Chapter 7: Picking up what's left
This was unlike everything Nathaniel has seen in his lifetime.
As the heavy, dark mist covered the place, numbing his sense of sight and smell, he realized he could only rely on his hearing now. This creature knew how to divert the attention from itself for sure.
The demon had to think fast if he wanted to win this battle. The creature was one of the deadliest he has ever encountered, specially because it was, in fact, the first time he has ever seen one. Not even in books. He would've remembered.
He took a mental note to dig up more on that.
He could hear the rustling of the debris in the ground, the rocks rolling around every time it passed over them at high speed.
Nathaniel closed his eyes, concentrating. This was going to be the last blow, for either that thing or him. He was waiting for the cue, the signal. His face remained immutable, slowly entering a fighting stance again. This time, the sword in his right hand vanished, a dark red light shining in his hand instead.
He pointed his glowing palm to the ground, grabbing his wrist with the other hand, and squatting down just enough to let his fingertips touch the ground slightly.
Then, he felt the breeze hitting his face come to a sudden stop, quickly turning into a hard wind that flowed the opposite way.
His muscles stiffened. This was it.
He jumped straight up, feeling a heavy thud beneath him as the creature had just missed his attack. The demon didn't jump too high, just enough to be so close the creature wouldn't be able to escape his attack. Still holding his hand, he pointed his palm to where the creature was, knowing that, even though it was inhumanly fast, it couldn't just avoid an almost direct hit.
The glow in his had engulfed the creature with dark-red sphere, capturing it inside. Still in the air, he closed his hand with force as he spoke the same foreign language, causing the inner part of the sphere to light up with a bright, heavy implosion.
Leaping on the air, Nathaniel landed on the floor effortlessly. Still, he didn't move a muscle, listening carefully for any signals of life in that place. Other than the little rocks showering down on him, there was nothing to worry about.
The dust cleared soon enough.
The seal covering the blast could only do much to avoid the catastrophic consequences of using such spell, leaving behind a good seven feet crater on the ground, deep enough to put a big elephant on it.
Finally, it was over. I have been a while since he had a somewhat exiting fight. Somewhat, because having to take care of a child while doing so was not a job he enjoyed doing.
Suddenly, he came to a stop. The child.
He looked around with indifference. He didn't lose anything that day. Not even his house at the outskirts of the village. The kid, though, had lost everything. He strolled to where he had seen Mr. Fraillet the last time.
Inside the house, laid a pile of what he believed were the housekeeper and one the workers; the one that helped the fat man getting inside the place. He could tell by the color of the shredded fabric mixed with the flesh.
He grunted and headed to the upper floor, where he found another body. Definitely Mr. Fraillet.
This was a cruel world. One that was not meant for the weak.
Nathaniel looked out through the window, the bright blue sky still above him. How could such a crude world be in such a beautiful day? He asked himself.
Again, he walked down the stairs to leave, only turning around to watch the memories of that family hanging on the wall.
-----
A short, weak whimper dragged him back to reality.
The kid had woken up, startled by his absence. He walked towards her, her little dove eyes looking at him wide and scared.
She didn't say anything, but there was no need to.
Nathaniel looked down at her, his glowing green eyes reflecting the fire next to the bed.
"Go back to sleep. We still have a long way to go."
"I don't wanna..." She whispered, secretly afraid that, if she fell asleep again, he would disappear.
The demon grunted. "It's almost dawn anyway." He said, putting off the fire with his water spell, and taking her in his arms. "Let's get going then."
Not more than half an hour passed when the first Sundays had started to sneak in through the trees.
Gressia yawned. "Where are we going?" She asked, hints of sleepiness still lingering in her words.
"The next big village."
"Why?"
"I'll leave you there before going my way."
The girl stiffened, jerking back to see his face better. "You can't leave!" She rose her, tiny, shaky voice.
"I know people there that will take good care of you."
"No!" She grabbed him by his cloak and tried to shake him, in vain. "Y―You can't! You promised you'd keep me safe!"
"I can't keep you with me, kid. You're a deadweight to carry on." He hissed. "And, just to remind you, that was part of my contract. My job. Not because you mean something to me."
Gressia felt something break inside her chest, her breath quickly raising up. Tears started rolling down, when she started pushing him away violently. He kept walking, though.
"Let me go!" She screamed, her body moving and shaking violently as she tried to let loose. "Let go! If you don't care I'll just go. If a Swenc―Swanc―Swencer eats me, I won't hold you back anymore!" Her voice cracked just as he loosened his arm.
Gressia's body slammed down to the ground, but the hit didn't slow her down.
Filled with anger and hurt, she flew towards the forest.
Nathaniel just watched her little frame disappear in the darkness of the whimpering forest, knowing she was totally right.
As he very well knew, this world was a cruel place, one that won't bother on taking a naive, sweet child's life. He then proceeded to keep walking the path he was heading. This could be the best thing that happened to him.
This was for the best. He couldn't take care of her.
Not ten minutes passed, when he was heading back to the place he saw her last time, sighing.
He didn't know why, but guilt was hitting him hard this time.
And just as he was hesitant about going after her, a loud, sharp scream rose from deep inside the forest.
Any doubts he had had suddenly evaporated, running inside the woods like a madman.
He couldn't believe how much ground she covered in just a few minutes, as he kept running in a straight line with still no sight of her.
His heart was pounding, feeling the unfamiliar sourness of regret.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone