The hardened elderly warrior who had fought and battled many wars grunted painfully in pure discomfort as her fingers digged into the sockets of his left eye. Its squishy sensation of wet substance was unpleasant to feel, as it made even the poor boy almost gag in disgust.
The process was slow and agonizing; however, Guan Yu didn't scream or whimper in agony, despite how terrible it was; instead, he chose to grit his teeth to hold back on it. While any ordinary man would at least react to painful sensations with words, the old general somehow managed to endure through the suffering with stoic determination.
After thirty long seconds of torturous treatment, she was able to successfully remove the entire organ out of its socket, leaving only one remaining eye. As his left eye was completely removed, his eyelid closed forever while blood dripped down from the opening and onto the ground below.
Forcing a smile on his lips, he awkwardly spoke up in a strained voice, "What happens next?" Guan Yu asked weakly with a weary look, "If I remember correctly, the last part involves this part of my body in order for this spell to work." His right arm lifted towards his bloodied face while pointing at the socket that she had torn.
Gripping softly around the eyeball on her open palm, she nodded before giving him a worrying look. " I'm sorry you had to do this," she apologized, but he waved his hand, dismissing it with a gentle laugh, causing her to frown with a smile in return for this selfless act.
"What matters is our lives," the warrior said in a hushed tone of voice. "We must prioritize getting out of this place before they find us," his face showing some glimpses of pain but also the strength needed to move forward. "Were all in this together, right, young one?" Turning his head towards the conflicted Billy.
Swallowing in a nervous gulp, the teen sadly nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess so," he said in a shaky voice, feeling guilty for what had transpired. But his shame faded when their wooden door began to pound wildly, loud and groaning noises on the other side becoming more audible to their ears.
"Crap, they already found us," Billy told in a low and panicky voice, "hurry up and finish this already," encouraging the woman to quickly cast the spell before something bad happened. "I don't want to be eaten alive, thank you very much," his attention solely focused on her as the knocking on the door continued.
With a serious face, she slowly crushes the eye within her palm as Morgan starts to chant in ancient language, her words sounding foreign to the two as they don't recognize what is being spoken. The rune circle that surrounds Guan Yu started glowing red when the shaking and pounding of their door intensified.
A sharp claw tore through their entrance. The screeching sound of wood breaking made the others cringe in horror at their fate. "Damn it, they are getting in!" The boy fearfully exclaimed, ready to unstrap his musket and start firing away at these hungry bastards.
Before the door broke down entirely, her incarnation finally ended when she crushed the eye, causing the runic circle around the man to split itself into four chucks of blood as it floated above the air, heading straight to everyone in this room, including the unconscious Seth that is still on his bed.
Circling around their forms, the blood rapidly dissipates while their bodies swiftly turn invisible; even their clothes, weapons, and possessions are affected as well. With this complete, Morgan signaled them to leave as quickly as possible while they still had the opportunity to do so. "Get Seth and follow me," she instructed all of them.
Their entrance is then torn open by a crowd of hungry zombies, forcing them to push and shove each other in order to enter. But their anticipation was ruined by an empty room with no living or non-living beings seen anywhere other than an ordinary place to sleep.
Shambling and hobbling down the hallway, the undead went away with empty stomachs, looking for other living prey to feed upon, leaving them in silence about their success in completing the spell, as Billy was the first one to speak up in this case.
"Huh, why didn't they attack us?" Confused about how they did not notice them while they were still here, "and why aren't we invisible yet?" More puzzled than ever, the young gunslinger can see his friends and even his own body, which is still visible to the naked eye.
But he received a quick answer from her: "We can see and hear each other, but they can't." She informed them in a calming manner, "This effect will only last a few minutes, so we have to hurry before it dissipates." Morgan warned them to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Picking up the young magician by using his own hands, Guan Yu placed Seth over his broad shoulder, "lead the way, lady Morgan,carrying him in piggyback style before shifting his focus on her, "I trust your judgment in seeing through this problem of ours," offering his vote of confidence.
Seeing this display of friendship and respect, the woman smiled gleefully while nodding her head, "Thank you," replying to him with gratefulness, "Now let us be on our way; time is of the essence, and we cannot afford to waste more of it." Her attitude now shifted into that of determination, "Come, follow me."
The witch led them out of their room, trapping them in a hallway that was once peaceful only to be comprised of death and mutilated bodies being devoured by the zombies; in fact, there were only these rotting creatures rather than those walking skeletons.
It was disgusting, to say the least; the air was filled with decay while I was forced to hear the undead dining and feasting themselves. Nonetheless, the group moved through the hall, trying their best not to gag or stop to examine, for there is no time to do that.
