The Duelist

by Eric Vall

  Zoie screamed, but the way her voice ricocheted made it impossible for me to pinpoint her location for certain.

  I had to make a decision.

  “Eenie-meenie-miney--” There was a crunching groaning noise from the right that sounded like something with large teeth just tore apart its prey, and I immediately high-tailed it in the opposite direction. “Uphill it is!”

  I sprinted as fast as I could despite the clunky armor weighing me down.

  The helmet was the worst. It kept slipping down to cover my eyes, so I figured I was better off without it and chucked it aside like a hockey player about to rumble. Part of me wanted to chuck the sword as well because it felt foreign and unnatural in my hands, but I didn’t because something that was named a “demon” probably couldn’t be subdued by a rear naked choke and a bunch of elbow strikes.

  The sounds of carnage increased in volume, and I breathed out a sigh of relief, if only because at least I’d picked the correct path.

  “I’m coming, Zoie,” I said and dug my boots hard into the ground to round the sharp corner of the last switchback.

  Zoie screeched and yowled with violence, and my heart lurched behind my chest plate.

  I was just a few dozen yards away, so I ignored the sharp pain in my side and sprinted with all my might up the final incline.

  When I finally hopped the fence into the upper field, I stopped dead and almost had to scoop my jaw off the ground at the sight.

  My first glimpse of what Jenner referred to as a demon pretty much matched what came to mind when I thought of unholy hell spawn. The creatures of nightmare looked like the sick love child of Predator and Cthulhu, and a number of their bodies were scattered in the fallow field. Steam rose from the black pools of their blood and released a smell like burning rancid meat into the air, and when I looked closer, I saw their bipedal corpses had four multi-jointed arms like a spider, bifurcated snapping jaws, and grotesque writhing tentacles sprouting from their spines.

  Even more awful than their appearance, though, was the sound the demons emitted from their guttural throats. The horrific noise was a combination of a roaring tiger and a squealing pig, and it set my teeth on edge.

  In short, the demons were every fucking nightmare rolled into one scary abomination, but they weren’t the reason why I stood there in dumbfounded shock.

  No, what struck me speechless was Zoie in all her violent glory as she faced off against three remaining demons.

  And my god, was she sexy as hell.

  Instead of the black bikini number she’d been wearing when I met her, Zoie was now dressed in an outfit that looked more like her badass warrior self. An armored black corset cinched her waist with a half-dozen metal buckles that did wonders for her gorgeous breasts, and a set of pauldrons protected her shoulders and crisscrossed over her cleavage to hook on either side of the corset. Her sinful legs were now covered in a more functional black leather, which was a bit of a shame, but it was made better by the fact those pants were so tight they seemed to be painted on.

  The whole ensemble was finished with knee-high boots and leg greaves, an awesome armored utility belt, and bronze arm bracers that reminded me of Wonder Woman’s Diana from Themyscira.

  Only with cat ears and a tail.

  The three demons circled her like sharks, and she danced away from every attack with skill worthy of an Olympic gymnast. It was impressive how she dodged the creatures every time even when they coordinated their attacks and ganged up against her.

  “Die, scourge!” Zoie bellowed and came at a demon in front of her with an awesome flying leap. She brought the sword she was wielding straight down and sliced clean through one of its spider-like appendages.

  The demon squealed in pain and lashed out at her with its many tentacles, and she did a series of three back-flips to get away from it.

  I immediately saw what the problem was as the demons closed ranks around her.

  Zoie was constantly trying to dodge, so she never had a chance to attack. At this rate, the demons would wear her down before she could make any headway. All they needed was one good opening to strike, and the rest would be gruesome history.

  The next time the demon forced her into another back-flip, another demon on her right saw its opportunity and rushed at her before she could really prepare for the next assault.

  “Zoie!” I yelled as I finally snapped out of my shock and ran toward the fight.

  The demon with the missing arm turned at the sound of my voice and broke off from the pack as it shifted its target to me. It thundered toward me on its remaining five limbs and squealed like a furious boar.

