I only had the smallest amount of eldritch energy built up within my body. If I had compressed it fully, it might have been no larger than an egg. Despite that, the energy was spread throughout my body in an almost universally distributed web of thin, interwoven channels. Creating this delicate structure had taken days of intense effort and concentration, and yet if I failed my plan threatened to destroy all that work in a moment.
I focused on drawing the energy downward into my left leg, but the process would take time. As I worked I continued to run forward in a mad dash, my mind and breath heavy from exertion. Each step I took brought me closer to completing the process, but also allowed the charging King Behemoth to close the distance between us.
My concentration was split as an army of tank sized monsters threw themselves against my wall of spikes. With every crash I could feel myself shudder, as if the hit had struck me physically. It was exhausting both mentally and corporally.
I knew I could not go on for long.
I wanted to check on Telvy and her sister, but my attention was already strained and taking even a fraction of a second to do so could prove fatal. I would have to hope that my actions had been enough to buy the mage and her sister the time they needed.
I wanted to do more. I couldn't fight the entire herd directly but creating barriers and weapons had become a bit of a specialty of mine.
I was already drawing heavily on the eldritch energy around me and it would take incredible focus and will to draw on it further. Maintaining the long palisade of spikes also took less effort than switching to a new image. Each construct needed time to form in my mind and each new image took exponentially more mental effort to sustain.
I still had the advantage of system dictated spells. They were not as versatile or as powerful as my own constructs, but many of them had the benefit of not requiring direction or concentration to utilize. They were much like macros, producing a complicated but predetermined output from a simple command. I aimed at the ground directly beneath me and used Tanglefoot bolstered by Wild Growth to create a wall of brambles in an attempt to slow my pursuer.
Thorns and twisting vines would grow out from the point where the spell was cast. They would be left behind to trip my enemies as I continued to run forward. The strategy was best used to tie down a group of smaller pursuers and I had never used it in combat before, but I was out of choices.
I did this several times, but it was worthless. I could hear the behemoth tear through each obstacle as if it were ripping through tissue paper. Its feet struck the earth in a drumming of heavy beats that never slowed or faltered.
It would have been just as useful had I gift wrapped myself for the creature in the hope that it would give up and go away.
As it broke through my final barrier, with my mana expended, I could hear small dings as bits of plant and thorn struck the back of my armor. Perhaps it was my mind creating illusions, but I swear I could feel the breath of the behemoth as hot gusts brushed against my neck and a pungent musk filled my nostrils.
The horde of smaller beasts continuously crashed into the barrier to my right, adding to the confusion and slowly sapping my concentration. Some of the beasts had decided to stop slamming into the wall and were instead leaping above it, crashing into the ground to my left with heavy thumps. They left long gashes in the earth as they slid to a stop and fell onto their sides and backs in failed attempts to quickly turn.
The lumbering behemoths were not graceful when taking corners. This new strategy did little to add to their pursuit, but it did add to my mental pressure as I began to feel as if I were being closed in on from every direction.
I had always wanted to experience running with the bulls, despite my friend Liv telling me it was a cruel and inhumane tradition. I guess this was my chance.
I had been running for less than ten seconds at this point, but I could already feel a familiar tingling at the nape of my neck that I had learned to associate with immediate danger. I only had time to gather roughly half of my eldritch energy into my left leg, but it would have to be enough.
During my imprisonment I had experimented with using the energy to boost my strength during calisthenics. The theory was to fill and surround the muscle as it worked and mimic its action with the eldritch energy. I had had some positive results, but they were minor compared to the amounts of force I would need for my current plan to work.
Even if executed perfectly, the technique would increase the pressure exerted on the joint and bones. I had yet to find a way to counter this limitation, though I had several theories. I had decided to use it sparingly until mastered, and only in short busts. One explosive, limb tearing use ought to count as 'sparingly.'
I allowed what energy I could seep into the muscles of my legs. By concentrating on the energy, I could 'see' the internal workings of my leg and I slowly moved the energy where it needed to be. I allowed it to copy the shape and movement of each muscle.
As my left foot came down upon the earth I could feel the muscles in my leg bunch and shorten. As my foot pushed against the ground the muscles in my thighs and calves released and I allowed the eldritch energy to follow in a short experimental burst.
The first thing I noticed was an eruption of pain in my hips and knee, though my ankle held up remarkably well. I looked down and saw the ground grow steadily further away. I was high enough that I could see over the wall of spikes and make out the horde of clamoring beasts on the other side.
