52.

Erak hit the spawn like a wrecking ball, bowling the injured abomination over. Its clumsy swing bounced off his pauldron, and then they were crashing into the floor. It scraped at him with a clawed hand and its teeth snapped helplessly against his armored forearm as Erak rammed the appendage into the creature’s mouth. It thrashed like a wild horse, twisting and lunging with all its might to try to unseat Erak.

Erak grinned at it from behind his armor as he got his revenge for his spirit bond. He crushed its skull in with his heavy shield, each blow slow and powerful like a pneumatic press. The wild fire in its one good eye faded and Erak enjoyed the rush of power that filled him as the spawn stopped and fell silent beneath him.

It took a long second to get his forearm free of the dead spawn’s jaws, shattering the jagged teeth as he ripped himself free. He stood up and spun on the crowd, which had not gone well for the Imperials in the meantime. Illyria was still alive, trading blows with the limping cudgel wielder, but her partner was dead. The man’s head had been crushed into his shoulders and broken apart like a watermelon.

Erak’s future sword was impaled in one of the other Royal Guard’s guts, the long length of it popping out of the man’s back. The spawn had grabbed the second one and was mauling her, ripping its head back and forth as she tried to stab at it weakly with a small knife.

Erak sprinted at the spawn while it was occupied. The woman was dead, her body just hadn’t caught up to reality. He crossed the large room in a few long strides and lowered his shoulder, intent to plow into the spawn like he had the others. The spawn looked up from its meal and unlatched its wide bloodstained maw from her neck. The spawn picked the woman up and threw her in a blur at Erak.

Erak didn’t have time to dodge, simply swatting the dead woman out of the air and to the side with his shield, never breaking stride. The Dragon Spawn had reached over and drew its blade out of the other Royal Guardsman, who had sunk to his knees in the few seconds it took Erak to cross the distance. Knocking the corpse out of the air left Erak open, his arms stretched out wide and his body exposed as the abomination slashed in an attempt to cut Erak down with a blow that would traverse shoulder to hip.

Erak leapt at the monster’s knees, flying though the air as the dragon bone blade glanced off his armor with a terrible shriek. Pain burst through Erak’s shoulderblade even as he tackled it, sweeping its feet off the floor. The two landed, the spawn on top of Erak, but Erak didn’t stop. He rolled and kicked his legs, grabbing the spawn around the shoulders with his leg and spinning it.

Erak sat straight up, grunting in exertion and pain, and rammed the dagger home. The spawn brought its tail up, the long muscular limb intercepting the Fury’s dagger. It screamed in pain and punched Erak with its free hand, the blow snapping Erak’s head back as the world suddenly begun to spin all around him.

The two of them rolled apart, Erak rising unsteadily to his feet while the spawn pulled the dagger out of its tail and flung it back at Erak. It bounced off his breastplate with a clang, the force of the blow driving the air from his lungs. Erak cursed in his mind as the monster rushed him, long sword still in one hand.

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Erak blocked the first blow with his shield, the blow numbing his arm instantly. He backpeddled, stunned by the force of the blow as the Dragon Spawn kept raining blows down and on him. Each hit dented the shield or shaved a splinter off of it, all the while the numbness was creeping further and further up his arm as he was jarred.

The spawn’s mouth was wide in a facsimile of a smile as it huffed with each blow. It left no time for Erak to do anything but desperately raise his shield and knock the blow off course. The familiar rage began to surface as Erak stared at the abomination. With a grunt of effort, he knocked the next blow to the side with all his might, the spawn taking a single stumbling step before it corrected itself.

Erak seized his chance, closing the distance and grabbing the beast’s scaly shoulder. Heat blazed under his fingertips, the spawn inordinately hot. Erak jerked the spawn toward him and met it with an armored knee to the gut. Erak winced as he hit what felt like a stone wall, but the spawn gasped as the air was forced out of its lungs. It shrugged its shoulders and threw Erak’s hand off and then slashed from the ground up.

The blade dug a furrow across Erak’s thick armor from hip to shoulder, peeling the rare grade armor like an orange. Erak punched it in the face, first with his fist, then with his shield. The spawn’s snout exploded in a spray of blood and it staggered back, tail sweeping back and forth as it tried to stay on its feet.

The Royal Guardsman who had been stabbed reached up from the floor and grabbed the staggering spawn’s heel. Erak pounced even before the spawn hit the ground. He flew up and over the creature, landing with both knees tucked in and aimed at the creature’s chest. Bone broke and the spawn coughed out a ball of blue blood that spattered across Erak’s face.

Blue blood mingled with red, forming a purple mess across the creature’s teeth as its eyes unfocused. Erak slid a knee off its broken chest and onto the wrist holding the sword, holding it there as he began to break the spawn beneath him. Like all the others, it was strong and durable and the rain of blows took a few minutes to overwhelm it, leaving Erak stained blue from helm to waist.

“You all done?” Illyria asked. Her voice was tired and strained, but she was still standing. Erak looked over and saw the dead cudgel wielder, its chest gaping open to the world, propped against a wall. Erak nodded and grabbed his new sword. It was heavier than it looked, the dark gleam of the bone shining in the light even after the abuse it had taken. There wasn’t a knick or burr to see, just six feet of gentle curving, razor sharp bone.

“Finally found a weapon your size,” Illyria said. Erak grunted as he went around collecting his weapons. The knife went back into its sheath and the sword to its scabbard. Then Erak was faced with the problem of how to carry the dragonbone sword and his spear.

“Here,” Illyria said as she watched Erak look around for a suitable carrier. She reached down and ripped free some of the cleaner cloth off of a corpse. She braided a loop and put it around the pommel, then made a sling that she slung around his shoulder so the sword hung from down his back.

“We’ll have to find you something later, but for now, let’s get back and get everyone else through this place. I think that’s the door back to the sewers over there.” She pointed to a narrow hallway with markings on it. She looked down at her dead guardians and sighed, shaking her head slowly.

Erak held up a fist, indicating for her to wait as he looked at the announcement he had reached level twenty.

Level 20 Title Earned

Momentum

You are an unstoppable giant of Steel and Fury, unleash your momentum in a titanic blow. Synergy with Aura abilities.

Once Per Day

Skill Available 1

Aura of Movement

Aura of the Invincibility

Bond Channel

Shield Bash