Chương 48: Alrina

"Aargh!" Lamb slid across the mud with her teeth clenched. The heavy axe was pressed across her chest, its handle trembling in her hands as the false Mira's blades scraped against it.

"Kh—!" Her back violently struck a large root, and the root bent from the force before throwing her to the side. Lamb rolled hard several times, then dug the head of the axe into the mud to stop herself from sliding any farther. The Mira growing from the boar's head smirked, waving the arms that had turned into axes as if waiting for her to get up. Meanwhile, the boar itself snorted, its swollen belly dragging against the ground as vines hung from its mouth.

"Lamb," the Mira said, copying her voice even better now. But her face was not moving at all, no—it was the giant boar's mouth that was speaking.

"Move aside and be a good girl," it said.

"Fuck off." Lamb pushed herself up and ran to the side. The boar lowered its head and charged, but Lamb did not meet it head-on. She rushed toward its left side instead, boots splashing through the mud as she tried to reach the swollen part of its belly. But then, the ground beneath her feet opened. Vines snapped upward, thin as ropes but with thorns as sharp as spears. Lamb leaped before they could wrap around her ankles, twisting her body in the air as two vines sliced past her boots. But...

that was when the boar quickly turned toward her.

"Ah," Lamb whispered, realizing her mistake just as quickly. The boar rammed toward her while she was still in the air, tusks wrapped in roots and its small murky eyes fixed on her. The false Mira rose higher from its head, both blade-limbs lifting and threatening to cut her.

"Agh!" Lamb swung the axe with both hands. The blade struck the boar's face just above one tusk, biting deep into bark-thick hide and bone before getting stuck there. Well, she was the one who was stuck. The impact nearly tore Lamb's arms from her shoulders, but she did not let go no matter what—no.

"Fuck... fuck!" The boar carried her with it, dragging her through the air, her body violently flapping beside its head as the axe remained stuck.

"Ah! Ah, shit!" The boar shook its head even harder, and Lamb took the chance to swing with it, avoiding the vines snapping toward her from the false Mira above. And then, somewhere behind her, the ground thundered. One of the other two giant boars flew past the corner of Lamb's eye, spinning end over end before crashing into the forest far away. She did not waste time looking. She was sure it was just Enel casually throwing his opponent away.

"Great, just great. And here I am, suffering and swinging like a monkey," she whispered. But still, she did not look frustrated. If anything, the smirk grew back on her face as she raised one hand from the axe and started writing in the air. Smoke spilled from her finger, and the word was crooked from how violently her body was swinging, but she did not care. [B-Buf!] she Breathed out. The word barely held itself together.

It flickered, then almost broke when the boar slammed its side against a tree and nearly crushed her between trunk and flesh.

"Fuck!" Lamb grabbed the Script before it scattered and slapped it onto her arm. Warmth instantly rushed through her muscles—but it was not enough, not even close. But it would have to do.

"Come on!" Lamb roared, gripping the axe with both hands again before she pulled it. At first, the axe did not move at all. The boar shook harder, its hooves tearing through the mud while the Mira on its head bent down and tried to cut Lamb's wrist. Lamb tucked her arm away, took the blade across her shoulder instead, then pulled again. And this time, the axe finally moved.

"Grah!" The blade dragged through the boar's face, then down along its neck as Lamb fell with it. Black sap and pale meat split beneath the edge, and the boar screamed so loudly that the trees around them shook. Lamb hit the ground on her side, but she kept pulling, carving a long wound across the monster's shoulder before the axe finally tore free. She rolled away, laughing as she pointed at the boar.

"Ha... how's that, you ugly—" But then, more vines erupted from the wound. They struck her before she could lift the axe. One hit her stomach, another wrapped around her thigh to constrict her, then a third lashed across her back hard enough that her vision flashed white. Then the boar swung its head, whipping the vines and throwing her. Lamb violently flew across the air, only stopping when her back struck a tall tree hard enough for her body to be buried by the force of the impact.

"Kh..." The axe slipped away from her fingers, and the whites of her eyes showed as blood showered from her throat. For a moment, everything turned dark. But then her fingers tightened around the handle before it could truly escape her.

