Demon Thwomping
Chocolate #10. Awe
Story : knights
Rating : R
Timeframe : Spring 1260
Word Count : 2061
Tristan shifted his weight along the stone shelf that served as a bench and gave a stretch and a yawn. He brought his arms to rest on the ledge of the tower’s broad window and returned to watching the slow progress of the party of knights and their heavily burdened pack horses towards the gates below.
Wyatt crowded in to peer over his shoulder at the new arrivals. “Not sure how a bunch of noble girls are supposed to be much help.” Tristan shrugged. Five more people to protect was hardly what he needed, but at least the nobility was finally taking notice of the situation.“Damn!”
Following his companion’s gaze, Tristan uttered a few choice phrases of his own at the dark shapes circling overhead. He elbowed Wyatt out of the way as he lunged for the stairs.
The two raced for the ground, the pounding of boots on stone echoing off the walls of the stairwell. Tristan threw the door open and stepped into the courtyard. He paid the baffled stable boys little notice as he and his friend retrieved their mounts.
“Open the gate,” he ordered the men on duty. They stared at him, too startled for words, but quick to comply. “Gather some backup,” he said, as the door creaked open. “We’ll bring them in as quick as we can, but there’s no telling what else is out there or how soon it’ll be here.”
Tristan spurred his horse forward. He had no need to look behind, as hoof beats close at hand told him Wyatt still followed. Ahead, five sets of eyes turned his way. Tristan quickly closed the distance and drew his horse to a stop before the band of knights.
With a brief glance, he took in their faces, wondering which might be the leader. Lady Masakari Burnoire, a strange name, leading him to half expect to find evidence of imperial blood among them. The blonde in the pale blue cloak at the head of the group seemed the most likely candidate, however poorly the name suited her. Though he addressed the entire party, it was on her his eyes settled.
“Good knights,” he began, in his best dealing with nobles tone. “I would welcome you to our humble fort, but I fear you are being followed.”
“We suspected as much,” said the blonde. “But we see no one.”
Tristan pointed skyward, to the two lazily swooping shadows. “There.”
The green cloaked redhead scowled. “We’re being followed by birds?” she said.
“Demon birds,” he said. “They’re often over this road. They’re too small to be of much danger themselves. It’s what comes after…” The leader nodded her understanding. “Come, you have to get to the fort. I’ve summoned my men, but if they attack in force…”
As if on cue, the pack horses came charging into their midst with a lone male rider in close pursuit. “Seems they’ve gotten tired of just watching,” the man said, turning his mount around to face the road behind, as three hulking figures, each larger than a man and mount combined, approached.
“You can’t be planning to hold your ground here,” Tristan said. “We should fall back to the fort.”
The red knight flashed a grin. “There are seven of us. We can handle three of them.” She drew her blade and brought her horse to stand beside her companion
The demons came towards them, grotesque composites of rotting flesh and brittle bone that moved with remarkable speed considering the awkward gate their disfigured bodies forced upon them. Even at a distance, the sharp fangs that lined the creatures’ oversized jaws could be seen, as they tore and snapped at the air before them.
“This is madness!” Tristan said, as steel flashed all around him. “I’ve never seen more than one this size before and it took at least a dozen men to bring the thing down!”
“At this pace,” said the leader, “they will surely meet us before we reach the fort. I should much prefer face them on my terms than find them at my back.”
He looked to Wyatt, who returned the same open-mouthed look of dumbfounded shock he imagined had settled on his own face.
“We’ve got the right,” the red knight said to the blue. Without waiting for a response, she steered her horse off the road, quickly followed by the man. The stirring of her cloak revealed her to be less heavily armored than Tristan. From his shape, he doubted the man wore armor at all and he had yet to even touch the sword that hung at his side.
The knights garbed in green and black made a similar, though far less hasty, move to flank the demons on the left, leaving Tristan and Wyatt to stand with their leader and the pack animals. “You can go back to the fort if you wish,” she said.