"Christ..." Billy muttered under his breath with visible revulsion on his face, "This place is like a graveyard with how many bodies are on the floor," looking down at the bloodied mess below with a pitiful look, "did this entire village become zombie-infested or what?" Continuing this inquiry as they cautiously walk by,
Ignoring him, she focuses on not accidentally bumping into one of these things, which may lead to undesirable consequences: "Let's keep going before it's too late," making them focus on their task at hand just to get out of this place; "When we get out, we'll head towards the forest," strategizing a safe route to travel.
Just as she said this, her foot hit her body, and her eyes quickly diverted to the source: "Finnegan." There lies the corpse of her beloved long friend, as her own heart shattered into pieces in having to see this, "Oh Finnegan..." Stopping in her tracks from the conflicting emotions she is feeling at this time.
Despite how much she outright hates everyone here who has betrayed her, there is part of her that still cares about their existence, even though Morgan shouldn't be after what they put her through. "I..." While saddened by the sight, she still hadn't forgotten about the happy moments they spent together.
Almost if there were the best of friends and possible lovers if he didn't turn out to be this antagonistic man, "don't..." Morgan wanted to say the words to harden her own heart, to not feel this way, so she wouldn't be vulnerable anymore. Instead, what came out of her mouth were tears streaming down onto the wooden floor.
Then the presence of Guan Yu walked at her side, looking in the direction of where she was staring. "That man..." Recognizing who this dead man is from earlier before the raid, he said, "I am sorry for your loss, lady Morgan," genuinely feeling pity for her while offering condolences.
While Billy joined in, moving to the other side as he stared down at the body, "Oh..." Indifferent to how this person died, the teenager merely clicked his tongue, wanting to say something but decidedly not to after noticing Morgan's grieving over this deceased person.
Sniffling and wiping her face with the sleeve of her purple dress, she was able to recover from that unexpected grief before the girl snapped her attention back to them with a sad look, "He was once a good friend of mine, and even after everything he did to me when all of the villagers betrayed me, I still can't truly hate him," admitting her truth with a sad smile, "He was a good man."
Realizing the cause of her sorrow, Guan Yu gently patted the witch's back, "Misguided man is still man nonetheless," saying with a soothing voice as it helped ease her grief, "many do things for various reasons, but there is always hope within a person's heart," further adding to the mood.
Listening to his words, "I suppose so..." Morgan replied to him before smiling a bit before walking away. "Come along now; time is always in the essence," she announced to the others as they resumed following her from behind, bearing themselves against the fowl scene in this hall itself.
After heading down the stairs, they were surprised at how quiet it is aside from the ruined tavern with many broken chairs and tables littering around the place, along with recently smashed windows. Bodies also lay scattered, being feasted on by the zombies like usual.
"I kind of want to start feeling bad about them now." Holding his weapon, Billy felt a tinge of pity for these patrons, despite knowing they had hurt his friend. "I wonder if I can use one of them as testing practice for my new gun," glimpsing at one of the zombies that are currently busy eating the flesh of a dead child.
The urge to use his beauty is tempting, but the geezer is opposed to this idea. "Such reckless behavior will attract unwanted attention, young one," firmly lecturing the boy on the matter, "use it only when you are forced to fight, not for sport." His voice reprimanded the carelessness of the teen.
Breathing out, "Whatever you say, old timer," Billy acknowledged with a hint of annoyance while not saying it openly, "Whatever you say..." repeating in a muttered, low tone of voice as he truly wants to test his musket right away but can't because of certain reasons.
Trying her very best to ignore her sadness in her heart at seeing so many dead bodies, she forced herself to keep a calm demeanor: "When we go outside, try not to go on your own," advising them to be careful not to get lost since the spell won't last forever. "Right, boy?" Turning to the surprised teen.
"Hey!" Feeling offended by this remark, "I'm not stupid," he retorted back with evident annoyance while not denying her advice, "so your saying I shouldn't do anything dumb; I know that," finishing his sentence in spite of the embarrassment of being called out like that.
Giggling to herself, she ignored the irritated face of the boy. "Good, then let us proceed in exiting of this tavern," Morgan said to the others, reassuring them of their escape plan. After all, the witch still remembers the layout of this community.
And memories she won't forget since arriving here. It is unforgettable when they come back to a place they once knew. The memories will always or inevitably resurface once people return. Not that she is complaining, since this is useful to have.
"I hope they at least devoured them entire," fearing the idea of seeing more, "I find all of this rather disturbing, even for me," admitting that finding the dead bodies to be too much for him, especially the corpses of women and other children, which Billy dislikes a lot, "I've seen a lot of fucked-up shit, but this takes the cake."
It is not about how brutal their deaths were in being mauled to oblivion, but rather how many innocent lives were taken in this one night. While he had his fair share of killing, he never would go too far in committing massacre at this level of gruesomeness. "Seriously, this is beyond my expectations of being outlaw," he said, mumbling with disturbance.
