by Andrew Lynch
The wooden fence had been pulled down, and just before I jumped through the hole, the full force of the Fiend’s stink hit me. I turned the corner and saw the Fiend and Ariel in front of me, with the lights of her house behind them throwing them into a striking silhouette. The Fiend was the same hulking beast I remembered, hunched over on all fours like an ape. Ariel was a slender form struggling in the Fiend’s chunky hand that was holding her off the floor. Its jaws were open wide, ready to clamp down on Ariel’s head, but the constant chorus continued from her. “–please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me–”. The Fiend was frozen, clearly fighting Ariel’s compulsion with its instinct to kill.
Oh god. If I did anything to break Ariel’s concentration, the Fiend would kill her. I had one shot at it. And I didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter how hard I hit the Fiend, I simply didn’t have enough mass to knock it far enough away to stop its jaws from getting Ariel, and I couldn’t take the chance that it would just be too surprised to remember to bite. Could I punch straight through its brain? I couldn’t be sure, and so that wasn’t an option. No way was Ariel getting hurt. It was time to get my Draugr powers working for me again.
I focused my mind, it didn’t happen as easily as in the alley, but after a second, Ariel’s chanting had slowed to the point I couldn’t hear it. I turned and ran back to the two fallen boys. If we were going to save Ariel, it would take all of us working together.
When I reached them, I slowed down. I picked Johnny first, and grabbed him under his arms, pulling him to his feet. His face was droopy and he looked extremely relaxed. Okay, he looked stoned.
“Johnny! Ariel’s in danger!” I shouted in his face. Nothing. I slapped him as hard as I could, hoping it would snap him out of it. He fell to the floor, face down. I knelt next to him. “Damn it, come on! Fight her compulsion! You’re an Elf, you ought to be used to this! The Fiend has her practically in its mouth! It’s going to kill her!”
He mumbled something into the ground, not even bothering to move his mouth out of the dirt. “Gareth is your guy.”
Johnny was probably just trying to get out of doing anything, but I followed his advice anyway, because he clearly wasn’t going anywhere.
I did the same shake-and-slap routine to Gareth, I yanked him up to his feet and I slapped him as hard as I could. He didn’t fall, but still staggered. “Ow,” he said.
“Yes! Good! That hurt, right?” I asked, hoping that meant he was conscious.
“That’s what ‘Ow’ means, yeah. Was I lying on the ground?”
“Gareth, there’s no time to explain. The Fiend has my best friend in its mouth. We need to work together to fix this. I can’t guarantee that it won’t hurt her if I hit it. So what can you do?”
His face hardened as he shook off the effects of the compulsion. He must have had his own reasons for wanting to go along on these hunting parties, and he must have just found his motivation. Protecting someone? Perhaps that’s what gargoyles did.
He gripped my shoulder, and his hands were rough and firm. “Yes, this is why I’m here. What about Johnny?”
“He’s no good to us right now.”
Gareth looked over at Johnny, and nodded. “I see what you mean. Okay. Let’s go!”
He jogged carefully towards the hole in the fence and I followed behind. I didn’t know what he was planning, but I guessed he needed to see the situation to be able to decide. As long as Ariel’s chanting continued, I hoped she’d be fine. And I could still hear it thrumming around the back of my mind, so probably she was still okay.
Gareth set a painfully slow pace, but when we eventually reached the fence, and he turned the corner, he stopped to scope out the situation. Then he nodded decisively.
“I’ll stop it from biting, you get your friend, okay?”
“Yes! Quick! Let’s go!”
Gareth continued his slow plodding jog towards the Fiend and Ariel, but as he ran, he started to change and grow. I was using the time to focus on speeding up again, ready to get Ariel to safety. It seemed slow to me, but it must have only been a few seconds in real time. With each step of Gareth’s, earth and mud and rock fountained up from the ground beneath him, pouring over his entire body. It started out a brown slurry, but as it covered him and grew him to the same size as the Fiend – easily eight foot high and almost as wide again – he must have been drawing from deeper down in the earth with every step. He became a moving statue, a dark grey, with jagged peaks and slabs of flint making him look almost cartoonish, yet fearsome at the same time.
