Ender Curse part 12

They spent Lalna's last few minutes in silence. He was paralyzed with fear. Not only that, but the intense cold suddenly began to spread, making it much harder to breathe.

“Guys...” he choked out. “I'll find it... After... after I Change, I'll f-find the mutant and k-kill it... Just... promise me you'll leave... as soon as it's dead...”

Sjin shook his head. “But we can't leave without you...”

“You have to...” he said, grimacing in pain. His hands started to change color, and they realized that the full moon had begun it's ascent into the night sky.

“Please... run...” Lalna choked out, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his hands into fists, digging his claws into the palms of his hands.

The Endermother quickly moved forward and took Lalna from Sjin, gesturing for them to back away.

And then suddenly, they heard a long chilling roar, which echoed through the night.

They all froze in fear.

The mutant Enderman had come.

The Endermother quickly made a gesture for the four non Ender humans to hide, then she took Lalna, who was shaking with pain and doing everything he could to hold back the Change, and carried him outside.

Then she saw the mutant Enderman.

It was just on the edge of the Farlands. The Golems were attacking it, but the monster was much stronger.

A wave of anger swept over the Endermother, and she would have rushed to fight the monster if it weren't for Lalna, who was whimpering in pain as the Change progressed.

She would have a chance to avenge her sons, one dead and the other dying, but not now. Not yet.

Quickly turning and hoping the Golems would keep the monster distracted longer, she turned and ran towards the far edge of the Farlands. There, she found a large building and carried Lalna around behind it.

By now, his hair had turned black, and his skin had fully changed to the same color as the streaks of poison. The blue haze over his eyes had turned purple, and his eyes were now glowing bright in the darkness.

“A-are... they... s-safe...?” he managed to force out, his entire body shaking with energy as the Enderbeast tried to break free.

The Endermother nodded.

Lalna let a weak smile creep onto his face. And then he grimaced and cried out, and the Enderbeast broke free.

She set him down and backed up, watching with despair as his human body was destroyed and replaced by the Enderbeast. She knew that this marked the end. Once the full moon fell, he would return to a body that was weak and broken and unable to support life.

In a way, Lalna was already dead.

XXX

He was in so much pain that it was a relief when he transformed. The agony of his bones breaking and lengthening and realigning was nothing compared to the misery he had endured for the past few days.

He felt the crystals inside him shatter, and suddenly he could breathe again.

He took a long, deep breath. The pain was gone. He felt strong and powerful. He felt like he could do anything. Kill anyone.

Slowly, he looked up. Through the blue haze of his distorted vision, he could see the Endermother. He didn't recognize her at first. All he saw was an enemy, a possible threat.

He snarled a bit and tensed to lunge. Then she started humming.

He froze. The distortion faded, and he could see and hear clearly again. The Endermother stood in front of him, looking relieved.

Lalna looked around, a bit overwhelmed. This was his first time being fully aware while in his Enderbeast form. He could see and hear and sense things a thousand times better. His night vision was twice as strong, and he could see perfectly through the darkness.

And then he heard the chilling roar of the mutant Enderman.

He looked at the Endermother one last time before turning and stepping out into the open.

The mutant Enderman stood at the other end of the long road. It was waiting for him.

Lalna glared at the mutant. This monster was the cause of all his pain and suffering. But this was the end. He was going to kill the abomination and free his friends from this hell. Even if he died trying.

Rage building inside of him, he sprinted forward at a blinding speed, rushing the mutant.

It was ready though. The monster didn't move until a split second before Lalna tore it open. Then it teleported directly behind Lalna, grabbed him by the arm, and flung him through a building.

Lalna was up in an instant, barely feeling the pain. There was so much energy coursing through his veins. It felt like someone had started a fire in his chest.

Snarling, Lalna lunged at the mutant again, grabbing ahold of it before it could teleport. However, the monster was much larger and stronger than him, so he didn't have time to do any damage before it picked him up and threw him again.

This time, Lalna cracked his head against a thick sandstone wall, and he was knocked senseless for a second. However, when his vision came back a split second later, his mind was more clear, not as saturated with rage and vengeance.

He became calm, calculating.

The mutant Enderman was much larger and stronger than him. However, he was faster and smarter. He couldn't rely on his strength alone to defeat the monster. He had to be logical and tactical. He had to outsmart it.

He stood once again, facing the beast. He didn't move, and neither did the abomination.

It was waiting for him to make the first move.

So Lalna stood there in a pile of rubble, waiting, a low growl emanating from his chest. Through some sort of sixth sense, he could feel the mutant getting angrier.

