The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Howls

Read chapter 46 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 46: Howls While exhaustion swallowed Kael's consciousness, Els dropped to her knees. Her hands refused to let go of the arrow shaft punched into Joss' neck, even as his blood stained her green sleeve. He gurgled wet sounds. Curses or threats that mattered less than the spasms jerking his muscles as if he would turn to gaze at her with his disgusting gray eyes. Except for Kael's caring and Tonio's childish ones, every man's eyes were disgusting since that night. Just seeing them made her stomach churn enough that she holed herself up in the shelter for a week. Joss beat them all by a mile. She would have chosen death over whatever fate he had envisioned for her. At least, she might have joined Kael and Tonio in Kraghor's divine realm instead of suffering. "You'll pay in due time." Even now, the promise kept her hands squeezed on the arrow. It was Joss' body that finally forced them to release their hold. He tilted forward, wrestling the arrow free as he collapsed on Tonio. The wheeze of his breath faded beneath the buzzing of the flickering lamppost. A hand pressing the small of her back, Els pushed herself from the ground. Did she kill him? She had never killed, never truly wanted to. Did she feel guilty? Wrong perhaps? No, she only shivered at the idea that Joss could rise again. Carefully, she pressed her free hand against his back. It didn't heave. No heartbeat either. Not enough. With a huff, she rolled him to the side. She clutched her arms when he stared at her, his brow so creased that shadows dripped from his frown. The arrowhead punching through his broken teeth, the blood from his open left cheek, made her step back. Joss' glare didn't follow. It stared at the makeshift ceiling of stretched blankets, frozen in hate, glassy. Lightless. He was dead. She released the breath she didn't know she held, her shoulders relaxing. "May the gods throw you in a nameless hell." She hurried beside Tonio. The rat-man lay on his stomach, a machete still pinning one of his wrists. Blood didn't flow from the wounds anymore. Hands trembling, she nudged his back. No reaction. Her neck tensed as she kneeled in front of his face. Praying to Kraghor for his eyes to open, she pressed her palm against his nose. A warm breath met it, and his whiskers throbbed in annoyance. Instantly, she cupped his furry face. "We did it. We protected each other!" Tears trailed down her face. "So, please, wake up..." She shook his head. With each second crawling by, Tonio's lips twisted a little more. A sound left them, something between the wronged growl of someone forced awake and a pained wince. "Bad man..." he mumbled with a yawn. Then, his red eyes shot open. "Bad man! No hurt Kael!" He struggled, not even seeing Els before she knocked softly on his forehead. His grimace eased, but he snapped his left eye shut. "Els? Head hurts... Where Kael? Where bad man?" Sobbing, Els pointed at Joss' corpse, and Tonio's eyes widened. "I'll check on Kael now." She gripped the hilt of the machete planted in his wrist. "He fought to protect you until he collapsed. We'll check on him together." She pulled with both hands, her face red, but the blade stubbornly refused to move. "Move." At Tonio's demand, she stepped back. He leaned on his elbow, his free hand wrapping around the hilt. His lean but muscular arm bulged beneath gray fur, and he ripped the machete out. "Hurts. Soon close." Grumbling, he pressed the back of his skull with one hand while licking the other. Weird, but what wasn't with the rat-man? Smiling, Els walked to Kael. His own blood didn't spare a single pale spot on his face. The broad, yellowed shirt of her dad was the same—dyed crimson, which slowly dried into burgundy. But her smile broadened instead of faltering. On his back, a grin curved his lips. He had outsmarted Joss, leader of the Ragged Crown, exiled priest of Morvana's church. Of course, he had. He had scared her. She even thought they would all die when Joss hammered the ground with h