How to Save a Hero [ManxMan]

Chapter Thirty-Five: Breathless

[AN: WARNING: Violence, vague gore, death.]

~Chapter Thirty-Five: Breathless~

The deafening screech makes my ears want to bleed and my hands immediately fly up in an attempt to block out the sound. However, it is too loud to be fully shut out, so I am forced to wait it out. When whatever caused the sound finally falls silent, I hesitantly uncover my ears and spot Koa doing the same. The two gods seem unaffected, but that could also just be an act; I am pretty sure their hearing is better than mine.

"You brought that back?" Perun demands sharply, one hand going to grab the front of Veles' grey shirt while the other starts to grow faintly with electricity. "I had that thing killed for a reason, Veles."

If whatever Perun is talking about is enough to intimidate even a Slavic boss god, I am not sure I want to stick around to find out what it is. However, before I can even glance towards my dad to make sure he is still there, this dark...thing appears from the lake. It shambles towards us on six unusually-shaped legs, its furry body dripping enough water to turn the ground under its feet slippery, though it seems to have no problem walking over the mud.

The most concerning part is not that it has more legs than any animal I have ever seen or its massive size, though; it is the head. It is long and angular, like a horse, but with gnarled horns and it looks almost as furry as a poodle. And then there are the teeth. Since its body is almost the size of the cottage, each tooth is probably about the size of my hand. I am not stupid enough to go up to it and check, but I would say that is about the right size.

Unfortunately, it has a lot of teeth.

"Oh Skuure," Koa mutters from beside me, having backed up the last couple of feet between us in the time it took me to assess the giant fucking monster that Veles summoned from the lake. Whatever the hell that is – and it definitely looks like it belongs in the underworld – I do not want to fight it.

A shout draws my attention away from the thing and towards the gods, who are both once again radiating their colored magic and seem to be glaring each other down now. The creature also looks at them, but its eyes only linger for a few seconds before I realize that it has settled its gaze on us. Apparently, we are far more interesting than gods.

Shit, shitty, shit.

The second Veles shoves Perun away, forcing the god to lose his grip on Veles' shirt, the giant monster blurs into motion. Once second, it is on the other side of the gods, the next I am being knocked to the ground by a wet, furry shoulder and Koa is in its grasp, being strangled by two of its six arms. It makes a throaty gurgle that sends shivers down my back and makes my body tense up in fear, but I get back up and stumble away at the same moment that Koa begins to struggle, his shock wearing off in the same moment mine did.

For a frighteningly long second, I blank on every attack spell I have ever learned and consider just jumping on the thing in an attempt to make it let go of the captain. Luckily, though, a spell comes to me before I do something as stupid as that. Because, if I were to try to tackle it, I would probably die.

Curse of Back Pain.

Since this is not a fictional witch movie, I need not say the spell out loud, but I do repeat it in my head as I trace a symbol in the air with my pinky finger. The air in front of me glows faintly and then rapidly disappears seconds before the creature bellows in pain, hurting my eardrums for a second time. Koa is released as the creature's hands try to reach for its back. However, its arms are not meant to bend that way and it just screeches in frustration when it fails.