Chapter 80
Chapter 80
“One.”
Tanila let out the breath she had been holding for the last three seconds. She lowered herself slightly, her center of gravity just how it needed to be for her feet to stay light. Sog came at her the moment Max had spoken that last word.
The demon crossed about a quarter mile in what felt like an instant.
[ Air Wall ]
Her mind acted on instinct, casting spells with barely a thought. All those fights in the tower and the moments in Dagon’s training area had prepared her for this. Air hardened and absorbed Sog’s first slash. The blade bounced off the wall, and the demon sidestepped, his second sword aimed at her knee.
[ Stone Wall ]
A block of stone appeared, part of it shattering from the impact it had been struck by. Tanila stepped back slightly, the blade missing her by inches.
Sog never stopped his onslaught. He continued to attack, both blades moving in a crisscross pattern. Everything he did was an attempt to find an opening and cut her. Tanila likewise used her battle experience and spells to avoid the flurry of blades. Sog was fast and strong. Every strike that struck one of her spells had force behind it. The demon wasn’t playing around. Each attack that came at her already had a second one lined up to follow.
Tanila kept him on her left front shoulder, twisting and turning to make herself a smaller target. Not once did she let herself become centered on him. Doing so would mean, both blades could catch her in the middle. She kept shifting in different directions, staying slightly ahead of him. His left sword went for her belly with a half-turn feint she had seen Max and Miranna use a few times.
He’s just like Max. He’s probing to see how I’ll respond.
[ Air Wall ]
She turned the wall into an attack, using it to push back instead of blocking it. Sog slid back a step as the wall impacted his chest before the demon dug his feet into the stone floor. Then he attacked again. Now, a row of sharp teeth was present as he grinned at her..
“Running already?” Sog taunted between attacks.
“Just learning your style,” Tanila replied, moving as she spoke. Her golden eyes were fixed upon the mountain of muscle housed beneath black skin.
She swung her staff, sweeping up in a broad arc. It was an awful attack, and he took the opening, stepping inside the swing to cut her thigh.
The staff vanished from her hands.
[ Ice Wall ]
[ Ice Nova ]
The rune she’d set behind her, activated as she moved. A wall of ice rose between them right as the wave of magic washed out around her. His foot slipped when he tried to stand on the ice-covered stone. Sog didn’t fall, but the shift in his step made him lose his momentum; the wall that separated them provided Tanila with the distraction she had needed.
[ Ice Spear ]
A spear as thick as a tree trunk tore out of the floor under his ribs. Sog twisted, able to dodge the main part of the attack, only having to sacrifice the outside of his left arm. The ice exploded into tiny shards. Black blood created steam as the cold spell connected with the demon’s life force.
Sog’s eyes widened, a glimmer of something that looked like madness. “Finally, a real fight!”
Heat gathered around the demon, and a black flame, shaped like a fan, appeared. It erupted from his chest like a blanket; the spell covered hers as it raced along the ground toward Tanila.
[ Air Dome ]
The air around Tanila hardened and curved, forming a barrier she hoped would stand up against her first taste of this demon’s magic. The flame washed over the dome, flowing around it. The stone under her boots seemed almost to buzz as the magic they unleashed at each other covered it. Tanila ignored it, knowing that focusing on anything but this moment would lead to pain and losing if she misjudged anything.
Sog drove a sword into the side of her dome and then slammed his chest against the pommel. Her protective barrier struggled against the force being applied and started to separate. The moment an opening appeared, Sog’s second blade slid into the gap, point first. It came at her, missing her by a few inches as the dome finally broke.
[ Blink ]
Tanila vanished and reappeared fifty yards left, completing the spell she had been working on before she had fled.
[ Rune — Bind ]
All those lessons she had been teaching the new mages weren’t just for them. Tanila had practiced and adapted, honing her own magic. The understanding of what she could do and what it could become was born in those moments. The sigil she had created was set in the stone where she’d been standing. When Sog’s foot touched that spot, bands of power rose and tightened around his calves and thighs. The demon grunted, and the cords strained under the power he exerted. She had earned a second, maybe a moment more.
Sog was strong, and whatever pressure he exuded was enough to break the bindings. They snapped, and he tore free, charging at her again.
At least he seems to have a one-track mind.
Tanila gave up ground and made him follow the path she set. Short bursts of magic were her reply to a pair of swords that would easily cut through her flesh if given a chance. Every step he took was marked with runes that Tanila was prepared to activate later.
Realization must have set in as she saw his eyes narrow, and she focused on the ground for a moment. Sog suddenly changed his approach, using a short hop to move elsewhere.
Tanila wanted to smile, but she didn’t. Sog hadn’t seen the second rune she had just created.
