Chapter 20 - The Berserk State

For the first time in a long while, Leah’s instincts screamed, louder than ever before. Not just warning her to be careful, but begging her to run. The snow goblin king emerged from the icy mist, each of his footsteps like a drumbeat in the vast silence of the hall.

Leah’s breath caught in her throat. Her limbs felt heavy, her muscles stiff. She tried to move but she couldn’t.

A snarl sounded beside Leah. Ibbi stepped forward and bared her fangs at the king. Leah snapped out of her trance with a sharp inhale. Her eyes refocused. She locked her jaw, then coldly met the king’s eyes.

The Goblin King rested his sword on his shoulder and gave a slow, amused smirk.

"You trespassers..." he said, his voice echoing like rolling thunder, "I’ll tear your heads from your shoulders for stepping foot in this place."

Leah raised her sword, the tip pointing straight at him. "I’d like to see you try."

They stood there, locked in a frozen standoff. Seconds dragged on.

Then, Leah’s eyes widened. She saw him twitch his leg muscle.

"Dodge!" She shouted.

The king vanished. A shockwave cracked the floor where he had just stood. Then, he was in front of Ibbi. Without even raising his sword, he drove his free hand into Ibbi’s neck.

"How dare you snarl at your king, you traitor." he growled, and ripped Ibbi’s head from her shoulders.

Blood sprayed. Her head spun through the air. Leah scowled.

She activated Blood Empowerment and launched herself forward, swinging her blade with fury.

But the king turned and batted her sword aside easily. Then, in the same motion, he lifted his longsword and slashed across Leah’s torso.

She yelled as a white-hot wound was afflicted across her torso. Leah leapt backwards, clutching the gash, teeth gritted in agony.

Gabriel landed beside her. "What should we do?"

"Grab Ibbi’s body and head," Leah hissed. "I can still revive her. And don’t join in on the fight, you’re weaker than Ibbi."

Gabriel bolted away to the side.

Leah eyed the goblin king, her sword lifting again. Her wound ebbed, sending pain throughout her body, but she didn’t care. She activated blood armour and charged forward.

And as she did, the goblin king laughed. He barely moved as he deflected every blow with effortless swings from his sword. Then, suddenly, he leapt away, rounding and then vanishing behind a pillar.

Leah followed him, dashing around the column, but he was gone. Her eyes darted around, but then she sensed his blood. She looked up.

The king came crashing down, his foot slamming onto her helmet, smashing her head into the floor. Her helmet jiggled violently, but it barely held together. He raised his foot again.

His heel drove into her again, shaking the area around them. Cracks split the stone and more shot up the pillar beside them. Leah’s helmet exploded in a shower of blood.

The king grabbed her by the hair and lifted her like a ragdoll. He then flung her across the hall. She slammed into a pillar with a hard thud, the marble shattering.

She slid off and collapsed to the floor, blood trailing down her chin. Her sword clattered away. The Goblin King laughed behind her, the sound guttural and deep. It echoed as he began walking toward her.

Leah coughed. Blood dripped from her lips. Her fingers curled. She forced her limbs to move. She pushed herself off the floor, trembling.

Her now blood-matted hair stuck to her face, but her grip found her sword once again. She staggered upright.

The king stepped into view. He grinned, then lunged forward with shocking speed, slashing his sword in a wide arc.

Leah barely ducked, rolling across the floor. His blade sliced the pillar behind her, carving a deep, clean groove into solid marble. Leah rolled to her feet just in time to see the king grab that same pillar.

With a yank, he tore a portion of the pillar from its structure. He lifted it up with a single hand and swung it down at Leah like a massive club.

Leah flew to the side, evading the pillar by inches as it crashed into the floor, obliterating the floor underneath in a cloud of dust and rubble.

As she darted into the air, the king hurled the broken pillar at her. It crashed into the surrounding structures, shattering other marble columns and filling the hall with falling debris. Leah wove through flying chunks of stone, slipping past the destruction.

The king discarded the broken pillar and reached for his sword once again.

As Leah flew, the king blasted frost beneath his feet, launching himself into the air. He caught up to her in moments.

