NOVEL NEXT Chapter 67: Final Moments.
Olga, who had been moving at Mach speed, suddenly stopped, no deceleration, no resistance, no nothing, it was like space itself had chosen to restrict her.
The rain stopped falling, suspended by some unknown force before floating upwards, it was resonance.
'What is this?' Olga wondered, and in that moment she felt the pressure around her intensify, squeezing her form.
"Argh!!!" Olga let out a groan of pain, her eyes widened, her face reddened beyond measure, as if she would pop at any moment.
"You bitch!" It screamed at the purple-eyed Witch, who seemed to currently be in deep thought. It was a comical situation, while one was fighting for its life, the other simply pondered.
"Wait senior!" Cerberus suddenly addressed the purple-eyed Witch for the first time, but he was exhausted, his legs trembling as he moved.
His words prompted the little purple-eyed Witch to glance at him for a brief moment, before looking back at Olga, the monster that was before her, then to an approaching woman.
It was Calista, her wings propelling her at unbelievable speeds as she followed after Olga.
Once she was within range, she noted that her purple-eyed companion had restrained the monster, and so she raised her arm, an emerald spear appearing within her grasp.
But as soon as she did this, a voice seeped into her mind. "Halt!"
Before she could process the source of that command, she felt her body act against her will and stop, her wings retracting, her form landing gently on the ground.
Upon landing, she shook her head and noted that the raindrops were suspended, floating upwards, slowly.
'Resonance? But it's not from me,' Calista thought, and then her eyes met those of her short companion, the purple-eyed Witch.
"Senior?" Calista suddenly called out, her voice melodic as she cupped her fists. "I did not expect you to get involved."
"And yet you let the evolved Skilion reach the people you were trying to protect," the purple-eyed Witch quipped, her hand still raised as she added. "And call me Vlorine, stop it with this Senior nonsense."
"Very well, Senior," Calista responded, raising her head and glancing at Olga who was suspended mid-air.
"You little-"
Vlorine began, peeved by the address, but was cut short by Calista. "What do you intend to do with the creature? Keeping it as a pet would be unethical, considering the fact that it inhabits the body of a fallen soldier."
"It is much too weak to be my pet," Vlorine scoffed, her eyes narrowing as she added. "And you are much too weak to exchange words with me."
"I understand, I have been disrespectful to an elder, forgive me!" Calista responded immediately, her tone exaggerated yet sincere at the same time.
Seeing the playful, almost comical banter between these two parties, Mr. Valen raised a brow, a strange feeling overcoming him.
Not too long ago, they had been running for their lives over this same creature, and now, it was reduced to a prop suspended in mid-air.
Suddenly, Vlorine, the purple-eyed Witch, called out, her finger pointed at Cerberus, "You, come here."
"Yes, Senior!" Cerberus responded with much vigor, despite the strain of his injuries, a hint of reverence in his tone.
"You had reservations? What is bothering you?" Vlorine asked, her tone bland as she stared at Cerberus.
But the man, upon being asked such a question, hesitated greatly, his eyes faltering slightly, but as Vlorine's eyes met his, he felt a small force slip into his mind.
"Hmm, I understand," the purple-eyed Witch intoned before bringing Olga before him, her form still restrained by her power. "Kill her yourself then, her core is in the middle of her chest, I have prevented her from moving it."
Olga, the monster who was suspended, growled upon registering Cerberus, her voice guttural. "You lower being, just try it, you'll not just be killing me but her-"
"Shut up," Cerberus trembled slightly, his voice coming in ragged exhalations as he moved to remove his helm, (which had never come off in the time Mr. Valen had known him). So he watched.
Sophia, who stood by his side, also watched, seemingly curious about the topic as well.
Beneath the battered steel was the face of a man:
His sharp cheekbones framed eyes that glowed like poisoned emeralds, unnatural, hypnotic.
A jagged scar ran through one eyebrow, white against rain-kissed skin, yet it only made him more striking.
His lips, though chapped, were full; his jaw, though clenched with tension, was strong.
A bit of grime dusted his face, (dirt mixed with blood), and when he swept a gauntlet across his brow, the gesture was weary, human.