"N-No," she whispered as the color of her eyes returned. She looked ahead, and the boar was already turning toward her. The Mira above its head raised both of its axes, and the tree behind Lamb shifted softly, almost moving to swallow her and not let her escape. At the same time, she looked to the side... and one of the other boars was in the same position as her, thrown toward a tree and seemingly stuck there at the exact same moment. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen.

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"F-fucking ridiculous." She looked away before she could see Enel leap toward it, grab its tail, then throw it toward another tree. Lamb focused more on trying to move away, but her body did not answer.

"Ah..." She swallowed, but even that hurt. One of her ribs was probably misplaced, and her back felt worse. Her arms were shaking so badly that the axe rattled against her palms.

"Fuck." The boar in front of her began to charge. Lamb lifted her finger to write, but the smoke came out weaker than before, so thin it looked like threads instead. Still, she wrote. But her chest tightened as soon as she did, and all the air in her lungs vanished as if something had reached into her mouth and pulled it out. Still... she wrote. [B—] But the word broke apart at the first letter.

"Kh!" Pain tore through her chest, her Breath being dragged away from her as her already cracked ribs slowly caved in. She gasped, but no sound came out. Once again, her vision darkened, and the boar grew blurry as it rushed toward her. But even as she lost consciousness, she wrote again. The smoke twisted, collapsed, and the pain grew worse. It felt like the gods had hooked their fingers into her lungs and were pulling them out by the roots. Lamb's body shook against the tree, and for a stupid little moment...

"I'm... going to die here?" she whispered. But then, her fingers tightened.

"Fuck... that." She slowly raised her trembling hand, and wrote again. [Stand.] The Script formed in front of her, shaking violently, but it did not break. Lamb reached for it, and the moment her fingers touched the word, the pain in her chest tore open. It was painful. So painful that everything around her became silent, and for a moment, all she could hear was a whistle. But also, in that very moment, she felt the air suddenly return to her lungs. All at once.

"Hrngh?!" Lamb gasped so hard her back curved forward and left the tree. But the pain did not wither away, no—it worsened. It hurt. Everything hurt. But the Breath did not stop. It rushed deeper into her, past her lungs and into her veins, to every fiber of her muscle. And just like that, the smoke curling from her finger no longer wavered. It became brighter and more solid than any Script she had written before. She stared at it for a moment, and the smirk on her face once again returned.

"Fuck you!" she roared while slapping the word onto her chest. The boar reached her at the same time, its tusks tearing through the tree—but Lamb leaped upward, and the false Mira's blades swept through the trunk where her body had been. The tree split behind her, both halves falling away as Lamb twisted in the air with the heavy axe already raised over her head. The axe had become lighter, but her body still screamed in pain. Still, she swung—and this time, the weapon finally followed her.

"Die, you ugly piece of horse shit!" Lamb dropped toward the boar's head. The Mira on its head looked up, still smiling as she lifted both axes to meet her attack. But Lamb was already swinging. The axe cut through one blade, then the shoulder beneath it. The false Mira screamed in pain, but Lamb did not stop. She landed on the boar's snout, and swung again with everything her body had left.

The false Mira reached for her with what remained of its arms, mouth opening as if it was about to say something again, but Lamb did not want to hear any more words coming from it as she buried the axe deep into its neck. The false Mira came apart, red hair turning into vines as its body collapsed over the boar's face. But... Lamb was not satisfied, not even close. She dragged the axe free, nearly slipping off the boar's head as it thrashed beneath her.

"Still alive?!" Lamb fell to one knee, then slammed the axe into the monster's skull to keep herself from being thrown off. Once again, she was stuck on the boar's head—no. It was the boar's head that was stuck on her axe this time around.

"Heh..." Lamb laughed, coughing blood onto its head.

"Good, good." She pulled the axe away, trying her best to balance herself on top of its head while it thrashed. She shifted her grip, one hand holding the top of the axe. And then, with a loud breath, she drove the butt of its handle straight into the boar's eye. Again, and again, and again.

