Shadow Honor - Book 1 of The Trial

Shadow Honor - 23

Every step had to be perfect; every movement precise. There was no margin for error, and the ends justified the means. Surely it meant that he no longer had a soul, but nothing would stand in Grim's way of destroying the abominations; the lives that existed for no reason but to destroy life, not unlike his own.

The fog was already fading as the final word of the unbinding spell still echoed. 'Freedom'. That was what the Gor word translated to. It was ironic that such a word, which gave such strength to men, could also be the harbinger of their deaths, and that would surely be the case today.

As if to prove the validity of Grim's thought, the demon roared as the final trace of fog disappeared, only to be replaced by the dark smoke that rose from its flesh. The people in the plaza looked about in confusion, stunned by the roar and the acrid stench that filled their nostrils. When they recovered from their initial shock, they began to scream, and everyone attempted to flee the plaza at once. Everyone but Grim, though the panicked throng was doing its best to drag him in the opposite direction.

But not everyone was running away. He could see that the gladiators were trying to push through the throng to join him, and there were others doing the same, dressed in the black leather uniform that marked them as belonging to Salidar. None of these seemed to be making any headway until three, large, grey forms stepped out of the alleyways. Elroks had come to join the battle as well.

A smile formed on Grim's lips as he saw them. At least Salidar had been smart enough to send his strongest troops against the Ibrix, and lucky for Grim he spoke their language. All he had to do was make sure that they could hear him and he could bring them to his will, but first he had to get to the demon.

The demon swung about with its sword, slaughtering those who stood before it. It was facing away from Grim, and those near him were beginning to thin out as they made their escape. Grim was finally able to gain ground, but not before the demon had already slaughtered another twenty people.

Salidar's human soldiers lashed out with large whips, attempting to latch onto the demon's arms and pull him to the ground, but the Ibrix was too strong for them. With a mighty pull he ripped the whips from the grasps of the soldiers, flinging them to the ground. The Elroks moved in next, with even larger cords, and attempted the same strategy. Unlike the human soldiers, the Elroks were not pulled over and managed to hold the massive demon steady, though Grim knew that they would not be able to hold it down for long.

Grim took the opportunity to dash in, hoping that Salidar's troops wouldn't notice that it was he instead of the expected mage. One of the humans cried out as he approached and several of Salidar's troops moved to intercept him. Grim prepared to fight them off but was grateful when he saw the lithe form of Haeli jump in to his rescue, facing off against the soldiers with her sword. More of the gladiators rushed to his aid and formed a defensive perimeter around him.

"I need to get closer!" He shouted, and the gladiators needed no other instruction. They had fought alongside each other many times, and knew how their fellow fighters moved. Salidar's soldiers were well trained, but they were not equal to the task of stopping the gladiators' momentum, and soon Grim stood at the foot of the towering demon.

He could feel the heat emanating from its skin. Grim cursed under his breath as he reached out to touch the burning skin. Of all the demons to be freed and faced by him, it was an Ibrix, the most dangerous to a Fedain. He had to maintain his touch to damage the demon, but that meant he would be burned at the same time. He would have to constantly heal his own wounds while draining the life from the demon, and that would take a great deal of concentration, especially as Ibrix could heal itself from the life force of those it killed in the meantime. Someone had to make the sacrifice or the world would never be made whole. If that meant it had to be him, then he had made that decision many times before and this would be no different.