Darkness Girl: Trickster God

Chapter Seventy-Three: God Slayer

Regan watched Kessler fall with dead eyes. Her sword slipped out of wooden fingers and hit the ground with a loud clatter. A moment later, she sank to her knees next to it. Her body was starting to extract its price for the abuse she'd put it through. 

The other side of the car park was buried in smoke, but over the roar of the fire she could hear screams -- piercing shrieks that sounded like a horse being flayed alive. 

She was still gripping Kessler's severed arm. The pieces of rotting flesh stitched into it squirmed beneath her fingers like dying maggots. She pushed a finger into one of them, and for a moment the shrieks sounded like they would drill a hole in her head. 

Regan plunged her fingers into one of the wounds and pulled at the foul lump of flesh inside. The thick twine holding it went taut for a second before it snapped, and the chunk of meat tore away with a wet sucking noise. The smell was putrid. The syrupy, wet smell of decaying flesh and infected wounds. 

She threw the sodden mass away and went for the next one. The screaming from the other side of the car park was like a nail being driven into her temple. 

She ripped the pieces of meat out of Kessler's arm one by one until they were all empty gashes ringed with broken twine. As each piece was torn away, the sound of screams lessened. The smell filled her nose and coated her mouth. She tried not to gag. As the final piece came free, the screams died completely. 

Regan dragged her sword towards her and pushed herself to her feet. Her mouth tasted salty. 

She looked at Kessler's arm, lying on the concrete. It was a dead thing now. The pale, bloodless flesh around the opened wounds made it look as if it had been dug out of the ground. She kicked the sword out of its limp fingers and watched it spin away. 

Regan took a breath and walked forward. Her legs felt like they were barely under her control. She gripped her sword as if it was the only thing anchoring her to the world. The handle was wet with blood, but she wasn't sure whose. 

Kessler lay on her back. She still had her hand clamped against the mass of torn flesh where her arm had been. Her white hair fanned out around her head like she was under water. As Regan came closer, she tried to rise, but a gout of blood pulsed through her fingers. She fell back and shuddered. Her eyes followed Regan from the ground. Her gaze was still alive and fierce.  

Regan wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She couldn't feel pain any more. She knew that was a bad sign, but she didn't care. She knelt down next to her former teacher. A pool of blood was expanding under her. It ran towards Regan's knees along the cracks in the concrete. Her own blood was already starting to drip from her fingertips and form its own small puddle on the ground. 

Kessler coughed. 'In the end we kill each other. How disgustingly pointless.' 

'I'm sure your death will usher in a bright new future where the sun always shines and happiness reigns.' 

Kessler shook her head. 'What was the point in revenge then? The infiltrators must be making themselves sick laughing at us.' 

'Not for long.' 

Kessler started to make a wheezing, choking sound. It took Regan a moment to realise she was laughing. 'Tonight wasn't a defeat for her, not by a long shot. But you've successfully put your protector friends on her radar.' 

'You mean Seline? How much does she know?' 

'It doesn't matter. Both of us will be dead before morning.' 

'It matters to me.' 

Kessler's mouth twisted like she'd tasted drain cleaner. 'Because of the healing power of friendship?'  

Regan slid her hand into the ragged mess of flesh where Kessler's arm had been. Kessler tried to fend her off with her free had, but Regan pushed it away like she was swatting a bird. She grabbed a handful of torn sinews and blood vessels and pulled. 

Kessler's screams were like tearing sheet metal. 

Regan twisted the slippery mass in her hand until she started to feel it ripping away. 'I don't enjoy talking to you, Kessler. You can go out hard or you can go quietly. I don't care one way or the other.' 

Regan let go and wiped her hand on Kessler's shirt. Kessler gasped for air. Her forehead was slick with sweat. 

'You're a vicious little monster. I should have put a blade through your chest instead of taking you in.' 

'Probably.' 

Kessler bit her bottom lip as if she was trying not to throw up. 'I don't know, but anything she doesn't know she'll find out soon.' 

'That's not good enough.' 

Kessler let out a long breath and looked at the sky. 'Too bad.' 

'Where can I find her?' 

Kessler didn't answer. 

Regan shook her, but Kessler didn't respond. She looked down at the puddle of blood that had reached her stockings and soaked the hem of her skirt. Kessler's dead eyes continued to look up at the sky, as if she was trying to out-stare the universe. 

Regan didn't take her eyes off Kessler as she stood up. She cleaned her sword on her skirt, and sheathed it. 

Kessler's body was suddenly alien and unfamiliar. It was just a collection of parts now, disconnected from their purpose like any other abandoned object. Looking at it, she knew she'd killed her, but she wasn't sure what she felt or why she'd done it any more. 

The smoke filled her lungs. She was drowning in it. She could see shapes moving around in the smog. Voices drifted towards her. They were calling her name. 

'I'm here.' 

Her voice came out as a mumble. She tried again, but her voice didn't seem to be under her control. 

'I'm here. Find me.' 

As she looked up, her feet left the ground, and she was drifting in the cold depths of the ocean again. She was falling backwards, but the ground didn't seem to be anywhere. A hand gripped her shoulder, and she had a brief glimpse of Sarafina's face, before the darkness reached up and took her. 

'I'm sorry.'