Apocalyptic Love

“I’ve been expecting you.”

The voice lingered in the air for a moment before memories filtered from our last meeting. Courage was building itself inside of me, rekindling the old relationship I had with the King of the Jungle.

“Expecting me?” I growled defiantly, my head slightly tilted to the side. “Should I be feeling flattered, your Majesty?” At this, I gave a mocking twirl of my wrist, and bowed curtly to the beast in front of me.

An ear-splitting wail screamed at my infuriated smirk, smacking my face with a stormy force and drenching it in strings of saliva. The screeching scrapes of the banshee’s claws along the branch of the tree scratched into the disgusting melody, grating against my brain like nails on a chalkboard. I could feel the two boys tense behind me, flinching at the terrible sound.

“Long has your filth plagued my jungle,” the banshee snarled. “Long have I waited to snap your worthless bones in my jaws.”

The banshee’s tail whipped to the side, curling like a snake rearing for an attack. “Nice to see you too, Ateres,” I answered bemused, holding my chin out a little farther and brushing a hand through my damp hair.

I almost felt confident standing before the monster King, my daggers gripped tightly within my palms. Her dark form was shadowed before me, eye appearing red as she sneered in a furious hatred. The fury rolled off the beast in waves, pumping its thick anger in the air as I matched Ateres glare. Her threat wasn’t hollow. I knew her long-standing hatred for me was for more than the war between the human race. Ateres hated me because of what I did to her all those years ago. I could see the scar shining across her eye, splitting the dark fur in an even clean strike.

“Didn’t you like the last souvenir I gave you?” I taunted, crouching slightly as I positioned myself for a quick attack. “Or would you like me to give you another?”

I lunged for the animal, my daggers aiming mercilessly for the King’s throat and it seemed, just as quickly, that the banshee king retaliated. Screeches of numberless voices sang viciously with the screams of their leader, joining her rage as she leaped in attack.

Adrenaline moved through my veins, a growl humming through my lips as I pushed as much power into my muscles as I could. Swift fluid movements flowed into my thoughts, echoing into my body as I danced with an only enemy that I’d barely managed to defeat the first time. Fear played deep inside of me. Fear of failing again, but I knew I was stronger this time. I was faster, and I wasn’t alone.

In the split second, as I hurtled through the air at the King of the Jungle, I was completely defenceless. All shields were down as my body put all of its strength into the attack that would make the most difference, only Ateres was faster, and she had a tail. Using her advantage, the monster whipped her tail out, throwing its ferocity at me in full force. I wouldn’t escape. I was too far into the attack to out manoeuvre her deadly strike.

“Harley! Look out!”

My eyes rolled even despite the obvious danger I was imminently in. It seemed my disbelief that Ellis might possibly think that his simple warning might save me, heavily outweighed the fear of Ateres tail. As it so happened, I shouldn’t have doubted him.

Within moments of impact, my body was jerked painfully to the side, only in a direction I hadn’t been expecting. Instead of a hard log wrapped in fur, the warmth of a much smaller attacker wrapped around my body, before rolling off of me and quickly jumping to his feet.

“Get your head in the game!” Ellis snapped, lunging for an opponent more than twice his size, and casually shooting the animal between the eyes.

Wide-eyed, I hastily scrambled to my feet, clutching at my daggers once again to find Jared blocking Ateres path from me. The beast’s seething snarls rumbled the branches beneath our feet, quivering an unsteady balance through our bones. Stalking on all fours, Ateres advanced on me, ignorant of a human she considered insignificant. The motion didn’t seem to sit well with Jared though, as he surprised the banshee with a more than painful attack.

“Don’t even think about it, Kerchak,” he growled viciously. “You touch her, you’re dead.”

I almost didn’t see him, his attack so swift and precise that I was surprised I’d managed to pin him when we’d first found each other only a few days ago. In only three lightning movements, Jared had lodged a large dagger in the banshee’s chest and yanked it down her stomach.

The battle brought me back to my senses, finally seeing the two boys as more than just a pain in my ass. They’d survived this long because of their skills and ruthless slaughter. That must was obvious by the way they coolly took down the army of primates attempting to aid their King. Watching Jared in action was almost scary. The stone-cold determination in his eyes looked almost as animalistic as the creatures he killed; their bodies dropping like flies even as he prevented Ateres from getting to me.

“Insolent creature,” Ateres screeched as I finally dug my blade into the skin between her fingers.

I only smirked, turning my eyes briefly to Jared in quick appreciation. “She’s mine,” I grinned, baring my teeth.

My old friend smiled back, and I wondered if he’d noticed that this was the first time we would be fighting side by side. The feeling warmed my heart. “It’s a she?” he asked, throwing me a fake horrified look. “That is the ugliest female I ever did see.”

A laugh escaped my lips, feeling the most relaxed I’d ever been when fighting any animal. Jared’s company was keeping me focused and safe with his mere chatter. I couldn’t help but feel comfortable amongst the sounds of Ellis’s gun firing, and my blade sounding like an axe hacking at a tree. In fact it was probably just as tough.

Ateres claws relentlessly tore at my fragile body, causing more than a few cries of rage from Jared whenever the banshee managed to land a heavy blow. I could feel my body caving; bruised and beaten but still I couldn’t stop. The Jungle King was growing just as tired, my seemingly futile hacks at her body was finally making an impact. Even her deafening battle cries were starting to wither.

“You don’t look so good, Ateres,” I smirked, wiping my sleeve over the blood dripping down from the corner of my mouth.

Reverting back to her animalistic instincts, the King screamed her terrifying threat in my face, only making me smile that little bit wider. My arm was growing weaker though, feeling the effect of her last attack when she’d flung me at the thick trunk of a tree like a ragdoll.

It wasn’t until Ateres leaped at me that I realised I couldn’t move my arm anymore; and I helplessly looked down at it, limp by my side. “Oh shit,” I murmured.

Just as I expected to be flung yet again, and possibly finally meet my end, Ateres short, pained scream reverberated louder than she had ever screamed before and my eyes whipped up to meet her. My eyes widened as I gazed at her lying on her belly, motionless. Jared stood on top of her body, glaring with steely and murderous eyes down at the monster before glancing around at trees, standing proudly as stunned eyes watched him.

A large wide gash stretched from the base of the Jungle King’s skull to the beginning of her tail, exposing the white bone of her spine. Blood was already seeping to the nest beneath her, seeping through the cracks to create what I must guess looked like a red waterfall to the jungle floor.

The air had gone eerily still. Ellis’s gun had fallen silent. The screams and howls of the primates cut short, and the furious snarls of their king no longer laced the air. Then, with a rustle of leave, the watchful eyes were gone.