Razed by Magic

Chapter 12

The nightmare stood over seven feet tall, gray skin looking like it was molded from cracked clay. Discolored fur covered its body in patches, and dark red veins could be seen pulsing erratically underneath. It had turned at the sound of Maddie's scream, and Eli found himself wishing desperately it would turn away. Its face was melted like hot wax, making its features faded, barely there. One red eye stared at them, burning with hatred, the other eye was a too human green, glazed over with madness. Eli's stomach heaved, threatening to hurl everything he had eaten in the last twenty-four hours. He reached down inside himself, grabbing hold of the Void with the desperation of a drowning man, and forced it into the space around him and Maddie. The cold rush of power tamped down on the fear that had been about to overwhelm him, and he surrendered himself to it.

With the Void coursing through him Eli saw that the nightmare was standing over the unmoving body of a small child, wearing the yellow and white uniform of a Westmore student. Barely older than Maddie judging by their size. Fuck.

"Maddie, get out of here. Run as fast as you can and do not stop or look back. Get help." Eli took several steps forward, drawing the nightmare's attention to him. Looked like he had stumbled across whatever was stealing the students, although he had no idea what this thing was.

"N..No, Eli I can't leave you. We can run tog..."

"Shut up and do what I say." Eli snapped, letting some anger and fear bleed into his voice. "If we run this thing might chase us, and if you stay you will only be in my way. The best way you can help right now is to run and go get help. Now!"

"I'm sorry." Maddie said, thick with tears, before stumbling to her feet and sprinting back down the way they'd come. She began to shout as she ran, calling for help, her voice getting quieter as she got further away.

Relief flooded Eli, making him almost sag to the floor. Maddie was stubborn and loyal; he had been worried she would try and stick with him, refusing to abandon him to this creature. She had done the right thing though, what the fuck could a child do against this? Eli had been planning to run away himself as soon as she had gotten a far enough lead that he was sure this thing wouldn't be able to catch up. That had been the plan until he had seen the child lying on the floor.

He wanted to run. Wanted to so badly it was taking more will than he thought he possessed just to keep standing in that hallway. This nightmare creature was wrong, Eli knew that instinctively as they stared across the space at each other. Whatever it was it shouldn't exist, and it filled him with so much fear he was barely keeping his head above it to keep from drowning. Only the Void, crashing through him, filling him with strength, and a tiny voice in the back of his head that sounded a lot like Amon, were keeping him there. He had made so many stupid decisions in his life; what was one more.

He drew deeper on the Void, filling the space all around him. "I don't know what the fuck you are, or if you can even understand me, but this stops now. Go back to whatever freakshow carnival sewer you dragged yourself out of. Leave the child or I will beat you until we see if it's possible for you to actually get any uglier."

Eli was proud that his voice remained steady, and thought the smack talk was quite good. If this had been the Bewley brothers, it would have enraged them for sure. It seemed wasted on the creature though. A grin split its melted face, showing rows of needle-sharp teeth. Part of its chest stretched outward, a hand straining underneath the skin to break out. It snapped back into place, quick enough that Eli questioned whether he had even seen it. A twisted face pressed against the skin of the neck; its expression haunted before vanishing back into the nightmare.

"What are you?" Eli took an involuntary step backwards.

The nightmare charged, covering the distance between them in moments. Despite its bulk and malformed appearance, it moved quickly and with a grace that it shouldn't have possessed. Eli was ready though. He willed the Void to fill the entire hallway; he had no idea what this thing was, but it had to be magical in nature, and that meant it would be drained by the Void. The nightmare should have stumbled, should have been weakened, but it barely slowed as it barreled into the Void-filled area and slammed a misshapen fist into him.