Chapter Fourteen
The Beast is Slain
Another bottle crashed against the wall, falling in pieces to the floor. Dais swung yet another jar of his herbs into the wall. Since she left he had been smashing his stuff, trying to vent his anger out on something, anything.
She called him a monster, something he himself would admit to. For his entire life he knew he was a beast, and Dais had come to terms with it. Yet, when she called him exactly what that worm had, something broke. It shattered and fell to the floor in a million irreplaceable pieces. Briar Gantz had broken the poor man's heart.
In a rage, Dais flung his other hand out toward his shelves. Books flew threw the air, followed by candle stubs, pens and still more jars. In his rage Dais destroyed, knowing nothing better to with the anger he felt, the hopelessness and loneliness. Never before had Dais felt so lonely. After living in the tunnels by himself for the gods only knew how long, he was used to being alone. Yet, now that he had known companionship, now that Briar had come and gone, he felt it. The suffocating emptiness that was true loneliness. He did not like the sensation. So he trashed his place, sending his stuff and research to the floor.
To forget her.
Smash.
To forget the loneliness.
Smash.
To forget everything.
Smash.
To forget himself.
Smash.
Finding himself amongst the carnage of his once beautiful study, Dais seethed. His chest heaved as his shoulders shook, holding back the dry sobs attempting to rack his body. Briar had left, and now there was only him. Dais closed his eyes in defeat.
She was never coming back, he would never dance with her again or discuss inane things like the origins of the word "dur". Briar had broken his heart, as well as his nose and taken the left tunnel out of his life forever.
Suddenly he snapped them open. Which direction did she run in? He looked toward the door, and remembered her taking the left tunnel.
"Oh gods." he whispered, and tore off after her.
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One of the thugs screamed as she bit into his arm. The other two held onto her, trying to stop her fighting. Their hands were strong, one of them having found the wound on her side and used it to his advantage. Each time she yelled or kicked to get away he would press his ring finger into the bandage, making her scream and go limp for a few seconds.
"Get off me you pile of shit!" she screamed, kicking and yelling. The thug who seemed to be the leader, armed with a set of black teeth and a scarred face came forward. With a sadistic chuckle he leaned down near her and that was then she saw the glint. He held the blade to her face, an evil smirk coming across his.
"Now hush up sweetheart. We don't want to scar that pretty little face." he breathed into her face, and she nearly gagged. There was almost nothing but alcohol on this man's breath, along with the smell of teeth that had gone too long without brushing. Scared shitless, and unable to move, she did the only thing a girl in that situation could do. She spit in his face.
This surprised the thug for a moment, and she grinned as he wiped the saliva from his cheek with disgust. It was worth it, even if it earned her a beating. She stared at the ground near the man's feet, mind racing. Oh shit. What am I supposed to do now? I can't get away from these guys, I can not fight back, and no one will hear me. With a panic she realized just how bad the situation was quickly becoming.
Kicking the tall one holding onto her in the balls, she screamed.
"HELP!" yet, the scream was cut short by a blow to the head. The tall one let her go, and she crumpled to the cement. Everything became blurry and hard to understand, almost as if she was drunk on some long forgotten drink. Two of the thugs stood over her, their forms swimming in and out of view as she looked at them, watching as the other one came toward her with the knife. Her head was pounding and sound was fading in and out like her brain was suddenly a badly tuned radio only catching snippets of sound.
Suddenly it was not a thug with a knife before her, it was Adam. Briar felt fury grow in her stomach, working its way to clear her head. Waiting for the perfect moment, she looked up into the face of the man who had stabbed her and left her to die. The armed thug leaned over her, squatting and saying something she did not fully understand. Just as he reached over, she kicked as hard as she could between his legs. Briar Gantz was not going down without the fight of their lives.
In pain he bent over, as she screamed louder than ever before. "HELP ME!" This time though, the scream was cut out by two other noises. One was the fat thug, pointing frantically and yelling something. The other was a roar.
After that everything was a blur of motion and violence.
Suddenly the fat one slammed into the brick wall, slumping into the garbage gathered below. The others looked around, trying to find what had attacked their comrade. Above them the sky crackled and roared. Beneath that, another closer roar could be heard. Something moved in the shadows, grabbing the fat one and dragging him into the inky blackness of the night.
Just then the sky broke open.
Rain drenched the players of this little life or death drama, dampening sound and sight. Briar could see the thugs glancing around, calling for their friend. Her head was beginning to clear and the pain was subsiding slightly. Against her better judgment she also looked about for the fat thug.
"Thurgood! Where the fuck are ya man?" one of them called. The other, the one so bent on cutting her only seconds before stepped forward, yelling into the darkness. He stepped beside a trashcan, brandishing his knife.
"What ever the fuck you are, get out here! No one hurts one of my boys and goes away unhurt. Show yourself you fucking coward!" he screamed into the black alley before him. Nothing was heard, then a low growl came from the shadows next to the tall thug standing near Briar.
"As you wish."
Before anyone could blink, the he slammed into the wall beside her, just as the other turned around. From the shadows came Dais, a monstrous mass sliding from the darkness out into the rain and reality. Had Briar not known who it was, she would have screamed. His hands were curled, black claws ready to rip and tear into anyone or anything that came near them. All of his dreadlocks were now hanging from his head, coiling about as he moved. They almost seemed to be living snakes. They blocked the view of his face, and for that Briar could not be more happy. Red eyes glowered at the last standing man, eerily glowing in the dark of the alley. Taking a step back, the thug stopped and thrust the knife in front of himself as if that could protect him from this towering beast walking his way.
Dais cracked his knuckles, flexing his hand as he growled. "What is a low level hooligan doing bothering women on a night like this? Hnn?" he moved forward slowly, rows of sharp teeth glinting as a lightning strike flew overhead.
"What the fuck are you?" the last man yelled, the end of his knife wavering in the air. The blade was shaking almost as bad as he was. Dais slipped forward, his feet and hands blending into the night almost as if he was once part of the very shadows themselves. Fear was evident on the last mans face, enlarging his already grotesque features into an almost comical caricature of himself.
Dais stopped suddenly, and lifted his head to look at the man fully. What Briar saw on his face was indescribable. Mixed into that handsome and horrible face was fear, and a rage that can only be described as murderous. The knife fell to the floor, clattering against the cement as the thug was pulled from the ground. One black claw wrapped around the man's throat, both of his hands clawing desperately at Dais's arm as he squeezed. Drawn to his full height, he growled at the man he now held captive by his neck a few feet in the air.
"What in the seven hells do you think you are doing to HER?" he took the other claw and scratched the man on the side of the face. "Huh? Answer ME!"
A dark spot on the mans already soaked jeans grew darker as he lost control of his bladder. Briar sat up, looking at the terrified man and to Dais.
"Let him go." she whispered. Dais did not hear her, so she spoke louder. "I said to let him go Dais." She got to her feet, and limped over. "Let him go. He learned his lesson, let him go."
Dais looked at her, then looked back. A small whine escaped his throat, and he loosened his grip slightly. The thug breathed in, gulping the air that had been cut off from him for so long. He began to curse them in anyway he could. Looking down at Briar he spit at her.
"You little bitch, wait until tall dark and gruesome here puts me down. I am going to...." he choked as Dais closed his fist, once more shutting off the man's air supply. Growling Dais stared at the man. The free claw came up to the mans torso, rearing back to disembowel the man when something touched his arm.