Brink

We're in the middle of breakfast when we realize that something is amiss. It's Ansel who calls our attention to the way the forest is lacking its usual cacophony of insects and lurking wildlife. A short vibration can be felt coming up from the ground, faint but notable. Everyone is tense as they come to terms with what is happening and within the blink of an eye, they're all moving. I watch as food is quickly finished and dirt is thrown over the fire, smothering what remains. The tents are breaking down all around me and I turn my eyes instead to Ansel, who hasn't moved.

He's watching me, probably looking for panic in my features. I know he's disappointed because of the way one of his eyes squints.

"Something's coming," he says to me.

I chew slowly, watching him rise and head off to take care of his own things. As I finish, Mana is jogging over to me with my gear and I rise to meet her. There are mild lines of worry in her face, but she's still smiling as she suggests I prepare myself. I just nod my head, taking my things from her arms and thanking her for bringing them to me. Mana tells me to go find Jorah and to be careful before running off to join the other girls.

Pulling on my jacket and fastening it up to my neck, I tighten the leather belt just above my hips. I test the weight of the sheathed blade and securely fasten it to my belt as I spy Jorah across camp. I head straight for him as he loads the few horses there are with the larger pieces of gear.

"What's going on?" I ask.

Jorah spares me a glance and doesn't pause in his tasks. "There's a colossus heading this way," he tells me. "It doesn't bode well for the team that was out to slay it."

I'm about to witness my first colossus and I don't even know how to react. It's like hearing about the existence of spirits after death, then finally thinking you're about to meet one. The colossus is too much of a legend to me and I can't bring myself to be properly frightened. Jorah is giving me a strange look for my lack of reaction, but he snaps at me to hurry and mount the horse.

I've never ridden a horse before and I stare at the creature with unease. Jorah reads the expression on my face and sighs, offering me a hand to place my foot so he can give me a boost. I yelp as I straddle the large creature and clutch on for dear life as it sways. I'm about to suggest to Jorah that I simply walk when something pitch black out of the corner of my eye snatches my attention.

It's pure instinct that makes me draw my sword and angle it over my right side. I'm forced off the horse as my blade meets the open maw of a demon hound. I push back, slicing through and cringing as black blood flecks my face. I land hard on my back. The breath is forced out of my lungs, making me wheeze as my old injuries are jolted. I'm taken back to the fateful day where I first fought with the scavenging team and I'm overcome with a surge of uneasiness.

I force myself to rise and the ground feels as if it's moving beneath my feet. The others are fighting off the hounds and Jorah is already mounted, shouting at me to get back on the horse. But something is pushing past the trees and I can't tear my eyes away from it.

It towers over all of us, swathed in coarse hair that looks like shadows.

It treads heavily through the forest, destroying everything in its path. The eyes are circular white and opalescent. I stumble back, awestruck as it raises a limb to strike the ground. A sequence of shouts rise into the air and everyone braces for the impact.

A powerful tremor jolts the ground and everyone falls. I can recall the things Caelena told me in the short time we spent together, about how each colossus has a single weak spot that is the key to their defeat. I watch as the creature draws back for another blow and I rip my arm from Jorah's grasp.

I run towards it, ignoring the shouting and the screaming as the paw comes down. I swallow my fear and uncertainty as I leap into the air moments before it connects with the Earth. I manage to land on the back of its hand and immediately start running up the arm as it raises once more. Adrenaline courses through my veins and my heart pounds as I'm lifted high into the air. I have to race towards its shoulder before it swings again, or else I'm likely to fall to my death. I strain to focus, but when I can feel my stomach dropping with a change of direction, I have to throw myself forward in the hope of at least making it higher up the arm.

I don't even make it to what seems like the elbow.

I tangle my hands into the thick hair and hold on for dear life as it swings down. It's this moment where I wish I were only scaling a mere horse. The force of the impact flattens me and I stubbornly cling for my life. I'm too terrified to let go or move, so I remain still for a long span of moments, staring intently through the course black fur that almost swallows me. I'm trying to concentrate on something other than the fact that I'm being swung every which way through the air. My whole body is jarred violently as the colossus hits the ground again and I have only a short few seconds of respite before I'm suddenly jerked around when it changes its movements.

The hair is beginning to slip through my sweating palms. I know that I'm about to be chucked into the distance like a rag doll when I swear I see a faint pulse of light from deep within the shadows. Even though I'm scared out of my wits and just skating around the edge of death, I force my eyes open and it is instinct that drives me through my actions.

I bring my feet up from under me and prop them against the hide of the beast, the immense weight of gravity bears down on me and I can't help but doubt my sanity as I prepare to jump.

I let go as the colossus swings its arm up over it's head and I jump towards the area below in the crook of its neck. When I look down, I have to will my stomach to steel and concentrate on the target I know I see. I grit my teeth as I adjust myself and I brace for the fall.

I'm picking up so much speed in such a short distance that there's a good chance I'll be dead if I miscalculate and I collide with the beast. Still, I bring my sword up, blade down as I hone in on my target, praying that it doesn't move aside at the very last second.

