Hey there, guys! Sorry this chapter is a day late. This past weekend was my birthday so I spent most of it relaxing with my family. Anyways, here's the third chapter. Took me a bit longer than usual to write up (as with most fight scenes I write). If you spot any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them up. Thanks!
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Of Monsters and men
Chapter Three
Sneering at my bravado, the troll stomped a foot down and unleashed a powerful roar, its eye-watering breath hitting me as if it were a physical force. It disdainfully cast away the human leg in its fist, now reduced to a bloodied ruin from the abuse it’d been put through. The discarded limb smacked against the glass slide-door to the apartment’s balcony and left a bloody streak. Using its long reach, then, the troll took hold of the half-crushed Christmas tree by its thick stump.
Now, I’m no expert swordsman—shit, I’d barely qualify as a novice swordsman—but I’m pretty-fucking-sure no one’s devised techniques for dealing with evergreen-wielding trolls. So as far as I was concerned, my inexperience with a blade seemed rather negligible at the moment. I’d just have to improvise.
And I was an expert at that.
Bloodlust in its narrowed eyes, the troll stooped forward and broke into a ground-shaking, three-limbed lope right in my direction, the evergreen dragged carelessly behind it. “Now me eat F—itz!” it growled.
“Challenge accepted, bitch!” I bellowed in return.
Twirling my sword, I took a confidant step forward.
Then I took another as a savage grin spread across my face. Before I knew it I was in a dead sprint. And, man, I was fast. Far faster than I’d ever been in my life. It wasn’t exactly a superhuman-tier boost, but it was noticeable, as if I were in peak physical condition. My legs pumped like tireless pistons as I ran to meet the charging troll.
I was going to fight him head-on, Mano a Trollo.
My grin widened and my pulse quickened.
The troll’s muscles bulged with thick veins as its grip tightened around the tree stump. Roaring, fetid spittle spewing from its maw, the troll whipped its arm forward to bring the nine-foot evergreen around in a sweeping arc. The decorative crystal star atop the tree rushed to meet my unprotected face.
The safe bet right about now would be to raise my shield and try to absorb the blow. But that’d mean I would start off fighting defensively against a far tougher and far stronger opponent.
No thanks.
Beside, I’m more of ‘Big Risks, Big Rewards’ kinda guy.
Playing it safe was never my style.
So screaming in wordless defiance, I chopped down at the tree without even breaking my stride. The ancient sword sheared through the evergreen’s prickly branches and Christmas lights to bite into the tree’s thick core—
—And then cleave it in half.
The crystal star shattered upon the hardwood floor.
Surprise flickered across the troll’s ugly green mug. And not encountering the resistance it’d expected, the momentum of the troll’s powerful swing overextended it, exposing its vulnerable flank. My sword sliced through the air again, whistling.
There was no fancy flourish or skillful technique to the attack. It was just brutal slash—simple, effective, vicious. The troll’s leathery hide and that hideous woolen sweater it wore parted under my blade’s sharp touch as I scored a long gash across its ribs.
Ha!
This swordplay stuff wasn’t so—
Its visage a twisted rictus of anger and pain, the troll adjusted its overshot swing surprisingly fast and redirected the momentum for a crushing overhead strike. The furious attack had an almost suffocating pressure behind it.
Fuck!
Too fast!
I barely managed to raise my shield overhead in time.
Clang!
The remained half of the tree exploded into a shower of wooden shards. My knee slammed into the ground with an aching crack under the troll’s overbearing strength, and my shield arm went numb. Now unarmed, the troll shot out a hand to snatch me up, its bloated tongue snaking out to lick its blood-encrusted lips as if preparing for the coming meal.
Desperate, I tumbled forward onto my shield and dodged beneath the grasping claws by mere inches. Underfoot of the troll, then, I shoved the iron tip of my sword at its exposed crotch, screaming with battle-inspired madness.
I was rewarded with a shrill shriek for my efforts.
The monster staggered backwards, its hands covering its ruined—
—Trollhood?
Even I winced a bit in sympathy.
Ignoring the worsening stiffness in my knee, I surged forward and aimed for the troll’s throat with a quick thrust. But even through the gut-wrenching agony I’d inflicted, it spotted me coming. The troll raised a defensive hand in time to intercept the fatal lunge.
The length of iron rammed straight through its wart-ridden palm to its very hilt. Swamp green blood oozed from the pierced hand, its odor somehow far worse than the troll’s unnatural musk.
