The Black Heritage

Chapter 12: His Two Brother's Death

Ethan felt all his body hair stand on end when he saw the child running towards him. He was hugging the puppy tightly and cried.

"Jotun, watch out!" Ethan's eyes widened as a monster raised his hand to grab Jotun. With the luck of the child, he escaped while bending down, crawling and running again. He still did not release his pet puppy despite his difficulty in avoiding each attack of the two monsters.

Ethan grabbed an arrow behind his back but unfortunately, it turned out to be all gone. The young man seemed to be overwhelmed with fear especially when many more monsters jumped around the child at the same time. Before the kid swallowed in between the mobbing monsters, he stretched out one of his hands towards Ethan as if he could actually reach him. 

Ethan just got on his knees when Jotun shouted loudly while the monsters devoured him at the same time. He could not see him because everyone was feasting him and they were covering him inside. They also heard the screams of the injured dog.

"My grandchild!" Uncle Simon outcried before he finally died. 

Ethan shouted loudly as if he were scolding the sky. His eyes deepened and were glaring. He stood up and ran quickly to the swarming monsters.

As Ethan approached Jotun, he was also greeted by the other monster's companions who had just arrived. But out of rage, he did not pay attention to them. He devoted all his attention to Jotun. As a result, the nails of the attacking monster passed through Ethan's arms and body.

His two older brothers saw it. Even before the monsters completely destroyed the body of their beloved and most cared brother, the two jumped over them. Quicker than a blink of an eye, Brayden and Logan ruthlessly chopped off the monsters' heads with a whip and a bamboo spike.

The two immediately held Ethan up who almost stumbled due to injuries..

"Little Brother, does it hurt? Endure that first, we will take you to the hospital." Brayden said in tears as he blew those wounds.

Ethan ignored the siblings' worries. Instead, he shook his body and shoulders and ran back towards Jotun.

"You stubborn reckless brat, come back here!" Logan's veins almost exploded in his neck with the force of his scream. Ethan just turned to them and smiled then turned his glazing eyes again to the piled of monsters.

"Little Brother, listen to us okay? Please, come back here." Brayden wailed. 

"I will kill you all. I won't spare any of your race." Ethan shouted like crazy with a dagger in his hand which was already ready to thrust at the monsters but when he was about to swing the dagger, the monsters suddenly caught fire and screamed as they molten. 

"What's happening?" Ethan asked in surprise.

When the wind blow suddenly increased, Ethan realized what really just happened because the smell of the garlic smelled bad. Then it just also occurred to him that a garlic was deadly to the monsters.

Ethan dropped his dagger and dug Jotun out from under the pile of ashes and he was overjoyed when the boy's hand suddenly moved and he coughed.

Ethan quickly grabbed the child from lying down and hugged him tightly and kissed him on the head while silently shedding tears as if he were a father longing for his son. Then he dusted the ashes covered at Jotun's face.

Jotun's face wrinkled as if he was going to cry again as he slowly raised his right hand and showed his fingers. "Brother Ethan, it hurts and sour."

When Ethan looked at the boy's hand he saw that his two fingers were cut, the index finger and the thumb. It must be because he blocked the monster's mouth from biting him or probably it was accidentally bitten when he was feeding garlic to the monster's mouth, reasoned for them to melt. 

Monster's were afraid of garlic not because of its strong bad smell or because they would get hurt by it from having contact with it but because once they swallowed it, they would burn and melt. 

What a smart kid. He wrapped his body with garlic and even wore garlic in his neck but the poor puppy died protecting his little master. 

"That's fine Jotun. That is only a hand. What matters is that you are alive. How could you think about wrapping garlic in your body? And how did you survive from the relentless stabbing of monsters? I thought-- I thought- thanks God, it didn't happen." Ethan said breathlessly. 

"I remember that one of the medicines you prescribed for my sister Penthelope was the garlic so I thought of putting them on my body. I would have gone back to my grandparents to give them some too but I was late. They had already been eaten. My puppy died because he blocked all the monsters that would have stabbed me." The child sobbed. "They are all gone. I have no one now."

"It's fine. I am here. I am here. From now on, we are brothers, okay? So don't be sad anymore."

Everyone thought that the night of the nightmare was over. Although the less than ten survivors were happy, they could not celebrate because of the scattered corpses they saw around. They knelt down and cried.

" Ethan!" As soon as Ethan put down Jotun to the side, Logan dashed and suddenly threw a hard punch at Ethan's face. Ethan staggered backwards as he looked at his brother wonderingly while rubbing his cheek. 

Brayden stopped Logan. "Big Brother, that's enough. It's over. It's okay now. He's safe."

But Logan was really in a fit of anger. He didn't listen at Brayden. Instead, he snapped him aside. "Don't try to stop me. If not, you are the one to taste my punch."

It was rare for Brayden to see his brother that angry and that was always because of Ethan. So he did nothing and just stepped aside with his hands raised saying that he was giving up.

"Aren't you strong and have nothing to fear anymore? Come on, let's fight to death." Logan said furiously again. 

"Brother Logan, what have I done wrong? But even if you beat me until you are satisfied, I will not punch back." Ethan replied.

