Bound Evil

The scent of burning flesh was carried on the wind as Alex grabbed Emily by the cloak.

“We need to get down from here, now, or we’ll be sitting Millo birds.”

Emily got up and began scrambling down the side of the rockface, knocking loose pieces of stone free.

When she was at the bottom she searched the area, luckily she saw no hint of any elves.

Alex was next down, followed by Ashe. The woman was panting but with just the right amount of adrenaline in her veins she was up and moving.

The moment she'd collected herself, they were off.

“We need to back out of here. If that's what I think it is, then we need to distance ourselves!” Ashe said through gasps.

Alex’s head was turned in the direction of the sounds. They could hear the elves' war cries echoing up, followed shortly by their horror-stricken screams.

“If we retreat into the forest now we could be lost for days… Or, we can use this chance.”

Ashe gasped.

“You can’t be serious-” she started.

“What's the plan, Alex? I’m in the dark here!”

Alex looked back at both of them.

“We cross now. The Wyrm will be distracted by its feast, and the elves will be too busy defending their burrows.”

Ashe shook her head.

“Are you insane! The elves were bad enough but throwing a Wyrm into the mix will get us all killed.”

Alex turned back to the front.

“I hear you, Emily, thoughts?”

Emily realized she was the deciding factor in this, if they went now they could all die horribly, but if both groups were distracted then it just might work. They had spent the better part of the afternoon trying to get around these burrows with no success, if Alex thought this was the only time to cross, did she trust him?

“Fine, I’m in! Let's do this now before I realize how bad this idea is.”

A look of despair overtook Ashe’s features.

“I never should have come here, you’re both crazy.”

Alex pulled off near the side and caught Ashe, a look appearing on his face that Emily had never seen. It was almost tender.

“Listen to me Ashe, we will get across, but I need you with us. That panic you’re feeling is the Wyrm’s scent. Master it.”

Emily frowned, he was right, the scent was sending Emily’s gut into knots, she’d managed to ignore it but the jitters were just there below her skin. It probably had something to do with being exposed to another Wyrm recently, or maybe this was the same one. Either way camping so near to the scent must have helped her build a resistance to it.

Ashe’s frightened look became streaked with confusion and then reason.

“...Right, okay. I see now… do we really have to cross though?”

They were all low to the ground now and Alex pushed a mass of bushes aside revealing a different yet familiar clearing.

Emily couldn’t tell the difference between this one and the one they’d seen earlier, only now the sounds of battle filled the area.

If one could call this a battle, it was more a massacre than anything else.

As the massive creature loomed in the center of the space, the moonlight hugged its form.

The best way Emily could describe it was as a dragon's smaller, more savage cousin. Scales covered its entire mass, as it crouched on all fours. Its front legs were robust, sporting a large pair of wings that traveled down its body only to connect with its hind legs. Emily would have thought it looked derpy if it weren’t for the horrifying display of competence this predator displayed. It moved with a speed and grace that put most felines to shame but followed it up with a barbaric strength. It glided forward, tearing through the small creatures as easily as a wolf would through hens.

The elves screeched with fury and tried to retaliate with their crude clubs and claws, but each was no more than a bite for the wyrm. Some even got swallowed whole.

Emily would have thought the small creatures knew when to retreat, but she quickly saw that the wyrm did not care about their burrows and used its powerful legs to claw through the soil and extract the tasty morsels.

She even started feeling a little bad for the elves, as they fought the creature with everything they had, only for it to remain unfazed. It was like watching a wildlife documentary where a bear rips into a beehive and feasts on the tasty larvae, while the bees wage war against an indifferent bear.

Emily cursed under her breath and tore her eyes away from the morbid scene, searching for a way through the chaotic battlefield.

Near the outskirts of the battle, a path that looked free of both elves and the wyrm came into view, but it was still a huge risk.

“Alex, do you see it?”

“I see it, are you both ready?”

Ashe had begun to shake and Emily saw this, her own nervous tremors just below the surface. Locking eyes with Ashe, Emily nodded slowly.

“Don’t give up on us now, Ashe. All you have to do is use your magic if the need arises, I’ll do the rest.”

Emily couldn’t help the grin that spread over her face as the adrenaline churned in her chest.

Pulling Ashe up from their half-crouched position, Emily got ready to run.

Ashe was still shaking her head when Alex gave the signal. Emily dashed after Alex, pulling Ashe with her.

The sound of the foliage being brushed aside temporarily drowned out the screaming elves, but the moment they exploded from their hiding place, heavy sounds and smells assaulted them.

The night air was filled with brimstone and burning flesh, only the metallic scent of elf blood could compare to it.

Corpses of the small black-eyed creatures littered the ground in pieces, but Emily ignored them, pulling Ashe beside her. The woman had begun to run on her own but by this point, they'd been noticed.

Emily had hoped the wyrm would have distracted them more, but the elves spotted their three-man group and began rushing toward them.

The upside of this was that their numbers were half of what they would have been if the wyrm hadn’t stopped to have a snack.

Almost twenty germline-like creatures closed in on them from all directions, their bluish skin and haggard faces tinted with rage.

They couldn’t hurt the wyrm but the same could not be said for their party.

