Gook—
A searing pain tore through Asher's shoulder, his stomach lurching violently as his body jerked upward—lifted into the air like a ragdoll.
'It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.'
Asher couldn't think.
All he felt was pain
he screamed loud enough for his throat to hurt. But that pain was nothing compared to what he felt on his hands. He looked to the side, his lips trembling.
Blood.
So much blood.
His blood.
He'd never seen this much before—never thought it was possible for a person to bleed so much and still be conscious.
Slowly pain was replaced by an unfathomable amount of fear.
'I'm going to die. I'm going to die.'
"Asher!"
A voice cut his thoughts for a second.
For a second.
It was futile, his entire being drowned in fear. He couldn't think straight.
Where was he?
How was he losing so much blood?
He saw six claws embedded into him, three in each shoulder, buried deep into flesh.
He dangled like a puppet.
There was a scrawny man along with a grey-haired woman, running towards him. A blond-haired woman sat below. Her features trembling.
Then she screamed.
"ASHER!" She summoned a staff, desperately walking towards the footsteps of the running.
She started crying, throwing her staff away as she began to run.
Run with the footsteps.
"AREN'T YOU A HYPOCITE?!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
"WEREN'T YOU THE ONE WHO SAID IT?!"
Asher's gaze fell on the shouting girl.
"DYING IS FOR IDIOTS!"
A spark lit in Asher's mind.
Small.
But enough.
Something clicked.
Asher's eyes gleamed as a strange feeling of clarity washed over him. His mind never felt this clear.
He was undoubtably in pain. He was in fear. He was panicking.
But his mind was clear.
A rock caught her foot—she slammed face-first into the dirt. Her body was already littered with bruises, but she pushed herself up on shaky arms. She lifted her head to look at a figure in the air.
"You are not an idiot are you...?" she muttered.
Asher's eyes darted around, frantically assessing the situation.
He was bleeding quite a lot. In fact, he would sure he would die in no less than an hour if it kept up. He was in the air, about 90 meters from the ground.
Clutched tightly in the spire messenger's talons.
Not good.
But then he noticed something—the messenger hadn't truly taken off yet. It was still rising, slowly, wings straining against the pull of gravity.
This was his only chance.
He increased his weight to the maximum. The messenger, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden weight, went a bit lower.
Now, he was about 50 meters above ground.
Asher summoned the Azure blade, the weapon falling straight to the ground
"Sunny! Throw my blade at this thing's wing!"
Sunny's eyes narrowed. He caught the falling blade.
"Nephis!" he barked.
Without a word, Nephis wrapped the golden rope around the blade's hilt, hands steady despite the chaos.
Sunny took a deep breath, augmenting himself with his shadow.
And threw.
Asher immediately augmented his own blade, and pushed it fast with gravity.
The blade broke the sound barrier, a small shockwave rippling through out.
The blade, much to everyone's horror.
Missed.
Hitting the wing that is.
It slammed into one of the messenger's talons, biting deep into the joint with a metallic shriek. The beast growled, its claw spasming for a second.
Just a second.
But that was all.
The grip tightened again.
The wound was shallow.
The golden rope fell to the ground.
The beast kept rising.
Asher's heart sank.
They had failed.
Sunny stopped running, his chest heaving as he clenched his fists.
"Nephis," he said, face darkened, "stop."
Nephis didn't stop.
Sunny clicked his tongue in frustration. "Neph, it's useless!" His voice cracked under the weight of desperation. "You know it too!"
He grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to face him.
"Even if we save him, that thing will only turn around and come for us again!"
Nephis jerked of his hand.
"I know."
"We are lucky that thing only took him, if it returns, we all are dead!"
"I know."
Sunny clenched his jaw. "What you're doing is illogical! What do you want to do?! KILL A FALLEN MONSTER!?"
Nephis didn't even glance at him. "Why not?"
Sunny froze. His mouth parted slightly.
"...Neph, you're crazy."
"I know."
And she increased her pace.
"But Sunny, I have a word to keep. I will—"
"GUYS RUN!" Asher shouted.
"THE SOUND'S DRAWN TOO MUCH ATTENTION! FLEE TO THE RIDGE!"
Sunny's senses extended.
They were coming.
Scavengers. Dozens of them at that.
He cursed, turned back toward Cassie. Sparing a single glance at Asher. He gritted his teeth.
Nephis didn't turn.
She was still chasing after Asher.
"Nephis! Please!" Asher's voice was cracking now. "Leave me!"
Nephis didn't respond, continuing to run. Asher gritted his teeth.
'This Idiot..'
He pretty much understood there was no hope for him. There was nothing she could do. There was nothing he could do. "NEPH!"
"Damn it, Neph!" he growled, tears blurring at his eyes. "You're the leader! You're responsible for the cohort! If I die—fine! But you can't risk everyone else too!"
His voice didn't seem so loud anymore.
His throat was sore.
Nephis stopped in her tracks, looking up at Asher. She had the same blank expression she always had.
Asher smiled weakly. "Thanks… for trying."
A frown pulled at her lips. Her jaw clenched. Then she turned away.
He was right.
She couldn't save him. Not without dooming the others.
But still...
Her fists clenched.
It was just... so frustrating...
Asher saw Both Sunny's and Nephis' retreating figures, a single tear running down his face.
Then he laughed.
"I really am I hypocrite."
Sunny was a bit further than Nephis and Asher could see several Scavengers coming their way.
His laugh died down, but a smile still played on his face.
A smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Asher The Idiot." he muttered.
His grin widened, as he closed his eyes, his consciousness slowly slipping.
'Has a nice ring to it...'
[End of Volume 1: An Idiot In Shadow Slave.]
________________________
[A/N: I am AWARE that I am yet to post the 700 collection and 250 PS chapter. I will do it. But. BUT. I want feedback, thoughts on the plot so far? The jokes? How was the first volume for you? I personally liked writing it. And the 2nd half of forgotten shore is only better don't worry.
Two reviews away from the 15 review chapter as well. So yeah. Btw, guys! Let's aim for top 20 in the fanfic ranking! it's sounds farfetched but the past to weeks, we ended at rank 26 and rank 23. So, if we try, I'm confident we can do it!!
Anyway thanks for the support! Like I appreciate it, a lot!
And, happy reading going forward as well!]