13 – Severing Slash

Simon slashed at the back of the monster. The blade cut across the thick hide, and the beast fell, rolling across the frozen floor. The impact sent a spray of ice shards into the air, a brief glittering cloud.

The Wroog raised his heavy head from the ground. A trail of dark blood ran from its mouth as he locked on the dragon.

Paco kept running at his frantic pace. He flapped his tiny wings desperately trying to pick up speed , his claws skidding over the patches of frost. He arrived at Ashley’s side, turning instantly to bare his needle-sharp teeth at the monster.

The scorched Wroog turned. His blue eyes focused on the priest, evidently giving up on chasing the small dragon. He turned his full attention toward the priest instead.

“Shit. A bit of help over here!” Simon yelled.

“Looking good, Simon.” She was looking in the other direction but somehow he felt her attention as a pressing shadow on his head.

The beast rose, punching with both of his right hands. Simon dodged to the side with a quick pirouette. He swung his blade in a sweeping arc, the runes blazing as the edge cut deep into the monster’s elbow.

The strike was not deep enough to sever the limb. The monster’s remaining fist cracked the ice where the priest had stood a fraction of a second before.

“This thing doesn’t…” Simon glanced at his blade, then back at the beast. “These things are tough as nails.”

Another hand of the lesser Wroog went to his fresh wound. His face twisted in pain as he swung back toward his opponent.

“You need to angle your blade,” Aury said. He leaned his head back, smoothly dodging a wild fist, and cut clean through the arm of the other Wroog. He did it with practiced ease. “That blade is powerful, but you must still use it as it was intended.”

“Easier said than done!” Simon shouted.

He lunged forward and punctured a hand the size of his chest that tried to grasp him. The thrust stole the monster’s momentum just long enough for Simon to jump back.

The beast launched forward with his four arms extended. Hatred gleamed in his eyes. Simon screamed and charged directly at the oncoming mass. When the four hands were a mere foot from his torso, he threw himself down, sliding flat on his back across the smooth ice.

He slid directly under the monster, slashing upward at the creature’s thigh. The Wroog screamed in pain. Simon arrived on the other side of the beast just as the wounded Wroog dropped heavily onto one knee.

Simon charged again, emboldened by his success. This time, the monster shot his fist straight forward like a cannonball. The blow caught Simon squarely in the chest and cheek and sent him skidding backward, cursing as he went.

The hit felt softer than expected. Somehow.

Silver still sparkled over Ashley’s fingers as she turned around.

He didn’t see me casting the protective spell. Good.

Paco let out a small, worried whine.

“Don’t worry Paco. I’m sure Simon wasn’t hit so hard.” She said, winking.

Then Ashely pulled on her new gloves. The thick white fur stopped just below her wrists. They lacked the black stripes of the tiger cloak, but against Celestine’s pale skin and the white sheen of the tunnel, they worked. They worked better than they had any right to.

The skinning had been another matter entirely. Usually, there was a quick camera cut, a tasteful blur, a moment of merciful abstraction. Now reality offered none of that.

I have to remember to tone down the gore settings.

“[Master Craftsman] has some surprisingly useful sub-skills, that’s for sure. But this [Cleansing] magic is low-key life-changing.” Ashley said, as a gentle, scented breeze swirled around her.

Her body sparkled with light.

The magic instantly dissolved the red and grimy residue of the harvesting procedure from her hands and robes.

“What do you think, Paco? Do I look good?” Ashley asked, turning her gloved hands to show them off.

Paco wasn’t looking at her new accessories. He was staring straight down the tunnel, his throat vibrating with a low, predatory growl. Still worried but somehow less so.

Further down the tunnel, the two remaining Wroogs were locked in a frantic struggle. The beasts swung their four massive arms, punching at the frozen floor in a brutal attempt to pulverize the intruders.

“Ashley!” Simon shouted, a light purple mark blooming on his cheek. “We need your help! This one won’t quit!”

He lunged sideways a fraction of a second before a fist the size of his entire torso hammered into the ice. He swung [God’s Bane] in a desperate arc. The legendary blade sheared through the monster’s lower limb with a clean, effortless hiss.

“Hey. I’m starting to get the hang of it,” Simon said, his chest heaving as he reset his stance.

Fair enough.

“Keep it up,” she said.

“Her Holiness took out the biggest one,” Aury remarked. His voice was entirely calm as he stepped past a wild swing and sliced his own beast neatly in half. “I think it’s only fair for you to contribute.”

The author’s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Not only that,” Ashley said. “Aury, he needs to level up a bit.”

Ashley closed the distance, her hands finally warm inside the new fur.

Simon sighed heavily as Ashley peered past her companions into the depths of the tunnel. Looking past the immediate fighting and into what waited beyond.

You never lost sight of him, right Mistress? Aury’s mental voice asked softly in her mind.

Ashley adjusted her left glove and shot Aury a look.

“Others are coming,” Aury said, gliding effortlessly back to her side. “Perhaps they sniffed the blood, or they want to assert their dominance now that their king is dead.”

The tunnel echoed with a sudden chorus of screeches and deep, guttural grunting. A pack of Winter Wroogs was approaching from the darkness ahead.

Ashley brushed the air with her gloved fingers, making a sharp, horizontal sweeping motion.

“[Ice Shards].”

The natural cold in the tunnel answered her call. A multitude of frozen, diamond-shaped blades pulled themselves from the moisture in the air. They hummed with kinetic energy as they formed, then went shrieking down the passage like a flock of silver arrows.

“I love using ice magic here, Aury. The ambient chill almost halves the mana cost.”