by Jeff Gunzel
A solid slash cut deep into her side, and she cried out while a second sent one of her blades flying from her grip. She dropped down to her knees as blood flowed from multiple wounds. She looked up as the assassins took their time flanking her once more. They had seen her undeniable skill and were not going to take any chances, no matter how wounded she appeared. But a sudden disturbance in the sky stopped both in their tracks as they gazed upward.
A golden line appeared brightly in the night sky for a moment, forcing many heads to abruptly gaze up at the strange sight. The line elongated as the rip in time hung in the air for several seconds. Golden sparks suddenly exploded through the sky as Eric and his flying beast burst through the rift. A high-pitched screech filled the air, echoing through the streets as attackers and villagers alike scampered about, driven by fear of the awesome sight. A long, comet-like tail of flickering red light and black smoke traced a line behind him as his blazing sword begged for blood and pleaded to be fed, a request Eric was more than willing to grant.
It didn’t take long for him to spot Jade down on her knees and clearly wounded. The two assailants began to run as he turned his beast in a sweeping circle and headed straight for them. There was plenty of killing to go around, but the two who had dared to put a hand on Jade needed to die first. Riding hard through the air, he streaked over the top of her while bearing down on the fleeing assassins. The one Jade had wounded earlier was quickly losing ground to the other. A sharp explosion of pain surged through his instantly broken body as razor-sharp talons tore through his back and deep into his lungs. In that fleeting moment, Eric’s only regret was that the man died too quickly. He longed to kill him...again.
He rode the beast hard as they glided only a few feet off the ground, his flaming sword begging for the fleeing man’s blood as they bore down on him. His beast was set to sink in his claws into the next fleeing victim, but Eric had other ideas. At the last second he jumped off the lizard’s back, landing squarely on top of the terrified killer, a killer whose training had never prepared him for such a thing. Eric kept all his weight on the man’s back, pinning him down with his face pressed hard into the dirt.
His flaming blade seemed to scream...to beg...it wanted to taste the man’s flesh, but Eric dropped it to the ground, watching the flames extinguish instantly. With seething anger coursing through his veins, he gripped the man’s hair right through the back of his green mask and slammed his face hard into the ground. He hammered it down over and over again as teeth and blood began to spread out across the dirt road. He continued on while hearing the crunching sounds of broken teeth and a newly shattered jaw.
He finally stopped, still holding the man’s head a few inches from the ground. The badly broken man was still breathing in shallow rasps, but that wouldn’t last much longer. Eric knew the man probably had minutes to live after the savage beating, and that simply wasn’t good enough. He slid the remaining katana from the assassin’s back. “Is this the blade?” he whispered in a shockingly calm voice. “Is this the blade you used to hurt her?” Of course the broken man couldn’t speak, but Eric patiently waited for an answer anyway. “Then the taste of this blade, as well as the sound of my voice, will be the last things you experience in this world.”
He slowly pushed it into the side of the man’s neck, stopping every quarter inch to give a slight twist before continuing on. He was in no rush. When the last gurgling breath mercifully left the man’s body, Eric found he was only partially satisfied.
****
Jacob stumbled through the street, jumping over bodies and zigzagging between fleeing townsfolk. All the while, the taunting calls from Zhou were getting closer and closer. His eyes scanned the terrain while trying to maintain as much speed as possible. He could actually hear the hard galloping of heavy steps fast approaching now. His eyes finally fell on what he had been searching for, but he needed to be quick. He lunged forward as a clawed hand swiped the back of his shirt, leaving three neat slashes, and completed a dive roll over the top of a fallen fighter. He got to his feet and whirled around at the last moment, just barely intercepting a second set of claws with his newly acquired staff. With lighting speed he struck high once, twice, then a third time at the large hairy ears of his attacker, forcing Zhou to stumble backward, if only momentarily. A second barrage of blazing strikes found their way across both his knees, followed by a groin shot, then an upper cut.
The enraged beast stumbled back yet again, surprised by the mortal’s speedy attacks, but the powerful beast recovered quickly and lunged forward in a blind rage. His open claws slashed down hard, turning the solid wooden staff into a shower of splinters as Jacob held it up defensively. He fired back upward with the speed of a snake, the back of his fist catching Jacob squarely in the side of the head, sending him sliding ten feet. Jacob tried to cling to consciousness as his blurred vision revealed two of the monsters vibrating in and out of each other. He inched away on the back of his elbows as pain surged through every inch of him. Zhou now towered over him wearing a grin that promised a slow death.
