Ashur felt time slow as he tore through the air toward the exposed back of the creature. He refused to allow himself to think about the sudden fall of Segurant. He knew that no ordinary man would survive such an attack. He also knew that Segurant was no ordinary man.
He heard his own heartbeat drowning out all the other sounds around him. His eyes were locked on the target. His hand was tight on the hilt of the shimmering sword. His breathing slowly calmed as the blade cut down into the monster. Rain drops stung his eyes but he refused to blink.
A thousand words and thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second and then his mind was blank. All there was in the world was his target and the sword in his hand. His whole body was in one motion.
He felt the tip of the blade bite into the dark flesh of the nightmarish creature. All his body weight and the force of his attack was pushing against the blade of the sword. As the blade began sinking he blinked once. Then he felt burning exhilaration that tingled though his body. He smiled tightly.
* * *
Segurant was gathering all that was left of his iron will. He felt the magic fading faster. He saw two sets of teeth scraping closer and closer to his face. He clenched his mouth and closed his eyes as he began reaching deep within himself.
One of the heads barked a small laugh as its bite came but a hairs breadth from one of his neck. It knew he was weakening. He could hear it panting with excitement. He forced his mind deeper and deeper within himself. Finding final reserves of strength he willed his magic to burn stronger. He clenched his teeth and slowly opened his eyes.
Stanis looked down at its prey with its two sets of eyes. Raw explosive hate broiled within its massive body and oozed from its black soul. It tore viciously into the man's face. Large snapping jaws ripped into the shimmering blue magic. Large dark muscles were clinched tight with constant frenzied motion.
Segurant closed his eyes again. He gathered the magic within his metallic hand. He spared only the slightest amount to protect himself. The rest he held within. He felt it growing slowly like water rising behind a dam. It fought his control as he struggled to contain and build it. He held it with a focused effort of will. He drifted into a place deep within himself where he was hardly aware of the creature struggling to tear past his defenses.
Burning yellow green eyes watched the limp form of their adversary. Stanis continued its frenzied attacks but confusion shot through its twisted mind. The man with the iron hand had been struggling tooth and nail even after being pinned by Stanis's massive bulk. Then he had just gone limp. Yet, the magic that shielded him remained though it was fading rapidly.
As quick as the confusion came it was gone again. It didn't matter to Stanis if the fool had given up on life. One of its mouths suddenly caused a flickering crackle in the blue light. Long incisors scraped across the soft skin of Segurant's neck. A trickle of blood glittered enticingly. A long red tongue licked the shining droplets from its teeth.
With its apparent victory in sight Stanis's mind surrendered to total madness. The magical shield had closed almost as soon as Stanis's teeth had finally torn through. Now it fell on the flickering barrier with the tenacity born of focused insanity. Its senses and mind clouded with a complete singleness of purpose. Nothing else existed in the world but its prey. Its slavering jaws became a whirlwind of razorsharp teeth smashing into Segurant's magic with perfect synchronization. It felt a tingling excitement as the barrier crumbled. Its tongues writhed behind its flashing teeth in anticipation of its feast.
Then Segurant's eyes opened. Blue white light shone from them like captured stars. His eyerises and pupils had vanished. He looked up at the menacing specter before him with a face locked in icy determination.
Even in its maddened state Stanis could feel a sudden rise of power emanating from its would-be victim. It could feel it like the ocean being drawn back from the shore before a tidal wave. The glowing, emotionless eyes stared up at the demon like twin omens of its approaching doom.
At that instant, for a fraction of a moment less than a second Stanis's heads paused. A sea of gleaming eyes stared down at this new and unexpected threat. Then there was terrible burning pain stabbing through its back and out its chest.
* * *
Segurant looked up at the terrible aberration that crouched over him in blood lusted fury. He felt the magic he had been holding in check with an iron will suddenly pour into him in a raging river of power. He struggled to control it as the endless heads of his adversary stopped tearing at him for the briefest moment in time.
Almost as soon as he registered that the creature had paused the monster suddenly reared up in incredible fury. As he seized his power to take advantage of the opportunity he saw a sliver of shimmering light punch through the blackness of the monster's chest.
Uncaring of where this new attack had come from or why Segurant raised his right hand. Glowing runes spiraled around the glowing surface. The magic within his hand that he was only just able to hold back suddenly released in a burning torrent.
He felt the cool tingling force of it wash over him like a powerful wind. The shadowy creature before him looked right into his eyes as the wave of blue power crashed into its massive frame. It ceased clawing at the gleaming blade that protruded from its enormous chest. Its jaws opened in terrible shrieking roar of pain and failure and hate.
The sound ripped through the lightless clearing. The remaining Janin in the area fell to the ground in agony as their sanity was wrenched within their minds. Miles away at the nearest village children suddenly began screaming with tears sliding down their innocent faces. Parents shuddered and locked their doors wide eyes staring in the direction of the inexplicable black storm in the distance.
