Chapter 6

Te'Lana stared in horror as the demon with black horns and white hair tore through the guards with unmitigated savagery. The air was filled with the sounds of screaming and battle. It was almost feral the way it moved and attacked, but the eyes... the eyes were what unnerved her the most. Vibrant yellow with a vertical pupil they pierced into her whenever they were cast in her direction, as if seeing more than what was on the surface.

It had come from beyond the sands screaming as it fell upon them. Never before had she seen Chaos of this type, but everyone knew of the Demons that aided them. The guards formed a line, but it shattered one of their shields and released a ring of fire that broke their defensive formation. The guards were no match for it and soon they would all be dead.

She had always longed for freedom. For as long as she could remember, there had been a collar around her neck. The same had been true for her mother. Fate was a cruel mistress. Just like her mother, the only freedom she would ever attain was of death. Perhaps now she would finally see her again. Life had been difficult without her. Oh how much she missed her. Tears streamed down her face, her legs still too weak to carry her weight. She huddled down linked together with her father and brother, exhausted from the cleansing ritual and too tired to run for their lives, they waited. Waited for when this beast would sink its teeth into them.

Another shockwave as large as the first rang out. More splintering wood flew as another shield exploded. The guard disarmed of his protection, held his arm close. It was clearly broken the way drooped down unnaturally. Spear at the ready, he retaliated. The blade sliced through the air towards the demon's chest. Noticeably quicker than the guard, it spun its torso, grabbing the weapon in its left hand and punched with the right, hitting the guard square in the face. Blood streamed from his nose as he fell backwards onto the sand. The guard struggled to retake his feet, but before he could, the demon stepped down on his chest, spun the spear in his grasp, and plunged it down. It ripped through his leather protection like it wasn't even there. He sputtered. A hand on the haft, his head went limp, rolling to the side. His lifeless eyes staring directly at Te'Lana. She shivered, desperately wishing to run. To get away from the madness that had overtaken her.

One of the guards armed with a bow, was standing off to the side. Her eyes were wide and fixated on the violence in front of her. Too frightened to do anything, she stood rigid. The only movement came from her heavy breathing. The other bowman seeing her in shock cried out.

"Henna! You must warn the others! Run!"

As if she had been waiting for permission, she spins around, and bolts away in the direction of the camp losing her bow in the process.

Oblivious to the fleeing guard, the demon and the remaining guards were locked in combat. The guards pressured from either side with the remaining bowman taking shots when they could. The demon dancing between the strikes, as if sensing where an attack would come from, it would dodge expertly, only moving enough to evade each strike. In between strikes the guards would be forced back, not wanting to be caught by the flames or lightning that arced out. Even though they had been reduced to half their number, the guards still fought with the same fervor and pressed the attack on their cornered foe.

In a flurry of movement, the demon shot forward, away from the spearmen and towards the guard with a bow. A quick strike to the throat left him gasping for breath before falling to his knees. Trying and failing to take any breaths, his eyes bulged and he fell face first into the sand.

Roaring a battle cry the final guards rallied to their fallen companion. Shields up and ready to intercept any attacks, they charged towards the demon who turned to meet their advance. They pressed on into a stream of fire that licked wildly at them from over their shields. Sweat rolled down their cheeks from under their metal caps, and then the fire stopped. They heard a sound from the left that drew their attention. One realized too late what the sound was and before he could ready his shield to defend, a spear bored through him sticking in the sand behind pining him upright. He coughed a mouthful of blood, collapsing sideways.

The final guard blanched. Seeing the last of his companions fall to this terrible monster, had exhausted the finite amount of courage held within. All reason abandoned, he threw down his shield and rushed the demon with his spear held high. With impossible speed, the demon rushed the man, nocking his spear aside with his left forearm. It grabbed the man's head with its hands while he screamed and shook while lightning erupting from his body, the flesh of his face charring. Only when the screams stopped did it release him. The final guard fell to the sand and Te'Lana knew that her time was soon coming to an end. Hugging her brother and father closer, she only wished it would be a quick death.

***

Like coming out of a haze, Erik blinked slowly trying to get his bearings while he swayed back and forth. His entire body ached from overuse, muscles feeling like they had been torn in half. He remembered everything about the fight, but it was like he hadn't been in control of his actions. Something else had taken over. Looking around with a grimace, he noticed the bodies of four spearmen and one archer.

Put-off by how easy it had been to kill these guards, he wasn't sure how to feel. He would have to get a handle on whatever it was that made him go berserk. Not being in full control was more than unsettling. He didn't like it.

'Where did the last one go?' He wondered, never having seen them run.

He scanned the area but found no one except for the people he came here to save.

The chained Stormborn were still near one of the obelisks, huddled together and crying.

'That's to be expected, I'm sure this has all been quite a terrifying experience to them.' Erik thought, seeing them in distress.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He started walking towards them before stopping, conflicted on how he was feeling.

'Wait, why am I not more upset by the fact I just killed five people.'

Had he been changed beyond just the physical? As though both mind and body had been changed, more adapted towards violence. Either that or living with Dragons and isolated from humans for the last two years had affected him more than he realized. Whatever the cause, it was too late to make a different choice here. Perhaps in the future he would do things differently.