“You were sent here to help,” Tristan said. “Damned if I’m going to leave you to be slaughtered on my doorstep!”
There was a flicker of what he might have thought to be mirth in her steely eyes as she brought her horse around. In the time the manuver took her, Tristan edged his own mount to the front. He took his sword in hand, wondering how much protection he could hope to offer against the coming onslaught.
A loud pop and a hideous roar sounded from ahead, and Tristan turned to see the demon on the right stumble as its left foreleg suddenly fell to pieces. There was no one within reach of the thing. He looked back across the field, where the red knight and her companion were quickly closing in on the wounded beast. The man raised a hand and the demon gave another cry as an unseen force tore a hole in its side.
“Look out!” came the leader’s voice. Tristan’s horse staggered as hers made move to push it to the side.
He felt the blow before he could even think to raise his sword against it. The demon’s boney paw fell across his chest. His armor shielded him from the claws, but there was a sharp, painful snap from his ribs as it forced him from the saddle and into the air. Wyatt’s horse quickly sidestepped as he struck the ground at its feet.
The monster let out a shriek as the blue knight’s blade caught it across the jaw, sending teeth and fragments of bone flying. She ducked to the side as it snapped at her in retaliation and brought her blade crashing down on its neck. The demon’s body collapsed into a massive heap of bones and grey tattered flesh as its head rolled across the ground.
Another shout of warning from his left caught Tristan’s attention. He struggled to force enough breath into his lungs to pull himself to his feet as the third beast, heavily wounded but still more or less in one piece, came hurtling towards him with two knights in pursuit.
The demon’s rear leg spasmed and it turned its head to swipe at an attacker that was not present. Tristan rolled and scrambled across the ground as he suddenly found himself in the path of the blue knight and her charging warhorse. The monster lashed out at her with a crippled paw. She pulled to the side and the mangled talons harmlessly sliced the air. It reared its head in preparation for another strike. A crunch and another spasm along its rear brought its attention back to the unseen foe, and the knight surged forward.
Her horse slammed its shoulder into the demon’s ribs, sending it toppling to the ground. Sword in hand, she swung from the saddle and took a swipe at it. Her blade caught the thing across the shoulder, sliding through flesh and bone as easily as if they were butter. The demon’s leg struck the ground and fell into pieces.
It thrashed its massive skull at her and she caught the blow with the flat of her blade, sending shudders through both the demon’s head and her own arms. She quickly recovered and brought her weapon crashing down across the demon’s neck, cleaving its head from its body. The monster’s already prostrate from settled easily into the familiar motionless heap of its parts.
Tristan drew a shuddering breath as he pushed himself to hands and knees. Wyatt slipped from his mount and offered him a hand to drag him to his feet. The knight in blue calmly examined her horse for injuries as the remainder of her party drew near. His own horse wandered by, giving his hand a nudge with its nose as it passed. He caught hold of the bridle and drew the animal to a halt.
“Backup’s arrived,” said Wyatt with a nod in the direction of the fort. Tristan looked to the score or so of men that rode out in formation to meet them, as the knights gathered around their leader, who had returned to her saddle.
With a good deal of wincing and gasping, both of which he tried his best to conceal, Tristan hauled himself back into the saddle and turned to face the approaching troops.
“Captain?” called Leland from the front of the group. The blonde knight’s gaze fell on Tristan with a quizzical raise of her brow. “The demons, sir?”
“Taken care of,” he said as Leland, and those behind him, surveyed the monsters’ scattered remains.
“Captain, is it?” He wondered if she meant to mock him, but there was neither humor nor malice in the blue knight’s tone.
Tristan turned to face her and the movement spiked the pain in his chest. He gritted his teeth, determined not to show so much as another hint of weakness. “Yeah,” he said. “Name’s Tristan. Wyatt.” He gestured in his direction. “Too many others to name.” He nodded at the rest.
“Masakari Romilinas Burnoire,” said the blue knight, with a salute and that same emotionless tone. Cold blue eyes cast him an appraising look. “My squadron. But introductions can wait. You are hurt.”
