by Eric Vall
“I’m not sure any survivors are still in this village,” Arwyn admitted as she cast a worried eye over the ruins of the town. “However, I understand your concern. We’ll be better off looking than just standing around and biting our nails.”
“Great,” I responded with a nod. “Stick close in case we need medical treatment, but please put your own safety foremost. Any questions?”
The team glanced at each other briefly.
“No, I think we’re good,” Varleth clarified.
“Perfect,” I declared. “Then, let’s go!”
Erin threw out the crystal for her stagi, and it emerged with a flash of light and a puff of smoke. The stagi was horse-like, and its skin was a dark emerald green color. It had deep galaxy-black eyes, and a faint aura of celestial dust trailed behind it as it pranced around us.
“A horse to fight a horse,” Varleth murmured. “Nice.”
“Hopefully, more effective than nice,” I replied as I examined the massive distance we had to cross to get to the undead satyrid. “Maybe I should give the rest of you a ride.”
Arwyn’s eyes widened, and Varleth gave me a nervous look.
“Sure,” Arwyn replied with her worried eyes focused on the crystal in my hand.
“It’ll be fine, relax,” I assured them, and I threw out my baroquer crystal.
The monster that emerged had a hollow red body covered from head to toe in burgundy armor. Flames licked up the pieces of his platemail, and one hand carried a sword that glowed with the dim embers of fire. He was massive, probably nearly as tall as the undead satyrid, and his helmeted head turned slowly to peer at us on the ground.
“Hey, buddy,” I greeted him with an excited grin. “Ready to kick some ass?”
He rumbled back a wordless noise I could only take as agreement, and I felt his vague contentment echo down the bond between us.
With a mental command, my baroquer leaned down and placed his hand on the ground. His fingers stretched out gently as he flattened his palm.
Varleth and Arwyn looked a little uncertain about the whole situation, but they followed me quickly as I clambered on board my monster’s palm and asked him to raise us up.
The baroquer lifted us high into the air before he settled his hand next to the top of his helmet. I climbed off first before I helped Varleth and Arwyn into their own secure spots atop the baroquer’s head.
We clung to my monster’s helmet as we gazed at the destroyed town and the undead satyrid that crashed through it.
“I didn’t expect this,” Arwyn commented quietly as she stared at the distant landscape below us. “This is so much better of a view than what I anticipated.”
Most of the trees lay beneath our vantage point, so we could see nearly to the horizon in any direction. If it weren’t for the ruined town, the rift, and the rampaging monster, I would sit for a while and admire the view. As it was, the sight of the carnage instilled some amount of solemn respect in me.
“I feel like I can appreciate the value of our lives from up here,” Varleth murmured. “So many of us humans simply want peace, but the monsters make that impossible.”
“It means what we’re doing is more important than ever,” I replied, and the other two nodded in silent, determined agreement.
Below, I watched Nia and Erin as they mounted the stagi carefully. It wouldn’t be as fast as it could be with just Erin, but it was quicker than any real horse and stronger, too. If I was careful to draw the undead satyrid’s attention, the girls would be fine. Unfortunately, I would be too far away from them to loan a speed slug out.
I waved my hand, and my baroquer stomped onward with slow, ponderous steps. I wanted us to be more agile than our opponent, so I smashed a speed slug essence crystal between my hands before I attached it to the back of my baroquer’s head. His pace increased dramatically, and we made pretty good time, though the stagi had to slow down to maintain the same speed as us.
The satyrid’s eyes focused on us with blazing intensity as it stomped toward us. Its house-sized hooves crunched through debris as it moved, and I watched it flatten entire hovels and tear up streets with each step.
“Arwyn, Varleth,” I said as I turned to them. “I’m going to set you two down here. Don’t worry about survivors until that satyrid is far clear of the village, since this is going to get very ugly.”
“Copy that,” Varleth said.
