Bloodsworn

Chapter 4.22 Battle of the Stone Hall pt. 2

22.

The latest chimera screamed as its spider half exploded in a wave of yellow goo. Its legs buckled under the weight of the blow, but this one held a crude spear that she stabbed down at him even as her legs folded. Erak swayed and let the rusting metal fly by him, twisting his hips to pull the hammer free. He spun it with a roll of his wrist so that the spike would be facing forward and then swung again.

Coldforged iron caved in the cadaverous chest and killed the chimera. It slumped to the side and against the three others he had already slain. Erak’s blood ran with every pulse of his heart and coated his shirt in a tacky layer. A scrape of a chimera leg had flayed a layer of his skin and muscle and he cursed not having his armor for the hundredth time.

“They’re slowing down, Erak.” Sammus said, his perch on a pile of chimera corpses allowed him to see past the horde and into the hall. Erak had lost how long they had fought at the entrance of the vault. Broken bodies lay in piles around the entrance that restricted the flow of more of their kind, the chimeras had scurried over the bodies with supernatural dexterity and had continued to break on Erak’s warhammer.

Even Erak’s prodigious stamina was strained by the constant fighting. His wounds from the burning lake hadn’t fully healed and the strain was starting to overwhelm him. Sweat slicked his face and chest and his lungs worked like bellows as he pulled air in heaving gasps as he looked toward the next of the spider monsters. It didn’t come though.

Nevia was crying with exhaustion, each breath a sob as her face gleamed with sweat. Her bladework remained brutally efficient even as she held her place against the thinning horde of corrupted dwarves. Pomp was nearly translucent again, his body thinned from his constant use of his powers. Sammus was sporting a bloodstained bandage around his left thigh and right arm was limp against his side, flayed to the bone by a spider’s leg.

“Erak. There’s one more. It’s big.” Sammus whispered the last part as he slid down the pile of corpses. Erak grunted and charged, tired legs churned with mechanical precision as he pushed his way out of the doorway and through the horde of dwarves. They shoved themselves aside to let him past, fear in their eyes as Erak burst out and into the hall again just in time to see what Sammus had seen.

Chimera Queen lvl. 38

Where the other chimeras had been emaciated and nearly cadaverous, this one was thick and healthy. Lush black hair fell down a definitively feminine upper half. Muscles bulged along her arms and back and her eyes were a radiant yellow that glowed with vitality. Even the spider half was more plump, the legs longer and covered in thick bristles down the length like hooks.

“You are the slayer?” Her voice was full throated and hearty and filled the hall as she towered above him. Her head nearly brushed along the top of the hall and she smiled predatorily at him as she ignored the pile of corpses. Erak stood there firm and unyielding as he hefted his newfound hammer up in an answer to her question.

She waited a moment and when he didn’t speak her small smile faded away and she crossed her wiry forearms. A pair of her legs clicked impatiently, rising and flailing on the stone menacingly. Erak waited, his aura still filling the room and urging him forward. If he just moved he would create an impetus that would be unstoppable, he could feel the weight of the energy behind him just waiting for him to push forward.

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The moment stretched longer and the weight of the room began to fade, his aura not being fed by the broken bodies of his foes. He needed to act or his advantage would be gone. A leg lashed at him, faster than he could blink, and he was forced to the side to avoid being spitted like a piece of meat.

His titles were there and he was ready to use them as he crossed the distance in a few strides, getting close to the giant chimera. Her long legs allowed her to keep the distance, slashing and dodging as she moved backward and away from him even as he rushed faster toward him. The tight confines of the hall restricted her movements and Erak caught her in a moment.

A huge leg came down to pin him to the ground, impossible to dodge. The inner layer of the creature’s defense was lacking, her certainty in the attack keeping her from defending against him. Invincible activated with a thought as the leg came to pierce him through his shoulder. The power behind the blow caused him to stumble but the spider leg bounced off his shoulder and Erak was in the creature’s face.

Momentum channeled the power of his aura and charge, a haze of power surrounding the hammer head as he brought it around toward the chimera’s midriff. Heavily muscled abdominals took the blow and Erak had a moment of thought that the monster would shrug off the hit. Then flesh split and the woman upper body folded in half and yellow blood burst from her lips to spray across the ground.

Erak spun and used the last of his spent momentum to rebound and raise the hammer up and over his head. The head of the chimera was exposed and vulnerable, black hair a curtain stretching to the ground. Heavy flat metal hit the back of the monster’s head and drove it into the ground.

Bone didn’t explode into a thousand pieces but her skull did crack the stone floor and send pieces of stone splinters flying everywhere. She groaned and a leg flashed across and hit Erak in the gut, bending him in half and tossing him to the side. He bounced off a wall as the hammer went sliding from his grip. He grunted and spat blood as he got back to his feet and looked at the chimera queen. She staggered back and forth a bit, one human hand holding her skull.

Blood dribbled out of her mouth and across her torso and onto her black spider body. One eye was coated in a mix of blood and hair while the other glared at him with rage as she started toward him with murder in her heart.

Pomp flew and landed on her back, claws dug into flesh and his jaws opened to dig into the woman’s neck. She stopped and reached back to grab at Pomp’s neck and Erak heard the bones breaking as the dragon was dragged free of the chimera’s back and held in front of her.

She broke the dragon’s neck with a twist of her arm, Pomp’s physical form shattering and the dragon spirit raced back toward Erak. He was feet away from the chimera, hammer reared back as the chimera looked confused as Pomp’s body dissolved out of her hands.

The spike of the warhammer came through and punched through the chest bone of the chimera as she still had the confused look on her face. Blood bubbled in another wave out of her mouth as she stood there paused while Erak looked up at her. The hammer was above him and he started to drag it down, shoulders bunching as the chimera stood frozen as the spike ripped downward.

Essence flowed into him and he saw the next level alert as the chimera queen died. Her long legs folded under her mountainous weight until she was nearly at his own eye level. A boot was placed against her spider body and with a grunt he pulled the hammer free as he looked around the demolished room.

It was filled with bodies. Hundreds of dead dwarves and nearly a score of the lesser chimera with the queen as the crown jewel of his victory. Erak leaned against the dead body and hung his head as he tried to regain his breath. Then he looked back at the vault and realized he was going to have to haul all of the contents back up to the upper levels. A groan rattled out of his chest as his head drooped even lower.