They spiralled through the hall, weaving by pillars like they were fighter jets. The Goblin King swung again and again, each swing unleashing blasts of razor-sharp ice.

Leah spun, dodged, dipped out of the way of the attacks. Her blood tendrils flared from her back, one of them latching onto a nearby pillar. With a sharp pull, she yanked herself into a tight, spiralling motion, whipping around the pillar like a comet.

As she rounded it, she caught sight of the Goblin King’s back. Without hesitation, Leah snapped a tendril towards him, but the king turned instantly.

He raised his sword and unleashed a wave of frost that howled through the air. The tendril froze solid mid-flight.

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The wave continued to race towards her. Leah snapped the tendril off and dove down just before the frost met her.

She flew low, flying above the ground as she passed the mist. Her wings beat furiously. But just as she looked up to relocate the king, pain exploded in her chest.

The earlier wound, the white slash the king had left on her torso, flared. She clenched her jaw and crashed to the floor, skidding hard across the hard floor. She coughed and slowly pushed herself to her knees. Her trembling hand touched her ribs.

The wound had worsened. Frost pulsed outwards from the slash, and her limbs felt numb, slow. She was freezing from the inside.

Her eyes widened in realisation. She dug frantically into her side pouch and pulled out a white vial, the ice elemental resistance elixir she had looted from the chest earlier.

She held it up, ready to pop the lid, but the Goblin King appeared out of nowhere, flying in like a missile, his sword impaling her straight through the chest. Leah's breath was stolen from her lungs.

The king dragged her through the air, skewered like a trophy. The vial slipped from her fingers, tumbling through the air before it shattered on the ground below.

With a casual flick, the king tossed her off his blade, sending her crashing into the ground in a cloud of dust and blood. Leah gasped as she lay on her side barely breathing.

The Goblin King walked towards her with glee, his footsteps light, even amused. When he reached her, he planted his boot against her ribs and kicked, flipping her onto her back.

Then, he began stabbing her. Again. And again. And again.

The sword punctured her body, over and over, rhythmically, like the unhinged violence of a butcher. Leah’s mouth opened in a silent scream. Each stab sent shockwaves of pain through her. She bit into her cheek to keep from screaming, teeth grinding until her gums bled.

The stabbing stopped. The Goblin King stepped back to admire his handiwork.

Leah’s body was nearly entirely white, her red skin turned to frostbitten ice. Her fingers crumbled. One of her hands collapsed inward, like melting slush.

"You were a fool to challenge me," the king sneered. "You bring your defiance to my throne, and now you die like the animal you are."

Leah’s mind reeled. Move. Think. Fight back. But every thought spiralled into nothing. She was fading.

The king raised his sword one final time, directly over her face. As her eyes fluttered closed, a final thought crept into her mind.

'This… might be it.'

But as she heard the fading cackles of the goblin king, she was reminded of something. By the end of her duel with Ibbi she was surging with a wild, uncontrollable power.

She remembered the moment she had surpassed her limits, the way her blood had burned like wildfire, her strength had exploded, her speed had tripled.

But what was the key to reach that stage?

She latched on to a feeling she had felt on that day. Maybe, it was rage.

Then suddenly, a memory of when she was back on earth surfaced.

***

It was around the time when Leah was thirteen.

She stood outside her apartment building in worn-out shoes, a threadbare hoodie pulled tightly over her head. The cold bit at her fingers as she watched bailiffs haul out bags of belongings, tossing them carelessly onto the curb.

Her father shouted something, angry and desperate, but one of the bailiffs shoved him hard. He stumbled, falling to the concrete right in front of her.

"Dad!" she cried, running to his side.

She dropped to her knees and grabbed his thin, trembling arm, trying to help him up.

One of the bailiffs pointed. "Don’t come around here anymore."

Her dad struggled to his knees. "Just one more week. Please… one more week…"

The bailiff scoffed and threw the remaining plastic bags towards him. Clothes spilled out.

"Take your crap and leave. Before we call the police."

Leah watched her dad’s mouth open, then close. He looked away from her, his eyes glossed with defeat.

"Let’s go somewhere else." he muttered.

