Be ready to direct dragon fire to the demons while I do my best to rid our world of the serpent.She pushed her backpack across the ground until it was under Tora’s palm.The crystal sword wields dragon fire.
I’ll keep them off you.
I suspect the serpent won’t put up with them interfering between us. He was summoned and will want to kill the demon slayer.
The wind brought the stench of fire and brimstone. The hair on her body immediately reacted, standing up as the winged serpent swept into the yard. He stopped abruptly in midair, his wicked yellow eyes taking in everything around him.
Silke didn’t want him to find Tora. Tora was her ace in the hole. She had to kill the rest of the demons while Silke dealt with the serpent.
The mage is on the roof. He is crouched near the edge, in the shadow of the bow window overlooking the yard. Make certain he dies. He is in the form of Castello, but he is mage,Silke said.
She stood up slowly, facing the serpent, a small smile on her face. She was in the habit of stashing weapons around the yard, and her bow and arrows were most often kept in the hollow of the old tree close to her. Holding the serpent’s malevolent stare, she made her way casually to the tree and leaned one hand against the trunk, fingers inches from her only real weapon. It took only a moment to set up her rope with the arrows, hiding the activity behind the thick tree trunk.
The serpent ducked his head, swaying it back and forth as he opened his mouth, revealing long rows of teeth. Venom ran down his fangs, glistening white-yellow, dripping on the thick stones that formed the path leading to her home. The venom sizzled and smoked, a noxious odor rising. One of the demons who was close, hiding behind a large stone, began to cough and choke. The serpent turned his gaze momentarily onto the demon. He looked what he was, pure evil.
The yellow eyes glittered as the serpent observed the demon strangling on the fumes. He went to his knees, his hands around his throat as he desperately sought air. Silke refused to be distracted. It was the reaction of the stones making up the pathway that caught her eye. More of the venom had dropped in great globs onto the surface. The venom hissed and smoked, but the stone didn’t even blacken.
The serpent suddenly spit venom directly at the demon, striking the hapless replica of Castello directly in the face. A blackened hole appeared instantly, as if the flesh had been eaten away that quickly. The edges began to spread outward, skin, muscle and bone quickly destroyed by the potency of the venom. The demon screamed horribly, the sound one of agony.
Tora, set up a transparent shield until I have my plan finalized.
It is done.
Everything in Silke stilled. Became aware. She shut out the demon and the consequences of being hit by the venom. She allowed her mind to expand, drift into the wind that surrounded the serpent’s undulating body, the flapping wings as it created a cyclone on the ground. Dirt, twigs and leaves were hurled into the air in tight formation under the powerful force the wings generated.
The connection with the serpent was almost immediate, but her stomach lurched and bile filled her throat. The thing was old. Very old. Evil. Extremely so. It delighted in killing. It felt powerful when it was spitting its venom onto a victim. The serpent felt invincible. It feared no one, not even Lilith. Certainly not the lowly demon slayer. It remembered killing her ancestor. Pitiful woman to think she could pit herself against such a powerful being and possibly survive. He had every intention of killing the slayer slowly so that every moment she lived was sheer torture.
Silke didn’t try to understand the serpent. There was no understanding such a foul, malevolent being. Instead, she studied its strengths and weaknesses. The scales were hard like the scales of a dragon, only more so. To try to penetrate them would be disastrous and laughable. She would have to destroy the brain of the serpent in order to kill it. To do that, she would have to find a way to render it unconscious. Not an easy task.
The serpent was no longer amused by the dying demon. He turned his malignant yellow gaze on her. A chill went down her spine, but she gripped her bow, slid it over her shoulder and caught up the arrows and rope, sliding them onto her shoulder. She would need every skill she had developed from her childhood if this was going to work. She had this one chance. One.
Silke gripped the invisible shield, holding it in front of her body, and without warning ran at the serpent at an angle that would take her between the wings and the neck. She ran for the great stones that created the terracing around the house.
The serpent spat his venom triumphantly, a steady stream, moving his head up and down so he could thoroughly douse her as she ran. The venom hit the transparent shield, splattering across it and running down it in thick rivulets.
Silke felt the shock of the serpent as its great head reared back and then swung side to side. She was already on the rocks, and she dropped the shield as she leapt into the air, landing with both feet on the back of the serpent. In midair, she caught up the bow and fit an arrow into it. The moment she stuck the landing, her body settling for the rough ride as the serpent tried to dislodge her, she shot the first of three arrows into the space behind the head of the serpent. Each arrow was connected to a rope.
Slinging the bow over her shoulder, she caught up the ropes and crouched low, her mind expanding in that of the serpent’s.
Fast as you can, knock her off with the wind.She pushed the suggestion into the serpent’s mind and then followed it with one thought after another so the evil creature couldn’t question what he was thinking.
Faster, fly faster. Show her she is nothing. She has no idea of your incredible speed. She will fall, and you can use your fangs on her, tear her in half for the audacity and disrespect she has shown. Faster, faster. Faster.
She kept repeating the thought, shoving it into the serpent’s mind until the creature was flying so fast the wind whistled and tears leaked from her eyes. She used the ropes as reins, turning him in a circle, keeping up the urgent thoughts as the serpent built his speed. In all fairness, she was nearly blown off his back. It took every bit of strength she had to hold on, even crouched as low as she was.
Suddenly she jerked the reins, turning the serpent at the last moment so he was heading directly at the house. The stones were thickest to the west, and she drove the serpent headfirst straight into the massive wall of stones. The house shook, but the stones held even covered in the venom that spewed from the serpent’s mouth when he hit so hard.
The skull cracked and he went down. She had leapt off just before he struck the wall, but now there was very little time. She knew he wasn’t dead, and he wouldn’t stay unconscious for long. Racing to the front of the serpent where the head lay cocked to one side, the skin cracked open, the tongue hanging out and the fangs broken, she called to Tora.
Need a large spike and hammer fast. While I do this, take out the demons as quickly as possible.
The hammer and long spike materialized right beside her. Silke didn’t hesitate. She wanted to kill the serpent as humanely as possible. She could only do that when it was unconscious. It wouldn’t stay that way for long, and when it woke, it would be more lethal than ever.
She drove the spike through its brain. It wasn’t an easy task. The serpent was huge, and even with a cracked head, it was extremely tough. She had to use every ounce of her strength. Around her, Tora used dragon fire to sweep up the last of the demons. The mage was the first to go. Tora had ferreted him out near the bow window while Silke struggled with each blow of the hammer to force the spike in a multitude of directions.
Pithing involved using multidirectional movement with the spike in the cranial cavity to ensure death. The entire brain had to be destroyed. In this case, Silke knew it was more important than ever to keep the serpent from rising again. She would never be able to fight it off. She was exhausted mentally and physically. Mentally from all the merges she’d done, and just this last task alone was extremely difficult physically, let alone everything else she’d done that day.
When she was certain the serpent couldn’t rise, she sank to the ground and looked around the yard at the ashes smoldering everywhere.
