NOVEL WEB Chapter 8
Having put Antonio’s fears at ease about a supernatural monster stealing people and animals, Dmitri decided that they could probably use stronger magic and clear larger amounts at once. Standing up, he outlined the idea to Antonio, who nodded and drew as much power as he could. He channelled this into a great water glyph that he traced into the air. Dmitri did likewise but channelled his magic into a fire glyph. He fed both sources of magic around the cavern and let the magic do its work. There was an immense burst of heat, followed by great billows of steam, the smell was awful. After the steam had cleared, Dmitri could see that the entire area was free of bodies. They had done it! Antonio wandered over to the river to inspect the water clarity; it was still murky. “Dmitri,” he called out. “The water still isn’t normal, there must be something else.”
The water was indeed cleaner than it had been for sure, but it was still affected by something up river. There must be another flood point up that way, Dmitri thought. What if I seal off the entrance the river uses, he mused. So Dmitri drew the fire glyph as before, but asked Antonio to add some air and extra water to contain it and to help propel it up river. Dmitri also added earth so it would seal any instability in the mountain the other magic might cause; it would be no use purifying their water source only to bring the mountain down upon them.
Releasing the magic, Dmitri sat down and watched as it sped upriver, and Antonio stared upriver intently. Soon enough, he felt a small tremor and the river coloured as dirt and debris from upriver was washed downstream. After a short time, Antonio signalled that the water was clear. Now they had completed their task, the water was as clean and pristine as it could ever be. Dmitri stood up and started to lead Antonio back the way they had come; his magical lantern once again bobbing ahead of him. Another tremor shook the cave; Dmitri turned around curious. The tremor continued and turned into a rumble, dust and debris filled the air causing Dmitri and Antonio to cough and choke. Dmitri led Antonio back to the water, knowing that they would be safer there. He drew the glyph for earth, sending tendrils of magic down into the ground to investigate the problem. Suddenly, his magic was broken by some invisible force, the backlash sending him reeling. As he stumbled, the blackened ground where the bodies had lay erupted! Something clambered out. It was a something because Dmitri could not immediately discern any recognisable features. It was taller than a man and stood on reverse articulated legs like a goat. Its arms ended in wicked claws, and its head, worse than any of the nightmares Dmitri had the night before and that would continue to haunt his dreams for the rest of his life, its head was that of a ram, great curling horns outlined its large eyes, the mouth wore a twisted expression. Its body was a mass of twisted muscle, clearly visible, like hot wax poured over the very muscle itself, covering this was patchy fur that was blackened and charred, as if burned. It was the demon! The villagers had been right, it was real! This was no bear, far from it. The demon's eyes locked on to Dmitri, its mouth opened and he could hear its breathing, a horrible sound, like air being sucked through mud, then it spoke; next to the sound of its voice, its breathing was musical; "Free," it croaked, and then it let loose with a laugh.
Dmitri was frozen in terror but Antonio more so. When the demon spoke, they both broke free and began to cast magic, Antonio yelled and tracing the glyphs for air and water, let loose a barrage of needles of air and ice. They shot at the demon tearing into its flesh. The demon began swiping at the air as if at gnats, then its eyes locked onto the source of its discomfit. Antonio, now the focus of the demons ire yelled again and intensified the elemental barrage. The demon charged through the rain of ice and with a savage swipe of its clawed hand, Antonio was cut down. The demon bent down and sniffed at Antonio’s limp body, but stood upright once more, towering over Dmitri as he released the magic he had been building up with a yell. The ground erupted once more and another creature clambered out. It was made of pure fire, the one thing that the demon had feared. The fire elemental strode forward and tackled the demon, who roared in pain as the flaming grip seared its already burned flesh. Meanwhile, Dmitri let loose with a barrage of fireballs, knowing that they couldn’t damage the elemental if they hit. The demon began to retreat, but then it stopped and held its ground, it drew into itself as if summoning the last of its energy, and then let it out with a roar. A blast of corruption exploded around the demon knocking Dmitri over and causing him to vomit. The demon grabbed the elementals arms that held its own in a firm grip and with a great heave tore them free of their sockets. Following this up with a great swipe across the chest and the elemental dissolved. Dmitri scrambled to his feet and in one swift gesture, drew the glyph for fire and thrust it at the demon. The ball of fire left his hands and lanced towards the creature, it impacted against the demons chest and washed over it. The demon let out an ear-splitting roar of triumph and charged at Dmitri, arms outstretched. Dmitri, seeing the face of hell coming towards him, turned tail and fled. He ran through the tunnels, guided by the meagre light of his lantern which was struggling to stay lit as Dmitri's mind ran rampant, not concentrating on the magic, and instead seeing Antonio’s face as he was cut down in front of him. The demon, seeing Dmitri run, laughed its foul laugh and rasped "Run little human, the taste only gets better as the fear takes hold," and started after him at a steady pace.