He raised the knife over his head and started to bring it down.
Tandy yanked her arm free from the remains of the rope bonds, and grabbed for anything she could to defend herself. The only thing within reach were her pants, which had been cut off of her moments before. Her fingers grasped for them blindly, closed around something hard instead, and she slammed it into Seax’s face as hard as she could.
The priest stumbled back, shards of the glass jar from her pocket sticking into his skin. A newly freed Wastelandi cave spider crawled across his face, then sank its glowing fangs into his upper cheek, below his eye.
Seax let out a shrill wail, stumbling backwards in shock and pain.
The spider ran for the edge of the pyramid, disappearing into a crack in the stone.
Seax yanked a shard of glass from his face. “My Lord will sssee you pay for that…” The snake-man said, still doubled over. “He will…” He trailed off, the bite to his face now pulsating with an odd greenish glow.
Seax started to vomit, as the glowing toxin moved beneath his skin, illuminating his veins and arteries from within.
“Fuck this.” Hawser decided, stepping towards her and pulling his sword. “We’ll just kill the bitch and find another one who isn’t a whore…” He met her eyes. “I am going to fuck you in front of all of these people. I’m going to treat you the way you should be treated. And once you’re dead, slave? I’m going to go back to The Wasteland and eliminate the rest of Tzadok’s pathetic people.” He held up a fist to The Primacy’s Gallandish followers and the Coastal warriors assembled in the crowd. “WE GO TO WAR!”
“No need to go off to war.” Someone called back. “The Lord of Salt will bring it right to you.” At the far end of the long aisle of people below her, Tzadok stalked forward. “You absconded with My Prize, dog. I miss her words.” His tone darkened. “I’ve come to get them back.”
Hawser spat out an oath. “You’ve come to watch her die!” He raised his sword again.
“I Challenge.” Tzadok said simply, still walking forward. “I Challenge for my Heart’s life.”
Hawser snorted in contempt at the idea and prepared to stab Tandy.
Aix caught his hand before he got the chance. “
The two men began to quarrel over that idea.
Kobb strolled along next to Tzadok, looking out over the crowd. “Ah, what a dark feast they have prepared for Jairo’s mighty axe, this night!” He held an ancient-looking weapon aloft. “It will gorge itself in their shrieking hellish agony!”
Tandy blinked. Okay. That was possibly a little over-dramatic.
Hawser shoved Aix back. “I’m sick of your cowardice!” He shouted in fury. “Your womanly-softness is the entire reason why our clan has been dishonored like this!?”
Aix’s eyes blazed. “”
Whatever Aix had been about to say was cut off, as Hawser stuck his sword straight through the man’s gut.
Aix let out a shocked gasp, looking down at the wound and at his own intestines, which fell from his body and landed on his feet. He opened his mouth to say something, but only blood came out. He collapsed to the stones.
The creepy blob monster Seax had conjured made a burping sound, spewing phlegm across the stage.
Seax continued to writhe in pain as the spider’s poison worked its way through his system. His face was swollen to twice the size it had formally been, undulating with the eerie greenish glow.
Hawser ignored all of that, turning to face Tzadok as he walked up the stairs towards him. An evil smile crossed his face. “You want her, Saltman?” Hawser kicked away the supports which kept the stone sphere she was secured to in place. The ball teetered for a moment. “Here she is…” Hawser put his shoulder against the huge stone, rolling it towards the edge of the platform.
Tandy looked down as the stairs drew nearer, appearing in front of her like the sun over the horizon. She’d be squished to death as soon as the ball rolled over, to say nothing of the fact that the massive stone would also crush Tzadok on its way down the stairs into the plaza.
Tandy felt the ball go over the edge, the stairs instantly rushing towards her. She screamed, expecting the world to go black any second.
Instead, the stone ball shuddered suddenly and stopped dead. She opened her eyes to see that Tzadok had tossed his oversized hammer like a tomahawk, striking the ball and creating a bracing support beneath it.
