Chapter 8 - Midnas, 6

After we voted on our next decision Rina flung fire at the ruins, fire that engulfed the shrine and altar. A fire that would destroy the remains of the house. A purifying flame. The shrine, the altar, the creature and the worshipers all burned. All were engulfed in a flame that reduced all to ash. The altar reformed into its original form, a rock. A smoothed-out rock, to act as a table in the household. "What now?" I asked Rina, "Well, We should-" she was cut off by a roar, It lasted so long. It felt as though the ground was shaking. I looked over to Rina, expecting an exchange of looks but it was one-sided, she didn't even look in my direction, she grabbed at her arm. Most likely an injury from the night before. Callum and Alexander exchanged horrified looks, not many creatures can roar like that, one of them is a wyvern but we are way too far south for that.

"Hey, Over here" whispered a voice, a voice from a neighbouring house, it was that girl, Laura. I looked back towards what was once the altar, the protruding, hostile look replaced by a regular-looking rock. The script remained. The words spoke to me. I wasn't sure what it said. But I knew it was a Gravestone. "Isaac! Move!" Rina broke me from my trance. The Raven flew down, landing on my shoulder. Beckoning me to listen. I was nearing the door when Rina grabbed me and threw me inside, narrowly missing something that collided with the building, tearing the front off. It was the arm she had just held, Why the hells does she always butt in?!"Laedere..." a voice spoke, followed by a glass-shattering screech, "Auxilium... Sanitas... Dolor..." spoke the thing that tore off the front of the house. It could've passed as a boulder if it didn't move, speak or groan in pain. Magic Circles surrounded the thing, unsure of what it was or the purpose of the Magic circles, I attempted to make sense of them. "I'm no expert at circles but doesn't that look like-" My thoughts were interrupted by that girl, Laura, yanking me away, "You mustn't get close!" she yelled, The creature roared as if challenged by Laura's warning. It turned, allowing me to see its full body from the front. Whatever it was it looked human, although it seemed horribly bloated it is undoubtedly human.It was adorned in a mix of different armours forced together using precise fire Magic, 'welding', Rina had used it a few times to repair something that broke at the house but this work looked so much shoddier compared to hers. The armours weren't even of the same metal or make, some had their creators' initials or names displayed proudly, some looked like they snapped, and some were even backwards. Whoever did this, had no care for the sweat and blood poured into those wonderful pieces of armour. It infuriated me.Its laboured breathing told me it was nearing death, but we had done nothing to it. An odd mix of blood and some other substance leaked from the gaps between the metal. "Issac, what are you waiting for?" I turned, and my sister had crossed her arms, she looked impatient, angry even "Kill it, Now." Her voice was commanding "Yes, sister." My mind rushed to find a weak point, an advantage, and I found it. On its left side, the armour was backwards, with so many gaps between itself and the next chest piece, I could smash it with a good strike from something blunt. Something like... I pulled something from my spatial dimension, and the blue flames erupted, forming a rough shape of a war hammer, one I had forged myself. But the creature wasn't going to stand around waiting for me to kill it. It charged at me, only then could I appreciate its height, near double my size. It swung at me, I attempted to block the attack but it launched me into the wall with a thud and a crack, multiple cracks to be honest. The side of my chest piece crumpled, the only thing that kept it from piercing my back was the chainmail and thin gambeson I wore underneath. My spine felt as though it had broken in half, the pain was overwhelming. It charged again, I dove out of the way just in time for it to smash through the wall, the armour was in worse shape than before, bits and pieces were peeling off from the whole, allowing me a glimpse of a pulsating mass of skin underneath. Its veins bulging, visibly so, the size of arteries. Its skin was pulsing and shifting. In the mass was a face, realisation hit me, the roars were not ones of anger, but of pain. It roared again, instead of covering my ears, I listened. I listened to the choir of agony, just from that roar alone I could isolate six different voices, probably from six different faces. Its head probably wasn't even a head. Its laboured breathing became erratic, something popped inside the metal cage, blood spurted out from its side, and the voices groaned as it fell to its knees. The voices rose in unison "Adjuva... Nos...", Latin , I couldn't speak it but I could guess what they were saying. I gripped the handle of the war hammer and swung. The first blow crushed the helmet over its 'head' and its blood and insides in said 'head' flew around the ever-colder room, gritting my teeth, I swung again and again as the voices screamed. I kept swinging until it screamed no more. The glowing Magic Circles began to fade as the life of the conglomerate left it.The Raven flew onto the armoured monster, picking something from it, it flew over and landed on my shoulder with whatever it was in its beak. With the adrenaline fading, I could feel a fuzzy feeling in my head and I could hear something buzzing. I leaned the war hammer against a table, fatigue and pain taking over, Rina said something to me. My vision began to turn dark "What did you say?" I said between breaths. My legs felt so weak, then they buckled and I collapsed, falling unconscious as I hit the floor.