Chapter 14

So Much For A Moment Of Peace

Every little bit of air had literally been knocked out of his lungs when something large and drenched in darkness had slammed into him with the strength of a goddamn wrecking ball, and even now that he was send flying to the ground, Darby wasn't given the chance to breathe in an attempt to fight off the black spots that were clouding his violently trembling vision, because as soon as his body hit the ground with a sickening thud, a pair of massive hands found their grip on his shoulders and dug two rows of razor sharp fingernails through the fabric of his hoodie and into his nails, deep enough to draw blood and using enough strength to keep him pinned down, causing a grunt of pain to escape past the ghost hunter's clenched teeth.

But before Darby could even try and catch a glimpse of who, or rather, what had just attacked him with no intention of letting him go, his eyes widened in a mix of surprise and shock to see what was coming to him next. Two long, bony structures composed of spikes, one longer and sharper than the other, were aimed right at his face. If Darby's heart hadn't ceased to beat on that moment to unleash the strength that came with his powers, the two largest spikes at the very top would have surely pierced through Darby's eyes and into his sockets; using all the strength he had, Darby managed to shift his shoulders under the grip for his arms to have enough freedom to take a hold onto the structures, tightly holding onto the rock-hard material while the skin on his hands began to glow purple. Letting out another groan, the blonde ghost hunter used that same strength to push them away from him, trying to create as much distance between his face and the spikes as possible, all while struggling to catch the smallest bit of air. All of this happened in less than merely ten seconds.

Now that it no longer felt that the world around him had stopped shaking and his determination to not be impaled had driven the black spots away, Darby finally got to see what kind of creature had been lurking in the darkness this whole time before finally deciding to strike… and even with ten years of experience seeing ghosts in all kinds of grotesque, frightening appearances, he could feel a small tingle of horror trickle down his spine and his eyes widen with shock.

As it turned out, male deer weren't the only kind of species in this world to grow a pair of antlers, since that was exactly what was pointing right his face right now. Long, thin, sharp antlers had replaced the eyes of this ghost, which may have deprived him of its sight, but clearly, he had still been able to sense Darby's and Cora's presence at some point somehow, knowing exactly how to successfully charging into the blonde ghost hunter with one try only. Barely visible strands of black hair were sticking to its bald skull and across its face. His lips were so thin that they were hardly visible, exposing a mouth full of long teeth that were stained with rot. Instead of blood, black liquid stained the skin around the spot where his nose was supposed to be, which presumably had either been torn off or rotten away, leaving its two nostrils exposed. Complementing his barely humane appearance was the massive size of its body, with its unnaturally elongated limbs that barely contained any muscle, causing its deadly pale skin, mostly stained with large blotches of fresh, black liquid, to be tightly wrapped around the bones. The same could be said for the rest of its body as well, since it was easy to count every single rib that was poking through the skin on his chest. The creature had brought along the same kind of cold that radiated from every single ghost Darby had encountered throughout his career, which in turn did confirm that this creature was indeed one of them… and he was absolutely convinced that this poor fucker had entered the Mindless phase.

The long, rotten teeth parted to let out a screech that could only exist in the worst nightmares imaginable, since there was absolutely nothing in the pitch and volume that could come close to resembling that of a human being, or even a wounded animal that could feel its imminent doom approaching in the form of a hungry wolf or a hunter with a rifle. Along the loud, unsettling bellow, a rain composed of thick drops of what appeared to be a thick, pitch-black liquid that strongly resembled tar came flying out of the Mindless' mouth and stained Darby's face, which was still crunched under the pressure of the physical strength he had to keep up in order to keep the antlers away from him. This same liquid emerged out of its ears and nostrils in thick streams, even down the antlers that had taken the place of its eyes, trickling down the bone-like surface and staining Darby's fingers as well. New stains were added to the emaciated body that was yet still somehow capable of brute strength when drops of black leaked out of every single pore imaginable.

'Darby!'

It was beyond a doubt that it was Cora screaming his name at the top of her lungs, the fright in her voice matching the look on her face; perhaps it was the deeply unnerving appearance of their attacker that scared her even more than the sudden attack itself. Darby managed to lift his head for a little more than three inches to try and catch a glimpse of his traveling companion. He saw her scrambling to get up on her feet and nearly tripping when she ran towards him as fast as she could, but was able to regain her balance before her knees could touch the earth. He saw her stretching out her arm and aiming the palm of her opened hand at the Mindless, as if she was preparing to launch a fireball that was large enough to instantly incapacitate it. But before as much as a single ember could be created, a blackness with a size to match the Mindless in front of her darted out of the darkness from the tree line in the blink of an eye, charging right into her; unlike Darby, Cora had been able to make some noise when being struck with the impact, which took the form of a loud, surprised shriek.

'Oh fuck…!' Darby hoarsely whispered with widened eyes.

As soon as the rookie ghost huntress was mowed over like she was a ragdoll and knocked to the ground, she too got a good view of a pair of antlers that were only centimeters away from piercing through her face. The Mindless that attacked her was stunningly identical as the one who kept her traveling companion pinned down, from the frame of its hulking, emaciated body to the size of the antlers that were adorned with many sharp spikes, as if they were the most horrifying twins in existence. Two of them… god damn it, there were two of them! But unlike its hunting partner, this Mindless couldn't get a hold on Cora quick enough, because she quickly scooted away when she laid eyes upon the abomination in front of her.

