The Whispering Blade 13 Cornered

The man s.h.i.+ned a toothy grin at us as he waltzed into the apartment. His pale skin illuminated under the light. His beady eyes darted between the three of us until they rested on me.

"Well, din't 'spect to find anotha Servant so easily," he cackled. "'Spose luck is on my side."

I froze. How could he tell?

"Who are you?" I yelled, clutching the suitcases tightly. "What do you want?"

The Servant let loose a hysterical laugh. "Ya already know wut I'm doin here, I want that sword of yers."

I looked down at the sword in my grasp. How does he know about that? Oh right, whoever contracted him probably told him. He placed his fingertips together. His arms immediately tensed as veins popped up all over his arms. Oh c.r.a.p, he can use Eden. I tightened my grip around the hilt until my knuckles turned white. Eli and Isa were also on full alert now.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," he started. "You guys's choice."

My eyes darted across the room, looking for anything that could help the situation. I looked at the TV remote lying on the living room table and an idea popped into my head. I turned my head to Isa and Eli.

"Remember the plan?"

They both nodded. I began channeling the energy within me. A light pain spiked in my head as I focused on manipulating my kira. I ignored it as I tried to control my hold on it.

The Servant let out a sigh. "Guess y'all chose hard."

His eyes turned bloodshot and his breathing intensified as he released the energy gathered in his hands, creating a large dull glow in the s.p.a.ce between. Two dark insect-like limbs emerged out of the light. It's jagged legs scratched into the wooden floors as it dragged itself out. The beast's upper torso had a stick-like figure with a triangular head. Large and extremely sharp mandibles protruded out of its beak-like snout, and its bulbous eyes studied us like prey. The lower torso had six more legs attached to it and a long tail with a wicked sharp stinger at the end.

I lost all focus on controlling Eden. What the h.e.l.l is that?

"Um, guys, that's gotta be a Conjurer, right?" Eli asked.

"d.a.m.n right," the Servant answered nonchalantly. "Git 'em"

The beast let out a shrill shriek and bull-rushed towards us with its jagged arms swinging wildly around. We got separated as Eli and Isa dove to the right and I moved left and parried the wild slashes with my sword. The Servant let out a maniacal laugh as he enjoyed the sight in front of him. Focusing on me, the beast started cornering me into the kitchen. I ducked behind one of the suitcases as the beast went into a frenzy at the sight of its prey, me. The suitcase was cut in half like it was paper and spilled all the clothes packed inside.

I sneaked a quick glance over at Eli and Isa and saw them try to tackle the Servant to the ground. He avoided them and pulled out a large rusted knife and jabbed at them, causing them to quickly back off. His eyes never left the beast and I saw him concentrate all of his attention on it.

"Make the Conjurer lose his focus," Sintra suddenly whispered in my head. "Do it quickly or else his summon will kill you."

The beast let out a frustrated shriek as I avoided another strike of its sharp limb. My back was now against the wall. I was stuck next to the stove on my left and the pantry on the right. Seizing its chance, it lunged forward headfirst and tried to snag a bite out of my shoulder. I tumbled underneath its striking head.

I had somehow managed to swap positions with the beast. Swinging the pantry door open, I locked the beast inside the tight little area. I pushed my back against the bucking door and tried to keep the beast inside the makes.h.i.+ft cage. Seeing that Eli and Isa were in a standoff with the Servant, I turned my focus on the TV remote still lying on the table. Once again, I focused on controlling Eden. The light pain in my head returned, but it was an afterthought as I concentrated all of my being on what was about to happen.

Unbeknownst to the Servant, the remote rose into the air. The pain in my head intensified and blood began to drip down my nose as I manipulated the remote. My head began to swim as I forced my will on it. I swung my arm in a throwing motion and the remote darted towards the side of the Servant's head.

Realizing that this was her opportunity, an explosion shot out of Isa's blistered hand and blinded everyone in the room, except for one person. With his hand s.h.i.+elding his eyes, Eli charged forward with the heavy-weighted box of cans in his arms. He let out a desperate cry as he empowered his body and bashed the box into the Servant's face. Cans flew everywhere as the Servant's body crashed into the wall. His head made a sick noise as it bounced off the wall and left a deep dent.

I felt the pus.h.i.+ng from the door begin to let up until it stopped moving completely. I heard a loud thump as something banged against the wall. The Servant began to randomly twitch. His arms and legs spasmed spontaneously. Cautiously, I stepped away from the wall and backpedaled towards Eli and Isa. The pantry door slowly creaked as it opened all the way, revealing the beast. Its eyes were dazed and its arms hung at its side. It was like a puppet that had its strings cut off, lifeless.

When I got to Eli and Isa, we were all shaking.

"C'mon we have to get out of here," Isa directed. "Take what you have and let's go."

Eli led the way and headed out the door with his considerably lighter box of food supplies. Isa followed behind closely and I pulled the suitcase behind me and clutched Sintra as I stumbled out the door. We ran as fast as we could behind Eli as he navigated us to his van. He started the vehicle and we quickly threw our stuff in. As we were climbing into the van, a blood-curdling screech blared from my apartment.

We looked back and saw the Servant leaning against the door slumped with the beast behind him. It clumsily stumbled forward, obviously impacted by the state of its master.

The Servant pointed at us and huffed out a command. "Kill them."

Letting out another screech, the beast jumped down the flight of stairs and landed on the ground. Its legs clacked against the ground as it beelined towards us. I summoned all the energy I had and took a fighting stance.

The beast leaped through the air and quickly ate the distance. I brought the blade up and started to pivot to create more force for my next attack. Like swinging a bat, I stepped into my swing as the beast lunged with its spiked limbs. My hands brought the blade down as I aimed to slash it from its shoulder to the abdomen. My sword sliced through the air and I watched as it was about to cut through the beast and-

BAM!

A van smashed into the beast and I heard a sickening squish and b.u.mp of the car going up and down. I looked up and saw the driver.

Eli honked. "Get in the car, Zorro!"