Child of Echoes
Chapter 2: Woman of Swords
Straight down, a left turn, straight again, and a right. I was almost home, I just had another 20 yards or so then I would be able to make a warm cup of coffee and catch up in the story I was reading. I couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that something was going to happen, but I was so close to home that I decided to ignore.
That was when I heard something hollow and mechanic drop unto the ground. It sounded like a tin can. The dark, wet, and empty walls at both sides seemed to make a spark of my claustrophobia act up. That sound did little to calm my nerves. I just walked quicker and then I heard walking behind me. Someone was following me.
I turned my head as I walked straight to see who it was that was behind me. It was a man. He was dark skinned, had long black silk hair, was hunched over and was starring at me with blood red eyes. I quickly turned my head back and started walking so fast that my calves started to burn. It wasn’t long before I started running and the man ran after. The alleyway had turned into a three way road. There was a long stretch forward and a couple yards in front of me, there was a break for the right. Another man, garbed in all black clothing, long orange hair and a dark orange tan, started running straight for me. The other man was running at me from behind.
I ran still. My heart was pumping and my mind racing. Despite all this, I could still think clearly. Everything moved at a pace that I could keep up with and I knew that I would make the turn before the orange haired or the black haired men reached me. The moment I readied to turn a kicked slammed into my chest. It was a full black backwards and into the walls behind me. Breath left me and my head slammed into the wall along with my back. A flash of white blinded me for a few seconds. When I recovered I realized I was wheezing on the ground, my hand to my chest, and I was looking right at the ground. 4 men. Two had been around the corner and the orange and black haired men had come from the ends of the alley to trap me. This had been planned.
“”Please…What is it you want?” I asked, fearing the worst was about to happen. The men said nothing to my question. Tears started to come from my eyes as I looked up to the large dark skinned man with silver hair and another with long black hair. Those two had came from the corner and she knew the silver one had kicked her. Even though they hadn’t spoken and those blood read eyes they all shared seemed to be dead and devoid of emotion, I knew they were going to kill me. Something screamed at me that each and every one of them was going to tear me apart and leave nothing, but a puddle of blood, bones and clothes.
One opened his mouth and I knew I must have hit my head hard. The man had razor teeth, as if they had all been sharpened like a sharks. Like a shark they didn’t just have one row either, they had 3 rows of razor teeth that looked as thin as a coin. The silver haired one moved his hand for me quickly. He snatched me by the shirt and pulled me just before his face. He sniffed me. I couldn’t help it. I started sobbing and tears just poured from my eyes. I was going to die and there was nothing I could do about it. I absolutely knew these monsters had no intention of sparing me. As if an answer to my thoughts a punch slammed into my face. Hot, searing, and pounding pain seemed to crash into my head. The swing was so fast, yet I had managed to see it coming. Warm blood filled my mouth as I flew back into the wall and slid to the floor. My teeth cut into my cheek and it tore opened. It felt like there was a collection of needles at the side of my face as the pulsing pain hit me again and again. I figured he broke my jaw in a number of places as well as indented my cheek bones, if they weren’t broken as well.
I wanted to scream and I wanted to run. That pain seemed to make both seem impossible. I knew they were faster and I knew they wanted me to scream. This was too easy for them and they wanted a fight…No. They wanted to play? I could always tell the basic thoughts of a person. I always figured it was intuition. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of either, but the kicked to my abdomen forced me to release a loud, painful grunt. Opening my mouth to wail caused my jaw to stab me with more pain. The kicked pinned me against the wall and a rock embedded itself into my right thigh.
I spat some of the blood out of my mouth. The taste of my blood wasn’t something I could bare any longer. I just blocked my head with my face and expected more kicks and punches. I felt swollen in my right eye, but tears continued to flow from it. I muffled my sobs and prepared for torment.
“Time to eat” said one of the men. I had no idea who. I was more concerned about what that meant. Were they planning on eating…Me? I hoped that I misheard the words. I hoped that I wasn’t going to be bitten by those teeth. I didn’t want to die this way. The two men with the long black hair grabbed my arms and lifted me up. They held me so tight it hurt. I wanted to kick, but I knew that would get me another punch or kick. I just wanted it to be over. The pain in my face and the pain in my leg was more than I could take. I wanted to die right now. But I realized that wish was impossible. I would be mauled by men with teeth that rivaled a shark.
I looked at the silver haired one, eying me suspiciously. Something was wrong, he was changing his mind. “She’s beautiful…” he said and a number of ideas seemed to spark into my head. I’d rather be eaten.
Then something happened. A sword was in the man’s head. It was quicker than I could keep up with and it took me a few moments to realize that his blood was on my face. It took the ones holding me a moment to realize just what happened as well. I knew things didn’t “click” with them until the silver hair’s body fell to the floor. The orange hair was growling at something that was up. I slowly moved my head up to see just what it was.