“Be careful,” Arwyn advised. “Give me a call on your wrist communicator if you have the slightest doubt about your next move. Just because you’re the leader doesn’t mean you have to plan alone.”
“Thanks, I will,” I said with a grateful smile.
My baroquer lowered Arwyn and Varleth to the ground in the middle of the field. We were still far away from the village, but it looked like we would meet the satyrid at the very edge of the town.
“Good luck,” Varleth wished me as his voice crackled from the standard issue monster response squad communicator on my wrist.
I twisted it around so I could press the button and talk back.
“You too,” I responded with a wry smile.
With that done, I tested the bond between me and my baroquer and asked him if he was ready.
My monster made a low humming noise that echoed up and down his plate armor body. I was used to his pleasant, relaxed personality, but my baroquer was just as ready to kick ass and take names.
As the satyrid neared, I could see the yellowing, brown spots of aging on its teeth and hands. Its fingers and hooves were covered in rust-colored streaks like old blood, and its roving amber eyes steamed as heat rose from them. Then it made another piercing shriek that only vaguely reminded me of a horse, and I winced and clapped my hands over my ears as it did.
Maybe I should start carrying those old earmuffs for pyrewyrm screams everywhere with me.
In the next moment, the undead satyrid and my baroquer were just a couple strides away. They nearly matched each other in height, but the satyrid walked with a slouched animal gait that made me think it would be taller if it weren’t so misshapen.
Before the satyrid could strike, my baroquer whirled his sword from left to right in a backhanded slash that cracked against the satyrid’s bony chin. His horse head smacked to one side, but his skull wasn’t so much as cracked by the attack.
“Okay,” I said into my wrist communicator, “I’m definitely relying on Erin and Nia to take his legs out. This sucker is strong.”
“Copy that,” Erin replied. “First sweep is starting now.”
The stagi darted out from behind a nearby copse of trees and swerved around my baroquer’s feet before it shot toward the satyrid as it streamed a trail of sparkling dust.
Damn, but it was impressive to watch. I wondered where Erin got such a rare, flashy monster, but since the mimic was consistently such a jack of all trades, I couldn’t be that surprised she managed to snag one.
As Nia rode on the stagi’s back, she twisted her fingers around a giant ball of swirling ice magic. When they got close enough, she released it in a beam of frost that shot toward the satyrid’s lower legs and crackled against the bone there.
As the satyrid’s ankles were painted in white crystals of ice, the massive beast rumbled and tilted its massive head to get a closer look at its feet.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I warned him as I commanded my baroquer to attack.
My baroquer’s armored left hand flashed forward in a quick jab to the ribcage of the satyrid, but the blow merely glanced off its chest. Still, the undead satyrid stumbled back, and its glowing amber eyes fixated on us again instead of my two lovers.
Nia and Erin peeled away from the fight as Nia began to work on another powerful ice spell. The stagi leaped around rocks and tree branches as Nia focused on her work, and the ashen-haired mage’s hands twisted around her growing ball of blue magic with perfect concentration.
I followed up my baroquer’s first jab with another left-handed punch, but it landed poorly as the satyrid ste
pped away, and the attack had little effect.
Suddenly, the undead satyrid snapped forward with its jaws open wide, and its teeth clenched over the left arm of my baroquer. The satyrid ground down with its molars, and I heard the plates of my monster’s armor begin to crack.
“Beams,” I barked out quickly.
My baroquer complied, and twin laser beams of pure energy shot forth from his eyes. They connected with the satyrid’s shoulder, tossed it back slightly, and the monster’s toothy grip came undone.
I was shocked, since not even that managed to do much damage to the satyrid. There were twin blackened marks on its shoulder, but there was no sign of actual damage, cracking, or pitting.
I looked down to check on my monster, and I bit my lip in concern. The plating on my baroquer’s arm was fractured badly, and he seemed to be able to still use it, but I didn’t want to risk putting his arm entirely out of commission with the next punch.