'Get away from me! Get the fuck away from me!' she yelled as she tried her hardest to increase the distance between her and the murderous specter, which quickly turned out to be nothing more but a futile attempt when the Mindless towered above her, leaning in to either pin her down as well, simply tear her into bloody shreds or use its antlers to stab her where it could. Her heart beat in her head like a jackhammer when she tried one more time to crawl away from it, only for her back to touch the bark of one of the many pine trees. The theory of this abomination actually drooling at the mere thought of killing her crossed her mind when she saw black liquid trickling from the corner of its mouth and running down its jawline.

'No!'

Cora quickly turned her head away while she tightly clenched her eyes shut, as if she was bracing herself for her impending demise, but while she did this, she stretched out her arm, her fingertips millimeters away from the Mindless' face. Something was then unleashed inside of her, which quickly turned out to be an ability that would prove to come in more than handy. It was like it was fueled by her fright, or rather, the will to get out of this alive. What emerged from Cora's open palm did not resemble one of the average fireballs that she had been able to produce by any means; instead, it was a long, continuous stream of brightly burning flames, perfectly matching a cloud of flames than only a flamethrower could spew out. The massive heat that came along with it warmed the skin on her face to the point where a single drop of sweat came trickling down her right temple. It was also enough to make her open her eyes and turn her head to see what she had created just now, causing her eyes to go wide with awe. And the target of this small inferno was thankfully nothing else but the face of the Mindless. Inhumane screams of intense pain rang through the forest when the fire engulfed its entire head, causing the specter to stumble and fall down while wildly clawing at the flames that consumed him, most likely in a desperate attempt to put them out. As sudden as the stream of fire had appeared, it disappeared just as sudden as well. Cora couldn't help but stare at her open palm for a split moment in sheer bewilderment, but managed to quickly shake it off when she realized that there was no time for that. Darby… oh God, she had to get to Darby!

Luckily for the blonde ghost hunter, he knew exactly how he was going to fight back, not planning on needing any help whatsoever. Just when the Mindless that had attacked his traveling companion had begun flailing around on the ground and wailing like a tortured animal, he decided to take the risk. He had to be fast, really fucking fast. But it could still work, nonetheless. Cora was just a few feet away from reaching them when the grip of Darby's right hand loosened around one of the antlers, and immediately after he did this, he clenched his brightly glowing hand into a tight fist and struck the Mindless square in the face with a punch that was strong enough to make a skull crack. Despite being dead for God knows how long, the specter was apparently still capable of feeling pain, judging by the fact that he quickly covered its mouth and exposed nostrils with its misshapen hands, and therefor promptly letting go of his prey. Darby didn't have any time to waste. As large as those fucker's hands were, they were unable to cover one defining feature on that grotesque face of his. So after Darby shoved the specter off of him with a loud grunt, he got back up on his feet as quick as possible before taking a firm hold onto the antlers once again, but this time, he wasn't planning on trying to keep them away from him. The purple glow that had illuminated the skin on his hands traveled all the way to his lower arms as both of his arms tensed up, the muscles under his hoodie visibly bulging. A strained grunt escaped from Darby's mouth, which was soon followed by the sound of something hard cracking under pressure. Then another loud crack followed. And then, after one more cracking noise that could be heard by anyone in their proximity, the two antlers broke off at the base, sending chips of cartilage and bone flying everywhere. The howl of pain that instantly erupted from the Mindless turned out to be short-lived when Darby plunged the antlers through its chest with so much force that the spikes at the very top protruded through its back. Black liquid splattered onto the ground and his shoes. Soft gurgling could be heard coming from the Mindless as it weakly clawed at his punctured chest before slumping his upper body forward; no less than three seconds later, its entire frame disintegrated into a black mist to be carried away by a passing summer night breeze.

As if adrenaline was still pumping through every vein in his body, Darby's sight remained glued on the spot where the Mindless vanished, his breath shaking each time when he breathed out.

'Holy shit, Darby… Are you okay? Did that thing hurt you?' Cora asked, having witnessed the entire thing before she could even reach him. Maybe it was hearing her voice that slowed down the inner rush enough for him to finally notice something. It had been something that his brains had barely registered during the struggle, but now that it was over and the fact that there was a small puddle of black liquid left behind… he could clearly smell it. No, he didn't doubt for one moment that they had just been attacked by two ghosts that had become full-blown Mindless, but he couldn't remember one single Mindless that he fought during these years that had this strange odor lingering around them. It was anything but a pleasant one, strongly resembling sulfur, or decay, but either way, it was absolutely putrid. Darby found it hard to put a finger on it, but it did remind him of something.

This stench… it reminded him of disease.

