The Lost Runes Saga [Epic Fantasy]

THIRTY

The monsters kept screaming outside, the sounds making his skin prickle. They surrounded the house, yapping and wheezing. Vidar looked around for a weapon. It was a one-room house with a small kitchenette in one corner, a shelf with pots and pans next to it, a bed by the wall to the left, with a cot for a child positioned next to it. A small table stood in the middle of the room atop a multi-colored rug. It was empty, but from the state of things, it hadn't been for long. No dust gathered on the surfaces, and a half-eaten meal stood on the table. Perhaps the owners had fled to the village to get away from the risk of this very thing happening.

A thud on the door made it rattle. One of those things outside squealed. Another thud. The door would not hold for much longer.

"Leave me alone!" Vidar screamed through the door.

Barking laughter sounded, like his predicament amused the creatures. He put his weight against the door, trying to hold them back, but they were throwing themselves at it with great abandon, uncaring about their own well-being.

The sound of shattering glass made him whip around. One of the creatures was inside. Vidar looked around with confusion before finding a pair of glowering eyes circling the table to get to him. Blood ran down the sides of the monster's body from cuts sustained from the broken window. It threw itself at him, claws scratching against the wooden floor.

The barrier rune on Vidar's chest shimmered, and the monster slid onto the floor with a squeal. It didn't take long, however, for it to get back up and attack again. Its continued assault drained the barrier rune faster than the thief with the hammer had been able to.

Vidar reached out an arm to use the stakra rune again, but before he could, its maw closed around his arm from below, where no barrier rune protected him, and yanked him to the floor. He screamed in pain and tugged on his arm, trying to get it free while the creature's clawed feet raked at his coat. It wouldn't let go. Vidar punched at its face, but that only seemed to excite it. It bit down harder, making Vidar scream again. His knuckles burned when his hand touched the goop covering the thing, but that pain was far away compared to his arm being mauled.

Rather than throwing another punch, Vidar slapped his palm against its head and triggered the styrka rune. The beast froze as Vidar pulled essence from it, draining it in an instant. It withered before his eyes, and its jaws lost their vice-like strength, allowing him to pry it open, freeing himself.

Chest heaving and his arm screaming in pain, the palm of his hand burning from touching the creature, Vidar still marveled at the styrka rune. The essence now filling it was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Not bluish white like a human's, nor the rainbow-like color of a dragon's. Just a murky gray with tints of brown. Having that foul essence inside the rune burned into his body made him nauseous, and he had to fight back against the bile rising in his throat. He wanted it gone, but this was not the time.

The assault on the door continued uninterrupted, and the muscles of Vidar's arm were shredded to the point that he could not move his hand. Desperate, he closed his eyes, diving into his heartwell, forcing focus and drawing a substantial amount of dragon's essence through the strands of power and out into his body, funneling it to his arm. Opening his eyes, Vidar saw the wounds knitting together through the holes in his coat. A blackish goo bubbled out first. Poison.

Pain faded and Vidar's head cleared up, just as another creature threw himself through the now open window, and another through the second window, adding to the scattering of shattered glass on the floor. Vidar let the dragon's essence flow to his hand to rejuvenate the stakra rune. One monster leapt at him, and Vidar screamed, triggering the rune. A thrust of force tore the thing to pieces, splattering its innards against the far wall. Vidar's elbow slammed into the wood of the door from the recoil, and renewed pain made his head swim.

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The one still standing charged, forcing Vidar to roll to the side to escape. He gagged at its stench as he pulled a stakra rune from his satchel, rather than waste time rejuvenating the one in his hand. It charged and Vidar held up his free arm to put an algiz rune between himself and the attacker, as the monsters trying to break through the door yipped in excitement. The creature snarled as it went for Vidar. Like with the others, the barrier stopped it cold, but unlike those who came before it, the monster did freeze in confusion. Instead, it threw itself to the side, almost escaping the thrust from Vidar's stakra rune. Rather than turn it to mincemeat, the triggered rune clipped the beast, throwing it spinning into the wall, where it crashed into a shelf full of pots and pans.

Vidar got to his feet as the creature shook its head and began crawling his way, using only its forelegs, oblivious or indifferent to its grievous injuries. Its back legs were gone, and most of the hind part of its body went with them. Dark blood gushed out onto the floor as Vidar rejuvenated the runes, tapping more from the dwindling supply of dragon's essence in his heartwell.

Another monster crashed through the window, and then another. He couldn't stay. This was not the sanctuary Vidar hoped.

The banging continued. He stepped to the side, then threw the door open, allowing those outside to crash in. He slipped through the now-empty doorway and shut the door behind him. It only opened inward, so even if he couldn't lock it, hopefully, it would be enough to keep them occupied for a moment.

More of them waited outside, and Vidar made a split decision. He sprinted a few steps before whipping around to trigger the logiz rune, pointing it at the wooden structure and those around it. Flames roared forth, billowing outward to strike at the house, lighting up the dark night.

That, finally, deterred the monsters. Rather than attack, the ones not caught in the flames whimpered and held their ground after creating some distance between themselves and the fire. Three collapsed in the snow, the goop around their exposed flesh sizzling as they burned to death. None inside the building made it outside.

A brief burst of fire was all he dared, not wanting to use up all the essence in the rune. Logiz required a substantial amount of essence, and even this dragon's essence was running out. Rejuvenating the rune was no simple task, once it ran out, and Vidar didn't want to know what happened if he ran out of dragon's essence in his heartwell. Perhaps it wouldn't regenerate. That was unacceptable.

But looking into the eyes of the advancing beasts, the fire eating the building behind them, Vidar knew they would not let him go without a fight. He chanced a look back over his shoulder. The nearest village wasn't too far, but he'd never make the distance running across the fields. Not with those things hunting him.

He felt along the outside of his new satchel as he backed away, not taking his eyes off those who hunted him, counting the runes placed in its accessible compartments. Three stakra runes, zero sowilo, two kenaz, a single izas, three algiz, and no styrka or logiz runes. Not a great selection. If only he hadn't used up all the sowilo runes.

With his heartwell at less than a third of capacity, things were dire indeed. He counted eight sets of eyes. Fire raged around the building now. It wouldn't be long before it burned to the ground. The flames had leapt to an outhouse next to it, and from the look of things, they would continue to spread to all buildings.

One of them charged while the others barked in what could only be described as excitement. Vidar held up his hand, holding a wooden disc with the stakra rune painted on it. To his surprise, the beast hesitated. It stopped for a moment, sniffing the air. It almost looked like it would back off, but then a friend joined it. The two of them charged.

The force of the stakra rune struck the left one head-on. It obliterated its lower jaw and slammed it into the snow. Vidar's entire arm was thrown back by the thrust, pain surging through his shoulder. The monster died without making another sound, but the second one was unscathed, and it dove headfirst into him. One of his algiz runes flared but flickered. It wouldn't work for much longer. He gasped as he backed away again, now standing almost face to face with the creature while its friends spread out in a half-circle, moving to surround him.