The creature pulled the mace up again and Anouk was pulled up with it, using her power and strength to clamber up the burning chains onto the mace top. This frustrated the demon greatly and it tried to shake the elf off the mace with a roar of fury. Damara took the cue and once more summoned up her lavender coloured blade of ice and launched upward again to hit another part of the trapped shoulder as Anouk released her whip blade and swung it straight at the beast’s eye. The explosion from Damara’s ice and the sudden burning shot through the eye and other side of the head. This was followed by a slashing blow against the arm from Anouk’s blade and the overwhelming pain had the demon slumping where it was trapped. This helped the Karayan wrestle the door back into the correct space although the demon’s fist continued to thump at him as he dug his feet in. Damara dropped to the ground but had to scrabble to safety as the mace crashed down beside her and she gave a bleat of fear to see her sister hanging out of the demon’s eye, trying to untangle her blade after her weapon had followed through to hit the opposite socket to Damara.
The demon began to shake its big head as Damara stared upward in dismay, losing all her eagerness to fight again as the fear for Anouk ate into her once more. Her sister though gripped her chain tightly as she was swung about, looking for the best place to let go until the great creature opened its mouth to try and snatch her. Anouk automatically let go of the chain, leaving the blade stuck within the monster’s head as she crashed down into the rubble of the wall near Damara. Her sister rushed at her, terrified for her until the Karayan barked for Damara to watch out as the mace swung about. Damara had no choice but to suddenly produce a quick burst of magic to push the mace back for a fraction of a second, so she could leap into a roll and get away from the weapon. She pulled herself up and produced her ice blade as Anouk then rushed up from the ground and lunged upward to grab her chain and knocked the demon to give a bleat. This made it possible for Damara to throw the ice blade this time and it slapped against the arm holding the mace and exploded to make the monster shriek.
When it managed to hook up its mace once more, the demon aimed straight towards Anouk and Damara turned to her sister, bleating at her for instructions but she just seemed to freeze. Damara prepared her blade for another attack, but she could not pull her eyes away from her sister, hardly focusing on the excellent shot presented to her as the demon swung down his mace with pure fury. Anouk remained perfectly still, her eyes shut, and her breathing steadied as if she were accepting death and Damara screamed out to her again as the great mace came shrieking down. In Anouk’s mind she recalled what she had been told about in the past and what her father had once done when facing a bull troll, standing firm and summoning up the song of fury. Anouk could feel the green fire streaking within her veins and she could feel her body preparing as the mace came up and she swung her hand upward. Suddenly within her grasp was a great long sword of burning green fire, swelling within her hands and producing the most painful sounding scream as the mace hit into it, but was pushed right back upward as the demon roared in outrage.
Damara stared out in disbelief, she had heard the rather manly song of Anouk’s blade as it had practically devoured the power of the mace’s blow and thrown it back. It had not bent, it had not collapsed or broken away like hers but had stayed perfectly still. Anouk remained motionless once more, ready for the next attack as the mace was swung back down at her. Anouk knew she could not deflect it but could hold it; when it smacked into her green blade, though she had felt her bones rattling with agony, she bent her knees and ground her teeth as she held the mace above her. The demon still seemed confounded and then Anouk snarled at her sister to attack again.
“CHOP IT UP ALREADY! FIGHT DON’T STAND THERE GAWKING!”
Damara jumped in surprise at the growl but once more she threw her blade upward at the monster’s face, letting another piece of its face explode off with a roar of agony. This caused its grip to weaken on the mace, for Anouk to dive out from under the club and swing her blade around to the weapon again. The demon turned back to her for battle, but Damara tried to pull up the fury that she killed Leridan with to summon the ice blade again. She could see it straining forward to attack her sister once more but this time she had a better chance to attack and Damara did. She leapt at the creature as it swung up and she swung her blade which hissed and spat in the air, singing to Damara as it then collided into the neck of the demon, letting it explode with blood. There was a roar of agony and Damara fell to the courtyard, was snatched by her sister and pulled aside as the creature swung its mace around continuously in fury as its acidic blood spilled onto the platform below and melted the stone.
The sisters were pressed to the wall as the creature continued its maddened attack before they noticed that the Karayan was still having trouble. He was exhausted and weak, Anouk looked toward him with concern, but she could see the damage Damara was doing with the ice blade and it was making more of an affect upon the creature than any other weapon. She looked to her sister with a slight grimace before she bent forward and whispered into her sister’s ears. She told Damara that she not only loved her but that it was important she keep fighting to destroy it and remove her fears. Damara was trembling as the creature continued to bleed and wrestle with its blind rage, but she could see what her sister meant. The more Damara was afraid for Anouk, the more her own focus was lost, and it was clear to her too that her actions were doing the most damage… if only the sun would shine through the spores!
