12 days until the Last Ordeal
Of all the Chosen who I’d met, one in particular stood out in my mind. Chris had refused to say anything about himself, remaining silent for the whole meeting after giving his name. Something about him had set me on edge, but I didn’t have anything to go on beyond a feeling. That changed a couple days after my fight with Marie.
I had stayed at school for a while, chatting with some friends. When it was time to head home, I decided on a whim to cut through the woods behind the school. I usually don’t, but something in me wanted to be around some trees for a bit. Out behind the school, I heard some kind of commotion. I went around the corner to investigate, just in time to see Chris throw a kid against a wall with one hand.
There were five or six of our classmates lying on the ground, all boys. I recognized one or two as the type to pick fights, but if they were going up against a Chosen, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Is this how Chris decided he was going to use his powers? Just to beat the shit out of people?
“Hey!” I shouted, heading his way. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Chris looked at me like I was out of my mind. “Getting some exercise. Why not? They’re a bunch of assholes.”
“What’s wrong with you? You can’t go around beating people up just because you got superpowers. We got those so that we could save the world!”
“Screw that.” Chris turned to face me, arms folded. I couldn’t help but think about how he was about twice my size. “That eyeball thing said I only have to fight if I want to. So, I’m gonna sit this out. What I do on my own time isn’t your problem.”
Punching Marie had been on reflex. When I threw a punch at Chris, it was a conscious choice. Maybe it would have landed if I had had that same level of reflexive anger fueling me. Instead, he took one step to the side and let me sail past. Both of us had enhanced strength and speed, but I had never really been in a serious fight before this started. Before I could recover, Chris’s fist caught me in the jaw, leaving my head ringing. I staggered back, clutching my jaw, and he stood his ground, daring me to try again.
Our standoff was broken when a monster poked its head around the corner.
Unlike the other monsters I’d seen, this one had a face. A long, serpentine neck ended in a flat surface, like the neatly severed head of a statue. At the end of the stump were three circular holes, arranged like two eyes and a mouth. Following it were four more identical “heads”, evoking a hydra, but the rest of the body was short and wide, with two uncomfortably human-like legs. It had no other limbs, just those five necks swaying deliberately back and forth as it slowly made its way over to us.
“Great, let’s put this on hold.” I summoned my spear and cautiously approached the monster. The presence of Chris’s victims behind me weighed heavily on my mind. If I let this thing past me, it could easily kill them.
As soon as I got close, it struck. One of its weird, flat faces turned to look directly at me, and a steel spike extended from its circular mouth in a flash. I twisted my body to get out of the way, and it extended past me and punched a perfectly round hole in the ground. I jumped back on instinct right as the other four heads attacked simultaneously, skewering the space I was just in with a thicket of metal spears. Dealing with all five heads on my own would be tough, but…
I looked back at Chris, and he hadn’t moved. He hadn’t even summoned his weapon. He was just watching.
“What are you waiting for?!” I yelled as the monster advanced, stabbing at me another half dozen times. Chris didn’t reply. He wasn’t even going to pretend to help. I was on my own for this fight. I put Chris out of my head and charged.
The main advantage I had over the thing was speed. Whenever a head extended its spear, that whole neck stopped moving. I could use this brief moment to circle around and attack it from the other side. Even then, it had me outnumbered five heads to one, so it was slow, dangerous work. My weapon wasn’t suited to this fight; if I had a sword or an axe, I could just cut its heads off, but all I could do was stab.
The fight turned when I stood my ground and let one of the heads take a clear shot at me in exchange for me striking back at its neck. The spike grazed my arm, drawing blood, but my spear struck cleanly, and the neck shattered. With one less head to attack with, I was able to out pace it, and eventually a strike through the heart killed it.
It had barely hit the ground before I turned to yell at Chris again. “What the hell was that? I could have died! What is your problem?!”
Chris smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It looked like you had it under control.”
At that moment, I realized that I couldn’t touch Chris, not now. Nobody but us knew monsters exist, so there were no authorities I could turn to. My only option was to fight him myself, and I knew beyond a doubt that if I did that right now, I would lose. He was bigger than me, stronger than me, and had more experience with fights, and I still had blood running freely down my arm. I could use my spear, but I didn’t know what his weapon was, and even if I did… I wasn’t prepared to point a blade at another human being. That felt like crossing a line I wasn't prepared to cross.
I let out a breath, turned, and walked away. I could feel his gaze on my back as I left. It felt like I had lost.
