Through Glass(32)

The hands of the monster were above me; one fall of its arm between me and death.

Not like this.

A yell flew from my throat that matched the screech of the creature in front of me. I jumped up as I yelled, my feet taking me toward him in angry desperation.

In three steps I collided with the creature, pushing all my strength into him as I pushed it away. I felt the razor sharp feathers cut into the skin on my hands. My own blood trickled down my arms and hands as I punched the thing that sought to kill me, as I clawed at it. I screamed as I slammed into the thing, as I fought.

I heaved against the Ulama, sending it away from me before I turned and grabbed one of the dusty weapons I had stacked next to my door all those years ago, the heavy wood of the banister weighing down my arms.

I grunted as I lifted it, my body spinning as I moved toward the thing, hoping the momentum of my movement would create a decent attack. I felt the dull thud as the wood came in contact with the monster in front of me. Its screech echoed in my ears as warm droplets of its blood showered over my skin and clothes.

I moved back in an attempt to strike again when another call of death joined the first, this one deeper, the baritone strain ominous. I spun at the sound, my heart falling to see another creature towering over me. Its large, bat wings uncurling as its dark eyes bored into me.

I couldn’t be surprised; they would stop at nothing to punish me for what I had done. I just wasn’t going to let that happen. I screamed in fear as I rushed the new attacker, the banister swinging wide in a futile attack. I hadn’t even gotten close to making contact when the first monster grabbed me from behind, its sharp claws wrapping around me as it pushed me away from him.

I flew through the air. The crack of glass sharp in the room as the banister soared from my hand and impacted with the window. My body crumpled on top of my desk, papers, and pieces of flashlights flying away from me as I skidded across the dusty surface.

I pushed myself up, my arms shaking in pain as both of the Ulama came toward me. Their wings unfurled as their talons rose above their heads in preparation to strike. I squared my jaw at them, letting their calls of death wash over me. I wouldn’t give up yet.

I pushed myself to sitting as the noise in the room changed; the screech of the Ulama intensifying as more human sounds filled my ears. “Don’t touch her!” I wanted to freeze at his voice. A voice I hadn’t heard in two years; a voice that still sounded the same as the memories I had held so close to my heart.

I looked toward the door as Cohen walked into the room, his hands already curled around one of the banisters I had set next to my door. The Ulama turned in sync at the new voice, one moving toward him quickly as the first turned back to me, its talons rose once again. Cohen’s grunts filled the air as he fought the monster, his make shift weapon flying through the air as he beat the thing before him around the chest and face.

I turned around, grabbing the first thing I could find, and lifted it to block the talons that were descending on top of me. The sound of metal against metal filled the room as the creature’s talons hit against the broken piece of bed rail I now held in my hand. The monster pushed against it, lowering it closer and closer to me.

My weak arms strained against the pressure of his talons against the rail. Pain and exhaustion rippled through my arms as I groaned in fear and discomfort. I screamed in exertion as I pushed against the monster, the pain of my body shifting into my voice in an agonized yell. I couldn’t hold him off much longer. With one wide swing I brought my legs forward, my bare feet hitting against the blades on its chest as I pushed the creature off me.

The monsters arms dropped as he stepped away, its yell increasing as it came back, intent to finish the job. I uncurled myself like a cat in preparation for its attack and sprang from my desk only to land on the chest of the black monster that would kill me. The scales cut through the skin of my legs like knives and I screamed as the pain shot through my legs. I ignored the pain as I hit the head of the thing over and over with the bed rail.

The black blood of the monster covered me with each hit, spraying over my skin in droplets of foul smelling oil. I could hear Cohen’s screams of exertion as he fought, my own yells mixed in with the screams of the Ulama in a cacophony of sound that vibrated through me.

We couldn’t do this much longer. We would be heard and they would send more. We needed to end this and get out of here.

I hit it again and again in my desperation, each hit growing in strength until it fell. The collapse of its body taking me down to the floor with it.

Cohen now stood before me in my room, his face white as he continually struck the Ulama over the head with one of the broken banisters from my staircase.

Cohen screamed like an animal as he struck the thing again and again; his desperation quicker than the golden talons that continually tried to strike him. The monster’s black blood sprayed over his arms and face with each hit, the blunt, wooden banister ripping the creature apart.

I heaved myself up as I turned toward the monster, my hands raising above my head in preparation. The long bed rail hovered dangerously before I swung the shaft wide. I soared toward the monster where it collided with a dull thunk and a spray of black. The dark wetness covered my arms and face in a shower of putrid smelling drops. The drops joined the others as they ran across my skin like spots of ink. The vibration of the impact surged through me and I dropped the bed rail, the clang of it against the floor was loud through the silence.