Burning Road

The Cooking Pot- Part V

Khouri dropped the aura and called on the agility of a hunting cat. What had once been a fortifying breathing exercise felt like fire reshaping his muscles. A graveling stopped at the corner to scent the air and Khouri sprinted up the ramp like a contestant on Ninja Warrior. Behind him something hungry dogged his heels, but he didn't dare look back. At the top of the ramp were three rows of spikes angled toward the pit, designed to keep its denizens from getting out. Prince leapt into the air just before the barrier, narrowly avoiding impalement.

Khouri landed with unearthly silence behind a pair of unarmored imps, their attention drawn to the meaty crash of something heavy at the pit mouth. Two gravelings had been in hot pursuit. One had run right into the spikes, killing itself instantly. The other had tried to jump the barrier and failed. Its entire lower half was impaled on the wicked fortification, while its top half clawed at the two darklings.

Prince slipped directly behind the guards and tossed one over the spikes and into the pit. His companion turned at the sound of his companion's shout of surprise, catching Khouri's punch in a surprisingly strong grip. The demon grinned and squeezed, grinding the bones of Prince's fist together. Khouri grit his teeth against the pain and kneed the guard in the groin. The demon rammed his head into Khouri's eye causing lights to explode all over his vision. A solid blow struck the side of his face, sending him reeling.

Rough hands took him by the collar. Prince struck at the bend of his assailant's arms then punched outward at chest level. Fighting blind, he had to rely on instinct to hit his mark. The demon stumbled backwards. Khouri braced himself, squeezing his eyes to shake the blinding lights. The screams of his opponent caught him off guard. Prince squinted through screwed eyes at a scene marred by a swirling show of random lights.

The demon was up against the spikes, the pinioned graveling's clawed hands dug into his shoulder and side. The monster was trying to pull itself closer to the guard in order to take a bite, and in the process was shredding what was left of its guts. The rotted spillage would incubate in the corpses below and create a cyst that would spawn new gravelings. Rubbing his eyes, Prince walked over to the demon whose struggles only helped strengthen the graveling's grip. The demon spat hot tempered words his way, but without the aura the words meant nothing. A brimstone spear lay on the ground at the demon's feet, Khouri used it to tip him into the pit.

The merciful act would have been to kill the demon, but Khouri wasn't feeling merciful. He ignored the screams coming up from the hole.

A shout made Prince spin around, spear at the ready. Aunt Maurine and Charlotte had spent a month training him in the use of the spear. He lacked any real aptitude, preferring ranged weapons instead. That plus the heavy weight of the brimstone made him awkward.

Through blurry eyes he could see that one wall of the room consisted of barbed jail bars. Behind them were nearly a dozen prisoners. Again he called upon the aura and inched closer, alternating between watching the cell and the doorway leading out of the room.

"Stranger, help us. Let us out of here," a ruddy faced dwarf implored.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Prince asked. He was still seeing lights floating in the air.

"There are levers against the far wall," rasped second little bearded man.

Khouri backed away until he could see the levers out of his peripheral vision. He pulled the closest lever and a frightful keening sound filled the chamber. The spikes cut back and forth in a concert that turned the dead graveling into bits of rotting flesh and pus filled blood. Khouri released the lever and the spikes ceased their grisly dance. He hesitated at the second lever. Back home he would have hunted these creatures down. They might not be happy to see him. Society taught that only criminals were put behind bars, but the truth was not everyone locked away deserved it.