Tobian awoke to light slapping across his cheek by a reptilian hand. Panic and the last thought brought his hands up as he opened his eyes. Mentally he called a crossbow from his bag to his left hand so he could defend against whatever that snake hand planned for him.

  The crossbow appeared in his hand as he saw Eryx and the Professor looking over him, both with concern. He pulled the trigger, but the crossbow wasn’t loaded. A vile-smelling, light yellow liquid covered the demon. Minor cuts and bruises dotted the Professor’s face, and blood was matting his greying hair.

  “How did you call the crossbow?” The Professor said, looking at the weapon in Tobian’s hand.

  “Sowwey, I ug,” Tobian’s jaw hurt as he tried to speak. His tongue throbbed as if he’d bitten it off.

  “There will be time to rest while we wait for Tristan to recover her energy and heal.” The Professor said. “Feel free to sit up, but if anything hurts, stay lying down.”

  Tobian tentatively wiggled his toes, feet, and legs before moving up. Patting his abdomen, he felt no pain except his right hand. Bringing his hand to his face. His right hand was a mangled mess; his knuckles were misshapen, and his index finger bent sideways. Tobian shifted himself and slowly raised himself, using his left hand. Nothing hurt too severely, mainly his face and hand. His throat was dry, but he couldn’t seem to correct it. Every time he tried to swallow, his jaw throbbed, causing him to wince, which pulled on his jaw muscles and caused more pain.

  Twelve feet away, a Serpeloth corpse lay. Its head, beaten into a pulp by something large, leaving its jaw wide open. The creature’s mouth was filled with rocks and small boulders. A blast had opened a hole in its midsection, as if from the inside.

  “Don’t feel too bad, it caught Eryx by surprise,” Darius said as he stepped into Tobian’s field of view. The large fighter was holding part of a door resembling a club. “Darn thing swallowed the rock you gave me, then disappeared, and swallowed poor Eryx before it set its eyes on you.” Darius paused as he looked at the dead snake demon corpse. “That was some quick thinking with the rocks in its mouth.”

  Tobian nodded in response as he looked around. He was in a circular room where the group had been fighting. Several large Serpeloth corpses lie around, and a couple of humanoid corpses, Tobian did not recognize. A pool of blood covered the center of the room. Kneeling next to one of the human corpses was Tristan. Dents and holes marred her armor. She knelt in the blood as she prayed for whomever had died.

  From the floor, Tobian couldn’t see much beyond the room. The massive snakes blocked much of the view. He shifted his gaze into the magical spectrum to see if he could detect any further threat.

  The room glowed brightly from the enchanted walls. Even the Serpeloth corpses glowed as the magic sustaining the demonic beasts was fading into the ether. Tristan’s aura glowed almost as powerful as ever, but a tendril of magic stretched from her to the two human corpses. Leaning against one of the snake corpses, Sirah rested. She had tears in her regular black leather jacket and was without her cloak. She held her left arm and had a leather belt tied against her left biceps. Tobian could see her glowing with a magical aura that was as powerful as Tristan. He opened his mouth to speak, but pain clenched it back shut.

  Tristan stood up, shaking her head slightly. She turned and looked at the group, tears welling in her eyes.

  “Do we know who they were?” The Professor said softly.

  “Aye, and I have messages to deliver to their families. They are at peace now. If everyone can walk,” Tristan stopped when she looked at Tobian. Oh, dear boy, when they said you were okay, I didn’t….” She rushed forward and carefully cupped Tobian's face in her hand. Power, warmth, and pain filled Tobian as Tristan repositioned his jaw. She reached down and grabbed his broken finger. “This will hurt.”

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  “Whaaaaaaa ow!” Tobian screamed as she jerked his finger straight. Warmth filled him as healing power filled him again. The pain in his hand dulled into a gentle ache.

  “Sorry,” Tristan said. She smiled at Tobian as she slowly lowered to the floor. “I just need a moment to catch my breath.”

  The Professor walked up to Tristan and offered a waterskin. “It’s been years since we fought, Serpeloths.”

