End Of All Hope (Short Story)

Outlaw02 Extreme SG

Note: The prose is fantasy based...

End Of All Hope
By: Outlaw-2 Extreme

1st Fall
Retreat

Night filled the skies with glorious snow whilst the ground stained variant shades of crimson; humans’, and the unknowns’. Heavy footsteps were heard while silent drippings of life left a trail of red behind; two beings were obviously on the run. Even though through the chilly, snowy weather the climate was, it barely faze the duo; they were too pre-occupied with one objective on their mind.

“Escape, as far as we can. The battle was futile; we’re on the run, from ‘that’.”

The one who only had a few bruises and scratches stood a woman in her late twenties. She possessed long silver hair that was left loose, with its ends near her hips. Grey were her eyes, and as by far the amount of moonlight it had produced as lighting, she has a rather smooth complexion… and an old wound that kept ripping open on her midriff if left alone. Several belts bonded the grievous gash, just enough to prevent it from opening again. Even though she had initially wore a black dress over the belts, an unbuttoned overcoat that runs all the way to her ankles, and canvas shoes, all was left on her clothing after the ambush was…

Her black dress now reminded her of a nightgown, while her brown, leather overcoat had several rips and shreds here and there, yet still functional to warm her body up. Her shoes were still intact, but the tightness it usually had, had broken down, now a more comfortable one. Her right hand held a katzbalger, while over her left arm was her only surviving comrade, who needed support to stand. Unlike the said woman, her companion had inflicted more damage; her arms were dominantly covered with scratches while some deeper gashes were spotted near the elbows and wrists. Not only that, her torso had, too, received about the same damage as to her arms. However, it was her legs that had taken the most harm- the petite structure stumbled even on the said woman’s support.

“Tessa!” said the woman with silver hair with a tone of panic.

“This is nothing,” Tessa replied with a twinge of pain in her voice, regarding about the wounds she had. “This is just nothing, Raquel.”

Tessa, Raquel’s only ally left, stood about seven centimetres shorter than the grey eyed 1.72 metre woman. Her hair was of natural orange blonde that runs down all the way to her busts. Streaks of grey and maroon were her eyes that were often seen in a rather deadpan manner. Her clothing was of a brown leather shirt and long grey skirt that was of cotton while an overcoat about the same as Raquel was worn over, unbuttoned, and rather starched. Her shoes were of the same material as her comrade’s, but had a bit more elegance to the style. However, due to the recent ambush, the blonde’s clothing were much in the same condition as Raquel’s.

The snow marked their trails, obviously a bad sign that they would be tracked down easily. The taller woman, knowing the increasing danger considering that they were in the hotspot, carried the petite Tessa in her arms while increasing her pace from a walk, to a constant jog. The soft snow beneath her footwear somehow bogged her speed down, as more pressure was applied onto the ground. She took wider steps to counter the problem; it did not help much- a rustle behind her was heard.

Raquel kept looking on straight, not wanting to know what was lurking behind her. The said rustle soon turned to a crumple, most probably had stepped on fallen tree branches. Raquel’s fear kicked in; in desperation, as much as she could, she scrambled down the path before kicking herself away from it after spotting a fissure in a boulder, big enough for two of them to enter. The hard, rocky surface of the stone made more scratch marks onto her arms, but she did not care; it was her life and Tessa’s that concerned most.

Grey eyes shut tightly while her arms held tightly towards her injured comrade. The crumple that she had heard earlier on had ceased much too long ago for her. She had expected another form of sound, signaling that ‘it’ had came nearer. Nothing; just an eerie silence that was enough to pump in dread into her mind. Raquel glanced at the woman she carried; her condition seemed to have worsened compared to the time when they escaped from the assault. Tessa’s breaths were heavier than usual; her blood loss might be the cause of it-.

A hard thud was heard. Raquel jolted at the sudden noise. She paused while Tessa was pre-occupied with her injuries. The taller lady froze for a moment before she scrambled out of the fissure. A powerful crack ensued, this time ripping though the boulder, leaving simply rubble. There it was, thought Raquel. It was that… ‘thing’ that was after them. It was often in the shadows, revealing little of its features. All Raquel and Tessa knew; that the ‘beast’ was thrice as big as Raquel, and had maniacal strength to even rip a human body apart. The silver haired woman panicked, most obviously frightened by the sight as she scrambled away from it through the forest, weaving through the maze of trees to minimize falling victim from ‘that’.

