She whirled with her polearm toward the aberrant’s last known location and heard something skitter away from her swing. Her weapon slammed into a nearby stalagmite, the rock, and likely her axe head, chipping from the force of the blow. Blinking away the pain, she saw the Ur land from its dodge. Rather than leap back in, it paced around her cautiously, its sulphur-yellow eyes boring into hers. They analysed one another, Shaya using the opportunity to draw in more Amber.
Her confidence and hope shaken, the Amber resisted her pull and she felt it sieving through her, refusing to remain within. Frustration flaring, she took another deep breath, acknowledged her fears, and let them go. At the same time, she drew in more Amber, clinging to its tenuous energy. The Ur’s eyes lit up with…amusement? Shaya could only read its expression as a malicious, infernal sneer that no animal—corrupted or not—could possibly conceive of and wondered if the pain was making her delirious.
With another deep breath, she focused on her aether to trace another—
The Ur lunged, forcing her to dodge as its jaws tried to snap one of her legs. Barely maintaining a grasp on her spell, she split her attention between forming her spell formula and defending herself as the Ur continued its assault. She shuffled away from a swipe of its huge claws, then danced back from another sweep of its tail. It lunged at her before she even landed, but she anticipated that and had her halberd braced. It slithered around her spear tip, but her axe grazed its hide, peeling bristles off and causing steaming blood to ooze before hardening like cooling lava.
I can’t beat this thing alone.
She spared a glimpse at her companions. The last three Cinwolves were almost dead, but they were fighting to the bitter end. Despite their wounds and the fire coating them, they were drawing the battle out rather than throwing their lives away in a suicide attack. Shaya sensed Amber magic flaring from Krebo as he conjured half a dozen blades of light to help put them down—cast and controlled without gestures. Her friends would finish them off soon—all she had to do was keep the Ur at bay for a little longer.
Shaya maneuvered back toward the gryphons, keeping herself between them and the Ur. She gave ground, fighting defensively and forming her aether into a spell in those brief moments of respite. The space of the cavern allowed her to use her long legs and polearm to keep the Ur at maximum reach, the strength of her swings giving the beast pause. It lunged at her again and she moved back, but rather than pursue her, it spat another bolt of flame at her.
Shit! The gryphon!
She froze, knowing that dodging the bolt would mean its death.
Her mind raced, and her muscles finally moved.
Her halberd swung up, slashing into the projectile with its metal head and interposing its entire haft in the way of it.
The unholy fire turned the metal into slag and, insatiable, consumed the ash wood of her haft as well before its remains burst onto her arms and chest. Her magic armour shattered from the heat and the bronze plates of her brigandine sizzled as the fire melted them. She smelled her padded under-armour smoke as the hungry substance continued to eat away at her. Her lungs and skin screamed, the heat crawling over her unbearable. She dropped what was left of her halberd as she stumbled backward, drawing her longsword.
Through the pain, she clung to what mattered most—her spell.
“Phaedra Amon!” she invoked.
The Ur slammed into her, its maw going for her throat. She just managed to interpose the sword crosswise, the beast’s jaws clamping down on the blade as the flames around its mouth licked the air around her. Overwhelmed by pain, her legs gave out and she fell backwards. She pressed both hands to her sword to keep the gnashing teeth at bay, wincing as boiling spittle splattered onto her face. Her esper manifested above her, looking down on her and waiting for her to finish the invocation.
“Soothe my pain…” she grated, sawing her blade into the beast’s mouth. That drew more of the burning blood, which frothed and splattered onto her, searing her flesh. The metal of her sword burned her hand and the blade started to bend as the heat drove it toward its melting point. The aberrant’s claws raked her body, and she gasped as they ripped through her damaged brigandine and into her flesh. Her arms weakened, the teeth drawing closer to her face, the monster’s breath smelling of death and brimstone.
The Ur’s eyes glittered with malicious, sadistic glee.
Stolen novel; please report.
“…and that of my allies!” She finished the invocation and her spell formula.
Phaedra Amon’s spiritual wings folded around Shaya as a protective shield, then burst outward with a wave of golden energy. Warmth surged through Shaya’s body, cleansing the pain screaming through her.
With renewed vigour and ignorant of her injuries, Shaya shoved the sword deeper into the Ur’s mouth, pushing it further off her and off-balance. She tucked her legs underneath her, then kicked with all her strength, sending the giant wolf flying off her with her sword still in its mouth. It spun unnaturally in the air, landing on its feet with the scraping of rock as its claws scrabbled for a hold.
