Protector

by Sam Ryder

  “Aim for one side,” I said, hoping it would be enough.

  “What?” Beat said, but her question was too late to have any affect. Lace fired.

  The arrow was well-placed, stabbing through one of the bludgeon’s eyes. The bulky creature had been standing on the far outside wall. It opened its stone lips and said, “Ur?” and then exploded.

  In the confined space, the fire swept across the other monsters, consuming them. The hellhounds didn’t seem to mind the flames, leaping from their haunches and snapping at us. The gargats above us attacked at the same time. Beat batted one hound away with her shield and stabbed another through its open maw and out the back of its neck.

  I hit one of the gargats with my hammer and another with my backswing, generating two blasts of silver light.

  Rocks rained down, taking out two more gargats, and the stairs shook.

  We were moving. And I don’t mean on purpose. It was like being strung up on a platform connected to a rope while wind blasted against the side. I could feel it—the swaying. Side to side, side to side.

  “Ryder,” Beat said. “Holy hell, Ryder.”

  “I know,” I said, my arms out to the sides to maintain my balance. “Hold tight.”

  We did, with Lace a step above us. The swaying slowed and then stopped completely. The smoke from the explosion began to clear. We assessed the damage.

  There was good news and bad news. The good news was there were a metric ton of monster corpses lying on the damaged steps, charred and singed. From the raucous sounds below, the rest of the monsters that had been pursuing us were not happy. They couldn’t get to us, however—at least not easily. The staircase had been badly damaged, one half of the tube-like tower blasted outward, leaving a gaping hole in the side. The force of the explosion had ripped out an entire section of the steps. Now the only way up or down was to climb the intact portion of the wall. Most of the monsters on Tor were not that nimble, which left us with an advantage. Perhaps the Maluk’ori could come after us, but I was confident we could handle them, along with the remaining gargats.

  Like I said, good news and bad news. The bad news was that getting down the way we’d come was unlikely at best, except for maybe Lace, who could jump great distances and land on her feet. Sometimes it was nice to be a cat.

  Beat and I would break half our bones if we were lucky, all of them if we weren’t. And this planet wasn’t known for providing good luck.

  Things got worse.

  The troll was still alive. Its face was completely blackened from the smoke and all its hair had been burned away. That seemed to make it angry. And you don’t want to make a troll angry, something I’d learned firsthand on multiple occasions.

  It began to smash its powerful fist against the intact portion of the tower. Each punch cracked stone and mortar. In a matter of minutes, the troll would destroy what was left of the tower’s stability, and then we would fall to our deaths.

  Lace couldn’t use another bomb-arrow or she would do the troll’s job for it. We all knew it. She didn’t even bother to throw out the suggestion.

  She did, however, say, “I can climb down. I’ll hold them off while you do what you came here to do.”

  Somewhere during this mission, Lace had changed. Perhaps it was when we saved her back in the sex room, or it might’ve been a slower process that occurred over time, finally tipping over some invisible edge. Now her suggestion broke my heart. Because it should be on me to sacrifice myself to save my Warriors, not the other way around.

  But we had no other choice, did we? Another hammer blow from the troll’s fist. More cracks. We couldn’t wait any longer or it would be too late. I opened my mouth to give the order I didn’t want to give but Beat spoke first. “Fuck that,” she said, drawing her arm back and then whipping it forward, throwing her spear like an Olympian competing in javelin.

  The spear couldn’t have flown any straighter and truer if it had been shot out of a cannon.

  Plunk.

  The troll stopped its fist in mid-swing, its eyes crossing as it tried to look at what had pierced its skull between them.

  Bullseye.

  “Dumb turd,” Beat said, blowing her breath out like she was extinguishing the candles on her birthday cake.

  The ‘dumb turd,’ as Beat had labeled the troll, toppled over backwards down the steps. A few of the other demons had been cautiously making their way back up, but they were bowled over by the troll’s massive body. The stairs shook beneath our feet once more, but then went still and silent. Thanks to Beat, we’d bought some more time.

