The Cavalier (39 page)

“Finally, I get to kill you,” hissed the demon, its words barely recognizable as it spoke through its tooth filled jaws. Its deep voice sent a chill through Jonas as he looked at Kiln to his left.

Jonas recognized the look on Kiln’s face; he had dropped into Ty’erm, the mental state that prepared his mind and body for battle. Jonas quickly calmed his beating heart and entered into the state of Ty’erm as Kiln had taught him. His nerves calmed and his senses became enhanced. His breathing slowed, and he could hear his heartbeat. His senses were now so acute that he could pick up the subtlest nuances of sound or movement.

“You did not kill me at Finarth, and you will not kill me now,” Jonas answered the demon. He was gaining confidence as he prayed to Shyann and as he felt the warmth of magic flow into his body. He smiled inwardly, feeling strangely at ease, knowing that Shyann was with him, whether he lived or died.

The beast flicked its tail in agitation and Jonas noticed the long sharp spikes that covered the twitching appendage. “I have killed many of your brethren, but you are the one that I’ve longed to destroy,” rumbled the beast, its voice the epitome of evil.

The Greever stared at the two warriors, its red eyes carrying the weight of its hatred for all that is good. The beast began to growl, a low menacing sound that reverberated through their bodies. The sound was entrancing and Jonas’s sword tips began to slowly sag as his eyes began to close. The resonating sound got louder and Jonas felt his body teeter on the edge of consciousness.

Suddenly light flared within his mind and his body tensed, dispelling the demon’s magic. Jonas’s eyes sprung open and the demon roared in defiance. Jonas glanced to his left and saw Kiln swaying back and forth, his sword point touching the ground. The beast was using magic, using its voice to spell them. Shyann’s magic had freed Jonas from the demon’s grasp, but Kiln was still in danger as his eyes fluttered, barely maintaining consciousness.

The demon swung its tail in a powerful arc at Kiln as it shot its wing tips toward Jonas. Jonas screamed, hoping to wake up Kiln, and brought up his swords in desperation, trying to deflect the deadly wing points. His magical blades created a wall of razor sharp steel as he retreated quickly from the attacks.

Kiln felt dizzy and tired, the low growling from the demon resonating in his mind like a mother’s lullaby. But Kiln was strong in spirit, and in the state of Ty’erm even a powerful demon would have a hard time spelling the mentally tough warrior.

Kiln snapped his eyes open as Jonas screamed, and he lifted up his blade as the beast’s tail barreled into him like a spiked boulder. His blade deflected the powerful stroke slightly, but the sharp spikes still raked deep cuts across his shoulder and the momentum of the strike sent Kiln flying backwards.

He landed hard on his back, the impact of the fall not noticed as the pain of the three cuts shot through his body. The lacerations burned agonizingly; Kiln knew that these were no ordinary wounds, that the demon’s tail must be poisonous. He rolled around on the grass, moaning with pain as the poison found his blood stream and began to do its work. Kiln used his powerful mind, concentrating on dismissing the pain and pushing it aside so he could stand and fight this demon. He sought his center, focusing on it, willing his heart rate to slow and his breathing to relax. He pushed away the pain, attempting to ignore the effects of the poison. Gritting his teeth he grabbed his sword, lifting himself to his feet.

Jonas, seeing Kiln so severely wounded, was filled with fury. He dug deep within himself and brought forth his God Light with a brilliance that he did not think possible. He shone like a star. The beast hissed, retreating slightly, giving Jonas a quick reprieve from the deadly and ferocious attacks of its spiked wings and claws.

Jonas attacked without hesitation, despite the sinking feeling that filled his mind knowing that Kiln had been grievously wounded. He fought with all the skill that he had been taught, ducking and pivoting as his two glowing blades spun a glowing weave of steel.

The demon hissed in anger as he felt the sting of the magical blades, and the blinding brilliance of Jonas’s light. But the Greever had his own magic and he brought it forth with malice. Suddenly the area around Jonas was blanketed in darkness; a blackness so thick and dense that it extinguished his God Light. Jonas couldn’t see anything, and he backed away with his swords spinning defensively in front of him, while the Greever could see as if the sun were shining brightly. The demon beat its wings once, and springing with its two powerful legs, it flew through the air above the deadly blades and landed on top of Jonas.

