“Die!” Timmy roared. “Die, inter-dimensional, world-killing monster!” Gore spewed everywhere with each blow of his shovel. The sheer force and amount of it was enough to wrench off his facemask. He gagged and almost threw up but continued whacking the monstrosity as it carried him farther away from the castle, its form bloating and growing ever more solid. Half the castle began to collapse as the creature’s bulbous central body smashed through the ancient stone and began to consume the mountain. All along its hideous body, countless eyes and mouths opened, rolling in their sockets and screaming an endless hymn of horror and despair in tongues that had long since been consumed by the void and its children.
“Damn it.” Timmy wiped some of the muck off his face. Yes, he was definitely going to take a long, long bath after this. “This thing is even bigger than the one under my castle.”
* * *
“That is not good.” Old Man sliced cleanly through another two mutants. They slid past him and then exploded. Somehow, not even a single drop of gore landed on him. It was incredible. Katie stared. All those stories he’d told… there had to be some truth to them. Old Man fought alongside Rembrandt, and the two of them worked together seamlessly to beat back the never-ending tide of mutants.
Katie used a brief break in the battle to get her breath back and examine the thing that had emerged from Lord Taylor’s castle. There was no doubt about it. That thing was similar to the things that lived under their castle. It even carried the same madness-inducing aura about it. Luckily, she was used to that feeling. Sam had a lesser version of it that he’d gradually exposed her to in a bid to give her some resistance to the insanity his kind often caused. Still, the thing under their castle was a lot smaller than this one, and they kept it under control with a host of different spells. The thing her master was on was still growing, consuming more and more magic, along with its surroundings, to fuel its materialisation in the mortal world. When it was done, it would tower into the very clouds, and its mere presence would drive entire nations mad, ushering in a dark age of suffering and woe. In other words, they needed to do something about it right now while they still could. Her master wouldn’t be getting any help from Avraniel though, if all the fire coming from another part of the castle were anything to go by.
“What is that thing?” Old Man asked. He vanished – not moving so much as simply appearing on the other side of three creatures that promptly dissolved into fine ribbons of gore. “Just looking at it makes my head hurt.”
“That is an inter-dimensional, protoplasmic entity that was born in the endless void between worlds countless aeons ago, and it wants nothing more than to return all of creation to the primal nothingness and silence that existed before all things. Oh, and it’ll probably drive us all insane and make us murder each other first. Or eat us, it could do that.”
“Oh.” Old Man darted away from a monster, and Rembrandt hurled himself at it, a tiny, pointy tornado. “That is even worse than I thought. How do we kill it?”
“Normally, I’d say we should stop the summoner, but I think it’s too late for that. We could also hit it – a lot. It’s not supposed to exist in this world, so it’s physical form is what anchors it here. If we do enough damage to it, it will get sent back to wherever it came from, for a while, anyway.” She glanced at the rats on top of the wagons. “I don’t suppose you’ve got anything powerful we can use? I saw you guys working on something on the way here.”
“Yes, I saw them too. They were quite insistent I not touch anything.” Old Man killed another mutant and smiled. “Am I correct in assuming that it was some sort of weapon?”
The rats nodded.
Katie glanced back up at the castle. “But I’m guessing you need Avraniel to charge it, right?”
The rats shifted guiltily and then turned to point at their leader, who spluttered for a moment before frantically pointing back at them. When the others continued to point at him, he winced and gave a few squeaks while looking at everything except Katie.
“What?” Katie shrieked. “You had her charge it yesterday? You know that’s against the rules. You’ve had us travelling with a massive bomb for the past day. We could have all been killed if the wagon got jolted or tipped over.” The rat winced and tapped his safety goggles. “No! Those safety goggles would not have saved you.” She sighed and softened her expression. “But I guess I can’t be too mad. You have been making explosives for years, and you’ve yet to blow yourselves up. Besides, we really need that thing right now, so I can’t really complain.” She pursed her lips. “But how are we going to get over there? I could fly but…” She looked back at the giant thing that was now flailing around with her master on it. It was altering the landscape around them with every swing, smashing cliffs and hacking away at the mountainside. “I might get hit by that thing, and there are still mutants and demons to worry about.”
