The dogman sprung forward: pushing off the air with one of his feet as he closed the distance between us with one bounding step. I barely had enough time to fall to the side to avoid the downward swing of its fauchard. The wind howled in as a cone of dust erupted from the point of its impact as the metallic blade split the stone it hit. I reached into the bag grabbed hold of one of the bottles of kerosene by the neck, and whipped it out of the bag. The large dogman extended its arm, and a gust of wind blew out from him and knocked the bottle out of the air. It smashed against the floor.

With a swift thrust, its hand: as large as my head, grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off the ground with little difficulty. I kicked and flailed as the massive hand tightened around my throat. The massive dog creature grinned as my face turned hot. My vision blurred, as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the wavy dagger, and slammed it into the creature’s wrist. It howled in pain and dropped me. I fell onto the stone and gasped for air, as the dogman snarled and howled, and landed a kick into my chest: flinging me backward into the wall of the house. The force of the kick cracked the woven wood underneath the mud plaster. He followed that through with a front kick into my chest that sent me straight through the wall. I rolled to a stop in the middle of the house.

Repel absorbed most of the impact, but my body knew as well as my mind, that I couldn’t beat it. Not now, at least. I scrambled to my feet as the fauchard punched through the wall after me: leading a gale that knocked a hole through the house that had it teetering. How would I win against something this powerful? I couldn’t even hold a weapon in my right arm. Should I run?

I glanced around frantically. Beyond this wall at my back, there was nothing but the fogwall, and the large dogman blocked off all other ways of egress. Should I use ensnare to slow it down, and use that time to run? No...I couldn’t run fast enough, nor far enough. I would get winded after a few seconds, and he would quickly cover any distance I made. No. I had to fight. The only way I could right now: was with the magic that I had available. For now, I needed to keep him at a distance. He was busy pushing through the wreckage of the house to make his way toward me, so I needed to act. Now.

I pulled the wand out of my pocket and pointed it in the direction of the large dogman.

“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee to seize my enemies.”

A hand reached up from the ground and quickly wrapped around the creature’s leg.

“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee, to bombard my enemies.”

A rock tore out from the cobblestone ground and flew toward it. Not even hesitating, the dogman caught the rock with one hand and pulled his ankle free with a rough grunt, he pulled free from the hand: it’s fingers snapped at the force of his strength. Ah. It slowed him a little, and it took some effort for him to do it. That means...

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“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee to seize my enemies.”

Another hand reached up and grabbed the same ankle. As it was pulling I cast it again. A third stone hand reached up and grabbed its other leg. It twisted its body

“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee to seize my enemies.”

A fourth reached up and grabbed hold of a different spot on its leg.

“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee to seize my enemies.”

Half of its massive legs were covered in hands now. It swung down with its fauchard and broke through a few.

“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee to seize my enemies.”

What could I do? Think, Lawrence. Think. What do I have? My hand brushed against the bag, and a plan quickly formulated.

“Gnomes, servants of Gob the Magnanimous, I beseech thee to seize my enemies.”

I pulled open one of the kerosene bottles and dumped its contents into my bag before tossing it in front of the imposing creature. It landed at its feet, and it quickly glanced at it before picking it up and giving it a few sniffs before the realization of what it was hit him. Too late. I had already gone through the incantation, and a curling bolt of red flame was already zipping through the air.

The fire bolt struck the kerosene-soaked bag and lit it up. It whipped it back to try to throw it toward me before anything else could happen, but on its backswing, the other bottles inside ignited in a violent explosion. I covered my face as a shard of burning glass sailed through the air. I looked back toward the creature.

It was stunned, yet still standing. Half of its face was missing, and the arm that had held the bag had been blown off to the wrist. It grimaced as it glared its hatred at me. It planted its feet firmly on the ground, and with a grunt, pulled until all of the stone hands made from ensnare had broken from around his right leg. The left was easier. It stumbled forward toward me: its heavy footsteps shaking the house. It took another step before collapsing forward.

I let go of the breath I hadn’t been aware I had been holding onto. Still, the creature glared up at me as it bled out on the floor. Dust flushed out as it took a shuddering breath. What an amazingly resilient creature. If I were in its situation, I wouldn’t have been able to move forward like that. I would have collapsed to the ground and screamed as I died. This thing, however, didn’t even make a sound other than a soft whimper and grunt.

It trembled and whined like a wounded animal close to death while I moved to leave. Did it not want to be alone for its final moments? I moved back to the spot I had been and sank to the floor. It nodded as if to thank me, and took another shuddering breath. It was in pain. Wouldn’t it be more merciful to end its misery? I looked at him and chopped my neck with my palm. It glanced up at me and grunted before nodding. It pressed its forehead to the ground and tossed its weapon forward in between us.

I pushed myself off the ground and bent down to pick up its weapon with a grunt. It was heavy. Far heavier than I had ever carried. I positioned myself next to the creature, lifted the fauchard above my head, and swung downward as the dogman let out one last whine.

22/23.