Cambion (Complete)

18 - Invasion

I pulled my face out of the sand, my ears ringing terribly. The first thing I noticed was the fire that had enveloped the training arena stands. The brown muck of the hive had splashed all over the place and apparently was pretty flammable as all the flames had to do was barely lick a piece of the terrible substance and it would instantly catch.

The smell of burning hive was intense and made you feel like you weren't breathing in any oxygen at all. I stood, or at least, I tried to. I flipped myself over which was a lot harder to do without the use of my legs. When I finally was able to look down, I couldn't help but let out a scream.

Both of my legs from the knee down were missing.

I started to breathe heavily, my chest rising higher and higher. I was going into shock, I knew it. Between the constant ringing in my head and the anxiety of waiting for massive amounts of pain to come, it wouldn't be long before the world went dark for me.

But that wasn't what happened.

My demonic arm tingled a bit as it deflated into my body leaving only the skin. Useless and unmovable. My stomach gurgled as the unholy energy, or whatever it was, traveled through my body. I could feel its presence leak through my organs leaving a chilly trail. It wasn't long before the cold serpent split itself, now journeying through my veins, and ending up at my two blasted off knees.

Still, there was no pain.

I barely ever felt my horns but now they were starting to prickle and even tickle me as the demon blood within me did its work. I knew what it was trying to do. The demon half of me wanted to preserve my life. Even though I wasn't doing my job as a cambion, and was helping the good people rather than helping satan's army, the dark blood still wanted to live.

And slowly, my legs came back to me. Much like blowing up an inverted balloon, the skin of my new legs unraveled from within me as they extended out into the world. The process was slow and even though it was hard to pull my eyes away from the unholy magic, I had to turn and look for Deborah.

I searched the sand but didn't see her anywhere. I checked again, this time not looking for a body but... pieces of one. I was relieved to find nothing. Only the corpses of the demons I had slain and puddles of burning hive.

Moving my eyes to the stands surrounding the arena, I found her instantly. She was sitting up and from here I could see her head moving.

"Thank the Almighty," I said under my breath, but as the words left my lips pain shot from my legs and traveled all the way up my body. Apparently, my demon blood didn't appreciate me appreciating something else besides it, especially since it was the source that was reproducing legs for me.

The pain faded leaving only aches. A sudden convulsion came over my legs which must have been my inner demon letting me know that I now had access to move them. I sat up and looked down at two pale white and hairless limbs. I wiggled my toes and, although the world was burning around me, I smiled.

It was weird at first standing, as though I were walking on two sticks, but it didn't take long for my brain to accept the new legs. I tried to jog towards Deborah but settled for a fast walk. She looked up at me, her face in a big grimace. Her leg, even from where I was, looked mangled. She wouldn't be able to walk on her own. I was almost to the stairs that would take me to her when Gauss entered from one of the open hallways.

He spotted us and was able to make it to Deborah at the exact moment I did.

"We need to get out of here," Gauss said, putting his shoulder underneath one of Deborah's arms. Seeing that my demonic arm had re-inflated itself with its demon juices, I took the other arm and helped Gauss carry the wounded girl. "Something's happening. We weren't prepared for this."