The Last Dainv-Chapter 47

The Last Dainv-Chapter 47

Gale pulled up the notification from before. 'Foreign world,' it said. Unmistakably, it referred to Earth. What made him gulp was the word 'enslaved.' Again, it was about the blue moon. That damned celestial thing that never went away.
His fists clenched. Nails dug into his palm. He forced himself to take a deep breath, allowing himself to relax and flush the negative feelings away.
Now's not the time. Focus. Get out and leave this forsakened world. None of this shit will matter once he goes back to Earth and gets his G.E.D. Get a job after, maybe at a coffee shop, and forget everything that happened. Coffee shops are great for making friends. All the movies had people make friends in coffee shops, right?
Right.
Gale surveyed his surroundings. No more ghouls. Probably more back there. Tendrils told him those ones weren't coming, though. It also told him a large group was slowly coming his way.
He crept forward, his body low to the ground, using the trunk of a dead tree for cover. He searched for the best path to remain hidden.
Peeking through the wide clearing, a large group of people marched along the trench's path. More and more figures appeared from the thick dead trees. They wielded makeshift weapons made from sticks, rakes, shovels, pitchforks, and kitchen knives.
The metal of the kitchen knife would've been useful if it wasn't so short. Better than bone.
A too familiar face led the group, Elliot. There was no mistaking his foul, yellowed teeth and manic eyes anywhere. He wore what looked like a pope's outfit. Gold leaf glimmered under the dim blue moonlight at the gilded edges.
Everyone around him moved like robots low on battery. Robotic and clunky. It was obvious it was an army of thralls. Each one wore an eye amulet that Drew had mentioned.
Elliot didn't.
The man looked left and right. Eyes wide open. Knuckles white from clenching his staff.
Gale's fingers twitched. It would be so easy to cross the distance between where he was and where that asshole was. But life never made anything that easy. It could've been a trap or it could be him underestimating what Elliot could do.
Attacking now would just create an all out melee between the convoy and this army. Four against however many were in front of him.
Activating Distort, the light bent around him, making him nigh invisible. He treaded carefully along the ground, silently, not stepping on any twigs that would cause a snap. Even when he was careful, it would have looked like he was running rather than being careful.
The convoy came into view, and Rachel was there at the front.
"Rachel," Gale whispered as he released Distort.
"Gale! Jeeze. That scared me." She jumped slightly at his appearance. "What's wrong?"
"Took care of the ghouls." Gale's eyes darted to the convoy. "Bigger problems after. Blue Haven, big army. Elliot's with them."
Rachel turned to the convoy without hesitation. "Everyone, we need to keep going. Stay quiet and stay close."
Gale fell into step beside Rachel. "I'll keep tabs on Blue Haven's forces, relay their positions to you. We need to stay one step ahead."
Before he could move, Rachel grabbed his arm.
"Be careful," she said.
"I will," he said as he activated Distort. Gale vanished, then ran back towards where Elliot was. The army wasn't that far from them. Just an hour and a half's worth of walking by mundane standards. Close, but safe as long as the convoy kept moving.
He ran through the dead forest not stepping on anything that would snap once again. The trees gave him plenty of cover but also made him strain his mind to track where each step was.
Once he was near, he caught sight of Elliot again. Gale spread out Breath of the Void's tendrils, focused on the whole army beside Elliot.
The Blue Haven army moved with a sluggish pace. Each of the thralls dragged their feet and weapons across the ground as they headed towards the direction of the convoy. They were even slower than the convoy members, like actual zombies.
"Useless, all of them," Elliot bit his nails. "Marcus couldn't even handle a simple task, and Drew... I expected more from him. Boasted being an attuned and then getting killed by fucking babies."
A thrall bumped into Elliot's pacing. Falling backwards, it got up with no complaints. Not even a glance at Elliot and the man did the same as if the humanoid object that had just bumped into him didn't exist.