Five elves rushed towards them from the front and Alex dashed forward, his body suddenly burst forward at speeds Emily didn't know he was capable of. He separated the heads from two elven necks before they’d realized what was even happening. Proceeding to gutting a third and kicking the legs out from another, the last one received a flying dagger pulled from Alex’s belt.

The entire maneuver had flowed from one moment to the next, as though he had done this a thousand times.

Leaving the way ahead open to them. Emily dashed after his warpath and made sure to slash her drawn blade across the chest of the fallen one.

Ashe tugged at Emily as the elves closed in from both sides, more pouring from the nearby burrows.

It was about this time their luck turned on them.

The wyrm seemed to sense the gathering forces and turned in their direction.

Now, Emily had stared down all manner of intimidating creatures and foes in her life, but when the bus-size lizard turned its cold eyes in their direction, she couldn’t help the shiver that ran down her spine.

This fear was primal, a peak predator locking its gaze on prey.

Emily's gaze snapped to the wyrm's eyes and held it, meeting the challenge out of the corner of her eye.

A thunderous roar shook the treetops and it was the only warning they got as the wyrm charged in their direction.

Ashe screamed in horror and Alex grunted.

Emily tore her eyes away from the beast, bringing her lifeforce to her skin in preparation, putting on a burst of fresh speed.

Alex was cutting through the elves blocking their path, but more were piling on and even his enhanced speed was unable to keep up. Arriving beside him, Emily slashed her short blade outwards and gouged it across the eyes of an elf.

Behind her, she could hear the earth-shaking stomps getting ever closer. A feeling of true urgency hit Emily at this point and she could no longer afford to play with a handicap.

Reaching forward to the blinded elf she pulled it in and ripped into its throat with her canines.

The thing was dead and forgotten before the next one even arrived, Emily glanced back and saw Ashe's eyes locked on her, but there was no time to worry about that now.

Alex continued to forge a path through the swarm, while Emily backed him up as best she could. Managing the drain another three before the sounds behind them became impossible to ignore.

A peek behind them saw the wyrm hot on their tail, ripping through the elves as though they weren’t there.

Ashe was shaking fiercely now and her grip on Emily’s cloak had loosened.

She looked like she wanted to let go but the fear of what was behind them wouldn’t let her. If the thing got to them Emily didn’t think her small reserves of power would be able to fend off the creature.

“Alex we need to make a push!”

Alex glanced back just once and then nodded, he began altering their direction to the nearest set of trees, at the same time his speed seemed to double again as sweet began to pour down his skin. This put them directly in the path of a thick collection of burrows but at this point, they needed the shortest possible route.

Emily slashed at an elf attempting to take out her legs from underneath her. At the last second, she saw it change the direction of its club to hit Ashe. Emily held out her palm releasing a blood bolt and crushing its skull.

Ashe’s eyes grew wider still as the attack happened right in front of her. The woman didn’t say anything but there was no time to because Emily saw the wyrm had finally arrived, and looking over Ashe's shoulder she saw it winding up. Wrapping an arm around Ashe, Emily pulled her backward under the swipe from the creature.

The uneven ground caused Emily's foot to catch against one of the burrow’s entrances and they both went crashing to the ground.

The wyrm loomed over them and Ashe screamed as it reared back, ready to strike.

Emily had at most four blood bolts left in her and that was assuming they could even pierce this creature's thick hide, she was on her feet in seconds flat but before she could do anything the earth trembled.

Ashe’s scream was labored as she lifted her arms above herself. The soil and rock below them shuddered before launching up into the air. A jagged stone jutting out of the ground and rising to smash the creature in the neck.

The wyrm screamed and recoiled from the sudden attack. At the same time, the large stone remained fixed in the earth, as though walling them off from the creature. Ashe’s eyes pulsed a forest green but then rapidly began to fade, returning to their natural green. Her head lulled as she struggled to remain sitting, but Emily was already scooping the woman off the ground.

“Nice job, I’ll take care of the rest.”

Ashe wasn’t heavy but she was by no means light. So Emily was left tugging her onto her back and making a break for it. This turned out to be the correct decision because moments later the wyrm put its full weight against the wall causing it to crumble. The stone collapsed moments later leaving one very pissed lizard crawling over the rubble. Worse still, it didn't look even remotely hurt.

Alex had cleared a path through the elves and was standing at the treeline, watching the two of them.

He was about to dive back in when Emily shook her head at him causing him to stop where he was.

Emily was almost to the treeline when she stopped and lowered herself to the ground, near a collapsed burrow.

Elf corpses, and more importantly elf blood surrounded her as she turned to face the charging predator. Lowering herself to her haunches she sent all her remaining lifeforce into the surrounding blue blood. Causing it to writhe towards her and wrap around her frame, taking the shape of a delicate navy gown.

There wasn’t wasn't enough to do any real damage to this titan but she had another idea. Blood peeled away from Emily's form and slithered forward, crashing into Wyrm and wrapping around its eyes and snout. The beast halted its charge and shook itself desperately, Emily groaned as she stood up while trying to hold the blood there. She sprinted towards the treeline where Alex waited, killing any elves that dared to approach. Emily’s power gave out just as she got to him, leaving her feeling hollowed out.

The roar that came from the beast was filled with frustration, but by then the three of them had slipped back into the safety of the trees.

Emily was not a fan of retreating, but in this case, it was necessary, and when she was strong enough she’d get her revenge.