The blonde ghost hunter turned his head and was this close to asking his traveling companion if she could smell this too, but he remained quiet when they both heard a low, guttural growl coming from behind them. When they both turned around, Cora was barely able to stifle a gasp. One single though powerful flamethrower to the face appeared not to be enough for the Mindless to vanish along with its hunting partner, because now it had managed to stand up straight on its legs that contained just enough strength to support its lanky body, reminding both ghost hunters of its towering height. The antlers that had grown out of its sockets had been scorched to the point where the bone-like material had completely blackened, now closely resembling the wood that had been used as fuel for the campfire that was surprisingly still burning at this point. The thin sheet of skin that had been tightly pulled around its face had been reduced to a mask of burned flesh, sizzling with intense, painful heat and small bubbles forming underneath the tissue. That's when it pressed its large hands against the sides of his head and began to wildly shake it while whimpering in sheer agony, almost sounding like it was… begging for mercy, in a sense.

This plea was directed at someone who had been hiding in the shadows of the woods this whole time, a sole witness to this sight and the mastermind behind this ambush, whose right hand was tightly clenched while a shadow-like energy swirled around it.

Both Darby and Cora saw the change kicking in. Whatever was happening to this suffering spirit, it caused a massive growth in the small amount of muscle it possessed, producing wet, crunching noises as they swelled up underneath the skin that was barely able to stretch over them, coming dangerously close to ripping like wet paper under the tension. The distorted whimpering grew louder and louder while this happened, and its swelling body was coated with fresh, thick drops of black liquid that instantly spread that strange, rotten stench upon emerging from the pores. As sudden as this change took place, it ceased just as sudden too, having only happened in five seconds, which undoubtedly must have felt like an eternity for this Mindless.

Even though it lacked eyes, Darby could immediately sense the bloodlust lingering inside it when it lifted its scorched head to 'look' at its prey.

'Get ready, Cora… This one is gonna take some effort to take down.'

'Yeah, I pretty much have figured that out too. Heads up!'

As if its newly-formed strength came with a massive dose of unbridled, blinding fury, the scorched Mindless emitted a loud, twisted bellow before charging at the two ghost hunters like a raging bull, returning back to its quadrupedal state while doing this and sending clouds of dust floating into the sky. It was a spur of the moment idea to keep it away from them, but Cora hoped to God that this was going to work. She aimed the palms of her hands at the ground, knowing that she would only have mere seconds to channel this energy inside her the correct way. Then she felt it, flowing right through her veins and traveling into her arms. And before the raging Mindless could even come close to launching its antlers into her, a bright flash that brought along an intensely massive heat lit up the surrounding area as another stream of burning flames cut through the ground in a horizontal line; just in the nick of time Cora had managed to create a wall of fire with flames that reached high enough to make the Mindless abruptly stop dead in its tracks. Darby didn't waste any time to launch his attack. The absolutely fearlessness he possessed showed itself when he sprinted towards the wall of flames as fast as he could and jumped right through them without a single ember burning through the fabric of his clothes, pulling his glowing fist back far enough to create an absolutely powerful impact if it were to land on something. His fist landed right in the center of the burned heap of flesh that was the face of the Mindless, hitting it so hard that Cora could hear bone cracking underneath its face. The impact was strong enough to knock the towering specter to the ground, which was exactly what the blonde ghost hunter had hoped for.

As soon as its back touched the earth, he rushed towards the ghost with the intention of finishing it off the same way he did with the other one, and for that, he had to hold onto those antlers as tight as he could and put his muscles to use again. But before his fingertips could even touch the charred structures, a giant hand drenched in black liquid completely obscured its sight before sharp fingernails dug into different spots around his face. The Mindless quickly got up, still holding the blonde ghost hunter by his face as if he didn't have any weight whatsoever, who in turn launched punch after punch on the hand and wrist in an attempt to break free. Cora watched in horror as the towering specter raised him high into the air, knowing exactly the fate that would await her companion if he were to be slammed down with all the strength that unholy creature had just gained. There wasn't any time to yell something at it, be it the command to let him go or even simply calling out the blonde ghost hunter's name, but Cora knew exactly how to stop him while she sprinted towards it with her arm stretched out. And just before Darby was about to have every single bone and organ in his body turn into a gory soup inside of him upon hitting the ground, a wide stream of flames burst from the palm of her hand that cut a track from the creature's lower body all the way up to its head. Another howl of pain erupted from the Mindless as he promptly let go of Darby, who managed to land on both of his feet.

This time it was his lower legs that were glowing with purple energy, and one well-landed, powerful kick to the shins of the Mindless turned out to be enough to make the bone shatter like it was made of glass, causing the specter to fall over with a sickening thud. The same amount of power could be found in the stomp to the creature's spine, which instantly caused its whole body to go completely numb. But before it was able to let out another agonized howl, Darby had gotten a tight grip on the antlers, though now he no longer planned on breaking them off. There was something else they could be used for, and it would be just as effective. With one hard twist, the suffering of the rampaging Mindless would come to an end at last, at the cost of the bones in its neck. Less than three seconds later, Darby found himself standing in a layer of pitch-black fog that was bound to disappear.

Both he and Cora needed a moment to catch their breath, feeling whatever was left of their adrenaline lingering through their veins.

The sole spectator that was Malakai Black then decided that he had seen and heard enough, blending in with the shadows around him.