He would have shrugged or waved off her concern if he hadn’t been sure either motion would cause a significant amount of pain. “A cracked rib or two. Nothing to be done with it. And I’ve had worse.”
“Nonsense,” she said. “Rune?”
The lone man in the party came to inspect him from over Masakari’s shoulder. He was easily more than a head taller than any of the knights and the way his cloak sagged over his boney frame, Tristan was certain there was not a scrap of armor on him. Rune frowned and shook his head.
“Ribs are tricky,” he said. “Show me the infirmary when we get inside and I’ll take a look.”
“Really,” Tristan said. “You don’t need to trouble-”
“It’s no trouble,” he said.
“Can we move on to the fort already?” the red caped knight demanded.
Her companions shot her reproachful looks. “Lyssa,” Masakari reprimanded.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with wanting to get back to a place with decent food and a proper bed.”
“Neither do I,” Tristan said. “Let’s go.”
The knights proceded forward, Rune shaking his head with a smile at Lyssa as their paths met. The men turned to escort them to the fort. Tristan held back, motioning to Wyatt to do the same. His friend eyed him questioningly as he slowed his pace to remain beside him.
“What the hell just happened?” Tristan asked, keeping his voice low as the two trailed behind the rest.
“Sir?’ Tristan scowled at Wyatt. The man never called him sir.
“They were hitting those things without even touching them.”
“Maybe we just imagined-”
“They blew the damned leg off of one of them. I did not imagine that. And you were standing right next to me when she hacked the other apart. Don’t tell me you didn’t see-”
“Demon bones are brittle. They break without too much trouble.”
“That’s just it!” Tristan strained to keep his volume in check. “Demon bones are brittle. They shatter, they crunch, they don’t just fall away.”
“Then how do you explain?”
“I can’t.” He shook his head. “They’re something else. She’s something else.” His eyes strayed to the blue knight, who rode ahead with her party with a quiet composure that suggested she thought nothing to be unusual about what had just transpired.
Story : knights
Rating : R
Timeframe : Spring 1260
Word Count : 2061
Tristan shifted his weight along the stone shelf that served as a bench and gave a stretch and a yawn. He brought his arms to rest on the ledge of the tower’s broad window and returned to watching the slow progress of the party of knights and their heavily burdened pack horses towards the gates below.
Wyatt crowded in to peer over his shoulder at the new arrivals. “Not sure how a bunch of noble girls are supposed to be much help.” Tristan shrugged. Five more people to protect was hardly what he needed, but at least the nobility was finally taking notice of the situation.“Damn!”
Following his companion’s gaze, Tristan uttered a few choice phrases of his own at the dark shapes circling overhead. He elbowed Wyatt out of the way as he lunged for the stairs.
The two raced for the ground, the pounding of boots on stone echoing off the walls of the stairwell. Tristan threw the door open and stepped into the courtyard. He paid the baffled stable boys little notice as he and his friend retrieved their mounts.
“Open the gate,” he ordered the men on duty. They stared at him, too startled for words, but quick to comply. “Gather some backup,” he said, as the door creaked open. “We’ll bring them in as quick as we can, but there’s no telling what else is out there or how soon it’ll be here.”
Tristan spurred his horse forward. He had no need to look behind, as hoof beats close at hand told him Wyatt still followed. Ahead, five sets of eyes turned his way. Tristan quickly closed the distance and drew his horse to a stop before the band of knights.
With a brief glance, he took in their faces, wondering which might be the leader. Lady Masakari Burnoire, a strange name, leading him to half expect to find evidence of imperial blood among them. The blonde in the pale blue cloak at the head of the group seemed the most likely candidate, however poorly the name suited her. Though he addressed the entire party, it was on her his eyes settled.
“Good knights,” he began, in his best dealing with nobles tone. “I would welcome you to our humble fort, but I fear you are being followed.”
“We suspected as much,” said the blonde. “But we see no one.”