Approaching, he gave them a warm smile, excited to finally meet people like himself. They flinched back, moving closer together while others wailed louder. The children all had tears and snot running down their terrified faces.

'Wait, they aren't just upset. They were scared. Scared of... Me?' Erik thought, confused why they would act this way seeing as he was only here to rescue them.

Grabbing the lead chain, he tried to coax them upright. He needed to get back to Helios. His bond would be able to translate for him, he hoped to clear up this misunderstanding. The men, with a grim look of those had resigned themselves to their fate, rose and helped the others up through their tears. He nodded at them and gave another heartfelt smile, before turning back to the plains, gently tugging at the chains to let them know they should follow. Quiet sobbing could be heard from behind, but Erik ignored it. This whole thing would be cleared up in no time. On their way down the the dunes, he grabbed the spears that no longer had anyone to claim them. Distributing them amongst the first who had stood to help the others, Erik nodded to them before placing a spear into their hands. He got nothing in return but looks of incredulity.

Guiding them towards where he felt his bond, he couldn't help but notice just how far he had ran in his rage. Having no perception of time or a way to gauge, it felt like they walked for thirty minutes before reaching the first patches of grass. Indicating just how fast he was. However Erik had developed a slight limp and those behind still showed signs of exhaustion, which only exacerbated the issue.

Nestled down in the gully between some low hills they found Helios asleep without a care in the world taking deep restful breaths, the grass tickling his snout every time he inhaled. Lazily his bond without opening his eyes called out.

"Erik, you shouldn't have run off without me. Also, what took you so long, I've been here forever."

"I'm sorry Helios, I don't know what came over me." Erik replied. "But, look how many Stormborn I've found!" Waving his arm over at everyone causing some to flinch back.

"Huh?" He begrudgingly opened an eye taking in the people standing around. Some had looks of intrigue however, most were just as fearful if not more than before.

"What are we supposed to do with all of them Erik? I can't even fly properly with you on my back." His bond questioned.

"I'm not sure to be honest." He responded. "But I need you to explain that we aren't here to hurt them, only to take them somewhere where they'll be safe."

With a huff, Helios lifted his head and began recounting where they came from and who they were.

Erik couldn't understand the ensuing conversation, but by the way that everyone kept sneaking curious glances over at him, he could see they were skeptical of the story his companion was giving them.

Ashamed that he hadn't thought of this before, he let his actions speak for him. Erik used earth magic to separate the pins holding all the collars together. The metal clattered to the ground, muffled clinks of the chains banging together reverberated. After the last shackle and link of chains hit the ground, there was complete silence. Stunned and eyes wide, they collectively grasped at their necks to where both the symbol and physical manifestation of their indentured nature was previously. New tears sprang into being. Different this time, no longer were they tears shed out of fear but of hope. Hope for a better life, maybe even a future.

They all jumped for joy, hugging one another. All except one. She stared intently at Erik and walked toward him. The girl fell to her knees in front of Erik, tugging at what remained of his pants a pleading look in her eyes before jabbering something that he couldn't understand.

He turned his head towards his bond, looking for clarification.

"She is asking for you to go back to their camp, to save the rest."

Helios translated.

"There are more of them?!" Erik reeled. He didn't think there was enough space at home for the ones here already. He and his companion had come out to maybe find one or two but this... this was too many. There was no way they could get everyone back to the plateau before nightfall.

He now knew where the other archer had gone. She had either fled to the other camp or gone to get reinforcements. Either way, this was bad news. Of course he wanted to save everyone he could, but first he would need some information.

"Helios." Erik looked back at the Dragon. "See is she knows how many guards are left at the camp and what their defenses are."

A quick conversation told him that their camp was a stone quarry close enough to the obelisks so they could complete their cleansing rituals. Every other day they would be marched out to the stones and drained of their vitality. A small wooden wall had been erected around the sleeping quarters to keep the Stormborn inside as well as act as a barrier to the evening Chaos attacks. Inside a dozen guardsmen had been assigned to keep the area under control.

'With the five I've killed here today, that left seven back at the camp.' He mused. There would have no element of surprise. However a plan was forming and now all they had to do now was wait for night.

***

The suns dove down passed the horizon, lighting the sky afire with magnificent oranges, reds, and yellows. Erik, Helios and the four he had given spears to waited just inside the tree line that was the beginning of human territory. The change was instant. Chaos erupted from the surrounding grasslands. Crawling out from the ground like ants they swarmed forward towards the obelisks. They attacked each other while they made their way into the desert unable to discern friend and foe so that by they time they reached the obelisks and beyond less than half remained.

A tremendous roar echoed throughout the area. Carving its way up the dunes was a Chaos creature larger than any he'd ever seen before. Grotesque and bulging it no longer resembled anything recognizable. Thick clawed arms dug into the sand forcefully moving the mountain of flesh forward.

Erik watched in morbid fascination as the creature between the stones began to crack. Large seams opened up causing the monster to cry out in pain like it was being burned from the inside. Its exterior began to crack and flake off, large chunks following and soon it had completely dissolved. The dune between the monolithic stones seemingly unchanged.