  It was short lived.

  Three bludgeons appeared. They picked up where the troll had left off, pummeling the wall. Next to the troll’s mighty punches, their hits seemed weak. Even still, chips of rock flew as they pounded. It was only a matter of time before the small amounts of damage compounded. This tower would fall eventually.

  Once more, Lace opened her mouth to suggest she do something about it, but it was my turn to stop her. “Thanks, but no thanks,” I said. “We go up. Together.”

  Lace bit her lip and nodded. We climbed into the dark, fighting gargats the entire way.

  Beneath us, the bludgeons’ hammer blows echoed through the Black.

  The clock was ticking.

  ~~~

  We reached the top. None of us had counted the steps. Maybe it was one thousand on the dot. Maybe that number was more of an idea than an actual count. It didn’t matter. We were here.

  The tower’s apex was much broader than the staircase, opening onto a wide, circular open-air platform. Everything was still and silent, the sounds of the bludgeons destroying the tower below us distant memories.

  The cry of a gargat rent the silence. Then another. They knew where we were and were preparing to swarm us.

  We crept forward, on high alert, relying on the light from my hammer.

  The stone floor was empty. No walls. No ceiling. Surrounded by the Black. Absolute. Hungry. Pressing in on us.

  An altar stood sentinel in the center of the platform. Its base was carved into demon’s claws, the pedestal made to look like dark scales, ballooning out to the top, which was shaped like an open chest, silver ribs gleaming under the glow of my hammer.

  I leaned over, my heart pounding.

  The chest was empty.

  There was nothing. No heart. The space was as empty as the three goddesses’ chests were, hearts stolen.

  My own heart skipped a beat and then sank into my gut.

  All the effort, all the risk, was for naught.

  Gargat screams all around us. I ignored them, trying to think.

  I was certain the Three hadn’t misled us on purpose. They had believed Airiel’s heart was here. From the look of the altar, it had been at one time or another. Maybe even recently. But maybe the Morgoss realized what we were up to and they moved it. Maybe they found a way to destroy it. For all we knew, Airiel was already dead.

  “We’re too late,” I said. I raised my hammer in frustration and then brought it down on the altar. Silver light flared outward as my weapon glanced off the altar, which thwarted the blow. I could feel the dark magic in my bones. This place was filled with evil.

  “Ryder,” Beat said, and I could sense the urgency in her tone.

  I followed her gaze to where a form was materializing in the dark, shimmering with waves of red. A knight in red-black armor, standing at least ten-feet tall. It held a shield and sword. Its helmet and mask covered its face, but I could feel the darkness pouring off it, feeding the night. This was no normal demon warrior.

  I’d met my second of the three Morgoss.

  I don’t know why I’d thought they would all look the same, but I had. I quickly adjusted my thoughts. This enemy had what I needed.

  “I’ve come for the sky goddess’s heart,” I said.

  The knight stepped forward. Gravelly words emerged from a hidden maw. “You’ve come…for death,” it said.

  That much was true. Just not
my death. I stepped forward, closing the gap. “Flank him,” I said to my fellow Warriors. Beat didn’t have any weapon except her shield, but I knew she would improvise. Lace’s arrows might be effective, so long as she didn’t blow us all up in the process.

  The platform shuddered beneath us and began to sway. Either the bludgeons didn’t realize their master was up here or they knew the Morgoss would be able to escape unscathed even if the entire tower collapsed. I was guessing it was the latter. Which was bad for us.

  Another jarring sensation from below. I sensed the bludgeons had taken out a chunk of the wall. The top of the tower was coming down, one way or another.

  To my right, Lace strung an arrow, taking aim.

  “Wait,” I said. As much as I wanted to send this creature back to whatever hell had birthed it, I needed information first. I turned toward it. “Where is Airiel’s heart?”

  It seemed to laugh without sound, its chest shaking silently. That’s when I realized that the spot of red on its armor I’d taken for a natural hue was emanating from beneath the metal.

  Oh goddesses.

  They knew.

  They must have.

