Transversals

X. Archangel

I rolled out of the way and the ground reverberated with its punch; I could feel the unusual chill coming off the familiar flames. The monster brought its fist back, disgusting yellow teeth bared and eyes trained on me. Oh. This one was bigger than the other. Much bigger.

I tried to run, but a cold hand grabbed my ankle and threw me aside like a ragdoll across the packed dirt, sending me tumbling and coughing in the haze of disturbed dust. The impact was taken on my hip, most certainly the home of what was to be a very large bruise.

The sound of metal sticking into the ground made me jump again. "Use it!" Ben called behind, getting a running start before opening his wings, wielding a what looked like samurai sword in one hand straight at the monster. He closed his wings and dropped, just missing the monster's quick swing, and then hacked his sword in a rainbow arc, cutting its hand off in a clean swipe. It fell to the ground like snow again and disintegrated into nothing. The monster hit Ben out of the air with his other hand, while a web of blue strings illuminated and started rebuilding the lost limb. I didn't remember it being so fast either.

I looked beside me, finding an identical sword to his stuck in the ground. A roar interrupted my thought as another monster appeared behind me, charging. Two. Two now, of same size and speed.

Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed the sword out of the ground and swung wildly at the monster's hand, only getting a good gash in his wrist. It fixed itself immediately and stomped toward me again. All I did was swing at his hands as they reached for me, but he moved them every time and my arms weren't strong enough to swing sufficiently hard. Just gashes that healed over and over, and I knew that the open environment wouldn't make a damn difference for me against it. Closed spaces fared better, and so did smaller ice monsters.

The other sword suddenly stuck beside me and I saw Ben's eyes widen, staring at it as well and still in the air. The monster he was facing swung at him again, dropping altitude in the nick of time, grabbing a loose branch and making do.

I screamed as a cold hand grabbed me around my midsection and lifted me up, squeezing tight. Grabbing the second sword out of the ground, I sliced down on its free hand as hard as I could. It cut clean and fell in a flurry of heavy snow, but the cold hand was squeezing harder and harder, lifting me higher, making me lightheaded and nauseous as all the oxygen in my lungs was being chased out. Blue flame started to catch on my legs and I bit my bottom lip as they went unbearably cold and stiff, making my ears ring as if I had a bad cramp.

I only had one free arm limply holding the second sword, the other pinned to my side with the first still gripped tight, and I tried to think through the asphyxiation. The sword pinned to me had the blade positioned out, right? Right. So if I used every...ounce...of strength...to slice out--

I fell to the ground, gasping and shivering. The monster was confused I had outsmarted it by taking away his opposable thumb, and I was just surprised I managed to conjure up enough force to slice with my trapped arm.

He screeched again and the fire burned higher. I rose to my weak feet and got ready to fend him off yet again.

There was only time for glimpses to see what Ben was doing through my futile efforts of defense. A combination of acute flight and strategically placed blows was serving him well for the moment, disorienting the monster enough to where its swings were to nowhere, sight reduced by constant smashes to the head and face, speed impeded by whacks at his feet with the branch. He propelled off a tree, flying high and then making a hairpin turn and dive bomb straight to the monster's back, stick held high. He speared it straight through and pinned it to the ground with a loud thud.

Another glove-like hand smacked me across the dirt again and sent me reeling, but I held onto the swords tight. The light sting of a cut on my knee showed that I had rolled onto the blade at some point in my tumble, red blood soaking through the tear in my dust-covered jeans.