It was a beautiful woman. She wore a large and widespread dress that was all white with golden lace. The woman had blond hair that was tied back tightly. Only a single bang on her right side was free and it had a slight twirl about it. She had large blue eyes, thin pink lips, large bosom, and a sleek body. She was almost as pale as the snow all around and had the softest looking skin I’d ever seen. She looked like a deity come here to place judgment on the evil. The woman jumped from a 4 story building and landed on something under her dress. She hovered above the ground a moment before landing.
“Wha-“ I started, astonished. The pains in my jaw forbid any speech. I was shocked, amazing and still very afraid. This woman just floated. I figured the numerous head injuries were diluting my perception. It was impossible for someone of her stature to jump 4 stories and survive and it was impossible for her to float like that.
That wasn’t the only thing she did. It was a blur of motion as swords whizzed passed me. I had no idea where they were coming from, but it appeared to be the direction of the woman. The two at my sides jumped and ducked, managing to evade the flashes of white shooting all around. The swords moved faster than I could comprehend. I couldn’t believe these cannibals were capable of evading them so flawlessly.
They all were hunched low and they growled at the woman. They acted similar to animals. I knew they had quickly lost interest in me as their leader had been slain…I don’t exactly know how I knew he was the leader, I just knew. The woman raised her hand and a sprinkle of light seemed to float under it. There was a sharp sound as a sword materialized directly under her hand and remained floating there until she grabbed the hilt.
Her blades were all white with strange golden characters on the sides. They were double edged, broadswords, and looked to weigh more than 10 lbs each. Her delicate body held the weapon as if it were as light as a yard stick. The three remaining men rushed her. They disappeared from my sight. When I saw a orange head fly straight up and a body crash into a building 3 yards behind the woman I knew she’d cut one.
The woman stepped back once and moved to the side to evade a lung to her right side by the first dark hair and she stabbed forwards at something I couldn’t see and blood splashed all over her white dress. The leg of one of the men slammed into the other dark hair and the legless dark hair slid against the floor for a couple feet. There was only one left and I was sure not even a second had passed. I missed every swing from her blade, but she didn’t miss anything. She was ducking and dodging while cutting through their offence easily.
The last man decided to retreat. He was a blur as he raced for me. A hand was reaching out to me when a sword pierced his throat. Blood spilled out as he hit the ground. He was only a couple inches away so the blood squirted on my legs. It was disgusting to see all these men die, even if they were going to eat me. I looked at this woman of swords, slowly and trying to keep the pain of my jaw at a minimum, and fear jetted through me. She could kill me with hardly any effort, just as she did these blindingly swift men.
“Time to go, Rosie” she stated, sharp and authoritative. Her voice was deep, strong and heavy.
That was when I heard something hollow and mechanic drop unto the ground. It sounded like a tin can. The dark, wet, and empty walls at both sides seemed to make a spark of my claustrophobia act up. That sound did little to calm my nerves. I just walked quicker and then I heard walking behind me. Someone was following me.
I turned my head as I walked straight to see who it was that was behind me. It was a man. He was dark skinned, had long black silk hair, was hunched over and was starring at me with blood red eyes. I quickly turned my head back and started walking so fast that my calves started to burn. It wasn’t long before I started running and the man ran after. The alleyway had turned into a three way road. There was a long stretch forward and a couple yards in front of me, there was a break for the right. Another man, garbed in all black clothing, long orange hair and a dark orange tan, started running straight for me. The other man was running at me from behind.
I ran still. My heart was pumping and my mind racing. Despite all this, I could still think clearly. Everything moved at a pace that I could keep up with and I knew that I would make the turn before the orange haired or the black haired men reached me. The moment I readied to turn a kicked slammed into my chest. It was a full black backwards and into the walls behind me. Breath left me and my head slammed into the wall along with my back. A flash of white blinded me for a few seconds. When I recovered I realized I was wheezing on the ground, my hand to my chest, and I was looking right at the ground. 4 men. Two had been around the corner and the orange and black haired men had come from the ends of the alley to trap me. This had been planned.
“”Please…What is it you want?” I asked, fearing the worst was about to happen. The men said nothing to my question. Tears started to come from my eyes as I looked up to the large dark skinned man with silver hair and another with long black hair. Those two had came from the corner and she knew the silver one had kicked her. Even though they hadn’t spoken and those blood read eyes they all shared seemed to be dead and devoid of emotion, I knew they were going to kill me. Something screamed at me that each and every one of them was going to tear me apart and leave nothing, but a puddle of blood, bones and clothes.
One opened his mouth and I knew I must have hit my head hard. The man had razor teeth, as if they had all been sharpened like a sharks. Like a shark they didn’t just have one row either, they had 3 rows of razor teeth that looked as thin as a coin. The silver haired one moved his hand for me quickly. He snatched me by the shirt and pulled me just before his face. He sniffed me. I couldn’t help it. I started sobbing and tears just poured from my eyes. I was going to die and there was nothing I could do about it. I absolutely knew these monsters had no intention of sparing me. As if an answer to my thoughts a punch slammed into my face. Hot, searing, and pounding pain seemed to crash into my head. The swing was so fast, yet I had managed to see it coming. Warm blood filled my mouth as I flew back into the wall and slid to the floor. My teeth cut into my cheek and it tore opened. It felt like there was a collection of needles at the side of my face as the pulsing pain hit me again and again. I figured he broke my jaw in a number of places as well as indented my cheek bones, if they weren’t broken as well.