Then, mercifully, the sound was silenced.
* * *
Ashur had driven the sword of Janos into the back of the monster with a powerful surge of exhilaration. He had felt the shimmering blade slide through solid muscle and dark flesh all the way to the hilt. He had heard the sound it had made like meat sizzling on a griddle. Foul steam curled from the base of the hilt and he had allowed himself a moment of pure triumph.
Then the creature had whipped about like a serpent in its dying contusions. A massive black arm struck him hard. His fingers were torn from their grip on the sword and he was sent hurtling through air. Pain ricocheted through him from the spot where he had been struck. He grunted and clenched his teeth as his body pounded into the mud.
He slowly rolled to one side. Sharp pains stabbed him here and there all over his filthy body. Clenching his teeth he began trying to force himself to his feet.
Then, he suddenly saw a bright blue white light explode in the darkness. The whole clearing was suddenly illuminated. Shadows and vanished and rain droplets glittered like diamonds. He threw a hand over his face as the light grew and seemed almost to singe his skin. Then the terrible scream assailed his ears and mind and he collapsed back to the ground covering his head.
He opened his eyes in a daze. Fragments of shattered thoughts drifted to and fro through the forefront of his mind. It took him a moment just to remember where he was and what had happened. He shook his head once and pain echoed through his thought processes as they slowly came together.
His mind seemed ablaze with a terrible stabbing headache cutting through his temples. His ears could only hear a loud terrible ringing. He rolled on his back as the light faded wondering if the screaming had stopped or not. Pain pounded his head and echoed the ringing in his ears.
He blinked and struggled to make himself stand once again. His night vision was gone and it took him a moment to see anything around him. He closed his eyes and saw bright spots dancing before his pupils. For a moment he considered collapsing back into the mud.
Then a recent memory flashed in his mind's eye. He saw the clearing illuminated. He saw the figures of the surviving Janin. He saw the horses and carriage of his sister's captors. He also saw something but a few feet away from where he had landed after being knocked aside by the monster.
It had been a dark tent. A dark tent with the door flaps closed. As the memory struck him he suddenly felt very strongly that his sister was within the tent. A nagging doubt pulled at his aching mind telling him that she could be in the carriage or even somewhere else entirely. He shrugged off that troublesome thought. He knew where his sister was. He knew it. Fierce determination lit up his face as he in the direction that he semi remembered to be the location of the tent.
The incessant ringing in his ears blocked out all the sound around him as he staggered in the mud. The headache continued cutting its way from his temples to his forehead. He wiped his forehead and tried to massage one side of his head to no avail. He continued forward completely focused on simply putting one foot in front of the other.
* * *
Segurant walked up to the dark monster shaking on the ground. With an effort he kept himself from staggering as he approached. His body felt spent. The magic he had released had empowered him and then drained him. Now he dragged himself towards his adversary. Never before had his iron hand felt as heavy as it did for the last couple of steps as he came to the prone body of the demon.
His wet hair clung to his scalp and blue light swept up and down his body periodically. The runes on his metal hand continued to glow and swirl at a slower pace. He forced himself to keep some measure of a show of strength as he stepped up to look down at what he had tried to destroy.
The creature called Stanis was shaking uncontrollably and glaring up at its enemy with both sets of green yellow eyes. Large patches of its fur was burned off revealing steaming black scales that caught the blue light that periodically shimmered up and down Segurant's body. Its corded muscles were clenching and unclenching as it attempted to bring itself up.
Segurant just stood there for a time looking down at its monstrous form. It steamed and sizzled here and there as it continued to tremble uncontrollably. Its eyes stared at him unblinkingly and burned with terrible hatred. Its throat muscles flexed and worked as one of its heads struggled to speak,
"You can't stop us!" it gasped, "After this world we will kill your world next!"
Segurant drew himself up over the creature. The bright shard of the Sword of Janos still stuck out from its chest like a beam of pure white light. His eyes flickered with the burning blue of his magic. The runes on his hand swirled and glowed brighter and a flaming blue sword slowly materialized. Metallic fingers gripped the burning weapon tightly and he took a step forward.
Stanis suddenly lurched forward falling just short of Segurant and his glowing blade. Its many heads snapped viciously but its rows of gleaming fangs bit only air. The massive dark form of its body quivered with effort and exertion. Two grating voices screamed in unison,
"We will drown this world in blood and fire! You can't stop us! This world's end looms in the horizon and NOTHING will stop it! Death comes for you Iron Hand! Death comes to you all!"
Segurant stepped around the snarling heads. His blue eyes glowed softly as he chose a target in the monster's torso. He raised the burning blade above his head. A trickle of sweat slid down his spine. He forced his breathing to even out,
"I do not fear the howlings of devils," he said glaring at the mass of heads twisting to look at him,
"Join your brothers in darkness!"
