Shedding Strength pt. 6

Darren struggled to move as a searing sensation slipped over his shoulders and ran down the length of his arms. Bright orange, arced lines crisscrossed his skin while the stench of burning flesh filled his nostrils. When the excruciating pattern reached the back of his hands, it splintered to his fingers in a blink. A deafening burst rang in his ears as a sudden force knocked him across the ground, away from the boulder.

Finally able to move, and shout in agony from the pain in his stomach and arms, Darren quickly searched for what had attacked. Oddly, all he noticed first was a pile of rocks that used to be the boulder. Grunting, he slowly sat up on his knees which proved extremely difficult since significant movement of his arms caused surges of pain up to his shoulders. However, once he managed to get to his knees, he could see the boulder pieces more clearly and the small fragments among them that weren’t rock.

Fixated on one bigger, rounder piece in particular, Darren stood in disbelief. He had seen so many on television, but laying his eyes on one in person set a completely different feeling in the pit of his stomach. He stepped closer, to make sure his eyes weren’t playing a trick on him. They weren’t. Among the rubble sat a partially cracked skull.

Darren’s stomach caved. He spun around and hurled up what felt like a three-course meal plus dessert. He just hoped it hadn’t tasted that way going down. Cringing through the pain, he wiped his mouth and accidentally caught another whiff of his singed flesh. The repulsive odor nearly caused another convulsion, but he somehow managed to keep the second wave down long enough to glance at the skull again. “Bel?” he worried. He wasn’t sure if she could’ve been reduced to a skeleton that quickly, but if she had…

The tall grass inches beyond the rocks rustled at the same moment he heard a moan. Focusing through the shadow and light stripes, Darren finally spotted the dirty, bare foot barely visible through the green blades. Relieved, he stiffly ran to her in a meaningless effort to minimize the stinging in his arms. Isobel slowly sat up, but the grass easily hid her face. She pushed apart the blades and stared up at him in disgust. “I… s-so… hate this place.”

“Did you get burned too?” he asked while crouching next to her.

“Burned? Too?” Isobel crawled free from the grass, noticing the black marks running up his arms and disappearing under his short sleeves. “What happened to you?!” Concerned, she grabbed his left arm. The searing pain returned, but the marks didn’t glow this time. A moment later, after an audible low hiss, Isobel shrieked and snatched her right hand away. Her palm was covered in patterned, red welts that matched his arm. “What was that?!”

Darren shook his head. “Ain’t got a clue, but you betta believe it’s hurtin’ me a helluva lot more than you.”

“Well how did it happen?” she squeaked before shaking her hand and blowing the welts.

“Ask the rock!” he shouted as he pointed toward the rubble. Darren had never noticed how annoyingly high-pitched Isobel’s words got whenever she flustered. He didn’t exactly know what a harpy was, but it was the first word that came to mind. He tried not focusing on her voice long enough to figure out what the rock had done to his arms, or better yet, how it had managed to paralyze him. He suddenly frowned. “Wait… What happened to you before the rock went all ’splodey?!”

Isobel briefly stared at him with wide, confused eyes before pointing frantically. “I fainted! There’s a freaking skeleton right there! Do you not see that?!” Scrunching her nose, she frowned in return and waved her hand in front of her face. “And man, what is that smell?!”

Shedding Strength pt. 7  (13+) Soon-to-be high school graduates wake up in a strange place... #2059290 by Kadiro