I wanted to scream and I wanted to run. That pain seemed to make both seem impossible. I knew they were faster and I knew they wanted me to scream. This was too easy for them and they wanted a fight…No. They wanted to play? I could always tell the basic thoughts of a person. I always figured it was intuition. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of either, but the kicked to my abdomen forced me to release a loud, painful grunt. Opening my mouth to wail caused my jaw to stab me with more pain. The kicked pinned me against the wall and a rock embedded itself into my right thigh.
I spat some of the blood out of my mouth. The taste of my blood wasn’t something I could bare any longer. I just blocked my head with my face and expected more kicks and punches. I felt swollen in my right eye, but tears continued to flow from it. I muffled my sobs and prepared for torment.
“Time to eat” said one of the men. I had no idea who. I was more concerned about what that meant. Were they planning on eating…Me? I hoped that I misheard the words. I hoped that I wasn’t going to be bitten by those teeth. I didn’t want to die this way. The two men with the long black hair grabbed my arms and lifted me up. They held me so tight it hurt. I wanted to kick, but I knew that would get me another punch or kick. I just wanted it to be over. The pain in my face and the pain in my leg was more than I could take. I wanted to die right now. But I realized that wish was impossible. I would be mauled by men with teeth that rivaled a shark.
I looked at the silver haired one, eying me suspiciously. Something was wrong, he was changing his mind. “She’s beautiful…” he said and a number of ideas seemed to spark into my head. I’d rather be eaten.
Then something happened. A sword was in the man’s head. It was quicker than I could keep up with and it took me a few moments to realize that his blood was on my face. It took the ones holding me a moment to realize just what happened as well. I knew things didn’t “click” with them until the silver hair’s body fell to the floor. The orange hair was growling at something that was up. I slowly moved my head up to see just what it was.
It was a beautiful woman. She wore a large and widespread dress that was all white with golden lace. The woman had blond hair that was tied back tightly. Only a single bang on her right side was free and it had a slight twirl about it. She had large blue eyes, thin pink lips, large bosom, and a sleek body. She was almost as pale as the snow all around and had the softest looking skin I’d ever seen. She looked like a deity come here to place judgment on the evil. The woman jumped from a 4 story building and landed on something under her dress. She hovered above the ground a moment before landing.
“Wha-“ I started, astonished. The pains in my jaw forbid any speech. I was shocked, amazing and still very afraid. This woman just floated. I figured the numerous head injuries were diluting my perception. It was impossible for someone of her stature to jump 4 stories and survive and it was impossible for her to float like that.
That wasn’t the only thing she did. It was a blur of motion as swords whizzed passed me. I had no idea where they were coming from, but it appeared to be the direction of the woman. The two at my sides jumped and ducked, managing to evade the flashes of white shooting all around. The swords moved faster than I could comprehend. I couldn’t believe these cannibals were capable of evading them so flawlessly.
They all were hunched low and they growled at the woman. They acted similar to animals. I knew they had quickly lost interest in me as their leader had been slain…I don’t exactly know how I knew he was the leader, I just knew. The woman raised her hand and a sprinkle of light seemed to float under it. There was a sharp sound as a sword materialized directly under her hand and remained floating there until she grabbed the hilt.
Her blades were all white with strange golden characters on the sides. They were double edged, broadswords, and looked to weigh more than 10 lbs each. Her delicate body held the weapon as if it were as light as a yard stick. The three remaining men rushed her. They disappeared from my sight. When I saw a orange head fly straight up and a body crash into a building 3 yards behind the woman I knew she’d cut one.
The woman stepped back once and moved to the side to evade a lung to her right side by the first dark hair and she stabbed forwards at something I couldn’t see and blood splashed all over her white dress. The leg of one of the men slammed into the other dark hair and the legless dark hair slid against the floor for a couple feet. There was only one left and I was sure not even a second had passed. I missed every swing from her blade, but she didn’t miss anything. She was ducking and dodging while cutting through their offence easily.
The last man decided to retreat. He was a blur as he raced for me. A hand was reaching out to me when a sword pierced his throat. Blood spilled out as he hit the ground. He was only a couple inches away so the blood squirted on my legs. It was disgusting to see all these men die, even if they were going to eat me. I looked at this woman of swords, slowly and trying to keep the pain of my jaw at a minimum, and fear jetted through me. She could kill me with hardly any effort, just as she did these blindingly swift men.
“Time to go, Rosie” she stated, sharp and authoritative. Her voice was deep, strong and heavy.