Through Glass(27)

My body writhed as I tried to control the scream, tried to get it to stop before it was too late. I couldn’t, though, everything hurt too much. The pain was too strong and the scream only grew until a shriek louder than my own hit my ears. The pain no longer seemed as important as what was coming. I writhed as the pain throbbed, my own scream building as the other did. I clenched my hands to my ears as I howled and the screech that would herald my death filled my ears.

They were coming for me.

The screech grew as I heard the front door to my house grind open, as I heard the quick click of talons against the floor. I tensed, everything tight inside of me as I tried to fight the cry that still flowed from my mouth. I clawed at it, my ears tuned to every sound as I listened, waited.

No.

This was not what I had chosen. This was not what I had fought for. I hadn’t fought hunger, starvation, darkness and loneliness only to end up like all the others; a circle of ash in the darkness.

This couldn’t be happening.

I wouldn’t wait. I couldn’t let this happen.

“No!” I yelled in fear and pain as the screech attempted to incapacitate me, however my voice was barely able to make it above the sound that filled my house.

I pulled myself up, trying my best to ignore the weakness of my body and the pain in my eyes as the scaly feet of the monster that had come to kill me stepped into view. The clawed toes clicked against the slick linoleum.

“NOOOO!” I screamed at him, my voice rocking as I screamed in its face. Its eyes looked at me from behind the sharp, black spines that covered it, the obsidian of them dark in anger.

Do not defy us.

I could hardly see how that mattered anymore. How the rules mattered. They didn’t and I wouldn’t let them.

I glared at the thing with all the strength I could muster in my gaze, my teeth grinding themselves together with each pulse of anger I felt. I didn’t care that I had just broken another rule. I didn’t care if it was here to kill me. I wouldn’t let it.

It raised its hands, each finger a large, golden talon waiting to dig into me. I squared my jaw as I looked at the ugly half-human being in front of me. Determination thrumming angrily through me.

My heart beat heavily in my ears, my pulse quick through my body as the fear that was threatening to take over met with my anger and swelled into something tangible. It rocked through me and I screamed.

It wasn’t a scream of fear, it was a battle cry that ripped out of my tender vocal cords until I tasted the blood that now lined my throat. I didn’t care if it was useless, I wasn’t going to end like this.

I refused.

“NOOO!” I screamed again as I rushed it. My tiny body running into the heavy torso of the Ulama. The screech of the monster increased in confusion as I made contact with the razor sharp feathers that covered its body. A million points of pain and pressure cut into my skin as I collided with it. The sharp point of each spine cutting into my skin and seeping warm, wet trails of my own blood out of my body.

I ignored the pain, I didn’t care. I would not just let him win so easily. It was my life and I would fight for it. I screamed as I pushed against the Ulama, my hand moving into a fist as I swung blindly through the air until it impacted with the glossy black jaw of the monster.

My fist made contact as another scream rippled out of my throat. The hundreds of bones in my hands enflamed in agony at the contact. The steel-like jaw of the creature in front of me didn’t so much as move, the pressure reflecting back through the bones of my arm.

I howled as the pain shot up my arm, the call of the creature growing as its mouth opened in a screech, the jaw stretching unnaturally.

I staggered back a step as the noise hit me, the pain strong in my ears. My head swelled as the noise grew, its usual attempt at control attempting to cripple me. The thing moved, its arm swinging through the air as it brought the large talons down on me, the glint of gold attempting to signal my end.

“No!” I screamed again as the gold flashed before me, my feet stumbling backwards in my attempt to get away from its attack.

I felt the smooth backside of the talons press against the skin of my stomach, the cold pressure of death surging through me. I would not die like this, I couldn’t. If I could just get past him, I could grab a banister from the pile of weapons in my room. Then at least I would have a chance. I could fight back.

I rushed the monster again, lunging forward as I attempted to move past the thing and make it to my room. I pushed the creature back a step at the impact. Our bodies stumbled backwards together before the human arms of the monster lunged forward, shoving me back into the bathroom in an attempt to get me away from him. I hurled through the air, my back hitting against the wall of the shower where I slid down to land on the soggy clothes that littered the bottom.

A deep groan of agony escaped me at the impact that sent a ripple of agony through my weak body. Of course this wasn’t going to be easy; even with a weapon the chances of me coming out unscathed were slim to none. Without a weapon… we had come to that. My chest heaved as I gasped for breath, my pain filtering away from my body. I had felt pain before. Pain was nothing new to me now. I lifted my head to face the thing in front of me, willing it forward, daring it to end me.

Daring it to try.

The onyx eyes of the monster seemed to flash in the darkness before the screech in my head elevated in volume. The sound rippled through me as it continued to grow until my eyes were watering, the pain too much for my tiny body to handle. It felt the same as it had that very first day when I had huddled in the darkness. The pain stretched over me the same, my head swelling as my body weakened. I screamed alongside the sound that filled me, fighting the weapon that threatened to subdue me. My voice raised as my body began to shake, my head screaming in pain as I felt the rivers of blood begin to flow from my nose. The swelling pain growing from behind my eyes.