The impact of the demon sent Jonas flying onto his back, and the full weight of the beast crushed the air from his lungs. Jonas felt the bite of the demon’s long talons trying to gouge holes through his magical armor and chain mail. Jonas struggled, but his arms were pinned by the demon’s powerful legs.

The beast’s claws ripped at the exposed flesh on his arms, his vital areas saved by the magical armor. The razor sharp claws tore through Jonas’s clothes but could not find his flesh through the armor.

Jonas lay there, blinded by the darkness, his heart pounding with fear. Terror gripped him and he almost succumbed to it until he remembered Kiln’s teachings and once again entered the state of Ty’erm.

The demon hissed with frustration when his front claws could not break through Jonas’s rib cage, his armor shielding heart and lungs from the deadly talons.

“I’ll just feed on your face first,” spit the demon as its maw opened, moving toward Jonas’s face in the darkness.

Jonas closed his eyes, concentrating on the demon on top of him. He could feel the familiar energy in all the air particles around the beast so he focused his mind on these particles, creating a mold of energy around the demon. Then he froze the particles. Suddenly the demon couldn’t move its body, its deadly jaw only inches from Jonas’s unprotected face.

“Feed on this!” yelled Jonas, directing a pulse of energy into the particles surrounding the demon. The demon flew backwards as if it were flung from a catapult, the sphere of darkness surrounding Jonas leaving with the beast.
 

The Greever reacted quickly, flinging its wings out wide and beating at the still night air. The demon hovered in the darkness forty paces above Jonas.

Jonas stood up slowly, his head aching from the tremendous amount of energy that he was forced to expend to hold the powerful demon. Jonas brought forth his God Light again. The bright light flared powerfully and lit up the area around him. Jonas saw movement to his right. Glancing over he could see Kiln’s form stand shakily, his sword held before him.

Jonas was relieved that Kiln was not dead, but the relief soon vanished as he looked back up into the air just as the demon bore down at him from the darkness. Jonas brought up his blades once again fending off the attack with desperate defensive maneuvers.

The demon hovered several paces off the ground, its long leather wings beating powerfully, sending gusts of wind and dust into Jonas’s eyes. The beast’s claws lashed out again and again trying to bring down the expert swordsman.

Jonas fought with all his strength, relentlessly blocking the deadly claws and attacking with lighting quick jabs and ripostes, scoring numerous hits to the beast. But the Greever was a hunter of another world and its strength and power was nearly inexhaustible.

The Greever then changed tactics; it landed softly, and with one smooth motion sent both spiked wings and both sets of claws in for the kill.

Jonas reacted quickly, spinning his deadly blades in a deflecting barrage of steel, but he couldn’t block both wings and claws. A powerful claw broke through his defenses and penetrated the gaps on his helmet, just missing his eyes. The razor sharp talons cut two shallow lacerations across his forehead. The pain was intense as evil magic penetrated the wounds, but Jonas, in the state of Ty’erm, was able to ignore the pain, and concentrate on the task at hand. Jumping back quickly he tried to focus on the demon, but his face stung and his eyes were filling with blood, making it almost impossible to see anything. Through a haze of blood Jonas caught the blur of a spiked tail before it crashed into his head.

Kiln screamed defiantly as he saw the beast’s tail strike Jonas with tremendous force. Jonas’s head snapped to the side violently and his horned helm flew into the air. The powerful tail had launched Jonas into the air, spinning him around like a top to land on his side.

Kiln ran forward without hesitation, his magical sword in his right hand as he quickly drew his long hunting knife from his scabbard with his left hand.

As the Greever’s tail hit Jonas, the demon pivoted quickly, sensing and hearing the threat from behind. The puny human moved in faster than the demon thought possible. Kiln’s razor sharp blades danced left and right and scored several hits on the Greever’s arms as it tried to swat the deadly weapons away. The demon howled from the pain and shot both its spiked wings forward in attack.

