Echoes of a Shattered Age (35 page)

The sound of hissing and growling drew her attention to where her teacher struggled against a Zzrt, one of the most dangerous Quentranzi to walk the abyss. “Master!” she exclaimed.

“Don’t come near!” Iel yelled.

“What?” Even as she spoke, the green monster drove its arms deep into the ground and ripped out a large piece of earth and hurled it at the Ilanyan. Iel rolled to the side and launched a wave of light energy to slam into hulking fiend to no effect. Still crouched in front of him, tongue waving outside that hungry grin as if tasting the air.

Mira focused on the demon and sent a shockwave to slam into it. If the attack had any effect, the demon ignored it and rounded on her. It stood upright, towering high above the apprentice. Its large white eyes widened and it responded with an openmouthed hiss just as it whipped its tail around and slapped her into the air.

Iel glanced with concern at Mira squirming on the ground, and the brief lapse of attention cost him. The Zzrt leaped the dozen feet between them and slapped him with a backhand, sending him hurtling into a nearby tree.

Despite being dazed from the impact, Iel used the base of the tree to spring forward. He raised his right hand and loosed a powerful blast of light into the demon.

When it staggered, he followed up with another blast of light energy, this one aimed at the creature’s face. The monster hit the ground grabbing its eyes and screeching in a mixture of pain and fury. Iel slid to a stop at the sight of the Zzrt slamming the ground with its fist. In a fit of rage, it rolled back to its feet and charged, shredding the ground with its thick black claws.

* * *

Kita tried to catch his breath as he backed away. He and the others had done little damage against the titanic demon, and now its attention was fully on them. “We’re doing just enough to annoy it!” he said.

“What makes you think that?” Shinobu asked sarcastically, as he dodged a huge fist that crashed into the ground and sent him tumbling under a wave of dirt and rock. The strider recovered quickly and countered with a zigzagging slash across its hand.

The demon yanked its hand back, and with a roar that made the air vibrate, raised its massive foot and stomped the ground once more, sending more dirt raining down. Shinobu dove aside, narrowly avoiding being swallowed by one of the many wide fault lines that trailed from the site of impact.

Kenjiro charged in and stabbed the side of the massive foot, driving his sword in to the hilt. It screeched and lifted its foot high into the air to grab at the wound. Kenjiro held onto his sword until the right moment, then pulled it free and leapt onto the creature’s hand, driving the blade into its wrist. The beast reached for the samurai, but then stumbled from the pain of yet another stab from Kita’s staff. With his free hand, Kenjiro drew his tanto, reversed the grip, and drove it in next to his sword. He pulled the short sword free and stabbed again. When the monster recoiled and leveled its arm, Kenjiro pulled the blades free and ran up the massive arm.

“I like his strategy!” Kenyatta said as he hopped onto the beast’s foot and stabbed repeatedly.

Once he reached the shoulder, Kenjiro stabbed once again, bringing yet another bellow of pain from the creature. Tainted blood oozed from the wound, and the samurai had to fight back his revulsion. The giant fiend twisted and turned, but Kenjiro held on to his embedded sword. He saw a massive hand from the corner of his eye coming directly at him, and withdrew the blade and hopped up the shoulder. The hand missed, but a finger larger than Kenjiro’s body slammed into him, blasting the air from his lungs.

While this was happening, Kenyatta backed away, then sprinted at the fiend from the rear. He leaped high into the air, embedding his blades to the hilt into the back of its leg. The monstrous demon shrieked and reached back for the dangling warrior.

Seeing his friend’s vulnerability, Kita stabbed the monster in the foot with all his strength, which succeeded in drawing the beast’s attention while Shinobu moved to the opposite side of the beast as Kita, and struck rapidly at its feet and ankles.

The demon stomped and swatted at the tiny humans, but they were quick and cunning. In dealing with the annoying specks at its feet, it had forgotten the samurai who lay at the edge of consciousness underneath its long black hair beside its neck.

The two warriors worked together to keep the enormous fiend distracted while Kenyatta worked his way toward the still-dazed samurai. Kenyatta made another leap and once again drove his swords into demonic flesh, this time into the monster’s lower back. It was a wound that burned from the inside, and the demon ignored the two on the ground and tried to grab at the tiny insect stinging its back.