  “Oh, shit!” I yelped and dove out of the way.

  The gimpy demon circled around and screeched with its maw open wide. Then it charged at me with its snake-like tentacles all aimed forward like a nest of cobras ready to strike all at once.

  “Argh!” I swung the sword and whapped the demon against the side of its ugly head with the flat of my blade, but the impact juddered up my forearms as if I’d just banged a steel girder with a metal pipe, and my hands went numb.

  The demon went flying with a shriek, and when it got back onto its feet, I could see its jaw hung at an odd angle like the busted silverware drawer in my shitty apartment.

  I ignored the tingling in my arms and ran straight at the demon with the sword like I was in a jousting tournament.

  Frankenstein’s reject snarled at me with its drooling broken jaw and sprinted at me full tilt.

  “Come at me, bitch!” I growled.

  Just before I could run it through with the long-sword, the demon launched itself over my head and then rocketed off toward the tree line that bordered the upper field.

  “You better run!” I called after the demon as it disappeared into the shadows.

  I whipped around at the stuck-pig sound of a demon being skewered, and I spotted Zoie as she kicked one demon off her blade, did a handless cartwheel, and then lobbed the head off the other demon trying to sneak up behind her.

  The demon she just stabbed quickly got back to its feet and raced at her like its only purpose in life was to rip her apart.

  Zoie was ready for this, though, and she rolled to the ground under its legs and popped up on its other side. She then returned her sword to the scabbard across her back and bolted for the trees.

  The demon shrieked to the sky and galloped after her, pissed as fuck.

  “Zoie!” I yelled again and ran after her and the demon. I raised the sword above my head to maybe throw it at the creature, but before I could, Zoie reached the line of trees and barreled straight for a sturdy looking trunk.

  Instead of weaving around, Zoie hit the tree at mach speed and ran straight up in one, two, three steps before launching herself backward over the demon. While in the air, she pulled out her sword and then landed in a low crouch in a move that might have gotten me a little hard if the circumstances were different.

  Zoie then jumped up and brought her sword down along the demon’s back with both hands before the demon even knew what hit it.

  “Raarrwwr!” Zoie yowled her battle cry, and her ears flattened against her head as she was sprayed with the demon’s hot blood.

  The demon hissed and wailed as it spun around, and Zoie didn’t even give it a chance to attack before she ran her blade through its gut and pinned it to the tree that just acted as her launching pad. She held the demon there until it stopped moving and then tried to pull her sword free with the help of her heeled boot, but the sword was stuck fast into the trunk and wouldn’t budge.

  When Zoie went to pull harder, the gimpy broke-jaw demon suddenly burst out of the trees and tackled her.

  “No!” I shouted, and it was like my heels had sprouted wings as my feet flew over the ground in order to get to her.

  The demon tried to chomp down, and despite its fucked up face, its mouth was still full of lethal fangs oozing a dark liquid that sizzled when it hit the dirt. Zoie struggled to keep it away from her throa
t, but the demon was getting closer and closer.

  “Hey, Ugly!” I yelled as I got right next to him.

  When the demon looked up, I swung my sword like a nine-iron golf club as hard as I could. The blow connected with its busted face again, and it was flung off Zoie and onto its back. Before it could get up, I pounced and brought the point of the blade down through its chest.

  Instead of sticky black blood spray like I was expecting, a plume of ash puffed up from the fatal wound in the demon’s chest.

  “What the fuck?” I scrunched up my nose as the ash tickled like a cloud of pepper, and I struggled not to cough or sneeze.

  The demon gurgled out a sound similar to a broken garbage disposal, and then it finally went still.

  “Good kill,” Zoie said as she walked up behind me. “Now, help me destroy this one.”

  “The one shish-kebabbed to the tree?” I asked as she walked over to the demon still pinned to the trunk. “I’m pretty sure you got that guy.”

