9 days until the Last Ordeal

I was at least smart enough to text the other Chosen to let them know about Chris. Most of the other Chosen were nervous about confronting him without a plan and things getting out of hand. Julio said he’d talk to him. Apparently, they were already friends before they were Chosen. I left it at that for now.

The next time I saw a monster filled me with a dread I hadn’t felt with any of the battles before now. The monster itself wasn’t much to look at – just a blank mirrored sphere the size of a person, with a spotlight shining down from it – but what scared me was where it was. I found it hovering over a playground at 3 in the afternoon. There were kids playing almost directly underneath it.

I couldn’t wait for backup. I texted the address to the group, then charged in. Less concerned with doing damage than with moving it away from the children, I jumped, and shoulder tackled it in mid-air. The monster was surprisingly light, and my opening tackle knocked it a few yards away from the playground. That was still too close, but gave me a little room to maneuver. I summoned my spear, dashed in, and the monster finally reacted, its spotlight pivoting to shine directly at me.

The moment that light hit me, my body froze. I couldn’t move a muscle as it lifted me into the air. It didn’t throw me, or directly attack me at all, it just steadily lifted me higher. As I moved upwards, I began to realize that it didn’t have to do anything else. What was I going to do when it let go?

Just as my train of thought caught up to what it was doing, the light blinked off, and I fell. I frantically twisted my body around to try and control my landing, but it was enough of a drop that it wasn’t much help. I felt an explosion of pain as I hit the sidewalk. My ankle was sprained at the least; more likely, it was broken. I tried in futility to stand up, but as I struggled, the monster slowly floated until it was directly overhead. Whatever force was keeping it airborne switched off, and it fell.

Another spear of pain shot through me, but I realized quickly that it wasn’t from being crushed to death. Someone had picked me up to move me out of the way, and my injured ankle was protesting at being moved. I looked up and saw Julio, gently setting me down on the grass.

“Can you walk?” He asked. He radiated confidence, but seemed to at least understand that we were in serious danger.

I shook my head. “Don’t let the light touch you. It can freeze you in place.”

Julio nodded. “Stay here. I’ll protect you.”

I wanted to object to the notion that I needed protecting, but given the circumstances, it seemed pretty reasonable. Frustrated at getting taken out so quickly, I watched as Julio summoned his weapon – a golden, glowing sword – and continued my fight.

I was surprised to see how quickly Julio could move. Being one of the biggest Chosen, I figured he’d be slow and strong, but he moved almost as quickly as I could. The monster’s light pivoted across its surface, but Julio ducked and weaved around it with grace. Right when I thought he had nowhere left to run, he jumped, holding his sword high and bringing it down in an enormous leaping slash.

Julio’s sword cleaved the monster in half in one strike. I exhaled, and he raised his fist in a cheesy victory pose, but we both celebrated too soon. The sphere was hollow, and the actual threat was inside. We weren’t dealing with one monster. We were dealing with two.

Emerging from the bisected eggshell were two smaller monsters. Each one looked like little more than a pincushion of shifting spikes, radiating out from a round main body the size of a basketball. They darted like hummingbirds after being released, a stark contrast to the slow, ponderous movement of the first form. Julio swung his sword in wide arcs, parrying and deflecting the pair every time they darted towards him, but I could tell he was being outmaneuvered. It was only a matter of time until one of them got past his defenses.

“Fall back!” I shouted, finally getting to my feet. My ankle felt a little better; I didn’t know how much work my enhanced healing had actually done, but I was willing to risk it rather than let Julio die. “We can take them two on two!”

“No!” Julio shouted with unexpected intensity. I could hear panic in his voice, but he seemed to hate the idea of me backing him up even more than the idea of losing. “I can do this! I won’t let you get hurt because of– “

Julio stopped in mid-sentence. One of the monsters had opened a gap in its spiky exterior, shining a smaller version of the light it had used on me before. Julio’s sword arm froze, just for a moment, and it was enough for the other monster to hurl itself against him from his exposed side. He raised his left arm to block it and paid for it with half a dozen spikes piercing his skin.

Breaking from the light’s hold on him, Julio raised his sword in defiance. Unfortunately, losing use of his other arm was just too much to keep up his former pace. The monsters spun around him from opposite sides, and I began to wonder if he was about to die because of me. I pushed myself to move, using my spear as a crutch. I didn’t know how much help I’d be in my condition, but I had to do something.

Right as I began to move, one of the monsters grazed past Julio’s hand. The sword fell from his grip, and he was left unarmed against two killing machines. I was too late.

When I thought that, something hit one of the monsters with enough force to knock it aside before it could do any more damage to Julio. I looked in the direction it came from, and Keiko and Akio were standing there. Akio had a gilded longbow in hand, and Keiko was in front of him with a pair of silver gauntlets over her fists.

“You guys okay?” Keiko asked, cracking her knuckles as she walked towards us. “We’ll take it from here – “

“Damn it, I’ve got this!” Julio snarled, fumbling for his sword. “Don’t butt into my fight!”

Keiko ignored Julio’s protests. She glanced back at Akio, they nodded at each other quietly, and both joined in the fight. Watching them fight together was astounding. Every time one of the monsters was about to hit Keiko, Akio shot it away with his bow. Every time one of them tried to attack Akio, Keiko got in the way to punch it back. She would duck just as he fired through the space where her head was a moment earlier. They fought as if each knew what the other was about to do before they did it.

Eventually, one of them tried to use its light to freeze Keiko. As it did, she grabbed it with both hands, roaring with exertion as she tried to keep it locked in place along with her. Akio fired a precisely aimed arrow, hitting it dead on and killing it. The other followed shortly, shattering to a final punch from Keiko.

Keiko let out a victorious whoop. She held out a hand to Julio, who was glaring at her with unhidden hostility. “Good work holding out for so long! It took us a while to get here.”

Julio knocked her hand aside. “I said I had it under control.”

“Bullshit!” Keiko said, with the same upbeat cadence. “You were unarmed and bleeding everywhere. You didn’t have it under control.”

“I was fine, damn it! I would’ve… if I start a fight, I’m gonna finish it, okay? Don’t get in my way.”

Keiko tilted her head, unimpressed. “Would you rather swallow your pride and accept a little help, or die pointlessly?”

Julio pushed a hand through his hair in frustration, turned away, and tried to look casual as he walked off. It didn’t work.

With Julio gone, Keiko turned to me. “Hey, are you okay? What’s with that guy?”

“I’m fine,” I lied, wincing as I tried putting weight on my bad foot. “I think he had some weird hang-ups about being rescued. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Hey, we’re all in this together or whatever, right?” Keiko threw a hand up for a high-five. I didn’t leave her hanging.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Akio said suddenly. I jumped a little, having almost forgotten he was there. “It takes courage to accept help from others, especially for boys.”

I considered asking him more about that. Is that more of a thing for boys than for non-boys? Never having been one, I couldn’t say for sure, but guys do seem to have their own set of things to deal with. I decided that I’d try to think of Julio as having meant well but being awkward about it, rather than as just an asshole. I didn’t know if I would succeed, though.