The ground shook as another horrible creature landed a few feet in front of them. Its huge talons dug into the ground, and its skeletal body swung behind it until it faced Vee and Amara directly. It loosed an ear-piercing scream, the multiple discordant voices forcing the girls to cover their ears.
The creature took a step closer, then raised a claw and tried to slash at them. Before the swipe found them, however, Vee had rolled off of Amara, freeing the demon to jump to her feet and manifest her chitinous gauntlets. She grabbed the creature’s claw to block the attack, and while she skidded backwards slightly, she was able to stop the beast’s montum. Amara grunted, then manifested more chitinous armor around her feet, turning them into sharpened talons of her own. They dug into the ground, and with the extra stability, she was able to push the creature back.
Amara was furious. Though she had no idea what was happening between her and Vee, they’d finally started talking. She channeled her anger, loosing a scream of her own before grabbing the creature’s claw to use it as leverage. Using her wings, she jumped forward and threw the creature to the ground, causing it to roar in frustration.
From Amara’s side, Vee ran closer with her sword ready. She moved with incredible speed, slashing at the beast repeatedly as she tried to find a vulnerable spot. “This fucking thing is all bones! We need to brute force it!” she yelled.
Before Amara could respond, the beast’s tail whipped towards her. It struck her side, knocking her to the ground, and she shouted a series of expletives as pain shot through her. She watched Vee evade a swipe from the monster’s wing, forcing her to break off her assault to retreat to safety.
With Vee now out of the way, Amara decided she was sick of holding back. Whatever this thing was, it wanted them dead, and it was ti to return the favor. Her chitinous gauntlets erupted in fla, and she charged the beast. It seed ready for her attack and tried to stop her movent with one of its massive claws, but Vee appeared at the last mont to deflect the attack. The angel grunted in pain, and Amara slled a hint of blood.
With rage in her eyes, and the gap now closed, Amara jumped at the beast’s head and slamd her fist into its skull. At the mont of impact, the fire concentrated around her gauntlet exploded, and Amara felt the bone snap.
The attack clearly shook the beast, and it began staggering as it tried to keep its balance. Amara had clearly wounded it; an intricate web of cracks had appeared in the creature’s skull. Amara was kneeling on the ground, trying to catch her breath, when the creature turned away from her and began to run. It spread its wings, and with a heavy push, it leapt off the ground.
“Amara! It’s getting away, fly after it!” Vee shouted.
Amara nodded, then broke into a sprint as she chased after the creature. Her own wings opened, spreading as wide as they could, and she jumped into the sky. They kept beating, carrying her higher as she closed the distance. She was clearly the faster of the two, and she reached for the creature’s tail to try and force it to the ground.
As she reached for the beast, the heat from her gauntlets began to intensify. It surrounded her, and the creature’s pale body started to grow blurry. It began to blur with the rest of the painfully dull sky, and soon all Amara could see was a wall of gray smoke in front of her. She was now surrounded by a raging inferno of hellfire, and Vee’s voice began to echo in her head.
”Amara… please…”
She grabbed her head, trying to block out the image, but it was too late. She felt her hands around Vee’s neck, squeezing the life out of her, and Amara scread as she tried to stop herself. She plumted from the sky, her body going limp before she slamd back to the ground.
The pain of the fall was negligible to the pain of her mories. She was trying to shut her eyes as hard as she could, hoping to force out the specter of what she’d almost done.
Sothing grabbed her shoulder, rolling her onto her back. “Amara! Amara, are you okay?!”
Vee’s not dead, she’s here with you.
The sound of Vee’s voice cut through Amara’s mories, and when she opened her eyes, the fires of their fight had vanished. Her chitinous armor had disappeared, but she could still see Vee’s terrified face. Except Vee was alive and healthy now, instead terrified of losing her. Vee pulled Amara closer, onto her lap, and quickly pushed the hair from her face. “Amara, are you hurt? Fuck, say sothing!”
Amara coughed. “Vee? Fucking… ow. What happened?”
“You tell ! It seed like you’d almost caught up to that thing when you, like, froze up? You grabbed your head, scread, and fell to the ground!”
Amara tried to get up, then imdiately fell back into Vee’s lap as the pain from her fall caught up to her. “Shit, fuck, that stings.”
“Hey, don’t push yourself, that was a nasty fall. You did scare that thing away, at least, so we’re safe for now.”
Hoping the pain would recede shortly, Amara tried to relax. Her breath was still erratic from her flashback, and she tried to breathe deep to calm her nerves. In for two, out for four. After a minute, the tension began to leave her body. A stray thought crossed her mind, and she started chuckling to herself.
“What is it?” Vee asked.
“Just a few minutes ago we were screaming our heads off at each other, and now I’m laying in your lap like we’re besties again. Crazy what a monster attack will do, right?”
After a brief pause, a smile broke on Vee’s face. “Well... don’t get used to it, Hellspawn. We’re mortal enemies, aren’t we?”
Amara initially flinched as Vee called her Hellspawn, but quickly sensed that sothing had changed. Every other ti Vee had said it, the na had been laced with hatred. Now, coupled with Vee’s soft voice, and her almost playful smile, Amara swore it sounded sowhat affectionate.
“Right, of course. Destined to fight for all eternity and all that. Anyways, I’m feeling better, any chance you could help up, Vengeance?” Amara almost regretted her choice of words, but she caught a hint of a smirk on Vee’s face as the angel shifted her arm.
“Honestly? I don’t think I’d mind if my na were Vengeance. It’s pretty badass.” Vee reached behind Amara’s back, holding her steady to help her up. Soon, both girls were on their feet again, and Amara took a deep breath. She carefully took a step forward, then imdiately regretted her decision; another burst of pain shot through her side, exactly where the creature had hit her. Thankfully, Vee reached out and grabbed her arm, then put a hand around her waist. “Alright, you’re not walking ho on your own. Put your arm around my shoulder, and let’s get out of here.”
Although frustrated that she wasn’t healing at her normal pace, Amara wasn’t going to argue about the assistance offered. She leaned against Vee, and the two started walking back towards their tiny pocket of the real world.
The girls stayed quiet for several minutes, the only thing breaking the silence the sound of Vee’s shoes on the cold concrete. Amara began thinking about that creature, reviewing the fight in her head as she tried to glean more information from the encounter. “You think those things are mad because we’re alive? Maybe they’re just trying to uphold so kind of deathly balance here in Purgatory.”
“What, like they’re grim reapers or sothing?”
“Shit, even if I’m wrong, I’m going to start calling them Reapers, that sounds cool as fuck. Although, we don’t know if there are multiple of them, do we? We’ve only seen one at a ti so far.”
Vee shifted her grip, her hand sliding slightly higher. “I’ve been assuming multiple, but yeah, it’s just a hunch so far.”
Before Amara responded, she found herself fixating on Vee’s hand. As Amara was only wearing her pajamas, her waist was exposed, and Vee was touching bare skin. It was such a simple act, but Vee hadn’t hesitated to offer her assistance. Unfortunately, the angel's soft touch made Amara painfully aware of how long it had been since she’d last had sex. “They’re fucking disgusting, right? Covered in gross, dripping skin, with their stupid vulture-y bodies. Vulture-like? Vulturic? What’s the right word?”
“I think it’s vulturous, but it’s not like I can check without any internet.”
“That’s stupid, vulturic sounds way cooler.”
The two girls made slow progress, but the trip ho was surprisingly enjoyable. They talked about the strange, vulturic monsters they kept attacking them, and about what food Vee still had at ho. It wasn’t a groundbreaking conversation, but for the first ti since Halloween, they were talking.
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