'Believe. Believe. Believe.' The words boomed like a hammer in Leon's skull, each strike ringing against the sight of Lieutenant Prince throwing himself again and again into the tide of snapping jaws.
A wall of snarling sound surged forward – "rrrraaah… RAAAH!"
Leon stood frozen, waiting for a courage that felt like a distant memory. Thick dust with the acidic ichor tang swirled into miniature tornadoes.
They painted the air in streaks of black and brown, the ground vibrating with the crashes.
"Leon! Don't just stand like a dummy and watch me die!" Prince's scream cut through the chaos in a ragged voice, like a dying monarch commanding extra forces.
Use your fists!
The words from the black book resurfaced like a physical jolt and dragged with them other faces: his mother's blind eyes, Lily's trusting smile, and his father's solemn eyes in the faded portrait.