"Your radiance guides us, my princess. Your light guides us to the heathens who will soon be your sustenance." Elliot clasped his hands together. "We'll find them soon enough. There's nowhere for them to hide in your domain. All of this land belongs to your majesty."
Another thrall bumped into Elliot. This time, the thrall almost tripped him.
Elliot raised his hand and smacked the thrall across the face. "How dare you disturb my prayers! You fools should consider yourselves fortunate enough to be given a chance to submit to her majesty! Now get back up!"
The man started biting his nails even more feverishly. Blood started dripping from his nails and catching on his teeth. Yet that didn't stop him from biting even more.
"Soon, your majesty. Their youth will be yours." Elliot casually swatted away a thrall moving too slowly in front of him. The thrall fell onto the ground only to be stepped on by the rest of the thralls. "They can run all they want, but there's no escape from this world. We have all the time we need."
This whole thing repeated over and over. Elliot's actions and tone shifted from annoyance at the thralls and then back to his prayers. A man broken by the blue moon.
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And it was a good thing. The army's slow progress was at a snail's pace. The convoy was slow enough. Gale couldn't even imagine a much slower pace until he saw what's in front of him.
"Get up!" Elliot shouted, not even bothering to look at the fallen. "You're slowing us down. If you can't keep up, just die."
The thrall struggled, clearly still getting walked all over by the others. It got up slowly, unnaturally, like it was in slow motion.
Wait a minute. Drew also wore the amulet, and he still had his conscience. Clearly he didn't have control over his body. He was a powerful individual, so maybe he retained his intelligence. Wouldn't that mean that the thralls in front of him still had some semblance of sentience?
Gale's fist clenched into a ball. Probably. Most definitely. Marcus also wore the amulet. He was a normal human being, yet he felt alive until he became that ghoul.
The look in Marcus's eyes as he held onto his bleeding neck. The thrashing on the floor board as Gale put all his weight to suppress the boy.
Bile dared to come up Gale's throat. There was no choice, right? If he didn't kill Marcus, everything would've gone much worse. Just like now, if he didn't dare to kill the scouts or Elliot's thralls, it would be him to die. Or worse, it would be Rachel being fed to that celestial body up in the sky.
The shallow breaths of the Blue Haven army reached Gale's ears. Surprisingly, the tendrils allowed him to hear their heartbeats. It was there. Beating fast. They were alive. Yet when he peered at them using those very same tendrils, they looked like husks of bodies. Moving corpses.
They trudged on through the lifeless forest. On the ground carved a footpath of dragged feet. The shadow did say
everyone in Blue Haven was already dead, boy.
How?! The heartbeats. The breathing.
"Stop, you four, set up my tent. Hurry it up. Idiots." Elliot stopped, and the whole army halted in unison.
The thralls he looked at moved sluggishly. Moving towards the boxes at the back of the march, they fumbled opening the lids.
"Hurry it up, idiots!" Elliot shouted.
The shouting didn't change the speed of the thralls. After opening the box, the thralls rummaged through the items in the box. They picked up a large piece of cloth and poles. The size of the cloth could and would have probably fit a couple of people inside the tent.
Elliot pointed to a nearby flat area on the ground. In response, the thralls moved the items over to the area he pointed at and started setting up the poles for the tent.
Gale inched back from the army. Keeping his head low, he swung his head down over a low branch, careful not to cause it to move. Elliot was focused on ordering the thralls to set up a tent. It was time to go back and .
He had seen enough to form a clear picture of what they were up against, and it didn't look good. If all of those thralls turned into ghouls, even just punching off the heads won't be good enough before they ran out of steam.
Gale quickly darted between the dead forest. Each tree whooshed by him. The sound of whispers reached his ears as he neared the convoy's hiding spot.
"Some of them might not be able to keep up at this rate… they're too tired," Rachel said. Ollie and Annett were with her.
"Well, it's either that or the crazies catch up to us," Ollie replied.
"Everyone's already prepared. It'll be a dash to the exit, and people know not all of them will make it," Annett said.
