I’d been resting. My guard was down. In a false sense of security I’d been lulled into complacency when the attacks started. My bed shook only slightly before the ending scenes of life unfolded in the area around my bedroom.
From all sides they appeared, brandishing blades from nations unseen. Fast movements, injuries, blood. I’m much lighter now but so easily caught by surprise. Now I was ashamed at being caught by surprise at how quickly I was losing this battle. I found my blade. Too late. A jab to the head. A boxer? Something much faster. My head clouded and the muffled sounds of swiping blades were further dulled by my injury even as their swords clashed with my own.
I was dizzy. Despite instinct to fight and ignore the odds I found myself, for the first time, counting my adversaries.
Rookie mistake. One man can kill as quickly as twenty. I lost track at three. It could have been seven. It may as well been fifty. One dropped, the frequency of blows decreased but only momentarily. The others redesigned their flank and improved their technique. I may have just made them more efficient. An enemy that grows strength with each loss. An enemy worth my attention. Warmth surrounded my face. I was bleeding, but from where I couldn’t say. It may have been the fallen’s blood but he died too quickly to make such a mess. I nearly tripped over his body, his last act as my foe. It was certainly my blood. I was out of practice.
More blows. The room was dark, made more so by the clothing they wore, now whirling around me like phantom killers. I refocused, dodged back and centered my enemies as a group before me. Charging in, I opened three with two short movements of my blade. Three soft thuds then the distinct sound of trickling blood from sliding entrails… and more whirring. I was still counting. Cursing myself as I counted, but counting nonetheless.
Again I lost track at three. More than seven left. Increasing numbers? Human?
And then a growl. Deep, brooding, pained. Nothing from this Earth or any other. Warmth.
The ground below exploded as the now countless bodies of my unknown enemies erupted as nothing more than debris. And there it was…
An Old One. Dark. Destructive. Awake. It’s moan pierced the souls of those not fallen while I shielded my eyes and ears. I was preparing for my good end. Reaching for a second blade, I dared eye contact with that which has no name, challenging it towards me in defiance of terror. This night would be my end.
The ground shook again as more mystic flesh from the ancient body crept from below, unending as the abyss from whence it came. A claw. Swiping down upon me as a building collapses upon a fly. I stood resolved in death, blades held to match and somehow wounding the beast’s appendage. I left a well of foul smelling blood from the incision, damaging the beast as the soft breeze damages the oak.
Barely escaping the crashing claw, I prepared for the next attack convinced now that any time for action I took was a gift of fortune I had not earned. Fire surrounded me as the beast’s blood ignited in our air. Blue flames towered over me from all sides as my clothes began to smoke. A careless flip left my left arm burned and the blade it held a molten pile in the beast’s bloody inferno. A small price for another fleeting moment’s life. Dodging in all directions, I was unharmed by the remnants of the place I once called home as the debris fell from the hulking beast like the destruction of a tornado. I prepared for a new attack when I realized I had not yet been attacked.
The creature was simply clamoring from its ancient crypt. I remained unnoticed. Angry now at my insignificance, I regained my focus and sunk my remaining blade into the beast as it continued it’s ascent. Using the blade and my burned hand I climbed higher to reach the creature’s head and meet its gaze again.
Parasitic creatures of all sizes and terrors coated the beast’s body, some still in slumber. Those not left catatonic raged towards me, each meeting the end of my blade and falling to the scorched Earth like so much dandruff.
A larger creature, horned and menacing, lunged forward. It shook me from my grip to the ancient beast’s hide. Upon his back I rode as it charged around the Old One’s flesh, racing higher before an immediate halt at a still larger creature’s form. They fought as I clung to my smaller creature’s horn. Their indescribable forms clashed against each other as though fighting for the privilege of devouring my soul. In a desperate move by the smaller demon, I was flung from the horn as the creature plunged it into the larger foe. Acidic spray coated both creatures now writhing in agony as I was propelled to the bridge of the Old One’s snout.
A paralyzing eye met my gaze and in a resolved rage I plunged my blade into it. The head of the evil thing wretched back as four massive claws crashed upon the head clutching the wound as the entirety of the creature fell back, now finally wounded and aware of its nemesis.
It’s descent and the resulting crash into the Earth caused a great quake and low moans filled the air as the ground opened all over and more Old Ones began their climb to freedom, their climb to my and all else’s end.