With his transformation complete, he entered Ariel’s view. Unsurprisingly this distracted her – I could feel her fear tugging at me as she thought that another monster had arrived to help the Fiend. She stopped chanting, breaking the only thing that was stopping the Fiend from killing her. I ran forwards, ready to drag her out of the way, or throw myself in between her and that deadly mouth if needed. But Gareth had his own plan.
His giant stone fist was already pulled back, and he swung it forwards, barely missing Ariel. His fist went inside the Fiend’s closing mouth, and teeth flew out. Ariel was flung away as the Fiend fell backwards.
She fell in slow motion, and I had time to get behind her, softening her landing. I slowed myself down to be able to talk to her.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
She had tears in her eyes, but she nodded. I hugged her and turned back to the fight. The Fiend was throwing a return punch at Gareth, who didn’t even bother to try and dodge. It was clear that the Fiend’s blows had no effect on the gargoyle’s heavy rock body. Gareth swung at it again, but with the Fiend’s attention only on him, it sprang back out of his reach. For Gareth to do any more damage, I’d need to distract it. I saw dark green, glowing flecks smoking on Gareth’s right fist, the one he’d used to hit the Fiend.
But Gareth seemed to know what he was doing, and realized he was slower than the Fiend. He faked a punch, making the Fiend step towards him, and then he charged, picking the Fiend up in a tackle, and driving him back towards… Ariel’s house. Oh, her parents were not going to be happy.
The putrid Fiend and the living wall of gargoyle crashed into and through one wall of the house. I’d never heard a sound so loud before, but taking out a wall was a cacophony of grinding stone.
For a second, as the dust billowed out from Ariel’s living room, the only noise was the creaking of the house’s foundation. Then Johnny turned up next to me, wickedly sharp elvish daggers in hand.
“What’s Ariel doing here?”
“It’s her house,” I said. “Now let’s get in there and distract the Fiend. Gareth is too slow when it’s focusing on him.”
Johnny nodded and ran into the house. Gareth was pulling himself up from the rubble, but the Fiend was already back on its feet. A giant, festering leg kicked out, pushing Gareth backwards. Luckily Johnny was there to distract the Fiend, darting around it, his daggers leaving trails of dark green sludge everywhere they struck. The Fiend’s blood.
I ran in to make sure Johnny didn’t get overwhelmed. When the Fiend was focused on him, I punched with all my weight behind it. The Fiend roared and spun to me, but then Johnny would strike again. I couldn’t be sure how much we were actually hurting the Fiend, but we must have been having some effect. With my blood-powered speed and strength, surely the Fiend didn’t stand a chance!
And now, Gareth was coming back towards the fight. The Fiend couldn’t decide who to face between me and Johnny, but it clearly knew that Gareth was the real threat. Johnny had cut it up good though, all over its arms and legs, and it certainly didn’t seem happy about that, so maybe it was slow enough for Gareth now.
Gareth swung out, and the Fiend staggered back. Me and Johnny had to dive out of the way in case it fell, but it looked like Gareth could handle it from here.
The Fiend went to return the blow, just like it had tried before being thrown through the wall. I don’t know what it expected, its punches weren
’t hurting Gareth. Mind you, it had never seemed very intelligent. The blow connected with Gareth’s gut, and he didn’t even flinch.
But there was something different this time. Like I’d seen on his fist after he’d punched its mouth. Patches of what I now knew was the Fiend’s blood, began smoking as they touched Gareth. But these weren’t just flecks like before. Thanks to Johnny’s daggers, the Fiend was bleeding freely, and now Gareth had long strips of smoking green gunk all over his body. As the green evaporated, it left pockmarks everywhere. It was dissolving Gareth’s gargoyle form!
Gareth looked down at all the smoke coming from him. He tried to wipe it off, but it just went on to his hands. I could see the stone rolling over him, coming up from his legs where they connected to the ground, and filling in the damaged body. He yelled in pain.
Gareth punched at the Fiend again, landing his blow squarely on its jaw, sending it flying across the room. Johnny dived out of the way just in time, as it had been heading straight for him. When the Fiend was down, he kept slashing at it, clearly having not realized the danger the blood posed.
