Book 14: Chapter 65
I shakily extended forth my right hand and reached my finger nails below my scale. It felt akin to prying underneath your fingernails. It was strangely scary and also painful. Below my scales was my flesh. I pinched a scale with my fingers, clenched my teeth and then aggressively yanked it.
*Rip!!*
I was mentally ready. The pain still caused me to hiss, nonetheless. Small droplets of blood trickled onto my wrist. The scale I pulled out brought a piece of flesh underneath along. I quivered due to the shock. The feeling was the same as pulling your finger nail out. It was a sharp pain, and the air blowing onto my naked finger stung. I trembled as I threw the scale away. I took in a deep breath. I then pinched another scale and once again aggressively yanked it…
I remember there was once a form of torture where people’s fingernails were ripped out. Just thinking about it sends chills down spine. That sort of torture was once used on revolutionaries. I developed great admiration for them after trying it on myself, because the pain wasn’t something people can handle. It was the same as having your teeth yanked out from your mouth.
Underneath every scale were veins and flesh. The rain falling on my exposed flesh stung. I could see my veins jolting a little. My blood poured out of the open wounds then ran down to my wrist, where the rain then washed it down onto Luna’s face.
It would’ve been nice if that was enough. However, it wasn’t enough blood. I had to continue… I yanked out scale after scale after scale and then more. The small holes weren’t enough. The small wounds didn’t provide enough blood…
I told myself, “I have to continue. I must continue. I must continue. If I can’t continue, I won’t be able to save Luna. I must do this. I must do this…”
I threw aside another scale covered in blood. I then weakly sat down to one side and panted. The pain in my left arm felt comparable to a snapped arm. The pain hammered my brain over and over, causing me to feel lightheaded. I felt as though I was going to pass out from the pain. I could barely see Luna’s face through my hazy gaze. I gently caressed her with my right hand. Voice soft, I said, “It’s all right. It’s all right, Luna. You’ll soon be okay. You’ll soon be okay… I’ll save you in a second… It’s all right… It’s all right…”
I took in a deep breath to calm myself down. The rain that poured down onto my head sobered me up a little. I wiped my tears off my face, and then looked inside my left wrist. I had pulled off over a dozen scales. My flesh underneath was quivering a little. I took quick breaths to calm myself down. Everybody will feel some degree of fear when looking at their own wounds. All living organisms fear pain and death; that was just normal. What made humans, humans, though, was that they could give up their own life and hurt themselves just as I did.