Chapter 5
I woke up to the sound of glass being smashed in a different room, adrenaline immediately entering my body. The house was being broken into. I looked around the room trying to find anything I could use as a weapon against the intruders. There was nothing in this room, other than the boxes that were stored in here. I looked toward the door as I heard some voices on the other side. "You think that he's here? This is the tenth house we've been to, would be a shame to have to kill another innocent family." I, horrifyingly, heard a scratchy voice say. "Yeah, our spy said he came here with that hot eagle chick, lets go check her room." I heard a gruff, and pretty dumb sounding, voice reply. 'They were going to hurt Eris. Well, that's only if they get the chance.' Starting to look for a way out I heard them start walking away giving me a chance to peak through, catching the end of a tail going around a corner. I started to make my way towards the kitchen, to get a knife. With it being the middle of the night, and me not being familiar with the house, it took me longer than expected to find the kitchen. Once I found it, I started searching for a knife, finally opening the correct drawer and grabbing a steak knife. It was at that point when I heard a scream from across the house. Sprinting over to where I heard Eris scream, seeing an open door with the light on. Barging in I see a large rat holding Eris down with a smaller one cackling off to the side. They looked over to me and took out their weapons. "See, I told you that the motherfucker was here. Now let's kill him, like the boss wanted." The one that was holding Eris down let her go, causing her to run behind me. I took a stance and was preparing for them both to attack. The smaller one charged towards me; axe raised over his head. I pushed Eris out of the doorway and dodged to the side just in time for it to be embedded in the side of the threshold. While he was struggling to get it out, I took this advantage and drove the knife into his shoulder blade, causing him to howl in pain. I took it out and rammed it into his spine, severing it and causing him to drop. I turned around just in time to duck beneath a mace swung straight for my head. He brought it back up, hitting me in the jaw, causing me to scream in pain and tear up from my broken jaw. It hung loosely from its proper place with blood pouring out of it. 'I can't let him get me on the ground, I don't want to choke on my own blood.' Looking back over to him I saw his face form into a sinister grin, pleased that he just caused me so much pain. "When I'm done with you, I'm going to treat myself to that little girlfriend of yours, and then I'll kill her as well." He said, letting out a dark chuckle before continuing his onslaught of attacks, which left me to dodge. Backing out in the hallway I saw that Eris was gone, probably to find some help. Turning around I sprinted through the hallway and around the corner, slipping because of the momentum. I got back up and just got out of the way of a mace splintering the floorboards. I jumped over the couch, getting more tired as I went due to blood loss, I had to end this quickly. Finding myself back in the kitchen I grabbed a wooden cutting board turned around and slammed it into his face, breaking it on impact. It did not seem like it did anything other than make him angrier, which caused him to pick me up and throw me away from him. Landing on my back, I started to scramble backwards, feeling my pads get cut open from something on the floor. I looked down and saw, in the moonlight, a shard of glass on the floor. This is where they broke in from. I picked it up and looked back to see him approaching me, laughing as he did so. "You know, you put up more of a fight than I thought you would, no wonder the boss wanted you dead. You would ruin all his plans that he has for Chima." He said, confusing me. I tried to speak, but all that came out was a bunch of gurgling. He drew closer to me, and that is when I decide to lash out. Jumping forward I took the shard of glass and cutting him high on the inner thigh, hoping to slice his femoral artery. It seems like I did, seeing blood squirting out from where I cut him. I took this chance, while he is weak, to cut his other one, causing him to yowl in pain and anger wildly swinging his mace around. Blood was soaking his legs and squirting onto the floor. I charged forward, pain running through my jaw due to the speed and attempted to finish him off. As I was bringing it down, he caught my wrist and snapped it. I cried out, which did not sound like a cry at all, more like a throaty sob. He headbutted me, knocking me to the ground. As he started to get up, I could feel the blood pooling at the back of my throat. As he towered over me and raised his mace over his head to finish me off, I had one thought: 'I hope Eris is ok.' I closed my eyes preparing for whatever fate had in store for me in the next life, hoping this death was a quick one.
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It was quiet; why wasn't I dead yet? I peaked my eyes open to see the rat standing over me with a shocked look on his face, I travelled down his body until I reached the center of his chest where I could make out the glint of blood-soaked golden blade poking through, puncturing his heart. He slowly looked down towards it before simply slumping off and to the side of me, making a loud thud as he did so. Quickly seeing the threat gone I sat up and threw my head forward, letting the blood be free from airways and pool out onto the ground beneath me. I heard footsteps approaching me and looked up to see who it was, and boy was I glad I did. There, standing over me, was Eris in an oversized t-shirt with a golden eagle design on it holding her spear, the culprit who saved me. She looked over me, horrified at what I had just been through and the state that my body was in. She knelt down and brought me into a hug, sobbing as she did. "I never should've left; I should've stayed to help you out. It's all my fault that you're like this" I couldn't say anything, but I just held her there tight and softly rubbed her back and let her cry into me. It did not take long after that before the authorities showed up, getting evidence from the crime scene and getting me medical treatment to my minor wounds. Eris and I were sitting outside watching the flashing lights of the medical personnel get closer, to bring me to the hospital. "You know, what you did tonight was very brave and I'm glad that you came out of it alive." Eris said, breaking the silence that fell between us as we watched the skinnier, paralyzed, rat get carted away into a different ambulance. "I just want you to know that I appreciated it, not many people would've done what you did. So, thank you, my hero" She finished off, giving me a peck on the cheek, causing me to go bright red. She just giggled and snuggled up next to me as we looked up at the crescent filling the sky. We looked back as we heard the other ambulance pulling up and decided that it was time to go, not like I had a choice. As I was placed on the stretcher and loaded in, I took one last look at Eris and knew I just had to survive in this new world. If not for me, at least for her.