It looked at her, unimpressed, then spat out the melting sword for emphasis.
Shaya rose onto her knees, pulling out her dagger and pointing it at the Ur.
It barked out a laugh, then locked its amused eyes on her, a sneer slitting open its maw once again.
The gryphon’s talons slammed it to the ground, hooking and dragging it closer. The Ur yelped in shock and pain, turning to face the gryphon. Their eyes locked, and there was no amusement in the Ur’s this time. Only terror.
The gryphon’s eyes held only rage.
The talons dug deeper into the monster’s hide as it was dragged closer, the Ur’s scrabbling paws failing to pull itself away. Burning blood spilled from the Ur, hissing against the gryphon’s talons, but Shaya’s spell prevented it from caring about mere pain. The burns would worsen and destroy nerves, but not for a few more seconds.
And before that time came, the gryphon rolled the struggling Cinwolf onto its back, screeched in triumph, and plunged its razor-sharp beak into the exposed belly of the beast, tearing it apart.
“Shaya!” Krebo called as her companions rushed to her. Behind them, the remaining Cinwolves were dead.
The day was won.
Almost.
The injured warrior climbed to her feet, sheathed her dagger, and gave a wan smile at her friends. “Took you long enough.”
Most of her friends blanched as she turned her bloody, quilled face to them, except Lorral, who stifled a laugh.
Rude.
“What were you thinking?!” Krebo shouted, his brow gnarled into a furious glare, face red with anger.
“Had to save them.” Shaya shrugged, pulling a small potion vial from a belt pouch. She sighed when she noticed it was shattered, the liquid gone. She pulled out another, this one only cracked and leaking. She popped the cork off with her thumb and downed the liquid, hoping she wouldn’t taste it.
Her hopes were dashed and her face scrunched up as she gagged on the potion. The vile concoction punched her in the mouth with the flavour of black liquorice over various herbs that tasted both soggy and burnt.
My brother’s a sadist, she thought, as she choked back the swamp-like sludge. Warmth spread through her blood, radiating out from her stomach. It moved slower than even Lorral’s basic healing spell, but she felt the alchemical magic activate and knew her body would start to knit itself back together.
“And we’re not done yet,” she said, turning back to her companions. “Secure the area, I need to heal the gryphons.”
“No, someone needs to heal you,” Krebo argued, slinging his mace into a belt loop and putting an arm on Shaya’s shoulder to restrain her. “Just because you can’t feel the pain, doesn’t mean moving around isn’t making your injuries worse. You need to drop the spell so you understand how badly injured you are right now.”
“And let the gryphons suffer more?” Shaya glared back at him. “No, I don’t think so. My brother has questionable tastes, but I’m sure his potion will stitch up the worst of my injuries and I’ll survive. They might not.” She nodded her head towards the gryphons. “Now secure the area, you’re not keeping me safe by standing there. Jax—can you help?”
Krebo let go of her, but his eyes promised her this discussion wasn’t over.
The older scout shrugged. “I’m probably worse than you, to be honest. My esper has no affinity for it, unfortunately.”
“Can I help?” Lorral asked.
Shaya thought it over quickly. Lorral was a First Circle mage herself, but even newer to it than Shaya was.
“No, thank you, Lorral. I think I can stabilize their wounds quickly enough, if it’s even possible. You two can join the others to sweep the area.”
Shaya shambled towards the gryphon, breathing in more Amber as she went. She channelled more aether into her spell to sustain it and felt its formula taking up space in her spirit. It continued to pulse warm energy out to those around her, easing her pain and theirs, but she wasn’t sure if she had capacity for even the basic healing spell she knew.
The charnel house smell intensified as Shaya moved towards her first patient. The gryphon remained utterly still, having not moved in the battle since their arrival. She placed a hand on its neck like she’d been instructed to, hoping that gryphons had arteries around the same place as humans. There was no pulse, and still no movement, so she moved on.
The gore-covered gryphon watched her approach, its eyes half lidded. It still lay on its side, its breathing shallow, but made no move to stop her. Its fur and feathers, once fluffed, now relaxed where they weren’t matted with blood. Shaya couldn’t tell how much of it belonged to the gryphon, but the fact the wild gryphon made no attempt to move away did not bode well. Not that it could walk, given how savaged its hind leg looked after the Ur-Cinwolf’s mauling.
“Alright, big guy.” She infused her voice with as much calm as she could muster. “I’m going to try to heal the worst of your wounds and then see to your kid.”