The Magician's Assistant

4

The creature slowly began to pick itself up off the ground. It struggled, its arms shaking violently as they carried the full weight of its injured body.

Rachael backed away from the slowly rising monster. If an injury like that couldn't subdue it, then what could? She turned, and sprinted down the trail.

Getting back to town was Rachael's best option by far. She had to be close now. As if spurred on by Rachael's retreat, the creature forced itself back to its feet. It began to pursue her, the branch still protruding from its body. It ran forward on two legs, dragging the branch along the ground.

Rachael forced herself to run as fast as she could. She held her arms out in front of her to shield herself from the myriad of plants she crashed through. She didn't turn around to look, but she could hear the sounds of her pursue behind her.

For several minutes, Rachael ran. Her breathing was heavy, and her muscles were already starting to ache. Her arms stung from all the tree limbs she'd had to push aside to keep moving.

She was sure she'd start slowing down soon, no matter how hard she pushed herself.

Right as Rachael was beginning to run out of strength, she spotted the one thing she wanted to see more than anything. An artificial light was shining through the trees ahead.

In an instant, Rachael's energy returned to her, and all her fatigue disappeared. She ran faster than she had before. The plants in her way no longer bothered her.

As Rachael approached the light, she realized it wasn't coming from a building. The revelation didn't reduce her excitement in the slightest. She was sure it was coming from someone who could help her.

The light was sitting on the ground, like a campfire. However, it very clearly wasn't any sort of flame. A humanoid figure was crouched by the light. It looked like they were trying to read something.

"Help!" Rachael yelled out.

The figure stood up and turned towards Rachael.

"Something's attacking me!" Rachael yelled.

The figure simply watched Rachael approach in silence.

Rachael was only a short distance away now. She could finally see the figure reasonably well. The old man Rachael had been searching for was standing by the light. He looked bewildered and confused.

"What's attacking you? What is it?" he yelled back.

He picked up his light in a hurry, nearly dropping it in the process.

"Some sort of monster. It looks like a person," Rachael said, just a short distance away.

The old man suddenly lifted his free hand to his face, as if to shield it from some invisible threat.

"That stench!" he said.

Rachael came to a stop right next to the old man. She began searching the ground around her for something to defend herself with.

"It must be undead," the old man said.

"What, like that bushranger thing?" Rachael asked.

"That must be it,"

"Can you kill it?"

"If I can't, then save yourself while it's busy with me,"

Rachael picked up a large rock.

"I'm not abandoning you, gramps," she said.

"Gramps?" the old man said, sounding slightly offended.

Before anyone could say anything else, the bushranger appeared at the edge of the light. It hung back, reluctant to attack the pair.

The tree branch was still firmly lodged in its body. Parts of it had fallen off during the chase, but it was still mostly intact.

"Poor thing's badly injured," the old man said, genuine pity in his voice.

"Yeah, I did that," Rachael said, a little proud of herself.

"You did that? As soon as we get the chance you must tell me everything that's happened to you since we last spoke!"

"Sure thing, gramps. Let's just focus on finishing it off for now,"

"I was hoping to study it alive for a few hours at least, but that would be inhumane with a wound like that. We should at least examine it for a few minutes before we put it out of its misery,"

"Whatever you want, as long as we get rid of it,"

The old man raised his hand and pointed into the air, vaguely in the bushranger's direction.

"I would also like it if you would please stop referring to me as 'gramps'," Gramps said.

Rachael didn't seem to hear the last part. She was completely distracted by the bushranger, which was slowly creeping towards the pair.

A small ball of light appeared at the end of Gramps' finger. It was nearly identical to the one in his other hand, but much dimmer.

After a few seconds, it shot off into the darkness vaguely in the bushranger's direction. It flew over the monster's head, growing brighter as it did, then landed somewhere behind it.

The bushranger turned its head to face the projectile that had landed behind it.

Rachael could tell Gramps hadn't been aiming for the bushranger, but she wasn't sure what exactly he was doing at first. It became obvious to her a few seconds after the light landed.

The light rapidly grew brighter and brighter. It quickly became more intense that the first light, then it grew brighter than a full moon, and finally it rivaled the sun.

Rachael instinctively covered her eyes, while Gramps squinted ahead.

A piercing, inhuman scream filled the forest. Rachael forced herself to look at the blinding light. She could see the silhouette of the bushranger, easily spotted against the pure, white light. It was covering its eyes much like she was. She quickly looked away again.

Another object was slowly taking shape at the end of Gramps' finger. It looked like a small stake made out of gold or bronze or some other similarly colored metal. It was extremely thin, and roughly foot long.

The object hovered in the air as Gramps slowly lowered his hand. It perfectly followed the movements of his finger as he aimed towards the bushranger.

Rachael held her breath. She knew what would come next.

Gramps frowned, but didn't waiver. He seemed to contemplate something for one final second, before the rod seemingly disappeared.

For one split second, Rachael assumed that Gramps' had given up on his attack. She would have asked him what was wrong, but before she could even fully process her thoughts, she was cut off.

An incredibly loud thump, like someone dropping something very heavy, echoed through the forest.

There was second, quieter sound. It was another thump, not nearly as overpowering as the first. It came from the direction the blinding light.

The light began to dim, Rachael lowered her hands, and everything was still and silent.