“What is he trying to do?” Shinobu yelled from the other side of the monster’s foot.

“We’ll find out soon,” Kita answered, dodging another stomp.

Suddenly, the demon went still, and its back began to glow. Dangling from the monstrous demon’s lower back, Kenyatta saw the blue skin beginning to glow just before heat started radiating from it. It didn’t take long for the islander to realize his danger, and he quickly curled his body and positioned his feet between his embedded swords and pushed. They seemed unnaturally held in place, and now he could feel the heat and mounting energy in front of him. He did not dare release his grip and lose his weapons, however, so he held his position, trying to figure out another way to free himself.

The glow brightened, and explosion of built up energy sent the warrior flying away. Dazed, Kenyatta lifted himself to his elbows and rubbed his head. “Wasn’t expectin’ dat,” he groaned.

* * *

Kenjiro was finally able to clear his head and reorient himself. It was not very comforting to awaken and find that he was lying next to the massive creature’s head, underneath a forest of slithering hair. He slowly climbed to his feet and gripped his sword in a white-knuckled grip. He lined the tip of the sword with the demon’s neck, squared his stance, and drove it forward. Or tried to.

A mass of slithering hair wrapped around his right arm while more of the sentient locks flowed toward him. In one turning motion, Kenjiro let the sword drop from his right hand, caught it with his left, and cut his arm free. No sooner had he freed himself, than more of the black tendrils wrapped around his limbs. Though he cut and slashed every stalk of octopus-like hair that entangled him, he couldn’t work fast enough, and the bottom half of his body was wrapped tight.

In an act of desperation, he drove his sword into the neck of the beast, behind the jaw. The sword, although tiny in proportion to the massive fiend, struck true, for a thick line of black blood ran down its neck. Still it was not enough, and the hair continued to wrap about him. In seconds, he was cocooned in a mass of writhing black hair.

* * *

Kita pulled himself back to his feet after nearly being sideswiped by the demon’s enormous foot. The blow had sent him spinning through the air to crash to the ground over a dozen yards away. Once he had reoriented himself, he saw that Shinobu was in a bad situation.

Although the strider worked tirelessly, attacking and dodging, slashing and slicing while avoiding a stomp or a grab, he was unable to keep the thing at bay for long before it turned toward the tower once more. He started behind the fiend, but then on instinct, spun and ducked a slashing claw from behind.

Shinobu straightened to face his newest foe. He could feel the sense of wrongness that surrounded the demon. It was not very large, only about five and a half feet tall and of an average size, but the intangible force within it seemed ten times its size. Its dim yellow skin was leathery and hard, and it was difficult to see if the creature was fast but not physically strong, or slow and powerful. It had no defining features that gave any indication of its capabilities. Even its face was negligible, sporting only two red slits for eyes, and no nose or mouth that the strider could see. Its tail was as thick as Shinobu’s arm, and whipped from side to side as the fiend studied him.

The strider narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Well at least you can’t talk.”

The fiend didn’t respond, only continued to stare at him. With a shrug, the strider fingered the hilt of his sword while he sized up the foul creature. With a derisive sniff, the strider charged.

* * *

Mira lifted her head to see Iel waiting calmly in the path of the charging fiend. As it drew nearer, the Ilanyan’s body began to glow with a soft white aura. He was in the midst of gathering power within himself.

The Zzrt leaped high into the air and descended on the waiting Ilanyan. At the last possible second, Iel released a shockwave from his body that shook the ground and everything nearby.

The Zzrt caught the full force of the shockwave and was knocked from the air to crash back to the ground. Without as much as a flinch, it got up and charged again, and in less than a few heartbeats it was right in front the guardian. It slashed at him with terrifying speed and ferocity, but Iel avoided the assault and rolled to the side.

He was quick to his feet, but the hulking demon was on him. Iel was prepared this time, and slammed it in the chest with the palm of his hand, releasing the remaining built up energy. They flew away and landed a few feet from Mira, who scampered backwards.

The beast shook its head and rose, seeming little affected. Mira picked up a rock as she positioned herself so that the Zzrt was between her and Iel. The demon let out a hiss-like growl, spun and charged back toward the guardian.

