“We will discuss this later,” Devon interrupted sharply. “Now is not the time.”
Cassie was torn away from the horror of what Julian was saying, and back to the horror of what was unraveling rapidly before them. The fight was upon The Elder’s already, the creature’s eager to destroy and feast upon them.
Cassie braced herself; she widened her stance as her hand tightened around the stake in her hand. The weight of the crossbow strapped to her was reassuring. Watching the rushing horde barreling toward them, Cassie decided to sheathe the stake and go immediately for the crossbow. She loaded it swiftly, and with the ease of someone that had done it hundreds of times. Lifting it high, she took aim at the one in the lead, the one closest to Chris.
She squeezed the trigger. The arrow let loose with a reassuring rush of feather and air that sped swiftly toward its target, hitting home with a reassuring thud. The sound of it all and the resulting satisfaction of the kill would have made her smile, if it hadn’t been for the monsters that scrambled easily over their fallen brethren.
Cassie swiftly reloaded as the first one reached Annabelle and Liam. They fell back slightly from the weight of the creature as it clawed and spit at them. Cassie had attributed more reason to them, but they appeared now to be in the midst of a blood frenzy that made them crazed and volatile.
Raising the crossbow, she took aim at the one barreling toward Luther. She fired, but was slightly off target as it slammed into the creature’s collarbone, knocking it back and slowing its progress but not stopping it. Cassie swore as she scrambled to grab another arrow, but it was too late. They were on top of them; there would be no more clear shots. She tossed the crossbow aside and grabbed hold of her stake.
But the attack did not come from the way that she had been expecting, the way that she had been prepared for it. Instead, it burst free of the woods on their left hand side. Cassie caught the flurry of movement at the last moment. She spun wildly, terror pounding through her as she realized that no matter how prepared they were, or how strong they were, they were outnumbered and nowhere near as crazed and frenzied as these creatures were.
The first one from the attack on the left was upon her immediately. Red eyes filled her vision; the stench of putrid flesh filled her nostrils. She wanted to recoil from the monster that filled her senses, rocking her with its repulsiveness. Hands seized hold of her, claws curled around her upper arms as it jerked her forward. It had once been a man, but clearly was not anymore. Years of training took over as she managed to rip one arm free of its grasp. She drove her fist straight into its nose, snapping its head back as its nose shattered beneath the force of her fierce blow. Blood spurted over the both of them, but it did not slow Cassie as she slammed her fist into its cheek, staggering it backward.
Taking advantage of the fact that it was off balance, Cassie leapt forward, knocking the creature back even more. She twisted the stake in her hand, spinning it around as she drove it forward. The creature howled, its fingers clawed at the wooden protrusion jutting out of its chest. Cassie ripped it free, shoving the creature back. It fell upon the ground, withering and making strange gurgling noises until all its movements finally ceased.
She didn’t have time to study the creature, didn’t have time to take in what she had just done as another one grasped hold of her, knocking her back. She stumbled beneath the force of its weight, nearly falling over. Devon’s shout of anger filled her ears as the creature managed to claw one of her arms open, spilling her blood. Its eyes widened upon her, its nostrils flared as the scent of her blood caught its attention, exciting it completely.
Its frenzy increased, its misshapen jaws snapped eagerly as it pulled her closer. She was distinctly reminded of the shark from Jaws as it snapped at her again, the flesh stuck in its teeth clearly visible. Cassie staggered, trying hard to keep her balance against its eager, frantic aggression.
She kicked out, not finding much satisfaction in her connection with its shin. There had not been as much force behind the blow as she would have liked. It lurched at her again, shoving her back. Devon was suddenly behind it, his eyes a fiery blaze as he seized hold of the things head, jerking it roughly to the side. The loud snap of its neck echoed through the night. It howled; its arms flailed as it tried desperately to claw at its distorted head. Devon’s ruby eyes briefly met hers; she turned away, not wanting to watch what happened next. She tried to block out the sickening sounds of bones breaking further as flesh was torn from body.
Her eyes rapidly took in the scene before her, anger boiled swiftly up. Her friends were being pushed back, herded further away from the store. Chris’s nose was bleeding, his shirt was torn open to his belly button, and more blood marred his chest. Melissa’s hair had been ripped free of its braid; it hung in a tumbled black mass around her shoulders. Liam and Luther had been swamped by a group of three creatures, they were fighting them off, but Luther was bleeding from a cut on his cheek, and Liam was losing ground. Annabelle and Julian were just finishing off two of more of the Halflings. Chris, who was closest to her, was braced to defend himself against one that was advancing upon him.
Cassie looked rapidly around, but none of them seemed to have noticed that she was standing alone. Not yet anyway. She spun toward Devon, who had been swamped by three of them. It was him that seemed to need her help the most right now. She jumped forward, clinging to her stake as she threw herself back toward the fray.
One came charging out of the mass. It was a woman, or at least it had been. Her mouth was wide; her jaws snapped up and down so hard that her long fangs sliced into her lower lips. Blood trailed down her chin, soaking what was left of her shirt. Cassie spun, slamming her fist hard into the woman’s cheek. Her head snapped to the side, but she dove forward, wrapping her arms around Cassie’s waist.
The force of the things momentum carried them both back before they tumbled to the ground in a scattered heap. Cassie’s breath rushed out of her, she just managed to keep her head from slamming off of the pavement. For the first time all of her terror and confusion was burned away as the comforting surge of rage rushed to the forefront. The woman clawed at her, blood sprayed across Cassie’s face as the woman’s jaws snapped loudly.
Clinging to her stake, Cassie used her anger and strength to brace her legs. The woman tried to cling to her, her claws scraped across Cassie’s chest, but Cassie was able to toss her off. Cassie’s fury escalated as the scent of her own blood hit her. Using her arms and legs she sprang easily off the ground. The woman had not quite recovered yet, she was just trying to get back to her feet.