Nia and Erin came back in for another round, and their stagi stayed carefully to the left side of the satyrid. It was a smart move, since it meant I could more easily avoid pushing the monster over to them by accident during our fight.
Once again, ice flashed from Nia’s hands and crystallized against the satyrid’s ankles. Its hooves frosted over with a fine layer of white crystals, and when it took a step, sheets of ice crackled from the sides of his feet.
Suddenly, the satyrid crouched and swept its bony hands toward Erin and Nia. As the skeletal fingers drew close to their retreating stagi, my heart clenched in fear.
My baroquer slammed its sword horizontally across the side of the satyrid’s skull, and the undead monster stumbled backward a step, but its focus didn’t change.
It reached again for Nia and Erin, but I wasn’t going to let that happen.
My baroquer rumbled and dropped his sword before he lunged forward to grip the undead satyrid by its skeletal shoulders. The two monsters struggled back and forth, and their feet kicked up piles of dust and debris as they fought for the upper hand.
Nia and Erin glanced back over their shoulders to look at the fight, and then the stagi began to come around as well.
I hit the button on my communicator as I clutched to the helmet of my baroquer.
“Too dangerous, please retreat,” I commanded, but the stagi rode onward.
“We’re coming to help,” Erin said through the communicator.
Nia’s started to cast again, but this time, she had a different spell in each hand. One rippled with the aqua color of water, and the other spun an orb of cold, crystalline ice.
She couldn’t be double casting two complex, powerful spells like that, could she? My eyes widened in awe, but I didn’t have time to contemplate Nia’s skill.
The undead satyrid snapped at my baroquer again, and this time his teeth sank into my monster’s neck plating. A pained rumble emanated from my baroquer as flames licked around the wound, but the satyrid wouldn’t let go. It shook its head, and its teeth shredded my baroquer’s metal armor with terrifying ease.
Then Nia’s spells exploded from her hands with blinding power. One hand produced a barrage of water that drenched the satyrid’s ankles while the other hand emitted a thin beam of freezing ice. The two mixed and created an intensely cold spell which froze the satyrid’s legs in layers of frost and ice.
The satyrid released its jaws from around my baroquer’s neck and shrieked out an awful whinny that made my hair stand on end. It tried to step away, but its hooves were frozen completely to the ground. Then the satyrid crouched again as it swept its skeletal hands toward Nia and Erin. This time, one giant finger grazed the retreating legs of the stagi.
The stagi stumbled and cried out in pain as it overbalanced, but Erin held it steady for a few more footfalls before it collapsed. The two girls fell from their mount and tumbled to the ground as they shouted in shock and pain.
Not on my watch.
“Now!” I cried as my baroquer followed my mental command.
He grabbed his enormous sword from the ground with his good hand before he swung it with all his strength toward the satyrid’s ankles.
The edge of the blade cracked against the beast’s ankles, and there was a tremendous snapping sound as the undead satyrid’s bones cracked along the single fracture line. The ice had brittled his bones to an incredible degree, so what was once nearly as hard as diamond was now fragile and easily cracked.
I gave the order again, and my baroquer swung a second time. His blade cracked against bone, and metal chips flew from the sword as the two forces smacked together.
This time, one ankle snapped completely, and without it, the undead satyrid toppled over backwards like a chopped tree. It shrieked as it collapsed, and its other leg cracked lengthwise with slow finality. I watched the fracture spiderweb before the entire lower leg bone split into three separate shards.
The satyrid hit the ground with a tremendous boom, and several of its smaller ribs cracked under the fall. Its left leg shattered up to the knee, and the other one twitched uselessly as it peddled what remained of its lower leg.
I threw away my hesitation as I commanded my baroquer forward. I wanted to check on Nia and Erin, but I knew they wouldn’t want me to give up the chance to end the satyrid completely. Arwyn would be nearby, and she could do a better job healing them than I could ever hope to do.
As my baroquer reached the satyrid’s head, Varleth dashed across the field to meet it as well. His banisher sword was out, but it no longer writhed with the black smoke that characterized his magic, since it would do him no good in this situation.