Suddenly, Lalna lunged to the right. The mutant lunged at him much faster. So fast it couldn't stop when Lalna suddenly ducked to the left.

The mutant slammed right into the wall of the building Lalna had hit just a minute ago. Before it could turn around, however, Lalna was there. He grabbed the mutant by the back of the neck and slammed it against the wall, holding it there. Then with his free hand, he started slashing at it's back. The mutant roared and whipped around, it's elbow connecting solidly with Lalna's jaw.

He staggered back, tasting blood. Then the mutant turned and brought it's claw down, aiming for his throat.

Instead of trying to block the attack, Lalna teleported and landed right behind the mutant, who was thrown off balance when it's claws sliced through air instead of flesh.

Lalna took the opportunity to slice the mutant's Achilles' tendons, bringing it to it's knees.

He stepped forward and pressed his foot against the mutant's back, forcing it into the ground. Then he reached down, grabbed both of the mutant's arms, and pulled back as hard as he could. There was a sickening snap as the mutant Enderman's arms were dislocated.

The monster let out a roar of pain. Suddenly, purple magic started to swirl around it's hands, which Lalna realized too late he was holding up right next to his face.

The magic shot forward and hit him, blinding him. He staggered back until he hit a wall, and because he still didn't know how to heal himself, he was forced to wait out the effects.

He could hear the mutant clambering to it's feet. He tensed, expecting it to attack him while he was vulnerable. But then he heard it teleport, and he realized that it couldn't fight him very well with both arms dislocated and it's Achilles' tendons cut.

After another few seconds, the effects of the magic wore off and Lalna could see again. He quickly looked around and saw that the monster was nowhere to be seen.

Then he realized that he could see a trail of fading purple particles leading deeper into the Farlands. Cautiously, he followed them.

Meanwhile, the Endermother had returned to the building where the other four were hiding. They jumped when they saw her suddenly appear, but then they recognized her.

She quickly gestured for them to follow her, and to stay quiet. She was going to take them somewhere safe.

They only made it about two buildings away before the mutant Endermen appeared right behind them.

The Endermother quickly grabbed the three humans and the dwarf and teleported into the closest building, but the mutant wasn't interested in them yet. It had healed, and now it was pissed.

It was focusing on the Enderbeast.

Lalna spotted it and stepped forward, facing it.

The mutant snarled, and then let out a deafening roar of fury. Then, all of a sudden, a second pair of arms appeared on the mutant.

Lalna's eyes widened.

“Well that's new...” he muttered to himself.

The mutant Enderman lunged at him and knocked him over, one pair of hands locked around his throat, the other pair slashing at his chest.

Before it could do too much damage, Lalna pulled his feet up and kicked the mutant in the chest, throwing it back. However, when he stood up, he felt the sharp pain in his chest, and he glanced down to see that the mutant's claws had torn him up quite a bit, and he was bleeding heavily.

However, he didn't have time to attempt to heal himself, because the mutant Enderman was advancing on him again.

It lunged at him, but Lalna ducked under it's claws. When he did so, he shot forward and dug his claws into the mutant's chest, slicing it down the middle.

The mutant staggered back, slicing at Lalna but missing. It was thrown off balance by this again, so Lalna lunged at it and slammed into it's midsection, knocking it backwards.

They both crashed straight through a building, breaking through one wall and out the other side.

Of course, the building they broke through happened to be the one the others were hiding in. They all jumped in shock and watched as the two smashed through the other wall, snarls and growls and monstrous screams echoing through the now abandoned buildings.

They sat frozen for a second before Honeydew glanced at Xephos and nudged him, gesturing to the second hole in the wall. Xephos nodded, and they both quickly jumped to their feet and ran after Lalna and the mutant. Sips and Sjin glanced at each other before following them a split second later.

The Endermother stared after them for a moment before facepalming, then running after them.

Meanwhile, Lalna was still fighting. The mutant had managed to score several hits, one especially painful one across the back of his neck. Lalna, however, had nearly gouged out one of the mutant's eyes. But the mutant was a lot more difficult to fight with it's extra set of arms.

Suddenly, the mutant managed to grab Lalna by the throat with it's first pair of hands, and with it's second pair it grabbed his arms, immobilizing them. Then it picked Lalna up and slammed him against a wall several times. There was a loud crack, and Lalna felt a blinding white pain shoot through his head.

He went limp, feeling blood running down his back and neck.

The mutant dropped him, and he slid into a slumped over sitting position, leaving a thick trail of blood on the wall. Lalna tried to stand, but he couldn't move his arms or legs.