Tristan pointed skyward, to the two lazily swooping shadows. “There.”
The green cloaked redhead scowled. “We’re being followed by birds?” she said.
“Demon birds,” he said. “They’re often over this road. They’re too small to be of much danger themselves. It’s what comes after…” The leader nodded her understanding. “Come, you have to get to the fort. I’ve summoned my men, but if they attack in force…”
As if on cue, the pack horses came charging into their midst with a lone male rider in close pursuit. “Seems they’ve gotten tired of just watching,” the man said, turning his mount around to face the road behind, as three hulking figures, each larger than a man and mount combined, approached.
“You can’t be planning to hold your ground here,” Tristan said. “We should fall back to the fort.”
The red knight flashed a grin. “There are seven of us. We can handle three of them.” She drew her blade and brought her horse to stand beside her companion
The demons came towards them, grotesque composites of rotting flesh and brittle bone that moved with remarkable speed considering the awkward gate their disfigured bodies forced upon them. Even at a distance, the sharp fangs that lined the creatures’ oversized jaws could be seen, as they tore and snapped at the air before them.
“This is madness!” Tristan said, as steel flashed all around him. “I’ve never seen more than one this size before and it took at least a dozen men to bring the thing down!”
“At this pace,” said the leader, “they will surely meet us before we reach the fort. I should much prefer face them on my terms than find them at my back.”
He looked to Wyatt, who returned the same open-mouthed look of dumbfounded shock he imagined had settled on his own face.
“We’ve got the right,” the red knight said to the blue. Without waiting for a response, she steered her horse off the road, quickly followed by the man. The stirring of her cloak revealed her to be less heavily armored than Tristan. From his shape, he doubted the man wore armor at all and he had yet to even touch the sword that hung at his side.
The knights garbed in green and black made a similar, though far less hasty, move to flank the demons on the left, leaving Tristan and Wyatt to stand with their leader and the pack animals. “You can go back to the fort if you wish,” she said.
“You were sent here to help,” Tristan said. “Damned if I’m going to leave you to be slaughtered on my doorstep!”
There was a flicker of what he might have thought to be mirth in her steely eyes as she brought her horse around. In the time the manuver took her, Tristan edged his own mount to the front. He took his sword in hand, wondering how much protection he could hope to offer against the coming onslaught.
A loud pop and a hideous roar sounded from ahead, and Tristan turned to see the demon on the right stumble as its left foreleg suddenly fell to pieces. There was no one within reach of the thing. He looked back across the field, where the red knight and her companion were quickly closing in on the wounded beast. The man raised a hand and the demon gave another cry as an unseen force tore a hole in its side.
“Look out!” came the leader’s voice. Tristan’s horse staggered as hers made move to push it to the side.
He felt the blow before he could even think to raise his sword against it. The demon’s boney paw fell across his chest. His armor shielded him from the claws, but there was a sharp, painful snap from his ribs as it forced him from the saddle and into the air. Wyatt’s horse quickly sidestepped as he struck the ground at its feet.
The monster let out a shriek as the blue knight’s blade caught it across the jaw, sending teeth and fragments of bone flying. She ducked to the side as it snapped at her in retaliation and brought her blade crashing down on its neck. The demon’s body collapsed into a massive heap of bones and grey tattered flesh as its head rolled across the ground.
Another shout of warning from his left caught Tristan’s attention. He struggled to force enough breath into his lungs to pull himself to his feet as the third beast, heavily wounded but still more or less in one piece, came hurtling towards him with two knights in pursuit.
The demon’s rear leg spasmed and it turned its head to swipe at an attacker that was not present. Tristan rolled and scrambled across the ground as he suddenly found himself in the path of the blue knight and her charging warhorse. The monster lashed out at her with a crippled paw. She pulled to the side and the mangled talons harmlessly sliced the air. It reared its head in preparation for another strike. A crunch and another spasm along its rear brought its attention back to the unseen foe, and the knight surged forward.