Iel threw his left hand out and a lance of yellow light went streaking through the air at the raging fiend. The lance struck the demon’s chest, and its body pulsated with yellow light.

The Ilanyan’s eyes pulsated in tune with the light-filled demon, yellow, then blue. As the blue in Iel’s eyes darkened, so too, did the light in the body of the disabled Zzrt. The crackling sound of ice creeping over its skin made Mira’s skin crawl. In seconds, the demon was frozen.

Mira shook off her revulsion and threw the rock, focusing as it flew at the immobilized demon. The rock elongated into spear, and with a loud
crack
, the rock-spear punched into the frozen Zzrt. The apprentice clenched her hand into a fist, then opened it.

The frozen Zzrt shuddered, then pieces of the ice began to chip away. A moment later, the demon burst into thousands of shards of ice that rained down around them. Mira started to smile, but saw that Iel was chanting and drawing energy into himself again.

“What are you doing?” she asked, just as the shards around her feet began to slide toward each other, reconnecting. Several heartbeats later, the shards evaporated into a green mist, then dissipated.

“You fought well,” Iel said. “But that was a Zzrt. They are the toughest of the lower Quentranzi, and that was a weaker one.” He started toward the field.

“Weak one?” Mira called after him.

Iel had not walked far before he caught sight of three of the four warriors fighting desperately to divert the monstrous titan that stalked unwaveringly toward the tower. A glowing white staff appeared in his right hand, and he whirled it faster and faster till it was a blur in his hands. He began to chant an incantation, and with every word, his voice echoed louder and louder until it filled the air. Finally, he thrust the staff above his head, then pointed it at the abysmal titan. A silver stream of light spiraled from the staff, and gradually formed into an enormous glowing beast of equal size to the giant Quentranzi.

It earth shook under its landing, and it straightened before the massive demon. The giant fiend screeched, and the air hummed with negative energy.

In response, the huge magical creature bellowed and fell upon its enemy. The two monstrous creatures exchanged blows, punching and clawing, and then the magical beast slapped the demon across the head with an open hand and sent it crashing to the earth with a mighty quake.

* * *

Kenjiro tumbled to the ground, finally released from the tightly grasping hair. Ironically, the only thing that saved him from a deathly fall was the very hair in which he’d been entangled.

He opened his eyes and looked at his sword, still tight in his grasp. He rose to one knee and looked over his shoulder at the massive beast lying on its back behind him. The ground shook again, drawing the samurai’s attention to another equally large monstrosity stalking toward him. Kenjiro closed his eyes, then took a deep breath and opened them again. This was where he would die.

He climbed to his feet and readied himself, bringing his sword before him in a two-handed grip. The giant monster looked past him at the demon behind, just now climbing back to its feet. Kenjiro kept his eyes on the giant while he trotted aside. To his relief, the beast continued past, and to a titanic struggle with the screeching minion of the abyss.

* * *

The magical defender lifted its foot to stomp its enemy, but the Quentranzi caught the massive foot in its clawed hands, just before it crashed into its chest. It heaved the magical beast backward, and when it stumbled, the Quentranzi was on it.

The defender was the quicker, however. It clasped its hands together and brought them up in a double ax-handle blow underneath the chin of the huge demon, sending it stumbling backward.

The Quentranzi retaliated with a slash across the magical creature’s midsection, then a solid punch landing on the side of its head. The punch sent the defender off its feet, and when it hit the ground, it burst into thousands of silver sparks. The monstrous demon threw its head back and screeched in triumph.

Kenjiro had already started toward the monster, but was forced to deal with two smaller fiends. He could feel the power radiating off them, and knew that he would have had an easier time battling four pit demons than these two. They worked as a team, complementing the other’s movements, the samurai was hard-pressed to keep them at bay. One stabbed forward, and as soon as Kenjiro attempted to deflect it, the demon withdrew and the other would jump in with an arcing strike.

Though he held them off at the moment, it was only a matter of time before one of them found an opening. Kenjiro redoubled his efforts, trying to gain just an instant to formulate a strategy to turn the tide in his favor. He received that split second that he needed when one of the creatures went to strike and hesitated, stumbling forward. After beheading the creature, Kenjiro focused on the remaining enemy. From the corner of his eye, over the diminishing body, he saw the figure of Kenyatta running toward the titan.