The head of the hammer struck between her spread legs, the cold metal juuuust touching her inner thigh. She looked down at it in shock, then at Tzadok.
Kobb tossed him the strange axe and Tzadok caught it in one hand, twirling it around. He prowled up the stairs towards Hawser with the grace and strength of a panther. “I am going to make your death something to remember, Hawser. I will kill you in all kinds of ways, some of which I intend to invent on the spot.” He promised. “I will drench this street in you. Eons from now, my noble decedents will look at the then ancient stains your filthy blood will leave on these stones today. And they will say, ‘There is the place that our honorable great-great-great grandfather Tzadok, slaughtered a useless no-name dog, for touching his woman.’”
Hawser snorted in contempt. “When I’m done with you, Butcher. I will rape and defile your Heart, while you watch her suffering with dead helpless eyes. Then, I will go to The Great Nothing, and your people will become the slaves to my slaves' slaves.”
Seax’s head literally exploded in a shower of glowing green puss.
Tzadok didn’t bother to even turn his head as the man’s body toppled down the stairs beside him. “Don’t touch cave spiders, Sex. It’s the number one rule of The Wasteland.”
Hawser attacked, slashing out with his saber, driving Tzadok backwards.
Tzadok took a swing with the heavy double-headed axe, going for a decapitation strike, but Hawser ducked out of the way.
Tzadok roared at him and leaped forward, his axe flashing again in a deadly arc.
Hawser jumped out of the way as the heavy blade sank into the stone.
Hawser swung out with his sword again, meeting the handle of Tzadok’s axe at the last second before it connected. The two men traded blows rapidly, so quick it was hard to even see from her angle. Sparks of blue fire illuminated the night as their weapons collided, cascading hot sparks down onto the stone and causing a pin-prick sensation as they fell on her naked skin.
Hawser ducked to the side of another strike and swung his sword, leaving a deep gash in Tzadok’s shoulder.
Tzadok staggered, avoiding a follow-up from the Coastal man’s singing blade.
“First blood is mine, Butcher.” Hawser sneered. “It seems that…”
Tzadok punched him with one huge fist, pulverizing the man’s nose and spilling blood down his face. Hawser stumbled back swearing, staying on his feet only because of the stone block behind him.
He quickly rolled out of the way as Tzadok’s double-headed axe connected with the stone, sheering it in half like soft cheese.
Hawser swore again, dabbing at his nose with his fingers. “Nice, Butcher. I shouldn’t have…”
Tzadok didn’t even let him finish, launching another attack which surprised even Tandy with its inhuman ferocity. He sprang through the air like the beasts of the jungle, swinging his axe like a tiger flashing its deadly claws. Hawser stumbled backwards, somehow narrowly avoiding a gruesome death.
Hawser got his footing again, recovering from Tzadok’s onslaught of vengeful steel. He nodded, looking pleased and confident with how the battle was going. “I have been practicing.” He bragged, then launched himself at Tzadok in a surprise overhead slash.
“Did you practice ways to
die?” Tzadok asked calmly, bracing his feet wide and putting all of the power of his broad shoulders into his swing. The heavy axe caught Hawser at the waistline, cleaving the man cleanly in two as he soared through the air. “…Because you’re really good at it.”
The hewn pieces of the bisected coastal man hit the platform and rolled in two different directions.
Tzadok’s swing continued on, from sheer momentum, a spray of dripping blood showering down across the top of the pyramid. The stream of crimson Hawser-death splashed onto the urns in the corner of the landing and all over the slimy mucus frog-hippo-god thing.
Tzadok ignored that, returning to Tandy’s side and beginning to free her. “I missed you.” He said simply. “So I decided to c…”
She used her free hand to grab his head, cutting him off. She pulled him closer for a kiss of near manic intensity, overjoyed to see him again. And not just because of the fact that his arrival had saved her from the whole virgin sacrifice thing.
He came up for air a moment later, gasping. “Wow…” He breathed. “I still find your kiss to be so much more intense than any battle, Prize.”
She nodded. “Well, I…”
A now familiar low rumble filled the clearing.
