"Let's play hero, big brother!"
A streak of shadow burst forth at Allendis. It was faster than anything Chelsea had seen. She felt that Allendis carried her by her waist as he dodged the attack. She focused Chaos into her knife, letting it seep through the blade as if real veins popped out. After that, she threw it as hard as she could at the boy.
But it was quickly deflected by the shadows. She heard Allendis click his tongue and then put her down as he stood right in front of her.
"Provide me some cover. Keep him moving with your throwing knives." He said as he took out a bottle from his bag. He opened the vial and poured it into his sword, letting it seep through the sharp blades.
Allendis said nothing as he charged right at the boy–no, a creature that mimicked a boy. Allendis parried some of the incoming blades formed by shadows.
"This is fun, big brother! You really know how to play!" The boy squealed but the hundreds of voices accompanied by his every word felt eerie to her.
Allendis dodged the strikes as he got closer. Inch by inch he was nearing the boy. The more he got close though, the more injuries he sustained. He barely avoided some.
But Allendis was fast. So she did her part. She charged some of her knives and tried to aim it at the shadow's vitals, if it even had one. Head. It passed through. Neck. It phased into a puff of smoke. The Heart, where he deflected it with a small shadow that formed on his left shoulder.
Chelsea noticed it and she knew Allendis noticed it as well. He dashed forward with a rhythm. Each strike from the shadow, he weaved out to the side. Allendis didn't prepare his sword. It was as if it was just there for decoration.
She saw how fluid Allendis moved. Everytime it seemed like Allendis was about to be hit, she threw one knife at the attack, deflecting it.
Despite it, there were smaller shadows that still hit Allendis, but powered through it all before managing to close the gap completely.
His sword quickly pierced through the chest and into its supposed heart but not before the shadow forming teeth made out darkness.
Allendis made sure he stuck the sword into its chest as the teeth tried to bite off the sword.
The sword burst into flames. Wild uncontrollable flames that couldn't have been anything but Chaos itself.
"AAAAAAARGH! Big brother it hurts!" The voice mangled and mixed with different voices screamed in agony. It tried to form into something small despite flailing wildly with the flames.
Chelsea couldn't help but feel bad. There was a sound of a boy's cry beneath the voices. To her, all she could hear was the cries of the boy at that moment.
She stood up and ran towards Allendis to get a better aim. She had another knife on hand filled with Chaos as she Engraved it enough for it to stick to her blade.
Child or monster. She has to help Allendis. So she threw her knife to the escaping monsters.
"Allendis! Get clear!" She yelled.
Without hesitation, he let go of his sword and jumped away as far as he could. The moment the knife got into contact, it exploded. It ripped through the body of the shadow until it slowly 'melted' to the ground.
"Big brother…"
It was the last thing it uttered before Allendis's sword dropped with a loud clang.
Chelsea didn't expect to get attacked so soon and for it to end so soon. She didn't know if she should feel afraid or relieved. She saw Allendis was on his knee. His breath was much heavier than before, he moved his hand on his chest as if to check if it was still beating.
"Allendis?" She called out and knelt down to him. "Are you alright?"
He was silent but he was alive.
"Yeah. I just needed a minute…"
So she did. Allendis jumped down to try and save her from the Hallow Ground. She too needed to be with him at this moment.
"Take your time."
As soon as she said that, Allendis stood up firmly on his feet. He walked over to where his sword was and picked up from the ground. He flipped his sword on both flat sides, examining if it was still usable. After a few moments, he sheathed his blade into the scabbard on his left waist.
"We should move forward. I know I said that we should wait, but the longer we stay in one place, the more likely we get ambushed again."
"But…" Chelsea tried to say something. Her thoughts went to Halbin and the others. They might encounter similar threats and in that scenario, they should stay together.
"Why can't we just wait?"
Allendis didn't answer immediately, instead, he looked around their surroundings. The ground that looked different from a moment ago. Chelsea's eyes widened as they were not standing on a grassy dark field anymore but a stone that seemed to be reminiscent of a city road.
There were buildings that stood taller than even some towers. She could not make out what they were but it was similar to the boy. It was made out of darkness.
It reminded her of Rathlin.
"I don't think they'll end up in the same spot we entered. This might be a stretch but I think that this place constantly shifts based on his final moments. Like an amalgamation of his most powerful memories combined into one hell hole made to keep everything from leaving." Allendis said as he tapped the floor twice with his foot.
Allendis looked over in the distance. He walked over to the nearby building made from shadow and placed his hand over it. His hand touched it but it looked like he was being consumed by it.
"Let's keep moving and keep an out on the surfaces."
Chelsea nodded. "Alright." She felt the smooth brick road with each step.
But that does not stop her from feeling completely unsafe from being constantly watched in the darkness.