Long, gangly arms and legs were attached to a torso and head of disproportionate size.
As hideous as the thing was, nothing prepared us for the moment the thing opened its giant mouth, taking in a monstrous lungful of air.
“It's getting ready to scream!" Janiver yelled over the great hissing sound of the intake of breath, “Cover your ears!"
The hideous screech that came from the thing can't be described in words a rational mind would understand. It wasn't just noise, though there was more of that than I've ever heard. There were also images — images of obscene cruelty, painful memories, images of disturbing events to come.
This was what Janiver had warned us about. This was the kind of attack that could break you mentally.
While it screamed, it didn't stop moving. In fact, it began to come at us in a galloping lope that shook the ground with every step. It's arms raised out to its sides, weirdly long fingers ending in claws that dripped a caustic venom.
When it was within a hundred feet, Janiver and Brevid released huge balls of fire that hurtled across the space between us and the monster, exploding in great infernos of destruction.
And still it came. Milost and Margrin were both trying to empty their quivers into the thing, firing two arrows at a time, ichor falling from the beast’s several wounds. And still it came.
May called out to me “Get ready to step to the side, Love. Hit it in the back as it passes!"
She and Pelisir obviously had a plan.
Coming right at them, reaching out its clawed hands, the thing lunged, bellowing a primordial war cry. But it caught air as the two Paladins spun to the side, going to a crouch, and swiped their huge swords at the backs of the creature’s knees, slicing through its stick-thin legs, and causing it to collapse face-first into the fog.
That was my cue. I leapt onto the thing's back amid the flailing tentacles, and shoved my rapier into and through the back of its neck. It tried to scream but I had spoiled that ability.
It tried to rise, only to discover its legs missing, and I drove my rapier into its spine. Pelisir and May appeared to either side of me and began whacking the thing with devastating results.
When it had stopped moving. Pelisir and I stepped aside. May kept cleaving into the monster with a startling intensity.
“May, My Love, it's done!" I tried to get her attention. “May!"
She suddenly looked up. Gouts of black ichor flecked across her face. Rivulets of sweat smearing them.
“Just making certain, My Love! Can't be too careful!"
That was certainly a disturbing aspect of her character. She went into a blood frenzy when she was in battle. What genuinely concerned me about it was that she got tunnel vision in that state. You can't do that on a field of battle unless someone is always watching your back. It looked like that would be my job.
While we were catching our breath, a ghastly scream pierced the darkness. Nug’hibboreth was rising from the fog, renewed, looking as if our attacks had no effect at all.
May had her back to the thing, and a tentacle shot out and grabbed her around the legs, pulling her off of her feet and into the fog. I could only tell where she was by the wake her body was leaving. I quickly ran ahead and sliced through where I thought the tentacle should be. An unearthly shriek told me I had been successful.
Fumbling about in the fog, I found her plated arm and pulled her to her feet. The rest of our friends were already busy working on the creature for a second time.
Janiver and Brevid had caged the thing in place with four walls of fire. But there was something happening, a low hum building up volume at a rapid pace until it started to become uncomfortable. The sound was very deep in the bass register. So low, you could feel it more than hear it.
It felt like I was repeatedly getting punched in the gut, and my stomach emptied itself of whatever contents it had. It didn't stop until another two fireballs crashed into the monster's head.
Something else was happening as the fire cleared. The creature began to flicker, like it was about to fall apart. As if it were becoming unstable, jittering, and then it vanished.
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“What just happened?" I asked of no one in particular.
Janiver replied, “It lives to fight another day. Unusual for a creature such as that. They're born out of such chaos that their actions don't usually make any sense. There's no logic. But it recognized it was outmatched.”
“We did well," May proclaimed. “For our first test at least."
I considered a factor that disturbed me.
“If it hadn't been for Janiver's knowledge on the thing, how would we have done? I know I'm not the only one who felt the power of that scream. I had to fight against myself not to run.”
"Elvish psyches are a little different, Love,” May informed me. "Magic meant to induce fear has little effect on us. Janiver had us cover our ears because of the high frequency sounds in the scream. They can cause psychic damage.”
“I must say how impressive it is seeing you swinging that massive blade. I don't understand where you find the strength."
May was small. She couldn't have been any more than five feet tall and there's no way she was anywhere close to a hundred pounds. The sword she wields is usually seen in the hands of much larger men.
