Cye was quickly losing his grasp on reality, he was no longer able to capture those thoughts that half formed and then blew away.
"Bastard," he managed derisively with just enough menace to offend.
The demon snapped its head back in surprise, rage flickering in its ochre eyes.
Feije's grasp tightened painfully around Cye, cutting off all his thoughts with fresh pain. His hand constricted steadily until there were two consecutive snaps before relaxing slightly.
No one in the room needed any further evidence that the demon had broken Cye's ribs.
To Feije this was just condign punishment for his remark, barely suitable, as he didn't take insults well. But he had to keep the boy alive, for now at least, or else there wouldn't be any sport in killing off his friends since they may not fight back if one of their own were killed. He wanted a battle, even if it were a mere squabble for there was no longer any challenge in the Nether Realm.
For Cye, this was the most pain he'd ever been in without passing out, though he would now welcome the darkness with open arms. Even if it brought with it nightmares they had to be better than this. As many times as the darkness had claimed him on the battlefield, it refused to take him now. He was forced to endure this until relief came, however long it may take.
The Ronins were reluctant to attack using their sure kills, Cye was just too close and he was already in bad enough shape without them contributing to the problem. They could very well kill him if they weren't careful.
White Blaze roared a challenge to the demon, he had his orders from the Ancient and this creature's games played no part in them.
Feije responded by lashing a long, wispy tail at them, attempting to fell all four Ronins and their white tiger in one try but failed as White Blaze gave an artful dodge, an action mimicked by all the others except Hardrock. He was thrown limply into a wall and had just enough of a mind left to catch himself on his hands and knees when he met the ground.
The Ronins rushed to his aide as something else caught White Blaze's eye. A glimmer, a flash of light reflected off a jeweled surface. All he had to do was move slightly and the object would twinkle again. The tiger knew at once what this was.
While Wildfire and Halo distracted the beast, parrying all his attacks while Strata helped Hardrock to his feet, White Blaze uncovered the golden necklace from a forgotten corner of the chamber, the crystallized flame dangling from it still unscathed.
He gained Feije's attention with a low, commanding growl. The demon turned and had barely a glance before the crystal flame ignited, bathing it in a pure light, one that it could not stand.
The creature struggled helplessly, flailing its arms, wings, and tail, finally releasing Cye from its grip as well. Torrent slipped to the ground, slackly unconscious, though in too close of proximity to the floundering beast for the others to reach him.
Feije's arms thrashed bonelessly and connected heavily with White Blaze's side causing him to lose the necklace and sent him skidding across the stone floor; the crystal flame dimming immediately once out of the tiger's possession.
Wildfire took advantage of the demon's momentary lapse in concentration and vaulted into the air, bringing both his katanas down on Feije's arm, severing it completely.
The creature wailed pitifully as its arm sailed into the wall.
It thudded to the ground, hissing as it decomposed and emitting smoke and a noxious smell much like that of gasoline. Within minutes it had been reduced to a puddle of black, steaming, foul-smelling ichor.
The whole room erupted into chaos at that point.
Feije was struggling and thrashing worse than ever now, thrown off balance by the abrupt loss of his arm. None of the panicked Ronins could get in close enough to pull Cye from Harm's way and White Blaze was having his own troubles limping over to Ryo's side.
The demon's head was scraping the top of the cave, bringing stalactites and pieces of the ceiling raining down on all the occupants of the cavern. Dust from all the fallen debris clouded the room.
Rowen spotted the crystal flame, hidden among the ambient rubble, glowing slightly. He made a dive for it as the demon's tail sailed mere inches over his head and took a moment to reflect on his luck before crawling the last few feet towards the necklace he had not made before.
The jewel felt warm to his touch despite the cold of the cavern and pulsed with a strange, ethereal light. After witnessing Feije's last reaction to this crystal Rowen had come up with a plan. Risky at best, downright fatal at worst, this was his last resort.
The creature turned towards him, it's mouth wide open in an unearthly squeal of pain, foam flittering from its maw.
With all the skill and aim from years of working with his bow and arrow, Rowen launched the crystal flame toward the beast's open jaws and for one breathless moment it hung in the air before it hit it's mark and sailed into Feije's mouth.
The demon gave another earth-shattering wail as the crystal flame's white light streamed from its mouth. It tripped and fell over in its death throes and lay wallowing in pain on the cavern floor. It gave a few more half-hearted kicks before finally collapsing into Death's embrace.
The creature's body decomposed in the same way it's severed arm had, giving off smoke and dissolving into the sticky, tar-like liquid.
It took the Ronins a few moments to come to the realization of what they had just done and almost simultaneously banished their armors while waiting impatiently for the dust to settle.
Rowen retrieved the crystal necklace from where he had spied it almost consumed by the remaining black fluid.
Kento pulled Cye from where he lay half in the ichor and checked for a pulse. It was present though faint and weak and not liable to hold out for long.
Hardrock exchanged a concerned look with Ryo.
* * * * *
Now that that's done with I have a party to go to.
Disclaimer: I really don't think I need to say it.