The edifices were four sided megaliths topped off by black domes. The dome of one structure was still whole, the other partial and resembling a half-bitten apple. The footprints disappeared on a stretch of upraised stone ground where excess sand had not gathered. But as the Illyassai examined closer, what few grains of sand dusted the cracked marble advertised just enough fluctuation to point to the creature’s recent presence on this walkway.
Imaro moved toward the alley. Ajil followed closely, his head swiveling up, down and around, his sword at the ready. Faint footprints indicated the creature passed the ally, heading toward a block of crumbled structures yards ahead. Imaro stopped at the alley entryway. “Ajil, give me your shirt and turban.”
Ajil looked askance at the massive warrior. “My shirt and turban?”
“Hurry,” Imaro prompted with hand extended.
Mildly confused, the soldier did as requested.
Imaro took the garments and slipped into the alley where he began tearing them to strips which he tied together to form a rope. Ajil’s attention was divided between watching the Illyassai perform this odd task and probing the ruins for the demon’s whereabouts.
Imaro retreated deeper into the alleyway with the makeshift rope. When he reemerged minutes later he was empty-handed.
“What did you do?” Ajil asked.
Imaro resumed his walk, picking up the creature’s trail. “I’ll explain later. Come.”
The minutes crawled by like inebriated snails. The twin monoliths had not much reduced with with distance, because Imaro and Ajil had travelled only a few paces. Mostly in circles through a maze of streets amid a congestion of closely packed structures linked by winding walkways and interconnected courtyards.
A pebble from above landed at Imaro’s feet next to a building he and Ajil were close to. Imaro looked up and saw a shadow descending upon him. The Illyassai dove out of the way with a swift flexibility a nimble man half his size would have envied. The creature landed in the very spot Imaro just abandoned. So heavy was the demon’s contact with the surface that a cloud of dust formed a bubbling mist around his feet.
Ajil, startled by the demon’s sudden appearance, recovered and charged the nemesis with his sword arm reared back to deliver death.
The creature brandished a metallic spear in one hand a bladed disk in the other. With the disk the creature swung. Ajil’s hand, still gripping his sword, went flying. A scream more of shock than pain escaped Ajil’s lungs as his flared eyes fixated on the sheared off stump of his wrist. The scream was swiftly silenced and a wet gurgle took its place when the creature followed up his first strike with an incision that laid open the soldier’s throat. Ajil toppled to the ground in a drench of arterial blood.
Imaro advanced toward the creature in an angling attack. If he batted the strange metal spear aside, the Illyassai figured he could slip beneath his foe’s guard and land a killing blow. The problem was, the creature was encased in a grayish green armor that looked more than capable of numbing the effect of a killing blow. The creature whipped his spear down and the metal shaft collided against the Illyassai’s saber with disabling force. Imaro’s blade was wrenched out of his hand by the blow. He glimpsed the point of a spear coming at him. Imaro’s momentum had propelled him farther within the creature’s killing reach than he cared to be. With the faintest shift of direction, Imaro managed to avoid a mortal thrust that traced a superficial gash across his pectoral ending at his shoulder. The Illyassai grabbed the spear shaft, shoved its point to the ground, and using it as leverage he swung both legs up to apply a double kick to the creature’s chest.
It was like striking a brick wall. Where a man would have been flung off his feet by the Illyassai’s blow with shattered sternum, the creature was barely swayed.
Imaro did not have time to be dismayed by his opponent’s strength. He scooped up his sword and slashed at the creature’s foot. The demon leapt high and the blade sailed underneath. Imaro rose, preparing a higher swing. The creature lashed out with a kick that stamped a massive footprint into the human’s chest.
Imaro landed hard on the gravelly surface. Through blurred vision and muddled awareness Imaro found himself a considerable number of paces from where he was before being kicked. Pain suffused his chest as if a one ton weight rested upon it. His every breath felt like a volcano’s molten flow was squeezing through labored lungs. Imaro forced his body into motion, aware of the approaching danger. His body failed to move as quickly as urgency demanded. He could only rise to one knee as the towering fiend narrowed the gap between them with the casual deliberation of a ripple building up to a tidal wave.
Imaro was not afraid to die. But if this day were to be his last, he was damned if he would allow this creature’s efforts to be earned lightly.
Up! Imaro cajoled himself through gritted teeth. With one arm he pushed off. His rubbery legs did the rest until Imaro was upright. He had no weapon. His saber lay in the creature’s path. Imaro crouched, digging in his heels, prepared to evade if his opponent decided to hurl his spear.
Instead, the creature halted. There remained enough of a gap for the creature to propel either one of his weapons. As Imaro waited for the inevitable attack he sized up his foe.
This demon…whatever he was…matched the height of a Mwambututssi. His body was much more filled out than one. Imaro stared at the point on the creature’s gargolyle-like helmet where he approximated the eyes to be.
The creature held up his gold colored spear and both ends retracted into the shaft.
Imaro’s brow knitted in surprise as the creature dropped the spear. The creature held the bladed disk in front of him and let the weapon fall from his grasp. Then the creature removed his chest armor. It too fell to the ground. He undid the latches to his arm and leg guards and shed those protective coverings. Finally, the creature pulled a cord from the side of his helmet. When the cord came loose a hiss of steam shot of out of the aperture where the cord was connected. The creature pulled free another cord, from which more steam billowed out. He repeated this action until every connection holding his helmet in place had been removed. Then the creature pressed his hands to both sides of his helmet and lifted.
The face beneath the helmet was pinched and crab-like. The creature’s mouth was a glistening orifice overlapped by an oral outer layer from which a set of sharpened teeth jutted forth like lion fangs. A pair of dark closely spaced eyes blazed with all the malevolence of a mchawi spawn. Yet Imaro detected no foul trace of mchawi sorcery from this demon. Wherever he hailed from, the creature bore no connection to anything in this world, magic or otherwise.
A mass of thick black extensions of unknown aspect flowed from the creature’s head down to the shoulders. The skin was a ruddy collage of gray tones stretched across a rangy, muscled physique. The creature spread his arms, bent forward, threw his head back and let out an unearthly ear-shattering bellow.
Imaro winced in revulsion at the unmasked sight of the creature. “You are a hideous mama-mu-fuka.”
The creature picked up Imaro’s blade and tossed it at the Illyassai’s feet.
Imaro glanced down at the weapon then settled a perplexed gaze on the creature. Without taking his eyes off his foe, Imaro reached down slowly, hesitantly, and picked up the saber.
Two jagged blades extended from a wide bracelet wrapped around the creature’s right wrist.
Understanding dawned on the Illyassai. A murderer though this creature was, he seemed to value a fair fight.
So be it. Imaro would give him one. The Illlyassai shook life back into his body and charged…
You need to be a member of Blacksciencefictionsociety to add comments!
Replies