My blade pierces through the skin with resistance, but my momentum is enough to drive the entire length of steel deep into its hide. I nearly lose my grip on the hilt, but I hold fast as I watch the light under the skin flicker and fade.

Everything stops.

I can hear the sound of my own heavy breathing and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees that remain. My legs are beginning to shake and the corpse of the colossus is beginning to sway. I hug the hilt close to my chest and curl up as it hits falls onto it's side and hits the ground.

I swallow, slowly becoming aware that my body is trembling in the aftermath. I grip the hilt of my sword and slide it slowly from the beast with great effort. But I overdo it and the end of the blade pops out, sending me stumbling backwards.

I cry out as my feet catch on the tangled tufts of fur and I fall backwards off the slain colossus. I squeeze my eyes shut and brace myself for the world of pain that awaits, but my body hits something softer and more forgiving than the ground.

When I peer up, I find myself looking up into a pair of inquisitive violet eyes.

"So, you're the new recruit, are you?" He asks, a crooked smirk on his mouth. "Not bad."

There's something about him and I can't quite put my finger on it, especially when I'm still in a state of shock. I blink up at him, remaining mute until he starts to become concerned.

"For goodness sakes, Caelum, can't you pick a better opportunity to flirt?" Caelena comes rushing forward with urgency, giving him a stern glare before sweeping over the rest. "Mendel, help her!"

A slender man with dark hair steps out from the others to come forward and peer at me with a grave expression. I'm clinging to the young man called Caelum, unable to bring myself to pry myself off no matter how hard I will it. The man named Mendel squints over me for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

"It's just a bit of shock, she'll be fine in a few hours," Mendel said, frowning. "But I'd like to check her old wounds. They might have been reopened after all that activity."

I'm slowly becoming aware of the ache rising in my torso and I make a small noise of pain as I 'm transferred into Mendel's arms. The rest of the company sets to work at Caelena's orders to shift camp away from the corpse of the colossus as Mendel hauls me over to a clear space. Linos hovers close by, trying his best not to look concerned as I'm placed on a fallen tree trunk.

"Take off your tunic," Mendel says.

I hesitate for a moment before grasping the hem and pulling it over my head. I can see Linos balk out of the corner of my eye and he quickly runs away to help the others with the camp. Mendel pokes and prods my skin experimentally and I wince whenever he jabs into a tender spot. I'm not sure what he's trying to do, but he tends to my wounds with a stern warning.

"If you don't rest and let the bones mend properly, you might not be the same again," he says ominously. "Since this area has been cleared, you can get take it easy without worries of being attacked."

I frown, pulling my tunic back on as he gathers his things and heads off, presumably to share his diagnosis with Caelena. I'm not looking forward to spending another couple weeks confined to the bedroll, but someone calls my attention from behind some foliage. I turn, eying the bush some feet away with uncertainty when an arm slithers out and gestures me over. I look around once before climbing to my feet and walking over.

"We still have some time to escape before Caelena catches you," the man has bright red hair and clear blue eyes. I have no idea who he is until I notice a swollen wound at the edge of his hairline.

He picks up on my reluctance and reaches forward to grab a hold of my wrist. With one tug I stumble forward and lose my footing, crashing into the ground with a howl of pain. He quickly silences me and I settle for glaring up at him as he helps me roll over.

"Whoops, sorry about that," he snickers. "Nemo, right? Come on, before they catch us."

I don't really want to go with Declan, but this might be my last bit of freedom before Caelena finds me. I watch him scuttle off and sigh as I follow suit. I can already hear Caelena and the other girls asking around the camp about my absence, but I don't look back as we head off into the woods. We stop when we come upon a small cliff overlooking a large expanse of grassy knolls. The sun is high in the sky and the sensation of the unhindered light on my skin is warm and ethereal. I squint bring my hand up to shade my eyes as I peer up to follow the spread of blue until it meets the green horizon.

"Impressive, that you managed to take down that colossus by yourself," Declan says, dusting off a short rock and sitting down. "What was it like?"

My mind runs over a string of words, from terrifying, insane, unreal, until I finally settle on one and reply, "Riveting."

There is a snort of laughter from Declan and I gingerly sit down on a smaller rock with a flattened surface. The air is different, lighter and more at ease. I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference before, but it's as clear as day now.

"When we slay a colossus, the land is purified. It's like it's born anew," he says. "It's kind of like a trial for humanity and we're slowly working our way back to rights of the land. With you here, that dream seems closer than ever."

"I'm just one girl," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest and taking a deep breath of fresh air.

"One extraordinary girl," Declan adds, giving me a waggle of his brows when I happen to glance over.

"Declan!" A voice startles us and he whips around.

"Go! She's coming," Declan hisses.

I don't think about it twice before I'm on my feet and taking quick, careful steps back into the forest behind us. I catch Caelena's blonde head emerging from the direction of camp seconds before I slip into the shade of the trees. I hear her interrogate Declan about my whereabouts and she can tell he's guilty from the grin on his face. He isn't entirely bad, I decide, stepping around a dried branch and wandering further into the forest. My hands go to tree trunks to help guide my step and keep my balance.

I'm not worried about becoming lost in these woods, a new sanctum, because I have a feeling that they will come and find me.