Toby Neighbors - Fierce Loyalty

Just when Zollin was starting to hope that perhaps he had succeeded, flaming wings appeared. A creature that Zollin could only describe as a demon was rising from the crevice and flying toward the tower. The demon was a small, horribly disfigured creature, with tiny legs that were twisted at odd angles. Its arms were long and bone thin, the chest seemed to arch inward, and the neck was angled toward one oversized shoulder. The demon’s head was tall and egg shaped, with no hair. Its eyes were uneven, and one was larger than the other. The foul creature’s mouth drooped open, revealing only a few blackened teeth. Its ears were large and pointed, and the nose was like a pig’s snout. Light from the flaming wings illuminated the horrific creature and it took Zollin a moment to stop staring and prepare to face the new threat.

Zollin raised his defenses but the demon used Zollin’s own tactics against him. A shudder ran through the tower, then it began to lean. Zollin knew he could levitate down to safety, but he was so tired he knew that levitating would take all his strength and leave him defenseless.

Zollin stepped up onto the jagged edge of the tower’s broken wall as the building swayed beneath his feet. He worried briefly about the warlocks below him, but he knew he couldn’t help them now. He jumped out into open space, away from the demon and away from the direction the tower was leaning. Time seemed to slow as Zollin fell. The tower was like one of the many tall pines he had harvested with his father. That moment just before the tree fell seemed to stretch out longer than normal. Then the tower was crumbling down and Zollin was falling. He used his magic to slow his descent, ignoring the burning sensation in his gut as he used his magic.

He fell hard onto the cobblestones below. His ankle twisted on impact and pain shot up his leg, but he didn’t have time see to the injury. The demon was flying over him, directing a hoard of the centaur-like beasts to attack. They surrounded Zollin on three sides as the dust from the collapsed tower billowed over them. The creatures began to growl, and Zollin scrambled to his feet, placing his weight on his one good leg as much as possible.

When the dust cleared, the first of the creatures charged. The realization that the demon was controlling the centaur-like beasts flashed through Zollin’s mind. He’d never seen them show any intelligence. They were like a hive of insects, swarming over everything in their path with no independent thoughts or actions. Now they were working together in a well-coordinated attack.

Zollin threw up an invisible shield that the first creature crashed into headfirst, the beast’s face crumpling in anger as blood gushed from its nose. Zollin smiled. He was outnumbered and his chances of survival were slim, but he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Come and get me!” he snarled.

Two more beasts attacked, one from each side. Zollin extended both arms and let his magical energy burst forth. The creatures shook violently and then crashed to the ground in a smoking heap, but Zollin had no time to enjoy his handiwork. Four more creatures were rushing forward. Zollin erected another magical shield mentally, but he was unprepared for the force of the monsters’ charge. They hit the barrier and were knocked backward, but so was Zollin. He landed painfully in a pile of rubble just as the rest of the beasts attacked. The first creature to arrive slammed its stinger down hard, intending to stab Zollin in the chest, but the young wizard rolled away from the attack. A second beast jumped like a lion, pouncing down on Zollin. The creature’s talon like fingers sank deep into Zollin’s hip.

Zollin’s scream echoed through the abandoned city, and only one creature heard it that cared. Ferno was flying as fast as the big green dragon’s wings would carry it. It had circled wide once it saw the tower of the Torr fall. Now it was flying in from behind the demon.

Zollin saw no more need to hold back his power. Electrical energy flashed out in all directions. The group of beasts sent to attack him were caught in the initial field and burned so badly by the magical power that there was nothing left but unidentifiable, smoking carcasses. But the beasts weren’t the only things affected. The debris on the streets and the rubble of the torn down buildings were blown away. Huge timber beams were incinerated instantly, while large stone blocks were cast high into the air.

Zollin felt hollow inside. His magic thrummed, but instead of breaking through his containment field or straining his physical body, the magic seemed satisfied. It was almost like a powerful beast that had been let off its leash for the first time, and now it purred happily within Zollin. The demon above the young wizard looked angry as it beckoned more of the centaur creatures toward Zollin.

Just then, Ferno struck. The big green dragon smashed into the demon’s back with such force that Zollin heard bones snap. The demon was sent flying over Zollin’s head and the young wizard levitated himself into the air. The effort was difficult, since the pain in his hip had become a searing, burning sensation that has hard to ignore and made it especially difficult to concentrate. Ferno had flown past Zollin too, the dragon partially stunned by the impact, but managing to stay in the air. The green dragon circled wide to turn back to where Zollin was, noticing that the demon lay in a heap of rubble and was not moving.

Zollin had come to rest on a pile of stone. His body suddenly felt more tired than he could ever remember. Blood flowed down his leg and he took a moment as the creatures moved toward him to stop the bleeding. The muscle and tendons were severed, making his leg useless, but with the bleeding stopped he knew he could heal the rest later. He couldn’t put any weight on the leg though, and with his mobility gone, he knew he would have to rely on his magic to go anywhere.

The creatures were fast approaching, their arms reaching out for him and their stingers raised and ready to strike. Ferno flew down and landed behind Zollin, sending a mental image of the two of them fighting together. It brought a smile to Zollin’s grimy face. Ferno climbed up the rock heap, the green dragon’s body low to the ground, its teeth bared in a growl of fury.

The centaur creatures attacked en masse, charging toward Zollin. Ferno blew a fiery pillar right into the face of their charge. The fire didn’t stop their forward momentum, but a dozens of the creatures were roasted alive. Zollin levitated the hurdling carcasses over his head and sent them crashing down on the far side of the pile of rubble where he and Ferno fought. The beasts that still lived parted around the fiery attack, flying past Zollin and reforming behind them both.

“Get in the air,” Zollin said.

Ferno obeyed instantly, jumping up and flapping the great leathery wings. Zollin hopped around, turning toward the crowd of monsters that were wheeling in mid-air to renew their attack. But the demon appeared above them, one furry arm hanging at an obscene angle. A patch of the gray skin on its dome-shaped head was gone, revealing the bloody skull underneath. The larger of its two eyes was swollen almost shut and blood ran down from the pointy ear on the right side of it’s head, dripping onto the large, hairy shoulder where it trickled down the long, bony arm.

The demon rose up on flaming wings and then dove toward Zollin. The centaur creatures hesitated, blank looks in their glowing green eyes. Zollin raised an invisible magical shield, but the demon either saw the invisible barrier or had been expecting it. The grotesque creature slammed into the shield with its good shoulder, knocking Zollin backward. Zollin rolled down the pile of stones he had been perched on, the pain in his injured hip making him scream in agony. Still, he managed to keep the shield up, like a bubble of protection around his body that kept the sharp stones and protruding timber from ripping him to shreds.