“If I may?” Old Man and Rembrandt had beaten the creatures back for now. They’d have a minute or two until the next wave came. A massive, winged demon landed on the bridge. It swiped at Old Man with its claws, and he ducked neatly under the attack before cutting it in two with a single stroke of his sword. “I can get us up there, but I need all of you to come here. I have to be touching you for this to work.”
Katie hopped off the wagon. “Uh, sure.” She took Old Man’s hand, and the rats hopped on, dragging their improvised explosive behind them. Then Old Man’s magic flared. The entire world shattered before her eyes, like a mirror being broken into a billion pieces, before narrowing into a single, impossibly tiny pinpoint that seemed to hold all of creation. Then it exploded outward again, expanding, unfurling like a sail in the wind, and there was a sensation of movement that was not actually movement. There was stretching, collapsing, pulling, pushing, and then –
And then they were up there, right in the middle of the ruins of the hall where her master had been when the giant thing had emerged from the depths of the castle. Katie dropped to her knees and struggled not to throw up. Old Man patted her on the back and then helped her to her feet. His weathered features were gentle.
“My apologies, but you said we should hurry. Unfortunately, my magic is… not pleasant for most others.” His lips curved up. “But, still, we are where we want to be, well, where we need to be. I don’t think anybody wants to be near a gigantic monster that wants to end the world.”
* * *
Avraniel was pissed off, which was not particularly unusual. Despite her words to the contrary, she was well aware of the fact that she might, maybe, have a tiny anger management problem. It wasn’t her fault the world was full of jerks, but she could, sometimes, have dealt with it a little better. What was unusual, however, was that the object of her anger was still in one piece and not either in many pieces or on fire. Lord Taylor was no slouch in his demonic form.
Not only was the bastard seemingly able to shrug off the heat of her flames but he was also tough enough to withstand the raw force behind her blasts as well. Hitting him with something really big was out of the question. It would take her too long to charge up a bigger attack, and the son of a bitch could fly. It didn’t help that his strength was comparable to hers. His magic was a problem too. He could throw blasts of demonic energy that corroded whatever they hit, and he had a penchant for illusions that even her eyes took a few moments to see through. Those illusions only pissed her off even more since most of them were of a dubious nature, involving the two of them engaged in activities that she had absolutely no intention of sharing with him. Ever.
She was about to lose her temper – having Timmy and especially Gerald screaming on the back of that giant thing behind her was only shortening her fuse – when Katie, Old Man, and the rest of the rats appeared out of thin air.
“Since when can you use a sword?” Avraniel asked as she hurled another bolt of fire at her target. Lord Taylor dodged and replied with a beam of demonic energy that she blocked with another attack of her own. Her first attack, the one that had missed, h
it a mountaintop in the distance and blew it apart. She scowled. The castle wouldn’t hold out much longer, especially with that thing still growing, and she couldn’t fly. But she knew someone who could.
“For quite some time now, actually.” Old Man cast his eye at the towering mass of warped flesh that was growing larger by the moment, its unnatural bulk spilling out of the castle and into the chasms beyond. Eyes, mouths, and claws covered its surface. One of its tentacles swung toward them, as thick as a house and hundreds of feet long, and Old Man brought his sword around. He sliced right through the tentacle, which went flying and smashed into the mountainside behind the castle. On one of the thing’s heads, Timmy and Gerald were still doing their best to kill it. Timmy had resorted to bashing it with his shovel and trying to drop parts of the surrounding landscape on it, but it wasn’t working. “Those two appear to need some assistance, and the rats have brought something that might help.”
“Is that so?” Avraniel blinked as Old Man just disappeared. It didn’t look like teleportation, not any kind she’d seen. But one second he was there, then the space around him warped before he appeared on top of the giant monster with her rats and the explosive they’d spent most of the trip cobbling together out of spare golem parts and things they’d found on the way. However, he hadn’t managed to reach Timmy and Gerald. Whatever he was doing, the gigantic monster’s powers seemed to be interfering with it.
