Lances and Daggers

11. The Night of Terror

"It talked?"

"What's happening? How could an Aberration speak like us?"

The town guards slowed down right and left, but Reinfried did not hesitate or flinch. Noticing that the formation was breaking apart, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Don't stop now if you want to live!"

His words were powerful and accurate. It was too late to stop or retreat. We needed to attack together to achieve victory. Otherwise, we would be at the mercy of the monster.

My horse leaped over a stream as if it had been crossing a line of no return. The air became suffocating. I could feel my heart racing, beating against my chest as if it were trying to escape its lifetime prison.

The giant Aberration was no longer passive. As its eyes followed me, it swung its long arms and tossed the town guards into the air. It knocked riders and horses alike, and even those it missed toppled backward like dominoes.

"Why are you silent?" the Aberration screeched. "You hear my voice, but you ignore it."

Most of the town guards turned around or tried to avoid the Aberration's arms, but Reinfried and I had a different idea.

"If we can't bring it down," I said.

"Then we should go up to it." Reinfried completed my words.

"I knew we had the same idea," I laughed.

Our horses charged straight at the Aberration. Its hands reached for us. It wanted to wrap its fingers around our small bodies. But I stopped my horse and dismounted with a jump, landing on the Aberration's wrist. Reinfried did the same and stood next to me after a forward roll.

"Why do you oppose me?" the Aberration screeched.

Its face was contorted with anger because it realized that it couldn't move. Its arms had slid on the muddy ground, and its body was stretched. It was on all fours, trying to balance itself.

"After you," Reinfried said, and I nodded.

The Aberration's stretched arms formed a bridge that connected the ground to its head. We started running up its slope, lowering our swords to slice through the dark-red flesh. We created a trail of black blood and reached the Aberration's shoulders.

The men on the ground looked up at us.

"They're crazy!"

"Maybe just enough to do it..."

"Aim for its eyes," Reinfried said.

He leaped forward and slashed the Aberration's right eye. The monster cried out in pain, thought only of immediate revenge, and aimed an attack at Reinfried. Its mouth opened wide, and its eager teeth were about to split Reinfried's body in half.

"I won't let you."

I rushed forward, stabbed the Aberration's mouth from below, and forced it shut. Then I spun around and slashed its left eye with one of my knives. The Aberration cried out again. It couldn't bear the pain and raised its arms. It may have been trying to stop the blood from flowing out of its wounds, or it may have been trying to attack us. Either way, once its arms rose, its whole body started falling toward the ground.

"Hang on tight, Lance," Reinfried said.

We planted our swords into the Aberration's back and clung to them. Nothing else prevented us from falling to our doom. On the ground, the guards were scattering as the mountain collapsed. The Aberration's stomach hit the ground. Then its chest flattened the earth, and its arms broke under the pressure of its head. A cloud of dust formed, and I couldn't see anything. All I could do was hold on to my sword and wish for luck.