I don't even know what would happen if I did turn. I'm trying my best to resist my body's urge to pass out. I'm not about to just die in some random village and definitely not to a human who isn't my master! I face him. Now ready for whatever outcome that isn't death. And as I frantically look for ways to defeat him; I can feel my body getting warmer and lighter but it doesn't feel like I'm loosing any energy.
"I see you're now ready. Good.", He acknowledges. He sounds like a charismatic man. One filled with the pride of a guardian, just like me. But I don't eat people. Or call them lion.
In an instant, I feel that psycho malice gushing from him. My body must be tapping into my reserves. I wont waste this!
He rushes for a fist with the hand he's holding his club in, swinging a powerful right. I dodge.
He shifts his strength quickly into a left swing of his club, I duck backwards whilst it passes and use my right hand to launch myself out of the way of another swing.
I stagger on my landing and notice my left arm almost fully healed. My body's healing has accelerated. Somethings not right about this. I try to dash with my right fist aiming for his chest before he completes his clubs swing.
He notices.
Our punches collide. Him having countered with using his left.
He pushes against my fist. I have to end this fast. I relax my hand, slowly retracting it; faking him having overpowered me. Then shift and slide it along his arm into a knife-hand strike to his elbow, creating another opening on his chest.
I throw one more punch towards it.
It connects.
He drags his left leg back and swerves his body to his right jumping back a few arms even. He spits on the ground whilst holding his chest. "That punch burned", He says in a noting growl.
I grab his club. My feet already pointing where I'm heading; praying for even a second of his delay.
His eyes bulge from disbelief as I turn towards the village on three, holding his club on my back with my left hand. He falls to one knee from the pain, "Don't you dare!", He tries to get back up again but I don't have time to waste on fighting him in this state, I have to find that old man and hear it from him.
I weave through the trees and thorn bushes on my way to the road where the lion attacked. I don't dare look behind, I can't loose focus! But I can feel him stabbing daggers at me.
I reach the road; my vision now clear and sprint even faster straight ahead. I can hear several of the villagers around me.
"It's the monster!", a man closest to the road shouts.
"He's on the road!", another man announces.
I feel my breathe getting desperate. My body doesn't feel warm anymore.
This is anger. They're comments doing nothing but stocking the flames. Even so, I don't stop. I keep running.
I hear the villagers panic as I reach.
"It's in the village!", shouts a woman hiding her small child from me. Some villagers are running away from me whilst others throw rocks from a distance. Others scared stiff. I keep moving, trying to get his scent-
"You're a fast one I'll give you that!", It's the psycho! I actually thought he'd catch up much sooner. Now that I can see, his huge body is covered in scars with a crazed smile and blood on his face.
Seeing him clearly makes me take a few steps back, everyone is still running. I can't look for the old man, fight him and hold back whatever's burning inside me. But more importantly, "Why is your face covered with blood?! I don't remember hitting your face so why the hell is your face covered in blood?!", The burning...its...about to consume me! "I asked you. Why the hell is your face covered in blood!?", I bark out, forcing most of the villagers to quickly change to escorting their families far from me.
"I was going to answer your question before you kept shouting", I switch his club to my right hand and start to walk towards him. "I ate my men".
I pause. What's wrong with these people! I fall to my knees and throw up. They really are cannibals. He doesn't even know that what he's doing isn't normal. How am I the monster!
"I ate some of the lion in the cave too"-
"Are you crazy!? You eat people using that lion as an excuse then turn around and call me the monster? I figured your shit out!", There's no point in even speaking to him.
I stand in front of him. We're now the same height.
I can feel all this anger in me swelling up. "Listen", I say in a low deadly calm voice. "I'm going to kill you, then I'll kill every single so called person in this village. You know why?", I tighten my hold on the club, my eyes bloodshot and my mouth slightly pulling away. My hair grows longer and my teeth sharper, "Because I'm a monster too".
He puts his arms up to guard, I slam his club into them.
I hear bones crack before he flies into a house. I jump high into the air and land on his chest, embedding him into the ground. I feel the soles of my feet slightly move as he struggles to breathe.
I feel myself smiling.
I cover my mouth and stumble off his body out of horror, fighting to stop myself from loosing my mind. Why would I say I'd kill all of them? I'm so angry Idk what to think.
"I allow you to come to this village and in less than a day you reek havoc equivalent to a disease outbreak", I pause. This scent, a voice hoarse in a way that I recognize. "We live our lives the way we want but you come here saying your nonsense", I look at him, I see him. Confirmation of everything I hoped wasn't true right in front of me.
A jolt of pain travels through my body, I feel a final breathe of exhaustion escape me, I feel the same way I did that day back home; when my body felt like it was boiling when I faced Himunzowa.
I let myself fall into it, into the fire pit burning inside of me.