Ching..Ching...Ching...Ching
The sound of clanging metal approaching at an alarming speed forced both to look off in that direction. Zhou had just gotten his head turned when Athel drove hard into his chest with a hollow thud, sending both of them rolling across the dirt. They tumbled along the road while swinging wildly at one another before Athel jumped back to her feet. Bent links of chain still hung from her neck and wrists as she dropped low on all fours and growled like an animal before lunging at him again.
The sickening meaty smacks rang out as they pummeled each other in a blinding flurry of fists. The savage animals flailed away at each other with power and speed no humans could ever match, but the much bigger Zhou slowly began to land the harder shots as Athel started to slow, her knees touching the ground more than once as his heavy fists savagely pummeled her face over and over. Feeling her begin to weaken, he rushed in close, wrapping her in a bear hug, then slammed her to the ground with a thud. With the much bigger man on top, there was little she could do. He dropped his fist down into her face several more times, each hollow thud sounding like a watermelon being dropped from a rooftop. Her right eye closed almost immediately and deep cuts formed all over her face as the beating continued.
He raised his hand up high once more with the intent of ending this, his razor sharp claws fully extended out this time, but his eyes suddenly widened as he gazed down the street. With her one good eye, Athel was able to see spots of golden light reflect off his chest and twinkle in his eyes. He used the very hand he was going to gut her with to quickly push off and get back to his feet, then slowly backed away with a look of fear in his eyes.
Eric didn’t utter a single word as he approached, his blazing sword working slow circles around him while leaving a lingering red trail. He wasn’t sneaking or showing any caution whatsoever, just methodically stalking an inferior prey. His curly hair was matted down with sweat, hiding his eyes except for the constant golden glow. His teeth were exposed in a permanent snarl as he walked straight for him, not showing the least bit of respect for this animal’s abilities.
A low, rumbling sound signaled the approach of yet more of the rolling monstrosities from around the corner. Zhou smiled as he raised his hand, then pointed right at Eric without ever turning around. The two remaining balls of death began to roll toward him as Zhou broke off down an opposite alley, silently relived not to have to engage this unnatural being. They began to pick up speed as Eric kept walking right toward them, wearing the same dark smile. His blazing sword continued to dance around him before he suddenly broke into a full sprint, as if intending to run right through them. At the last second before colliding with them, he disappeared into the golden portal that flashed open then snapped shut the second he entered.
The boachards rolled right through the remaining yellow sparks, then slowed down. They each rose up into their towering forms, looking around in confusion. Then the same streak of go
lden light opened right behind them as Eric casually stepped through. He was in no hurry and didn’t care if they saw him or not. They turned quickly with their segmented staffs in hand, but the end came so fast they never even had time to react.
Eric’s flaming blade was a blur as the screeching sound of shredding steel rang its shrill high-pitched song into the air. He slashed through each of them multiple times as he performed six different forms in under three seconds, all with the speed of a viper. In one clean motion he sent the whirling blade back into its sheath and turned away, never even bothering to look back. The bug-like creatures didn’t move at all...at first. Then and arm hit the ground...another arm...a head...part of a torso... They each crumbled into pieces, now lying in a pool of blue liquid.
Jacob had crawled to Athel’s side and was holding her head in his lap. “Is she Ok?” Eric asked. The golden light had fled from his eyes. In a heartbeat, he had become himself once more.
Jacob smiled as he always did when he had just escaped death’s grasp. He looked back down at Athel as she smiled back up at him. Her wounds appeared to be healing right before his eyes. “Yeah, we’re fine. You’re lucky I was here, you know. I don’t know how you would ever get by without me.”
Eric just shook his head and embraced his friend. “Agreed, brother. I have no idea what I would do without you.” Athel slowly got to her feet and joined in the group hug. She was pretty banged up, but still able to move around on her own.
Jacob nodded toward the sunrise. “You’ve done it. You made it. Tell me, do you feel like yourself? Or do you have the urge to eat me?”
She smiled through her battered face and threw her arms over his shoulders. “Not a day goes by when I don’t have the urge to bite you.” Whether or not it was seeing her good friend in trouble, or just through willpower alone, she had managed to keep her thoughts intact.
Eric’s smile only lasted a second before he suddenly began running toward the limping movement he saw from the corner of his eye. He held Jade firmly and quickly wrapped one of her arms over his shoulder. “I heard you,” he said in her ear. “I knew you were alive and it gave me strength. I’m never going to leave you again.”
In a weak voice, she said, “I owe this girl everything. I couldn’t have done it without her.” She nodded behind her as Nima came walking up.
She looked around with a deep sadness in her eyes. The bodies of men and woman she had known for years lay in the street; homes had been crushed into nothing. She sighed and took a deep breath. “No doubt you all want answers as to who they were and why they came here.” She sighed once more. “Come, all of you. It’s time you met Kelus.”
