Chapter 17 – the Unquenchable

Carrying their two out-cold friends, the twenty-four rabbitmen hopped through the forest. As they got glimpses of the trees – the fallen twigs, the sounds - everything began making sense. ‘He’d been following us,’ Hopper said.

‘Definitely,’ Chompy replied. ‘At least a day beforehand.’

They were in a rush, for with this much planning, their enemy wouldn’t just go up and leave. Whatever his reason for invading was, they had to head to the camp first and foremost. The travel back had never been like this before – they were sharp and alert, speeding through the bushes and trees without the exhaustion they would usually carry after a day of hard labor.

‘Are we going to warn the frogmen?’ one asked.

‘We don’t know anything yet. We need to get to the camp first, before it’s too late,’ Chompy said. Who could have thought this would be their reason to return? – they were worried, but not about the only man left at the camp. No, they couldn’t worry about him. They had heard many tales of him, tales that don’t fit his demeanor. Their captain was something they couldn’t comprehend – they hadn’t seen the horror he had. The wicked horror of the deadliest battlefield this war had seen to date. After hearing the stories, none of them could blame JD for acting like he does. None of them could blame the Undead Warlord – The lone survivor of the Fall of Akakuni.

‘You’ll pay for your insolence, naïve little boy.’

The shadows paled in comparison to the darkness before Kuno. The face of this monster before him was something out of old folk tales, made to scare children. The eyes pierced his soul, like the lance of a demon. ‘Calm dow-,’ Kuno wanted to say, but why would JD? This is a battle, one he started. JD could slay him here and now. He has all the right to. Not only would he not get judged for it, better yet, he’d probably get rewarded.

He’s a confident man, but many confident men have walked the earth, and lost their lives through mistakes like these. Kuno only now realized that no matter the growth, he wasn’t going to win this battle. This was a bad play. ‘I lost,’ he thought.

‘Witness the wrath of JD, and let your prayer begin.’

‘I call upon you, the Unquenchable Sha’Gult.’

‘Let the unfragmented be my eternal shame – RISE, I ORDER!’

Kuno fell to his knees, his chest shaking from terror. He had expected a demonic creature to arrive, but apparently he already had been with one since the beginning. From thin air, right above JD’s right shoulder, a dark blue and red blotch grew, emitting the harrowing shouts of lost souls begging to be found. From the blotch drifted out a weapon, dripping in a tar like substance one could almost call liquid darkness. JD grabbed the hilt of the weapon, with an artful fury artists would beg to witness – for a whole gallery could fill this very image in front of Kuno.

If only the anger wasn’t directed at him.

He pulled the entirety of the weapon out of the blotch in the air – in a forceful manner, like he hated the weapon just as much as he did Kuno. It was an all black flail. Its hilt was short, making it look like a one handed weapon. But the chained and spiked ball was as big as a basketball, all black, the darkness still dripping off of it. Its spikes were twisted, like a spring, a crimson glow shining through the slits. This was definitely no ordinary weapon – Forged for a reason beyond understanding - a creation with its own tale.

‘P-Please, I’m s-sorry!’ Kuno said. There was no shame in his begging. None would blame him, for none could blame.

‘Don’t waste your breath. I enjoy forcing it out of you.’

He begged not only JD, but too his legs. ‘Move, please move, now! WHY AREN’T YOU MOVING!?’

JD marched through the splintered ground, crushing them to smithereens as he lowered his arm to drop Sha’Gult’s ball behind him. The drop alone shook the ground, its tremor reached far, far enough for the attentive ears of rabbits, and the inattentive ones of frogs alike.

‘How unlucky can I be? What kind of monster did I challenge? God, help me!’ Kuno thought, but with no spell whatsoever, but through pure facial expression alone, JD read his mind and responded:

‘God’s preparing his own punishment for you, fool. What you can do is bring the agony I’ll inflict upon you to him, a humble token of my appreciation.’

They shouted in unison at the sight of their camp, even louder upon seeing it had been burned down. ‘JD! – Captain! – Where are you!?’

They heard no response, which wasn’t odd yet.

‘We found geese! We found many stinking geese. Oh my God, the forest is filled with them!’

Still no response.

‘Alright, he’s definitely not here,’ Hopper said without the slightest shred of doubt in his mind.

‘They say you smell like piss and that your beak is ugly!’ Chompy shouted, with Hopper hitting his arm. ‘Alright, dude, enough.’

Everyone nodded, and whilst searching the camp, called out to Kuno – since they’d founded another ball of shit near JD’s tent.

‘Human boy! Shitman! Hello! Please respond, we’re not going to hurt you!’

Nothing but their own cries.

The ashes were damp, and although dark clouds were on their way, they’d have known if it had rained. The moist ground carried the deep imprints of JD’s shoes, but they faded at the edge of the camp.