“I’m going to go at it again, allow the mace to hit me down… when I do this Damara, you have to aim at its head and expose the brain. Fighting with all your fury, put everything into that blow and don’t fear death for anyone. If you don’t hit it correctly, everyone you love will die. Just let the rage take hold… don’t be afraid for me.” Anouk stated, but she was worried over her own strength in the matter. She knew her next attempt with her blade would be weaker and she might not be able to stand the blow, her legs were still painful after everything she had experienced, and she was so very, very tired after it all. Her muscles were aching, she was feeling her skin burning with the typical itching of her green fire and she was starting to feel like she might have to die to keep Damara safe. If that were the case she would not be afraid, it would not be a bad way to go, but she needed to give them this one last chance at least.
“I understand… if I think it’s something I can hit… we can do this.” Damara stated as she bolstered her confidence and tried to look at the calming demon as just a giant form of Leridan or a Hive demon or just a goblin! She shook her head to regain some confidence before she leant forward to kiss her sister’s cheek in thanks and affection, so happy that Anouk had not drowned in the prison. “We can win this…”
Suddenly Anouk launched away from the wall near the door and darted straight towards the demon with her fingers raised. She shot out a few bolts of exploding magic to hit the demon in the face and knock it into fury again. The creature bellowed, somewhat weaker as Anouk stepped further back from the broken holes in the courtyard and produced her blade of green fire in a clear challenge to the creature. The blade roared, hissed and seemed to steam in the air within her hands, ready to face the mace one more time and at it Damara sucked in a deep breath. She thought about what was said and she thought about Benaga pride, Damara needed to be just as willing and powerful to do something as astounding and she felt her own blade forming in her hands and she looked towards the broken rubble and mortar that would lead her to a good striking spot. When the mace was raised and swung down, Damara lunged with a roar of her own.
The demon’s mace smashed into Anouk, slamming her and the blade right into the ground so that she screamed in agony, but the demon was vulnerable. Damara was able to aim her blow and bring down all her fury to cut the side of its head away. There were explosions, pulling the cap-like top of the skull with its great horns aside and then her blade exploded too. Damara landed heavily on the ground, ducked and rolled away from the fa
lling mass of flesh that slammed down into the ground around her. Her wrists were in agony, they felt broken and Damara remained prone on the ground, whimpering in pain before she saw the situation with her sister and realised that her sister was also on the ground… none of them were standing although the brain was now exposed.
The Archdemon’s great mace swung down again, this time the fire sword of Anouk was not going to rescue her completely. It could not hold it back so strongly and began to hiss and spit as it formed around the weapon as the archdemon seemed determined to crush her down into the stones. As she lay there Anouk knew her strength was failing as the great weight of her adversary’s weapon pushed her downward, not eager to lift it and risk her rolling away, instead determined to squash what it perceived to be the cause of the trouble. Though Damara was able to pull herself up and produce another blade, she could not charge and instead was stuck just throwing the ice blades at the demon again, grimacing in agony at the pain in her wrists. Though using her powers to freeze and break the demon up, her abilities were not strong enough or fast enough to be of any more use to Anouk and the demon was solely focused on the eldest Benaga, the one to have thwarted the blow of its mace. Damara could not help but whimper in fear as she turned her head towards the Karayan who was trembling. He could not keep hold of the door any longer, could not keep it closed when it was smacking into him still, but his eyes were drawn over to Anouk. His eyes were burning in fury and sorrow as he looked to her, knowing that he could not keep the demon’s arm at bay and let Anouk die.
They were winning this battle so long as he kept the door firmly shut and Damara reached the brain with her blades… but Anouk!
The weight of the weapon was passing through the elf’s own, it’s demonic heat scorching her fingers as they pressed about her weapon, her forehead sweating profusely to try and keep her body cool. Where her blade was burning against the red of the demon’s fire, a great shadowy light was oozing out, stabbing at her body and making her clamp her eyes shut for fear of them drying up and shrivelling away. Any other being pressed into the earth, inches from the great twisting spires upon the mace of an Archdemon, might just scream out to Nabuto to aid their soul but Anouk could not. Her heart was hammering in her ears, its beat slightly off as if part of it was not in the same situation and still trying to maintain control. She felt it shudder with a different kind of fear and steadily she closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and spoke to it.
“Please… I know your power is greater than mine and I know this is all still something you’re struggling to understand… but I need you right now. I need you to save me; please Karayan – I can blind everyone with a bright explosion long enough perhaps for you to do what you need to do… but I need you. I believe you can save Virenheim and save me… please, repay your debt to me and reveal yourself.” Anouk whispered to her chest, but she was not even sure he could hear her until she felt a fluttering sensation within. Suddenly she felt her body relaxing, the strength fading and yet all she could feel as she prepared herself for death was the great shroud falling about her. She felt herself sinking down into the warm embrace of the being beneath the shroud, the strange creature both humanoid and reptilian that she had helped so long ago… and for once she felt truly happy as she wheezed a soft sigh. “I don’t remember anything… but my heart has always known you and always hammered knowing that it belongs to you completely.”
Then Anouk removed one hand from her blade, began to start swirling a massive ball of energy as Damara tried not to look in her direction and kept fighting. With her sigh of calm, knowing that the Karayan was going to save them both if she gave him that piece of her heart back to let him be whatever he truly was, Anouk was willing to stop fighting. As she muttered something soft as her face felt like it was melting away into the rocks beneath her, the ball was released and then the world was filled with a beautiful light as the mace was lifted and something stabbed straight into Anouk’s chest.