  “I may have stunned it, but if the killing blow doesn’t come from a Duelist, then it will never die,” she said as she finally yanked her sword free, and the demon crumpled to the ground in a heap. “Ash the demon by running it through the heart.”

  I shrugged, kicked the demon over onto its back, and then brought my sword down clean through its chest.

  More streams of ash seeped up around the blade, and when I pulled it out, gray clumps of the stuff fell to the ground.

  “So, that’s why the Duelists are called Ashers,” I said as I watched the demon start to smolder.

  “Yes, now do this one,” Zoie instructed, and I followed her over to the demon she’d decapitated earlier.

  “Really?” I asked and kicked the head with the toe of my boot. “Even this guy?”

  “Yes.” Zoie nodded, and her serious expression had the grin dropping from my face.

  “Through the heart?” I asked, and she only nodded again. “Alrighty, then.”

  I ran my blade through the last demon, and its flesh sizzled as I pulled the sword free. Then we both stared down at the corpse in fascination as its chest cavity caved in like there was an internal fire burning through the branches of its ribcage.

  “Where did you learn to fight like that?” I turned to Zoie.

  “I was trained from a young age on Vartha,” she said as if it was No Big Deal to be a born and bred badass. “Thank you for helping me, husband.”

  “Yeah,” I panted. “That’s what a man is supposed to do for his wom--”

  A terrified scream echoed down the hill back toward the north, and Zoie’s ears snapped up to attention as we both turned toward the screech.

  “There’s someone over by the chapel who needs help!” Zoie said and jogged over to the path leading back toward the stream.

  “Is it Jenner and Arvid?” I asked as I kept stride with her.

  “I don’t think so,” she said as we raced down the switchbacks. “Have you ever fought with a sword before?”

  “No. Is it obvious?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said bluntly but not unkindly.

  “How can you tell?” I asked.

  “It’s your hands,” she said.

  “Can you give me a crash course?” I hurdled over a fallen log while she zipped nimbly around a small boulder.

  “A what?” Zoie questioned as we turned right on the path toward the bridge.

  “I mean, do you have any advice on how to use this thing?” I gestured to the sword for emphasis.

  “Make sure your dominant hand is on top of your other,” she said as our feet pounded on the stones of the bridge. “Have your other hand close to the pommel and use it to leverage and control the blade. When you strike, keep your arms loose, not locked.”

  “Got it,” I said with much more confidence than I actually felt.

  Another scream ripped through the air as Zoie and I burst back onto the main path and headed in the direction of the chapel, and the blood curdling growls of the demons up ahead grew so loud it was almost deafening.

  My heart beat a heavy tempo inside my chest, and my senses sharpened with each footfall.

  The chapel grounds finally came into view, and Zoie and I slammed on the brakes at the sight of at least ten demons swarming all over with their snapping jaws and terrifying screeching snarls.

  “This must be where the portal opened,” Zoie said. “We have to find the herald demon and kill it so the portal will close.”

  “What’s a herald demon?” I asked.

  “According to legend, in every wave there is one demon that commands the scourge,” Zoie explained. “Once that demon is killed, it prevents more of the creatures from spawning.”

  “Okay, what does it look like?” I scanned the chaos for any demon that was extra terrifying, but they all looked equally disturbing.

  “It’s usually big,” she said. “I’ve never actually seen one before.”

  I was about to ask her another question, but another violent rumbling under our feet reminded me there were more pressing matters at hand.

  “Help me, Goddess!” a person’s voice cried out in the blood-red night.

  The distress call snapped Zoie and me back to the present, and we ran toward the sound.

  A young man of about fifteen or sixteen was standing in the chapel cemetery when Zoie and I approached, and he was swinging a large branch back and forth in an attempt to keep the demons at bay. It wasn’t working very well, though, seeing as how the pack of demons was only closing in tighter around him.

  “Wait!” Zoie called out just as he took his next swing.

  It was clearly a mistake.