  The Morgoss had filled its own empty chest with Airiel’s heart. We’d found it. Now we just had to carve it out the way it had done to Airiel so many years ago. Easier said than done.

  Slowly, the demon knight raised its sword above its head. Then, with the speed of a lightning strike, it brought the blade back down, striking the floor.

  The floor split, a crack running down the center toward my feet. I jumped to one side to avoid falling into the widening crevice. The two halves peeled away. Beat and I were on one side, Lace on the other. I couldn’t tell which side, if any, was going to break away.

  The Morgoss stepped over the gap onto our side.

  Lace moved with animalistic speed as her half of the tower shuddered and then broke free. The ground became an incline, but she ran up it, not hesitating at the top, leaping across the widening gap…

  And landing in a sprint, heading right for the Morgoss, who stood watching, motionless.

  At ease with its power. Fearing nothing.

  Half the tower toppled over, disappearing into the Black, as if it had been swallowed whole.

  The sound of its thunderous landing came a few seconds later.

  Lace launched herself at the demon master.

  At the last second, it moved. It was so fast I barely saw it. It was in one place and then another. I also didn’t see its attack on Lace, only the aftermath, her body spinning and then landing with a vicious crack. She came to rest, not moving.

  “Lace!” I said.

  No answer. No movement.

  She looked broken.

  Anger coursed through me. This Morgoss enjoyed the violence. It was like a sport. I hated it. I hated them all.

  I stepped forward, pissed off but not to the point of distraction. Focused and wary. Again, the Morgoss seemed fully at ease with my advance. “My kin spoke of you,” it said, surprising me. “He said you would return. Foolish, brave human. The time of the Three is over. The reign of darkness has begun.”

  Maybe it was right. Maybe it was hopeless and I was a dumbass for even trying. But screw it, fighting and dying was better than lying down and dying anyway.

  I swung my hammer at half-power. I might be stupid at the best of times, but I had seen what the Morgoss had done to Lace. And though I was slower than this demon knight, I could still outthink it.

  It was a classic feint, but the demon master hadn’t given me enough credit. It might be All Powerful, but it was also All Arrogant. That was its weakness.

  Midway through my swing, I ducked and spun completely around the opposite way, aiming for the spot where the Morgoss wasn’t. It was a guess, a fifty-fifty shot.

  I guessed right.

  I felt the whoosh of air over my head as it tried to backhand me the way it had hit Lace, and then the impact of my hammer crashing against its armor. The sky lit up with silvery light and the Morgoss roared.

  I stepped back to regroup.

  A piece of its armor was missing, vaporized by my magical hammer. Eat it, demon mutha!

  Where the armor had been, I could see it upper leg. All dark bone, glistening. No skin. No muscle. Freaky as hell. It also provided an opportunity. If I could shatter its chest plate, grabbing Airiel’s heart might not be as difficult as I thought.

  The knight leapt forward. I flinched back, raising my hammer to protect my vitals.

  But the knight wasn’t targeting me.

  It lunged for Beat.

  She wasn’t caught unawares, however, raising her shield and taking the blow on the broadside.

  It was just an ordinary shield, however. The demon’s sword was anything but ordinary. It slashed through the shield like a knife through butter, one useless side clattering to the stone floor, the edge glowing red hot. Beat spat and threw the other side away. Then, I shit you not, she raised her fists.

  She was one tough chick.

  More than that, she was my friend, and this demon shouldn’t mess with my friends.

  I strode forward, raising my hammer for another bait and switch maneuver.

  The Morgoss had tricks of its own, however. It stomped one armor-clad boot heavily. The floor beneath my feet turned semi-liquid, rolling like a wave and tossing me to the floor. I lost my hammer in the process, silver sparks flying as it slid toward Lace.

  I crawled after it, reaching for the shaft before it could—

  The hammer touched her foot, a bolt of electricity shooting into her. Her body jolted and then went still again. I snatched my hammer and turned back to the Morgoss, which was pushing its advantage against Beat, forcing her backward toward the precipice.

