The Dark Hero Adventures

Demonic Knight, part 7

Kat moved under the bushes. She didn't want to, but the fascination of horror made her look outside again. She knew that the beasts were coming, she could feel it, for the air carried the same sensation that she had felt the night before. She looked at her two benefactors of hers and felt sorry for them, because they were going to die. Although her appearance was frightening, they had tried to help her and they did not deserve the death that the beasts would give them.

She looked at Elysia and saw that her beautiful features were torn between hopeless fear and savage exultation. She understood how that could happen, because she had felt the same way when Karl had driven his car too fast down the path full of sprouting roots; she was kind of itchy, excited, scared and happy at the same time. However, Elysia did not seem very happy, and that was the difference.

The dark hero did look like it, as he laughed slightly in a psychotic way. Kat was sure that she had noticed him looking at him, because he turned to her and winked at her, which made her think that he was either not afraid or he was an excellent actor. .

They both seemed brave in her own way, and looking at the magical weapons they wielded she knew they had to be both great warriors. The runes on Elysia's sword glowed with inner fire, like an enchanted weapon in a fairy tale. Frey's greatsword seemed capable of felling a tree in one blow, the edge of that imposing sword seemed to be made of light, and the runes that were found along the entire length of the blade glowed blue; but she Kat knew that, in the end, that would not matter, because they were both doomed. The beasts would see to it.

Jeopardizing her safety, she gasped as they entered the clearing. The leader, the one holding the canine beastman in a chain, was the same one who had spared his life the night before at the inn. She knew that he had gone there looking for her, only her, to make amends for the mistake he had made. His followers were some of those who had ravaged Kat's village, all very large, almost as tall as Frey and much heavier than Elysia. Seeing the two warriors standing by the fire, she realized how lopsided this combat of men against monsters would be; Outnumbered and outnumbered, they would not have the slightest chance of victory.

For a second they stood motionless in front of each other and, caught up in the tragedy of the situation, Kat forgot her fears and held her breath. Frey had his legs flexed like a huge gargoyle and he was gripping the greatsword with no apparent effort. Elysia had adopted the classic fencer's stance that she had once seen the noble Hugo adopt while she practiced. Before them the beasts were gathered with an ungainly air of assurance, their weapons carelessly held.

"Get ready, Elysia?" she heard Frey's voice thundering.

"As much as I can ever be," answered Elysia.

She watched as the dark hero ran a thumb across the edge of the sword, until it sparked due to the gauntlet flexing with the edge; she heard his insane laugh and watched him charge. Elysia followed him, and she, unable to bear how they were torn to pieces, closed her eyes.

She heard a loud crack and a cry of pain, and she knew he was the dark hero. He was the first to die. Then she heard the clinking of steel on steel and hoarse grunts of effort, followed by more cries of pain. Elysia had also fallen.

But the sounds of fighting continued for longer than she would have thought possible, finally dying out, just as she knew they would. Completely possessed by terror, she opened her eyes to meet the end of her.

♦ ♦ ♦

Elysia charged, and before her she saw the dark hero leap to the side to avoid a spear aimed at him.

Frey took hold of the spear shaft with his left hand, slid it across the weapon, and held it still as he advanced. Once he had the beastman within sword reach of him, he delivered a blow that split his head like a melon. There was a crack and a strangled cry of pain. Good, Elysia thought. “one less to worry about.”

She locked in combat with a scimitar-wielding monstrosity, her sword clanging against it, nicking its rusted steel. The creature was strong, but lacked dexterity, and Elysia's magic sword, with a life of its own, pierced the beastman's guard, which within seconds was already bleeding from several minor slashes. He bellowed in fury and slashed at Elysia that could have cut her in two, but she jumped back and deflected it in desperation. As the weapons made contact, sparks flew, and the catgirl's arm went numb from the impact.

She looked up into the beast's face and saw that her lips were mottled with foam and that her eyes danced with insanity. He charged at the catgirl again, his scimitar sweeping in a fuzzy arc through the air.

Reflexively, Elysia ducked and stepped forward as she swung her sword high. The beast's warm entrails spilled over his hands, and it stumbled back, trying to hold its intestines with one hand and whimpering like a slaughtered pig... The other beastman had recovered from the surprise of being attacked, and jumped forward. the fray

He charged, then, head down, aiming the spear at a point six inches behind Elysia's back, but it slipped on the entrails of her mate and fell at the catgirl's feet. The young woman addressed a prayer of thanks to heaven and decapitated him with a single blow; she then turned, sweeping the air with her sword, and ended the other's agony.

Frey had already put an end to the lives of his two lesser enemies and was locked in a duel with the beastman who led the group. The tracker had disappeared from sight, and the catgirl guessed that he must have fled. Looking at the scene of the carnage, she pieced together what must have happened.

The dark hero's surprise charge had consisted of two tremendously accurate slashes: the first had split a skull, the second had cleaved a rib. But the eyeless beast was of a higher level than the other beastmen.

The sword and club swung back and forth with a speed that made them blurry, sparks flying as the star metal struck the steel spikes at the end of the club. The beast was larger, but also slower, and the impact of Frey's sword pushed it back with every blow.

Elysia wondered if she should help Frey, but she decided against it. Frey wouldn't appreciate it, and the possibility of accidentally getting slashed by that sword was too scary.

The beast landed a tremendous, desperate blow at the dark hero's head, but Frey jumped back and caught the head of the club with the edge of his sword, then, with a lightning-fast jerk, ripped the weapon from the man's hands. beast and leave him defenseless.

Frey's figure gave off an aura of cold fury that Elysia had never seen before. There was not a trace of mercy left in her; just anger and unyielding determination.

Frey slashed at his leg, knocking him off his feet, her blood oozing from the wound that had severed his tendons. The creature gave a high-pitched shriek of pain and rolled over. As he did so, the fabled greatsword Lævateinn swung down like an executioner's blade and the eyeless beastman's head severed from its neck as the monster shuddered and slumped lifelessly.

Frey spat on the corpse, and then shook his head as if he felt disgust.

“Too easy, these beastmen lack street” he sentenced. "I hope the Demonic Knight is of a higher level."

Secretly, the catgirl hoped that the time would never come to find out.

♦ ♦ ♦

Elysia walked with a cheerful step. She wasn't tired despite her lack of sleep the night before, and the rough terrain they were traversing didn't faze her. She breathed deeply and even enjoyed the stagnant air and the scents of the humid forest. At least she was still able to breathe.

She was still alive! The sun filtered through the leaves of the trees and she caught tiny specks of dust, which she made dance like enchanted lights. She wanted to reach out and pick up a handful of them, as if they were magic dust.

For a moment, the forest was transformed and they passed through an enchanted hedge where mushrooms a foot high grew in the shade of the huge trees. At that moment, they did not have a sinister aspect, but were a promise of the continuity of life.