Gale released his distort beside Rachel. His sudden appearance caused all 3 to flinch.
"Seriously? That again?" Rachel said, putting her hand on her chest. "Anyways, what'd you see?"
Gale took another deep breath once again, feeling the eyes of all three.
"Blue Haven group is moving slow. Elliot's leading. Not making much progress. Bodies slower than the bodies here." He pointed at the members, then at where the Blue Haven army was.
"Sorry, but what?" Ollie asked, tilting his head.
Annett cleared her throat. "What he's saying is that they're slower than us. Ain't that right?"
Gale nodded. They really shouldn't have stared at him like that. Pressure made his mouth feel weird, and then his tongue just became numb after blanking out.
Rachel sighed as her shoulders sagged. "Phew. Looks like we might have some time to catch our breaths then."
"Best news I've heard all day. Dunno 'bout you guys, but I could really use a breather," Ollie softly punched at Gale's arms.
Annett dropped her butt onto the dry ground. "Me too. I don't remember the last time we had a break."
"You really think it's ok to take a rest, Gale?" Rachel's gaze turned towards where he came from.
"Certain. Elliot already set up camp. He won't be going anywhere for a while." Gale leaned on a tree as he observed the convoy. Everyone massaged their feet and calves. The children weren't even energetic anymore. They just sat there, clinging on to their parents.
"Eh, the boy can talk after all," Ollie snickered.
"Alright," Rachel said. She turned to the convoy and announced, "We're going to take a short break. Find a spot to sit, but stay alert. Get ready to move out at any time as well."
The children immediately found their own spots near a tree with their parents, fighting for the more flatter grounds. The younger ones in their mid-20s laid down their baggage in the flat areas nearby as well.
One particular old man had his usual grumpy look coming straight at the group.
"This is madness!" Lennard pushed his way to the front where Gale and the rest rested. The old man's face became redder and redder as he got to speaking distance to Rachel. "We're being chased by those... those monsters, and you want to take a nap? A nap?!"
"Lennard, not now. If we don't rest now, some might fall from exhaustion," Rachel waved her arms.
Lennard surveyed the convoy. His head stopped when his eyes landed on Hailey and Anna. "We wouldn't even be in this mess if it weren't for them! If we left that girl and her mom, we'd be long gone by now. Far away from those… monsters!"
"How do you even know how far they are?" Annett asked.
"You don't have to be a genius to know more of those
things
will come at us if we don't move!" Lennard barked.
"They're watching us! Don't you see! None of you see! It's always watching!" Anna shouted, catching Annett and Lennard's attention.
Hailey shrank back, tears welling in her eyes. She looked like she was about to cry.
Again with the hurtful words to a child. Even after he'd already been given a warning. Gale's vision already becoming red from just hearing those shitty words.
"That's enough."
Lennard turned his glare on Gale. "Oh, look who's talking. It's all your fault we're in this mess in the first place!"
"Enough," Gale glared at Lennard. "Knock it off and fuck off."
Lennard sneered. "Who's going to stop me? You? I've seen what you can do. You're nothing but a monster in human skin."
All those shitty years in the orphanage. Told he was a monster. Outcast by the very same kids that he wanted to be friends with when all his friends were just mom and dad. Kids were kids. This asshole in front of him was an adult.
Gale looked around the convoy. Everyone was tired. None even batted an eye at the scene Lennard was causing. They all pulled their own weight, not even complaining as everyone knew it was literally life or death. What's complaining going to do? Nothing.
People can call him a monster, but he didn't want to hear
anyone
tell a child she's unwanted. And this old man in front of him told that child to die.
"Everyone's alive. You included. All you do is complain. Look at the others," he said quietly. "You should be grateful to us you're not in a beast's belly by now."
"Gratefulness to a monst—"
Before Lennard could finish the last word, Gale's fist connected with his jaw. The older man fell backwards, blood dripping down from his lips.

Chapter 47