My body laid still against the tree quietly choking on my own blood. The smoke healed off the rest of my skull, leaving the new wound from the spear untouched as if leaving bait. I felt too broken to even try to move, like a puppet with its strings cut I laid there, but I was only out of energy. I hadn't had a good night of sleep since I was taken prisoner, it was bound to catch up with me at some point. Far be it from a good idea, I relaxed my body entirely, as if stepping into a black lake, everything fell dark. The more I surrendered my body to the dark water the less tired I felt. One by one I felt arms reaching out of the abyss grabbing at me gently easing me ever deeper, I felt no need to fight it. The arms slipped through my ribs, slowly seeping into my heart with every beat. I felt a cold burning spread out from my chest, like a wave of centipedes wrapped in thorns skittering across my bones until they were every drop of my very being.
My eyes slowly opened to the sound of footsteps, I had almost fallen asleep in the black lake, would that be so bad? The steps got closer at a reasonable pace, they were in no rush thinking me dead. Three of them stood before me, a short fit ginger woman with medium length hair stood before me the only one empty handed. Beside her stood an average height man white long blonde with an axe one each hip. A short distance behind them both marched a tall, sturdy, bald ,dark skin man with a warhammer on his back.
"So this is Sekera, easier to kill than we were told, disappointing." Diya said, reaching for her spear. "Why was he even out here, he looks malnourished." Hillev said, putting his hands on the top of his axes. My body felt too heavy to move in the moment so I laid there my eyes lightless glued onto the one reaching for the spear. Diya clutched her spear but didn't remove it from my throat just yet, leaning for she pulled a knife from her waist. Slowly she cut my throat, separating my head from my body before kicking it aside leaving my head midair against the tree. "So the rumors were true, you are a sadist" Hillev said, crossing his arms and stepping back slightly with a look of disgust on his face. "What if they are, we aren't friends, this is just a bounty, money and fun, nothing more." She said looking over her shoulder as she whipped my blood off her blade. "Ah, a sadist, yet you did not smile as you carved his head from his body." Alve said, stopping beside Hillev, his arms at his side ready as Hillev stayed crossed at his chest. "He died too quickly, there was no struggle, no pleading for mercy, he just went down, like an old dog." Diya said with a scoff, she looked Alve in his eyes letting the silence ring out between them as Hillev stood silently off to the side, an afterthought.
"Take his head down already Diya, I want to get out of this forest already, these trees are too tall for my liking." Hillev said, stepping between them clutching his forearm anxiously. She let out a sigh and nodded, clutching my hair she pulled out her spear.
"Snap!" They all heard it and went silent and stiff, their bodies solid as stone but their eyes moved across the landscape like crashing waves searching for what could make such a loud sound. They didn't pass any large animals on their path so what could have caused that noise. Hearing slight movement behind her, Diya looked to the side of the tree where she kicked my body, but it was gone, not even a trail of blood. She held my head by her side clutching my hair, her eyes darted around searching for my body. High in the trees they heard leaves shaking, branches cracking and moving. Hillev and Alve looked up searching for the source of the eerie noise, but Diya's eyes stayed searching flat for a blood trail she wasn't gonna find. My head still "alive" facing away from Diya looking at the others I grinned slightly as Diya held me a short distance from her ribs. I relaxed my face to appear dead once more and looked up towards the trees as the wind slowly picked up.
"Screech!" Is all they heard before a bird glided down overhead with a branch in its talons, putting their minds at ease for a moment. It wasn't a small bird but it was no threat. The seconds ticked by rapidly as one by one the number of birds increased enshrouding the group blotting out the sky with their black and red tipped feathers. They closed the distance between each other grouping together back to back with their hands on their weapons ready to be drawn. One by one in handfuls the birds all left their perches and climbed the sky eclipsing the group before slowly fading out of sight returning the light to them, maybe for the last time. Clutching their weapons still they each slowly released their grip, but Diya, still cautious, held her spear firmly. Hillev and Alve moved their hands away from their weapons letting out a sigh of relief. Diya, still basically holding her breath, darted her eyes side to side, turning her head, thrashing her body in a panic searching for anything that may remain. Ready to leave the forest with what they had, Hillev reached for Diya's shoulder, grasping it lightly, "We need to get out of here, now Diya." Hillev said, the panic in his voice like burning static in her ears. "Y-Yeah let's leave, we have his head, that's more than enough for the reward." Diya said, turning my head to face her as she let out a light nervous chuckle. Slowly I opened my eyes to meet her gaze, her face froze in fear unable to make even a sound. Hillev behind her confused by the look on her face until my body dropped down from the tree behind Diya. Alve a moderate distance away looking for feathers unaware, only turned around when Hillev screamed as my feet hit the ground.
The moment my feet made contact with the cold soil I lunged forward and pushed Diya off her feet towards Hillev. Looking upon my own body my movements felt odd, as if watching someone else puppeteer me yet every action was my own to make. I grabbed the wrist of the hand Diya had my head clutched in, twisted my waist and punched Hillev in his solar plexus making him drop to his knees in pain before he could reach for his axes. He dropped to his knees and hunched over in pain coughing. I grabbed my hair and her spear, eye contact still locked, I kicked her in her stomach and pulled both away with a grin on my face. Spinning the spear in my right hand I pressed my head down against my neck as the black smoke flowed upwards out the wound drowning out my face as it reatached. Hillev, still in pain, looked up to see Diya half unconscious on her side clutching her stomach and Alve nowhere close. He grit his teeth and pulled out his axes, rushing to his feet he slipped slightly, but he still swung. Smiling, I moved forward, taking the slash to the chest as I held the spear firmly in my hand. The iron of his axe tasted my flesh as I pushed forward smiling ear to ear as the blood trickled down my stomach. I grasped his other hand before he could even attempt to swing and slammed my forehead into his nose. He reeled back his hands shaking yet still he held his axes firmly with the conviction of survival. I spun the spear, pointing the blade towards the ground, I reeled my arm back and Hillev's towards me in the same motion. The tip of the spear stabbed through his mouth coming out the back of his neck. I released the spear for a moment and snatched his axes from him, the strength he once had to grip them gone. I raised the axes above my head and slammed them down into his eyes like a hammer to an anvil. They went down straight down shattering his face, the blades now buried in his brain. His hands dropped to his side as the blood poured out like a weak fountain, but I wasn't done. I firmly grasped the spear with both hands and shoved it straight down through his spine, then his stomach and out his pelvis into the dirt. As I finished creating my masterpiece DIya woke up, how did I know. Her screams, her blood curdling screams of fear and panic that I was about to silence.