Chapter 6 - Strength and Weakness

A moment passed. Those six eyes blinked, vibrating in their sockets. The head twisted around, and each spindly leg raised up as the demon balanced onto its flat stomach. For a second it looked almost like a twisted flower, a distant part of Lazar’s mind observed.

With a final snap that echoed across the enclosed field, the final leg popped into place. They reeled back, movements jerking, and abruptly stabbed into the earth.

The demon launched itself forward.

Lazar barely managed to roll out of the way in time as the demon slammed into the space he’d just occupied. The creature jumped up and lunged at him again with deceptive speed. That human-like mouth lined with square white teeth opened wide, its jaws extending until its gaping maw was big enough to swallow him whole.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins. Lazar shoved his halberd up just before those jaws could snap around him. He grit his teeth, acutely aware of the uncontrollable shaking in his arms.

His swing was too slow. It took far more energy than it should have. He was too weak to properly use his own weapon.

Drool pooled down from the open mouth, leaking down onto him, but the creature’s jaws weren’t strong enough to snap the halberd. The silver metal stayed strong.

It was a flesh eater, Lazar assessed: one too weak to have ascended or to display any form of intelligence. It would’ve been no more dangerous than an insect to him when he was at full power. In his current state, it was all he could do to keep its mouth from biting him in half.

Movement flashed in his peripheral vision. The seraph’s eyes widened. One of those blade-like legs lunged at his side.

Lazar yanked the halberd out of the demon’s jaw and propelled himself away. He heard a ripping sound and a slight tug as a section of his cloak was torn by the demon’s limbs, and he was glad he’d tied the ends.

Lazar moved on instinct, swinging his legs around and landing on them. He stumbled as he stood. Without his wings, the balance was all wrong. He nearly tipped forward and just barely caught himself with the end of his halberd. His muscles burned, but it looked like the adrenaline had been what he’d needed to finally force his feet to move again.

The demon reeled another blade-like leg back, and Lazar’s eyes flicked to the angle of its pointed tip.

Left.

Lazar dove a second before the demon lashed out, dodging to the side. The tongue whipped out right after the leg, and Lazar shoved it back with the halberd. The force of the blow pushed him back, and he skidded across the ground.

His movements were too slow, his body unable to keep up with his commands. His breaths came harsh and labored despite barely any time passing, and even through the thick cloud of numbness that took hold every time he fought, he could feel the cuts on his palms continuing to bleed, smearing the halberd shaft in red.

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Mind churning, Lazar took a step back and felt his back hit one of those strange stone formations. He didn’t hesitate to duck behind it, just in time for another attack to cleave into the hard rock.

Lazar kept himself moving around the stone, using it as a pseudo barrier between him and the demon’s increasingly frenzied attacks. His muscles ached, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer.

Behind him, the tongue whipped around the stone and slammed into the center of his back. He skidded across the rough ground and didn’t stop until he hit the next closest rock formation. Lazar hacked and wrenched himself back up. His vision blurred; he couldn’t keep dodging like this.

The demon crawled back around into the open, those sharp legs raised. Lazar’s eyes traced over the creature, taking in its low, flat body. He narrowed his eyes. Maybe he wouldn’t have to.

The demon charged at him like he’d expected, and this time, instead of dodging away, he propelled himself forward and landed onto the creature’s main body. One of its legs grazed him as he moved, slicing open a fresh stinging cut on his thigh that he ignored.

Using the momentum of his fall, he mustered all his strength and shoved the blade of the halberd into its flesh. His fingers squeezed just below the sharp metal, and he pressed all his body weight into the action. If he wasn’t strong enough to swing the weapon through, then this would have to do for now.

Dark blood spurted out around the silver metal. The creature screeched and thrashed, but Lazar kept a firm grip, pushing down harder and harder. He almost fell a few times, but he clung on.

Slowly but surely, the demon’s movements weakened. Violent convulsions reduced to twitches and jerks. Still he didn’t let go.

The demon began to shake, wobbling in place, until finally the creature collapsed entirely and fell still.

Lazar waited a few moments, eyes sharp and breaths harsh. When the demon still didn’t move, he leaned forward a little, peering into its hollow eyes. It remained motionless.

Lazar slumped forward, exhausted, and finally allowed his grip to relax. His limbs trembled, warm blood running from his wounds and staining his skin. He felt too exhausted to even wipe it away.

It wasn’t just his strength and magic. He’d lost much of his endurance as well. The hollowness in his soul, the empty space on his back—both felt more prominent than ever. Things that he’d never questioned before. Things he never thought he’d lose.

Lazar shook his head, willing himself to stay focused on the present. He couldn’t stay there. The noise from the fight would likely draw in more demons, stronger demons at that.

Pulling the halberd out of the demon was a more difficult ordeal than he’d anticipated. He didn’t have the strength to yank it out outright, deeply embedded into the creature as it was. He frowned, and after a moment of consideration, he twisted the weapon around. The motion minced and shredded the surrounding flesh, the wound squelching and bubbling with fresh blood, but finally he’d created an opening loose enough for him to tug the blade out.

As he gathered his breath, the reality of his situation settled in. In his current state, he’d barely been able to deal with a single weak flesh eating demon with no sentience. If he was attacked by anything intelligent, anything strong enough to have ascended or even a soul eater type demon, he wouldn’t be able to handle it on his own.

Currently, he was wide open on the barren stone field, the crooked pillars and quivering masses barely providing any cover. His eyes darted over to the towering mountains, to the steep, treacherous cliffside and the dark entrances embedded within the stone. If he could get into one of those caves, he would at least be somewhat hidden. The risk, of course, was that there could just as easily be a demon waiting inside them, and a confrontation in such an enclosed space was unlikely to go in his favor.

Lazar heard a clatter and jerked around, seeing a few more stones rolling across the ground from where they’d fallen. His entire body was drawn in a line of tension. Risky or not, he decided, he’d rather try and find shelter than face almost certain death out here.

And so, stumbling back to his feet and leaning his weight against his halberd for support, the fallen seraph made his way over to the cave entrances.