The Witch Among Humans

Chapter 23: The Palismen

"Incoming!" Darius shouted. He and Mason jumped sideways to avoid the incoming tree. After realizing his forehead was getting covered in sweat, he groaned. "I didn't sign up for a workout!"

"Well, you're getting one!" Mason spun a fist-sized circle, which resulted in a glow surrounding his hand. He began running at the Bat Queen, who was charging at him full force.

The two collided, strengthened fist versus bat foot. In mere seconds, the bat foot won, sending him back into a perfectly healthy tree. His back cracked very loudly.

"Jeez Mason, stretch a bit before you pull a muscle." Darius shouted. He surrounded his own hand with Abomination goop, forming a fist as large as a small boulder. Then, he launched it.

The fist collided with Bat Queen, who got knocked back. She recovered quicker than he would have liked or expected.

The Bat Queen roared. "Is that all you have to offer?"

Darius gave her a warm smile. "Nope."

Suddenly, Eberwolf jumped onto her back, transformed to have sharper claws, fangs, and senses. He began scratching, causing her to cry in pain. Bat Queen took off into the air.

Mason got to work on manipulating the battlefield. He created large spikes to make landing more difficult and created ramps to give them a chance to literally get the jump on her.

Bat Queen finally was able to get Eberwolf off by spinning as a fast speed. She then noticed the Construction Head's efforts.

After letting loose a growl, she began drawing a deep breath. Then, fire cam from her mouth, pouring onto the ground. As she turned to face her foes, Mason reshaped the top of the spikes to create a protection dome.

"Since when could she breathe fire?!?" Darius shouted.

Mason shrugged. Darius felt the anger from the situation rise in him.

When the fire nearly struck Eberwolf, he used magic to summon a Ratworm. It slithered away from the flames, with him clinging to the side of it.

"Alright! I've had enough of this!" Darius claimed. He left the safety of the spikes, drawing the attention of Mason, Eberwolf, and the Bat Queen. He drew a large circle, before letting his body grow relaxed. The white of his eyes changed to black, leaving only the green unchanged.

From his Abomination hair, the substance began expanding and surrounding his body. It formed a cocoon around him. Then, a hand made of the slime jabbed out and tore the cocoon away. He emerged completely made of Abomination slime, and a devilish grin on his face.

Darius sucked in a deep breath. "That's better."

The Bat Queen began charging once again, with flames still coming out the sides of her mouth. His hand began changing form, shaping itself as a blade similar to one from a scythe.

He swung his scythe hand, completely knocking her out of the sky with a small new scratch. The Bat Queen's shriek made the Palismen watching cringe collectively.

As he began walking to her location, she rose from the crash site left on the ground... until Eberwolf rammed right into her back with the Ratworm. Bat Queen fell forward, allowing Darius the chance to once again extend his hand.

Only this time, it expanded to be larger than her. He grabbed the Bat Queen, letting the goop become a binding that wound not be easy to break.

Bat Queen struggled, stretching her binding a bit, yet not being able to escape. Mason followed up by forming a second binding made of the surrounding earth.

"You think this will hold me? I will not be trapped by Belos' dogs!" Bat Queen struggled some more.

As Darius separated his hand, he began attempting to figure out how they could keep her trapped. The Bat Queen was not someone to be trifled with. Even he knew his binding would soon fail.