do something about Ultair, or we won't make it out.’
‘Can't we keep running!?’ asked Beluka.
Fedaro shook his head, almost in amusement. ‘You certainly can't. If the opportunity presents itself, make sure you get out of here. But don't you dare leave the girl behind,’ he added that last part as a firm reminder that the only reason he valued the Hippo was because of the girl, and that without her he would discard him to whatever fate Scithea could conjure.
With resignation Fedaro looked back, the hordes of spiders drawing closer, Ultair himself no doubt making his way through the bush in angst anticipation of feeding on the spirits of Gloria's people.
I really miss my bike, thought Fedaro, who rarely faced a problem he could not escape by simply burning rubber and strangling the throttle.
The Sigotor beast came crashing through the undergrowth and at least one truth was then confirmed; the spiders having cornered them would not initiate hostilities, at the risk of destroying the anchor that kept the spirits bound to Ellion. Ultair understood this now and his minions formed ranks around them, though not moving in for the kill.
The red eyes came hovering through the thick of the woods and Ultair roared at seeing his prey at last within his grasp.
When he emerged Fedaro levelled his musket and peppered him with bullets that partly petrified Ultair's movements, and when Fedaro was satisfied the incoming creature was as encumbered as he would ever be, he charged straight in.
Fedaro rammed the bayonet into the stomach of Ultair, trying to drive the muzzle of the musket straight into the insides of its chest, and then pulled the trigger. The fire-shot exploded right through the right side of Ultair's body, that initial blast of flames so violent that the left sleeve of Fedaro's tail coat caught alight. Yet still wrestling with the beast he ignored his searing arm and ripped the bayonet further through rapidly disintegrating flesh, tearing the right side of the creature's torso clean off, from the sternum to the cuff of the shoulder. With the intact part of its body Ultair retaliated as though oblivious of the pain, and back-handed Fedaro senseless. The only good thing came of it was that Fedaro had taken the fall in such a way that the fire was gone from his arm. The tail coat was meant to take some heat, but still the sting of the flames brought tears of pain to his eyes. He looked up, delirious and worried that his arm had suffered permanent damage, but still very much focussed on the threat at hand - Ultair was not done for yet.
Right then Beluka came charging and with the force he struck Ultair he might as well have been mounted on a great warhorse. To Fedaro's eyes Beluka looked like one of those enormously strong oafs who were just too clumsy to be of any real use, the kind who knocks something over in the kitchen and then while trying to clean up his mess makes a greater hash of it. But his strike was expertly done and composed, precisely what Fedaro would have done could he replicate the sheer momentum Beluka had. The wooden spear in the hands of Beluka first struck through the outreaching hand of the undead beast and a split second later the spear struck into the body as well, picking the creature up in the process and ramming it to the base of a giant tree, its feet hanging two feet in air, half its torso missing and its hand pinned to its body while the spear was lodged deeply enough into the tree for it hang there, suspended in the air. Ultair roared, as though Beluka had managed to pierce the only nerve that could excite a pain-sensation in its body. Looking at it Fedaro could not believe their luck, seeing a being like Ultair pinned and helpless by a length of wood. It roared and struggled continually.
Now is the time to run! thought Fedaro. He had the impulse to try his arsenal of tricks to see if one of them would be enough to put Ultair out of his misery once and for all. But he was certain nothing he had could entirely destroy Ultair and he did not want to give the thing a chance to come loose and pursue them further. The black blood on the blade of the bayonet would have to be enough for now. Fedaro scooped up Gloria in his arms, knowing Beluka was too tired to keep on carrying her.
‘Run as hard as you can Hippo!’ he cried.
Just as they got moving, the hundreds of spider servants started to pursue them again even though their master was incapacitated, and Fedaro thought they were doomed.
And then Gloria's people intervened. It became apparent that Ultair was caught up to such an extent that Gloria's spirits were no longer at threat of being absorbed by the soul-eater. Even as Fedaro ran with the girl in his arms, beings of an otherworldly nature appeared at his peripherals every few paces, and the grey-armoured men stood their ground with their swords and intercepted the incoming spider horde, halting them in a clash where twenty dead warriors hacked and slash through a stampede of arachnid. It was enough for the three of them to escape. Relieve swept through Fedaro. You did it girl, he thought thankfully.
In the distance the first cold winds came sweeping through the forest corridors, the hellish Desolates already breathing into northern edge of Scithea, bidding Fedaro, Beluka and Gloria, a dire welcome.
Thank you for reading Legend of Axiatés! Keep an eye out for Episode 5 coming soon! For updates, book info and promotions visit https://www.facebook.com/Road2Exodus/
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