¹¹ AMONGST THE RAIN

        𖧧 𝄄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 : WA Picture Prompt

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        𖧧 𝄄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓 : 2nd image - top right

        𖧧 𝄄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 : 1,193

  ⸻ ❛ AMONGST THE RAIN ❟

The empty road side streets infused the looming sense of dread. No other living breathing creature existed at that moment in time, only a hooded girl standing beneath the bus stop in the middle of nowhere. The girl plays around with the bandages in her hands, covering the wounds from previous battles that took ages to heal. A quiver made out of the remains of the last battle, with arrows made out of crystallized tears worn above her hooded garment. She glanced at the sky with a cynical gaze. A veil of gravel powered mist engulfed the city landscape as the howling gale threatened to push the gray clouds further over her head.

Cloudy weather has always been associated with evil spirits- she knows that very well. As long as daylight has expired in any way shape or form, Manifestations would awaken. They feed on living souls and sacrifice them to the witches, awakening them from their undead slumber. She has watched lively cities turn into a warzone in mere seconds, agony never ceasing as an endless fire engulfed the souls snatched from their owners. It's a dangerous farce that should be ended without mercy.

Snickers echoed the silence of her auditory sense, the sound of thunder resonated within the clouds. The crackling sounds of flames revealed the inferno that surrounded her. She lept high into the air, a brief sensation of freedom evoked in her, but it was momentary. Her toes gently grounding her body on a nearby street light, her body curved forward to steady her core as the eerie preparations of the Walpurgis ceremony commenced before her eyes.

Shadow like figures protruded from the ground she once stood on, their claw like limbs enshrouded with the shadows of the night. They claimed their dominion in the living plane of existence, screeching and hollering disorienting chants as the shattered pieces of captured souls were offered to the fire. The Manifestations danced along with their chanting, their numbers grew with each step. Then came the expansion of their domain, the light of combustion dimming as the shadows created a portal in the ground, the witches were coming.

The girl took no hesitation, she grabbed an arrow from her back and sliced the tip upon her bandaged palm. The traces of her vermillion fluids flowing down in progressive drops. Metallic scent of her blood whiffed to her nose. She levitates the overflowing blood, materializing a bow from the droplets that doused her hand. Without another second to lose, she drew her bow.

A sense of focused omnipresence overwhelmed her body. Her mind and sight become one as she aims towards the heart of the Manifestations in her vision. The smooth surface of the arrow flew past her view as she released it. The translucency of the weapon reflected the darkened sky as it spins on its axis and pierces through two Manifestations at once. They shatter upon impact, their living forms only an illusion of their fragile existence, leaving nothing but pieces of broken glass on the ground.

Other Manifestations noticed their dead kin and began to retaliate. A swarm of them launching at the girl with claws sharper than a warrior's blade, a predatory tool that sucks the will to live through death-defining scars. Distance became an asset, arrows raining down over each Manifestation coming closer to her. Each shot was calculated to kill more than one, but numbers were always a disadvantage.

Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks; each drop forming into a new arrow for her to shoot. Yet the air was contaminated with the chaos, her arrows becoming weaker ammunition as she catches their droplets at the edges of her face. But it was sufficient enough to do the job. She started firing more arrows once at record pace, her arms growing numb as she steadied herself with each shot.

A sound of a female echoed through the portal causing the Manifestations to stop their assault. Their focus turned towards the portal that has been festering below their feet. A large, deformed hand stained with dying violets and veins of undead corpses found its way through the opening. It crawls out of the portal, a hand to an arm, the portal growing bigger as the shoulder of the creature came into view.

The girl scowled in annoyance, the sound of the witch's call deafening her ears. She uses her arrows and aims at the palm of the witch's hand, only for it to break upon impact, the hand unscathed. Her arrows were too tainted to be able to harm the creature, every shot was only gaining the Witch's attention and the monster revealed itself in all of its demonic glory. It was ginormous in size, its facial features deformed until no trace of her true identity could be distinguished.

It released dark appendages, arms like snakes that attempted to engulf her. She released more arrows, each one fading away as quickly as defeating the Manifestations. But each coming appendage became enforced, each one getting harder to destroy at once. She watched through the corners of her bow the darkness that overwhelmed her entire body; she was afraid.

Images of her life flash before her; memories filled with her emotions, memories which frighten her the most. She let herself succumb to her pain, the smell of firewood, the screams of the tortured, the agony of watching her reality shatter. Watching as disaster loomed before her, there was an endless sorrow that engulfed her determination.

The sound of thunder and the strike of lighting initiated the unneeded welcome of the rain. The shadow figures lashed onto her limbs, leaving her immobile. The witch laughed mockingly, her face adorning a twisted expression that mimicked a smile.

"𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱… 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲."

The girl looked down and watched the pattern of the rain. Her lips slightly curved into a smile.

"You should take a better look at the battlefield before claiming your victory."

The sounds of shattering glass deafened the Witch's auditory senses, her Manifestations perishing at drastic amounts before her. She watched in dread, her optics glaring at the hooded girl in annoyance as she snared at the girl in her grasp. She grabbed the girl tighter attempting to maintain her control.

"𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢"

The girl was silent. The Witch felt millions of needles stabbing her back, each one coming down upon the other. She cried in pain, unbearable amounts crashing upon her entire body. In her moments of pain the girl freed herself from her confines, reclaiming her grip on her bow. She formed another arrow with the drizzling rain, one bigger and purer than the arrows she had used before.

She grasped her hold and steadied her breath, channeling every fiber of her body to initiate her final shot. Her mind clear with the melancholy that haunted her for years, reawakened as anger and resentment. She fired the arrow, it was transparent, reflecting the blue sky as it flew directly towards the chest, the heart, of the Witch.

(let my tears be weapons of conquest)