

I growled and reached for my sword. "Who the hell are you?" I snarled.

The man pulled down his hood. I forced myself not to gag.

"And why haven't you tried plastic surgery?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Rendog. The annoying Hermit."

I shot him a sharp look. "Excuse me?"

He tried for a smile, which only made him look worse. "Not to be rude, but-"

"Sorry, could you put the hood back on? Your, you know." I gestured to his mess of a face. "Is kind of distracting."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. And in that moment, I struck.

I ran at him, sword in hand. It happened so fast he didn't realize what was happening until I was on top of him. I jabbed out with the blade, aiming at his gut.

The blade went straight through.

Things like that happen so rarely, that I just stood there, staring at what I'd done, my hand still on the grip.

"Wow." The attacker looked down at the blood soaking his robes. "Nice job."

"Thanks." I muttered uneasily. He didn't seem to be getting weaker. "So if you could just die, that would be great."

He smiled apologetically to me. "Sorry, but at this point, I can't die. Pun unintended."

I had the common sense to yank my sword out of his gut, and jump away as he pulled out his own blade. He stared at me.

"You want me? Come and get me." I taunted, beckoning with my hand.

In retrospect, it wasn't the smartest thing to say.

The madman lunged at me, sword outstretched. He tackled me to the ground, and I was shocked at the guys strength. Being that strong wasn't human

I stood up and sliced away at his arms, legs, neck, but nothing happened. He was invincible.

He drew out a small knife and threw it at me. I barely avoided it. The edge of the blade grazed my shoulder, leaving a small, thin cut.

It wasn't that big of a deal. I'd been hit with worse before. But as soon as it touched my skin, my arm felt like was on fire. I looked at the dagger, now laying in the grass. A barely noticeable green substance coated the blade. Poison.

The madman kicked me in the gut, and I flew backwards, crashing into a tree. I got up uneasily, shaking of debris from the forest floor.

"You're a lot harder to fight than I thought. Harder than that Docm77 too."

I let out a howl and ran at him again.

He sidestepped me easily and I tripped over myself. I fell and the killer planted a foot on my chest. I coughed.

"You" he said. "Are the most persistent of all Hermits."

"... Thanks?" I murmured.

Meat Face went on. "And the most loyal. You'd do anything for your friends."

He stared me in the eye. "But that also happens to be your weakness."

He stepped harder on my chest. The words that came out of his mouth were the last I wanted to hear.

"Your friends won't be coming to help you any time soon. I already dealt with them."

My heart stopped. Maybe it was the poison, slowly working its way into my body. Or maybe it was the news.

"Are they dead?" I croaked.

Meat Face flashed me an evil grin. "After the condition I left them in? I'd say yes."

My mind raced. What had Grian said? When he was on the tree?

I found them! His cheerful voice had called out. I can see them!

So they'd survived.

Meat Face glanced at Grian. "That one will be gone before long. If he's still alive after I've dealt with you, maybe I'll finish him off. Or I could leave him to suffer, I can do what I want."

Rage boiled inside me. I didn't know what this guy wanted with us, but nobody hurt my friends. 

"You're right." I muttered quietly.

Meaty looked at me. "Of course I am. But what specifically are you referring to?"

I ignored him. "But you're also wrong. Yes, I am loyal to my friends."

"But that doesn't make me weak." He didn't have time to react. I shot up and jabbed the poisoned knife into Meaty's gut.

His scream was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I guess he wasn't immortal after all.

Despite my body being cut, torn, and riddled with poison, I somehow managed to get up, grab Grian, and run.

Run away from Meaty.

Run away from death.

Run to find Doc and Mumbo.

Author note: Yes, I will be calling the assassin Meaty until his identity has been revealed. I was going to do it once as a joke, but the name stuck.

So did the image of Ren fighting a giant killer steak in my mind.