"Ah, that's right. All right. Let's see how long you can withstand it." Logan punched Ethan in the cheek again successively. Some people might think the punches were strong, but the truth was that it was Logan's weakest blow. He was holding back. If he really put a strength to his punch, Ethan's face would have exploded already with the first punch. "You don't really listen to us now. Our worries really don't matter to you. You don't care how we feel when something bad happens to you. We have taken care of you since you were a child. Even mosquitoes, we didn't allow them to land on your body. Now that you have grown up and strong, you just throw your life lightly like a s**t!"

"What a touching dialogue." Lucian's frightening and mocking voice thundered as he clapped loudly. And soon Ethan and others were surrounded by them.

Ethan, his brother's and others did not feel the arrival of another group of monsters because they transformed into humans and were very careful and cautious as they approached Ethan's group, so they were the last to arrive. Another thing was that they were expecting that Ethan and his companions had almost no strength left  to fight so Lucian already had the win in mind.

"Kill them all. Don't spare even a single mosquito." Lucian ordered. 

The survivors shouted and fretted again as Lucian and his people shifted into mad hungry monsters. They were almost crawling as they ran but before they could reach Ethan's side, they were dragged by monsters and torn to pieces.

"This is bad, we have now way to escape." Brayden exclaimed. Brayden and Logan quickly cornered Ethan while facing the monsters. 

"Little Brother, I am ordering you again. Leave here now." Logan said. 

"I don't want to, Brother Logan. I will fight with you until death." Ethan insisted as he lifted Jotun in his arms and grabbed his dagger, completely forgetting his wounds. 

"Stop being stubborn." Logan yelled angrily. 

As the monsters rushed together towards them, Logan and Brayden suddenly hauled and lifted Ethan who was still carrying Jotun tightly and they jumped high. As they descended again from above, they did not land straight to the ground, instead, they ran as they rode along the waves of monsters in their head, back and shoulders until they reached a wide and deep river.

Logan and Brayden immediately pushed Ethan into the river.

"Go and leave here! Leave with Jotun. Don't turn back whatever happens. Just leave." Logan shouted. His eyes were filled with anxiety and hopelessness for survival.

"I said I am not leaving you two behind. If I leave, I want you two to come with me." Ethan said tearfully. 

"Little Brother, just leave now before it's too late." Brayden was facing his back on Ethan and was only on guard against the oncoming monsters.

"If you still consider us as your brother, then listen. Leave. Leave us here. Otherwise, we will no longer consider you as our little brother."

Ethan gasped as tears welled up ceaselessly in his eyes. He did not think that Logan would say that. Even Brayden looked back and was shocked by the older brother's words.

"No. That's not true. You are clearly worried and love me, how can you say now--"

Ethan hadn't finished speaking when Logan shouted again, "It was all a pretension. There is nothing true about what we are showing to you. We are so tired of you Ethan. You are just a big burden in our lives. We can't have fun with our lives because we need to take care of you and watch over you. We are too sick around you. Did you hear me?"

"No! You are lying! That is not true! That is not true!" 

Logan grinned bitterly, "Which of the things I said is not true? Just so you know, none. Oh, you got a new brother now. Take good care of him. We are sure you won't be lonely with him."

"Big Brother, it seems I can't stop them anymore." Brayden shouted. Even though his body was almost torn all over, he was still struggling to fight with the monsters.

Logan turned to Brayden. When he turned to Ethan again, his anger intensified but there was also a mixture of concern that his eyes could not hide. "Leave!"

"Little Brother, just take this as my last wish before I die. Please leave here. Save yourself. I'm begging you." Brayden shouted before the howls of the monsters drowned out his voice. 

Ethan no longer knew what to do. If he would leave or kill with his siblings.

Later, Lucian jumped out of the crowd of monsters and advanced to Ethan but was stopped with a sudden grab on his foot by Brayden who was bathed in his own blood. 

"Let go of me." Lucian growled at him.

"No! I will die first before you can lay a hand to my little brother." Brayden said, almost in whisper.

"Then I will grant your wish!" Lucian kicked Brayden's torn back with the other foot and stabbed him with his nails. Even though he already vomited blood repeatedly, Brayden still did not let go. This intensified Lucian's anger. 

Lucian would have pulled Brayden's head, only if he did not see Ethan trying to flee. Concerned that he might escape, Lucian stuck out and  stretched his tongue towards Ethan.

"What are you waiting for? Will you only run away when we are all dead? Okay, if you want to watch us all die, go ahead. Watch carefully." Even Logan was facing his back to them, he felt Lucian's tongue approaching. 

Lucian's tongue was first cut by Logan and Brayden but it healed and grew again. Now, it has become even more cruel and sharp.

"Brother Brayden, I am sorry." Cried Ethan. 

Ethan did not notice his approaching death, but before Lucian's sharp tongue could reach him, Logan rushly pushed Ethan hard towards the river while his body blocked Lucian's tongue. The tongue pierced straight at Logan's heart. He vomited a lot of blood while smiling and waving at Ethan.

"Brother Brayden, Brother Logan, I am sorry. I am sorry. Promise, I will avenge you. Wait for me." Fortunately, Ethan was an expert of ancient martial arts, otherwise they would have drowned already in the rushing river. Ethan was powerless to save his brothers so he just ran over above the water surface as his tears kept dripping. In his heart, the word revenge was engraved.

"Brother Ethan." The only words Jotun said while looking at Ethan's face that still did not stop running too far away.