Grin And Bear It (Part 2)

Jasper winced as a sharp, agonizing fire ripped through his chest. One, if not more of his ribs had possibly been broken at the impact with the tree making it difficult to breath, but at the moment, he couldn't dwell on his injuries. “Zya?!” He wheezed out as his hands shook to find purchase on the tree behind him. Whatever the creature had done to Zya had not sounded pleasant and Jasper was certain that he had heard her body strike against something off in the distance. “Zya?!” He called again as he struggled to his feet.

Jasper stared at the massive shadowy figure that warped and twisted across his vision. It's black form was ever shifting in shape, but it's size remained the same. Large and terrifying and deadly.

“Jasper! You can't just stand there, do something!” Despite the urgency of his spirit's words, Jasper felt momentarily calmed. Fuge had that affect on him. Taking in as deep a breath as he could manage without passing out, Jasper reached down deep into his being where the magic lived. Despite the situation, Jasper couldn't help but feel a sense of elation as his power bubbled up from his center and then poured it's self down his arms.

Jasper of course had never seen what his spirit partner looked like, but he knew Fuge like he knew himself. And as the magic solidified down his arms, Jasper didn't need to see them to know that it was Fuge's armour that had become his own.

Balling his now large, clawed hands into fists Jasper focused as best he could on the monstrous blob that did not appear to be focused on him. “Hey!” He called out as loud as he could, ignoring the pain in his ribs. He pulled back one of his arms and then let it fly forward. The magic extended the armour so that it stretched across the clearing before colliding into what Jasper hoped was the monster's head. “Leave her alone!” He yelled as whatever his throbbing knuckles had made contact with seemed to retreat slightly.

Retreat was the completely wrong word, but with Jasper unable to see what the dark shadowy shape was actually doing, he had no time to pull his magical arm back before a set of cruelly sharp teeth chomped down around it. The bite was so strong that the magic shattered and broke as if it was nothing more than the thinnest layer of ice over a freshly frosted puddle.

Jasper screamed as the shattering traveled all the way back to him and up his real arm until the appendage fell painfully limp to his side. “My arm! I can't feel it!” He gasped in terror, the monster momentarily forgotten. To lose his arm would be devastating. No, it WAS devastating. The limb pulsed with pain, but Jasper had no control over it. It was dead and useless to him.

There was little time to reflect on the ramifications of a useless arm however, for the monster let out a mighty roar of anger which snapped Jasper's attention back to it. He watched in horror as the dark shape warped and twisted upwards until it appeared to be even bigger. Even more menacing.

“Jasper! Get away from it!” Zya's voice sounded very worried and distant. Like she was a long ways away. Jasper's heartbeat, thudding rapidly with his own fear was what he could hear the most. It was so loud it blocked out nearly everything.

The monster let out another roar and without thinking Jasper swung his other arm at it. It was a reflexive move of self defense. A pitiful attempt to keep the monster as far away from him as possible. An attempt that was all in vain. The monster was now locked onto Jasper and all too prepared to deal with Jasper's frantic swing. It lifted up it's paw and slammed it down onto Jasper's magical limb before the attack made contact. As soon as Jasper's arm hit the ground, it shattered under the weight and power of the monster's counter move.

“Run!” Jasper heard off in the distant. The voice sounded like Zya. She sounded even more afraid this time. “RUN!” Jasper heard Zya scream again but he couldn't run. He didn't even want to.

His other arm now hung useless at his side. In pain, but utterly useless. Both of his arms were nothing more than a dead weight that suddenly seemed so heavy, his knees buckled and the ground rushed up to meet him.

Life stopped having a purpose at that moment. It had been hard enough losing his vision, but he adapted and he had adapted well. Being blind was as natural to him now as if he had been blind his entire life. After all, he had developed other ways for which he could see the world. But those “other ways” might as well have been cut off. He could still feel his hands. His right hand's knuckles throbbed from the impact with the monster and both hands as well as his arms all the way up to his shoulders had the sensation of broken glass being embedded into them. No doubt caused from the shattering magic. But he couldn't MOVE them and without being able to move them, then that meant he could no longer see.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he turned his gaze back towards the monster which seemed to have moved closer to him. The wounded wizard watched as a piece of the shadow seemed to pull away from the larger mass and rise even higher into the sky. No doubt a readying attack to finish Jasper off.  

“Jasper you idiot, move!” Fuge's voice roared in his head, but even Fuge could not break through to his partner.

If Jasper had not at that moment felt so defeated, he would have been furious at the creature who had so easily destroyed his life. He might have even drawn up the strength to try anything to continue the fight. But Jasper found he no longer cared about what happened to him. What was the point of caring? He was now as useless as his arms. A burden to all who would be stuck caring for him. His worst fear had come true only this time it was more then just a nightmare he could wake up from.

“Idiot, MOVE!”

The dark shadow off of the main body had stretched up even further into the sky but appeared to have stopped growing.

“Jasper!” It was Zya's voice again. Slightly clearer then before but just as frightened.

The shadowy appendage suddenly shifted and then dropped out of the sky towards Jasper. This was it. This was the end. Jasper closed his eyes and readied himself for the blow. When it came however, it came from the side and not from above. But the impact was no less painful as whatever had crashed into him had crashed into his broken ribs. Jasper yelled in agony at the impact and also as his body slammed into ground. Twigs and other small pieces of dropped, dead foliage jabbed into his body followed by the smell of rotting leaves. Despite the discomfort of his broken ribs, Jasper found himself incredibly unharmed considering he had just taken an attack from the monster. That was when he noticed the weight on top of him. The weight of a person.

“Zya!?” He wheezed as she shifted off of him, gasping from her sprint as well as from her own injuries. He had been so absorbed in his own miserable thoughts that he had forgotten about her. And now he felt terrible for it. How could he give up so easily? That wasn't like him. The guilt hurt as much as his ribs. “Sorry Fuge. I am an idiot.”  

“About time you admitted it.” His spirit replied, his voice heavy with relief.  

Despite Jasper's change of heart, it did not alter the fact that his arms were still useless. Which meant he could no longer put up any kind of fight. He did not know how well Zya was doing beside him, but judging by her laboured breathing, She was not in much better shape than him.

It had been a bad idea to leave the house. A terrible idea. But it was done, and now him and Zya seemed to be paying the price. The monster's shadow loomed over them, made even more menacing by Zya and Jasper's inability to fight back. They were on their own, and at the moment, they were both totally doomed....