"Die. Die! Die!" Lamb screamed in rage, and perhaps to mask the pain rushing through her entire body. She hammered the handle down again and again, coughing blood between each strike, driving the wood and metal into the socket until black sap sprayed across her face.

"Die!" she roared.

"Die, die, die! Ha... Hahahaha!" And after what seemed like the hundredth thrust, finally, its front legs buckled. The monster dropped into the mud, its belly hitting the ground and sending ripples across the shallow water around them. Lamb remained on top of its head, still holding the axe from the top of its blade. For a while, she did not move. She only stared down at her... creation. But as the weird vines started to wither, she finally pulled out the handle.

She stumbled and fell from its head, but managed to land on her feet.

"Ha... Fuck." Lamb wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, only spreading more blood across her face.

"Ha... haha..." She finally looked toward Enel. And there he was, casually sitting on top of the two other boars stacked over each other like a pair of dead hills. One of them still twitched beneath him, but Enel only had one hand resting on its head, keeping it down without even looking at it. His sword rested across his knees, his red cape was torn, and his hair was filthy, but his eyes were wide as he looked at Lamb.

"That was... impressive," he said. Lamb clicked her tongue.

"You were done? Why did you not help me?!"

"I do not think you needed it."

"Do you see me?!" Lamb raised her voice, but held her rib at the same time as she heard something crack.

"I look like shit!"

"Really? You look the same as always."

"Fuck you." Lamb sighed, slowly making her way to Enel. Not before, of course, kicking the boar she killed.

"And fuck this pig."

"There was light under your skin."

"Huh?" Enel also stood up, stabbing his sword through the boar beneath him at the same time before leaping down.

"There was light under your skin," he said, pointing at Lamb from head to toe.

"While you were stuck on that tree."

"I—Ah!" Lamb also pointed at him.

"I... I broke through!"

"To the Second Depth?" Enel's eyes widened even further.

"But you just awakened your Breath a month ago! That is not fair!"

"What do you mean it is not fucking fair?!" Lamb raised her axe and pointed it at the two boars behind Enel.

"You can already kill those pigs without even as much as a sweat, and you still want to have Breath?! You—Kh!"

"Lamb!" Enel rushed toward Lamb as her legs slightly gave in. But Lamb motioned for him to stop, supporting herself up with the axe. Enel narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you... still able to walk?"

"I can walk," she said, gripping the axe tighter.

"Do not look at me like that. I just killed a pig with its own face-wife growing out of its head. Let me have this."

"... Face-wife?" he asked.

"I am tired. But... let us go. We need to find the real Lady—" Before Lamb could finish her words, the forest suddenly went quiet—no. Not quiet, but completely and utterly still. The leaves stopped moving, and the roots stopped squirming beneath the mud.

"Uh..." Lamb's smile faded as she pointed behind Enel.

"What—" Enel slowly turned, and the trees ahead began to move. They did not bend away from force, nor did they break... they simply stepped aside—no. The trees were not moving... the entire forest was.

"I... have seen something like this before," he whispered.

"H-huh? Where?!" Enel did not answer and only pointed toward the clearing that was slowly being made. And there, a large shape slowly appeared between the trees. At first, Lamb thought it was just another gigantic monster... but then the shape lifted its head, and the antlers rose into the sky above—no. Not exactly a pair of antlers, but trees. Branches split from branches, reaching upward and outward until they disappeared into the fog above.

Moss hung from them like torn cloth, and roots dangled from the creature's chest, swaying softly with each step it took. Its body was black, not like fur, but like bark soaked in old blood. Its legs were too long... and its hollow eyes were fixed on them. It was a gigantic black deer, taller than the wall of Widow's Wall.

"Is that..." Lamb swallowed.

"The King of the Dark Forest," Enel whispered.

"Great Spirit Blakwud." He stepped back, but stopped as he saw something when the spirit lowered its head. There, on one of the branches of its antlers, wrapped in roots and black flowers... was his mother.

"Is that... is that really her this time?" Lamb's grip tightened around the axe. Enel's eyes changed. He tilted his head, hearing the warm but faint breath escaping Mira's lips.

"It... is her."