Thomas rushed down the trail, Cameron practically crashing through the brush ahead of him. Though he could not see them, Thomas could hear the others directly behind him, a collection of panting and feet on mud. The screaming continued ahead of them.
They had heard a low, muffled explosion as they were readying some water to boil for the endless supply of ramen, echoed by shrill screaming. Cameron, with a cry of his little brother's name, had dropped the pot of water and dashed down the trail. Without a word, the others had leapt to their feet and ran after them, though Thomas could have sworn he saw Sam reach into his pack and pull out something long and shining. He ignored it, however, and pursued Cameron, blundering ahead into who knows what.
Probably nothing, he thought irritably, just those two messing around!
Though, by the sound of the harsh cries and cursing that became louder with every step, they were not.
All nine companions suddenly found themselves at the foot of a steep hill, stretching upward at an awkwardly perfect angle. The shouting had stopped, and Cameron stood panting at the mouth of the trail, as though unsure if the two were up there or not. A strange, inhuman roar suddenly pierced through them, striking to the heart and making them shiver. Without hesitation, Cameron practically leapt up the trail, kicking up mud. With large breaths, the others hurried after him.
Lungs aflame, they finally reached the top, gasping for air. But when they looked up, the air caught in their throats.
Toby lie, pressed to the ground, underneath the form of a hulking beast that drooled acid. Two hands protruded from the earth and were holding him down, pulling him into the ground. Blood seeped through their fingers as Toby tried in vain to squirm from their hold. The one that stood over Toby was so hideous that Laura felt she was going to be ill, its form rippling and shifting so that each member wanted to look away. Yet they could not take their eyes from the horrifying sight, even as the thing's jaws opened, teeth gleaming, ready to take Toby's head.
At the sight of Toby, so small and childlike, trapped and helpless underneath the beast, Goldie thrust aside the cold mist that had begun to block her vision. She quickly scooped up a stone as large as her hand from the ground and cast it at the demon. Her aim was true and struck it in its flat head as it bit down. It shrieked and staggered, shaking its head as new blood squirted into its eyes, and whirled to face its attackers. Its simple mind had already forgotten Toby.
"Guys!" Toby choked, tears of relief flooding down his face. He began kicking his bloody legs frantically and shouted; "Help me!"
The small freshman's shrill voice snapped the others out of their trance. The demon snarled and advanced upon them, snapping its jaws in warning. A crack echoed in their ears as Cameron broke a branch off a tree for a crude weapon.
"What…is that thing?" Gary whispered, unconsciously moving in front of his sister.
"Who cares," Frank shot back, hefting up a large rock, "It wants to kill us, and it's damn ugly!" He threw the rock and struck home, causing the demon to shriek and hunker down low, its jaw partially broken and parting.
"Watch out it spits this fiery stuff!" Toby cried out.
Hearing Toby's warning and seeing a strange glowing mist form over the demon's teeth, Cameron rushed forward and bashed the tree branch down on its head. It jerked once from the blow, feigning injury, and when Cameron raised it for another blow, barely noticing the melted wood, the demon shot its head up and spat.
White-hot flame struck him in the chest, shooting pain throughout his body and throwing him back several feet. He landed on his back in the mud at the feet of his comrades. His shirt had been burned through, exposing his bloody chest.
"Ow…"
"Cameron!"
With the demon occupied, Goldie dashed over to where Toby was writhing about on the ground, trying without success to free himself. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled, but the pale hands would not release him. Instead they seemed to pull harder.
"Outta the way!" Frank roared, lunging for the demon arms.
"No don't--!" Toby shouted.
Frank drew back with a cry of pain and frustration, gripping his burned hand.
"The pewter necklace!" the younger boy gasped as a fresh rush of blood spewed out over the skeletal demon fingers. "It hurts them!"
"Where…?" Goldie turned, frantically searching for Rheas, but she could not see him in the confusion. A blue light suddenly caught her eye. The necklace lay in the bloody dirt on the other side of the battle that had erupted.
