"Gosha gnark hakish skull." A booming voice soon filled the silence. Horatio looked up just beyond Margulis and saw a giant.
"Margulis behind you!" Horatio warned, picking himself off the ground, shooting towards Margulis, the entire force of his will powering his dash.
Sturdy oak, carved smoothly and treated to a steel-like hardness whistled through the air. Margulis had heard, had begun to turn, but she was too late.A wet thump blasted out, for only a moment. A shower of red came immediately after, spraying off in every direction, a literal explosion.
Horatio froze, his pupils dilated, a humongous dose of shock slapping his psyche.
He felt a cold liquid on his cheek. Shakily he reached to touch it. His blood ran cold. He slowly brought it to his face, he knew what it was, but he couldn't resist the instinctual urge to check. It was red. He felt his entire body tremble in fear. He had run out without thinking, now he was on the battlefield, he was fair game. There could be at least four more goblins waiting in the darkness, ready to flay skin from bone.
Horatio struggled to swallow. His eyes glazed over massive green muscles, a gigantic body, a brutish symbol of power. The massive club in its hands was tainted in red. So was the ground where Margulis had stood. There wasn't even a body left."She's-She's" Horatio's throat was dry. He couldn't speak, a fact he would have thought suited him better, except he could not think. His limbs were frozen, he couldn't move, couldn't fight, or run.
Horatio manifested his peculiar abilities several years ago. As a child, he could always be found outdoors whenever the sun had taken leave and the sky was dark. That fact had always gotten the teenage Sylvia very worried. For that reason, on the day he arrived at the house seconds before midnight, his hair glowing like a lamp, saying he had been in a fight, she broke down. Her tears had stung his wounds. That memory, the vivid one he could never forget, made Horatio despise the night.
"And that, Horatio, is how easily you can die out here." A whisper came from behind Horatio.
"Wha-" His voice cut out midway. He could not even be surprised. Turning, he came face to face with Margulis. There was silence.
"Horatio? You in there?" She said, jovially tapping a finger on his temple. He maintained a blank stare. Margulis' smile faded. "I'm sorry I had to do that, but I needed you on your toes, You're too important to die here." She said. Horatio stared back.
"But you died." Horatio managed to say, his voice devoid of emotion. He was too shocked to muster anything of the sort. Margulis shook her head.
"All he hit was a can of red paint, and a wisp, a projection of my being," Margulis said matter-of-factly.
Horatio gave a sidewinded look at the great green giant. Truly its eight-foot tall body was mostly covered in red paint, even the splashes on Horatio's own face smelt of the mixture.
"Watch this." Margulis stretched out her palm past Horatio, towards the GGG. "Nivilight Screech." She said cooly. A sigil formed once again, Horatio saw it depicted an icy glacier. Margulis' hand gave off a calm blue glow.
A chill ran through Horatio as the air rapidly cooled. The larger sigil appeared, this time ahead of the smaller. Horatio saw a stream of blue leave Margulis' palm, expanding exponentially when it touched the sigil. On the second sigil, it turned into several pillars of ice on the second sigil and darted towards the GGG, its sharp points extending in a hungry dash.
Then they shattered, every spike, broken to pieces that hovered for a moment before dropping to the ground with a tinkle. The enemy remained still.
"What, why?" Horatio asked and immediately got his answer. Ripples in the sky with a green hue behind them in the form of a translucent dome.
"That's our problem," Margulis stated. "It's been blessed, a ten-metre null-magic zone." She sighed, her weight resting more heavily on Horatio.
"I...I only have enough energy for one more attack, I need you to weaken it, just enough so the barrier comes down." Her breaths were coming short and heavy, her words strained.
"Me? You want me to go near that thing?" Horatio's voice was of higher pitch than he meant it to be. He glanced at the GGG again, fifteen metres away it remained strangely still, staring at the two.
"My magic...I used it to darken the space around us. He can only see inside the field, use that to your advantage." Margulis pushed off Horatio. "Don't worry about me."
Horatio turned to question her. To him, her words felt like a death sentence, the image of her being cleared out instantly with one club swing still fresh on his mind, even though it wasn't really her.
"I'll do it," Horatio said. He took a step forward, and another, and another. 'What am I doing?!' he screamed at himself, there was no answer.
He felt a warm 'pop' in his ears as he passed through the wispy shield that supposedly barred all magic.
"Begin spatial analysis, enable combat precepts." The words tumbled out before he could validate them, he didn't even know what they meant. "Is this your doing?" He asked The Analyst, there was no answer.
The GGG started into motion as soon as Horatio cleared the barrier. It rolled its massive eyes over him, evaluating his threat level. Loosening its wrists it dropped its weapon to the floor. Two deep booms shook the ground, in simple steps the GGG had closed the distance.
Horatio lifted his head, confidently making eye contact with the behemoth before him. In truth, he felt no confidence whatsoever.
"I hope yore ready." He said, lifting his fists and adjusting his body language to speak only antagonism. A fierce glint flared in his eyes.
The GGG's own fists flew up above its head, their speed blinding, even Horatio couldn't keep track of them, at least the monster was as committed to the battle as Horatio had become. Horatio shifted his focus to its entire being and the paint that streaked it.
The mighty hammers smashed down even faster than they had risen, the GGG's deafening roar accompanying the action. Horatio stepped to the side, narrowly dodging the blow. He fought to keep balance, barely managing to stay on his feet. Blunt indents formed as the ground cracked and the pipe beneath it too did, spraying pressurised water into its face.
