Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 62-

Day: 44 (Food Drop-Off)

Days Left: 5436

Lives Saved: 0

Rolling to the side, the coiled-haired woman had escaped the chimaera's clutches, retaliating with her sword. Harmony easily evaded each and every one of the attacks, her prime focus on drawing the woman further away from Corinna.

Hearing a cry of pain, Harmony glanced back, seeing a cut on Corinna's cheek.

"You've gone soft." The woman smirked.

Dodging at the last moment, the sword plunged into the chimaera's shoulder. Harmony gripped the blade, preventing the woman from striking again.

"And weaker," the woman continued.

Gritting her fangs, Harmony grappled the woman's arm with her other paw and pushed it down until she heard it snap. The swordswoman screamed and stumbled back, leaving her sword still lodged in the chimaera's shoulder.

Clasping hold of her broken arm, the woman grinned. "That's more like it." She retrieved her mask from the side of her belt and donned it. The edges around the mask stretched around her head then spread across the rest of her body. Her arms and legs grew taller and thicker, her shoulders hunched over. Then she collapsed onto her hands and knees, clawing at the grass as orange and black fur sprouted out of her skin. She raised her head, meeting the chimaera's eyes and with her new face, that of a tiger's.

She pounced and pinned the chimaera down, with Harmony struggling to push back as she wrestled with the tiger to prevent her from biting off her head. Then, the ground seemed to rumble and shake beneath them. Using the opportunity, Harmony kicked the tiger off of her and stumbled up just in time to witness something spring out of the ground and ensnare Corinna.

"Corinna!" Harmony lunged forwards to the save the young woman but then found herself forced back down onto the ground by the tiger and another indigo-caped woman. She glanced around, seeing that now only one person stood beside the horned demon.

*

Meanwhile, Corinna herself was also pinned down. She was frozen in fear as a giant mole-rat, that had just tunnelled up from underneath her. The giant mole-rat sniffed her hair. Its eyes were like pin-pricks, covered by fuzzy skin.

It must be blind, thought Corinna as the mole-rat continued to scuffle with its small paws, clutching onto her shoulders. Reaching into the side pocket of her backpack, Corinna retrieved the can of bug spray, held her breath and pressed the button down. The mole-rat recoiled and scampered away from the stench, clawing at its nose. No longer able to smell anything apart from the bug-spray, the mole-rat was unable to sense Corinna's location.

*

With a blood-curdling howl, Harmony expanded her wings, knocking the tiger and the woman off of her. Her snake-tail wrapped around the tiger's thick neck and sunk its teeth into her skin. The other woman froze for a moment before charging in with her sword. It was a futile attempt as the chimaera grappled her by the throat, raising her above the ground. Harmony glanced back over to Corinna, but instead, her attention was drawn elsewhere upon seeing the amphibian picking at the pile of food packets. It hissed at the chimaera after realising it had been spotted. The other prisoners had noticed the opportunity and were now charging towards the food packets.

The venom had set in, and the tiger fell limp and unconscious, collapsing to the ground as she was released from the snake-tail. Harmony threw the other woman to the side, knowing that she would no longer be a threat as she would be more concerned about food and her ally rather than revenge.

Revenge...

Harmony looked behind her to the horned demon. It had stepped over the stones. If the demon was finally going to fight itself, instead of sending its lackeys, that meant that a bloodbath was sure to occur.

They needed to getaway.

The chimaera headed towards Corinna, who was currently locked in combat with the swordsman. He was attempting to reclaim his sword and mask back. Rushing past him, Harmony swung her arm, and her talons tore into his skin. He collapsed onto the ground, his body writhing and shaking as he cupped his face, blood flooding into his hands and onto the grass. Not looking at the damage she had inflicted, Harmony slung Corinna over her shoulder and darted out of the stone circle.

"You got the food!" Harmony yelled.

"Yeah!" Corinna replied. As she was being carried with her head facing the stone circle, she could not turn away from the scene. It was an indecipherable mess of monsters, with everyone donning their masks. 

Once they were far away enough to not hear any screams and howls, Harmony set Corinna back on the ground but still continued a quick pace. They stayed silent throughout the entire journey.

As soon as they entered the house, Harmony shut the door closed and blocked it with the bookcase just in case anyone followed them. "Are you hurt?" She whipped around to face the young woman.

Corinna shook her head. "Just a few scrapes."

Harmony leaned forward and inspected the cut on the young woman's cheek and the scratches on her shoulders from the mole-rat. She licked them with her tongue and, in a few seconds, they healed completely.

After the heat in her face cooled down, Corinna said, "I'm sorry, Harmony. This was all my fault. I tried to get more food."

"Why did you?" Harmony asked, her voice soft and quiet.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were eating enough."

Harmony stepped closer and embraced the young woman, wrapping her arms around Corinna. "Thank you... but I'll be fine, really." Her voice then grew serious. "Everyone was just antsy because the next drop-off is during a blood moon."

Corinna rested her head against the chimaera's chest, hearing her stable heartbeat.

"They all wanted to make sure that they got food since it'll be difficult during a blood moon," Harmony continued. "We'll definitely have to be ready to fight then."

"I managed to get seven extra packets. All special stew." After saying this, Corinna giggled as she heard Harmony's heart beat faster.