Constant thuds were heard behind her; obviously that the ‘beast’ was after them. They had started out the battle with forty-seven to dealt with the ‘beasts’ after losing some three lives while on the journey to the north. However, even though outnumbering the ‘beasts’ by several-fold, only two of three were killed, at the cost of forty-five lives. And both Tessa and Raquel are the remaining two that were still alive. It was as if they were sent on a suicide mission without notice. A hard thrust sent them stumbling to the ground, with the petite lass a distance away from the other being. A seemingly growl ensued, before sending a hard sweep into the taller lady’s torso. An audible gasp left her mouth before a trail of crimson followed suit, staining the innocent white snow. Raquel was barely fit to even attack, but compared to Tessa; the blonde was literally unable to fight at all, considering that she had lost her broadsword back at the ambush site.

However, being too pre-occupied with the thought that ran though her mind, the silver haired lass had not realized the ‘beast’ had initiated an assault… to her comrade. A cold blast of wind blew into her face with such ferocity, as if signaling Raquel to run away, selfishly leaving her only ally alone, vulnerable to any assault. Her right arm shadowed over her eyes, allowing her to see what was in front of her, if she could make out the figures from the constant obstructions by the falling snow-. A cry rang into her ears; Tessa’s. Several forms of blood splattering were heard, wringing Raquel’s heart. Desperation kicked in; grasping her blade with haste, she dashed aimlessly through the heavy snowfall, initiating a clumsy overhead strike to the bigger being.

“Leave my ally alone!” she wailed, as her eyes were blinded by the white, cold fragments of frozen water. “Leave us alone!”

Even though she was attacking ever so aimlessly, Raquel’s attempts did manage to leave a wound or two onto ‘it’, making it toss the petite woman aside while retreating through the snowstorm. The silver haired woman went on with that stint for the next few moments before she ceased when she lost balance, and hit the ground with an audible thud. Her mind was filled with concern over her only ally- no, her only friend at this time. Without any care of standing up, she crawled her way towards the gasping Tessa, who seemed to be on her last legs before death. The blonde had inflicted heavy damage; the left side of her torso had skin hanging by the sides, leaving much of her wound open. Grey-maroon eyes gazed at Raquel blankly, as if wanting to simply her face before passing on. But the taller lass had other ideas; ripping a portion of her black dress, she bounded the petite woman’s midriff, reducing the amount of bleeding.

With haste, she then got to her feet, while carrying the said lady in her arms. Still determined to escape from the dreaded ‘beast’, Raquel began dashing her way through the labyrinth of naked trees, though without a proper direction. They could not tell whether they were heading back South, or deeper into North. Raquel’s mind wandered. It was obvious; the sudden assault to her torso by that ‘thing’ somehow managed to affect her mind. Her vision was shifting, one moment she would see only bright light, while the next, pitch black darkness. Drool left her mouth, her body gave way. Raquel’s balance went offset as she careened for the downward sloped ground.

However, landing onto such a steep decline, it only caused the duo to slide downwards; looking like dolls, before all the duo could see was just thick fog beneath them. They knew what had occurred…

…They had just gone over the edge of a cliff…

“I… don’t want to die, yet,” muttered Raquel before knocked out unconscious.

… … …

Death; is it simply just shutting one’s eyes forever?
Painless; wait, then why do I cry at the wounds inflicted?
Futile; is it really so easy to give up?
Hopeless; then why I do keep living?

To Be Continued

Outlaw02 Extreme SG

2nd Fall
Risk Taker

Few hours ago…

“Retreat! Everybody who is still alive, retreat!” hollered a woman in her late thirties who was clad in silver armour; possibly one of the leaders. “We lost too much lives! Retrea-.”

Her voice was cut of with a blood-splattering crack as her head came hitting the soft snow with a flimsy thud. Her body remained standing for a while before it caved in, collapsing to the ground, right next to ‘it’. They had managed to defeat two out of three of the ‘beasts’, but with so much lives lost right in their eyes, it was hard to believe that. Screams, wailings of despair rang into the night as crimson stained the innocent white scenery.

Raquel was already backing off after inflicting considerable amount of damage; she had the thought of charging towards ‘it’, but after seeing her leader getting killed at such a whim, she decided against her will. Even if she had the ability to escape, she could not bear leaving the ones alive but severely injured bear the full consequence. Grey eyes spun after hearing an audible wail; she noticed an ally of hers, Tessa, sprawled to the ground with her broadsword impaled into the snow firmly.

With haste while in the midst of all bloodshed, Raquel dashed her way towards Tessa, not noticing ‘it’ sending a hard back hand with its over-sized limb. A sudden thrust caused the silver haired woman lunging forward in mid-air before her face hit the snow first, stunning her for a few moments. That had her vulnerable as another assault in a form of a piercing stab came towards her in an overhead fashion. Raquel knew what would happen if she were not to evade it, but being stunned at the moment, her agility was not fully recovered at that point of time. However, what she had expected was getting stabbed anywhere on her body, but that was not the case this time round-.