They walked for what felt like hours.

Leah’s arms ached from the bags she carried, plastic handles biting deep into her hands until she couldn’t feel her fingers anymore. Her dad limped beside her, his bad leg dragging with every step, and he carried just as much as she did.

He glanced at her. "Bags heavy?"

Leah smiled faintly and shook her head. "Nope."

They kept walking.

"Why were they so… mean?" she asked after a while.

Her dad didn’t answer right away. Then, quietly he said, "They’re just doing their jobs."

“But they showed no sympathy.”

Her dad exhaled slowly. "To survive this world…" he said, his voice distant, tired, "some part of you has to become a monster. Selflessness won’t do you any good."

Leah mulled over those words as rain began to fall. First a drizzle. Then a pour.

They ran, their bags thumping against them, until they found a bus stop shelter. Drenched, they collapsed onto the metal bench. As the rain roared against the roof, a long silence passed.

"I can get a job." Leah said suddenly.

Her dad turned to her, bewildered. "You’re thirteen."

"I’m not young anymore. I can help out."

He shook his head, hard. "I won’t let my daughter work herself to the bone at thirteen. I’ll find something. I will."

He pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. His hands trembled as he lit one and took a drag. Leaning his head against the glass, he closed his eyes.

Then he asked carefully, "Leah… do you want to go live with your mother?"

Leah frowned. "I don’t even remember her face."

"It’ll only be for a couple months. Just until I’m back on my feet."

She clutched her knees. "I don’t want to."

"Please," he whispered. "I don’t want you to live a bad life… not because of me."

He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her. "Just a couple months. Alright?"

She didn’t speak at first. Then, reluctantly, she nodded.

That same day, they walked for hours. Her mother lived in another city, and they had no money for transport.

They passed highways, bridges, and long roads, all under gray skies. When they finally reached the city, it took a while for Leah’s father to locate the neighbourhood her mother was in.

Leah widened her eyes. It was a rich area. Every house was massive, pristine, trimmed hedges and polished gates. They stopped at a white house at the end of the street.

"Does mum live here?" Leah asked.

Her dad nodded without looking up. When they walked up the driveway, her father pressed the doorbell.

A moment later, a large man with broad shoulders and tattoos across his arms, answered the door.

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

Leah’s dad hesitated. "I… I want to speak with Miranda."

The man’s jaw tightened. "She doesn’t want to see you."

But from deeper inside, a woman’s voice called, "Who is it?"

The door opened wider. A woman with curly hair and makeup stepped out, holding a baby tightly in one arm.

The moment she saw them, her expression darkened.

"What do you want?"

Leah’s dad bowed his head slightly, hands together. "Can you take care of Leah for a couple months?"

Miranda scoffed. "I have a family now. I don’t want anything to do with the past."

"She’s your daughter." he said in disbelief.

"She was a mistake I made when I was young," Miranda said coldly. "And I don’t want anything to do with her."

The man tried pushing the door closed. Leah’s dad stopped it with his hands.

"Just one month. Please. I’ll pay you."

The man opened the door wider and kicked him, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Get off our property."

Leah stood still. Saying nothing.

As the door began to close, she caught Miranda’s eyes, cold, disgusted, like Leah was something filthy.

The door shut. Leah’s hands tightened into fists. Her jaw clenched so hard that she tasted blood. How dare she look down on her.

It was something that pissed her off to no end. The eyes of someone looking at her like they were better than her.

As the memory dissolved, Leah’s eyes snapped open. The goblin king’s sword was coming down, but she caught the blade between her fangs.

Suddenly, her body restored itself. Her limbs healed, and her skin returned to a vivid red. Her tattoos lit up in glowing red, and her eyes were now full crimson.

She lifted her leg and kicked the Goblin King in the chest. He flew back, skidding across the floor before coming to a stop. He stared at her, eyes narrowed.

Leah rose slowly, like a beast from a nightmare, snarling through clenched fangs.

"Don’t look down on me, goblin."

She launched forward and slammed her foot into the king’s face, sending him flying backwards into a pillar. The moment the king hit the structure, the pillar broke in two.