[ Rune — Delay Fire ]
The rune pulsed, waiting for his weight to activate it. When Sog crossed that spot, the rune erupted, venting straight up like a volcanic fountain. Bright white flames covered the demon's chest and head. Sog moved through the spell without reacting, still coming at her, his left blade held high, while his right blade was low.
While Tanila had moved toward this spot for this fight, she had spent time deciding where and how to hurt her demonic friend. There was no hate or anger toward him, yet an inferno of power raged within her. In her mind, Sog was trying to take something from her. Max, her daughter, and the people in her city. She willed that intent, praying Bob was right, and felt the power of her bloodline roaring through her.
[ Mage Shield ]
The shield formed right before the metal cut her robe. It absorbed the low attack and diverted the blade.
Sog didn’t look surprised, his face still appearing to enjoy this moment. He knew partially what she could do. Instead, he continued his onslaught.
[ Ice Spear ]
She put the spear where the right sword attack had pulled Sog’s weight down slightly. The icy shaft caught his left calf, the frozen point driving through and pinning him to the stone. His body jerked and his movement was altered. His left blade came downward, but it was off. Tanila danced clear of the attack, gaining a little distance from her opponent.
Sog tore free a moment later. The room was filled with the sound of tearing flesh. Yet not once did the demon stop his advance.
Three Imps appeared in the air beside him—winged and ugly, with claws like knives.
They shrieked at her before spreading out. Two came at her from the air, while one darted near the ground toward her back.
[ Frost Nova ]
Tanila was surprised that Sog could summon these creatures since he had never done so before. A white wave of ice washed out from her and covered the floor. The imp near the floor couldn’t dodge it. Its body froze, shattering when it tumbled to the floor. The remaining two imps in the air avoided the spell and came at her, spitting black bolts of something nasty and wet.
Tanila unleashed a bolt of lightning at the closest imp. It popped like a pimple, vanishing as the bolt arced toward the second one, finding its fate ending the same way as the first.
“Nice children,” Tanila taunted. “They look just like you.”
Sog didn’t reply, simply taking the opening the trio had created. He closed the distance, and both swords became a single attack from above. The two blades came down with what appeared to be all the force he could give.
Choosing not to see how that might feel, Tanila used her spells to aid in her escape.
[ Air Wall ]
The protective barrier she knew wouldn’t stop that attack, instead shoved her backwards along the floor. The blades struck the stone, sending a shock through the room. The new arena didn’t even seem to notice the strike. No chip was sent flying from the force that it had just been hit with.
Tanila reset her feet and activated two of the runes she had set earlier. Everywhere her feet had touched, a rune was set. She was pouring mana into them at an alarming rate. It was one of the reasons why she wasn’t using Blink more.
[ Rune — Delay Frost ]
[ Rune — Delay Stone ]
Sog’s ankle hit the frost rune, and it caused the demon to skid. His heel was slightly off and he couldn’t pivot how he wanted. Next came the stone rune, erupting into a waist-high pillar under his hip. The combination threw him off-balance, and Tanila didn’t waste the moment.
[ Stone Lance ]
A sharp point surged up from the floor toward his planted foot. Sog flung himself sideways, the stone spell only tearing into his foot instead of piercing all the way through his ankle. The demon fell another step behind in the battle, Tanila gladly accepting every moment she could gain..
Sog scowled, his eyes locked on her. He rotated his shoulders once, setting himself again as his wounds pulled closed faster than a normal body should.
Demonic flesh. Not as fast as Max’s, but still, I figured it would be a problem.
“Come on,” he said, regripping his swords. “Stop dancing around like a dwarf.”
“Make me,” she replied, setting more traps as she continued to move.
Tanila held out her staff at an odd angle again. Sog stepped inside the space she created once more, one sword aimed at her staff. Max had taught her many things about fighting over the time they had spent together. Their old trainer, Tom, had shown her methods of using her spells that she had never considered. With a hundred years to do nothing but find ways to spend the time, Tanila had discovered the true potential of her spells. Staves weren’t for hitting. Sure, they could be used for that but they could serve as so much more. They could be anchors . Anchors for walls and air she could move off of.
Sog’s blade came for her shoulder.
[ Air Wall ]
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The wall slammed into her as she used the compressed air against herself. Sog’s blade moved through empty space. Tanila was already traveling backward and to the right—never straight back. As she twisted, Tanila found out that while math was great and the idea that one might be able to figure out how far a sword can really reach, one’s calculations can be wrong. Sog’s second blade had created a red line across her forearm as he attacked. Tanila used another air wall to move her further back. She didn’t look at the wound, knowing it wasn’t deep, yet it burned with a lingering pain.
