The grotesqueries lashed out at each other in pain and madness. The skeletal ogre howled as one of his fellows pulled his wings off, blood and acid spraying around them. A creature with two heads snapped at a misshapen beast who was on all fours. A dwarf spotted with scales had buried his head in his hands and was weeping uncontrollably. As Varek watched, this dwarf was skewered on the long talons of one of his fellows.
“They’re slaying each other,” he said in awe.
“They’re caught in the madness!” the child cried. “I must finish the spell. Aldor! Slay the elf! Then stop this flea who pesters me!”
“Ssspawn kill elf,” Aldor stated. His eyes glimmered darkly.
“I’m a half-elf,” Riki returned defiantly.
As the spawn let loose a breath, Riki ducked, the gout of acid passing over her head and misting behind her. Without pause, she jumped back up and swept her blade in, jamming the tip into Aldor’s chest. She pressed her attack, trying to drive the spawn back into Nura, who was busy stirring the draconian blood again, ignoring Varek.
The spawn crouched low as Riki lunged, spread its arms wide, and tried to grab her. But the half-elf was fast and sidestepped, bringing the blade up and slashing at its throat. The half-elf slammed her eyes shut and turned her head, and a heartbeat later the big spawn dissolved in a cloud of acid that rained down on her and Varek and Nura.
“No!” Nura howled. The acid mixed with the sivak blood and sizzled in the wooden bowl.
“Noooooo!”
Only two of her prized spawn were nearby. The transforming creatures had managed to dispatch several in their maddened fury. Nura gestured to her servants.
“To me!” she cried. “Hurry, my spawn!”
Inside what remained of the pen, only a dozen creatures were standing. Dhamon had managed to pull himself through the railing. He rolled onto his back, coughing, trying to clear his lungs of the last of the red mist. He felt about on his chest, which was marked by raw wounds from where he’d ripped out the scales. His fingers flew over his skin, trying to find more of the scales, digging at a couple near his waist. His strength returning, he lumbered to his feet and backed away, wanting to put a greater distance between himself and the pen. The swamp was so close behind him. It would be easy to lose himself in it. Lose himself. Save himself.
“Maldred.” The thought of his friend was the only thing that kept Dhamon from running away. “Got to clear my head,” he told himself. “Concentrate.” There were still thoughts of power, of hunger, of serving Nura Bint-Drax. “Nura. Nura. Nura,” he heard himself say. “No!”
Dhamon focused his thoughts on Maldred and Rikali. He peered at the grotesque fracas, but all he saw were the repulsive and deformed creatures. All he heard were their screams as they fought each other.
He finally spotted Maldred in the center of the mass. Dhamon shuddered. There were traces of his friend that he could recognize, the blue skin and mane of white hair, but patches of black scales covered most of his arms and his chest, and a serpentine tail twitched behind him. His ogre face was distorted and dragonlike, though no scales marred it.
Dhamon turned away and raced toward the closest hut, one in which he remembered seeing weapons. Moments later he emerged, carrying two swords, and he made a dash toward Nura and the two spawn who formed a guard around toward her.
He saw Varek, who was a mass of boils and scars, his clothes and hair melted away. Dhamon shoved one of the swords into his acid-blistered hands.
“The little girl,” Varek gasped, as he faced a spawn that had appeared in front of him. “Kill her, Dhamon. Protect Riki.”
“I’ll kill the little girl all right,” Dhamon growled, as he dove at the second spawn and, in two quick slashes, killed it. “I’ll send her straight to the Abyss. I’ll…”
His words died as he saw Nura shimmer, grow, and change. Within the passing of a few heartbeats, the child calling herself Nura Bint-Drax was gone. Something else entirely stood in her place.
“The breath of the world!” Varek gasped. “What is that?”
“I don’t care what it is,” Dhamon answered. “I just need to know if it can bleed. Because if it can bleed, I’m going to kill the damn thing.”
Where Nura had stood now was something that resembled a snake. Only this snake was easily twenty feet long and thick, with alternating bands of black and red scales that sparkled like jewels in the sunlight. The bulk of its body was elevated like a cobra hovering above the ground. Its head was not that of a snake, it was that of the evil child, copper-colored hair fanning away from it like a hood. A small knife still protruded from one side, the one the half-elf had drove into the little girl. The creature’s lidless eyes were eerily fixed on Rikali, as it wove back and forth hypnotically.
“You’ve ruined my plans, elf. Stopped my spell! Destroyed nearly all the precious creatures I was birthing.” She swivelled her head toward the pen, to three fully formed abominations that stood apart from the other wretches. “To me, children!”
Dhamon spun to intercept the misshapen abominations that followed Nura’s orders, climbing out of the pen. He drew the long sword back. The blade caught the sun, and the edge sparkled so brightly that one of the creatures—one with six arms and two tails—shielded its eyes and hesitated. That was long enough for Dhamon to drive the blade down, cutting deep into the chest of the monstrosity. Like a spawn, it died in a burst of acid.
There were two more abominations. Varek jumped in front of one to keep it from reaching Riki. Dhamon met the charge of the third abomination, this a creature that looked more like a spawn, save for the third arm dangling uselessly from its chest. This beast also seemed mesmerized by the light playing off the sword. One swing and Dhamon had lopped off the worthless appendage, another swing and he’d managed to cleave the creature’s right arm. The abomination yowled, stepping back and looking with uncertainty between Dhamon and Nura. Dhamon darted forward, the sword held in front of him. It pierced the creature’s abdomen, and he was rewarded with a shower of acid that ate at his skin and trousers. Without pause he whirled toward Nura, passing Varek, who was still struggling with his foe.
“Riki, leave the snake-woman to me!”
“I can’t seem to hurt her, Dhamon!” Riki was shouting as she slashed with the small blade.
“I can more than hurt you,” Nura returned. She opened her mouth, revealing a row of sharply pointed teeth. Something glistening dripped from them, sizzling when it hit the ground. Lightning fast, the snake struck, her head darting forward, teeth digging into Riki’s cheek.
“Pigs!” the half-elf screeched. “That hurt! Like fire!”
In the same instant, Dhamon swung his sword and watched in amazement as it only grazed the snake creature’s scaly hide. It would have been a killing blow to a spawn or an abomination. At least he’d finally drawn blood, he observed, as he swung again and again, aiming at the same spot and finally making a noticeable groove in the thick flesh.
“Riki! Get back!” Dhamon shouted.
“Damn you, Dhamon Grimwulf! You weren’t worried about me when you left me all alone in Blöten! Why worry about me now?” The half-elf swiped at the snake creature again and again, nicking it with her little knife. “Bite me, will you, Nura Bint-Drax? I knew you really weren’t no little girl.”
Nura grinned malevolently and struck again, ignoring Dhamon in favor of the half-elf. This time her teeth sunk into Rikali’s arm, and as Nura pulled back, the half-elf crumpled.
“Monster!” Dhamon spat. “Face me!” He put all of his considerable strength into his next swing, and when he connected, blood and scales flew.
Nura raised herself high off the ground, balancing on her snake tail and pivoting to give Dhamon her full attention. “You are strong, human,” she hissed, “I truly believe you are the one.”