  The demon snatched the branch out of the kid’s hands and broke it straight in half with its jaws. Then one of the demon’s thick back tentacles whipped out and flung the kid aside. He landed hard, struck his head on a gravestone, and then was still.

  Zoie yowled again and dove into the fray.

  “Alex, I’ll distract it!” she yelled as she hacked down a smaller demon that tried to jump on her. “Try to run your sword through their hearts if you can!”

  “Pointy end goes into the monsters, got it!” I said and squared up with her so we were back to back where the man had fallen.

  I whacked a demon away like I was swinging a baseball bat, and Zoie spared the time to give me a disapproving glance.

  “Watch your hands, Alex,” she reminded me and disemboweled a demon with a single swing of her blade.

  The fight became a little bit like clockwork after that, and Zoie and I fell into a sort of harmony as we took out demon after demon. Well, Zoie took down most of them as I mainly tried to keep them from sneaking up on her and ashing them when they were down.

  I was even able to stab a few that got too close on occasion, and I relished in the way they fell on my sword with a hissing screech.

  “Yes!” I cheered when Zoie thrust her weapon into the heart of the last demon. We were both covered in stinking black blood and ichor, but I couldn’t help but feel elated, and Zoie must have felt the same way because she turned around and gave me a grin.

  Our relief was short lived, though, because a moment later the ground shook, and that unsettling howl droned through the crisp night air once more.

  A demon over six-feet tall suddenly grew out of the earth as if being sculpted out of magic clay from the ground up. It took less than five seconds for the demon’s solid form to manifest, and when it did, it immediately flung Zoie aside.

  “Zoie!” I yelled as she slammed into the ground and didn’t get up.

  I wanted to go to her side, but the demon lunged at me and forced me to back up. Then I held my sword out from my body while I reminded myself about my grip.

  The demon snarled, and its jaw cracked open in the middle like a scene out of Blade. Half of its throat was exposed when it did this, and my stomach gave a nauseated roll. It hissed at me, and I shuffled forward to try and get close enough to stab it. In the process, I realized way too late that I ma
de the same mistake as the kid and maybe got a little too close to the monster.

  I yelped when one of the demon’s long tentacles whipped out and knocked my weapon to the side.

  The demon then looked at me with slavering jaws like I was its favorite meal, and it stalked toward me on all six appendages.

  Oh, I was in so much trouble.

  The demon leapt, and it was too quick for me to dive out of the way. It tackled me to the ground and there was a tense moment when I thought those snapping teeth would take my face off, but I managed to post out both my arms to keep it back.

  I knew I couldn’t hold it for long, though. The demon was a lot heavier than me and also had two extra arms that I didn’t. I struggled and squirmed, but no matter what I did, its face got closer and closer to mine, and its hot, rancid breath made my stomach churn.

  My heart thudded against my breastbone, and the blood roared in my ears.

  Beat. Beat. Beat.

  The demon growled, and my elbows began to bend and cave. I was slowly losing this battle of wills, and soon I would be this fucker’s lunch.

  Beat… Beat…

  Tick.

  The adrenaline surged through my blood, and everything seemed to slow down like when I dueled Dagmar. That overwhelming instinct took over, and I listened to what it was telling me.

  The demon was built with supernatural strength, but I could detect the tension points in its body that I might be able to exploit with enough accuracy and pressure.

  Tick.

  The demon’s secondary left arm came up to dig its claws around my neck in slow motion.

  Tick.

  I waited until it shifted its weight in just the right position, and then…

  Boom.

  I gripped its wrist just as its elongated clammy fingers reached my throat, and like lightning, I grabbed its elbow with my other hand, wrapped my left leg on the outside one of the demon’s, and twisted my hips up and over. The demon was bucked and launched off me in one smooth motion, which freed me to jump up to my feet and run after my fallen sword.

  The demon recovered quickly, and I could hear it galloping toward me with a frustrated wail.

  I just managed to grip my weapon and turn around when the demon tackled me again.