Ada: The Witch Huntress

Chapter 15: Finest Suffocation

    “What about Jaxx and the lady?” Cloy whined. Zeya knew very well that Cloy isn’t worried about Jaxx at all. It’s pretty evident that Cloy is already fascinated with that Ada lady. Well, he’s always fond of something new anyway. 

    “Jaxx could have reached Camp Bukandi by now, so stop worrying about that pale brat,” Nissa voiced in utmost contempt.

    “Zeya, what’s the plan? Should we retreat for now?” Xena said, making it obvious to everyone that she’s afraid of these slightly intimidating monsters. She understood Xena’s apprehension. It is a disadvantage of being the only Wiccan on the team. Xena is already labeled as the weakest, courtesy of Nissa. Despite her combat training for about a year, she’s still no match to her shapeshifting teammates.

    Mostly, Therians work as hunters or huntresses responsible for protecting the entire Realm of Wicceros, and they are summoned into investigations and missions like this one. 

    About twenty squads of hunters were formed. A Therian is assigned to a team according to his or her specific alternate. His alternate carves a Therian’s ultimate strength.

    The Elven League, which is considered the most graceful squad of hunters, consists of members who can shapeshift into elves gifted with an unmatched form of haste. A regular eye won’t be able to see how quickly they nock their arrows onto their bows. You’ll only realize you’re attacked once an arrow pierced you.  

    Somehow, Zeya believes otherwise. The elves are the most vulnerable and useless squad in terms of combat. They won’t even compare to Chimera Shifters or even Troll Hunters. She’s often displeased when elves are just sent into sophisticated missions like escorting envoys and defending influential individuals during gatherings.

    Meanwhile, her team, the Demon Squad, is always sent into ghastly operations like this, which often involves bloodshed. Any non-Therian people could easily mistake them as hunters of demons because of their group’s name. However, their name denotes otherwise, for they are the demons themselves. Her team shapeshifts into different forms of ghouls, beastly creatures, and other unsightly figures classified as demons, apart from Xena, who’s a Wiccan, and their healer. 

    Each squad requires a healer because no matter how strong a Therian is, their wounds don’t heal themselves. Therians don’t regenerate. Some Therians are just blessed with flexible alternates like her team, but that doesn’t mean they are totally invincible, hence, the need for healers. 

    Usually, Magians blessed with the power of Magnus Sanitatem (Healing Magic) are employed as healers because they are naturally born with it, unlike the Wiccans who use potions, sealed magic tools, runes, spells, chants, etc. However, not all Magians are fond of becoming hunters. That’s why squads would often resort to a Wiccan, like Xena. 

    Any Therian, Magian, or Wiccan accepted as a hunter will be combat-trained for about three months. In the third month, each hunter will be appraised before they are assigned to a squad. However, if a hunter’s combat skills are still lacking, he’d be trained for another three months or longer.

    Zeya believes Nissa to be the strongest in her team, next to her, of course. She’d make a great squad captain if only she could learn to control her emotions and choice of words a bit. Zeya didn’t like how Nissa belittles her team’s abilities or how she undermines her authority at times. However, Nissa has proven her capability even in the short term she was assigned to their team. So, Zeya has no choice but to deal with this irksome woman every now and then. 

    “I think running is the best option,” Cloy reasoned out. “We don’t know what these guys are capable of. Plus, there could be more of them out there. We’ll be outnumbered,” Cloy went on.

    Cloy’s right. It doesn’t hurt to retreat, especially when the enemy isn’t attacking yet. However, she doesn’t want to waste their chance to find the enemy’s secret base. They have been searching for weeks now, and this is the first clue they have unearthed. 

    “Bullsh*t!” Nissa screeched at Cloy and they were all astounded for a second as Nissa charged at the rezogs in front of her, and the other rezogs started to attack them too. 

    F*cking brat!

    They all had no choice but to fight, and just as she had thought, these rezogs are really trained for war. It took her a minute to kill one, but she was relieved that these special rezogs also dissipate into ashes once killed, just like the normal ones. It doesn’t matter if these things can brandish weapons. They still aren’t strong enough for them.

    “See? No need to fuss about these sword-wielding trashes,” Nissa proudly commented after they finish everything off.

    Zeya couldn’t restrain herself now as she strode towards Nissa and quickly smashed the latter’s tiny face with her closed fist as she cursed the brat in her mind.

    ***

    Ada groaned as she tried to heave herself up from the ground. Her back is still throbbing. Somehow, she managed to carry her weight by leaning on the shade she hit a while ago. She can’t still run as she’s still feeling dizzy. 

    She blinked her eyes numerous times as she tried to clear her blurry sight to see the slender figure of a man walking unhurriedly towards her. Her heart pumped faster as she noticed the man’s unusual pale skin, heavily accentuated by his black shirt and black trousers. He has a thin, wavy, black, grunge hairstyle that reaches his shoulders. He looked like a bass guitarist of a heavy metal band.

    She could feel her blood curdling as she glimpsed at his unsightly protruded eyes, which are currently fastened on her. He doesn’t look like a beast like the first one she encountered. He’s far from Jaxx’s werehorse transformation, but he doesn’t look like a normal man, either. There’s something about him that gives her the creeps. Plus, she wasn’t sure yet if he’s the one who attacked her. 

    Is it a vampire this time? Why is this place full of freaky creatures! 

    Beads of sweat formed in her head as the man stopped about three feet away from her. They had a staring battle for several seconds before she mustered up the courage to speak because there’s no way she could run away from him in her current condition. 

    “Please… don’t kill me,” she begged. The man stared at her coldly before he raised his arm in her direction. At first, she thought he was offering her a hand. But, when she felt the sudden tightening in her chest, she realized he never meant to help her.

    She doesn't know how, but she can visibly see every air escaping out of her… flowing smoothly toward him.  He is f*cking suffocating her, and she doesn’t know how he’s doing it. She doesn’t need to know. She’d be dead in a few seconds anyway. 

    Please, let this be the final suffocation of my life...