Grey blood splattered onto the ground as Cameron's fist collided with the lunging demon's head. Gary pushed his sister aside as the remaining members of the party fought the only way they knew how: they rushed the thing.
They didn't know how to fight. While they all had had their own experience with scuffling around with people in one way or another…this was completely different! Both demon and men howled in pain as they beat upon it, kicking and tearing, and then falling back as their flesh bubbled. Tina ran to Cameron's side as he struggled to a sitting position.
"Are you all right?" she gasped, though she could see the answer as clearly as anyone as it dribbled down his chest in red.
"Yes," he huffed, reaching out an arm, "help me up!"
River rolled out of the scuffle, his arm torn from the demon's acidic teeth when he had grabbed it as it had dove after Goldie, running to the pewter claw necklace. Enraged, Thomas had the rock Frank had hurled in his hands and was bashing it upon the demon's flank like a madman. He barely dodged in time as the wicked claws of the demon's hand lashed out, leaving deep gashes in his cheek and nearly taking his eye.
I don't know how to fight, his mind screamed, we're not supposed to be here! Falling back onto the ground, the demon towering over him, teeth misty with unnatural fire, he hardly noticed Sam rushing in.
The blade of the two-handed sword slammed against the demon's skull with a ring, sending it sprawling into the mud. Sam had used the flat of his sword, drawing no blood and avoiding melting the blade.
"How…" Thomas said weakly as he gazed at the old sword. If Sam heard him, he gave no sign of it and held the sword out warningly as the demon staggered to its feet, wailing.
Trying to ignore the blood it lay in, Goldie snatched up the necklace and dashed back to where Frank was desperately trying to pull Toby free of the mud he had been pulled into, his arms underground.
"What do I do!?" she cried, practically dropping to her knees as the adrenaline rushed through her head, making her dizzy. This wasn't right! They were camping! Rheas and Toby's stories…they were suppose to be nothing more than that. Not like this at all.
"Don't put it in the ground!" the small boy shouted as she leaned in to thrust the necklace into the ground where the demon's hands were, "You'll only let it out!"
"Then what good is this!?"
"Do it! He'll be a goner anyway! Better to see what we're facing than let it sneak away!" Frank's hands lashed out, snagging the necklace from Goldie's unsuspecting hands and plunging it into the earth. This time, however, Toby felt the pewter claw strike the demon's flesh.
The earthbound demon screamed in agony and the ground erupted around them.
Laura covered her ears as the demon Sam faced shrieked and wailed. Half its face was broken in, blood oozing out of the eye socket, its jaw hung slack. Lurching forward, it staggered on the hind foot Thomas had damaged, falling to the ground with a pitiful scream.
"End it!" Thomas cried, looking away, "Sam! Do it now!"
Hesitating, Sam stood with the heavy sword he had no knowledge of awkwardly. The thing's skull was crushed, it was dying, it was the only thing to do, and to let it live…
A scream of fury was the only resistance Sam met as he clumsily brought the sword down on the thing's small neck. His hands, unaccustomed to the weapon, missed their mark and struck the demon in the head. He winced as it wailed and writhed. Finally, with swift strokes that did not burn the blade, he managed to let the mutilated head fall free of the crumpled carcass. He stared at the blade a moment, his hands shaking as he held it. What had made him draw it in the first place? When they had first heard the screaming, he had taken it free of his bag without thinking, it was just there in his hands, Manannan's words echoing in his mind. With a horrified gasp, he dropped the sword and stepped back from it.
A low howl had the injured group whirl around, their eyes wide in disbelief, as a second one emerged from a fresh crater in the soil, limping over Toby who lie face-down, unmoving. It was then that the companions noticed the demon's missing arm. Half its side had been blown away as well, revealing its insides, barely held in by the exposed ribs. A final keen of defeat and hate from its falling jaw and the second demon collapsed on its side and lay still.
The only sound was of the shaking group's loud breathing and gasps of pain.
Sitting up from where the explosion had thrown her, Goldie immediately got to her feet and ran to Toby, gently rolling him over. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at the party.
"Took you guys long enough."
