A few minutes later, and Umbrahorn and I are crashing against the walls of the fortress, soldiers screaming at us, villagers outside and in all staring and chattering and gasping. The shark chomps on my arm and burrows its enormous hammerhead into my stomach. But I grab at its leash and pull it taut, keeping control of Umbrahorn through the magical properties of the rope. He squirms and curses, tackling me into the wall pillars, toppling a stairway to the battlements.
My back takes the splintering wood. I set my feet in the mud, pushing against the shark. Then, I grab onto the end of its head with my free arm, and deliver a knee to its jaw. Much like Sorina's knees to my stomach, is devastating. My kneecap breaks through the underjaw of Umbrahorn, smashing the wood up and into his maw. Umbrahorn yowls in pain, freeing my left arm.
I extract it and punch a hole into his eye, grabbing onto the blackwood that makes up his iris. I squeeze. It breaks. With a roar, Umbahorn spins around and whacks his tail into my side, sending me sprawling across the campgrounds.
"BASTARD! I'LL TAKE YOUR EYE FOR THAT RAITEN!" he yells. Then, his remaining eye settles on me as I stand up, dusting myself off. I wear a dark smile like a trophy. This serves to only elevate Umbrahorn's vitriol.
He dives underground and his fin peak through the earth, sending mud and dirt sprawling out as he heads for me.
"Both of you, stop!" someone screams. I think its Sorina. I don't care.
The soldiers of Catolica seem to be taking my side on this thankfully, though they are slow. They only just got to where Umbrahorn had just dived.
He surfaces right next to me, snapping up at my right foot. I expected it. Lifting my leg up, I smash down upon his gnashing maw, stomping on his nose. He pushes up nonetheless and my leg stretches high, pushing my body offbalance. I stumble back, flail my arms, catch myself from a fall, roll away as he snaps down, grab his leash once again and pull.
The fin cracks.
Rips off.
I stare dumbly at the triangle at the end of my leash. The leash made to control Umbrahorn.
He laughs. "You stupid shithead, do you have any idea —" I sling the fin against his face, cracking wood on wood, issuing forth an explosion of splinters. He reels, falling sideways. I pounce.
Grappling with the shark should be harder. But, as I saw in its previous battle against Sorina, when Umbrahorn is belly up, he's like a turtle — it takes a while for him to upright himself.
So I wail on him without consequence, all while he roars in pain.
From the corner of my eye, I see the soldiers stop moving, standing at the frayed edges of our battle. Sorina watches from the periphery of the circle that forms around us. Tears glisten in her eyes.
I focus my undivided attention on Umbrahorn: "You know, for all your grand talk about being a great spirit, this is pretty damn pathetic." I punch through his underjaw again. My knuckles bleed, go numb. A large gash from a nasty branch sluices up my left arm. I can see bone.
Not that it matters.
"You think you have any say in this?"
I kick out his teeth.
"You're just a slave, Umbrahorn. You are me. And right now, your duty is to me. No one else."
"You dare compare me with you? You're just —"
I cut him off with another viscous blow that echoes off the very walls of the fortress. There's a distinct silence now from the crowd. And Umbrahorn. It is strange. Eerie.
"I'm just, what? Finish what you were saying. Go on."
Umbrahorn doesn't speak.
I grab him by the head and put a knee on his stomach. The shark is twice my size, but I've beaten him without even touching my amulets.
"You are my dog. And you will hunt for me. Hound for me. Not for Sorina, not for Erot, for me. Is that understood?"
Umbrahorn looks as though he might protest, but I catch him glimpse at Sorina, who shakes her head. Still, he opens his mouth to speak.
I raise a hand.
"I understand!" he squeals. Pathetic. Some great spirit you are.
Silence reigns.
Then, a slow, rhythmic clapping. It is Saegor, pushing through the crowd, laughing as if he had just shared a fine joke with some friends at a bar.
"Kid, that was a fine show. A mighty fine show indeed. Now, how about you let me kill the spirit?" he smiles, his one eye already reaching up in pre-meditated ecstasy. "After all, he killed my horse. And he would listen better if I brought him back to —"
"No Saegor," I tell the warlock. "He's cowed enough already. Besides, I need him to talk — he can lead me to Masaru."
Saegor shrugs. "Well, offers on the table, if you ever want to take it." He looks to his underlings, the twin mancers Zyla and Kiren. The bald-headed siblings are packed and ready to go. He nudges his head to the fortress exit. "Shall we?"
I look down at the damage I've wrought upon my beast. A tinge of guilt seeps through, but I snuff it out quick-like. "How soon can you heal?"
"It — it will take me a day at least." Umbrahorn's words are slurred, mostly because I broke off a majority of his teeth.
"Nose still work?"
"Yes," he responds all too quickly, his high pitched, fearful.
I look at Sorina one last time. But she's gone from the crowd, arguing with a smug looking Pamela once more.
I sigh. That is one regret you will never, ever be able to take back. You idiot.
But whats done is done.
Let's do what we've always needed to do.
"Well then Saegor," I tell the warlock. "Let's go butcher an old man."