Chapter 11

Despair

"Let me pass, Garo!" Arthur declared. His chin raised proudly, his jade orbs burned with grit.

Garo didn't move, however. Instead, the gemstone inside his helm began to glow faintly. He was about to step aside out of the door when Duliri flew between him and Arthur.

"Garo, this is Lady Allegia's will, you have to guard the door," Duliri uttered, his voice was loud and hard. The topaz atop him transformed to ruby. "Don't let the young master enter!"

"Let me pass, Garo!" Arthur repeated, his stares piercing through Duliri. Perhaps, if there's one thing that Arthur realized in the past year was that though the Goth Armors have no sentience, he could bend their will into his own if he willed it so strongly. Several more stares and Garo stepped out.

With a sigh, Duliri steeled himself and tackled Arthur with all his might before Arthur could advance to the door. "Stop being a spoiled brat!" Anger was evident on his voice though he almost softened seeing Arthur lying flat on his back. "The girl is most dangerous right now! Stay in your room!"

He stood up, glaring at Duliri. "How could I? She's banging her head against the w–"

A sudden silence enveloped the house as the banging noise stopped. Duliri backed away from the door. Arthur's senses sharpened. Low footsteps, barely audible, filled the quiet. The interval remained slow, making his heart pound against his chest. Even with the walls separating the girl, he could still feel a foreboding danger.

Bang!

Arthur stepped back, a loud thud knocking on the door. He felt the enormous killing intent from the other side as though a deadly miasma leaking over. Touch it and he'd die.

Silence wrapped the house again and it was more terrifying than before. A few more erratic breaths and a loud horrendous shriek resonated, followed by constant headbanging.

Duliri glided over to Arthur, leaning in the air diagonally. He readied to fight for him if the girl ever got out. He highly doubted it though, thinking that Katarina wouldn't leave them in a dangerous situation.

"What's happening?" Arthur muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The girl is hungry," Duliri replied. "She wanted to feast on you."

"What?" Arthur grimaced, his face couldn't be painted.

"She's a demonic vampire, Arthur. She needs blood to survive. And if you open that door…" he paused, voicing out a sigh. "She'll kill you almost instantly and go on a rampage in the forest for more food."

"Is she…" Arthur hesitated. "Is she really that dangerous?"

"Yes, right now, she's more than we can handle. After the fight this morning, she dried up almost all her mana. She'll be acting like that – like a mad monster – until Lady Allegia comes back with food that can satisfy her thirst."

Arthur despaired at his words, his gaze falling to the floor. "Isn't there anything we can do to help? She's hurting herself." The loud banging on the door almost silenced his already low voice. His mouth dried from the feeling of powerlessness.

"There is only one thing, Arthur." Duliri nudged him, trying to lift his mood. "Please, stay in your room. Maybe you can continue reading to distract yourself until her ladyship returns."

Please? Such a funny word. Arthur would laugh sardonically if not for the feeling of helplessness that halted his every word and action. All this time, Katarina had done everything to protect him – even taking the lives of the innocents.

Arthur let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Then he smiled warmly at Duliri. "Thanks, buddy," he said as tears fell from his eyes.

Amid the despair for being weak, Arthur found something important. Perhaps, he had been acting too spoiled to realize. He wasn't being protected because he was weak, but because he was loved. Arthur wiped the tears and beamed again, nodding at Duliri.

Blood flowed ever so weakly in his mouth when he bit his lower lip. He sucked a mouthful breath and steeled himself as he tasted its salty metallic flavor. With semi-closed eyes, he turned away from where the sound came from and began to tread back to his room. Yes, Arthur, you are loved. So care for your life a little; if not for yourself, but at least for those who love you.

Arthur was fumbling over such things when the door flew behind him. It released a massive air pressure, so strong that it felled Arthur on the ground, a few meters away from where he stood. He rolled over.

Arthur gasped, his mouth agape. His eyes widened as they met the monster's orbs, dyed in crimson – dyed in her own blood. Arthur could only tremble at her stares. She wasn't the kind of monster who had multiple limbs or rotting skin but a nameless blasphemy of child. The blood trickled, from her forehead to her cheeks before falling to the floor. Even from a distance, he felt that he could hear the dripping sound.

The girl took a step, her saliva falling from her open mouth. Her head twitched slowly, continually. Duliri hovered obliquely in front of the girl as though threatening her not to take another step. But the girl ignored him, her stare never left Arthur, not even for a second. He gulped, sliding his bottom against the floor. His elbow moved on its own to get him out of her sight.

Arthur never blinked since the first time he saw the girl. Once he did, the girl jumped, only to be stopped by the Armors. A loud screech resonated from her lips as her whole body faintly glowed. Much to his surprise, she began to grow and he could hear her muscles twitching.

"Shit!" Duliri hissed as he glided towards Arthur the fastest he could ever be. "Arthur, run!" Before Arthur could stand, Duliri dropped his whole body and slid beneath him. He soared once more as Arthur grabbed the pole in reflex. The girl who had grown into a sixteen-year-old caught the tip, however.

Duliri shook his body. "Arthur, hold on tight," he cried out, evidently disturbed. Arthur tightened his grip and within the next second, Garo raised his left hand and clutched Duliri's lower end with all his might. It broke, followed by a moment of silence. Duliri didn't waste a moment. He flew higher and dashed towards the window. Yet for people who's life was endangered, time seemed to pass more slowly.

"What's happening?" Arthur asked, his breaths becoming erratic. The girl, or now the lass, had turned the armors into small chunks. Her shoulder-length hair now stood firmly atop her head, looking like sharp spikes.

"The girl used her life force to regain some mana!" Duliri clicked his nonexistent tongue. "To think that the kingdom would teach such forbidden art. What a deplorable king!"

"You mean she aged because she turned her time into mana?"

"Exactly!" Duliri said in a pained voice. "But shush for now, Arthur, she's gaining on us."

Finally, Duliri got out of the window and flew higher than the highest trees. He wanted to search for Katarina but inside the forest isn't any safer. Shit, what to do now?