Horatio quickly steadied itself, his mind immensely focused. He calculated and launched a rocketing kick at the GGG's now lowered head. His foot connected powerfully, sending the monster reeling back. Horatio easily tracked the paint, using it as a guide he followed through by applying two quick jabs to the beast's abdomen. All about, the water poured like rain.
Swiftly Horatio ducked, narrowly dodging a broad backhand. He pushed off the ground from his lowered position. He heard another 'pop', his immense speed seeing him out the dome and approximately behind the GGG in just a single second. The 'pop' came again as he doubled back into the dome, using the GGG's blindspot to rush it.
Cancelling his momentum just before he ran into the giant, he launched himself into the air, aiming another devasting kick at its head.
"Nugra!" The deep voice came out like thunder as the GGG turned, faster than Horatio had anticipated and caught him a merciless punch, fully on his unguarded self, sending him flying. If Margulis had been close enough, she'd have told him the word translated to 'Foolish'.
Horatio flew several metres in the air before hitting the ground, bouncing and sliding another distance. His limp body came to rest, caught by the chain-link fence that surrounded the sports field. He felt a warm 'pop'.
"Horatio!" Margulis cried out, her voice unmistakeably panicked but she held back. The sudden shift in battle was something Margulis had come to expect, she chided herself for letting her voice come out like that.
"Horatio will win, that's for sure." She stated simply.
Horatio clung to life, hastily gasping for air as he burst back to reality. He slowly clambered to his feet, the glow of his hair flickered, blood oozed from his forehead. In his blurry vision, he saw the GGG bore on him still. His ears hurt as the 'pop' came again.
The giant leapt, aiming a dangerous smash on Horatio's position. Using the fence as support Horatio threw himself back, avoiding a grisly fate. Before his legs hit the ground the beefy fists were hurtling towards him again.
Horatio raised a feeble guard. It was nothing against the massive force and he was blown away. Miraculously he screeched to a quick halt while managing to stay on his feet.
Horatio's senses overloaded with pain. He felt embarrassment knowing that Margulis could see him in such a pitiful state."Forget it, forget the pain and focus." He commanded himself, a futile effort. His arms drooped limply at his sides and his vision doubled. He searched himself for hope, for a chance at victory.
.The ground shook with the giant's footsteps. Horatio let out a calming breath and closed his eyes, leaving everything to the one he knew was within him, if he could. He feinted left, then switched, dashing right quickly.
The howling wind rushed past Horatio, a heavier vibration through the compact ground gave him all the information he needed. He cocked his right leg and fired. A sharp crack rang out, Horatio felt impact, in his mind's eye, the GGG was wincing in pain.Horatio retried his earlier, adding a literal spin on it. Dropping low, he launched himself spinning into the air. He extended his foot, aiming it where its head should be.
A loud bang shook the air followed by an agonized howl. Horatio landed gracefully, his eyes fluttered open to survey the damage.
The GGG was on its knees, dazed and weakened. Its hand was over its face, past the paint, he could see raw flesh with a deeper red oozing from it. His foot had marked a massive portion of its face. Unfortunately, his favourite shoes were no more. He kicked off the scraps still held at his ankled. The dome flickered.
"You're doing great Horatio!" Margulis' voice came to him across the field. His heart slowed, adrenaline was replaced with dopamine. "One more hit should do it!"
Horatio grinned "That's all you had to say." He sauntered towards his half-conscious enemy. "You were way too overconfident."
He closed his eyes, a smile tugged at his lips. Throughout the fight Horatio had been gathering data, now was the perfect time to use it, it was at least a chance to look cool before Margulis. He shook his head with a weak laugh "Initiate advanced combat precepts." He spoke.
"Combat precepts: Full energy control and advanced amplification ready." The analyst reported, unmistakable malice in its voice. "Begin integration?"
"Yes." The full weight of Horatio's fatigue crashed down over him as his nighttime boosts temporarily shut down and his light quenched. A wave of satisfaction came after, all pain washed away, the darkness lighting up.
Horatio formed a tight fist, focusing his mind in it. The energy throughout his body began to flow towards the point physically visible as faint orange gossamer pulses. Until they got to his fist that is. The converged energy gave his hand an ethereal orange glow.
"Your body will receive damage from this action, continue?"
"Yes."
As soon as consent was given his hair flared up with the same orange glow. He grimaced as pain assaulted his body, that faded as his electric blue pupils followed the trend, darkening to a fierce orange.
Horatio stepped powerfully, packing power into his motion. He threw his fist, applying all the strength he could muster and focusing it into the GGG's core. "Begone!" He yelled as the GG was sent flying, straight towards Margulis.
"Come unto me, emerging from the void, the hammer of intangible vengeance, Black Lightning!" Dark energy pulsed through Margulis' palm, so-called for its colour, not its nature. Without a sigil, a stream of jet black electricity burst forth snaking hungrily towards the large projectile. With blackened pupils Margulis calculated its trajectory, perfectly catching it mid-air. The GGG's entirety was consumed in the destructive energy, Margulis' most powerful skill, one which had extra effect on those who wronged her. And just like that, it was all over.
Margulis dropped to her knees, the toll of overusing energy weighing heavily on her. She looked up to see Horatio's body in a fetal position, a pool of blood began to form, his glow was almost non-existent.
"Horatio!"