Chapter 41: Way of the Voice: Part 10
"Where's Agna?" I asked, my voice steadier now. Realizing I hadn't seen her since I entered the burial chamber.
As those words left my mouth, the rear door creaked open, as a white haired woman peeked inside.
Her eyes cautiously trailing, the now on fire chamber. She looked dazed, frightened by the sounds that had come from within moments ago.
Then her eyes landed on me, she hesitantly stepped inside, "Is… is he dead?" she asked.
And before I could utter a word—THUD! CRASH!
All of us turned.
A great explosion burst from the stone door atop the central platform. The stone door split open, debris slung like shrapnel across the chamber, forcing us to shield our faces.
Before the dust settled, my armor appeared back on my body, and soon a man—or what was left of him emerged from within.
His skin was blackened and cracking, like smoldering coal, glowing red line running like lava through his veins. Purple flames danced in his eyes, flickering with hate and undeath. His robes were gone, his bare torso streaked with soot and arcane scars, muscles twitching unnaturally.
He glared at me, at all of us, with hatred so great, a blind man could see it.
It jumped down from the top, and the moment his foot struck the floor, the ground shuddered.
"...Golldir…" Agna whispered from behind us, her voice cracked by heartbreak.
The thing that had once been her nephew turned its head toward the sound of her voice.
Then it charged.
He moved like the wind, silent and almost invisible.
THUMP!
CRASH!
My body moved on its own, and before Golldir's claws could reach Agna, my punch landed on his gut, sending him flying across the room. I didn't know how I had acted in time;was it the effect of the dragon soul I had consumed? I didn't know, but that was the only conclusion I could come to.
And before I could turn to Lydia and Uthgerd, Golldir was already on his feet. He blurred past me, towards Lydia, who raised her sword, too slow.
His knuckle buried into her steel chestplate and launched her back into a stone wall, with a sickening thud. Uthgerd roared and swung her greatsword, but Golldir twisted unnaturally, like he didn't care if his bones broke or dislocated.
He bent low, grabbing her by the waist and slamming her into the platform's side. The stone cracked.
And as he was turning to me—
FUS!!
The shout blasted forward like a hurricane. It tore through the chamber, slamming into him with full force, lifting him off his feet and sending him hurling into a collapsing pillar, stone and dust buried him again.
I dropped to one knee as I vomited out blood, more than I ever had.
But then…
The rubble shifted. Again, but there was no blur this time.
He rose, a low, gurgling growl echoing in the chamber.
And charged toward me.
He hit me like a boar. We crashed through a pillar, debris exploding around us as the pillar fell on the broken stairs.
We continued to wrestle, claw, and punch, as I kept him away from the three.
I pushed a small dagger into his neck, as we came to a stop, my back against the wall beside Lydia, but the dagger had no effect on him; he didn't even flinch. And in the next instant, everything blurred around me for a moment, my head spun, hazed. Did he headbutt me? I didn't even see him move.
I gritted my teeth, clearing my eyes of the blur.
FUS!!!
The Shout tore through the chamber again, now much louder, much more destructive, like a thunderclap. The force of it flayed Golldir's skin from his body as if peeling bark from a tree. It stripped him in midair, the sickening sound of tearing flesh echoing like a sheet of canvas ripping apart.
His flayed body went flying backward, crashing into the fallen pillar, and slumping with a wet, meaty thud.
I staggered where I stood, blood trailing from the corners of my mouth, my legs wobbling beneath me. Is this the side effect of the Shout? I glanced at my legs, or… am I scarred?
My eyes flickered to Lydia, unconscious beside me, before I turned to Golldir
I pushed through those thoughts, before raising my hand to my chest, a golden glow enveloped my body, [Healing], the bleeding in my throat stopped, barely.
The air had grown thick and choking with smoke, ashes, and burning flesh. The fire from the corpse spread across from us, lighting every corner of the chamber.
And still… he moved.
He rose, slower than before.
Both hands braced on the blood-slick floor, and he pushed himself upright. All of his skin was gone. Torn completely from his body. His muscles twitched, raw and steaming, bathed in the glow of the firelight. His veins pulsed like worms squirming under tissue. The outline of his tendons flexed with every movement, like cords of sinew attached to a puppet made of meat.
His face, if it could still be called that, resembled a panel of Junji Ito, a horrifying display of body horror. His eyelids had been shredded, his eyes stretched wide in endless alertness, still glowing purple.
The orbs out of socket locked onto me.
And then he screamed, before lunging.
I quickly moved out of the way, diving right, away from Lydia, letting him crash into the wall, his blood splattered on the wall like a filled chalk outline on a murder scene.
And before I could get up from the ground, he blurred, and I went skating backward, his hand gripping my neck like a vice, dragging me across the floor like a ragdoll.
My back shattered tiles beneath me. My breath cut instantly off, the world darkening at the edges as pain bloomed in my spine.
But I didn't panic.
I smirked through clenched teeth as I reached up with a single hand and grabbed the arm choking me.
[Shock]
My palm surged with magicka, transforming into a buzzing electricity, and it rushed through his body, and his blood vessels exploded in that one second worth of Magicka I had regenerated. Red fluid burst outward like thick rain, drenching me in a wave of hot gore. It sprayed across the floor, trailing us.
And yet… he didn't stop.
He kept dragging me.
My back was raw now, my armor stripped, torn away by stone and friction. My breath came in choking gasps as his grip tightened further. No room to Shout.
I reached inward, opening the inventory behind my closed eyes.
CLANG!
My sword manifested into my hand in the blink of an eye.
And with a savage upward arc, I sliced through his forearm.
A spray of red mist followed, and his grip loosened along with his hand from the rest of his arm.
I rolled away and pulled his severed arm from my neck, still twitching on the floor, my vision swimming with pain. He stumbled forward, confused, disoriented by the sudden shift in weight, the loss of balance.
I got to my feet with a grunt.
Smoke coiled around us like a living thing. The fire had spread, licking every corner of the chamber from our clash and thrashing the place.
I turned briefly toward Lydia; she was up, dazed, swaying as she stood motionless.
"All of you! Out of here! Now!" I roared, my voice hoarse and ragged, barely a voice.
Uthgerd, who was also up on the other side of the room, bit her lower lip, looking at me drenched in blood, before running toward Agna, who stood still in her place, frozen, looking at us.
Then I turned back to Golldir.
He can't regenerate, I thought, looking at all the damage on his body. The explosive strength and speed are troublesome, but nothing I can't handle. There's nothing I can't handle.
.
.
.
****
Read +3 or +5 chapters ahead on my Pat*eon
First_Endless