Though the banisher’s life force draining power was formidable, he couldn’t use it much before it exhausted his mana completely. If Varleth tried to use it on a monster this big, it would probably kill him instantly.
“I’ve got it!” Varleth called as he sprinted to the enormous eye socket nearest him.
Two rolling amber eyes fixed on the banisher with steaming rage, and I shuddered at the sight of them. I really hated to look at this monster, and I was glad it was so rare, since I never wanted to see its horrific, misshapen skeleton again.
The undead satyrid reached its human arms up to claw toward Varleth, but I had my baroquer put a stop to it before it got anywhere.
My monster knelt and pinned the satyrid’s left arm to the ground with one knee. As the other arm scratched toward us, I had my baroquer seize it with his good arm and hold it steady.
The satyrid was furious and far from dead, but it hadn’t taken the fall well. When it thrashed at me, its damaged ribs cracked further, and it stopped to neigh and shriek weakly with simmering anger.
Varleth slashed at the amber eye in the entrance of the socket, and the glowing orb dissolved into wisps of fire. Then the banisher dove inside the hole without a moment’s hesitation.
I couldn’t see what he did next, but I knew exactly when it happened.
Suddenly, the whole undead satyrid shuddered and twitched into its death throes. Its arms fell limp, and its body drooped to settle weakly at the ground. I knew Varleth must have driven the fatal blow into its brain, and the gypsy confirmed my suspicion when he emerged. He trotted quickly from the eyehole as he wiped his sword with his banisher cloak.
The undead satyrid began to dissolve into dust and air, just like every other monster that died in our world.
Just like that, we had vanquished it.
I had my baroquer set me down, and I hopped off his hand before I turned to look at him.
“Thanks, buddy,” I told him gratefully. “You did great out there.”
I held out my fist to the sky, and he gingerly knocked against it with his own finger as he rumbled with quiet pride. I grinned and recalled him back into his crystal before I slid the shooting-star shaped crystal back onto my bandolier.
Then I turned to run back and check on Nia and Erin, but there was no need. The two girls ran toward me as Arwyn followed them at a slower pace.
“We did it!” Er
in shouted as she approached.
“You all did great work,” I congratulated. “That was a rough one. Are you and Nia okay?”
“Perfectly fine,” Nia answered.
“They had a few bruises and scrapes,” Arwyn explained. “It only took me a few moments to fix them up.”
“Great to hear,” I said with a pleased expression. “Alright, ready to go bust that rift down?”
“Let’s get to it,” Varleth agreed before his voice sobered. “By the way, I looked around for survivors in town, but I didn’t find anybody.”
“Neither did I,” Arwyn added with a solemn shake of her head. “The military should be here soon to do a thorough, organized sweep.”
“Not too unexpected,” I mused as I twisted my mouth into a thin line. “Let’s get to that rift, I want to try to shut it from outside.”
It took us a long few minutes of steady jogging to reach the entrance of the rift, but we encountered no monsters or living humans in the process. The large portal rippled with vague glyphs and murky colors that seemed to suck in the light itself.
Time to use Sera’s power to close it.
I thrust out my hands and began the spell, but no power gathered at my fingertips. I frowned and cocked my head sideways as I considered what might be wrong. I examined the magic that lay dormant within my core as well as the tether between Sera and me, but I felt nothing wrong.
Aw, Sera whispered, are you disappointed? Poor little Gryff. You can’t close rifts you didn’t open. It’s like trying to lock a stranger’s house with your own key.
“Shit,” I swore. “I can’t close this thing. It’s impossible, since I’m not the one who opened it up.”
There was a round of disappointed mutters as that news hit my team.
“That’s okay,” Varleth drawled. “Good to hear I’m not out of a job.”
“Congrats on your continued employment,” I joked as I rolled my eyes. “Sorry about that, guys. Looks like we’re going in this one.”