With those words he plunged the burning sword of pure magic into the creature's spine. Blue flames engulfed the dark corpse and Stanis's heads writhed in agony. It screamed again but this time the only one who heard it was its slayer who listened to the sound with grim satisfaction.
* * *
Ashur continued forward. His whole world seemed to be clouded with pain. His scattered mind seemed unable to find a single part of his body that was not screaming for rest and recuperation. He reached up and wiped mud from the edges of his eyes.
The ringing had not stopped and he was all but deaf as he staggered across the wet ground. Despite all the pain he pressed onward. A treacherous part of him hoped that he would slip and collapse to the ground thus giving him a few at least a few moments respite.
Yet, he did not slip. He did not stumble or collapse. Instead he continued forward in the direction that he believed the tent to be. He knew, he knew that his sister was in that tent. He would not turn back now. He would not wait for someone else to find her. He would not rest. Fierce determination pushed against the cries of his struggling limbs and it was his determination that won the day.
His vision slowly became clearer and he saw the shadowy outline of the tent. Nagging doubts of whether or not he was heading in the right direction were dispelled as he continued towards his sister's cloth prison. A stabbing pain in his side made him pause for just moment. He grunted as his face contorted in pain then he took another step.
With that step he suddenly felt it. A thick terrible evil washed over his crippled body. He caught his breath as it seemed to settle on his skin like black grease. His stomach churned as the feeling pierced his torso and trickled through his veins.
It was like the feeling that clung to the monster he had stabbed only worse, much worse. He unconsciously tried to wipe the black evil from his mud splattered arms. He spat out a mouthful of bile. His eyes widened and all his distorted thoughts suddenly crystallized.
This was where Cassandra was being kept. She was inside that tent with something terrible. These creatures had sent her to something even worse than them. His eyes narrowed. Righteous anger burned in his gut. He took another step and another.
The closer he moved to the tent the more terrible the feeling became. The terrible evil swirled around him and inside him. Oily blackness stabbed into his pores and gripped his beating heart. He was revolted by the feeling as it pressed against him like walls of unrestrained depravity.
The monstrous aura should have broken him down. A part of him wanted nothing more than to turn and run from this place; this place of awful unyielding evil. But, in the stronger part of him welled up a loathing for whatever was the source of this terror. Anger that his sister should be subject to such a thing fueled his body as he approached closer and closer.
Then there was the feeling he had felt when he had attacked the two headed monster. The indignity, the disgust that such a thing should even exist. His quick beating heart slowed in grim precision. His burning anger ran cold as he came closer and closer to his decided enemy.
He stepped up to the drawn tent flaps. His pains were not forgotten but they were banished to a distant place. He made himself stand upright. The evil presence warned and threatened him. Oily darkness tugged at him and pounded his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and focused his thoughts. Whatever this thing was should not be allowed to live. He would destroy it, he decided. He would kill this...whatever it was.
Feeling strangely calm he opened his eyes and flung the tent doors open.
* * *
Segurant muttered the appropriate incantations as he hunched over the remains of the demon. He had only used them three times before but they came easily. In his left hand he held the strange bottle he had unfastened from his belt. Strange etchings were marked here and there on its dark surface.
He had to be quick. Demon flesh was a dangerous thing to be left unattended. His body felt old and tired as he gathered his will for the ritual of imprisonment. The demon called Stanis had crumbled to blackened ashes. A casual observer would see nothing harmless in the smoking remains but Segurant knew better.
Uttering a final word he pulled the lead stopper from the bottle and held it over the ashes. The remnants of the monster did nothing at first. They all remained on the ground unmoving like an enormous black shadow. Then in a sudden instant they began pouring into the neck of the bottle.
Segurant watched the steady flow beads of sweat mixing with water on his brow. He could feel the remnant of Stanis's will pulling against him as he forced it into its enchanted prison. The blackened shadow of the demon faded from the muddy ground. Segurant watched the last of the monster disappear into the bottle and then shoved the stopper back in.
The bottle had gone cold in his hand as though he had torn it from a block of ice. He deftly switched it to his metallic hand then tore a leather bag out from under his tunic and placed the bottle inside. He could feel the monster moving within its prison. Slight vibrations and knocks against the walls of the bottle. He tied off the top of the bag and then fastened it to his belt.
Having finally completed his task he dropped to a knee for a moment. Though he carried only minor wounds from his bout with the demon his body was drained. He hadn't had to draw that much magic in some time. He took a deep breath and steeled himself against the anticipation.
Then he felt it.
It was like a cold breeze that had been released from the darkened realms of Hades itself. His head snapped up in the direction of the feeling. Then an aura of unadulterated evil prickled his skin and stroked the chambers of his heart.
In an instant he was on his feet and running. Blue magic flickered in his eyes and the runes in his metal hand began swirling.