Bones crunched, and blood exploded on the stone ground as Brom's hammer struck flesh and bone.
Donovan stumbled to the ground, forced to watch as Kalika was crushed by the weight of the attack and sent crashing straight into a pile of debris. A thick cloud of smoke filled the air, marking her sudden defeat.
Donovan continued to shake from the brief, yet harrowing experience of his impending demise. He stared straight at the giant demon, Brom who towered over him. Concerned, He then glanced at Kalika, whose head drooped down. "Kalika… S-she-"
"
"Human!" Zelak yelled. " You need to-!" Gorms' club swung down at Zelak, interrupting him. He clashed and wrestled not to get crushed by the sheer strength of the giant demon.
Unable to move, Zelak forced the words out. "You need to get out of there!"
Charla, with her emotionless face, flew from behind and stabbed Gorm in the back of his shoulder. He relented and whipped around, trying to retaliate. He swung and slammed his club, devastating the area around them.
As he listened to the ongoing fight behind, Donovan instinctively furled his fingers and grew more serious. "She… She saved me… again…"
Unconcerned, Brom raised his hammer over Donovan's head and with both hands, prepared to smite Donovan. "
Donovan grabbed his sword and swallowed hard. As he gazed back at the demon before him he drifted to a long-forgotten memory.
********
"Again!" a man commanded
A wooden sword swung down hard, halting at the ninety-degree angle that the boy was taught.
"Again!"
The ginger-haired boy, Donovan, repeated. Following the command of the man dressed in fur, as he continued to train in the middle of the wilderness.
Eventually, after several more swings, Donovan dropped to his back from exhaustion. He huffed and inhaled what little air he could, trying to regain his strength. "Uncle Theodore." He gasped. "I don't like this. Is this really how you got strong?"
Donovan's uncle, a man with a long ginger beard, bald head, and sleepy eyes, bonked Donovan on the forehead with his stick.
"Are you saying I'm not a man of my word?"
"N-no! I-I just-"
His uncle offered a hand up with a smile as genuine as the stars
********
Donovan broke into laughter.
"That's right… I always wanted to be… Just like him…"
BOOM
Brom crushed the ground into a thousand pieces. Dust rose in the air, and from the dust, Donovan flew out with a magic crystal in hand. He rolled to his back then to his feet and raced away from another impending attack. "I always wanted to be someone people could count on. but…"
CRASH
Brom smashed the ground, missing Donovan again. "
Donovan winced and quickly evaded another of Brom's attacks.
With a deeper fiery determination, Donovan glared at the demon, provoking Brom. "But if I die here and now everything I've done until now will be for nothing!"
With a fury, Brom swung his hammer, busting through vacant debris
Using this opening, Donovan aimed his free hand at Brom and shot a fireball directly in his face.
The fire washed off the demon's face like water. Annoyed, Brom clenched his teeth and swung his hammer back even harder.
Sparks flew as sword and hammer scraped off one another, just barely testing each other's metal. Donovan quickly backed away, catching his breath from the sudden attack.
Determined Donovan raised his sword once more. "Kalika has saved me so many times already. At this point I'm not sure if I can pay her back. So the least I can do is make sure she gets out of this Pit."
Growing impatient, Brom attacked from Donovan's side. But to Brom's shock,
His attack was suddenly pushed back. "
Kalika glared straight at Brom. She gave a quick glance to Donovan. "You should go. I'll handle this.?"
"Sorry, Kalika. But you're stuck with me. I know I've been a little bit reckless so I'll let you handle the one on one." Donovan conjured a ball of fire within his hand. "I'll distract him."
"I don't think that's a good Idea-."
Donovan shot his fireball at Brom's face.
Brom cleared his face and glared daggers at Donovan who fled. "
Donovan continued to shoot off fireball after fireball, pestering the demon.
Kalika growled, and seeing no other option, followed along with Donvan's plan.
WIth Brom's gaze off her slip right under him and cut at his legs. He whipped his head around, and searched for Kalika.
A fireball struck Brom's neck, drawing his attention back to Donovan.
"That's right! Look over here!" Donovan thought. He halted and focused another fired ball aimed at Brom, but this time he was more than prepared.
With both hands, Brom grasped his hammer, blocking the fire magic. He quickly approached Donovan, prepared to retaliate. However, sensing Kalika, Brom changed course and swung her direction instead.
She jumped, just barely managing to avoid his hammer. where she managed to jump over his attack. She rolled to the ground and turned back, only to find his hammer swinging down from above her.
A torrent of wind shot past Kalika, blowing her away. She landed back on her feet, ready to intercept him once again. As if on cue, several more balls of fire washed over Brom.
Using this distraction, Kalika leapt at Brom and slashed through his chest.