Kiln saw the spikes approach with lightning speed, but Kiln was the warrior of legend and he was able to follow their trajectory as if they were in slow motion. Kiln turned his body sideways just at the last second and both spikes shot to either side of him. Kiln, reacting rather than thinking, dropped his knife and shot that empty hand forward towards a spike. In the slow motion state of Ty’erm, Kiln could see his left hand wrap around the dark gray spike. He was hoping that the demon would react instinctively when he threw its spikes out for an attack by pulling them back toward its body. He guessed right. The demon pulled its wing tips back just as fast as it had shot them forward. Kiln gripped tightly as the demon yanked the deadly swordsman right toward it.

The Greever saw the warrior’s move but it was too late. The swordsman crashed into the demon’s body, his glowing sword leading the way. Roaring in pain, the Greever felt the magic blade pierce its abdomen, erupting out the other side with tremendous force. Kiln dropped to the ground, trying to roll backwards out of harm’s way, but the demon was too fast. The beast shot both clawed hands forward, grabbing Kiln by his shoulders. Kiln’s struggles were futile against the powerful demon. He felt the monster’s claws dig in deep as he was lifted into the air as if he weighed no more than a child. Kiln gritted his teeth against the pain as the demon brought him to eye level. The Greever’s beady red eyes pulsed with hatred and its long yellow teeth dripped with saliva.

“You cannot kill me, human.” The demon spit out the last word with hatred. The beast’s claws continued to dig in deeper but Kiln didn’t cry out.

“Maybe not, but I can cause you pain,” he gasped as he reached out with his hand and twisted the sword that was still buried to the hilt in the demon’s stomach. The demon roared in pain and Kiln could smell its hot fetid breath on his face.

Just then he felt a searing pain in his back. His head shot backwards as his back arched violently. He could feel his lungs start to fill with blood. He looked down, seeing the demon’s tail underneath him. The beast must have snaked its tail between his legs as it held him in the air. The demon couldn’t get a powerful swing from that position but it was enough to bury the spikes in his back deep enough to puncture his lungs. Kiln coughed, struggling to breath, spitting blood from his open mouth.

The demon threw Kiln aside like a piece of garbage. But Kiln was an experienced warrior and he learned long ago to never let go of his sword, no matter how grievously he was wounded. So Kiln held onto the hilt of his sword as he was thrown aside, yanking it from the demon’s body. The Greever stumbled backwards as black blood poured from the horrible wound.
 

Jonas’s head rang, throbbing with intense pain. He shook off the dizziness, struggling to get his feet underneath him. If it weren’t for his magical helm he would be dead, the demon’s tail would have crushed his skull like a ripe melon. He staggered to his feet, the fogginess in his head slowly clearing. His face was covered with blood and he still couldn’t see. He closed his eyes and used his powers to locate the monster. He was an IshMian and could see the demon’s energy within his mind, allowing him to see the glowing outline of the demon’s form.

Jonas stumbled again trying to get his bearing. He could make out two forms fighting, one obviously the demon and the other must be Kiln. Jonas’s spirits lifted as he saw his friend, but they soon plummeted again as he watched Kiln’s desperate attack, and moments later his body flying through the air to land unmoving in the grass.

The beast was hurt, for Jonas could see the different shades of temperature on its body and its wounds were lit up with an orange glow. But the damage Kiln did wasn’t enough to stop the monster. The demon swung around and turned its attention to its real target. With lightning speed, the demon’s long bony body, outlined with blue energy, moved in like a glimmer of death.

Jonas couldn’t move quickly enough and again felt sudden and immense pain as one of the beast’s sharp wing spikes drove in deep into his upper hip, just above his thigh greaves. He screamed from the pain, yelling in his mind for Shyann’s help.

Instantly Jonas’s body flared with blue fire. Jonas didn’t really know how the power came. It wasn’t like he was praying. He just asked for help, or maybe that wasn’t the correct way of explaining it. He willed the power forward, and it came. But this time it was different. It was a new form of magic. Burning flames erupted outward from his body like an explosion, striking the demon and scorching its flesh. It roared in pain and leaped back from the fire, ripping its long spike from the deep wound in Jonas’s hip.