Chapter 5: Stubborn Insect.
The cold was unforgiven, not just to humans, but to the ruins itself. The half destroyed ancient city was blanketed by a surreal hue from the faded shades of sunlight that managed to pierce through the thick clouds.
The snow that piled up on the large circular altar sunk their feet inches into the ground, Yuri, Seris and Chad were pale white, while Damien remained as he was, neither affected by the cold, nor the fear of impending death.
"These creatures knew to weaken us, so they could lower our resistance before sacrificing us to their goat head... I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t see any saviour coming anytime soon". Damien’s calm voice flowed freely, without fear.
Chad was terrified, but he wasn’t losing his composure like Seris, he even graced Damien with a smile, before responding. " You really know how to hold a grudge, don’t you?".
Damien was clearly targeting Yuri when he spoke, but she didn’t give him the satisfaction, instead. She glared at the approaching Eidolon.
This Eidolon had antlers, twice as big as the other three, it had a red piece of cloth covering its face with only its pupils revealed from underneath, it held a long staff that curved like that of a snake at the top, with gold laces at the bottom.
It was a fancy staff, Damien thought to himself.
"The priest is here". Yuri’s voice echoed faintly, sending tremors of dread through their very being.
The priest stopped before the great circular altar. Calling it an altar was somewhat misleading, as it was completely level with the ground. Only the intricate carvings etched across its surface distinguished it from the surrounding stone.
The Eidolon priest tapped the ground through the snow with its staff and the three standing by dragged Yuri, Seris and Chad to the side and pushed them on their knees, they protested aggressively, but were quickly overpowered.
Now Damien was the only one standing in the centre of the ritual dais, his lone figure was a sight for sore eyes, he thought of running, but one look at the Eidolons thick muscular legs changed his mind. Fighting back crossed his mind, but Damien was no fool, he knew when he was out matched, so he looked to Yuri and Chad.
"If you guys have a plan, now would be a good time to execute it?".
The three Eidolons surrounded him. One seized his arms while the other two grabbed a leg each, forcing him onto the ritual dais face-up.
Chad quickly sent meaningful glances at Yuri, but her face remained flat and indifferent, it was like what was happening didn’t concern her in any way.
Chad smiled helplessly, she really knew how to hold a grudge as well.
Seris’ face went pale. She looked away immediately. Above him, the Eidolon priest moved into position, its shadow falling over Damien as it raised its staff.
Chad was on the verge of losing his composure, he glared darkly at Yuri, and finally she sighed helplessly. When the Eidolons cuffed them, they made sure their arms were behind their backs, they clearly didn’t want any surprises, now. Yuri was using that to their advantage.
Her fingertips pointed in the direction of Chad’s cuffs, and a small, almost negligible discharge of energy shot through the air.
The bolt was really small, so it barely made it to the cuffs before fading into nothingness.
Yuri frowned lightly, Chad was too far from her, and with Seris in-between, she wasn’t sure if she could even produce an electric charge powerful enough to reach him, or even force open his iron cuffs.
Damien was out of time, and the Eidolon priest’s staff fell and collided with his head, the bang that resonated was loud and echoed through the ruins.
Far in the distance, near the Eidolon settlements, loud cheers in the form of heavy roars and hooves colliding with stone emerged.
Yuri was genuinely worried by now, she clasped two fingers together and concentrated as hard as possible, after collecting sufficient electric current through her dormant ability, she once more directed it towards Chad.
This time, the current hit its mark, but the iron cuffs remained relentless, the faint magnetic force within her currents still wasn’t enough to force them open.
The Eidolon priest wasn’t patient, it once more lifted its staff and brought it down on Damien’s head, the bang this time was even louder and so were the distant cheers.
Warm blood flowed freely from the point of impact and dyed half his face red, Damien wasn’t silent, each collision made him scream in pain, his struggle intensified, but he couldn’t break free with his meager strength.
Seris shook intensely with each bang, and the screams from Damien weren’t making it any easier for her.
Yuri wasn’t being lazy, her dormant ability was simply insufficient.
She could probably free Seris first, but that would only give her a death sentence, she wasn’t a fighter, and if the Eidolons noticed their escape attempts, everything would be lost, so they had no choice but to sit and listen to Damien’s agonising screams.
The Eidolon priest raised his staff once more, this time. It growled aggressively before bringing it down with all its might, the bang was dozens of times louder, but the distant cheers weren’t, in fact they were faint and weak.
The Eidolon holding Damien’s arms glanced back at the ones pinning down his legs, he had a ram like face, but he still had a questioning expression on his face.
The Eidolon priest shifted its staff aside, and once again brought it down on Damien’s head. Yet, as with every strike before it, he remained stubbornly alive.
Damien coughed up blood with a resigned expression. "Please... just kill me already, I can’t take this anymore".
The Eidolon priest didn’t understand what he was saying, but it still felt insulted. It has been smashing Damien’s head with all its might, and yet. This stubborn insect refuses to die.