Aldburg Chronicles: Knighthood In Another World

Jes'ran disappeared in a cloud of dust. The men whipped their heads in all directions desperately searching for him to no avail.

"On the lef-"

A soldier tried to call out but before he could, his head hit the floor. Jes'ran stood over the man, his foot on his chest. His fangs glistened with saliva as he stared at the armed men, Davin knew he was no match for him, he had never seen anything like this, this thing was no man at all. He had spent his whole childhood hearing about how terrible magic was, but in his experience it was rare and largely unimpressive. The occasional charm that would make you more charismatic, a ring that makes you a better swordsman, these were the types of magic he had encountered. But this? This was something insidious, nightmarish and utterly deranged. 

Eric, for the first time, understood Alren's entire perspective. Magic, sorcerers, 'heretics' were terrifying. He couldn't justify leaving this thing alive, he understood why the inquisitors existed.

"What is this? What do I do, what the fuck?"

Of all the soldiers with their weapons raised, the first to make a move was Eric. He raised his axe above his head and hurled it at the beast. Eric had never thrown an axe before, it spun through the air and, in a miracle, perhaps because Jes'ran was so focused on the men armed with real weapons, it landed. Flush on the side of his head. To Eric's dismay however, it was with the back, blunt end of the axe head.

Still, the unexpected strike with an axe rocked the creature off balance with a snarl. Davin dashed forward and threw an overhead strike down at the side of his neck, it gouged into Jes'ran, blood spurting out of the wound. He clutched his neck and jumped back so fast he could barely be seen.

"You little brat." His breath was grating and heavy, "I'm going to rip you people to shreds."

He clicked his fingers and a burst of red light shot out of his neck, when it cleared, his wound was healed. Jes'ran laughed and stretched out his neck.

"Okay. That's better… You all know you can't beat me. I still have three sacrifices left. Do you want to see what happens when I kill them all?"

He was right, the men struggled to imagine how powerful he could grow if this was just three sacrifices. They were outmatched. Sven shot his eyes to the limp bandits on the ground. In a mad dash he ran towards them, yelling out for cover. Jes'ran understood his plan and sprinted towards him, only to be met with the swing of a billhook directly at his head. He narrowly avoided decapitation with a back step, in front of him was another fully-armored soldier. Jes'ran swung his sword at the man with impossible speed, in an act of divine grace the soldier managed to parry it with the wooden haft of his weapon, a deep gouge split out of it. Davin gave chase and thrust at the demon, hard. Parried again, his hands grew numb under the tremendous force of Jes'ran's movements.

Sven had reached the first unconscious bandit, swinging his sword down on his neck. A blinding flash of red like exploded from the wound, leaving nothing more than ash on the floor. Jes'ran twisted his face in rage and swung his blade down straight on the helmet of the man in front of him. It split directly through the helmet and the soldier's skull with a vicious crack and splat sound. His sword was too well wedged in his enemy to retrieve, he spun around empty handed and swiped at Davin with his claws, leaving deep scratches in his armor and sending him flying yet again.

Eric reached the end of his patience, fear be damned he charged into battle empty handed. Jes'ran launched himself through the air towards Sven, who reached another bandit on the ground. Eric ran as fast as he could, scooping the mace of a fallen soldier up into his hands. As Jes'ran landed he swiped at Sven's neck, who parried just in time, his sword flying out of his hands. Eric reached just before the second, fatal swipe could be thrown. He used all the force in his body to swing the mace at the back of the monster's skull. With an unbelievably loud crunch, his mace slammed into the back of his skull with full force, dropping the beast to the ground with a thud. Eric looked at his body in shock. The soldiers, who had just caught up after watching the scene unfold, stood dumbfounded. Sven himself carried a look of shock and confusion as this beast who had killed four of them in mere moments sat dead on the floor, killed by an untrained man.

Just as Eric began to smile, he felt unbearable pressure on his right ankle. He looked down, it was Jes'ran's hand which had him in its grasp. The creature stood up, blood dripping from his back, swinging his arm as he did. Eric was sent flying through the air and slamming straight through the wooden slats of the chapel window, his head whacking against a pew as he landed, he fell totally unconscious in front of Clark and Yvett.

Sven stood wide-eyed in horror as the creature, now missing part of its skull, stood over him. Its breath was heavy and strained. It took a slow, deliberate step towards Sven. Its arm shot up in an arc, Sven tried to block but the claws ripped through his arm, sending it into the sky and gouging into his chest. Jes'ran grinned, still dizzy from the mace strike. His eyes went wide, he looked down, Davin's sword had rammed through his chest in his moment of gloating. He shrieked and kicked backwards as hard as he could, desperately trying to get the captain off him. Davin was relentless and drove his sword further, pushing with all the force of his legs, causing the beast to fall down on the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath him.

He choked and spluttered as blood filled his mouth and nose, his vision began to tunnel and as he looked up for, presumably, the last time, he saw it. He had landed right next to the bandit that Sven had failed to kill. His escape. Using the last of his energy he raised his hand and slammed it down on the bandit's head.

In an ominous red glow that completely hid his form, Jes'ran began to change. The sword was pushed out of his body and his wounds healed.

"I really didn't think you would bring me this far. I've never had to use this, even I don't know what's going to happen now."

The soldiers watched in terror as the glowing red ball drifted up into the air, it ungulated and pulsated with malice. They could hear all manner of noises, grunting and snarling, cracking and twisting, until finally, it stopped. The orb lowered to the ground and began to fade. 

The soldiers stood horrified. Nobody said a word. There were no words left to say. The freakish man who they had faced was gone, in his place, a true demon. A waking nightmare.

The thing was no longer human.