Continued from The Fight Continues.
Ulagret could feel his hands shaking as he looked up at the arch demon. He had heard plenty of stories, tales of terror about these treacherous tyrants; none of them did justice.
This particular arch demon had to be over twelve meters tall, with a wingspan of about equivalent size. His skin looked more like dragon’s scales, except it was pitch black, darker than the darkest night. Though many demons had yellow eyes, this one looked down upon the battlefield with fiery red rage. So red in fact that Ulagret could almost swear they were actually made from flames.
Walking on two sinewy legs the size of small trees, this hellish creature had no need for conventional weapons. There were two giant horns upon its head, and equally menacing horns protruding from its elbows. Its hands were easily the size of Ulagret, and as it stepped forward it spewed a torrent of fire. Ulagret watched helplessly as the flames engulfed a half dozen allies, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.
There was no time to stand around gawking at the demon. If he did not act immediately, both he and his immediate allies would meet a similar fate. Fortunately, one of his allies had a nifty trick up her sleeve.
“Everyone remain still,” hissed the lamia, who took a position in the center of the group.
“What?” questioned the felite druid as he rose from his vulnerable position.
“Illusion magic,” assured Innap. “Very clever.”
Ulagret wasn’t too familiar with illusion magic, but the lamia was certainly doing something magical. Her fingers were steepled in front of her chest and she whispered something under her breath. A strange blue energy emanated from her body and engulfed the area around her, including the injured elf and the two dead barghest.
“Alright, that will only buy us a minute or so,” said Innap without breaking stride. “We have to take this demon down.
“Easier said than done, that is,” spoke the felite warrior.
“Right, she is,” agreed the druid.
“Well, fortunate for all of you, I have taken out one of these colossal menaces before, so if you follow my lead we can do it again.” Insisted Innap. For the first time, Ulagret felt that Innap was being serious.
“Tell us what to do then,” said the uninjured elf.
“Right. It’s going to need to be every man in on this, even you pal,” started Innap looking to the one-armed elf. “What is your name?”
“Yrtonal,” replied the injured elf, his face still a bit flushed from his pain and blood loss.
“Alright, good. Yrtonal, when I give the signal you are going to run to the north as quickly as you can. Don’t stop for anything, and make a lot of noise. I promise, he won’t focus on you for long.”
Innap turned to the other elf. “Geltree is your name, right?”
“Yes, sir.” Replied the elf.
“Good. Geltree, I see you still have a bow on your back and some arrows to boot. I take it you can handle a bow with some skill?”
“I can,” responded Geltree.
“Prefect,” continued Innap. “You wait exactly three seconds after Yrtonal runs out of here and you step outside our illusion. Aim for the eyes, and don’t miss.”
“Sessira,” added Innap quickly turning to the lamia. “Your job is just as important. As soon as that arrow hits its mark, and I mean immediately, you create the most powerful illusion you can muster. Make the demon think that he is getting attacked by something large, and make it come from the opposite side of where we are.”
Sessira nodded.
“Great, that leaves the four of us,” finished Innap motioning towards the two felite and Ulagret.
“For starters, I need your magic Tu’ Sun,” he directed this to the druid. “You are going to use it to help the three of us in any way you can.” He turned his gaze to the other felite and then to Ulagret.
“The three of us charge head on. With all of the distractions we’ll be getting, we should have no problem getting inside his defenses. Everyone understand?”
No one really had time to question anything, for it was clear that if they waited any longer the demon would be too close to act.
“Good.” Nodded Innap. “Go.”
Yrtonal took off on command, running to the north as fast as his injury would allow. It was clear that his missing arm threw him off balance a little bit.
Ulagret could see Geltree keeping count as his injured ally ran from the field of illusion. As anticipated, the arch demon turned towards the fleeing Yrtonal. Just as it did, Geltree ran out from the field as well, an arrow notched in his bow.
As quickly as he left, he let the arrow fly, and continued circling around the great demon, notching another arrow. Unfortunately, the arrow did not hit its mark, and bounced harmless off of the demon’s nose. Without worrying about the miss, Geltree continued firing arrows, and Sessira stepped in to do her part.
Ulagret was amazed to see a giant roc come soaring down from the west, diving towards the arch demon with its talons spread wide. This trick worked on the demon as well, for he turned towards it in surprise, swinging both his arms up to swat it away. When its hands passed through the empty air, it roared in anger, spewing its hellfire into the sky.
This was his cue.
With his sword held at the ready, Ulagret charged towards the massive foe. Looking in with tunnel vision, he temporarily ignored the other two warriors. He could feel Tu’ Sun’s magic taking effect as he ran towards the enemy. Part of him was absolutely terrified, but something inside pushed him forward like a force of nature. There was thrill and excitement in his stride. If he survived this encounter, he would be a legend. Now he just had to find out just how powerful the druid’s magic was.
As the demon finished spewing his torrent of fire, it turned its attention back down to Geltree, who finally landed an arrow. The tip sunk into the demon’s eye, but it appeared to have less effect than a speck of dirt would have on Ulagret. Still, it opened up an opportunity.
While the demon swung down towards Geltree, Ulagret lunged into the air, Tu’ Sun’s magic allowing him to leap all the way up to the demons bicep. Landing blade first, the young elf pushed all of his weight into the attack. This had an effect.