Tandy’s eyes cut to the urns, which were shaking.
Uh-oh…
Ryle swore when he saw the blood dripping down into the containers. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!?!” He yelled, over the unearthly sound. “The fucking psycho bad guy was a virgin!?!”
All of the urns exploded this time, dragging the deformed snot monster into the whirlwind too.
Below them, the crowd of worshippers started to chant.
“Uhh…” Tandy yanked at her bonds. “Wanna… wanna free me now, please?”
Kobb called to them from below. “Get out of there!”
Tzadok chopped at the ropes with the axe, recognizing that they didn’t have time to untie them.
A whirlpool of embers filled the area again, but much, much larger this time. The swirling otherworldly material created a “whooshing” sound so loud that it was difficult to hear anything else.
“Tzadok!” Tandy cried, her legs still attached to the stone sphere.
The platform at the top of the pyramid exploded around them… and they were no longer alone.
Slowly a huge, hideous, wedge-shaped head took form in the murky smoke. Then another. And a third. Moving like some frightful reptilian thing, the serpent burst through the shroud of non-existence and once more infected this guiltless earth with its devastating profanity. The light from the glowing amber-colored eyes oozed from the darkness, like some cold sinister thing. Each head was the size of a man, and as they rose into the air, she could see that they were connected by a snake body of flowing scaly coils. It looked to be about eighty feet long, stretching from its pointed tail to its triangular heads. It let out a piercing cry from its three heads, shattering the night like breaking glass. In the dim smoky torch-light, its scales glistened, like they were red-hot.
“TZADOK!” Tandy cried again, urging him to free her as quickly as possible. “TZADOK! TZADOK!”
The monster moved, flicking its huge tail and toppling the huge ceremonial arch at the rear of the platform, like a child knocking over building blocks.
Tzadok cut Tandy’s foot free at the last possible second, before the huge snake swatted the stone sphere away like a pebble. The ball of stone she’d been attached to, flew through the air and collided with a building on the other side of the clearing, going clean through the structure.
Tandy gaped at the hole it left in the thick walls, recognizing how much power the snake had.
Tzadok grabbed her hand and started pulling her away.
“Wait!” She pointed at Ryle. “You have to free him too!”
Tzadok swore. “I don’t even know who that is!”
“It’s Ryle!” She insisted.
Tzadok shrugged in mystification. “Who!?!”
Tandy planted her feet, showing her insistence on that point.
Tzadok swore again, but recognized that there was no time to argue. He swung the axe at the bonds holding Ryle in place, much less careful with the blows than he’d been when Tandy was the one tied up.
Ryle didn’t seem to mind, jumping to his feet an instant later and racing down the pyramid. “Why are fucking giant monsters always chasing me!?!” He yelled out, taking the stairs three at a time. “Spiders, snakes… Fuck you, world! Fuck you and your giant monsters!”
The snake moved its heads, blocking off the stairway and hovering over them, preparing to strike. Tzadok pushed her to the side, grabbing his hammer from the stones now that it was no longer being used to support the stone sphere, and launched himself at the snake.
Tandy slid down the smooth exterior of the pyramid, right under the snake. At the bottom, Kobb caught her and helped her to her feet. He grabbed the odd axe too, which Tzadok had tossed down after her, since he could once again use his hammer.
Kobb pointed towards the street. “Run!” He started forward, brandishing the axe. “Get to safety!”
Ryle stood in the alleyway leading from the plaza into the street, motioning her forward.
But there wasn’t time. The snake’s huge body moved, falling around them and closing off all avenues of escape from the plaza of death.
****
Tzadok jumped at the foul beast, smashing at one of its necks with his hammer. The heavy steel struck the serpent, but it was like iron pounding steel plate.
The monster let out a howl more in anger than from pain.
Tzadok caught hold of the snake, sliding down its white-hot scales until he was back on the ground. But he’d gotten the creature’s attention, which had been his goal. He’d much rather fight it on solid ground, away from Tandy, then at mouth-level with her in danger.
