Hollow

Chapter 18: Can't Be Ignored

Llwell immediately jumps back and looses his arrow at the creature, but it whips its hand through the air and a strong gust of wind deflects the projectile as if it were merely a fly. As it brings its arm back down, it looks to the elf with an irritated glare.

"Your defiance means nothing more than a more painful end, elf," it rumbles and shoves its arms out towards the group, casting out parallel trails of fire on each side of them, blocking them from any chance of running.

Dumaine examines the flames for a second. "It's a mage?" he questions and returns his attention to the creature. "This isn't Reach magic. It's human," he says to Llwell.

The elf readies another arrow and stares at the creature through narrowed eyes that he hopes don't reveal just how terrified he's feeling in this moment. Something about this thing seems different from the other horrors.

"Screaming. Voices splintering, shaking, scraping bones rattling my mind, making me a monster," Etho shakes his head and tries backing away from the creature but he's unable to get far with the wall of flames in his path.

The creature lets out a raspy cackle. "Cowardice leaves no room for champions. The weakest spirits always are first to kneel before their God," it now points at Etho. "So kneel, shade."

Etho's hands tremble. His lowered head shakes sporadically as he begins to hyperventilate, but he snaps a furious glare up at the creature.

"No."

Dumaine quietly clears his throat and grabs Llwell's arm, lowering his voice. "We need to go. I've been through enough fights to know when I'm outmatched, and this is one of those times."

"We came here to show these people we can kill these things," Llwell whispers back. "It's just another horror. We've done this before so we can do it again," he says.

The mage growls. "Don't be stupid, Tathlani. This isn't—"

Llwell releases the arrow he had been holding and again, the creature deflects the blow so the elf sprints at it with his daggers in hand, slicing at its leg. The creature sighs and slams its fist down on the stone ground of the city square, smashing the bricks with a thunderous rumble, rolling waves of purple electricity through the earth.

A few paces back, Dumaine also sighs and pulls out his staff, charging the crystal with a blue glow that he sends soaring at the towering demon while it's distracted with Llwell. A wall of ice shards pelts the creature, cutting through its arms and one leaves a gash across its cheek. Red blood leaks from the wounds.

A burst of black smoke sends Etho leaping through the air, slicing his sickles across its torso, leaving ribbons of blood torn through its leathery flesh. Mid-motion, it snaps its arm out and grabs the boy, its hand wrapping around his torso.

Etho stabs his sickles through its hand and pulls the blades away from each other, ripping through the skin of the creature's hand and severing a few fingers before it drops him and he vanishes in a puff of mist, right in time for Llwell to send a triple shot of arrows at its head.

The elf rapidly looses arrow after arrow as he moves closer to the creature, when it whips its focus back onto him and points at him again.

"Laasenem," it rasps.

Llwell momentarily freezes, his arrows stop. According to Etho, 'Laasenem' was something said by his parents before they died. He doesn't know what it means, but somehow this thing does. He wants to know, but he shakes the thoughts out of his mind the moment he sees the creature take its outstretched hand and slam it down towards him.

He swiftly flips back and looses another arrow before his feet even hit the ground, and he doesn't pause his firing streak. He charges up for a stronger shot, firing the next arrow through its wrist before it could lift its hand from the ground. The arrow pierces its flesh and imbeds in the stone ground.