Then the monster’s long fingers closed around the sword’s crossguard to lock it in place. Mere feet apart, the troll’s nauseating breath was uncomfortably hot against my flushed face. Its smoldering gaze met my own. “F—itz,” the troll growled, its nostrils flaring.
Uh-oh.
The troll plowed its other fist into my gut.
My sword was ripped from my grasp and I was flung high into the air, over the waist-high partition dividing the living room and the kitchen, and then sent smashing into a couple of wooden cabinets above the kitchen’s marble countertop, crumpling them.
Dazed and aching, I pitched forward and collapsed onto a tiled floor, the sound of expensive chinaware shattering around me as they fell from the cabinet my body had so thoroughly demolished. Knocked ajar, a flickering light poured out from the stainless steel door of the refrigerator nearby.
Wheezing, I pressed a hand to my sore ribs as I hauled myself upright, using the marble countertop behind me as a support. A coppery-sweet tang filled my mouth, and I spat out a glob of blood onto the floor. A sticky warmth trailed down my back and I noticed my left shoulder felt tight. I reached over to pry out a jagged fragment of chinaware that’d been embedded in my back, its length slick with my blood. It fell from my trembling fingers—a result of adrenaline, not fear.
In the main room I spotted the troll’s giant figure, waiting.
Waiting for me.
Vile green blood trailed down its hand and dripped from the tips of its gnarled claws. Even its legs were drenched with blood. Now aware of my attention, the monster raised its pierced hand, my sword still embedded deep within its flesh. Slowly, it drew out the sword then with a toothy grin. The weapon clattered onto the ground unceremoniously, the troll’s viscous blood coating it.
But the troll wasn’t done just yet.
It turned its bloodied hand for me to see. Then the wound began to heal, it’s once ragged flesh beginning to knit together before my very eyes. It was actually regenerating.
That’s—
Motherfucker, that’s cheating!
“Now F—itz die,” the cheating bastard rumbled with amusement. It fell on all fours, its hungry gaze locked onto me as its leg muscles began to tense. The monster’s nails bit into the hardwood as it launched itself into the air with a startling speed, its arms spread wide for a fatal embrace.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
I turned aside in a frantic attempt to dodge and brought up my shield. Seeing me almost slip away, the troll twisted midair like a cat and batted my shield away with one hand. Then the claws of its other hand raked across my defenseless chest.
An agonizing scream ripped out from my throat. The troll’s victory was short-lived, however, as it then smashed headfirst into the wrecked cabinets I’d demolished earlier.
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Blood seeped through my fingers as I pressed a palm to the three ragged lines carved into my tender flesh. Luckily, they didn’t seem too deep. But, fuck me, did they hurt. A lot. I stumbled away from the stunned troll as it shook its head, collecting what few wits it still had within that thick skull.
The troll began to slowly rise.
A weapon, I thought.
I needed a weapon, right-fucking-now.
My eyes darted around for anything nearby I could use. They practically lit up when I spotted the knife block on the countertop beside the kitchen sink.
I snatched up one of the many culinary knives slotted in the block, and then I flipped the knife, catching it by its reflective steel blade. It wasn’t designed for throwing—or killing trolls for that matter—but I work with what I get.
A half-crazed smile split my face.
Let’s see how you fare against something other than plaid socks!
I whipped my arm forward, sending the knife tumbling end-over-end through the air. The troll just managed to swing its head ponderously in my direction when the knife smacked into the center of its forehead, handle-first.
Fuck...
The knife clattered onto the floor, and the troll could only blink at it before raising its hateful gaze to find my sheepish expression.
Okay, I’ll admit it; I’m not the best knife thrower.
But thankfully, I had five more knives.
That meant five more chances.
It’d be a tactic of quantity over quality, as it were.
The second knife went spinning a heartbeat later. Its blade sunk three inches into the troll’s shoulder. Snarling, the troll ripped the knife out with a spray of blood, rivulets of green now trailing down its arm. I drew out my next projectile without a moment of hesitation.
But with the gleam of near-human cunning in its eyes, the troll grabbed ahold of the ajar refrigerator door beside it and tore it free with a strained growl.
It got itself a shield.
Well, shit.
My third knife was batted aside by the refrigerator door and left only a slight scratch on its otherwise flawless surface as the troll broke into a lumbering sprint. Then mid-stride, its upper body began to twist, as if it were readying to chuck a discus.