‘They must’ve both been here and then relocated,’ Hopper said. ‘The burns have only been superficial…’ This was a good sign – since it meant they were taking it easy, hopefully giving them enough time to catch up before it got too late.

But the drop of Sha’Gult echoed through the rabbitmen’s skulls like the gong of the end. It was easy to recognize this might, the most they’d ever witnessed and wished to never see again. Their dirty fur spiked as the chill caused by unwanted memories stiffened their bodies.

‘S-Sha’Gult…’ Chompy whispered, with Hopper being the first to move, shouting: ‘GO! GO, NOW! HURRY!’

Sha’Gult had laid in the dirt enough. Her lips would finally drink from the elixir of life. Effortlessly, he raised his arm as he began swinging the flail, creating a whirlwind that made the trees dance for the death sentenced soul of Kuno.

He had never felt this sensation before. He could barely comprehend it, having teleported to a different realm, given the ability to take big shits, and now about to be murdered by a guy that looks like a duck.

When JD got within six feet, Kuno finally managed to move his body. He sprinted to the left; it didn’t matter where he went, he just had to run-run-run. ‘Oh-God-God-God – please, please, help me!’ he could barely control his breathing, his chest just did whatever it wanted. The air felt cold as the dark clouds cast a shadow over his glistening body.

JD slowly followed him, no sprint in his step whatsoever. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Die as the coward you are.’ His eyes were perfectly fixed on him. Even through the bushes and leaves, he still saw his target, yet let him create some distance, for it didn’t matter if he was a single –or a hundred feet away from him.

And Kuno felt every part of it. Physically, he got further and further away – but the feeling didn’t leave him. It felt like JD was breathing right onto his neck – as if he could feel his wet beak scrape his skin. He would usually try to make a joke out of it, but this just wasn’t funny in any way.

In the midst of his distress, he finally figured out he could use his Dart Fart to create more distance. ‘D-Dart F-Fart!’ he said, launching in the air, but as his body rose, reaching its peak, so would JD.

‘Bold of you to pick the sky. You think you can conqueror what’s ours? We’d allowed you to visit our church, but you didn’t stray from your hedonistic ways. Your kind has befouled our domain for long enough. Now you must answer to me.’

JD whispered: ‘Freebird.’ What had long been lost to most of his brethren returned to him for this moment - That which might not make the bird, but grants grace only few could match - From his back emerged two wings befitting an angel, but only in shape. For the colors were the deepest of crimson – the color JD despised seeing – blood red.

‘Bow down to the patron saint.’

Now, he really was behind him, covering the entire distance in a split second. Kuno turned around mid-air, looking the beast in the eye – a mere two feet away from him. His heart skipped a beat. Nothing like the roaring Sha’Gult, still spinning beside JD. Which rotation had his name on it?

JD lifted his arm. Kuno knew there was no way he could dodge it – to Kuno, JD might as well have teleported. Instinctively, he placed both his upper arms in front of his chest, on top of those his forearms, on top of those his thighs, and finally his knees – going into a turtle position facing JD.

The final lesson he’d learn - was how outmatched he truly was.

‘Die.’

JD swung, striking Kuno with Sha’Gult.

First, his knees, shattered to the finest dust, no resistance whatsoever – gone.

Second, his thighs, fragmented, shoved to the side by the sheer force of impact alone.

His forearms, the most fragile of the four, pulverized. Bone, muscle, nerves, all bid their farewell.

His upper arms were casted to the side the moment Sha’Gult made impact with his chest.

His ribcage blasted open, shards of his ribs scattered around, his left lung got punctured as the air quickly deflated, his other spared.

Sha’Gult would continue, and did, but the fact that Kuno was in the air, caused him to launch to the ground, away from the Unquenchable weapon of the Undead Warlord.

He landed on his back, seeing his own feet floating around JD, the blood finally spurting out. His spine broke upon impact, he couldn’t feel his legs anymore – not that he had yet, it was still too early for that. He bounced up once, upon which JD landed, shaking the ground once more.

When he came down, all his appendages, together with his chest, gave a wet splash, quickly creating a pool of blood around him. His mind went hazy. He would soon die, and in his final moment, begged for it too.

‘The weak can’t escape me so easily,’ JD said.

‘Mind Lock + Sear.’

The haze faded, and the pain began, as the burst blood vessels seared shut with an intense heat. Kuno felt everything, but couldn’t shout. ‘Air… Air…’ he thought, trying to get a breath through his one exposed lung.

The rain had begun, falling on his freezing body, like the world was spitting on this broken and defeated boy.

‘Pitiful creature. One more will suffice my wrath. Feast, Sha’Gult.’

He spun Sha’Gult, ready to strike Kuno’s skull and finish him.

‘Hurry,’ Kuno thought. ‘Make it end, please. I’ve played enough – It’s time to go to sleep.’