"I've been training with it for over two hundred years now, Darling. It's not always about strength, though I am strong for my size. It's about using weight and making it work in your favor. I only need to use my leverage to get it to the top of its arc. The weight of the blade handles the downswing. I've learned to fight smarter, not harder.”
Janiver once again called us all together.
"That was excellent teamwork, everybody! I obviously forgot to mention that creatures like that have a tendency to regenerate quickly. Once they're down, you need to put them to the fire. They can't regenerate from ash. That was my oversight and you have my apologies.”
I had to say it, "Janiver, you owe no one any apologies. If it weren't for you, we couldn't be in this situation — capable of potentially saving our world. And if not for us, who? If we're successful in this endeavor, the glory is yours.”
She nearly choked up.
"Thank you so much, My Prince. Truly. I don't look for pity, but I've sacrificed much to be where I am. I'm 126 years old and Margrin is the first man I've ever kissed. Every waking moment of my life has been devoted to the study of magic and the arcane. But now it's paying off, all that studying. All the self-neglect.”
Margrin stepped forward to stand next to her and said, "I'm not trying to brag, but that's my girlfriend.”
Everyone laughed but it had to be said, "Both of you deserve something good in your lives. We're all very happy for you. Don't mess it up!”
May asked, "Now that we're done with that, what's next for us?"
Janiver said meekly, “I'm sorry to say that I do not know, My Queen. We will eventually meet the Pretenders in battle, but that's something we need to discuss as a group. Let's get back to the Palace and resume our regular forms."
Back in the sanctum, we took our seats at the table. I must say we looked, well, we looked numb.
Janiver didn't take her seat. She stood at the head of the table.
"Looking around, no one needs to say a thing. It's obvious in your postures and in the looks in your eyes. What you're feeling is like how it feels when a drug begins to wear off. You've been experiencing that euphoric feeling and all of a sudden it's over. Now you want more.
Eventually you'll feel that same kind of power in your regular form, like we are now. It takes some time. But we saw this evening the potential. In the case of Milost, we saw an amazing power — a truly godlike power. We all have something similar. It will just take some time and some self-reflection.
Brevid, God of War Songs, did you not feel something pulling at you when we fought? Something telling you to sing the victory?”
Brevid had a surprised look on her face, "Yes! Yes, I did! I felt it was just an odd emotional response to the fighting, but you're right, Janiver. What do you think it would have done?”
"Let's not wait forever to find out. This is the time to experiment, not when we're engaging other gods.
And Margrin, why did you not use the power of night to try to assassinate the creature?”
"It really makes me sound like a bad guy, and I guess I am, but all of my assassination victims have been asleep. I've never snuck up on someone who was alert.”
"Oh great!” I exclaimed, "And I'm the only one here who sleeps!”
"Anyway, Tendil, did you feel anything being the God of Truth?”
"No. I felt nothing like what you mean. I think it will require a different sort of situation. Maybe I was too scared.”
"Pelisir, anything from the God of Dreams?”
"Perhaps. I don't know how literally I should take the dream concept. Maybe it could also mean in the way the word is used to express a longing?”
"What do you mean, Count?” Janiver pressed.
"I was feeling pain from the creature from the moment I could first see it. Emotional pain, like it had lost something or someone very close to it. I believe that might be why it wanders as it does. Looking for them. Maybe a mate?”
"So part of your ability is as an empath. Interesting. Because I too felt some of that but couldn't put a name to it. As God of Love, it would make sense that I should feel that pain as you did.
I think there will be much more for us to discover about ourselves as we grow into our new roles.
Anything from you, My Queen?”
"There was a definite sense that it found itself to be ugly. I got the sense that it hasn't always been the case. Maybe in a different life it was something beautiful but has been cursed. But those feelings were very vague.”
Janiver seated herself.
"We've painted a very different image of that monster, haven't we? Well, we may never fully understand it. I'm afraid that whatever happened to it, happened in a history far before any we know. Its name predates Elvish telling.”
May spoke, breaking the quiet that had overcome the table,
"Why don't we continue this in the morning, Janiver? I know you all must be as tired as I am. And I, for one, am in desperate need of a hot bath and a soft bed.”
“Very well, My Queen. Let's meet back here at eight bells. We have a great deal of planning to do and many questions yet unanswered. I'll see you all in the morning."
If only things worked as well as we wished. May got her hot bath, and I had mine. We were both looking forward to the comfort of the bed and the sweet embrace of sleep, or trance.
But that was not to be.