I was flung to the ground, using my blade to slow my descent on the trembling hide of the Old One. The army of Old Ones scrambled from their dark caverns all prepared to meet the threat I had presented to one of their breed. As if surrounded by the planets themselves, I stood in wait. For if the world were to end, I would meet it with both eyes open. Nearly in unison, they groaned a verse that hurt all over. The darkness thickened and the only light came from the fierce eyes now glaring at me. They groaned another verse and I knew they were summoning the power to destroy all that exists when they were interrupted very suddenly.
Another growl. Menacing. Louder than before. But not from these beasts. From behind. A new creature. Smaller. More ferocious. I was caught by surprise for the second time, a second mistake for which I had yet to be punished. It started low and built to an apex of fury unmatched by the old tormented beasts from below.
A hiss.
A growl.
He had come.
Attacking from behind me, he landed only momentarily at the end of my blade before leaping again into an Old One’s face. The dark beast howled in pain as his new foe tore at his flesh as a hundred feral creatures at once. This Old One fell beside the first fallen beast, now attempting to stand again and take it’s revenge for its blinded eye.
My ally looked at me from the forehead of it’s now vanquished prey. He nodded slightly and my legs gave out from beneath me. Falling to my knees I watched him leap from one beast to the next, leaving their smoldering bodies to fall back into the torturous pits from which they’d emerged. The skillful, yet unpredictable, nature of his attack confused his prey and the Earth shook once more.
The army of the Old Ones was afraid. It is written that when the end comes, a sacrifice may cause it’s horsemen to retreat, leaving a scorched land with a hope of rebirth. The end was indeed here and my ally had frightened it. Seas boiled and the dead rose. Those once concerning foes from my bedroom now lurching about the landscape dragging limbs and foreign blades, not seeking flesh, but a refuge from their new foe. I was the lone soul still left to witness, still left to know what was to come.
Old Ones began to stumble upon Old Ones, all seeking shelter from the rage of my ally. Blood rained from the sky and from the wounds of the Old Ones. The blood ignited again in our air and fire fell all around me. I shielded my skin while the butcher drank the flames to fuel his attack. Our world was death, and my ally, the death dealer.
Even as the beasts fled, he pursued them, craving their flesh… craving their fear. With each torn limb he became stronger, his hiss and growl more massive. If the sun itself had crashed upon him, he’d have swallowed it up and breathed fire on his enemies.
As the last Old One fell, my friend again looked at me. By now I was shaking and tears streamed down my face. Of all the souls in torment on this Earth, I alone knew what was to come. His rage subsided and he walked towards me. He rubbed his head on my leg and I held him. I could feel the heat from his past in his fur. He was comforting me as I foolishly thought I could comfort him. The world had ended around me despite my best defenses and attacks, yet my friend had conquered all those that initiated it and in doing so left me safe in the wasteland of his wake.
He trembled, only slightly, and let out a low growl as the needle entered the vein in his back leg.
“Good boy,” she said. She pet his back. She’d never met him. She’d never met me.
“It’s alright pal, you’re going to be ok.” I was trying to convince us both. I only know I failed myself. I’ll never know for him.
The growl subsided and his breathing slowed. He looked at me again and when my tear fell upon it, his whisker twitched.
“I’m sorry, Steve. I’m so sorry ,Steve.” The stiffness in his body seemed to fade. His breathing was soft. It was the first time in a long time that he felt relaxed. All of that pain, all of that misery… it seemed to be loosening its grip.
“It won’t be long,” she said. Her stethoscope was on his chest, near his stomach. He hates when you touch his stomach. He didn’t react. He didn’t move. He sighed.
I rubbed his head behind his ear, like I’d done so many times over the past twelve years. I told him I loved him. I told him I’d miss him. I thanked him for tolerating my mother-in-law even though he couldn’t tolerate my step-daughters. I told him I was glad we got to be in the same house for the last year even though he had to live separate from me. I told him I was sorry for the last year and for choosing my wife and girls over him. I told him I didn’t blame him for not changing his ways just because I had changed mine. I told him I might be wrong about that whole God thing so just in case, he should try to behave himself. I told him I loved him. I told him I loved him and I rubbed his head and his breathing ceased with a low growl. A warrior to the end.
When the next tear fell upon it, his whisker didn’t twitch.
“He’s gone. I’ll give you some time.” She’d never met him. She’d never met me. She walked out of the room and we were alone.
I suppose his demise came somewhat differently than I described. I prefer to remember it that way. The options for his death were limited and none of those choices were particularly deserving a friend like him.
For his funeral, I and two friends sent him off the way of a warrior… on a burning ship I built, sailing towards open water. We celebrated his life by shortening our own in good drink and cheer.
Rest in peace dear friend.