Olga, at the sound of Cerberus' voice, reeled in surprise (though she could not move much, still suspended in mid-air). As she watched him retrieve his blade, she felt her heart pound against her chest.
"Stay back," she yelled in self-preservation, (an instinct as old as time). "Stay back or I shall tell everyone what your bet is," she yelled again, but Cerberus did not answer, he merely moved towards her, his steps slow, deliberate.
Eyes widened, Olga drew ragged, forceful breaths, and then continued speaking. "Get a load of this! This lower being is cursed: he must kill any woman who verbally returns his love! Isn't that-"
"Swoosh!"
The sound of the air tearing could be heard as Cerberus drove the dagger into Olga's chest.
In that moment, Vlorine released her hold on Olga allowing both figures to slump to the ground.
Cerberus' padded knees hit the ground with a heavy thud, but he never let go of the blade.
"Cerberus!" Sophia gasped at the display before her, her eyes shaking slightly, her face tinged with guilt and worry.
Olga's... no, the monster's face paled, its form trembling slightly, its eyes heavily widened.
As if it had never existed, the monstrous form dissipated into smoke, leaving only Olga's husk in Cerberus' embrace.
Olga looked terrible, unrecognizable even, she smelled of smoke, and of charred meat.
Her eyes, once a vibrant glowing green, were now dull. Her form was badly burnt, her right arm missing entirely.
Seeing Olga's state, Cerberus felt his mind shake, "Olga," he breathed, holding her tightly. "Why did it have to be like this?"
To his words, Olga did not respond; rather, her gaze remained blank (begging the question of whether she could even hear him). But Cerberus continued regardless.
"It is my fault, I should have stayed by your side, I knew you were impulsive, I knew you were inexperienced, and yet I-"
Meanwhile, 'what is he saying?' Olga thought as she looked upon Cerberus' her mind hazy, numb, she could not feel anything.
'So he took off his helmet... he looks so cute,' she thought, her gaze shifting to the new faces observing her. 'Who is that purple-eyed Witch? Wait, is that The Veiled Oracle beside her? We're saved... I completed my mission, I guess.'
With that thought, she looked to Sophia, who was currently latching onto Mr. Valen's shirt, and thought. 'Why is she crying? Is something wrong!'
It was at that moment that her mind trembled and she remembered all that had happened, all that she had done, all that being had made her do, and it clicked.
'I'm dying,' she concluded, her eyes shaking as she caught sight of Mr. Valen, (who, despite the situation, remained expressionless), and she wondered. 'Why is he so odd, even The Veiled Oracle who barely knows me appears sober, but he-'
She cut herself short, her mind screaming as with realization came pain, maddening, heart-gripping pain.
'I don't want to die!' she thought for the last time... Her last conscious thought.
Meanwhile, Cerberus, unaware of Olga's final moments, continued speaking. "I loved you-"
"That's enough, young man," Vlorine interrupted, her tone blank as she added. "She's dead!"
If one looked at Olga's corpse, one would notice that the little glow in her eyes had dimmed entirely; she now seemed soulless, truly.
"How boring, now it is time we leave!" Vlorine spoke, her voice reverberating in the firmament, audible for miles. "Come Birdy!"
Vlorine's command echoed through the air, and for a moment there was only the eerie silence of the suspended rain. Then, a sonic boom shattered the stillness, so violent that the suspended raindrops exploded into mist.
The ground trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and a hurricane-force wind tore through the clearing, forcing Sophia to duck behind Mr. Valen's cloak.
Cerberus looked up, still cradling Olga's lifeless form, his expression unreadable. Calista merely raised an eyebrow, as if mildly inconvenienced by the noise.
"Good landing Zephyros," Vlorine intoned as the creature hit the earth like a falling comet, cratering the mud with talons the size of sedan cars.
Zephyros, (as Vlorine named it moments before), wasn't just large, it was a titan of feathers and fury, the pinnacle of whatever race it stemmed from.
Mr. Valen's eyes snapped to its form, his brows furrowed, his hair standing on its ends at the monstrous form before him.