  “Watch out!” I warned, but Beat had already taken one step too many back, her foot finding only air, wavering as her arms pin-wheeled, trying to find her balance.

  To make matters worse, the knight chopped at her with its sword.

  I saw a flash of movement to my left and then Lace was there, grabbing Beat’s hand and flinging her to solid ground while she barely managed to avoid the demon’s strike. She rolled once, carried forward by her momentum.

  Enraged, the demon stalked after Lace. She skirted the edge of the tower, cutting back the way she’d come just as the Morgoss stabbed the spot she was about to occupy. She darted forward and sank her teeth into its gauntleted hand.

  It reacted instantly, lifting its hand with her still attached and flinging her away. She landed with a thump and slid across the smooth stone. Right toward the edge she’d saved Beat from falling over.

  I started running, but not toward Lace—toward the demon.

  Because I trusted Lace to save herself. And if someone didn’t stop the Morgoss all of our lives would be forfeit.

  Slowly, the Morgoss turned toward me. It raised its sword as I leapt, whipping my hammer around with all that I had left. Our weapons collided in midair with a heavy clashing sound. The sky lit up like a Christmas tree ornamented with only white lights.

  The Morgoss took a halting step backward.

  It was a small thing, but it was progress.

  I felt invigorated as I chopped at the demon knight, one side, then the other. It blocked each strike with its sword but was forced to retreat another step. Your ass is mine! I wanted to shout but could only grunt with each attack.

  That’s when the bastard hit my overconfident ass. Not with its sword, but with a gnarly right hook that had me seeing stars and blinking away tears.

  Did anyone get the license plate on that truck?

  Head held between my hands, my hammer dangled from my fingers, which felt like they were welded to it. They ached, as did my noggin. If I ever had kids, I suspected they’d be born with a chronic headache and vertigo.

  The knight made a scraping, grinding sound from the back of its throat that I suspected was its version of laughter, and then kicked out my legs.

  It was playing with me now,
or it would’ve already stabbed me through the heart and finished the deed. Its victory was all but assured.

  My head ringing, I spotted Lace’s face peering over the tower’s edge. I’d been right. She’d managed to grab the edge before falling to her death. Beat helped her clamber over the side.

  Aww besties, I might’ve said, if not for the throbbing pain between my eyes.

  Another kick, this one to the ribs. I heard two of them crack, maybe three. It was hard to breathe now, each inhalation whistling between my lips.

  I sensed the next blow before it came and managed to throw myself to the side to avoid being stomped on by a heavy armored boot.

  Holy fuck. It tried to crush my skull.

  I scrambled to my feet like a prize fighter who’d just taken his opponent’s best knockout punch like a champ. My legs felt like spaghetti but I managed not to fall. Small victories.

  Do the unexpected. That was the only way I had a chance to win. This demon god didn’t expect resistance. Certainly not now. I backpedaled on wobbly legs that weren’t quite as wobbly as I pretended them to be. They were feeling a little better with each step, but I made myself stumble, letting my hammer drag along the ground as if I barely had the strength to keep it aloft.

  The knight followed. It felt like one of those movies where the smaller, weaker opponent must overcome all odds to defeat his opponent. The easiest way would be to fool the bastard into making an aggressive lunge only to escape and kick it in the ass hard enough to send it off the tower. I didn’t know if such a fall would kill the demon overlord, but it was worth a shot. The only problem: I needed that heart glowing through its breastplate.

  So I did something else.

  I took two more pathetic-looking steps back, letting the knight close the gap. And then I attacked.

  It wasn’t the quickest maneuver, but the element of surprise made up the difference.

  Still, the demon managed to slash at me with its sword. This time, however, I didn’t try to meet its blow with my own. I ducked beneath it and then launched myself upward, using two hands to bring my hammer crashing down on its chest.

  Light blazed forth, streaming along its breastplate.