The mutant let out a chilling noise that sounded like a laugh. Then it raised a clawed hand, prepared to slice Lalna's throat.

Suddenly, it let out a cry of pain and staggered away from Lalna. It whipped around and looked down, seeing two arrows imbedded in it's side.

It looked up and saw Xephos and Sjin, both of them holding bows. Sips and Honeydew stood beside them, holding swords.

The mutant snarled. It's lower face split open into a mouth, and it roared at them.

They screamed and ran in four different directions.

The mutant ran over to where it had seen them run from, and it looked around, listening. These little humans were very good at hiding though.

Suddenly, it heard movement. It teleported to the building where it heard the movement and smashed it's arm through the wall, grabbing ahold of one of the humans. It pulled it's arm back, pulling Sips through the wall and holding him up.

Sips let out a yelp and swung his sword, which connected with the arm holding him. At the same time, Sjin appeared and stabbed it in the leg.

Shocked, the mutant dropped Sips, and as soon as he hit the ground, both he and Sjin sliced at it's legs.

They successfully scored a hit, and the mutant dropped. However, when it hit the ground, it whipped one of it's arms around and backhanded Sjin, sending him flying into the side of a building, where he hit with a crash and dropped to the ground unconscious. Sips screamed and ran over to him.

Suddenly, Xephos and Honeydew appeared. They both went for the back of the mutant's neck, attempting to cut it's head off and end this.

Suddenly, the second pair of arms shot out at them. The left hand successfully grabbed Xephos around the midsection, making him drop his sword in surprise. The right hand tried to grab Honeydew, but the dwarf managed to deter it by sinking his axe into the arm, nearly severing the hand.

Just then, the mutant's tendons finished healing, and it stood up to it's full height, still holding Xephos.

Honeydew saw this, and he tried to hack off the mutant's leg with his axe, but the mutant quickly pinned him down with it's massive foot, preventing him from attacking.

It looked at Xephos, who was trying with all his might to free himself.

The mutant made another laughing noise before clenching it's hand and effectively crushing half of Xephos' ribs.

Xephos made a small choking noise, and a bit of blood started to drip out of his mouth.

Right at that moment, Honeydew managed to get his axe free. He swung at the mutant and sliced it's leg open.

The mutant staggered back in shock, dropping Xephos, who crumpled in a heap on the ground.

Suddenly, there was a glint of metal in the light of the falling moon, followed by the sound of a blade sinking into flesh.

While the mutant was distracted pulling Sips' thrown sword out of it's back, Honeydew grabbed Xephos and dragged him to safety.

The mutant had now turned to face Sips. He was unarmed, but he didn't run. Instead, he stood his ground, holding his arms out to try and protect Sjin as much as he could.

Suddenly, a noise caught the mutant's attention. It whipped around and saw that Lalna was no longer alone. The Endermother had appeared, and she was kneeling in front of Lalna, having mostly healed his cracked skull.

The mutant snarled at her, and she jumped up when she realized that the mutant had turned it's focus back to Lalna.

Then she narrowed her eye in anger and hatred. This was the time for vengeance.

She quickly placed herself between Lalna and the mutant. It snarled at her, and she snarled back. The mutant was twice her size, but she didn't care. She would do whatever it took to protect her son.

Suddenly, she sprinted forward before teleporting right behind the mutant. She didn't attack it though.

The mutant saw her and whipped around, swiping at her, but she teleported again. This went on for several minutes, the mutant becoming more and more pissed. It couldn't keep up with her.

Then, after one final spin, it staggered dizzily. The Endermother saw her opportunity.

Faster than a bolt of lightning, she latched onto the mutant's back and began ripping away large chunks of flesh. She managed to rip off it's second left arm before it managed to shake her off.

As soon as she hit the ground, she tried to teleport, but the mutant was expecting it.

She teleported right behind it, but it was ready. It reached out and grabbed her by the throat, holding her up. But she wouldn't go down without a fight. She clawed and scratched at the hands holding her, nearly severing them. Then she kicked it in the abdomen so hard that she ruptured one of it's internal organs.

The mutant quickly flung her to the ground, staggering backwards.

Then out of the corner of it's eye, it saw Lalna moving. He was regaining consciousness, and when he spotted the mutant, he slowly started to stand.

The mutant saw that he was still too weak and disoriented to defend himself. It had to kill him now or it might not get another chance.

It took one step towards Lalna. And then the Endermother was again sinking her claws into it's back. It didn't have time to react before she reached around and clawed at it's face, gouging out it's right eye.

