NOVEL WEB Chapter-77 Tears of Blood
He hated May because she hurt Nana, even loathed her because she played a role in Aunt Ella’s and Uncle Keith’s death, but his emotions weren’t overwhelming enough to smother his natural response. He didn’t abhor her to the point of wanting to torture her. Every time he cracked her bones, it twisted him inside and he felt the retch in his throat. No matter what, he couldn’t justify his actions, it hurt his beliefs that had developed in a lawful colony. He’d come to terms with killing, it was a necessity if he wanted to walk on his chosen path, and neither his hand nor his Ryvia hesitated when he snapped the boy’s neck. But May’s tormented cries shook his resolve.
He took a deep breath and steeled his mind again, forcing the irresolute thoughts away.
Justification could eat shit… His inner conflicts still raged, but he turned a blind eye. He didn’t want to validate his actions anymore; he didn’t want to appease his conscience. If they hindered him, so be it, he would just trudge through. Whether he hated May or not, if her pain was necessary for his success, he would scourge her to no end.
The snapping cracks and the crunching twists drowned her dimming wails. Nana watched her pain without batting her bloodshot eyes, teardrops rolling down her cheeks.
An owl fluttered beside them and gawked at May, perched on a branch in the shadows, tilting its head.
Yurnawa…not now.
He divided his Ryvia and covered the fox, only letting her breathe at the alternate seconds. The fox screeched and glared at Ewan while he stared at the owl. It was only his presumption, so he wasn’t sure if it would work. But the owl only took one glance at the fox and flapped away again.
Ewan heaved a sigh of relief and continued May’s torture.
…
…
…
Her screams died and she lay on the grassy ground, drooling, her eyes dazed. It was enough, the final hatred belonged to Nana. May’s life was hers; her agony gave her that right.
“Hold this tight,” Ewan said, making Nana grip his Obsidian Dagger. “Do what you want, exhaust yourself.”
She walked over, crushing the grass beneath, and looked down on May.
“I’ll say it again, please don’t interfere.” Ewan eyed the others and warned them. His Ryvia was now free and reined in, he was resting his overstrained spirit, bearing the dull headache.
Nana burst out with a cry and plunged the dagger down into May. Blood sprayed as the blade impaled all the way in, the hilt grazing the gash. May twitched and Nana growled, grinding her teeth. She knifed again, widening the already deep gouge, blood dousing her all over. And she shanked, and shanked, and shanked, again and again, grunting with each thrust. May lost her gasp, her chest never rose for another breath, but Nana didn’t stop. She mutilated her body with each lunge. Her sternum had cracked and caved in; her silent heart lay bare. Her shredded intestines fell out as a mush of organs rested beneath her ripped stomach. Yet, Nana still didn’t stop.
Verina and Sendy vomited their guts out, Canyn collapsed on his butt, while Broden shivered. But none of them intruded.
“That’s enough.” Ewan grabbed Nana’s arm. “That’s enough,” he whispered, crouching. The dagger fell off her hands and she turned towards him, sobbing with a blood-drenched face. “You’ve taken your revenge now” he said, combing her wet disheveled hair, wiping the blood going in her eyes.
She broke down and bawled harder. “They’re still dead,” she said.
“Yeah, you’ll learn to live with it,” he said. She hugged him and wailed in his arms. Ewan extended his Ryvia again, keeping the barking fox from coming in and disturbing her. She was at her most vulnerable right now; he couldn’t let the fox deepen her control.
She cried and he held her in his arms, caressing her head. “You guys can leave if you want,” he said. They witnessed everything, but they weren’t a threat. The law couldn’t bind him down anymore, and the corpses had no one who could harm him, he made sure of that. Even if he killed them to err on the side of caution, there was still Verina….
His words snapped their trance, and they scampered, stumbling and crawling. Ewan stared at Verina’s back fading amidst the trees. He didn’t expect her to look back, and she didn’t. She was also a Severynth, but they no longer walked the same path. Glorified memories were a thing of the past. If they ever met again, it would be as strangers, mere acquaintances of a wordless hello at best.
……
Her sobs quietened into silent cries, and her hitched hiccups became sniffs. Soon she left his hug and wiped her bloodied tears off.
“I dirtied it again,” she said, touching the wet patch on his t-shirt.
Ewan smiled and brushed his dagger against the grass to clean the blood before keeping it in his claw-ring. “You’re washing it anyway,” he said. “Can you walk? We need to go now.”
She nodded and stood with his help. “Which way?” she asked, looking around.
Ewan pointed with his head and led the way, against the direction they came from; and she tailed, matching his amble. The baby fox barked ahead, wagging her tail. But when they reached her, Nana walked past, sniffing, and rubbing her puffy eyes with her blood-stained hands.
“You forgot about Xylla,” Ewan said with a hint of a smirk. His tactic worked better than he thought. Her revenge must’ve damaged the fog enough to make her neglect Xylla, even if for a few seconds.
“Xylla?” She halted, then hurried back and picked up the fox who snarled at Ewan. Her hostility awoke his slumbering instincts, it sent tingling currents down his spine, indicating the significance of her threat. Without the fog hampering his senses, he tasted it raw. But the peril wasn’t imminent, so he repressed it. If the fox wanted to succeed with her second tail, she had to focus on Nana now. And if the probabilities smiled on him, they would reach the outskirts by the time she finished.
So, they strolled off in the night, leaving only two withered corpses behind as gifts for the scavengers.
