The scream was trapped in his throat. He kicked and struggled but with each twist and strike his strength waned. His lungs were screaming, his head felt like it was about to explode. Tears streamed from his eyes as every movement jarred his arm. He was succumbing to the agony as white lights clouded his vision.
'Is this what Talia feels every time she breaks a bone?' Nazir never physically punished him, he had never had the misfortune of suffering a broken bone. Looking at his arm he watched in mounting horror as white bone protruded from dark red meat. He was bleeding profusely which added to his lightheadedness. The minotaur was reaching for his other arm again now that he had disposed of Talia's threat.
"Do you think she broke her back like I'm about to break this arm?" The beast laughed as his fingers started to crush Nico's other arm. He would have screamed but he couldn't even bring himself to groan, the monster was still choking the life out of him. He wanted to spit at the creature, to summon hoards of dead upon him but... He couldn't. He was starting to realize why Talia had lost, the creature was all too prepared for the fight while they were blindsided.
"Put the boy down beast." Bromyr's voice sounded odd to Nico, perhaps it was the way it warbled in and out of focus as he clung desperately to the last shreds of consciousness. He wondered if the minotaur would break and kill him just as he had done to Talia and himself. The creature seemed to revel in cruelty after all.
"Ah, the famed Prince of the Stars. I was wondering when you'd show up, I've been fantasizing about killing you for a long time." The minotaur threw Nico to the side as he focused himself entirely on the dwarven band.
"I'm sorry, I don't believe we know each other." Bromyr drew his axe from it's place on his back while Floki did the same on his left. Both dwarves prepared for a frontal assault while the others started to circle cautiously.
"No, I don't recon we do." The minotaur laughed as he swung his massive battle-axe downward. He had every intention of cleaving both dwarves in half in an instant but to his ire they both dodged nimbly away.
Nico watched Bromyr and Floki toy with the beast as Grimor, Rombier, and Killo attempted to position themselves to take out the beast at the legs. As it would swing down at Bromyr or Floki Grimor or Killo would lunge in and take a swipe at the monster's cloven hooves or his hamstrings. Their fighting style indicated that they had battled such creatures before and knew well how to incapacitate and kill one but this particular minotaur was not normal. Their efforts were in vain as it continued to dodge their attacks and press them back.
"Where's that damned half giant!" Bromyr hissed as he blocked a heavy blow from the minotaur. The sound of metal clanging on metal rang in Nico's ears as he tried to shake his mind back into functioning order. Where had she gone again? Everything was still fuzzy.
"You should worry about where I'll be putting you dwarf, else you'll find your head on the ground next to your body!" The minotaur swung his axe again as he blocked Grimor's attack. Bromyr lunged forward to slice at the minotaur's groin only to find the axe nearly cutting the tip of his nose off. He leapt back once more to block the axe as it came back around. The beast was faster than any normal minotaur and likely twice as strong, he had never encountered such difficult foes in his life. First a dragon, then this? He spat as he tried to formulate a plan on how to keep himself and his men alive.
"Talia..." Nico croaked as he finally managed to pull himself into a sitting position. He could remember her being thrown... Was she ok? He looked into the darkness of the temple wondering just why she hadn't resurfaced to beat the demon's ass like she normally would have.
"Nico get out of here before...!" Grimor had been trying to run to his side while the demon was preoccupied with the others but the beast took the opportunity to slam the flat side of his axe into Grimor. The dwarf's body made a horrific crunch noise as he was thrown violently several feet away. Nico could only watch with a mixture of horror and fear. Was Grimor killed? Just like that? His heart twisted. Would the others die like that too?
"Killo go get him up! Get him up and get back into the temple!" Bromyr ordered sharply as he continued to fight off the advance of the minotaur. Killo didn't argue as he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. Grimor wasn't moving, his body lie in a tangled heap down the street from Nico. He couldn't even tell if the boy's chest was rising and falling.
"Nico, you have to find Talia and get her out here! I don't know what happened but we won't win this without her." Bromyr's words were directed at him now, though he wasn't sure how to respond to the orders. He could barley think let alone move, how was he supposed to find Talia and get her up? What if he couldn't? What if she were already... He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.
'I have to think she's alive or else what's the point in trying anymore? I can't live in a world without her, so she has to still be there. I just need to get up and find her.' He focused his mind before gingerly climbing to his feet. Each step was agonizing as he carefully made his way towards the door.
"Talia!" He croaked. He flinched with the realization that he couldn't wake a dead mouse with his voice. Hell, in his state he'd be lucky to raise a beetle from the dead. He was about to call out again when he heard the unmistakable sound of shattering iron and snapping wood. He turned just in time to see the minotaur throw Bromyr and Loki back.