[ Demonic Magic - Resisted ]
His reach was more than she had realized, and the smirk on the demon’s face showed that he hadn’t been attacking with everything. His blades could have reached further on those earlier strikes. Just like she was setting him up for what she wanted to do, Sog was doing the same.
He’s not mindless… he’s trying to plan something.
Tanila set a pair of delayed runes and kept working him in the direction she wanted to go. His feet barely made a sound now as he glided across the stone floor. Unlike when he had been walking down the hallways earlier, Sog chose to be light on his feet..His eyes had that bright glow demons sometimes had.
He made his adjustments as the fight drew on. Sog stopped chasing her down the path she wanted him to. Instead, he forged his own path, taking diagonal steps and committing to a new approach. It was the right call, and any well-trained fighter would have pivoted out of such an approach. Tanila didn’t.
[ Stone Prison ]
Four columns punched up in a square where she’d been moving, surrounding her. They locked in like fingers closing and made a box. Sog's sword stopped its swing as Tanila vanished inside. Quickly, he ducked partially inside, and she smiled.
Sog realized a half beat too late that the prison wasn’t a protective area for her.
[ Frost Spike ]
The prison served as walls for the next spell. Ice erupted inward from all sides, converged, and filled the box in a moment with a chunk of ice that would have frozen a normal man solid. Sog wasn’t a normal man, and he also wasn’t completely in the box. Only his torso and right arm were within the trap when it was sprung..
Ice cracked and steamed as Sog roared, jerking backwards, ripping himself free from the ice and stone prison. He staggered back, resetting himself again. His right forearm hung in pieces, reforming as he snarled.
Tanila swallowed the curse she had almost let out, choosing instead to keep moving. She’d planned it as a way to injure him, not kill him. It had done its job. Anything extra would have been a bonus. She had just delivered a message that what she could do was more than Sog had imagined.
Even with a right arm that didn’t work and a body that was dripping blood, Sog came again at her, faster, and lower. He didn’t talk now. She didn’t either.
He summoned three more imps and sent them on a wide circle. This time, they stayed high as they launched an attack. Tanila knew they were simply distractions. The blade in his left hand was the real threat.
Tanila charged two more hidden runes. She needed him to commit to one path. He’d stopped committing after her prison had torn away some of his flesh.
Sog feinted right and thrust at her. He gave her the line she needed. He slipped his left blade between her staff and her ribs and held it there to pin her angle. Tanila realized it hadn’t been meant to impale her but instead trap her. It was a wedge. His regrowing arm and hand came at her, a black blade appearing as it moved.
[ Ice Spear ]
At that range, with the wedge locking them both in place, the spear didn’t have to travel. It formed under his right foot and drove upward through his thigh. It lifted him two feet off the ground and pinned him against the curved wall they had moved next to.
He growled and tried to kick off the stone wall.
[ Rune — Bind ]
The rune under his other heel ignited and took hold. Bands snapped around that leg and locked him in place. Sog tore one, and then another. The spear kept him pinned for a moment as black blood ran down along the icy shaft.
Tanila changed the dance they had been taking part in, knowing the moment for the end was at hand.
[ Lightning Lash ]
The bolt arced along both swords at once, the current of electricity flowed through the metal and into his body. Sog arched backward, letting out a curse she didn’t know..
[ Flame Snap ]
She burned the three imps as they came to help their summoner.
Sog ripped himself off the spear, landing on the ground and let out a growl that echoed through the room. This new wound closed more slowly than the others. He was still dangerous, and Tanila didn’t make the mistake of assuming danger was gone.
He lowered his shoulders and charged through the air wall she had erected between them. It broke, and he stepped into her range with both swords.
She gave up ground and used the last of the runes she’d set.
[ Rune — Delay Stone ]
[ Rune — Delay Frost ]
Tanila figured Sog must have felt the pulse, as he suddenly hopped to the side, avoiding the first rune. He missed the second by a hair, and ice locked down only his left ankle, making his attacks go wide.
[ Air Wall ]
The hardened air shoved him into the wall of the arena, and he bounced off, recovering faster than she had expected. Chuckling for a second.
His laughter was lower than before. “You’re making this funnier than I had hoped.”
He flicked a hand, and another curtain of black fire came at her. Tanila had to step outside the path she had wanted to follow, but her choices were limited. Get burned or avoid it. Sog’s blades came at her, and Tanila barely had to react.
[ Stone Wall ]
Her boot shoved off the summoned stone, and Tanila used her own strength to dodge the black blades.