I enjoyed a brief moment of weightlessness as I seemed to float above the ground. The moment quickly passed, and I soon found myself violently plunging towards the grassy earth.
I landed on both feet, creating two long lines leading to a small crater where I finally came to a stop. The jump had worked. I had gained a lead on the pursuing behemoths, but I had completely lost all momentum. They beasts were quickly gaining on me.
"Fuck!" I yelled in frustration. The next jump would probably do real damage to my leg and had to carry me much further if I expected to outdistance my pursuers.
I ran as fast as I could, giving a small thump of energy every time my left leg pushed against the earth. This increased my speed somewhat, but the sounds of pursuit grew ever closer.
Once I reached my top speed I began to prepare my mind for one final leap. I delayed just long enough to examine my step a final time and ran through a mental 'trial' jump. I needed to get it just right and couldn't afford to rush it – even with thousands of pounds of flesh and horn close at my heels.
As my right foot came down I began to shift all my concertation onto the energy in my left leg. I only needed one more step.
A beast slammed into a section of the wall directly in front of me. The wall of spikes exploded inward, causing the entire line to weaken as a cascade of chain reactions ran through it. A surge of mental energy hit me, and the backlash caused me to momentarily stumble.
I didn't fall but I missed my timing and was unable to leap; the eldritch energy was still held in a tight coil that was waiting to explode outward.
As this was happening the behemoth that had broken through my wall fell to its stomach and slid directly in front of me. Rather than stop, I ran over it while planning to use its highest point as a jumping off point to begin my leap. Roars filled the air with enough force to rattle my bones and cause my ears to ring.
I could feel their eagerness and rage.
All around me heavy bodies fell to the ground as they smashed through my fading barrier, crying out as they did so. I released my hold and the barrier faded completely. I would put everything I had into one last push, and hope that it would be enough.
Just as I reach the top of the fallen behemoth I release a yell of triumph and began to bring my left foot down in preparation to jump. Before I could do so an impact launched me forward. I felt no pain, just a warm numbness that spread over my entire body. My vision was beginning to grow red and my thinking slowed.
As I was lifted into the air I looked down and saw the tip of a large horn protruding from the flesh between my right shoulder and chest. Everything was happening in slow motion, as if my mind was unable to accept reality. It was as if I were simply a bystander.
The Behemoth King began to shake its head furiously and I could feel the horn move within me as it pushed aside flesh to impale me further. I screamed out and felt my arm loosen as flesh was being torn away.
Eventually my screams faded away and I hung loosely upon the creature's horn. With a powerful flick of its head I was torn loose and thrown to the ground. Blood pooled around me, and an army of beasts formed as if they were a murder of crows circling a battlefield.
I hung onto consciousness by giving myself a simple goal. One action that I would take before slipping into oblivion. My entire life I had held back my anger. I was always the bigger kid, or my guilt told me it wasn't the right thing to do. There was always a better way...
Not this time.
Here, as my life bled out beneath me a terrible rage grew in my heart. It was like a tiny spark given fuel had quickly morphed into a raging inferno. I no longer fought it and as I gave in a primal need for vengeance tore at me and took control.
It gave me strength and focused my determination. I wasn't going out alone.
I closed my eyes and focused on the eldritch energy that was still tightly coiled in my left leg, drawing in more of it. Time seemed to be moving more quickly. I felt my leg surging with power as more and more was siphoned into it. All the while, the King Behemoth slowly meandered over to me. It came to a stop when its face was directly above me, and it twisted its head down to poke me with a blood-stained horn.
The world became a chorus of cheering roars and growls.
The king pulled its horn away from me and lifted its head into a mighty roar that rang out between the hills and trees. It silenced the others and shook me to the bones. It might have filled me with fear if it wasn't exactly what I had been waiting for.
My eyes snapped upward, and a brief flash of a smile played itself across my lips. The creature was not even looking at me; its eyes were closed as its maw was raised upward towards the heavens.
I would help it to get closer.
I spent the last bit of stamina I had left to drag my body up until I was standing and then kicked upwards at the Behemoth King's unguarded head. As I made contact I released the energy I had been building in my foot.
A powerful impact pushed me backwards and I was pressed into the ground. Blood washed over me and something warm and heavy covered me like a soothing and unmovable blanket.
As I looked upwards, my final sight was of soft flecks of dust and shavings of crushed rock billowing towards the sky and falling around me like Christmas snow.
I smiled and drifted into darkness in the sweet embrace of quiet contentment.