Bromyr's axe lie broken on the ground, the head destroyed and the handle nothing but splinters. He was now defenseless and his personal guard was unresponsive as they both lay in the mud. Bromyr rolled to his hands and knees while the minotaur advanced. The prince was heaving, his breath came out in hard heavy pants. Rombier stood like Nico, still as a statue as they watched what was coming.
Nico's stomach twisted violently as he realized their job was about to end in catastrophic failure. Bromyr was seconds away from brutal death as the minotaur raised his axe high above his head. Once Bromyr was dead the rest of them would follow. It would all lead to nothing, all his work would come to nothing. He wanted to scream at Bromyr to run, hide, anything... But there was no escaping now. All he could do was watch in grim horror.
"Oi mate!" Right before the monster would have swung his axe down to cut both dwarves in half a large black object slammed into his head tossing him back and into a hovel behind him. The sound was deafening as his hulking body broke the building.
"T... Talia.." He saw her from the corner of his eye first, he knew she wasn't the same instantly. Her eyes were glowing bright, one was red and the injured one glowed a glacial blue. Black veins covered her porcelain pale skin, her lips were twisted into a deranges smile. Her breathing was rattled, her right leg was dragging slightly, she was visibly crippled. It was almost as if she were... Possessed.
"Talia." He spoke carefully as he took a step back. She didn't even look his way as she continued to advance on the minotaur.
"I'm going to fuck you up you stupid ugly goat fuck." She spat as she raised her hand. Shards of the black object she had used to smash into his face floated into the air before spinning like little dangerous arrow heads.
"I'm a Mino..." The beast was cut off by his own scream of pain as the shards quickly embedded themselves into his body. Talia's fingers curled as she sneered down at his writhing body. The sound of grinding flesh and bone was sickening.
"Does it look like I care darling?" She threw her hand back drawing the shards back out of his body. Nico watched in amazement as the beast's blood was drawn into the glittering shards of obsidian. He knew what it was now. He also knew it wouldn't keep a demonically possessed minotaur down for long.
"Even in this state you resist the All-Father's will?" The minotaur rose from the rubble with a deep snarl. Talia just snorted at him as he fell back to his knees.
"Who the fuck cares about your daddy? I bow to no man god or mortal, so he can suck it. Meanwhile, you can suck this." She clenched her fingers again sending the shards deep into the monster's flesh once more. This time he only grunted as he was driven down onto his hands.
"You will succumb and the little demon growing inside you will consume every last vestige of your soul and body!" The minotaur managed to grit out through his pain. Talia leaned down slowly to cup the chin of the beast before singing sweetly to him,
"I'm already here you big idiot." Her claws dug into his chin as black flame engulfed him. He grabbed at her arms as his howl was swallowed up in the roaring of the flame. It hardly stopped him however as he got to his feet again.
"Then I'll just have to teach you a lesson you rodent." He picked her up before throwing her down the street. She landed, rolled, and gained her feet once more before the beast could even step forward to pursue her.
Talia lifted her hands again drawing forth the shattered remains of the ceremonial obsidian slab that she had destroyed. The pieces flew towards the demon but he dodged each attack with a newfound nimbleness. She snarled at him as they danced around for a few minutes.
"Nico...!" Bromyr finally managed to crawl his way over to the necromancer. He was in a bad state, his body was bruised and broken in ways he hadn't felt since his training as a soldier for the military. Nico reached down with his good arm to help the dwarf up but Bromyr waved him away as he rolled back onto his back.
"We need to get everyone gathered up and make a tactful retreat before the entire city guard descends upon this place. With Talia... As she is and that demon minotaur the damage and loss of life could become catastrophic. We can return to try and calm her down after she kills that thing, but at this rate it could be a while." Nico nodded along while he watched Talia use her demonic-driven magic to savage the beast over and over again. The minotaur continued to land punishing blows on her as they continued to drive at each other in a rage driven frenzy.
"I need to get those potions from her pack..." Her pack was with Jax at the stables. It was a long walk but getting out of the city could prove to be a better bet overall. Grimor was still down, Floki was only just regaining his senses, Killo was helping Grimor, and Rombier was throwing up in a cracked barrel. It would be a miracle for them to escape.
Just as he was about to suggest making a break for the stables Talia threw the minotaur back into another decrepit building, this one happening to be occupied. He stumbled back to fall on his rear as he watched five emaciated humans scream and run from the rubble. They all ran in unison towards the castle. The oldest and most feeble looking of the bunch briefly locked eyes with him, hollow and hopeless he could tell they weren't long for the world regardless if they escaped.
"Haha!" He broke eye contact to see Talia point her shattered obsidian shards towards the humans. She was just about to release them, slaughtering every one of them, when a shrill screech split the air. He winced, covering his ears at the ear-splitting agony, as Reezara finally made her appearance. She launched herself down from the steeple of the temple towards Talia. Talia looked up in surprise as a stream of yellow-white flame hit her straight in the face.