For a moment she could see the glaring brightness of the sun, but where she would see the paler rim of its rays around the great eye, instead there was black waves rolling over its surface… perhaps this was death.
Nineteen: Salvation
“Upon further investigation into rumours of a strange hybrid being living in the region of the Pardig Canyons, I can clearly state that the rumours of a child-like demon are untrue. There is no evidence of anything living in this region but the Winged Monkeys and nothing likely to survive there. However, there were signs of Archdemon activity, so I would advise a halt to all further investigations into the region until the sightings ebb away in case it is a demonic lure.”
- Report on Pardig Canyon by Master Scaropan Benaga
As the world was filled with a brilliant explosion of sharp yellow-green light, all eyes it met seemed to cloud over and the world was alive with screams of terror and agony echoed by the high-pitched shriek of the demon above. Then everything seemed to stop and it was in that moment that the thought occurred to Anouk that she had indeed died. Her last sense of time and reality had been the sensation of something clawed and horrible gripping about her whole heart and stopping it from thumping. She was not sure whether it was the demon that had finally caught her or whether it was indeed the strange creature in the shroud that had turned her rather controlled life upside down since his arrival! Whatever it had been a sense of release and relief fell into her mind and Anouk could not help herself but smile as she heard the familiar and steady beat of the heavy monster’s heart.
The piece of heart was pulled gently from her chest, blood pouring out around it and spurting upon the ground in a black flurry within the shining light. The great chunk of flesh was not like the chambered heart of a normal creature, where this half should have been almost symmetrical to another, two extra great chambers forced it to bulge out. This section, twice the size of any elf heart, shuddered with anticipation as it was pulled into a great vibrating grey-blue form of some creature that was starting to grow great bat-like wings to rival that of the demon’s. It took the heart back to its great scaled chest where the great panels of leathery black skin shifted apart, revealing the opposing beating lump the size of an elf head, beating slowly but for one smaller, seemingly stretched section that was red in colouration and visibly weakened the closer the great piece came to it. The great talons lay flat before the holes, letting the section of heart slither into the crevice and push out the piece lying within. The red piece fell into the great clawed hand and when the large heart reconnected and thumped in deep, resonating thuds… everything seemed to change as the light was no longer bright yellow but turned a violent crimson. The sudden change was enough to make everyone scream as their senses were stolen by a great repetitive, echoing shrieking sound that bounced off the rocks.
The unwanted piece of heart was pushed gently back into the great hole in Anouk’s body, reconnected back to the weakened spurt of sluggish blood, before her body slumped forward in a heap. Then the imposing figure, glimmering red like the rage within Nabuto’s great eye during the late days of the summer burnings, straightened and then the form began to grow massively. Its great wings seemed to stroke the walls and the magic barriers about it, forcing the broken forms to stand once again and the magic wall to filter back around the King’s Tower as the creature physically pushed the wall before it apart to face the demon alone. The wounded, furious beast looked toward this new enemy with a curious clenching expression of terror and anxiety until it pulled back its mace and swung it towards the strange red figure that spilled crimson light in great waves. These great rolling waves of red light kept the elves senseless and frozen in time as it pulled back the stones, culled the enemies of the city and seemed to clean the wounds of all those beings that were not already dead in a cleansing wash. It seemed the creature to have appeared before them in this moment of direst need was ready to save them all, then the mace came down into the being and the red creature’s hand hooked about the weapon with ease and the waves spille
d onto the archdemon to make it squeal in agony.
Within the great tower, staring out in disbelief at the familiar silhouette of a creature from story books, the mages had dropped to the floor and trembled in disbelief at the sight. The red light hurt them, even within their magical tower, but they knew the laws of Nabuto insisted they should not look at one of his messengers, for surely it was an angel! All the same, though the other mages bowed and scraped, Zehna and King Otzell sat staring out at the figure in total disbelief and yet also wonder. They could not tell where it had come from and could not see anything of their people within the great waves that poured off its body, but they knew that the situation had turned in their favour as the two figures continued to clash and wrestle. The little power to have been put in the fake stone had done enough to help the demon to keep fighting, but the battle was easy to predict and Zehna turned to his king, realising there was a kind of thankfulness on the old figure’s face as if he knew this would have happened and Zehna gasped softly.
“My lord… did you… did you know we would be saved by Nabuto in this form?” Zehna whispered nervously as his great eyes continued to blink and water in the direction of the great pillar of light beyond the dome. It seemed to him rather unreal, as if he were watching a jellyfish pulled up from the deep waters bobbing within a crystal bowl and yet he was the one locked behind the fragile glass staring out at the spectacle. Zehna was scared, anxious and he could not stop his lip from trembling as he felt a curious aura of power emanating from the figure upon the stone altar beside him. Somehow he could tell that Otzell had an idea of what had happened and it frightened him as he turned to his beloved king once more and whispered. “Did… did you know they still existed?”
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