Angel Dust - Terry Kuder III (best classic books txt) 📗

be able to do that to? Her anger rose as she thought about the possibilities that such an organization, ran by the menacing being before her, would do to her sweet innocent Azalia. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t.
“You understand now, don’t you?” Ezebra widened his grin. “That’s right. She will be ours and if you make a motion from that stance, you will surely die without a chance to even attempt to help her. Of course, I guess if you did move, then this moment would be your chance.” He laughed.
Lily tensed up and it seemed that the water particles sharpened a bit more. She would surely die here. She was no match for him. Her powers were already weak and there wasn’t enough water there to finish the job. The needles pointed in Ezebra’s direction, to which he raised his sword. It was now or never.
Two of the needles shot towards Ezebra which he deflected with ease. They bounced off his sword and stuck into a tree to the left of him. After a couple of seconds, they seemed to melt, running along the tree like sap. Lily sprinted at Ezebra, water splashing behind her footsteps as she raised her water sword up. It hit Ezebra’s sword, water exploding from the collision instead of sparks. She shifted her weight, flinging herself around in the air. It almost looked like her left arm holding the sword was going to break. As she came around, she flung another needle towards him. His movements were too fast for me to focus on. Before I knew it, he separated his sword from hers and the needle bounced off its silver surface again. Lily landed, but didn’t allow her feet to rest, launching herself again. She flung her arm forward over and over again. With each clash of their swords, Lily was pushed back and without landing, she would push herself forward again. The spectacle looked as if she was floating, thrashing her sword through the air.
Ezebra smiled the whole time, baring his teeth at her, mocking her incompetency to defeat him. With each thrust, Lily exhaled more and more, running out of breath. I focused everything I could on the battle before me to the point where my eyes were drying up. I blinked to wet them. When I opened them, Lily had fallen, holding her left arm. What had happened? It wasn’t possible for someone to move that fast, was it? Red trickled down her arm and she winced in pain. She stood up waving two fingers over her arm and whispering something. One of the remaining needles glided to her arm, gelatinized, and seeped through her wound. The gash closed up a little as the water was used as a glue. There was still a tiny scratch, but the blood stopped running.
“That’s a nice little trick there.” Ezebra stood there watching. “I can’t wait to teach it to her.”
“You won’t lay a fucking hand on her!” Lily screamed, once again running towards Ezebra. Their swords reverberated through the air with a semi splashing and metal clanging noise. The sun had finally set and it was difficult to watch the scene before me. Yet every time their weapons hit each other, a light that wasn’t quite a spark, lit up the area. It then became a stop motion animation, with each collision showing a different scene between the two combatants. I could hear the grunts, sighs, and groans of both enemies, Lily’s being more shallow than her nemesis. After five minutes of quick glimpses, a white flare lit up the entire forest. Ezebra had formed a ball of light in his palm. He held his sword with one hand blocking one of Lily’s attacks. They pushed towards each other to see who would tire out first. Ezebra’s wicked smiled deepened as the shadows played off his face. He was toying with her. He could have ended this brawl before it had begun.
Lily let go of her sword with one hand. Ezebra watched as a smile etched across her face. He looked down at her hand as she quickly flicked two of her fingers up. His face went pale and his smile disintegrated as he realized what she was up to. He tilted his head to the right, but was too late as the last water needle flew up. It barely missed his jaw, cutting a deep gash into his left cheek. Blood flowed out and didn’t look as if it was going to stop anytime soon. Lily took his surprise to her advantage and began wailing on him. His reflexes had slowed down a bit as he struggled to block her maneuvers. She slashed through his right arm and along his left side before she collapsed. She dug her weapon in the ground and used it to hold herself up. She panted vigorously, trying desperately to catch her breath.
Ezebra walked over to her, holding his side. Blood had covered his entire left cheek, the left side of his neck, and now his right hand that was holding his side. Although he was a mess, his victory was close at hand. I had hope against all reason that what was about to happen wasn’t going to. I prayed for it not to. Ezebra threw the illuminated orb into the air where it stayed. Lily looked up to his menacing face as his lips curled as far as they could go. It was the smile of the devil himself. He sheathed his sword and took his bloody hand away from his side. Grabbing her throat, he painted it a crimson red. He lifted her up in the air. Her breathing became a wheezing as he closed off her airway. She was too tired to even struggle as her feet left the ground. Her sword melted away, turning back into water and falling to the dirt in a puddle.
“I should have done this a long time ago.” He said, his tone lower than before. He wasn’t playing nice anymore. Light began to emerge from Lily’s openings: her eyes, mouth, nostrils, and even through her ears. She started to expand, getting bigger and bigger. Ezebra was transferring his energy into her body, filling her up with too much. She was going to explode if he kept going. The light continued to poor out of her, making her look like an x-ray. Having nothing to hold onto, I could see her intestines slump to the bottom of her stomach as it bulged out. I could see her heart beat furiously and her lungs were as flat as they could be. They were shaded, but I could tell what was happening. I couldn’t see her eyes due to light slicing through them, piercing the sky like spotlights searching for something. The hum of his particles being passed through her increased in sound. It was almost deafening. Her stomach was almost at its capacity. I covered my ears and shut my eyes, not being able to withstand seeing or hearing the gruesome scene before me. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this was how Lily died.

