Monsters

by Viktor Zólyomi

This idiot thinks that Jase wants a reward? Haha! This will be a painful reckoning, I wager.

  Jason slowly unsheathes his weapon. But not his sword, just his dagger. He holds it in his right hand as he addresses Th'Mesh.

  `I did not come to save you. I've come to destroy you.' he says.

  `Destroy me?!' asks the demon. `Fool! The Destroyer cannot be destroyed! Just who do you think you are, coming here, invading my Realm, and then proclaiming that you've come to do the impossible and slay me?! My blood flows through your veins! Why would you dare to attempt to slay me?'

  `You know that well.'

  `Such arrogance! Do you really think you can take my throne? Do you?!'

  `I'm not here for your throne. When you die, I will make certain that your demonic power dies with you.'

  `Will you now? Ha! As if you could! Even if you could, would you? Would you? You know well that if you do it, you will die. Or do you? Tell me, are you arrogant, or just stupid?'

  `I know what will happen if I do it.' says Jason, nodding. `And I don't care. I've nothing to lose. I came here knowing that this would be my last ride. I will gladly die knowing that I've destroyed you.'

  `Then you are a fool, my child! Soon, you will be no more! You don't deserve my blood! You don't even deserve to exist!' says the demon, and it attacks us.

  *

  Th'Mesh strikes towards Jason, but he evades the attack easily. Then he cuts towards one of the demon's arms with his dagger. Much to my surprise, that blow severs the demon's arm... But more than that, it seems to cause insufferable pain to Th'Mesh, for the demon screams aloud. Much louder than I had heard it scream in the Summoning Chamber earlier, where its avatar was destroyed by the Supreme Council.

  The scene fills me with such admiration of Jason's successful attack, that I even forget to attack Th'Mesh myself. Perhaps I should let him kill his father alone after all...

  The demon freezes in place and just screams. Jason stands back and waits. The demon slowly stops screaming, and stares down at the chunk of its severed arm. Then it stares at Jason.

  It opens its mouth and spits a ball of fire at him. He jumps aside, but the fireball explodes and blows him away. His magical shield seems to protect him, fortunately. He lands on his back, but he quickly gets back up, and charges the demon.

  The beast strikes towards him with all three of its remaining arms, but Jason evades them all with uncanny precision. Like he's fought the demon before, like he knows where the creature wants to strike. Come to think of it, he's killed his siblings, half-demons like himself. Perhaps some of them changed into their demon shape, and Jason had to kill them like that. Yes, that must be it. But they couldn't have been stronger than the one in Jason, and I've seen it clearly in the Summoning Chamber that Th'Mesh is much stronger than the demon inside Jase. The fact that Jason is able to evade Th'Mesh's attacks so easily, suggests that the cursed Demon Lord is now much weaker...

  Good! Then Jason will easily have his revenge. I will let him do it alone, as he wants it. I would love to kill Th'Mesh myself, yes. It would be the greatest trophy I ever took. But there's one thing I want even more, and that is to see Jase smile. If he himself kills Th'Mesh, perhaps he will indeed smile...

  *

  They fight on. Long minutes pass, and Jason continues to evade every blow of Th'Mesh. But it's hard for him to strike at the Destroyer. His dagger has a shorter reach than his sword, he must get closer to cut into the demon, but he must be careful not to get caught by the creature. Sometimes he succeeds to cut into the demon's flesh. Th'Mesh screams in pain after each hit suffered, but the son of a bitch just won't back down.

  A few more minutes pass like that, and suddenly the demon wavers after being cut by Jason's dagger again. It drops on its hands and knees, and seems to breathe heavily. Jason lowers his dagger and looks at the beast. After a few moments, he raises the dagger again and lunges towards the demon, and targets its chest with the dagger. Just as he gets close enough to stab the dagger into Th'Mesh's heart, the demon arises with a speed which belies its size, and grabs Jason's dagger-wielding arm.

  The cursed beast was just feinting!

  Now it's got Jason in its grasp...

  Jase tries to pull his arm free, but the demon holds him tight. It pulls on his arm, and...

  No...

  No!

  The cursed beast just ripped his arm out...

  Jason falls to the ground, screaming. He presses his left hand against the bleeding wound, and just screams.

  Th'Mesh just laughs.

  `You son of a bitch!' I exclaim, and I rush towards the demon.

  `Flora... Don't...' whispers Jason, but I ignore him. I will kill that cursed demon! I won't let it do the same thing to Jason that it did to the troll in Re'Cas...

  I lunge towards the demon. With all my strength, I strike towards it. It doesn't try to evade or block. I strike its side, and my vicious vampire claws cut deep into its flesh, drawing blood. I strike again. And again. And again. I rip a huge chunk of meat out of Th'Mesh's side. The demon ceases to laugh, but it refuses to scream. It strikes towards me, and its claws cut into my arm. The wound is deep and painful, but I ignore it, and just fight on.

  I keep striking Th'Mesh, cutting into the demon's flesh where I can. I draw blood from its side and its arms, but the demon cuts into me as well. It wounds my arm, my side, and my leg. The wounds are deep and painful, but they regenerate well enough. I see signs of frustration on Th'Mesh's ugly face. The demon seems to have thought I'd be easier prey.

  `You think you're tough, huh? I've got news for you. You are about to die!' I tell it, taunting it. Th'Mesh just laughs. I take a step back, and then kick towards the demon's knee with a swift spinning kick. It lands perfectly, and Th'Mesh staggers. I kick that knee again, and then punch it with the bottom of my palm.

  The demon's leg collapses under it, and it drops to the ground. I quickly jump on it, and strike it everywhere I can. Blow after blow I draw its blood, and the Destroyer let's out a yell of anger from all three of its faces. I continue my relentless attacks, but the demon suddenly throws me off with incredible force. I land on my back several feet away, but I quickly jump up. The demon is standing again.

  We stare each other down for a long moment, then I begin to run towards Th'Mesh. I jump up and kick the demon in the chest. It staggers back, and I follow up my previous attack with a spinning kick to the demon's gut. Then I strike towards the beast with my claws, but Th'Mesh grabs my arms and pulls on them.

  I guess the demon thought to mutilate me in this way, but nothing happens, my body is apparently much stronger than to be ripped apart like that. Still in the grasp of his paws, I grab his arms and pull on them. This maneuver surprises the demon, and it falls towards me. I drop myself to the ground, and let the demon fall over me. I release its arms, and it releases me as well. It lands on its back just a few feet behind me.

  I jump up and run towards it. While it still lays on the ground, I forcefully kick the demon in the head, as if it was just a large piece of rock that I'm trying to kick away. Th'Mesh screams, but I don't stop there. I jump up, and as I swoop down I punch the demon in the forehead of its front face with the bottom of my palm. I hear the cracking of Th'Mesh's skull, but no visible deformation appears on the demon's forehead. Blood does however begin to pour from a wound there.

  I kneel beside the demon and sink the claws of both my hands into its front face. The beast screams aloud in pain, then it grabs my hands and pulls me towards it. It tosses me quite some distance away, but I land on my feet. I turn back towards the demon, and I see that it's getting up, but rather slowly. I run towards it, and while it's still half laying, I forcefully kick it in the jaw.

  Th'Mesh falls back to the ground, and yells in frustration. I raise my foot and prepare to stomp into the demon's face, but it grabs me and forcefully pushes me away. It slowly begins to stand up again. I try to kick it in the jaw again to send it back to the ground, but the demon grabs hold of my foot and pulls on
it. This move came as a surprise to me. It makes me lose my balance and I fall down. The demon slowly stands up, still holding my foot. It grabs me with two arms, and swings me like I was some piece of wood. Then Th'Mesh releases me, and sends me flying.

  I land face down on the ground at least twenty, if not thirty feet away. I shake my head and stand up. Th'Mesh is swiftly charging towards me. The cursed demon swings its claws in my direction, and before I could evade its attacks, it cuts deep into my flesh with the claws on two of its arms. The attack knocks me down to the ground.

  Th'Mesh raises a leg and attempts to stomp into my gut. I quickly roll aside and jump up. The demon strikes towards me again with one of its arms, but I block it with my left, and counterattack with my right. My claws draw its blood, and it cries out in pain. It pushes me in the chest and knocks me down. It jumps on me, and squeezes me into the ground with its knees. Then it begins to pound on me with its vicious claws.

  I block its first two attacks, but the third hits me and cuts into me. I try to get loose, but the demon is too heavy. There's no way out of this prone position. Not unless I shapeshift into mist form, that is...

  I try to change my shape, but somehow it's not working. I don't know why. Perhaps it only works in Material Planes, I don't know.

  As I try getting loose, from the corner of my eye I see that Jason is on his feet again. He retrieves his dagger from his severed right arm and, holding it in his left hand, he attacks the demon.

  He stabs the dagger right into the demon's back, and then twists it. Th'Mesh screams and begins to turn towards Jason. He quickly pulls the dagger out, and backs away. The demon gets off me and follows him. I quickly stand up and rush after them. As the demon advances dangerously close to Jason, I swiftly kick it in the back of the knee. It staggers, but doesn't fall.

  It groans in anger, and then turns towards me. Before it could attack however, Jason lunges forwards and sinks his dagger deep into the side of Th'Mesh. Then he quickly pulls back and retreats, just in time to evade the sweeping arm of the demon.

  I move forward and jump on its back. I sink my claws into its chest, and I bite into the right side of its neck. I slowly begin to suck out its blood.

  Strange... It has no taste whatsoever. Nor do I feel any of it revitalizing me.

  I pull my teeth back, and stare into the eyes of the creature's face on the right side of its head. I pull my head back a bit, and then forcefully headbutt the creature's ugly face.

  It groans, but doesn't scream. It grabs me with two hands and tries to drag me off its back. Jason in the mean time cuts into the beast again. Over and over again. The demon keeps struggling to throw me off, but I hang on tight, with my claws deep in its chest. I headbutt it once more, while Jason just keeps stabbing the demon where he can.

  I can feel that Th'Mesh is getting weaker. Suddenly, the cursed demon drops on one knee. Jason stabs the dagger into its flesh once more, and then Th'Mesh wavers. One more strike with the dagger, and the Demon Lord falls down, on its back, burying me beneath itself.

  Jason lunges forward and stabs the dagger towards Th'Mesh's face, but I can't see very well which part he's targeting. As he stabs the dagger into the demon, it screams out loud, and rolls off of me. I jump to my feet and glance towards the beast, I see that the right eye on its front face is severely bleeding. Jason stabbed Th'Mesh in the eye, it would seem.

  The demon rolls on the ground and screams in pain, but it's yelling is gradually getting fainter. I see that countless bleeding wounds litter its body. Not the ones I caused it earlier, but wide puncture wounds, caused by Jason's dagger. These wounds are profusely bleeding, much more than the ones my claws caused.

  I rush towards Th'Mesh and jump on the demon's chest.

  `You're done for!' I exclaim, and I begin beating on the fallen demon. I cut into its flesh everywhere I can. The neck, the chest, the front face, everywhere. The demon doesn't make even the slightest attempt to throw me off. It doesn't resist me at all, and I just keep beating on it.

  After a minute or so, I slowly realize that Th'Mesh's breathing doesn't seem to slow, no matter what I do. It seems that whatever I do, I can't kill the bastard. Then I remember what Jason said earlier. You can't kill Th'Mesh. Only my dagger can, he told me. Perhaps he was right.

  I turn my head away from the demon's face and glance towards Jason. He looks weak, but he's standing, and still holding his dagger in his left hand. His eyes speak volumes. He stares at me with a mixture of shock, admiration, and concern. I slowly stand up and get off the demon's body.

  `I can't kill it, can I?' I ask.

  `No. Either insanely powerful magic, or a specially enchanted weapon is needed. Like my dagger.'

  I glance at the demon and observe the profusely bleeding wounds caused by that dagger. Then I turn back to Jason.

  `Yes... I can see...' I tell him.

  `Aurach enchanted it well.' he says. `And the demonic power of my siblings empowered it well.'

  `Go then! Finish off that son of a bitch!' I tell him, smiling.

  He then offers the hilt of his dagger to me.

  `Take it.' he says.

  `Why?' I ask, shaking my head in surprise.

  `I know you'd love to be the one to kill Th'Mesh. You almost did. Take it.'

  `Jase... I'd love this trophy. But doing this means more to you, than to me. You should do it.'

  `Are you sure?'

  `Yes.'

  He looks down at the dagger for a second, and he looks back at me.

  `Thank you.' he says, and he turns towards Th'Mesh.

  The demon is on the ground, growling, and just slightly moving. Jason approaches it, but before attacking, he turns back to me.

  `I'm not sure I could have done this without you. Thank you, Flora. For everything.'

  I nod, and he turns back to Th'Mesh. He raises the dagger high.

  A moment passes, and I witness Jase stabbing the dagger into the left eye of Th'Mesh on the front face. He pulls it out and proceeds to blind the demon's other two faces as well. Then, he slits Th'Mesh's throat with the dagger. Blood begins to pour from the wound, but the demon doesn't scream. The creature just lays almost motionless now, faintly growling. It is apparently so weak now, that it cannot even scream.

  Finally, Jason stands over the demon, and stabs the dagger into its heart. He twists it, and Th'Mesh lets out a painful yell and begins to convulse. Then the demon falls completely motionless, and silent. Jason stands over the fallen creature, staring at it with the eyes of a tired man, and lacking any visible emotion.

  I so hoped his victory would make him smile...

  He will rule in Hell...

  Realm of Th'Mesh, present day (1 year, 1 month, and 6 days before Twilightfall)

  Th'Mesh falls...

  My hated father finally falls!

  It ends...

  I collapse in exhaustion, and close my eyes. My end is here. Finally, I will find peace. I know I must die. I can't live without the demon in me, but I certainly don't want it in me. I never did. Finally, I can end it all.

  In the soothing darkness I suddenly hear a whisper. It is a familiar voice. That of Kurt Aurach.

  `Awaken, Jason! It is time you took your legacy.'

  I slowly open my eyes and somehow stand up. Aurach stands before me. What is he doing here? And... Where is Flora?

  `Why are you here?'

  `Why shouldn't I be? This is my home. It's always been.'

  `Your home?'

  `Yes. Now it will be your home as well.'

  Suddenly he changes his shape, and becomes an orc. Errak. The albino orc from Coldrock.

  `You will feel yourself at home here! You're gonna love it! I assure you!'

  `Who are you?'

  `Who am I?' he asks. He then changes shape again. Now he appears as Eric Shyrn.

  `I am what you came here for. I can take any shape I wish. Anyone you've seen, anyone you've known, even if you've met them only for a short time.'

  He changes s
hape again, and becomes Ildardque. The outlaw who was killed by Eric Shyrn before my very eyes.

  `Anyone, and everyone.'

  He changes shape again. Now he is Daniel Keehmor, the semi-insane warrior-mage whom I met in Gatestown just before I faced off with Jenathar.

  `Surreal, isn't it?' he says, and he changes shape again.

  `I can be any size I wish.' he says, as he becomes Aaron Chraem.

  `Do you like that, boy?'

  Then he changes shape once more. Now he is Pinky, the troll-sized orc from Coldrock.

  `Or do you like this better, little man?'

  `Enough of this!' I yell at him.

  `Ah, but I think we're far from it!' he says, as he changes into Zack Sands. `We're just getting started, kid!'

  `What do you want from me?'

  He turns into Meliorath, the way I saw her the day she asked me to kill the Supreme Council.

  `Nothing more than what you don't want already. Take me as a part of you. Your rightful heritage.'

  `I want nothing from you!'

  `Do you prefer a different look, something more attractive?' she says, and changes shape. She becomes someone I hoped never to see again.

  Carrie.

  `What's the matter? Aren't you glad to see me?'

  I don't speak. I just stare at her. First in mild shock, and then, as coldly as ever.

  `Ah, how foolish of me. You have other desires now.' she says, and she turns into... Flora. Flora as I knew her before she became a vampire. Flora with her red locks and emerald green armor, and all that life in her face.

  `Now, you certainly must want me!'

  `Stop this...'

  `Don't you like it? All this power? It can be yours! I can be yours.'

  I shake my head.

  `What are you?'

  `Have you not realized it? I am what you came here for!' she says, and she turns into Jenathar.

  I stare at him for a second, then rage bursts out of me.

  `Take that face off! Or I will kill you!'

  He laughs, and he slowly turns into Doorn. My cold-hearted mentor. Whom I killed in demon shape, unwillingly.