"Anyone hurt?" Gary inquired, holding his trembling sister by the shoulders firmly, trying to calm her.
The companions glared at him from the haze of pain.
"Life-threatening?" he sighed in correction, though weariness held back the bite.
"Cameron's bleeding a lot," Tina stated, pulling the big man over to the others, "and River's arm…!"
"It's not as bad as it looks, Tina. I'm fine."
"I can manage," River hissed, gripping his bleeding arm, "take care of Toby."
"Toby," Thomas managed to say, ignoring the blood running down his face and Frank's effort to stop it with the hem of his shirt, "what happened?"
Toby winced as Goldie began to remove his shirt, gasping at the grisly marks left by the Demon's fingers. "They…just popped out of the dirt…I didn't even touch it…"
"Touch what?"
"The wood statue thing…"
The companions turned, actually surprised to see the tall wooden artifact standing there, untouched. They hadn't even noticed it in the fight.
Cameron didn't pay attention to Toby's story. The black bandana tied around the freshman's wrist sent a chill through him. Hand over his wound to stem the bleeding, he walked up to the structure, looking around the clearing fearfully.
His foot hit something wooden, though he had not yet come to the structure. Looking down, his eyes fell upon the Staff of Magius lying cold in the dirt. He knelt slowly and reached out a hand to lift the abandoned staff, but as his hand closed over the wood, a bright flash of light blinded him and a painful sting shot up his arm. He dropped the staff and it lay cold. Stepping back, the chill of fear traced along that slight sting and coiled about his spine and up over his heart. He turned slowly, looking only at Toby.
"Where's Rheas?"
In html form, HG is about 360 pages o_O;; Anyway, here I am, back from Italy, which was great! I adored Florence and saw the David (my reason for wanting to go) and Assisi was beautiful. It was also the only place I saw a church that actually inspired me (I'm not too fond of cathedrals with super high ceilings. Makes me feel weird, like it's saying "God is beyond you"). Rome was nice, but everyone wanted to go back to Florence. Pompeii inspired me with new ideas for my original novels (the real reason I wanted to go to Italy, to study!) Capri was also nice. Now I'm home and my new nickname, ever so graciously bestowed upon me by my family (mostly my brother) is "sars". Guess why -_-;; (no, I only have a cold. We passed through Toronto ran through, is the term, our plane was late and they had to hold our second and so we got a warning at school) Thirteen hours of flight time is good enough to make even me a little sick of planes now. Okay, I'll shut up about that now.
This was a very short chapter (and I'm not too fond of it. Oh well, I'm not very good at battle scenes, the last one was easy because I had that planned out action by action for months) It originally kept going, but realizing that that would make the chapter absolutely huge, I chopped it. Had I realized that earlier, this chapter could have been out before I left -_-;; Oh well. To answer reviews:
SJ: My inbox was full, why my e-mail didn't work. It's clear now, I'll e-mail ya!
Chickens: Yeah, I made up the demons in a way, though I was inspired for them by a dragon in a book that I have regrettably forgotten the title. By the way, when are you going to continue your fic?
RaistlinofMetallica: I did so badly want to use a Batman reference. (Bats eyelashes) SotD? RR? IB? DA? Anything? I love your writing so much…
Julie: Organization and characterization was indeed inspired by such movies as The Goonies, Stand By Me, and The Breakfast Club. (Toby's last name is off John Bender from Breakfast Club, in fact. It was only later that it actually clicked in my slow mind that it sounded like "Kender") Inspired by books such as Bless the Beasts and Children by Glendon Swarthout.
Jishoshojo: Actually I was very tempted to write a short little ditty on April Fools Day in which Toby did get his head bitten off and everybody died, but I decided against that ^-^;
DeDreamer: Dialogue's my favorite part :) (When the characters are talking that is…glares at chars.)
Thank you everyone! You're all the…something in my something! Go play on my new Oekaki board at my site! haha! Wow, the note's as long as the chapter…sorry.
Next chapter: Philosophical ponderings of the concepts of Good and Evil and what it means to be Human with a Drow!
That's fun to say…