  “These felt stronger,” Tristan let out a long sigh. “Or we’re just getting old.”

  “There were 7 of them,” Darius said as he stood near a wall carefully cleaning blood and venom off the blade of his axe.

  “Eight, you forgot the one Tobian killed,” Sirah said. The rogue walked up and patted Tobain on the shoulder.

  “What, no, I just,” Tobian sputtered as the praise registered in his mind.

  “You did g…” An explosion against her chest interrupted Sirah, throwing her across the room, Tobian to the side, and Tristan backward.

  As the air cleared, revealing a tall armored figure standing in the doorway to the room. Gleaming purple armor covered the massive man, easily a foot taller than Darius. Darius rushed forward, axe up high to swing. In his left hand he carried an enormous sword. In his right a large metal shield with multiple slits cut into it.

  Darius swung with his axe in a sweeping strike aimed at the man’s knees, crouching as he swung. The man dodged by leaping back. Darius jumped up and spun around, grabbing the axe with both hands as he completed the spin and bringing the blade down at the man’s head.

  The man’s sword disappeared, then instantly replaced with a large boulder. Darius’s axe slammed against the rock, the blade stopping, leaving a small crack. The man pushed the stone at Darius, causing the fighter to dance back to avoid it smashing his legs or feet.

  With Darius slightly off balance, the tall man rushed forward, slamming his shield against Darius. The shield glowed and Darius flew across the room, landing near Sirah.

  Sirah was chugging down a potion of sorts, her chest a bloody mess. The potion spilled around her mouth as her arm shook, trying to hold it against her lips.

  The massive sword reappeared in the tall man’s hand. He took several quick steps and stood over a sitting Professor. Holding his sword at the wizard's chest, he spoke. “Where’s Cyning Cwellan old man, I know you have it.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” The Professor choked out. His left hand started drawing a small circle on the ground to the side of him.

  Stomp! The tall man stomped down on the Professor's hand, evoking a scream of pain from the wizard. The warrior turned and looked at Tristan and Darius. “You move, I kill him, then you slowly. Give up the weapon.”

  Tobain picked himself up and pulled out his sword. He lifted it, trembling, hoping he could distract and buy time, “Stop, leave him be, or I’ll…”

  The tall man turned, his foot still on the Professor's hand, the sound of bones grinding was replaced with screams of pain. “Or you’ll what? Boy? I’ve scraped shit off my boots bigger than you.”

  “I mean it,” Tobian stood up straight, wishing he had a shield or armor.

  The man stood up and stared at the packwick, then without breaking eye contact, he reversed his grip on his sword so it pointed behind him. With a simple motion he stabbed blindly into the Professor, causing a moan of pain. He then twisted the blade evoking more screams.

  “Ha, you’re just a lootboy, I’ll leave you alive so you can pack their corpses up and take them.. wait, where did you get that sword?” He stares at the sword then turns and looks at the half-dead Professor on the floor. “The lootboy is using Cyning Cwellan. I didn’t realize you guys were simpletons. This isn’t murder. This is a mercy kill.”

  With a casual toss of his large sword, the blade flipped twice in the air, landing point down, deep into the Professor’s chest. In his other hand a large stone appeared, and he threw it directly at Tobian’s head. The rock flew through the air. A few feet in front of Tobain before he reacted; a blur appeared before the Packwick slamming into the stone, deflecting it one direction, while the blur careened off to the side, hitting the wall.

  Eryx picked himself off the floor, glaring at the man. “You shall not harm my charge.”

  Four crossbows appeared in the air near the large man, the first about three feet from the ground, then each a foot above the others. With impossibly fast reflexes he caught one, fired it, then it disappeared. Then caught the next as it fell to his hand, fired it, made it disappear. He repeated his, firing four crossbow bolts. Two hit Eryx, one came close to hitting Tobian.

  “Run Tobian!” Darius yelled as he ran toward the tall man.

  The tall man grabbed his shield and placed it between Darius and himself as he conjured his sword out of the air.

  Tobian ran, thinking he could reach the entrance and maybe get help. If the man followed him, it might buy time for Tristan to save the Professor.