Or, a big-fucking-door in this case.
Its muscles swollen with incredible power, the troll heaved the door into a horizontal spin, the sheer force of it no doubt able to easily cleave me in half. My shield wasn’t going to be deflecting that anytime soon, so I dove flat onto my stomach.
Boom!
The apartment violently shook at the bone-jarring impact, and what contents on the refrigerator door’s racks were sent flying. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the door buried halfway into the wall behind me. Holy shit. A geyser of water erupted from the demolished sink faucet and sprayed the area with a fine mist.
Definitely dodged a b—
—I mean, a door there.
Rolling onto my back, I rocked back and did a quick kip up to get on my feet.
Tired and sore and bleeding, I turned to find the troll back in top form, its wounds almost entirely healed as it plodded closer. It stared at the blood oozing from my chest, and the troll’s nose twitched as scented the air. Its eyes rolled up into its skull and it seemed to shiver with pure delight.
It was savoring the moment.
The kill.
Something bumped into my foot. I glanced down and spotted a yellow lemon-shaped container of lemon juice. It must have fallen from one of the refrigerator door racks. Staring at it, an idea began to take shape as the troll’s eyes refocused.
I knelt down to pick up the container.
My thumb popped the green cap off just as the troll lunged for my throat. I knocked aside the gnarled claws with my shield, redirecting the brunt of the blow away from me as I slipped past its guard. The troll’s eyes widened, as if relishing the fact I’d willingly embraced my fate.
But, when life gives you lemons…
You squeeze them into a man-eating monster’s eyes!
I crushed the container dry, laughing. The troll reeled back and wailed in agony, one hand clutching at its face while the other blindly swatted the air before it. Ducking beneath its wild flailing, I darted past the troll and leapt clear over the kitchen-living room partition, my taunting laughter trailing behind me.
The troll blindly charged after me in a frenzy, its claws slashing through the air as if to cut down anything in its path. It burst through the partition as if it wasn’t even there. Its watery eyes an inflamed red, the troll heavy footsteps thundered behind me. “F—ITZ!”
I snatched up my sword in my mad dash and continued onward, my end-goal close. Then I reached the other side of the room. My chest heaving, I turned with a faint smile tugging at my lips.
The troll came barreling straight for me, half-blinded by rage and lemon juice.
“Come on,” I muttered with impatience.
Just a little more.
The troll stooped forward, its wide shoulders hunched as if preparing to tackle me. I twisted aside at the last moment and brought my sword around in a low arc. The blade bit into the lower calf muscle of the troll’s right leg, hamstringing it. Then the monster crashed through the glass slide-door to the balcony, and rammed into the guardrail, knocking it almost loose.
The guardrail groaned under the troll’s considerable weight.
Below it was a nasty fifteen-story drop to a concrete street.
All it needed was a little push.
Glass crunched beneath my shoes at my swift approach. The troll turned to see me, a mixture of outrage and sudden understanding written across its toad-like face. It knew this was the end. A primal roar erupted from my throat as I planted my foot onto its broad chest.
The troll reached out for me in one last defiant act. “F—”
I pushed with all the strength I had left. The guardrail gave way with a high-pitched squeal, and the troll tumbled into the wintry embrace of the night’s wind, its arms grasping for a ledge beyond even its long reach. The monster—Cole—vanished beyond the edge, gone.
It was done.
Finally.
Exhausted, my body slumped against the doorway. The icy wind was a soothing touch against my skin as I greedily drank in the cold air, my every labored breath coming out in plumes of white smoke. Then I noticed the bright glow in the night.
My gaze steadily rose.
In the distance—the heart of the city—an ocean of fire raged.
The towering flames brightened the night, as if it were the coming of a new dawn.
A new age.
Within the inferno, surveying its domain, a massive shadow shifted from its roost atop a skyscraper billowing with black smoke. The shadow fell from its perch. But before it was swallowed by the hungry flames below, a pair of leathery wings unfurled to halt its descent and let it glide above the fiery sea. A beat of its monstrous wings battered down the flames beneath it as it shot up into the sky, disappearing.
Across the entire city, lights flickered as if the power grid were struggling. Far off screams were carried on the howling wind, and emergency sirens blared nonstop. I thought I could even hear the howling of wolves in the distance. And seeing all this, only one word came to mind.
“Fuck.”