The mutant reached back and took hold of the Endermother. Then it pulled her over it's head and slammed her into the ground again.

And before she had a chance to defend herself, the mutant plunged it's claws into her chest and throat, tearing them open and sending blood splattering everywhere.

Lalna screamed and jumped to his feet. But before he could attack the mutant, another arrow shot through the night and hit the mutant in the shoulder, just an inch below it's neck.

Lalna didn't see who shot the arrow, but he saw the mutant turn and run after it.

He quickly stumbled over to the Endermother, who was lying on the ground, shaking and convulsing as she lost more blood. She couldn't heal herself fast enough.

Lalna knelt down next to her and carefully picked her up, holding her in his arms the same way she had held him when she saved him.

She looked up at him, her expression sad. She didn't speak. She simply reached up with a bloody hand and brushed a bit of hair out of his face. Then she closed her eye, her hand fell to her side, and she was gone.

Lalna couldn't move. He couldn't think. He didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, a scream from one of the others snapped him back into reality. He looked over to see that they had been cornered.

He cast one last sorrowful glance at the Endermother before carefully setting her body down. Then he stood, facing the mutant, rage surging through him.

The mutant's back was to him. It was raising a clawed hand to strike at his friends.

Anger building within him, he teleported right behind the mutant and stabbed it straight through the back with his claws. The claws burst through the other side of the mutant's chest.

Using all of his remaining strength, Lalna lifted the mutant in the air with the claws he had just stabbed it with, and he slammed it down directly on it's head. Dark blood splattered from the wounds on it's chest and face.

Lalna instantly attacked it with as much ferocity as a monster could.

The others were in shock, watching Lalna rip the mutant to shreds, but something caught Xephos' attention that snapped them out of it.

“Guys...” he coughed out, pointing towards the east horizon. It was now glowing orange. The sun would rise in minutes.

Lalna was out of time.

He seemed to realize it too. Seemed to feel himself getting weaker. He knew he didn't have a second to lose, so he ripped off the mutant's right arm.

He failed to notice that the mutant had stabbed him in the chest several times. He failed to notice how much he was bleeding. He also failed to notice how his wounds began to glow bright purple as something inside him finally clicked and they healed themselves.

The mutant also seemed to realize the sun was rising. It knew it was dying – three of it's internal organs had been ruptured now, and it was bleeding heavily from the wounds Lalna and the Endermother had inflicted. But if it could stay alive until the sun broke the horizon, it would finally be able to take it's victim.

Lalna had it pinned down, but his strength was fading, and he was slowly starting to return to his normal size.

He knew he wouldn't be able to hold down the mutant much longer. It would kill him and then turn on his friends.

He glanced at them one last time before finding the strength to do what he had to.

Using every last ounce of strength the moon had provided, he slashed open the mutant's throat, ripping out everything important he could get his hands on. He didn't stop until he saw the mutant's spine.

The mutant let out a wet choking noise. Then it went limp, it's remaining eye staring up at the orange sky.

Lalna stepped away from the mutant. He looked over at his friends, but right at that moment, the moon disappeared and the sun broke the horizon.

With a small cry of pain, Lalna dropped to the ground, shaking. His strength had suddenly gone, and he could now feel the crippling pain all over his body. All the energy flooded from his body so fast that it made him feel nauseous, and the cold instantly returned, this time stronger than ever.

It started at the old wound on his side and spread faster than it had before. He managed to take one final breath before the cold froze the blood in his lungs.

And he knew a split second later when it hit his heart, and he felt the freezing pain explode all over his body.

He heard his friends calling to him, but it was already too late. The poison had reached his heart.

A second later, his heart stopped beating, and he collapsed.

Xephos tried to run to him, but Honeydew suddenly grabbed him and pulled him back.

The mutant wasn't dead yet.

It slowly turned it's head and looked at Lalna, who was crumpled on the ground dangerously close.

And before they could stop it, it raised a clawed hand and sunk it's talons into Lalna's chest. There was a loud crack as it broke through the crystals encasing Lalna's heart. But what was even more worrying was the fact that Lalna didn't respond.

He couldn't. He was already dead.

The mutant looked up at them, looking Xephos directly in the eye. And then it disappeared, taking Lalna's body with it.

“NO!” cried Xephos, snapping out of his trance.

“What happened?” exclaimed Honeydew. “Where did they go?!”

Xephos was quiet. He had already pulled out the tracker.

“Guys...” he said, his voice no more than a whisper. “They're in the End...”