9

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From the left side of the screen I heard a whistling sound. Before I could blink, an arrow soared through, digging through his forearm, and shooting all the way through the other side. It hit a tree to the side of him with a thunk. Ezebra twitched in pain, releasing Lily instantly. The spearhead was flat, which allowed for easy slicing. Light exploded from the hole in Ezebra's arm from where he was transferring his energy to her. Lily's limp body landed on the ground, deflating instantly and coughing up a strange green film. She slowly came to her knees and it seemed as if she was skinnier than before. She looked over with a surprised look. There stood Dan drawing another arrow.
I couldn't believe it myself. My heart actually began to beat faster. It was like watching a movie and here was a twist. It was really unexpected. Yet, I had to wonder what could Dan do against Ezebra. Dan didn't have any powers. He wasn't gifted in anything except for amazing accuracy with a bow from what I could tell. But that was something that only practice could strengthen. Dan had to know that he was dead before his battle with Ezebra had even begun.
Ezebra looked over at Dan, fury washing over his face. "What the fuck is the matter with you?!" Ezebra screamed out. "Do you have any idea what you just did?!" Ezebra's face had slackened. His eyes looked hollowed out and underneath them he had sacks as if he hadn't been asleep in days. From what I could guess all of the energy that he had been putting into Lily had come from him, not some outside source. As a result, it weakened him.
Dan answered with another arrow. He released his hand and the arrow zoomed through the air with a velocity that seemed unnatural. A whirlwind followed it whistling and twisting through the air. The arrow pierced through Ezebra's wielding hand. He dropped his sword and grabbed his hand in agony. Dan was already prepared as he released another arrow. Ezebra dodged it. Dan began running towards Ezebra, shooting one arrow after another. Soon enough, Ezebra and Dan were running in circles through the woods, Dan attacking and Ezebra dodging. With each missed arrow, it would hit the trees behind Ezebra with a thunk. Dan was firing them so fast that it almost sounded like a woodpecker was with them. It also appeared that Dan's supply wasn't depleting until I noticed him run by one of the trees with an arrow in it. As he flew past it, the arrow disappeared and soon enough, Dan was drawing his bow within milliseconds. Dan was hitting the trees on purpose. Even his missed shots were perfectly planned. I couldn't believe my eyes. Dan was actually standing a chance against Ezebra.
Ezebra waved his fingers over the hole in his hand. It healed instantly. He used his two fingers of his freshly healed hand to wave over the wound in his arm and his stomach. Threads of skin and muscle shot through to the other side of the hole and it seemingly stitched itself back together. Though I wasn't really rooting for him, I found the ability amazing. The blood from Lily's wounds had dried up by now making him look fierce. Ezebra dodged one of Dan's arrows, rolled, and picked up his sword. As he continued to circle around the gap, he sliced his sword around the trunks of a few of the trees. Dan didn't notice. The second time around, Ezebra took his sword and sliced through a top portion of the same trees. Dan took notice this time. He stopped briefly, sliding in the grass, kicking dirt up in the air. He had six arrows left in his quiver.