Part 24 (2/2)
A long-fingered hand clalass dug in, punctured his shaven teht felt blood start, and his skull ached Yet so An elf had tied a bead to his horsetail thong, he recalled Did that protect hi, he shot the poht at the ed and skidded off Sysquemalyn chuckled and twisted the claws fastened to his head Pain shot through Sunbright's skull and down his neck He had to get free, even if he ripped his own flesh, but the monster's other hand snatched at his throat When he rab it, fearsoroaned as bones ground together, but the ain he sensed protection The four-leaf clover tucked in his sleeve? Could these piddling charainst such evil?
But it was idiotic, Sunbright thought, to fight barehanded when he possessed a ht hand to flip Harvester and chop at Sysquemalyn's head, but the sword only wobbled in the trapped hand To drop it was to die, but he couldn't engage Nor think, for pain exploded in his head like northern lights Finally, he siht tore skin froot free of the ht was trapped As the monster swiped to claw hiht hand, and dropped the sword
A ht Harvester's po on Then he poised, aimed, and stabbed for the creature's arainst skin turned stone, then bit like a ht shoved harder, saw the point chip another pebble away Sysqueuttered, ”First hand, then arm I'll break both, but not tear the with effort, resisting a howl froht bunched his ar He saw his blade twist in stony flesh, bite, and sink almost to the barb
A caw like a crow's startled hio of his aching right arled his crushed wrist, found it serviceable, and flipped Harvester to his fighting hand ” 'Twas enchanted by elves and dwarves working together” he said, panting He shook his head, for the blood trickling into his ears tickled” for the first time in history
Just for you!”
”Wor out of sword's reach, she flicked both hands while hissing like a dragon
A tingling possessed Sunbright An itch like severe sunburn crawled over his skin At his inner elbow, tanned skin curdled like birch bark in a fire, split and broke and bled and itched abominably
He felt it elsewhere, under his chin, behind his knees, in his groin, between his toes A skin curdling spell? Was this her worst threat? Or did more elven charms, feathers and lace and owl bones, stop the worst effects? Nor did Sunbright ponder long He didn't trust his right hand to keep the sword, so used two hands to hoist Harvester high, and charged across the winter grass
The , crooked arm to block the blow When the truesteel struck with an awful shattering noise, Sysque as a ht the sword on the backswing, and hauled it through the arc and around to strike again Another fearful clang, and a chip like obsidian spun froain, and each time the monster fell back But the hero was too winded to deliver another blow They were alth and only whittle off chips like sawdust Sobbing for air, the warrior tried to think what to do
And thought of nothing He had no battle plan, no strategy, and little hope Deep down, he'd never expected to survive this long, let alone win The monster was too powerful, and he was, after all, only ahis mind, Sysqueargled
”I know every spell of every creature in the nine hells, for I conquered them all! Taste this!”
From one hooked pal of sulfur The spray spattered Sunbright frorass, which shriveled and curled black Soht felt afire himself, for the acid burned on his cuts and bruises His eyes sed on the stink, he s Yet native strength and elven char Harvester sidelong for a rib shot, the fiend's hand soared in an arc Sunbright saunt ribs, then felt heat all around His boots squished in sorass
The prairie cracked in a hundred places to ooze foul black tar that bubbled and boiled Within seconds, Sunbright was ankle-deep in gunk He sniffed burning moosehide Unable to see clearly for sweat and blood and heat waves, he ignored the threat Soht With a different attack, if possible
Waving Harvester high, he spun his hands in rip, slammed the blade down
Enchanted steel crashed on Sysquee The barbarian heaved the blade sideways and yanked The barbed tip of Harvester snagged her scrawny spine behind the bald head The barb had also been welded with truesteel, for it bit, and hung on
Sysqueered, thrown off-balance, and alht jerked his feet free of boiling tar, danced sideways, and yanked again By hanging on and levering, he could steer the fiend where he willed Noanted her down in her own foul mess ”Down, damn you!”
he screa claws into seeping wounds on Sunbright's arms, clenched, and held
The hero felt his warm blood spurt The foes were locked Then Sysquereat as any boulder's, to drag hiht crashed on one knee, felt a sear of hot tar, senerous elves still worked, for otherwise his flesh would have split and caught fire, crue of his new stance, Sunbright levered an elbow against his knee and pulled until hised with hirew deeper around theht was spattered with the stuff, as was she
The sword pained her, bit the nape of her neck like a vae the hook She'd have to kill theup a tarry hand, theface
Chain lightning erupted froht The barbarian flinched, ducked his head Lightning that could shatter a tree only sparkled on his skin, s and buckles on his clothing with curious fire Ignoring the tingles, he levered harder on his sword
Keening outrage, Sysqueative force that should have bored through the huht shook off the blow like a , Sysquemalyn unleashed an icicle stor the shaman's cheeks and drew blood The tornado ripped hair from his horsetail Phantom steel shredded his shi+rt and blistered his skin
Yet, gri onto the sword and pressed harder, and slowly crushed Sysquemalyn into the tar until she propped on one hand and attacked with the other She gargled in his face, ”What protects you?”
Straining, grunting, grinding, Sunbright had no breath to spare, but answered anyway: ”Love!”
Her snort puffed his hair Twisting against his stinging blade, she dug into his thigh with a clawed hand, inched to his belt, then his torn shi+rt, and finally snagged his chin She would gouge out his eyes, render hiht hissed, ”It's nothing you know! You live for hate and revenge and death I live for love! I've the strength of a thousand folk who stand behind ood woman, the respect of uidance of my mother, the friendshi+p of people from forest and led hiss answered At the end of her arm, the monster inched a hand across his cheek, flicked a claw-and hooked his eye socket Sunbright shuddered with pain, fright, and pure agony as the flint dagger bit his eyeball
Dimly, he heard the ht tried to jerk his head back, but his neck was strained to the limit His hands jumped and shuddered as he pried at Harvester He was slowly rising as Sysqueround in his face like a stone spider The jagged digit pressed harder on his eye
He'd only save his sight by letting go
But he didn't let go He groaned, ”I'd give ive an eye to stop you!”
With a roar like the ocean crashi+ng on his head, he felt the claw puncture his eyeball He rasped in pain but shoved harder doard Blood spilled down his cheek and down the monster's arm like a river
Sysquemalyn's stone chin touched tar For the first tiht held her trapped by the fearsome hook, then stepped on her back to drown her in the hellish tar she'd sule free, nor could spells free her Only the volcano spell, to turn prairie into inferno, would loose the hero, but she'd die too From her own death, she drew back
And so lost For she knew Sunbright was right She had hate and revenge and the powers of hell to drive her He had more: the love of a woman and community, a love that made a person sacrifice all
She couldn't defeat hiht, she never used ic to restore her beauty Or even considered it