“Johnny, stop!” I shouted. “The blood is hurting Gareth!”
He looked confused, but did as I said, jumping back out of the Fiend’s reach. Gareth continued his attack, walking up to the downed Fiend. I was pretty sure he could crush its head if he wanted to at this point. But just as he readied for a big double hand hit, the Fiend launched itself off the ground, picking up Gareth, and smashing him through the ceiling. He got tangled in the floor supports and didn’t fall back down. He was covered in green sludge that began smoking. The Fiend must have seen what I saw and figured out his weakness.
With Gareth suspended from the ceiling, the Fiend was free to throw its bloody hands into the gargoyle’s gut. It took two hits, during which me and Johnny stood watching helplessly, for the sludge to weather away the stone. It took a third to hear Gareth cry out. And on the fourth, the gargoyle rock crumbled, finally freeing itself from the ceiling. Among the rubble, I could see Gareth lying face down, very still.
The Fiend roared at its victory. Johnny was the first to react, the roar breaking him from his daze. I was still stunned. If the raw strength of Gareth couldn’t win, what could?
Johnny went for a killing blow. As the Fiend had thrown its arms wide in triumph, he leaped for its face, his daggers sinking into the Fiend’s chest. Its dead eyes opened to see Johnny right in front of its face, one dagger raised up, ready to gouge out its eye.
It swiped at Johnny, but he saw it coming and dived out of the way, managing to end up sitting on the Fiend’s shoulders. He brought his dagger down hard. This wasn’t a graceful, elegant slice, this was a brutal strike, sinking his dagger up to the hilt.
The Fiend roared again, but this time in pain. Johnny felt the Fiend start to fall and was already congratulating himself - the idiot - when the Fiend dropped its shoulder. It wasn’t falling, it was trying to get the annoying, stabby elf off its back. Johnny felt this, and landed on his feet. Legs spread, one arm on the floor, the dagger in his other hand. It would have been awesome, real movie poster stuff, except the Fiend was right behind him, and it stood up, and kicked Johnny into a wall. No amount of elvish grace could save him. I saw his head bounce off the wall, and he crumpled to the floor.
This had gone from me wanting to prove something to myself, to me having three friends lying unconscious around a deadly monster that if I didn’t stop, would kill all of them. Immediately after it finished with me.
I really wished I had an adult here right about now. I was out of my depth.
The Fiend turned to me. I was frozen on the spot. What could I do where the others had failed? I took a step back. A second step. A third, towards the gaping hole in the wall. I half turned, sure that I could outrun the Fiend. Johnny slumped lazily against the wall he’d hit, breathing heavily He looked as if he could stand up at any minute, and say something stupid and probably wrong. I saw movement from Gareth - small but definite. His back rose and fell. He was alive. I looked over my shoulder to see Ariel’s blonde hair spread out on the ground. She had passed out, whether from fear or exhaustion I didn’t know.
No, I couldn’t run. If I did, I might not die here, but I’d stop living after what I did to my friends.
I turned back to the Fiend. I squared my shoulders, and planted my feet in front of it. I focused my mind for a split second. My eyes became pools of blackness, my fangs exposed themselves, and I could feel my muscles tighten. I was a Draugr. I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I knew it meant I could kick this thing’s ass!
I sprinted forwards. It was fast, but not as fast as me. It swept a meaty, rotting hand at me, but I ducked under it. I came up right in front of its face. I didn’t know how to fight, but something just felt right. My fist came up with my body, and drove into the Fiend’s jaw. At first the jaw just slammed shut, but my fist kept going, and I punched through and into its mouth. The Fiend threw itself back in pain, and gave, not a roar, but a yelp.
It fell and crashed through a table. I felt my hand start to tingle. I looked down at it, and it was covered in the thick green gunk of the Fiend. I shook it off, and it started burning the floor. My hand had survived. Well, what do you know? A Draugr is tougher than stone. Hey everyone, I’m tougher than stone!