“Raquel, move!” another voice other than Tessa’s came through.

Reacting quickly, the said lass kicked herself away from the situation, swiftly towards Tessa’s aid. Grey eyes glanced at the one who had saved her; she wore the same overcoat as them, but had a seemingly simple white cotton shirt and trousers of some kind, revealing a bit of her toned muscled legs while black canvas shoes were what she wore to prevent her legs from being numb by the snow. Her hair was of shoulder length haired blonde with the back sloped just right above her nape and eyes were of brown while her height stood a remarkable 175 centimetres. Raquel knew who she was, considering that she did came from her group as well.

“Jeanette, we got to move out! Looks like we’re the only ones left standing! The rest are just too far for us to rescue them, if they’re still alive,” the silver haired woman replied with a hint of emergency. “This is getting out hand!”

Jeanette did not reply; she was pre-occupied with ‘it’ that seemed determined to kill them. With her Zweihander, which was now blocking the attacks from ‘it’, she then punched the central ridge of the blade, sending a sudden thrust to the torso of the beast. ‘It’ retreated by the jolt before it began to lunge forward towards the armed blonde once again. This time round, Jeanette was ready to do an assault, just enough to prevent ‘it’ from attacking. With her left hand holding the hilt while the right held onto the ricasso, she charged towards ‘it’. Just moments before contact, her right hand changed position; now gripping onto the hilt as well as her right shoulder hit the right side of the cross guard. The thrust made a deep cut, in fact going though the torso of ‘it’, before she pulled it back while tilting it to the right.

“Now! Even if I try to kill it, any of its attack is able to hack us into sizable chunks of meat!” yelled Jeanette, a sign that all three of them should escape while they can.

With one arm over Tessa’s shoulder, Raquel paced her way quickly into the coming snowstorm while Jeanette tailed behind. The sudden flurry of snow managed to form such a natural wall, disabling it from tracing the trio’s footsteps. A howl of anger left its mouth, through the pearl white fangs that often made its opponents shudder with fright. Even though wounded, it was still able to move, and in hunt for the three that managed to escape from it.

Raquel’s vision somehow blurred after sometime, as if something had hit her head. She glanced at Jeanette, who had her brown eyes filled with concern after the silver haired woman was found swaying. Raquel then knew what was the cause; her old wound on her midriff.

“Hey, Raquel, you all right?” asked the blonde, her Zweihander slung to her back.

Grey eyes dimmed a split second later, before drifting off into darkness; then a thud came through.

“Raquel!”

… … …

“Raquel!” a familiar voice came through; Jeanette’s. “Raquel!”

Her eyelids opened, greeted by the sudden brightness of embers from a small fire. She turned away from the lighting, swearing a bit under her breath before getting onto a sitting position. Grey eyes wandered for a moment, trying to figure out where she was before noticing a concerned blonde just right next to her, almost face to face.

“Uh…” went the silver haired woman before retreating a little; it felt uncomfortable for her.

Jeanette paused for a moment, wondering why her ally had reacted so, until she realized how close she was to Raquel, not just face to face, body to body as well. That, too, made the blonde retreat a little, looking away from the other lady. That was when her voice came through.

“Where’s Tessa?” asked Raquel with a tone of panic. “Did I leave her behind?”

Brown eyes rolled, somehow eyeing to the direction where the petite lass was. Lying on a thin layer of leather from her overcoat was the said woman, with her wounds barely dressed, considering the lack of materials they have, and the frosty weather they have to endure. Grey eyes then looked back at Jeanette, somehow eager to ask an important question.

“How are we going to get out from the North? We might be several mountains deep into it. And to rub on that, we really need to get Tessa medical aid.”

“The good thing is, we’re just about a mountain’s distance to the nearest town; Scarla, where guards are around the clock, protecting it from ‘it’. The main problem is, we might be expecting some rough weather in the next few days. Even that ‘thing’ is after us, considering if ‘it’ manages to find our tracks,” the tallest female replied. “There’s very low chance for us to even make it out alive, even for a person very fit like me.”

A burst of frustration kicked in for Raquel as she punched the hard surface of the cave; causing a bruise on her right fist. Her eyes glanced at the cold, stone ground, before looking up towards Jeanette again.

“How are we going to make it, if we can survive from that blasted ‘thing’?”

“That,” the tallest woman implied before pausing. “I cannot answer; it feels all too random to even evaluate on how we can pull through this one.”

“Only one word can explain our situation right now,” another voice intruded; Tessa’s. “Futile.”

