The Flames of Hope Ch 17

Chapter 17~Someone Please Pass the Food
Sammy and I ran into the park with our weapons drawn. People seemed to be running away from something, but they had a confused look in their eyes and once they reached the edge of the park, they’d stop and look at the park before making a remark about how the landscapers weren’t doing their job. It didn’t take much to find the cause of the problem as we came across a man in a brown long coat with a brown fedora that matched the dying grass around his feet. In his hand he had a walking cane that he would place on the ground before making a step, but every time he placed it on the ground, the grass and trees within the area would die.

“Stop that,” I yelled and he turned his head in our direction. Sammy and I looked him down and as the brim of his hat rose to meet our gaze, I looked into his eyes which were completely black and he smiled at us with a mouth full of yellow teeth. He let out a little laugh that sounded like his lungs were full of sand, which may not be that far off as small clouds of dust escaped his mouth with each exhale of his breath.

“And who is going to stop me? Demeter is nowhere to be seen and the same can be said of her lovely daughter. It has given Limos the chance to rise!” he yelled up to the sky as he laughed once again.

“Who’s Limos?” I asked, wonder what he had to do with this new enemy in front of us. However, the man stopped laughing and look me dead in the eye with an annoyed scowl.

“Me you nincompoops!” he shouted as he took his hand and pointed at himself. “Limos is the spirit of hunger and starvation. Limos will starve the people of this world by killing off all the plants!”

“Why do you keep referring to yourself in the third person?” I asked him. It was starting to get kind of annoying me. “I mean it seems kind of unneeded.”

“Do not question Limos, you are like the buzzing of flies to him,” he yelled and I found my ability to take this guy seriously falling with every mention of his name.

“Sammy, go take this guy out please,” I told him and he acted like I had just given him the best birthday gift in the world.

“Sure,” he said back and ran up to him, sword ready to attack. He ran up to Limos and took a swing, but amazingly the spirit raised his cane and blocked the strike. Sammy jumped back and went in for another strike which was blocked again. I watched Limos move in an abstract fashion. He seemed to rely on his cane for balance when he walked, but he moved in quick fluid motions that didn’t match his nature. He never attacked either, simply blocking and moving back and I didn’t know why, until I heard it.

“I’m hungry,” Sammy said as his stomach made growling sounds and he grabbed his stomach in pain.

“Hungry young demigod?” Limos said, leaning over Sammy. “Here, have an apple,” he said as he pulled an apple off a nearby tree. Sammy reached for it as if driven by his hunger along, but right before he could grab it the apple shriveled up and burst into a quick flame before nothing was left of the apple but ashes. After seeing this, Sammy looked like he wanted to cry as he literally tried to eat the burned remains of the fruit.

“So hungry,” he kept repeating over and over again and for a second I think he tried to eat the dirt which was now devoid of anything living.

“No matter how much you eat, you will never be satisfied,” Limos laughed and I knew this dumb sounding guy was a real problem. “Well, what’s the matter Nolan Swift? Come on, I’m right here,” he said as he pressed the head of his cane against his chin. It annoyed me and I took the bait as I ran in with my hammer swinging. I thought about launching a few fireballs at him, but I was worried that it could cause a forest fire as everything was dry. I also thought about using my blessing, but I felt my energy quickly drain from my body and before long I could barely support my own weight.

“It looks like you two are no match for Limos!” he laughed and pulled at the handle of his cane, revealing a sword inside. He raised his hand above his head and just smiled. “Goodbye demigods.”

I closed my eyes and waited for the sword to hit, but instead I heard the clinging of metal and I had to look up. Will had arrived and managed to block the strike before it connected with my head.

“Will, how did you find us?” I asked him.

“I’m a child of Persephone, I could feel all the plants drying up,” he said before taking a swing at Limos, forcing the spirit to jump back a few feet.

“A child of hers will be no match for me,” Limos joked and laughed as more dust escaped his lungs. Will didn’t seem to mind him and charged in for a strike at him. I expected Will to fail the same way we had, but he didn’t seem to tire. This came as a shock to both me and Limos who was having a hard time keeping up with Will.

I was so amazed by the fight, I had lost track of Sammy and I looked around for him. He had managed to drag himself over to the tree that Limos had pulled an apple from. By now the tree was completely dead except for a small patch of green at the top. Sammy pulled himself to his feet and tried desperately to climb the tree. I wanted to run over and help somehow, but I was just as hungry. Sammy kept trying, but eventually fell to his knees with a defeated look on his face.

“It isn’t fair,” he felled and slammed his fist on the trunk. I looked back at Will and he was still keeping pace while Limos was slowing down.

“Why isn’t it working on you?!” Limos shouted.

“Persephone isn’t just life, she is death and you have killed almost everything in this park. You’ve only made me stronger,” Will said as he knocked Limos’ cane sword from his hand and gave him a kick right in the chest.

“You think you have won, Limos just need to starve a few more people and he’ll be unbeatable. HA HA HA HA HA…what’s that sound?” he asked right at the end of his laugh, but he never got a chance to make the threat of starving us a reality as a large tree landed right on top of him. I looked over and Sammy looked about as surprised as we were. However, he didn’t have time to marvel at the luck and ran over to the apple that rolled on the ground. As he started eating, the brown grass and trees started returning to their original condition as the park was filled with green in a matter of minutes.

“I guess with everything dead, the tree trunk gave out,” I said, and Will seemed to agree with me while Sammy went to town on his apple.

“Come one, you need something to eat too. We have some food in the van, let’s get you two to it,” Will said and he helped me up before heading back.

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive