Traitor to the King

by Clare SM Keating

  Meanwhile Ling’s blade had managed to sever a few more lines of tendon and gristle before the head began to flop back and forth. At this Ling grasped the head by the holes in the head she assumed to be ears and began to pull upwards as Alard dropped his position to secure the swinging arms. Ling was trying to dodge the claws but each time they seemed to get too close she strung another small dart to her wrist and shot the hands and arm of the figure. Once she could see the gyrations of the arms had slowed and Alard had full control of the body, Ling tugged upwards with a swift clean jerk to hear the sudden cracking sound of the head dislocating and falling off. The moment the head was free Ling grabbed it by the ears again and swung it in a bowling motion straight to the pile of bones beside the signpost before she kicked the body. Quickly the golden elf pulled out a burning ball of a chemical mixture that would explode the moment it contacted air, she ushered Alard to start running off after the kids before throwing the ball and letting the body burn, but she had a horrible feeling that this was not the end.

  “Didn’t Anouk say a possessed thing has to have the skull split in half?” Alard questioned as he grasped Ling by the waist and carried her off. She gave a shout of surprise at his man handling but she was grateful for it all the same, especially when the wound on her leg was really starting to bleed now. Her ability to fight any more this morning was gone, and she needed to make sure the kids had escaped, but nothing was going to be so easy. Although the two figures reached the edge of the grass the moment the three youngsters did, something horrifying came scuttling out of the grass after them on tentacles produced from the tendrils Ling had severed.

  “Oh, gods is that Ynvirius’ head scuttling after us?” Karani whimpered as the strange scaled heap suddenly bolted in front of them and hissed aggressively. The group all froze in horror, unsure how to react or what was going to happen next as the hideous head with no remaining eyes suddenly shoved itself down into the swamp water. The five figures stood on the massive stones, too afraid to try and run any further now as they watched the murky water bubble and the head rise up with a new body made of all the pieces of corpse left to rot and decay for the snatching pond suckers at the bottom of the bog.

  “Give me the stone!” The being hissed through its mouth, spitting bloodied chunks of flesh at them as it stretched out its long hands formed of dead fish skeletons and lumps of beetle larvae. The stench it produced was so foul that the group fell backward with a dizzy desire to vomit but Karani gave out a scream. She was not willing to give the stone up and swiftly one of her balls of light shot out and smacked the creature in the face. The action caused the flesh parts to drop straight off and leave the head sitting on an over-extended skeleton that belonged more to a mix of boar and horse and should not have been standing on hind feet. Claws were formed from extra ribs and teeth were strapped to the creature’s knuckles as it snarled at them all again, but thankfully the reinforcements suddenly smashed through the ribs.

  The body doubled backward, loosing balance and nearly falling back down into the mud before its powers pulled the bones back into position. Anouk and Karayan sat on the other side of the creature and the moment the head spun about to view them Anouk yelled at the others to run for it! The group of five remained far too startled by the slower speed of the bones gathering and Karani grasped tightly to Alard for protection. The group were not eager to move at all until they could see that the demon bag of bones was enraged by the presence of the Benaga lord and eager to squash her as Karayan gave a snort.

  “What's the plan to get rid of this creature?” The Karayan growled in frustration as he stepped toward the large creature that seemed to stare at him, frozen to the spot with fear. With this distraction, Alard was able to start running again and the others began to follow him. When the creature gave a sudden sharp screech of irritation at the reaction the abomination rushed forward and then suddenly its stretching bone hands were wrapped in a silver chain. The creature felt its arm being yanked backward and it spun its head all the way around on the flicking neck bones to face Anouk and sneer at her. When it twisted other parts of the bones to face her as much as possible, the figure stretched out its other hand and snatched them about the top of Anouk’s head. She'd ducked at the last minute, but she was not going to let go of the claws wrapped about in her blade’s chain.

  “Foolish mortal female...” The eye sockets suddenly flashed angrily, and it pulled its hand backward, letting the bones shatter as the chain fell to the ground but Anouk was swift to call the metal back into her hand and leap across into a bed of reeds before she could be slashed. As the creature slipped forward to try and grab her, Anouk then darted straight past the demon and under its skeleton form, causing it to fall forward into the muck again. As bones came pinging off the horrendous skeletal being, the Karayan lunged forward and grasped the creature's rib cage. Yanking out and snapping bones he tried to throw the carcass about the swamp to slow its ability to heal as Anouk then whipped her scythe blade above her head and shot it out towards the squealing head. The blade sliced cleanly across the top of the scales, causing the scale layer of skin to slough off and reveal the pulsating brain that was veined in strange black lines.

  “Damn it... the brain’s completely infected with the demon; the only way we can deal with it is fire.” Anouk snarled and the Karayan froze at her words.

  “Fire?” Suddenly a long femur swung out into his form and cast the being straight across the swamp back towards where Alard and the others were running. There were sudden screams of terror from the youngsters who stared out at the mud soaked and groaning black-clad friend. Karayan gave a roar of anger as he pulled himself out of the mud, wrenching long reeds off his body that had tried to latch onto him and pull him down into the water. Karayan heard Anouk call out to him to check he was alright and he gave a soft little chuckle of amusement and called back to her. “Watch for yourself Lord Benaga...”

  Anouk was quite aware of the fact she had to be careful and she was quite frustrated that her companion had been so careless. It startled her how he'd survived strolling through the Orcreich considering his seeming natural ability to get hit! But she had noticed how the demon was not keen on trying to touch the Karayan and even now she could see that the bones that had made contact with the shroud were crumbling away. Seeing the weakness Anouk swung the scythe back around to snap the bone and cause the figure to fumble back down into the mud and try to pull itself out. Its reactions were sluggish and pained, probably because the bones were so heavy and the brain was now in contact with the slight sunlight. If they could keep this figure out long enough for the brain to dry in the sun, they could kill the creature easily, but the demon was still desperate for the stone and its focus was no longer turned to its attackers but onward toward the group. Anouk panicked that it might just manage to snatch her friends and swiftly she rushed over to the side of the creature, packing her blade back into the belt of her robes and decided to kick straight into the remaining arm of the figure, forcing it to turn around and snarl at her.

  Anouk allowed herself to be grasped sharply around the waist by the great creature and with a roar it stretched out its head, adding extra bones to the neck to reach out and bite her head. Anouk knew she was in trouble but she was quick to produce a sharp whistle that Ling, even though she was rushing away from the situation, recognised. There was a sudden trio of high pitched pinging sounds as the darts from the crossbow snapped straight into the writhing grey mass of the creature’s brain. It froze suddenly, groaning and mumbling in agony as its hand opened and she was dropped straight out into the mud. Anouk then swung her scythe out to hit into the brain again before yanking it out and taking a chunk of the pulsating mass.

  “Karayan do you know how to make fire from thin air?” Anouk questioned, turning to face where he was stomping back over but the head suddenly turned about and this time the jaw shot outwards. Anouk’s legs were snapped into its mouth, locking onto them and pulling them upward as she screamed and roared
in agony at the pinching and bone crunching that was ripping one of her legs badly. The sound forced Alard to freeze and turn back, eager to go and help thanks to his oath but he was slapped harshly by Ling with a sneer.

  “You know the rules with the boss… if her sister is in trouble that’s who you’re supposed to protect. We’re too far gone now to stop and turn back – we’ve got to get home big boy.” Ling stated with a frustrating grimace as she slapped at his shoulder a little kindlier. Alard’s expression was iron, he wanted to return and rescue his friend but with Karani starting to whimper from the pain of the stone pressing against the fabric of her clothes he shook his head. He did not like the idea of this abandonment, but Ling was right, and Damara needed his serious help to get home.

  As the five figures galloped off the Karayan managed to reach the bone collection as he lunged forward and grasped her body. Anouk gave a scream of agony as the demon tried to twist its head about to pop her leg off, but the Karayan pulled out his axe from within his shrouds to smack the blade against the slit-like nostrils. As Anouk continued to scream from the pain, she noticed that the sunlight was breaking through the grey clouds brought by the mountains and was falling directly over the skull of the figure. The brain was bubbling and popping in little watery, slimy bubbles as it began to boil in the heat, her tactic to keep the demon busy was working but she did not want to lose her leg in this kind of battle and pulled her dagger out to assist the Karayan in stabbing at the creature. The demon just seemed to keep chuckling at her as its teeth clamped tighter, even though the rest of its body was locking up and freezing as the venom of possession evaporated.

  “Help me Karayan… please… I can’t get my left leg out of its jaw! Please… wedge the axe into its mouth so I can pull myself out!” Anouk hissed bitterly through clenched teeth as she tried to keep stabbing into the beast’s facial tissue to get it to release her. Instead of trying to open its mouth to scream for the pain as her actions split nerves, muscles and blood vessels the creature remained biting down blindly. But the Karayan understood what she requested of him and he stopped hitting it with the axe. With the bones practically frozen from the boiling fizzing pool that was its brain now, he gently stretched a hand into the mouth of the creature to swiftly put his revealed claws onto her flesh. When she gave a soft whine of pain, he told her to remain calm as he shifted his fingers around the closing chunks of teeth to find how punctured Anouk’s leg was.

  He knew he could not just pull the teeth out of her leg in case a vein or artery had been impaled and she might bleed to death. Karayan had a sensation in his mind that no matter what happened to her she would survive; he would make sure of it but also that he could burn this being. He did not know how that would happen, but he knew he was strong enough to pull the head of the creature in half and nervously he felt the first puncture wound with a grimace of frustration.

  “That one’s down deep… wrap your chain tightly around the top of your leg and be prepared for a lot of pain.” He growled fiercely as he tried to probe his finger down into the wound, noticing the creaking sensation of the monster’s jaw and the pain visible on Anouk’s face. Although she was trying to hold back tears to stop herself appearing feminine, she was certainly not afraid and had done enough to defeat this being so long as they could destroy it with fire after she was free. The demon was in fact completely frozen to the spot it would seem, the brain melted in the sunlight to a liquid slosh, but it was still throbbing with black veins. If it got dark any time soon then the brain would start to reform, and the figure would become even stronger then it had been inside the body of Ynvirius. Even so Anouk was pleased with herself for having given her sister the chance to escape with a stone and she nodded her head gently before swinging about with her chain, whispering to it instructions to make the chain glow and then wrap itself about her thigh.

  The chain bit painfully into her body, but the moment she began to feel numbness overcome it she nodded her head to the Karayan. With a swift bob of his head, the shrouded figure hooked an arm about the woman with a firm sigh and then shoved his claws away from her wounds and grasped the top jaw of the skull. If he could break the top half, then the bottom half would just drop off and with a low groan he heaved in a strong breath before slowly beginning to exhale and push upward. With his talons stabbing firmly into the calcium of the bones the form began to fracture and splinter as he breathed out. With the final push of air, he was able to pop the jaw up and in the movement the skull crumbled into pieces and Anouk let out such a loud scream it echoed about the swamp.

  Birds lunged into the air that had remained watching and the sound touched the group who were already at the barges. They froze in fear, their heads snapping back towards the grass and the terrifying sound that forced Damara to wail in upset. Before anyone could react properly to the sound of Anouk in such agony, Damara had stretched her hand into Karani’s hood, grasped the stone that made her arm feel numb and then galloped onward. She turned back into the swamp and screamed out for her sister, begging for Anouk to still be alive. Alard gave a bark and bolted out after the young woman, unwilling to let her get killed as well if that had been Anouk’s death cry.

  Damara was not going to stop however, if her sister was dying then it was all her fault and despite her hopes of the whole scenario, Damara did not think the stone was worth it! Nothing was worth loosing the only family member she had left and with tears dribbling out of her eyes and the stone swirling bright blue within her hands, Damara prepared herself to join battle and destroy the creature with them.

  Anouk however was hanging limply in the Karayan’s arms, completely passed out from the pain and the release of the jaw. The Karayan held her tenderly as he waded through the thick seemingly motionless waters towards the stones and tenderly lay her down. She remained with her eyes closed; her breath light and her body juddering from the shock of it all as he slowly loosened the chain on her thigh and ripped the fabric away from the worst affected leg. He grimaced as he looked to great bruised and swollen patches where the bones had been crunched and then that one massive hole within her leg that was still spurting blood despite the chain’s efforts. He was displeased to see that fresh look of this brilliant crimson, knowing that meant her artery had been damaged and she was likely to bleed to death!

  “I did not understand my powers at first… but I know I can heal you…” The Karayan whispered fearfully towards the prone figure whose soft purple skin was starting to turn a hideous white. She looked to be turning into a statue before his eyes and the stranger was not going to allow it as he tentatively pulled down the top of her robes enough to reveal the bare, naked flesh of the woman within and he gulped heavily at the thought of this action. She would kill him if she had any idea what he was about to do, but thankfully she would not wake up until after it was done.

  As he lifted the fabrics of her dark blue robes aside he reached the pallid grey vest beneath and straightaway he noticed the great hideous edge of a ragged scar. He understood what she had meant now about her father’s decision as he peered at the badly knit together skin, still partially healing as if it had been constantly opened and sealed again. In fact, the look of the wound was frustrating and the stranger was quite sure that the tissue had been tampered with as he followed the line as it slashed down her chest, had cut her breast open, split the nipple and continued with a slight jump across her abdomen to her hip on the opposite side. It was such a massive wound that the cause seemed so unlikely… whoever had caused it had probably slashed her once to get her to the floor and then taken the time to cut her open to ensure she should have bled to death.

  A deep and violent growl like that of a beast formed within the Karayan’s throat at such a wounding to someone so noble and so obviously willing to die for the sake of her sister. He shook the anger from his head, knowing that it was time to heal and not to think. His great sharp talons touched the wound nearest the bottom of her stomach and then swiftly he slashed it so finely that the skin fell
aside and pink and red blood oozed toward his eyes. The Karayan then turned to his own body; he pulled the shroud aside from his own stomach and then split his own belly. There was a sudden hot spray as an acid like fountain of brilliant pink blood spewed from within his body and filled the fresh wound upon Anouk. The Karayan then clamped his wound together, the tanned skin beneath stitching back together with a jet of steam as he then looked toward the wound upon his sponsor. His strange fluids had sunk in deep, stitched the wound up neater then before as if it had never been scarred and then there were hissing sounds from her leg.

  The Karayan turned about to face the scene of Anouk’s bloodied and bruised leg and breathed a sigh of relief as clouds of steam erupted from the hole. There were painful, sharp popping and hissing sounds as the bruising shrank and bone cracked back into place and with a gurgling sound the damaged blood vessel within the leg began to spit blood as it slowly re-grew. Finally, it managed to reconnect itself before it sealed itself up tightly and the limb looked barely bashed. Karayan breathed a sigh of relief, covering his flesh, covering hers and then gently stroking Anouk’s soft forehead before turning back towards the wheezing noises produced by the veins bubbling within the opened bowl that remained of the demon’s skull. When the Karayan approached it, the veins seemed to squeal in fear and he understood that they knew exactly what he was, even if he had only just found it out himself.

  With a soft, deep breath the Karayan slowly removed the mask from his mouth to reveal the soft pink lips and the terrifying black-blue ink tattooed to look almost like the writhing tentacles of an octopus upon his mouth. He opened his mouth with a low growl as he took in as much air as possible, great jutting tusks pushing his lips upward in a crooked snarl before his sharp, fanged teeth were visible to the squirming lines within the bony brain bowl. The Karayan’s citron eyes flashed a hideous red, the pupils disappearing as if they had exploded with blood as he gave another hideous almost burping roar and a jet of white and golden fire leapt from his mouth.