Raquel and Jeanette did not utter a word soon after that. They knew, deep in their hearts, they did not want to accept their situation to that; futile. That one word was already enough to lay a heavy burden on them; like a prey constantly on the run, only to be caught in the end. However, the silver haired lay was not going to accept the fact. She wanted to live on after this escape. There was a lot to do for her after this. Grey eyes glanced at brown ones again, repeating the same question.

“How long to Scarla?”

“A mountain’s distance,” Jeanette answered with hesitance. “You’re seriously going to do it, are you?”

Helping the willing Tessa up to her feet while with one shoulder over Raquel, the determined woman replied with a question, “What do you reckon?”

“Have you ever though in that big, wooly head of yours on how crazy you are doing this stint. It’s like gambling for that last thread of your life!” the blonde implied, obviously hinting Raquel not to do so.

“Which do you prefer, seeing both of us live, or seeing Tessa die? It’s your call,”

That question thrown by that grey eyed lass had Jeanette stumped. She knew she would not be able to answer that question; both were equally important. She turned away, obviously unable to answer such a trivial question. Raquel gave her about another minute’s wait before moving out of the cave while showing a bit of disappointment to the said woman.

“If you wish to be foolish, then decide after I leave with Tessa,” the woman with the Katzbalger implied, pacing her way into the thick snowstorm.

Silence ensued in the cave, in fact only a faint whistle from the wind entering it was heard. Jeanette remained in that position before words came out from her mouth…

“You’re the foolish one, Raquel. You knew… that it’ll cost your life doing so.”

… … …

Present

Stinging cold; that was what Raquel noticed when she regained consciousness. She moved her arms; they moved, though the cuts and bruises stung when the falling snow came into contact with them. She got up to a sitting position, before glancing behind of what had probably broken her fall from the cliff. Several branches was spotted lying beneath her, while her leather overcoat did much to the cushioning, though her back did start to hurt when she tried to stand up. It took her a moment or two to realize that she had forgotten one thing; Tessa.

Grey eyes swiveled, searching for the injured comrade of hers. There, in a specific mound of snow where a limb was exposed from it. In panic, she scrambled towards it, and began shoving the snow away with her bare hands. Much of the moisture that condenses on her skin left a stinging effect, but she could no longer care. Tessa’s body was seen; she was barely breathing this time round. Carefully, Raquel pulled the petite lady out, tending to the wounds very much immediately. A cold palm from Tessa touched the cool surface of the silver haired woman’s face, as her mouth voiced out a few words.

“Just leave me here.”

“No!” the taller woman implied. “You’ll get medical attention when we get to Scarla, I’m sure we will make it!”

“I mean it,” Tessa countered. “It’s about time, in fact any time before I sleep, forever; too much blood loss.”

“Don’t you dare say that,” Raquel shot back, though holding back her upcoming grief; she could not accept such a fate for her comrade.

The petite female remained silent as she found herself getting carried on Raquel’s arms. However, this time round, Tessa found it warm as her eyes gazed at the falling snow. Her ears listened to the footsteps Raquel made; each one crushing the snow beneath the soles. Her breaths got lighter each time, until a sudden jolt made by the carrier caused her to take deep one. The silver eyed lady swore in mere slurs. She was sure she heard something from the distance; behind her again. Grey eyes scanned to where she might be able to get away from it; another form of decline was seen.

She knew she might take in more damage, and deepen some of the wounds, but she did not care. With her best feet forwards, she took a leap to it while in attempt to keep herself in a standing position, only to see herself in a sitting, sliding one. That had her panicking; one wrong maneuver, and she would hit the trunk of a naked tree. She did hit one, barely that is. The only mark that she had grazed it was when she let out an audible yelp. A hard crunch from the snow ensued. Raquel had managed to evade from the ‘thing’ that seemed to be lurking from behind, temporarily that is. Not taking any chances, she sprinted away, at least increasing the gap.

However, that was where the said woman had thought. Back up where Raquel had leaped down from, the blonde in a form of Jeanette gazed on as her brown eyes looked at the trails her comrade had made. Not a word left her mouth; there was no word to describe her feelings right now. In fact, she could not tell how she felt this time round. Foolish? Crazy? She did not know. However, all Jeanette knew, at least, tail them from a distance. There would be a certain time where those two comrades of hers needed a form of protection from ‘it’.

As her thought ceased, the blonde paced her way in search of a more proper route downwards, rather than injuring herself meaninglessly by sliding down the slope.

… … …

Determination; a counter-attack from futility,
Foolishness; varies between good and bad,
Risk taker; Raquel was one of them,
Worth it; is it?

To Be Continued