He leaned back up, only to feel a piece of flesh sliding around in his helmet. The front half of his nose was gone, and blood dripped down his face. A searing pain erupted there a moment later, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. It was nothing compared to what he had already suffered. His main concern was the direction the battle was going. Even though he was planning to lure Slothari to Tartarus, there was a good chance his plan wouldn’t work.
“Still so sure in your power, Jonathan Harlowe?” Slothari rumbled, her minotaur form’s muscles clenching as she spoke. “Your body will be the latest acquisition in my panoply. With your unique void laced physique, and your Divinity, I will finally be able to ascend Mire to the next circle. And then, who knows?”
Jonathan forced out a chuckle. “Granath thought that I would be a stepping stone to his ascension too. Then I killed him. Will you be next?”
All he received in reply was a thunderous charge, Slothari’s hooves digging into the heat-baked earth. He girded himself for impact, driving his fist forth with every bit of power he could muster. He could already tell it wasn’t enough, even as the minotaur’s ax carved through the air itself, molecules splitting on its edge, sparks limning its surface.
He leaped over its razor thin blade, flipping midair to avoid his feet being separated from his body. Slothari turned the weapon with frightening ease, slicing straight up. An arc of light sliced through a cloud above their heads, but missed Jonathan.
Slothari grinned at him through lips the size of frisbees, her gargantuan minotaur form’s hooves shattering the ground as she leaped towards him. One hand shot out, leaving the haft of her ax, and grabbed him out of the air. A nova of consuming light exploded from his armor as he used Maw of the Void, scouring flesh from bone. However, against all biological odds, Slothari’s skeletal hand continued to grasp him, crushing him down. Then she raised her fist, and brought it down upon the ground.
Jonathan felt bones shatter into tiny fragments, and his armor bend as the monstrous strength of his foe was brought to bear upon his all too mortal shell. He screamed in pain as Slothari pressed him into the earth, sending him hundreds of feet down into the soil of Mire. Given that it was Tier 3 rock and earth below him, it hurt far more than it normally would have.
Then Slothari turned towards Hushar, and switched back to Tukar’s form, seemingly just to taunt the Uthraki. Hushar’s neck muscles bulged like steel cables tensed in rage. He bellowed his fury to the world and started to glow with a crimson light, losing himself to his wrath. His sword was thrown to the side, and lances of obsidian formed from his fists, the length of longswords and sharper than a scalpel.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The Uthraki threw himself at Slothari, only to find himself striking thin air as the circle lord sidestepped his attack, before languorously driving her elbow into the center of his back. The man’s spine popped out of place as he impacted the ground. Jonathan levered himself out of the earth, channeling his Divinity towards his bones. It was an application of Smite previously untested, but to his surprise, it worked. Golden light suffused his limbs and knitted his flesh back together, his bones clicking into place. There was immense pain, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, his pool of Divinity was rapidly approaching empty. It was time for him to put his plan into effect.
He ventured forth from the crater, and sped towards Slothari. The circle lord turned, and leered down at him. Then her face shifted as he withdrew the Tartarus token from his storage device. In the background, Hushar rose to his feet, and summoned a slab of stone beneath him, barely able to walk. It shot off into the sky, breaking through the sound barrier. Slothari paid him no heed.
“Where did you get that?” She said, a look of genuine surprise stealing across her face.
Jonathan scoffed. “Your lord is growing tired of your weakness. He intends for me to be a grindstone for all the circle lords.”
A look of pure rage twisted Slothari’s face into a grotesque rictus grin. “So, that bastard finally wants to throw away his toys? After billions of years of faithful service, a time that should have driven us mad, he forsakes us? NEVER!”
Slothari exploded in a display of animal rage, blitzing Jonathan. Just before she reached him, he used his token, and winked out of existence. He had faith that Hushar would remain unharmed. After all, Slothari’s main target was him.
Jonathan appeared in Tartarus once more, standing on the fiery planes of that volcanic realm. Then he waited for a moment, before realizing that Slothari wouldn’t have emerged in the same place as him. His heart sank as he saw that he had no way to know if the circle lord had actually followed him. If not, Hushar was in trouble.
As he appeared, a portal sliced through the air before him, depositing Arkanon. The Uthraki lord was clad in a suit of obsidian armor, and gauntlets the size of Jonathan’s head covered his fists. “I can feel the presence of that accursed monstrosity upon the plains of Tartarus,” the man declared, rage filling his voice. “It is finally time for my revenge.”
“Where is she?” Jonathan replied, a bit more calmly. “We need to get there as soon as possible.”
“She appeared in the middle of the Roiling Ocean. The lava did nothing to her, as expected, and she has taken the form of a titanic whale, heading towards the nearest city. Almost a million Uthraki live there.” Arkanon clenched his fists. “I will not stand for another loss to my kingdom.”