Rose Blumen ~ Exogignesthai

(Rose)

The ground tremors below me. I hear an explosion, and soon I see sparks in the air around me.

I run through the jungle, alone and at night, without a source of light.

For the thing hunting me and on my track is certainly a powerful creature to fear.

My sister’s shroud dresses me, making everything turn darker around.

When the light of a torch sways in my direction, eyes don’t really see me.

But these hunters are far from stupid, and used to creatures somewhat similar to me right now.

Gun shots echo in my head and I see sparks blinding me at times.

Yells. Engine noises. And some different screams.

The kind of yells that only occur when you rip open the chest and abdomen with claws.

The fauna they called predators are also far from being stupid. Their competitors made the mistake to launch a noisy assault in the middle of the night. They seized that opportunity fully.

The humans are forced to slow down their hunt after me to defend themselves.

I took that chance and time to distance myself from them all, in the deafening ruckus of machine guns.

~

Nightmare’s flock of birds, the size of young sparrows, spooked some of the human scouts, but not all of them.

I arrived too late for the last fool amongst them. I found him impaled with Nightmare’s spear, already dead and exsanguinated.

I found them shortly after. Nightmare still wrathful against the humans threatening her, and hurt.

N – We can’t live with them!

R – Let’s just go, shall we?

As we began to do so, we felt it.

A wrath. A silent scream like a shockwave. What Nightmare feels and words out, a million-fold stronger.

The will to extinguish humanity incarnated, awoken by tonight’s events.

We feel the ripples of that tremor of a silent roar to the sky.

Blume is terrified. We made the mistake she’s been dreadfully scared to see again.

Our use of magic gave away our existence to something bigger than us.

Something of the worst kind is coming to us, all of us.

Behind us on the other way, the forest is burning, and the noise of the engines is gradually getting closer.

A shiver or thrills runs along my spine and back. I hold the short sword.

N – You...

R – I know...

Nightmare’s anger twists into a mean laugh. Her flock of short-lived birds joins her in a swarm.

Blume wraps herself around me to join me in what’s to come, while the egg carrying behemoth discreetly distances itself into the waters.

Meanwhile, a nervous grin appears on my face.

N – You’re not as fun as the other one, but sometimes you can get that powerful will too.

B – Gloomy Rose enjoys her warmongering. It’s been too long for her.

R – I hate you both.

I say with a weird smile, while my heartbeat steadily rises.

The fires are approaching. I will get burns again.

But I...

I yell.

I spark a light and throw it to blow in the air like these flare lights the humans have.

N – You never really enjoyed peace anyway.

R – What I idealised and what I can desire are very different things alas.

I would have preferred peace.

But if everyone wants war, then yes, I want to enjoy the fights.

Both humans and monsters want us dead or enslaved anyway now. I couldn’t avoid it and we have to fight now. I want to fight now. All aspects of myself want to seize that violence, except for my philanthropic ideal.

Both sides want the other and us dead.

We will pierce our way through.

R – Nightmare, can you?

N – Yes.

We didn’t need to speak much. We run in opposite directions into the jungle.

I’m going to pull the humans toward the demon. Night is going to pull the demon toward the humans.

And we do so. In a matter of minutes, a flamboyant army wrecks its way toward a demon of the worst kind, and they begin bleeding each other while we step back.

And while both sides are smart, they can’t put us as their top priority. They can’t see us as the bigger threat or foe to pursue, when the other one is just a stone throw aside.

So they slow down reaching for the shore and gut each other while we return to wait by the sea.

Even they know that we’re waiting for them to weaken each other until we are the strongest force here. And still with that full awareness of our plan, they cannot become temporary allies or even step back from their front. They hate each other too much to stop.

From the sand of the beach, we see the jungle burning in the distance, sparks and explosions scattering embers. We hear the screams of beasts and humans alike along firing weapons.

Finally, some of them come out to attack us, with rage that crystallises in the air against us.

Nightmare throws a new spear at the predator and jumps on it.

I face humans shooting at us from the cover of the last trees.

~

With the help of Blume and our light, I close the wide gap, without a graze.

I’ve rarely killed humans. Willingly, only that boy, because of what he was doing I could not stand.

And tonight, that man, because he was facing me in battle.

Blood dripped everywhere. It didn’t feel really pleasant. What I enjoy here isn’t the act of killing itself, more the sport and the play of power.

I dodge the bullets from the other terrified man, letting the body of the dead fall onto the sand.

An arm is thrown aside, cut down. He collapses along.

The third one lowers his weapon, in tears, and runs away.

Nightmare saw me, in the midst of her own fight, she saw me murder someone for our safety. Without joy on me, but I did it.

I know it’s something she has been somewhat eager to witness for years.

I don’t feel happy or proud. I don’t know the names of these men I just killed. Should I? What’s better or worse?

N – Gloomy Rose! Wake up!

I jump aside. The trees fall. An armoured vehicle covered with burning fuel, wrapped in fire, rolls out abruptly out of the jungle and onto the sand, illuminating the beach, the bodies, and me.

Nightmare is already running to help. I jump on the side on instinct as shots are fired, exploding in the sand near to me.

I jump with the toxic light to my help, ripping tissues and cloth along.

The canons rotate fast, but I thankfully can go faster.

The birds flock are launched against the blaze, but are helpless.

I keep running while the show of explosions and deafening sounds continue. My heart may explode but I’m my different self, focused on fighting now. I forget the guilt, I focus on the rush I can kind of enjoy.

After one circle, I check the bodies in a short second to find explosives. Just one grenade. I avoid more explosions, probably already deafened for days. I jump over the blaze in a flash that probable ages me by a few months at least.

My legs and body burn. I can’t breathe, but my lungs shunt still work like before, so I don’t for the time it takes.

I break the sword’s blade trying to force open a hatch.

I hold onto the moving ride as it tries to shoot either me or Night, while I burn alive.

I found a weak point as an exhaust that blows air and the flames. I get the grenade stuck inside and jump away, crashing onto the sand before the explosion.

It blows. The vehicle still moves, but the flames have died.

Nightmare’s flock returns and clogs every weapon hole and opening until everything blows up in blaze anew.

More beasts and humans flee the torched jungle to finish the battle on the oceanic sands where we are.

I tremble, my clothes merged with my skin all over my body, as I stand up. There’s excitement along everything else I hate about myself coming up.

The men shoot at the monsters coming at them first.

By the time they won this skirmish in the open, Nightmare and I have taken position behind them, and we win over them.

The bigger demon emerges as the human vehicle did before, with fiery rage, scratches and exhaustion showing.

This one however knows better, and discards the humans shooting at it to rush at us instead.

– Daiûas!

Nightmare handed me another of these short swords they carry.

She then raises spears from the blood of the corpses around us. I ignite a white blaze over the edge of that sword, melting it slightly.

I hate to admit that I enjoy this a lot, as I run toward another god to slay.

Spears fly as missiles aside me and strike it. My sword follows in an exhilarated will and drive. I’m attacking head on a monster bigger than their now broken vehicle.

The last humans, more agape than anything, begin to flee the fight that comes soon to an end.

~