“So…” Katie caught sight of Cezanne and used a tendril of her shadows to lift him onto her shoulder. “I guess we’ll be working together again.”
“Damn straight, twerp. That bastard can fly, not to mention he’s got at least half a dozen demons flying around the castle. And that’s not even the worst part. He still hasn’t shut up about –”
“Join me, beloved.” Lord Taylor’s voice drifted down to them. “Become my queen, and we shall rule the world together.” He gazed at Katie and tilted his head to one side. “I shall even spare your child.”
Katie gaped. “Did… he just propose to you? And does he think I’m your child?”
“Yes to both.” The elf snorted. “He even thought your master and I had something going on.”
“Other than you stealing all of our stuff? Not likely.” Katie scoffed.
“Exactly, which is why that bastard has to die.” Avraniel glared. “Now, get us up there, so I can kick his ass.”
Katie grabbed Avraniel, and the two of them soared upwards, carried aloft by shadowy wings. The girl had definitely improved, Avraniel thought. Perhaps kicking her out that window had been the right idea after all. They changed direction and angled toward Lord Taylor. But while Katie had gotten better, Lord Taylor was clearly used to flying. He pulled away from them and glanced over his shoulder just long enough to aim a blast of demonic power at them. Katie banked sharply to one side and barely managed to avoid it. Avraniel hissed. Some of Lord Taylor’s demons were closing in on them.
“Come on,” Avraniel said. “Go faster, twerp!”
“I’m trying. You’re too heavy.”
“What? I am not too heavy.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you –”
“Just move!”
Avraniel lobbed more fire and hissed in outrage when Lord Taylor continued to avoid her attacks. Clinging tightly onto her, Cezanne gestured. She felt his magic wrap around hers. He was blessing her fire. She didn’t know which gods he prayed to, but she hoped they were strong.
“We shall conquer the world.” Lord Taylor banked toward them, claws outstretched. Maybe one day, Katie would learn how to use her shadows better while she was flying, but she couldn’t do that yet. “And crush it beneath our heel.”
He slammed into them, and Avraniel twisted to put herself between him and Katie as the girl fought to stay in the air.
“Join me.” Lord Taylor flashed what would have been a winning smile in his human form, but it was more of a hideous leer in his current state. Katie yelled something about them going to die before transforming one of her wings into a fist and clocking Lord Taylor across the jaw.
“How about no!” Avraniel managed to wrestle one of her arms free and landed a thumping right hook to his temple. It wasn’t enough to really hurt him, but it gave her the space she needed to land her next attack: a kick to the groin with a leg shrouded in holy fire. He folded immediately, clutching at his groin and tumbling down, his wings barely beating. She hurled more fire at him, and this time, it burned him. Damn. Cezanne’s magic wasn’t half bad.
“You dare?” Lord Taylor was finally pissed off. Good. “Now, you will face my true power!” His form twitched and began to change, growing even more bestial as unholy fire rippled to life around him. “I will crush you, and you will join me, and –”
“Shut up!” Avraniel roared as she set half the sky ablaze, a tempest of white flame rocketing outward in all direction. The demons that had been racing toward them tumbled out of the sky, burning. She was sick of his crap. “Just. Shut. The. Hell. Up.”
Katie winced and did her best to hold onto Avraniel. The elf was terrifying when she got mad. It was like all that rage made her stronger. Even her shadows were struggling to keep their form – the fire around them was so hot and bright.
“Take us to him,” Avraniel growled.
They dove and slammed into Lord Taylor. The demon hissed and howled as they drove him down into the ruins of the castle with terrible force. His wings took the worst of it, and Katie rolled clear as they hit the stone floor of the ruined hall with enough force to carve a crater in it. Avraniel stayed right on him, refusing to let him get back into the air.
