Hellfury

Chapter 4: Cahir

Cahir cursed. There were seven. Initially he thought they were six. Three of them stood with their dripping maws to the ground, lapping up bone and brains alike, the other three kept watch, each of them standing in between feeding ones.
Skin hung off them like tattered clothing. Some of their ribs were exposed and Cahir realized what a fucking idiot he was. His bow was in the cave, had he brought that he could have killed them from afar and avoided all of this entirely.  The three ghouls standing guard hadn't done a thing. They'd just placed their gleaming evil eyes on him and snarled. That's when he realized his mistake. They weren't staring at him. They were staring behind him. The seventh-

Cahir whirled out of the way when he heard the panting breathing and the clawed feet scraping their way across slippery stones and rotting entrails. The ghoul's jaw clamped down on his right elbow. The teeth cut through leather like butter. The sharp, stabbing pain made his mind focus, he wrenched his arm free and took some of its teeth with him.

He braced himself and landed a kick right in the middle of the beast's chest. The sound it made was almost human. It flew backwards, landed amidst the muck on the ground and the piercing shriek seemed to affect the others.
He needed to move. Now.

He did the only reasonable thing he could think of. He leapt onto the rock, stepping off a partially eaten torso and tried to keep his balance long enough to steady himself and keep his wounded arm close to his side. The elbow hurt like hell, and the putrid saliva mixed with his own blood.

The three ghouls still on the ground sniffed the air, loud snarling croaking out from their throats.
Fuck. Well. He'd been in worse situations before, chained to a wall, his head on a block, running through sewers-

The ghouls flew at him one at a time, he sliced his sword halfway through the leg of one but it didn't seem to care. It merely yelped as the steel cut through flesh and kept attacking. They were frenzied. They had smelled his blood and he knew that if they caught him they'd eat him alive.
According to the legends he'd read at the castle they were once human. Forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. The ones who didn't die turned to this-

Cahir moved his sword over to his left hand and spat. How difficult was it to just murder the fucking girl? It had to be simpler than this. His sword stuck the second one right in the armpit, the force of it sliced through the entire arm and took half its head with it.

    'Need help?' Her sing-songy voice pissed him off. He had half the mind to throw the fucking sword at her instead to make her keep her mouth shut until he understood why.
The ghouls ran for her and her bleeding arm.

What the fuck had she done-

Cahir groaned. His right arm was useless. It hung limply by his side and sent bolts of pain all the way up to his neck every time he tried to lift a finger. And right now, the three last ghouls ran for her. She merely stood by the river and laughed, blood running down her arm and dripping to the ground.

The snarling, reeking beasts circled her and he once again cursed himself for not bringing a bow. If he had he'd shoot them all and bring her head with him home. He smirked a little at the expression that would present itself on her pale face once she realized who he was. He had wondered if he knew the soldiers on the ground, perhaps he'd trained them himself?

The ball of fire she hurled at him made him forget about dead soldiers and promises. He ducked, and his limp arm hit the rock with a painful smack. He'd have to hide it. Hide it from her long enough to get back to the cave and find a potion for it. Anything that could heal it. If she realized he'd been hurt her half-stated threat about taking his horse and leaving him would become more real.

Cahir slid off the rock and reacted. The last ghoul was near the woods now, trying to run. Trying to get away from the raging inferno that was the mage behind it. Auri still laughed, laughed as the flames licked at her arms and charred the simple leather bracers she wore to protect herself.