Obscured, its figure stood calmy next to the well. Unearthly was its form, chilling was its smile. Lozo could only see its form in sharp glimpses as the smoke shifted from place to another.
Its body was scared with bright red markings all over its body. They were less if scars more of cracks. The cracks had an eerie ember glow sipping through them. They shone almost like fractured lamps lighting all that lay around it. The cracks ran across its entire body even through its head where only patches of its hair remained. There was large crack stretching across it's the cranium of its skull letting out what looked like orange glowing sweat.
'That's not sweat… its blood.' His mind corrected.
As the thought took its time to settle another odd thing happened. At the ends of the crack on his forehead strings shot up in unison from both ends. They dove and rose into its skin sewing shut the crack and preventing any more of that orange fluid from spilling.
The figure then looked into the sky, arms up as though it was praying, its completely dark teeth sucking in any of the stray moonlight that was able to peer through the smoke. Then it laughed. Like an old witch rejoicing at the completion of a new potion. Like a sadist necromancer enjoying the empty pain of the dead. Like the ecstasy of a kamikaze crow as it descends on the remains of the unlucky. Down to every screech its laugh shook Lozo's very being.
He stepped back trying to evade its sight. It was too late. Its head twisted, its eyes locked onto its next prey.
"Oh! Who do we have here?" It asked as its arms dropped from the air.
On hearing its voice, a sudden wave of perplex washed over Lozo.
From its hideous laugh to its hideous face one would expect some crooked voice, sharp, screechy at the least scarry but the creature standing in front of him now was nothing like that. Its voice was firm and just. It was young, voiced by someone in their early thirties. As it stepped closer, its stitched hand stretching towards Lozo, his fear and perplex merged into an unforeseen feeling. It felt… it felt like he could trust the creature.
"A child, finally." It beckoned on seeing his face. It was draped in the same fine clothes as the two saints from before.
"You see we were sent here thinking it was an orphanage and once I got here all I could see were nothing but grown-ups… Oh there was this really old man with flabby wrinkles…"
'Old man?' Lozo thought the creature's words blurring out. His thoughts finally settled on a name.
"… they were all extremely talkative saying that they were going to protect the Orphanage with their lives. Especially that old man. I think his name was… um"
"Old man Ji." Lozo said in a devasted voice.
The creature looked at him with pleased eyes.
"Yeah, old man Ji. He kept shouting that. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw he was old."
"Whe… where… where is he now?" Lozo asked fearful of what was to come next.
"Who? The old man?"
Lozo nodded.
"I killed them all. His time in this world had already passed… "the creature paused before looking around. Its eyes lit on finding what he was looking for. "There, there. I left his body over there." It said pointing at the direction.
Lozo's eyes trembled as they tried to navigate to the direction. He had never realized how fast things could go south in a matter of hours. First his home was burnt to a crisp then he found Hinari in the arms of those recognized as saints burnt by their own flames and now the final devastation on his icing. His tears were more than welcomed, yet they stopped. A touch on his shoulder halted them in their streams.
"Don't look… I'm right here with you, Lozo." The old man's voice said.
"This is no time to lament. Remember your promise to Hinari… You have to get her out of here."
"So, pull those tears back to their ducts and face the enemy in front of you… I'll be with you no matter what! Just... Don't look. "
Lozo sniveled, retreating his tears.
"What's wrong with you people!?"
"Is this what heroes do? Is this the purpose of saints!?"
Standing a few steps from him, the creature looked at Lozo in disgust. Its eyes squinted as it looked closer at Lozo.
"Oh, I see, you fire is starting to burn bright like mine. "
"Did you see mine. It was all over the place just a minute ago. Did you see it? Coz, I can see yours" the creature rejoiced.
"Tsk!" Lozo clicked.
"Why am I even asking you this, I already know the answer."
"All of you people are the same." Lozo said, his eyes blazingly staring into its eyes.
The creature's joy sky rocketed. Pasted on its face was a dark smile. It started to move around dancing erratically circling Lozo, smile still on its face.
"I can feel it. The Hymn, its coming. My threads can feel it too. The hymn granted to me for the fated flames. Its coming." The creature's odd dance continued.
Then it stopped suddenly. Its eyes peering at Hinari.
"But there is only one flaw… you."
Lozo blinked, and in the space of that heartbeat Hinari was gone — her weight ripped from his arms. The creature held her by the throat as she dangled over the water filled well.
"You're the flaw here. "It said its voice sinking into a deep dark tone.
Lozo blinked and in the other second the sound he heard a heavy load crash into a pool of water. The water rose in flash brilliance and just like that Lozo could no longer feel Hinari's presence.
His eyes widened. His brain screamed powerless.
He was about to shoot towards the creature blinded by rage when he felt a strange hand crawl up his gut and another cover his mouth.
"Now listen to my Hymn." The creatures odd voice said.
***
"Wait is the fun over?" a voice boomed in disappointment.
Another voice standing next to it sighed.
"People like you are the ones who give saints a bad name." it said in a condescending tone.
"Huh what did you say to me. I the great Saint Jumbo is just and true. My actions speak the will of my lord." Jumbo said valiantly.
"Are you saying the will of my Lord are not just, huh?" Jumbo screamed into his partner's ear.
"I can hear you just fine, stop shouting. "The condescending voice said.
"Also, we share a Lord and yet I don't act like a barbarian like you. Have you ever thought of trying etiquette, Jumbo?"
There was an eerie silence. It was unlike Jumbo to remain quiet after a provoke, especially one from a person he thought of as small.
"Jumbo?" the saint's gaze turned to a few meters behind him.
As though rooted to the ground Jumbo stood frozen behind him. His everything from stance to facial expression were had all stopped in time like someone j=had pressed the pause on his motion. Jumbo didn't seem aware of it.
'Hmm?' the saint thought.
"A binding trap? No Jumbo can't get caught in the same trap twice. This is someone else." He deduced.
Suddenly he heard a voice in his head.
"Heime, keep walking this way." The voice said.
The voice was familiar. They had been assigned this mission together and only one person would have such an annoying middle-aged voice.
"This is no time for games, Kar." he said.
"Keep walking this way." The voice said.
…
A few minutes later the saint stood in front the east well. Next to it, with a burnt scar across his stomach, the boy lay kneeling on the ground. He was panting heavily as though fighting for his life. Behind him a grotesque mud creature hovered. Its formed looked like an old man whose wrinkles flowed like mud as they stretched down. Its form had grown weary and could fall apart under the appropriate strike.
On the other side Kar stood with piles of mud dripping across his steaming body. He swatted some mud to the ground trying to wipe of the rest on his body. As strange as ever he had a smile on his face. His creepy dark toothed smile.
"Oh, Heime." Kar called with joy. "Do you want to here my Hymn?"