Lord Taylor’s claws and tail whipped into motion, but Avraniel moved with impossible speed. Her daggers appeared – she must have concealed them – and she parried his attacks and then landed blow after blow of her own. Katie gulped. The elf had been toying with them when they’d faced her. But she wasn’t playing around now. She was going for the kill, and this was where she was at her deadliest, combining fire and steel with deadly precision. Cezanne clung onto Avraniel’s shoulder, blessing her fire as quickly as he could, and Lord Taylor could only give ground.
He cut a gash across her forearm, and she twisted to let one of his blows slice across her back instead of the shoulder Cezanne was on. But she barely seemed to feel the wounds. The fire around her built, blazing higher and higher until it was a burning shroud of raw heat around her. She drove the hilt of one dagger into Lord Taylor’s chin and then smashed a knee into his gut. He tossed her back and lunged, claws extended, but Katie struck him with one huge, shadowy fist. The girl winced. His skin was so tough. How could Avraniel even stand hitting him?
Avraniel gave Lord Taylor a savage smile. There weren’t many people who could take so many hits from her. But as strong as he was, she was faster, and she was beginning to wear him down. Cezanne’s magic was definitely helping. His skin was scorched and burnt, and one of his wings was badly damaged. Black blood oozed from dozens of smaller wounds and a deep cut she’d carved into his side. She poured on the speed and landed blow after blow as Katie tossed in the occasional attack of her own to keep him off balance.
The unholy fire that wreathed his body began to ebb, and she wrenched it out of the way. The less protection he had, the better. He lunged at her, and his tail raced out to catch her as she dodged. But she was ready. She ducked under his tail and then leapt into the air to land the hardest punch she could, right on the point of his chin. He staggered, and she spun into a kick that slammed him into one of the few pillars that remained standing in the ruins of the hall. He dropped to his knees, and she darted forward to bring the hilt of one of her daggers down on the back of his head. Hard. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. For a long moment, she debated simply cutting off his head and gutting him – not even a half-demon as powerful as him could survive that – before reaching into her pocket for the restraints Timmy had given her. Lord Taylor would probably be worth more
to them alive than dead. The Council could interrogate him for information, and she could ask him where all his treasure was hidden. And she could be very persuasive.
Nevertheless, Avraniel did give him a kick in the head for good measure, along with a kick to the groin. “As if I’d ever get involved with an idiot like you.” She scoffed. “Creepy bastard.” A hideous roar echoed over the mountains. Timmy and the others were still fighting that thing. “They’re taking their sweet damn time killing that.”
“Shouldn’t we, you know, help them?” Katie asked.
“Hell, I’ve done my bit. They can do theirs.” The elf eyed the melted remnants of Lord Taylor’s golden throne and smiled. “They need to hurry up. I can’t loot this place until that thing is dead.”
* * *
Timmy clung onto the inter-dimensional horror as tightly as he could. This was not how he imagined things would go. In his imagination, a stout whack of his shovel was all that was required before he traipsed back to his castle with as much treasure as he could carry and a full pardon. Oh, and he’d have a seat on the Council too. Back in the real world, perhaps the only thing he had going in his favour was that the thing he was fighting had yet to fully manifest. If it had, his eyes would have melted in their sockets just from looking at it, and he’d be well on his way to insanity. Of course, he was still hundreds of yards in the air, staring down into the roiling mass of flesh that was the centre of the eldritch horror. It resembled an impossibly vast, canyon-like maw lined with teeth the size of houses. The space within it was utterly black, as though not even light could escape, and he had a sinking feeling that falling in would be a one-way trip. Yes, he could vaguely remember Sam mentioning something about certain members of his kind having mouths that functioned as portals to the great beyond.
“What do we do?” Gerald screamed. The bureaucrat had secured himself to the monster with a grappling hook and some rope. He swung back and forth through the air, frantically waving a frying pan at the tentacles and claws that were trying to pull him toward one of the many mouths that lined the creature’s body.
Unconventional Heroes 2 - Two Necromancers, an Army of Golems, and a Demon Lord Page 20