The creature struck out with one of its heads, snapping at him with its jaws. He rolled to the side, then dove in another direction as the second head struck, its huge fangs like sabers glinting in the firelight. The final head struck and there was nowhere for Tzadok to run. All he could do was brace his feet and grab its jaws before they could close. The monster pressed forward, trying to overcome his resistance through force.
But Tzadok had always been very, very strong. His feet were planted like tree roots on the stones, refusing to give an inch. A drop of venom fell from the beast’s fangs, and Tzadok could see that it would mean death to whoever had the misfortune of being injected with it.
The toxic liquid ran down his hands and onto his leg, instantly feeling like someone had stabbed him with a red-hot poker or poured acid on his skin. He swore again, his feet beginning to slip on the now wet stones.
The creature’s other heads appeared from his left and right, preparing to feast on him while he was preoccupied with their sinister triplet.
He spat out a curse at them, damning Gnag to whatever dark hell could contain a god.
Before the demon could strike though, Jairo’s axe struck home, opening up a deep cut on one of the monster’s heads and causing purple-ish blood to spill out onto the ground.
The beast backed off immediately, retreating to regroup.
Kobb hefted the axe again, looking down at it. “A mighty blow for our lost brother. May his spirit find its path in the mists, illuminated by the blood of his foul enemy!”
Tzadok tried to wipe the acidic venom off his hands and leg, but realized it was a futile effort. Instead, he just went with the pain. Allowing it to pull him towards the slaughter of this monster.
Around them, the Coastal People were running about in blind panic, uncertain of what to even do. Their leaders had been the ones to summon this titanic serpent, but none of them had any idea what they were supposed to do with it now that it was here. Tzadok figured he had about ten seconds before they decided to attack him as well, following the last command of their patriarch. And just because they’d always hated Tzadok anyway. They were Wasteland warriors and any Wastelan
d warrior worth his salt would want to spend his last moments dealing death to his enemies.
At the other end of the clearing, the Ryle boy jumped from a second story window down into the plaza, having worked his way through the building from the street in order to get over the high wall created by the snake’s body.
Several Coastal People warriors immediately found a target for their enraged confusion, turning on him. Ryle bent down and picked up a spear from the ground, spinning it around in his hand like he had great familiarity with the weapon. The Coastal People charged forward and the Cormoranian started to slay them where they stood.
Which was… surprising. But such was The Wasteland. Life went to the strongest, even if it was just some foreign boy in his underwear, from a country Tzadok couldn’t find on a fucking map.
Most of the Gallanders had fled before the exits from the plaza had been sealed off, no doubt to rouse their warriors or perhaps to grab their families and flee the city.
But Tzadok was through running. He aimed to cut this fiend open right here. It may be a god, but even gods bled when you stabbed them.
Fucking magic.
Tzadok’s grip tightened on his weapon, his temper raging out of control.
He’d show all the magic-users and sorcerers of this world what their little spells and tricks were worth when confronted by muscle, hate, and steel.
The creature struck out again, with all three heads.
Tzadok smashed his hammer into one of them, dancing out of the way of the second, as Kobb blocked the third with a shield he’d stolen from a dead Gallander. The monster’s fangs left huge grooves in the thick metal plate.
The creature reeled to the side from the force of Tzadok’s strike, one head crashing into the other.
Tzadok pressed forward, swinging again.
The creature moved quick as lightning to avoid the hammer-blow, sweeping out and trying to knock Tzadok off his feet, but he dove over the deadly coil, landing in a roll.
Gnag struck from above immediately, one of its heads flying towards him quicker than Tzadok had ever seen an animal move.
But not even the dregs of the demon realm could move faster than The Lord of Salt. He dodged out of the way an instant before the monster connected, then swung his hammer down in the most powerful arc he could muster, obliterating the head. Its skull shattered like an eggshell beneath the heavy steel of his ancient hammer, splattering the monster’s hot gooey brains all over Tzadok’s boots.
Captive of a Fairytale Barbarian Page 48