The creature came from below, launched from under the water, and scattered most of it, it seemed to swallow a fair amount of it as well.
“Watch out!” Devol yelled. Once they were close to the water’s edge, they turned to face their attacker and both felt a similar shock when the beast was illuminated by the lighting orbs.
They stared at an abomination of scaled, sinewy muscle. It had two large arms with four claws that dug into the rocks. The large body was wide and chunky with cracked ridges along its chest and shoulder. It tapered into a long snake-like tail that drove its slithering motion. A bulbous head topped the body, and the white eyes the boy had noticed before peered coldly at them. Its mouth seemed like it was made less for function and more as a container for sharp, jagged teeth.
“By the Astrals, what is that?” He gasped.
Wulfsun saw a darkened glow beneath its scales and skin. The odd eyes and the dark spots that seemed to travel along its body brought a recollection to him. “This is an abyssal beast, lad. It’s an amalgamation of other beasts forced into one decrepit shell.”
“An abyssal beast?” Devol looked at the dark creature and tightened his hold on his majestic. “We can still destroy it, right?”
The man was silent but with a glance, Devol saw the determination in his mentor’s face. “Aye, and we have to. We don’t want this to follow us, do we?”
He shook his head. “All right, let’s—” Devol did not have the time to complete his suggestion. The beast released the walls it was balancing on and plunged toward them with an open maw. Without a cry or a roar and with merely a showing of teeth and tongue, it dove into a vicious assault.
The boy turned to leap but saw Wulfsun take a firm stance to stab at the creature. “Wulfsun, watch yourself!” he cried but the Templar remained steadfast and raised his barrier when it drew frighteningly close. It pounded into the shield, bit down on it, and ripped at it with its claws.
Devol saw an opportunity. He turned and lunged at the monster while it was busy trying to reach Wulfsun, held his sword up, and thrust the blade into its side. It slid deep and flooded it with light. The beast released the barrier and flung itself to the side. The sword came free and he braced himself against the loss of weight on the blade.
The Templar nodded to him as he dropped his barrier. “It looks like you’ll be extremely useful with this one,” he told him, a little out of breath. They turned and froze when they noticed something swirling in the beast’s mouth. “What in the—”
The creature spewed a torrent of abyssal magic directly toward them.
“Hells!” they both cried and used vis to race away. Their adversary vaulted onto the wall and landed with a dull thud. It burrowed inside and vanished. They came to a halt a few yards away and Devol breathed deeply while Wulfsun growled as he cracked his knuckles.
“Devol, are you all right?” he asked through rapid breaths. “Are you already winded after a little run?”
“I’m fine.” The swordsman grunted as he stood. “I’m a little taken aback, is all. This place is something quite strange so far but it appears we’ve learned one thing.” He looked at his sword. “My blade can damage it, at least consistently. It was the same with the fiends above. They explode with light like with Farah’s magic.”
“That abyssal fire or whatever it is will be a problem, though,” the Templar muttered. “I don’t even want to try to use my shields against that as I’m not sure what good it would do.”
“Maybe I can behead it or cut it into pieces,” Devol suggested. “If you can get it into position, I should have enough time to—” The ground began to rumble again and he looked down and saw the dark, ink-like magic seeping through the cracks.
Wulfsun grabbed his arm and flung him away before he jumped the other way. A jet of abyssal magic broke through the ground before the beast emerged, turned, and focused on the Templar with its teeth bared. “Whatever your plan is, go for it. I’ll stall this creature.”
“I’m on it,” Devol muttered through gritted teeth, held Achroma up, and strengthened his anima. He ran to the rock mound and glanced over his shoulder as the monster dove from overhead and struck at the large man. The Templar jumped to the side and ran back a little as he raised his shields and let his adversary swipe at him before he countered with a punch to its side. The blow knocked it back but it simply spun in the air and swooped at him again.
The young swordsman continued to build his mana up but the beast and Wulfsun had moved farther away in their struggle. He wasn’t sure if he could reach it now and decided he had to get closer. He leapt onto the water and glided across it with some vello control. When he heard a yell, he turned to where his mentor now careened across the cavern, having most likely been swatted by the creature’s tail. He tightened his hold on the hilt of his sword, leapt forward, and slid down a pile of rocks to the ground. While he would have preferred a more stealthy approach, he had no other options and Wulfsun would die if he didn’t get there.
He almost froze when the beast reared and its mouth filled with magic again. Devol’s eyes widened and he wondered desperately if he was close enough. Even the Templar was not sure if his barriers were enough to stop that magic. He held the sword with both hands, filled it with as much mana as he could muster, and hoped to force it