Apparently, I’m also about as smart as a brick, because while I was busy looking at my hand, the Fiend kicked me. A foot the size of my torso slammed into my hip, sending me flying into a wall. I didn’t fall down when I hit it because my arm had gone straight through. I hung limply for a second, but got my feet under me. I ached on all sides now, but I ripped my arm free, bringing a chunk of wall with it. I knew I’d feel the pain tomorrow, but right now I was running on pure adrenaline. And blood.
I ran back to the Fiend, and he kept trying to hit me, but was far too slow. I rained down my attacks on it, hitting its arms as they passed me, and its body when I could. But it showed no signs of slowing. Still, as long as it focused on me, it couldn’t hurt anyone else, and it must have been weakening. That’s just how biology works, right?
This went on for several more blows. A few seconds passed, and in a fight like this, that felt like forever. Every time I gave ground, or my foot hit rubble, I could have slipped and lost everything. I needed to do something and fast. There was nothing left to prove to myself, just my life to keep on living.
My very first thought had been the right one. When I saw it with Ariel, I had wanted to punch through its head. Anything died if you damaged its brain, right? I knew I could punch through its jaw, so why not the side of its head?
It had backed me into a corner, and thought it had me trapped. It pulled back its arm for its final swing. I focused everything I had, pushing myself to move faster, and become stronger. And it worked! The monster’s fist moved in slow motion, just like the leaf in the alley, or the shotgun blast from Mr. Anderton. I stepped to the side, with barely any effort required. Its hand hit the wall behind me, and chunks of plaster flew out in slow motion. As the Fiend started pulling its fist back, I grabbed onto its shoulder, and pulled myself up, level with its head. Even my grip caused its flesh to tear, that how powerful I was now.
Almost serenely I pulled my right arm back, and braced myself. I had to admit, this was much easier than I’d expected. I powered my arm forwards, and the Fiend flesh parted, and its skull cracked, and whatever came next turned to mush. I sunk my arm to beyond my elbow. The first thing I noticed was the smell of death that hit me from its insides. Then my entire arm started to tingle like it had pins and needles from the ichor that I was covered in. And then… my arm was stuck. The momentum had got me in, but now the jagged shards of the Fiend’s skull held me firm. But, I’d punched through its brain. It had to be dead. It was falling. Surely it was dead. I had time to slowly work my arm out of the hole. I’d be fine. Its hand was moving closer to me. But that was okay, because it was falling, and definitely dead. But its other arm hit the floor, stopping it fro
m falling. That was not okay, because it meant a few things. All of them bad. Its hand grabbed me, and squeezed tight. It ripped me away from itself, pulling my arm out, making me scream. Its bone had left me with cuts all along my arm, and its blood had gotten into me. I felt it tear and burn, and all in slow motion. I still screamed as the Fiend pulled me closer to its mouth. I flexed and pushed and struggled, but I couldn’t break free. I was strong, but I wasn’t strong enough. Maybe I never was and never would be, or maybe I’d used too much adrenaline and blood.
Held in the Fiend’s unbreakable grasp, my back to it, its breath on the back of my neck, its jaw opening, I knew how I’d die.
I saw the faint outline of him at the edge of Ariel’s yard. He had promised me this would happen. I saw the glint of moonlight bounce off the bullet. I couldn’t move because the Fiend held me still. I closed my eyes to focus. I wanted to speed time up again. I felt the tip of the bullet pierce the skin between my eyes. Then, too late, time sped up.
Chapter 28
Mr. Anderton
My grip tightened on the pen in my jacket. Then I moved it to the pistol on the floor next to me. Why had I put it down? Why had I sat down? Whatever that had been, it wasn’t a glamour.
I heard rushing footsteps, and someone ran past me. Someone tall with long blonde hair. I still felt groggy from whatever had put me on the ground. But things were coming back to me now. Just before I sat down, I’d seen the back of the Fiend. Yes, right, I’d tracked it down to a random back garden, and was about to strike… and then I’d suddenly decided to take a rest. For heaven's sake, what was going on?
I pushed myself up against the tree I’d chosen as my resting place, staggering to my feet. That tall blonde person that just ran past me, brandishing daggers - had that been… Johnny? With daggers that, at a glance in the dark, looked like Sworn Elvish blades? I hobbled towards the hole in the fence, and leaned my back against it. I carefully peaked around to see what on earth was going on.