Her horse slammed its shoulder into the demon’s ribs, sending it toppling to the ground. Sword in hand, she swung from the saddle and took a swipe at it. Her blade caught the thing across the shoulder, sliding through flesh and bone as easily as if they were butter. The demon’s leg struck the ground and fell into pieces.
It thrashed its massive skull at her and she caught the blow with the flat of her blade, sending shudders through both the demon’s head and her own arms. She quickly recovered and brought her weapon crashing down across the demon’s neck, cleaving its head from its body. The monster’s already prostrate from settled easily into the familiar motionless heap of its parts.
Tristan drew a shuddering breath as he pushed himself to hands and knees. Wyatt slipped from his mount and offered him a hand to drag him to his feet. The knight in blue calmly examined her horse for injuries as the remainder of her party drew near. His own horse wandered by, giving his hand a nudge with its nose as it passed. He caught hold of the bridle and drew the animal to a halt.
“Backup’s arrived,” said Wyatt with a nod in the direction of the fort. Tristan looked to the score or so of men that rode out in formation to meet them, as the knights gathered around their leader, who had returned to her saddle.
With a good deal of wincing and gasping, both of which he tried his best to conceal, Tristan hauled himself back into the saddle and turned to face the approaching troops.
“Captain?” called Leland from the front of the group. The blonde knight’s gaze fell on Tristan with a quizzical raise of her brow. “The demons, sir?”
“Taken care of,” he said as Leland, and those behind him, surveyed the monsters’ scattered remains.
“Captain, is it?” He wondered if she meant to mock him, but there was neither humor nor malice in the blue knight’s tone.
Tristan turned to face her and the movement spiked the pain in his chest. He gritted his teeth, determined not to show so much as another hint of weakness. “Yeah,” he said. “Name’s Tristan. Wyatt.” He gestured in his direction. “Too many others to name.” He nodded at the rest.
“Masakari Romilinas Burnoire,” said the blue knight, with a salute and that same emotionless tone. Cold blue eyes cast him an appraising look. “My squadron. But introductions can wait. You are hurt.”
He would have shrugged or waved off her concern if he hadn’t been sure either motion would cause a significant amount of pain. “A cracked rib or two. Nothing to be done with it. And I’ve had worse.”
“Nonsense,” she said. “Rune?”
The lone man in the party came to inspect him from over Masakari’s shoulder. He was easily more than a head taller than any of the knights and the way his cloak sagged over his boney frame, Tristan was certain there was not a scrap of armor on him. Rune frowned and shook his head.
“Ribs are tricky,” he said. “Show me the infirmary when we get inside and I’ll take a look.”
“Really,” Tristan said. “You don’t need to trouble-”
“It’s no trouble,” he said.
“Can we move on to the fort already?” the red caped knight demanded.
Her companions shot her reproachful looks. “Lyssa,” Masakari reprimanded.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with wanting to get back to a place with decent food and a proper bed.”
“Neither do I,” Tristan said. “Let’s go.”
The knights proceded forward, Rune shaking his head with a smile at Lyssa as their paths met. The men turned to escort them to the fort. Tristan held back, motioning to Wyatt to do the same. His friend eyed him questioningly as he slowed his pace to remain beside him.
“What the hell just happened?” Tristan asked, keeping his voice low as the two trailed behind the rest.
“Sir?’ Tristan scowled at Wyatt. The man never called him sir.
“They were hitting those things without even touching them.”
“Maybe we just imagined-”
“They blew the damned leg off of one of them. I did not imagine that. And you were standing right next to me when she hacked the other apart. Don’t tell me you didn’t see-”
“Demon bones are brittle. They break without too much trouble.”
“That’s just it!” Tristan strained to keep his volume in check. “Demon bones are brittle. They shatter, they crunch, they don’t just fall away.”
“Then how do you explain?”
“I can’t.” He shook his head. “They’re something else. She’s something else.” His eyes strayed to the blue knight, who rode ahead with her party with a quiet composure that suggested she thought nothing to be unusual about what had just transpired.