The demon cursed in pain, swinging his other arm around to swat at Ulagret. In the split second he had, Ulagret leapt again, leaving his sword in the demon’s arm and flying up to its shoulder. Before the demon had time to react, Ulagret jumped once more and grabbed hold of one of the beast’s horns. Without his weapon, he had little options left but to just hold on.
Or maybe not.
Ulagret would not have believed an arch demon capable of such a careless maneuver, but from the corner of his eyes he watched as the demon hand came soaring down towards him, palm open. The young elf had little choice but to let go, praying that the druid would somehow save him from the injuries of the fall. He looked up as he descended, and winced as the demon impaled his own hand on one of his horns.
The sound that followed was absolutely terrifying, a deep bellow that made Ulagret’s hair stand on end.
“Grab on!” The instruction came from below, and Ulagret turned just in time to see an arrow fly by and penetrate the demon’s lower back. More importantly, the arrow was attached to a length of rope fired from Geltree’s bow. Though his mind could not process how such a feat could be so quickly accomplished, Ulagret didn’t question his fortune.
Catching the rope mid-fall, he felt his left arm pop out of the socket, a burning pain radiating down his side. Despite the pain, he managed to hold on, grabbing with his right and safely sliding down to the forest floor.
As he reached ground level, he watched Innap take a vicious go at the demon’s leg. In the years that he had known this fun-loving satyr, he had not once seen Innap use magic. Now it was clear that he had been hiding something, for the sword glowed a bright white as it penetrated the demon’s calf, spilling out blood and revealing sinewy muscle tissue beneath.
The demon shrieked again, this time producing a much higher-pitched sound. The ground shook as the beast fell to its knees, finally yanking its injured hand out from the horn that had impaled it. Taking advantage of the demon’s injuries, the warrior felite ran up the demon’s undamaged arm and quickly scaled her way to its head. With lightning fast thrusts, she began stabbing the creature in its eyes. This time, he seemed to feel it and fortunately he continued his streak of dumb maneuvers.
The felite stopped her assault and flipped back away from the demon’s face in the nick of time. Just as she sprung back and landed on all fours, the demon smacked himself hard in the face. Meanwhile, Ulagret was preparing to make another move of his own.
Retrieving a broad iron sword, he ran up towards the demon’s injured arm and jumped. With his own quick reflexes, he landed on the large horn and continued his momentum, scaling the arm and ended up back on the creatures shoulder. Without regard, he continued his charge towards the demon’s throat.
Though he didn’t have magic of his own, whatever spell the druid was using gave Ulagret greater speed, dexterity, strength, and ferocity. As his sword-stroke impacted the demon’s throat, it cut through and into an artery. Blood sprayed him in the arms, but he continued his momentum, losing his footing and defying gravity as he flew clean around to the shoulder. Still without a thought, he continued his movement and ran down the other arm, most of his body now covered in demon blood.
Unfortunately for Ulagret, the demon reacted much like anyone would be expected to when his throat was cut. The arm on which Ulagret was running shifted as the demon reached for his open wound, trying in vain to stop the blood from pouring out. With the shift, Ulagret was unable to keep his momentum and lost his footing.
Letting go of the sword, he attempted to stop himself from falling, but failed miserably. Once again, he felt a sharp pain in his left arm, this time as he crashed against the forest floor, his shoulder impacting the root of a tree. He rolled over and tried to remain conscious, watching as the demon continued to bleed out.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The survivors all gathered around the fallen arch demon, each of them looking upon Ulagret in dismay. Only hours before he had been considered by most as a neophyte, someone to be disregarded in battle. Now, they all seemed to look at him with great reverence, as if admiring his courage and bravery.
Unfortunately, their numbers were few, not even two dozen survivors in total from the allied army. Still, they had survived, and thanks to the planning of Innap they had slain the arch demon. If this small group of soldiers could accomplish such a feat without the help of a dryad, perhaps there was hope in this war after all.
“You know,” started Innap, swaying slightly and looking over the few dozen survivors. “Ulagret never finished his story about that girl.”
There were some muted chuckles, the centaur and two felite who had heard the beginning of his story shaking their heads and covering their mouths to hide grins. Even after a gory battle, Innap was able to bring out humor.
“Right, he is,” said the male felite.
“Finish, you should,” prodded the female.
Everyone gathered looked towards Ulagret. He had just made the final strike that killed one of the arch demons. Perhaps that made it somewhat fitting that he finish his story.
“Alright,” said Ulagret, his voice heavy. “Where did I leave off?”
“The girl had just asked you what you were going to do about the demons,” answered the centaur immediately.
Ulagret nodded. “Right.”
“So what did you tell her?” asked Innap.
Ulagret took a deep breath and considered his response. The smell of blood was still fresh in the air, and his left arm felt as if it might never work the same again. Still, he had a strange feeling of calm.
“At the time, I made up a lie… But now, I think, I might just follow through.”
Ulagret paused and looked at the warriors around him, all of them weary and most of them injured.
“I told her that I would make sure we beat the demons, and that I would start an elvish kingdom that would never fall again.”
Looking Innap dead in the eye, he finished solemnly.
“And I will.”
