The soldier stepped out into the sunlight. His red, glowing eyes were locked on mine. I took a half step backward. The soldier hefted his sword in his hand and threw it at me. It flew at me so fast I didn't think I was going to dodge it. I spun to my left just in time to miss being skewered by the weapon. It grazed my arm as it narrowly missed me, though. Pain radiated throughout my arm as a thin trickle of green blood ran down my arm and dripped onto the asphalt beneath me. It sizzled as it ate a small hole in the ground.
"Oh wow, you have acid blood, lucky."
I shot a confused look at Nix. Was she seriously fan-girling over my blood being green acid? If I survived this fight, I was determined to get her some therapy. Someone had failed her. I returned my gaze to the soldier that was slowly approaching me with his shield raised. He looked kinda ridiculous without the sword. That gave me an idea. I turned around and ran over to where his sword had embedded itself in a stone wall behind me. I had to use both hands and put my right foot against the wall to wedge the sword free. When I finally pulled it out, I nearly dropped it. It weighed a ton. How the hell had he tossed it so easily? I raised it in front of my face, intending to use it as my weapon. Truthfully, I was having a hard time just keeping my arms from shaking.
The soldier stopped moving forward when I held up the heavy weapon. I thought maybe it was afraid of me until it raised its right hand. A blue bolt of lightning struck its outstretched hand and replaced its weapon. Now, instead of the sword, it carried a long spear. The iron point on the spear looked even sharper than the sword, somehow.
"Oh, what the hell?"
I dropped the useless weapon in my hand as I yelled in exasperation.
"How come only one of us gets weapons?"
I yelled at the sky. I wasn't expecting an answer, but I got one.
"Hey Troy, look at your hands."
I followed Nix's instructions and looked down at my hands. There was a green mist drifting out of my hands. I held them up and studied them. My vision began to blur as the mist wafted past my nose. I put my hands down before I killed myself. What the hell was this stuff? Nix would probably know.
"What is this?"
I reached my left hand out toward her a little too quickly, and a stream of green fluid spewed out of my palm. Nix reacted quickly and flew out of the way before the fluid painted the wall. The stone melted away like hot butter under the corrosive liquid.
"Kill him, not me."
Nix pointed at the approaching soldier. He tilted his head and stared at me for a few seconds before taking off into a full sprint. He waved the spear in an arc above his head. To my surprise, the point of the spear came off, and a chain attached it to the shaft. He swung the spear toward me and the point raced straight at my face. I panicked and cowered, dropping to the ground.
Whoosh!
The chain screeched over my head with metallic deadliness. I looked up just in time to eat a knee directly in the mouth.
My vision swam as I rolled onto my back, clutching at my face as pain exploded throughout it.
"Move!"
I heard Nix's voice and rolled hard to my left.
Ping!
The metal point bounced off the ground where my face had just been. I needed to get away. This thing was going to kill me.
Or I could kill it.
The thought occurred to me in a voice that had a serpentine hiss to it. A fire started burning in my belly. It grew stronger with each word.
I could get up and kill this thing in a way that was so horrific those assholes that sent this thing will never come after me again.
That sounded great to me. To be the one giving pain to someone else, that sounded perfect. The burning became all-consuming. Instead of pain, it gave me desire. A desire to watch this soldier suffer. I opened my eyes and saw the point racing straight down toward my face.
I thrusted my left arm up toward it. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I knew it would work. A gust of wind shot out of my hand and knocked the point backward. It swung back and slammed into the soldier's metal shield before clattering to the ground at his feet. I stood up as it retracted the chain.
"Uh oh, I think Stormboy finally grew a pair."
Nix laughed at her own joke as I sized up the soldier.
Acid would be great. I wonder if that thing will scream as it melts.
That kind of thought would normally have bothered me. But it didn't bother me. It felt like a part of me had awakened and I liked it.
Only one way to find out.
After that thought I thrusted my right hand forward. Somehow, I knew the acid spray would happen. The stream of thick green liquid was aimed at the soldier's armored head. It waited until the very last second and raised the massive shield to guard itself. The acid splattered all over the shield and, within seconds, started burning small holes in the bronze. The soldier looked at the ruined shield and grunted before tossing it to the ground. It grabbed the spear with both hands and pointed it at me.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure whoever sent you will give you another one when I send you back to them."
I felt so powerful and confident. The burn inside me was turning me into a different person. A person who didn't get bullied by punk ass Eddie. I thrusted my arm forward again. This time, I aimed at his armored chest. The soldier leapt into the air with the agility of feline and extended his spear. The point rocketed at me with deadly precision. I flinched and raised my left hand to block my face.
Whoosh!
The gust of wind caught me and the soldier off guard. It forced me to stumble a step backward. The soldier got the worst of it by far. It knocked him out of the air. He landed flat on his back. The point clanged off his metal helmet before sliding to the ground beside his head.
"Quick, finish it off!"
I looked over at Nix, distracted by her screaming. That was all the time the soldier needed to get back to its feet. It raced at me, screaming. I saw my chance to poison it and took it. I tried to let out a burp, hoping to get some poisonous gas. Instead, a thick glob of green goo shot out of my mouth. It was so accurate there was no way it wasn't going to splat all over the soldier's face. Then, with a speed that humans didn't possess, it avoided the attack. It ducked its head and shoulders, causing the goo to pass just over its left shoulder. Less than a second later, it slammed into me. I was knocked off my feet when its shoulder hit me directly in the abdomen. I fell onto my back, staring up at the sky. The soldier stepped over me with its spear pointed down at my face.
"Really Stormboy, I was starting to enjoy this, too."
Nix's voice irritated me. Apparently, she wasn't even going to let me die in peace. The soldier thrusted the spear downward. It slammed into the wall of wind and stopped moving. The soldier didn't accept that and thrusting the spear downward over and over again. Each time, it met the same fate. I wasn't sure how long this wind would last and I didn't plan on finding out. I spit at his face. The same goo came out of my mouth, but it wasn't a big glob this time. It splashed on the soldier's face just below his right eye. I heard his skin sizzling before I even smelled the burning flesh. The smell put a smirk on my face. It was wrong. I should've felt bad knowing I was causing immense pain and suffering, but I didn't. I wanted to inflict more.
The soldier stumbled away from me, clutching at its face and screaming. I quickly got back to my feet and picked up the heavy spear. The soldier had its back turned toward me. I held the spear as steady as I could and waited for the soldier to turn and face me again. The second it did, I thrusted the spear at its chest, leading with my left hand. I concentrated hard on the wind power, and it worked. A gust of wind propelled the spear forward, completely impaling the soldier and embedding it in the ground behind him. The soldier fell backward but stopped because the spear held it upright.
I'm gonna melt this fucker.
I didn't even dwell on the thought before thrusting my right arm forward and coating the soldier in acid from the top of its helmet to the bottoms of its feet. It melted into a puddle and disintegrated along with its spear as I watched and smiled. Whatever had awakened inside of me was definitely more monster than human.