The boy cringed. Do you smell the ashes in the air? And the carbonite embers lingering around within the caustic orange darkness? What about the coughs and screams far and few within and about the ruins? And the simmering heat invisibly pulsating upon your flesh? You dont have to look around to know where thee hast awaken. God help you for the horrible scene you just imagined. But he does. He is there, a witness to the apocalypse unleashed upon the God forsaken earth. Dusty cobblestones greeted his trainers when he emerged in the middle of a crossroad. Jagged silhouettes burned or crumbled beneath the pitched heavens, sticks and stones all around, smoke arising from the baroque skyline in soothing droves of gusts.
His body reflexively jolted leftward and sprinted inside a weaponsmith shop, his stone axe already conjured in his right hand upon pressing his back against the wall. Hurgh, hmph, harr, the Pillagers grunted or snorted outside. A group of seven strolled pass the shop, allowing the boy to glare at them intensively. His blood simmered from within, but his every fibres resisted the urge to sink the axe into their heads. Almost verily tempting. He kept it close however, the flat side resting against his chest whilst he sneakily shuffled away.
Bump.
Hurgh? One of the Pillagers turned and grunted.
But its eyes and crossbow werent aimed at the boy. Nay. The shadows was his friend, cloaking him from the pillagers standing a few dozens paces outside. Brrr.
Zombies, the boy hushed under his breath.
Then there was a signature twang. An arrow punctured the zombie in the chest, but it didnt fall even when two more arrows struck. The other four arrows whooshed by, one penetrating its skull and allowing the others to zip by and nail another in the neck. But it wasnt long until ten zombies limped into view, a sight promoting Ben to cower away from the door. Arrows flew to one zombie at a time, four of them becoming immediate victims. It was when they were reloading that there was a fast high pitched snarl.
The boy didnt need to see it. He lifted his arm to chest level, his hand firmly gripping the lower area of the handle, his head turned to the doorless entryway he passed moments ago. Then he sprung, the axe cleaved into a familiar greenish forehead, belonging to a baby zombie. It didnt kill it, but the blade was embedded enough for the boy to briskly drag the mini zombie out of view, where he straddled it and smashed its head in with a few more swings. But his heart sank when a shadow approached the entryway. He stood there however and allowed it to enter.
He lackadaisically gestured with his axe, prompting the mindless beast to approach him, which it unconsciously obeyed. When it got closer out of view of the windows, the boy grabbed and amputated it left arm, then in one backhand swing, its extended right arm and neck. Blood splashed the walls and floors when its headless body slumped, the head rolling towards the lumbering footsteps of a couple more zombies. Alerted, the boy jumped and sprung off the wall with his right foot, sinking his axe into the head of a zombie and shove it into the floor face first. The axe was stuck however, forcing the boy to push kick the other zombie away. But when he finally removed it, an arrow intercepted the zombie in the temple. A pair of shadows loomed towards the entryway thereafter.
But the Pillagers found no one inside except a broken window in the back. It only took the boy a few swift seconds to slide out the window legs first, glass clattering on the cobblestone streets or crunching beneath his trainers before he circled around the building and hurled his axe at the entryway, its final destination being the nape of a Pillager. Another Pillager rushed outside, but the boy was already in front of him and a back spinning high kick knocked the crossbow from its hands. But the Pillager acted quickly and push kicked him. The boy simply staggered a few steps before lurching and ducking under a incoming haymaker, where he socked the Pillager in the liver with a crackle. HURGH, the Pillager growled vulgarly and slumped onto the boy. The boy stood and pushed the incapacitated Pillager inside, piling him onto another Pillager, whose crossbow was about to turn and fire. The arrow ended up landing in the floor just shy of his foot. The Pillager calmly and swiftly recovered however, turning away to prevent the boy from reaching over and wrap his arms upon his weapon. But the boy immediately wrapped his legs around him, his arms putting the blue skinned barbarian into a sleeper hold. The Pillager relinquished his weapon and tried to pry his arms off, remaining calm nonetheless as he backpedalled and slammed the boy against the wall. He spun around and thumped the boy against another wall. But when he did it thrice, the boy used his legs to push against the wall and slam the Pillager into the opposing wall, face first with a sickening crack.
Hmm, the boy hummed coldly before turning and stomping the second Pillager in the throat.
He retrieved his axe and wiped the blood against the corpse, but the boy immediately saw a shadow loom around the right corner. He pressed himself against the hearth, the simmering molten iron just a dozen centimetres away from him. But his grip and tension relented when he saw brown hair and a deep amethyst robe.
Thank goodness, the boy sighed deeply and approached the startled priestess. You been bitten?
Ochi, ochi, the priestess stuttered before briskly doing a sign of the cross. O Theotokos, eiste edo.
What happened?
Pillagers, then the Undead.
Calm yourself, I am here.
Then come. Come, brother.
Whence?
The Cathedral. I shalt tell ye more on the way.