Sog changed the rhythm of his attacks. Both swords now moved in a chopping motion, no longer the elegant or smooth patterns they had been before. How they appeared didn’t matter because they would be deadly if either blade cut a thigh or knee.
She didn’t give him that chance.
[ Air Wall ]
His attacks slashed through the space her legs had been, and as her own spell pushed her to safety, Tanila hit him with the spell she had been forming near the ceiling of the arena.
[ Stone Boulder ]
It fell like a rock, a rock the size of a horse, and slammed into his clavicle and shoulder that had taken the ice spear earlier. The impact of stone and demon thudded through the room. For the first time in this fight, Sog dropped to a knee.
This was her window, the moment Tanila had been waiting for.
[ Ice Pillar ]
It erupted upward from under his bent knee. Sog’s reforming right hand smashed the pillar with two hard blows. Tanila thought it should have sheared his leg completely off, but he had managed to salvage the upper part, escaping with only a massive hole that had removed the back half of his leg. He slowly stood on one working leg, his breathing becoming less steady.
She knew demons didn’t tire like men. Sog was even worse because he was a god. But Tanila also knew that eventually, you could wear down a mountain with enough time and force.
[ Stone Root ]
The simple spell so many mages learned to help their parties deal with multiple monsters rose around his ankles and locked like solid metal. Sog slashed at it, and his blade took pieces off.
[ Lightning Pike ]
It pierced his body, a bolt of hot, blazing energy, running Sog through from his hip to the floor. He arched backward and roared. With his healing right hand, the demon reached backward, yanking the magical attack out, freeing himself. The demon’s eyes glowed brighter than Tanila could ever recall.
Sog charged again. She was waiting and hoping he would.
[ Air Wall ]
[ Air Wall ]
[ Air Wall ]
She set three of them, not to stop him but to make a path. He slashed through the first and the second and slid off the third at an angle that carried him exactly where she wanted him.
Now.
[ Rune — Delay Stone ]
[ Rune — Delay Frost ]
[ Rune — Delay Fire ]
All three went off at once. The stone rose from under his back foot, upsetting his stride. Ice made his front foot slide, while flames erupted along his left side.
But Sog didn’t fall. He only stumbled a single step. But where his foot landed was where Tanila had set this next part.
[ Ice Spear ]
This one wasn’t thick. Instead, it was narrow, long, and compressed, aimed at the joint of his left hip. It pierced the spot Tanila had aimed for, making moving on the left side almost impossible for the demon. The spell was designed to serve as another piece in her final move.
[ Stone Chain ]
She summoned chains from the ground that wrapped his sword wrists with two loops of rock that tightened when he pulled. He ripped one arm free, but the second held firm.
[ Ice Spear ]
Point-blank. Center mass. The spear formed in the space between them and slammed into his chest, going upward and left. It was the kind of attack you didn’t come back from. The room seemed to howl and absorb the spell that would have been a kill.. The spear vanished just as quickly as it had penetrated his chest.
Sog dropped to both knees, his blades gone, and his breathing sounded labored. His wounds vanished from the strike that had ended his life. Through it all, Sog’s eyes were focused on her, never once lowering his head.
Tanila felt the blood running down her own forearm. She steadied her breathing, knowing what had just happened. It would be far worse when they fought outside of this place Max had built. That was the point of all this.
Sog planted one foot and pushed to stand. He made it halfway. He tried again. He got to one knee and laughed under his breath.
“You won,” he said.
The room vibrated for a moment, and then the white line that had appeared at the start flashed once and vanished. She could feel the magic of the room lessen.
Tanila’s hands were shaking. She didn’t try to hide that fact. She rolled her wrist once and saw that the cut was deeper than she had thought it might be.
Sog stood under his own power a moment later. He looked at the spot where the last spear had hit, then at her.
“You’re a monster,” he said, smiling.
“Only when I need to be,” she replied, allowing herself to grin. “You should never have played safe at the start. That was when I was the weakest.”
Sog laughed and shook his head. “I doubt you were ever weak.”
The glow of healing magic washed over both of them, and their wounds vanished completely.
Tanila turned and saw her friends approaching. Only Max seemed to have a slight grin.
I guess the rest of them realize how bad this is going to be.
And then Tanila laughed. She would be more than happy to go again and see just what she had learned.
How much have I grown? Obviously, not enough for this fight to be that close.
[ Base Stats Only Status Check ]
*****
Tanila Hoste
Base With Bloodline
STR: 389 584
DEX: 427 641
CON: 518 777
INT: 821 1232
WIS: 574 861
*****
She knew they weren’t anything compared to Max’s and she hadn’t reached the third tier yet in her intelligence. Knowing what Max had faced and the power the gods he had fought commanded, there was a lot of work to be done.