‘Til the End
Vex stood on a village outskirts, numb as she watched the scene unfold. A converging formation of undead soldiers jerked this way and that, their red and black colors blurring. Wre-err, Wre-err, their elbows drawing up as if by unseen strings. The dance was exaggerated. Mocking, even. And she thought she could hear the beginnings of a song drifting into her thoughts.
Thump. She bumped her forehead with her palm as she squeezed her eyes shut, blond hair framing her face, the back shorn up and away from her neck. A weapon was gripped loosely in her opposite hand, the glaive’s head settling to rest on the ground. She hadn’t been able to trust her eyes for a long while and now her ears were joining in on the gag.
The soldiers halted a short distance away, one of them speaking up. “Rap—”
Vex lunged, her teeth bared, reality forgotten. The space between them evaporated, her glaive retracting and coming forward again in a horizontal slash.
Thwak! The first row was laid low. “Don’t call me that!” she bellowed as she continued through the formation. Crash! Wham! Pow! No one was dancing now, her staff jabbing, the blade thrusting, and both coming around in frenetic arcs.
Vex stood, a single tree above a felled forest. A gentle slope descended away from her, its opposite end occupied by several encroaching formations. She shook her head. Mioko, you big dummy, you still never told me what friends were. Vex brushed her cheek with her wrist. Whether it was tears or blood, she couldn’t know, though she doubted it was the latter.
Fhew! Fhew! Fhew-fhew-fhew!
Vex ducked, the arrows whizzing all around her. She grabbed a severed torso, raised it and ducked behind, the desiccated head settling forward to rest on her shoulder as she buried hers in its chest.
When she could stand again, the soldiers were close. She didn’t know their number, but she reckoned it might be enough to end all of this. She tapped her foot. “Blossom on the tree,” she whispered. “You know how I feel.”
Zoom!
Vex ducked as something passed overhead, a ball of fire, from behind.
Boom!
A central formation vanished amongst twisting gouts of flames, the others following closely behind as waves of fire crashed in various directions.
The glaive rolled from her fingertips. She settled to her knees, her grasp closing to clench the fabric over her chest. Is this real?
Vex flinched, a hand settling onto her shoulder. She looked to see a blurry figure wearing red—Mioko. “Why, Mioko?” she asked, her words unsteady. “Why do you do it?”
“Did you ever figure out what friend meant?”
“No. You won’t tell me.”
“That’s right. And I won’t let anything happen to you until you figure it out for yourself.” She extended a hand. “Come on. Let’s head back.”
Vex hesitated, then reached and allowed herself to be pulled up.
Redit Writing Constraints:
Theme: Glitch
WC: 488/500
Onomatopoeias: 9
Word of the day: frenetic
