Chapter
To his credit, Mikel didn’t panic. Aside from the initial fear which had seized him, he felt nothing but cool resolve. He was the son of a proud warrior household - he might not be trained as well as he should be, but that wasn't his fault. He could be a lot of things - but none of those mattered. He was here, now, facing down the bane of his family's house. He could have panicked, any sane person might have.
Instead, MIkel joined his hands into a single fist and with all his might slammed it down into the crook of the thing's elbow.
Normally, with standard humans or other human-sized creatures, an attack like this would have either 1. Blown out the human’s arm. Tendons and bones in the elbow are very delicate and can’t take too much abuse and a strike like Mikel had delivered would be enough to snap those tendons like wet noodles. 2. The trauma from the strike, lacking the power to break tendons or bone, would still be enough to cause the attacker to drop Mikel as the muscles seized and protested the pain.
He didn’t know there was a third option, but that hidden third caught him completely by surprise when the creature lifted him further into the air and hucked him across the room as if it might throw a ball.
There was no time to consider before he struck the wall that led up to the staircase with a tremendous BANG.
Stars flew in his eyes and his lungs emptied in a great whoosh, leaving him, when he finally sunk to the floor, unable to breathe and barely able to see.
His mind launched into full alert as terror ripped through his body as his consciousness waned.
That didn’t stop the thing that had thrown him from stalking forward.
The quirk of lighting crackled again and in the slow-motion experience only people near death knew, Mikel was able to see the creature in all of its decrepit horror.
As he’d seen briefly the monster was tall, thin, and emaciated. It had long, skinny arms, legs to match and every rib on its chest was visible. He didn’t fail to notice there were roughly twice as many ribs as there would be in a man’s chest.
Its head was a horror - and as his eyes lit onto it Mikel tried, but failed again, to suck in a breath. This was the face that had attacked him in his sleep - this was the Time Demon his father had fought.
Although Mikel had never seen a demon, let alone the now legendary Time Demon that had claimed Crest of Evening, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt this was it. Or rather, what his mind had made of it.
Mikel had spent his entire life hearing of the exploits of his father and his retainers - raids, wars, and cunning deceptions staged at the highest levels of power and danger the world had ever known. He’d heard about how his father, almost single-handedly, had infiltrated an Indistar fortress and had taken it without killing a single person. He’d read many of the log books kept about Erik Raithson’s adventures and while some of them were extra normal - he knew them all to be true.
Scattered through the later stories were constant allusions to the great bane of House Raithson: The Time Demon.
Various descriptions had it standing over thirty feet tall, while others described its form as ever-shifting with a wide range of weapons at its disposal - a scythe, a staff, or a massive sword. The only people who’d seen the thing were long dead by the time Mikel read the logs, or those living didn’t speak of it beyond giving the absolute minimum description. Helsket had famously given a two-word response when the party returned to Raithson Manor after the final battle with The Time Demon.
“Killed it.”
That was all he’d said to the house chroniclers - while the rest hadn’t given much more. Calcifer, normally a font of detail-accurate recitations, had described the fight best and even his usual encyclopedic style was succinct - only talking briefly of the loss of Crest of Evening and the unfortunate turn of events which had led to the sword’s destruction.
Stolen novel; please report.
Erik Raithson had said nothing, and upon his return locked himself in the family archives for a week. He only saw Mikel’s mother once, when she brought food and water for him three days after his interment.
Sylix vanished for several months and only returned when Erik sent for her.
Now - those few, vague first-hand descriptions and various speculative narratives collided as the Time Demon he knew staggered towards him.
As Mikel’s breath began to return and he was able to think again, he sent a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god was listening - at least the thing didn’t have a weapon.
Mikel scrambled to his feet, Callisto Jewel flapping against his body, and he grabbed at a pile of fireplace tools and came away with a flat shovel about three feet long with a spindly, finely crafted handle.
Mikel swore but was forced to move instead of trying for another tool as the Time Demon bore down on him with grim determination.
With deceptive speed, the Time Demon slashed at him with long, ragged nails as sharp as a sword’s.
He only missed being decapitated by a scant inch and a lucky dodge.
Mikel came up to the Time Demon’s right while brandishing the fireplace shovel like his sword.
“Helsket! I need help!” He called up the flight of stairs as the Time Demon lurched towards him like a crippled old man with titanic strength.
“Telgil! If this is part of your “Training” Then I’ve had enough! Just know -” He couldn’t finish as the Time Demon lurched towards him once again with staggering speed.
The shovel came up and banged like a gong as the Time Demon knocked it aside, moving into Mikel’s guard in an all too familiar maneuver.
Helsket’s charge.
Just as Helsket had done the previous day by stepping through Mikel’s guard, the Time Demon slipped close to Mikel and slammed its clawed hand into his stomach.
Mikel reeled and flew back across the table, blasting a few unused place settings across the room.
A scattering of stars shot across Mikel’s vision as a single thought blasted through his mind before his brain became scrambled from lack of oxygen.
Not again.
He hit the wall as he’d done minutes before, his sword-shovel clattering away. He winced as the Callisto Jewel slammed into his left eye, causing him to jerk his head back in pain.
He’d managed to close his eyes before being struck, but the pain of being slammed like that still skittered through his head.
With a force of will he didn’t think he was capable of, Mikel forced his stomach to quit convulsing and to take in a single breath. The Time Demon’s strike had nearly knocked him out cold - but he held on by a thread and fought his way back up from the inky blackness that promised death.
As the oxygen hit his bloodstream and his mind cleared Mikel slapped The Callisto Jewel aside as it slipped back towards his face.
The next instant he was standing upright and watching the Time Demon slink around the table towards him. He glanced at his shovel but discarded the thought of recovering it as the Time Demon slammed a pallid, stiff foot down on top of it, bending it beyond use.
He had a choice - he could run… Or he could fight.
Helsket’s words echoed in his mind about good, great, and old warriors.
A good warrior knows when he’s beat. A great warrior knows when to retreat. An old warrior knows when to stay clear of trouble unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Mikel didn’t yet know which one of the three he was - but he wasn’t about to back down from the creature that had stolen something so dear to his family.
He winced as a familiar pain crept up his arm and it was only then Mikel looked down and noticed he held The Callisto Jewel clenched in his hand. He bared his teeth as he tried to open his hand, but was unable to. The crippling cold coursing through his left hand locked his fingers in place and his stomach dropped as the dark legend of The Callisto Jewel reared its ugly head. Owners of The Jewel rarely lasted long - they tended to die horribly as The Jewel passed to a new blood-soaked palm.
“No,” Mikel whispered, his breath still short, “I’m not going to go like that.”
The Time Demon lurched towards him and Mikel raced to meet it, left hand cocked back in a vicious haymaker. It was all he could do - and he hoped it would be enough.
With a tremendous yell, Mikel launched himself forward and brought his left fist wrapped around The Callisto Jewel down onto the middle of the Time Demon’s forehead. His fist connected. The Time Demon screamed as all time froze and Mikel’s very being came to a ripping halt.
A shattering light ripped out, and Mikel jerked awake in his chair at the dinner table where he’d fallen asleep earlier - The goblet from earlier and the test cube, were still in place as if he’d never knocked them away.
He looked around, eyes wide, heart hammering, and left fist rock hard as his fingers slowly began to uncurl from The Jewel.
He only had a moment to glance at his hand and grimace in pain before a woman’s voice came from behind him causing him to jump up and spin around.
“Found you,” The voice said, coming from the shadows where only moments before The Time Demon had emerged.