Star Warden: Slayer of Evil. Chapter 12

12

Carved from solid ice, the portcullis slammed shut behind him. He felt a hand of chill wind, cold as the reaper, touch his back. Icicles formed on his gauntlet and a creeping terrible presence laughed softly. A roar erupted from Dawnbringer as it was drawn from its scabbard. The illusion of the castle's presence slowly melted away as the walls and floors turned into a cavern of ice.

“So a new hand wields the blade,” spoke a terrible voice. “No, not one of the lowly Milesians or an ungrateful Faerie. Something else has entered here and alone.”

Sam declined to respond as he continued forward through the ice cave.

“Tell me, human, why wield the blade for this world? The Dark Lord's forces march ever onward. Do you think you can hide in the woods forever? Will the Powers protect you from our vengeance?”

Again the Warden did not dignify the demon's words with a response. He continued forward waiting for a strike or for it to alter the environment. He betrayed no fear with each step he took. The walls started to slowly shift and the sounds of little footsteps could be heard all around him. There were screams shouting from each direction, Sam did not let them draw him in.

Everything here was no more than an illusion. Every word, a lure, every noise, a trick. Like fighting the spider he ensured psychic static was playing in his mind, adding to his numerous defenses. Part of those defenses was created during his training with the Enchantress. During his recovery, he studied all he could while in the Silver Spire. He was trained enough to ensure that no one could manipulate his mind or body mentally and that he could ward off mental intrusions even if he was unconscious.

“The wards upon your helm are well made. You have a strong mind as well, Samuel Bailey. Oh yes, I know your name. The Dark Lord informed me of it. He knows you are here now and that you interfered in the dragon's capture. I wonder where is the Emissary? Where is the child of light?”

Sam kept his silence.

“I see. If diplomacy is not an option then we will have to settle this affair in combat.”

“Finally,” he thought. “I was growing tired of its chatter.” Ironically Sam would have enjoyed a trash talk before a fight, but he could not afford to be overconfident.

The seemingly infinite cavern came to an end and the Warden walked into an empty ice crater. A pitch-black sky and a wasteland covered in ice with rocks in the appearance of jagged teeth, perfectly aligned oddly enough, greeted him above the crater's lip.
The ground began to shake as the ice started to shift and melt under his feet. The sky changed colors becoming a mix of pink and red. While the jagged teeth began to shrink away with two new ones growing above him in the sky. They were much longer and sharper than the others with a polished point at the end.

The cold wasteland slowly was replaced by the colors of the sky giving him the thought he was floating. Sam started to feel something wet beneath his feet while the air around him became hot and thick. Looking down he saw what he believed to be a road that ended with a split, his eyes open in surprise as his mind put it together. He flew out at top speed and not a moment too soon as something slammed shut behind him.

He turned around and was face to face with a massive snake its scales white as snow and rainbow-colored flames for eyes. Metal spikes grew from its back and what he thought were sharp rocks were truly fangs. Fangs longer and sharper than a great sword with a glossy black metal sheen. 

“Smarter than you look.”

Sam responded with a swing of his sword and the demon hissed in pain.

“Enough talk!”

He took another swing cutting deep through its scales. Sludge flowed from its wound and Sam held back his need to retch inside his helmet. The odor emitting from the demon's wound was beyond description. The stench was so great that water started to painfully fall from his eyes and he was forced to close them. This left him open from an attack by the serpent's tail launching him into the void.

He landed on something hard and hot, opening up the visor with a click he quickly wiped his eyes. Vision cleared he closed the visor and found his surroundings were more of a volcanic wasteland. A loud hiss brought the Warden back to the state of full alert as the demonic snake re-appeared. It hurled a torrent of acid from its mouth and Sam's shield stood fast before it.

A bolt of lightning streaked by him emerging from one of the snake's spikes. He thanked Kaguya's enchantment for deflecting the shot then rocketed onto the demon's back. He cut through the spikes with ease down to the very stumps. His speed and agility evaded each act of retaliation.

The snake began to take flight as well twisting and turning while shooting streams of fire from its eyes. The fight between sword and fang began to resemble an aerial dogfight, if the demon thought it had the advantage that thought was dashed by Sam's skill. He cut through the beast and sliced it in half. The demonic ichor spilled out as the bottom half of the snake fell to the ground.

The environment around them started to shift once again and an intense force sent Sam to the ground. He landed on his feet feeling the press of intense gravity on his body. He grits his teeth and growled as the waves rippled through his muscles. Slowly he felt it dissipate as the environment solidified.

They were in a wooden great hall with a stained glass window framed by a ring of pink flowers. Sam smiled as the castle being restored was a clear sign that the demon's grip on reality was weakening. He could feel Kaguya's presence in the room her spirit surrounding him and cheering him on. He was excited that he was finally going to put the killing blow on his first demon and hoped that she was watching closely.

The demon would not make that blow easy as it reformed into a bipedal form appearing armed with a sword and shield made from its own scales. It had two extra pairs of eyes one set gold and the second set blood red. Its scales hardened to appear as alabaster stone and took a stance ready for battle.

Both warriors charged each other and gave no quarter. They blocked, countered, and parried when they could while harshly punishing any mistakes. The demon's chest then opened up like a mouth and spat a green substance onto the Warden's visor that hardened quickly. The demon wasted no time in brutally striking the Warden drawing blood with each swing. Poison from the blade seeped into Sam's wounds.

Another strike from the demon's tail sent Sam flying into a nearby wall adding to his pain. His wounds burned as if he were dumped in lava. He felt his body started to weaken and crumble as if he were aging quickly. He began to lose feeling in his limbs and chest. A voice in his head was telling him to stop and rest and he felt all his senses clog up as if grease were being poured on him.

He heard fading footsteps and his conscious mind said that the demon was fleeing time to rest. But his warrior instincts knew this was false! With great resolve, he stood and managed to deflect the demon's killing blow. He called upon his instincts, the Holy Spirit, and his strength of will to keep up the fight. He took another blow but returned a strike causing the demon to hiss again. He then struck with his shield to knock it back and then out one of its eyes.

Sluggish as he was and guided only by sound he kept up the fight exchanging a wound for a wound. In one of the demon's swings, he moved so that the blade hit the material around his visor. Visual restored he moved for a kill shot only to be blasted by the rainbow eyes.

The flames covered him fully with only the healing wards on him keeping him from succumbing on contact. His mind began to slow, his joints ached as they stiffened, his heart slowed. The demon launched another attack from his eyes sending bolts of lightning and waves of gravity which caused Sam to grit his teeth as the force began to crush his bones.

“You have failed, Champion! Yield now and you have my assurances that I will be lenient regarding your torture! At least for the first century or so.”

He ignored the demon's words and cried out in a great voice. “Dawnbringer!” blue fiery celestial runes appeared on the blade's surface. The white silver blade transmuted itself into holy fire and leapt forth to the demon. It recoiled in horror as the flames took away his sight and covered its body.

Sam rose to his feet as he felt the poison wane and charged at the demon. Blinded by the fire it could only put up a token resistance against the flaming sword. It attempted to flee only to have its legs cut from under it. Slithering away did it no good as the Warden grabbed its tail and dragged it back. He flipped it over and stuck his boot on his chest. The demon begged for quarter but silence was the Warden's response as he drove the sword into the demon's skull, splitting it open.

The flames traveled into the demon's very essence as it burned from the inside out while it was still pleading for mercy. The Warden watched as the spiritual essence of the demon left this plane and went back beyond the universe from whence it came. Once it was gone the Warden fell to the ground unconscious.

Chapter 13

Chapter 11