Brom flinched, and the wide open slash slowly healed away. But like a relentless hurricane, Kalika moved back and forth and slashed and cut at him again and again, striking his sides, his arms, his leg, and even his face.
Growing more furious he slammed and broke the ground beneath in a desperate attempt to kill her again.
With Donovan constantly shooting fireballs at him, and the dizzying movements Kalika made, it became increasingly challenging for Brom to maintain control of the battle.
Finally losing patience with Donovan, Brom took his hammer and slammed it in Donovan's direction, sending a powerful tremor that exploded with stone shards.
Donovan raised his arm and winced in pain as he took on the full brunt of the shard in his arm.
Not long after, Kalika jumped and stabbed Brom in the shoulder and sliced down his arm. Brom reeled back and roared in pain. His eye darted directly to her, and with all his strength, he swatted Kalika away, sending her crashing back into the stone wall.
His arm slowly healed, and with Kalika seemingly out of the picture, he attacked Donovan once again. But like before, Kalika intercepted Brom with a dagger thrown in his eyes.
Once again Brom roared out in pain and covered his eyes.
With Brom being delayed Kalika pulled herself back up in time to witness Charla crash in front of her. Kalika glared at the succubus, raising a brow at her emotionless state and the strange crest symbol on her chest.
Charla exchanged a glance with Kalika before returning to her designated spot with Gorm.
Moving with a mission in mind, Charla headbutted Gorm just as he swung his club at Zelak.
She stabbed Gorm in the neck, and acting fast, he ripped Charla off his face and threw her to the side.
Zelak whipped his sword around Gorm's club, trying to pry it from his hands.
Unfortunately for him, Gorm held strong as his wounds healed away. He snarled and broke free from Zelak's sword.
Using this opportunity, Gorm whipped his club, creating a chaotic tornado of stone around him. With a target in mind, he swung at Zelak through the chaos. But to his surprise, Zelak had blocked and redirected his attack to the ground, leaving him wide open.
Zelak moved just under Gorm, and slashed at Gorm's chest. He then whipped and wrapped his chain sword around Gorm's neck with expert precision and pulled hard.
Of course, like before, Gorm grasped at the chains and broke, allowing him to pin Zelak to the ground, crushing him.
Zelak groaned in pain, wrestling to free himself from the weight of Gorm's strength.
Without mercy, Gorm crushed Zelak even harder. But before he could complete his deed, Charla landed on top of him and stabbed him in the eye.
"
Gorm tossed aside Zelak and then mercilessly tore one of Charla's wings off, leaving her to scream in pain. With his two hands, he began to crush her under his grasp.
Suddenly, Gorm's face was struck, and Zelak's sword quickly clung to his arms. A blaze of fire surged through, burning his wrists.
Gorm wrestled his restraints once more. "
Charla wrestled free from Gorm's grasp and fell to the ground. Her hands shook, and she looked around in confusion.
Charla winced in pain. "
Now freed, Gorm glared at Charla and pulled his hands free from Zelak's restraints. He formed a fist and hurled it Charla's way. Lucky for her, Zelak pulled her out of the way to safety.
"
Zelak quickly forced himself and Charla to duck as a large hammer hurtled their way.
It struck the wall hard and quickly dissipated away into nothing. "This is bad, it looks like his will is slowly diminishing>"
Charla, confused, looked down at her chest, now noticing a strange symbol on it. "< What is this?>"
Gorm, with his club back in hand, swung straight at Charla. Like before, Zelak stepped up to block the attack.
"
Charla panicked. "
Zelak flashed a sly smirk. "Good work."
Zelak jumped onto the demon's arm and raced up to his shoulder. With a dead seriousness, he prepared his chain sword and whipped it around Gorm's neck and pulled. The chain tightened around Gorm's neck. And just before Zelak could pull further, he was grabbed and slammed to the ground.
Charla flinched and could watch on, unsure what to do.
Donovan quickly took notice of the dire straits Zelak was in. "Crap!" As he aimed his hands at Gorm, Brom took advantage of this minor distraction, opting to once and for all end Donovan.
Once again, Kalika intercepted the attack, this time with a dark aura rising from her.
Brom narrowed his eyes at Kalika. "
Kalika deflected the attack, giving Donovan the opportunity to strike Gorm in the head, Shocking Charla and Zelak. Gorm reeled his hands away, freeing Zelak, who distanced himself and Charla from Gorm.
Gorm Huffed. and calm placed his Club back on his shoulder and he glared down Both Charla and Zelak.
Back with Kalika and Donovan. They can't help but to feel an unease coming from Brom as he smiled gleefully at the two. a chuckle escaped his mouth his smiled widened with a devilish idea.
"