Chapter Eighteen: Grass Monster

Eighteen

“Wow. They’re just lining up like that? Are they dumb?” Tolic tried his best to whisper, but it wasn’t very good. Dane winced as the spirit’s voice echoed for a second. The squad of Aji-Abami were focused on the shambling masses of vegetation that were battling them on the edge of the hill. His arm ached and there was no way he could conjure another burst of hellflame anytime soon.

Dane and Tolic had hidden themselves on the slope of the hill on the opposite side of where the squad of dogmen had run up. They hadn’t been seen as the dogs were too busy fighting the wave of monsters with every ounce of strength they had. It looked like it was going to be enough.

Four more of the shambling monsters had been slain as they seemed very vulnerable to fire. Blades just sliced apart grass which regrew and the warriors could do nothing but try to keep the monsters away from the mage. The last two of the monsters were both flailing away at the warriors to little effect. Every time the monsters pushed forward, the mage would lift his staff and the monsters would back up a foot or ten. When no blast of magic flame came, they would advance back up.

“They’re dumb as hell. I would like one of their bodies though. Look at how well they repair themselves!” Tolic yelled, growing excited as he stood up. His current flesh suit was falling apart and they would only have moments left with it.

“Well, go get one,” Dane said, waving his hand toward the turned backs of the Aji-Abami. Dane immediately started to rotate around the edge of the hill, closer to the Aji-Abami lines and away from where Tolic had just launched his charge.

“I want that level up,” Tolic grumbled as he lifted the sword in his hand and then charged across the hill in a shambling shuffle as his borrowed legs struggled to hold the body upright. The spirit only had to cross a hundred meters but with the poor state of the body, he was likely to fail.

Dane watched with growing surprise as the Tolic got within ten meters of the mage before someone realized there was a threat behind them. A pair of warriors spun about to confront Tolic and interposed themselves between the spirit and the mage. Just as Dane had hoped.

The mage was now nestled between two lines of fighters, attention split as the grass monsters surged forward with the mage’s attention turned away. Dane bounced the rock in his palm and stayed low to the ground. You didn’t need to ram feet of cold steel in someone’s gut to kill them.

“This had better work.” The mage spun and lifted his staff and let power fill his other hand as he looked at the grass monsters. Tolic clashed with the two guards and began to lose immediately. One of the guard’s cut off Tolic’s arm while the other stabbed him through the chest. Neither hurt the spirit, but his flesh suit was nearly done.

Dane threw the rock. It was a smooth river stone that had somehow ended up on the edge of the hill. Finding it had been the work of minutes and it was time well rewarded. A smile crossed Dane’s face as the mage’s head rocked to the side and his blast of fire immolated one of his guards instead of the grass monster.

Canine screams filled the air as the burning guard ran away, arms spinning as he burned. The grass monsters lurched forward, absorbing the sword blows as the grabbed the dogmen and began to tear them apart. Literally. Dane gagged a bit as an arm was torn free of its socket and tossed haphazardly behind the monster.

The mage was on his hands and knees, hand pressed to his bloody scalp. Tolic had stabbed a surprised Aji-Abami warrior through the throat before the second one hacked him into pieces. Tolic broke free of the body and floated there for a moment. The warrior slashed at him, blade passing harmlessly through the spirit’s body. Tolic lifted a hand and faked a wide yawn.

Dane broke into a sprint, staying low to the ground as he kept his sacrificial dagger clenched in one hand. Tolic drifted slightly to the side and the warrior followed Tolic, turning his back to Dane.

“Damned spirit is good for something.” Dane reared back and stabbed the guard in the back, dagger lighting up as the warrior straightened. Its jaws opened wide as if to yowl or cry out, Tolic reacted instantly and flew into the open mouth. Dane pulled the knife free and turned quickly to look at the mage who was getting to his feet.

The sacrificial dagger fed again as Dane stabbed the mage through the throat before the Aji-Abami could react. He dragged the dagger to create a long, cruel wound and let the mage flop to the ground.

“Time to go,” Dane whispered to Tolic who grunted in agreement. They backed up as they watched the line of slowly collapsing warriors. They made it ten meters before one of the warriors turned and looked at the dead mage on the ground. His cry of alarm sent a chill down Dane’s spine, but it was too late. As the remaining line of warriors turned, they were set upon by the grass monster.

“Have you figured out how you’re going to kill the grass things yet?” Tolic asked as they looked at the monsters. There were only two Aji-Abami left and both were in dire straights. In a minute Dane was going to have to deal with the problem of the grass monsters.

“Yeah. You.”

“You’re going to have to weaken them. Since you know, I haven’t gotten a level up. I can’t overwhelm it.” Tolic managed to sound sullen as they looked over at the creatures.

“Soon. We should have plenty of experience from this. We both get levels,” Dane groaned. If his hands weren’t coated in blood, he would have rubbed his face at the absurdity of the spirit. Tolic acted more like a toddler than a fallen warrior.

“Well it’s time to enact the plan. Here they come,” Tolic said. The spirit puppeted his flesh suit in front of Dane and leveled the sword at the oncoming monsters. Closer up Dane got a better look at them.

The individual shoots of grass were two feet long and sever inches thick, closer to vines than grass. Several areas had grayed out and grown limp and Dane figured that they could be killed with swords or bladed weapons eventually. They were pulling reserves out and storing the cut pieces in non-critical places. Around the sides of the hips, upper legs, middle of the chest.

“Glad I don’t have to do that.” Dane reared back and threw the dagger. He spun once and embedded itself up to its hilt in the shifting grass in the middle of its chest. The creature stopped in its tracks, one foot lifted up and above the ground. Tolic ran at the other and started to cut it apart, trading blows as the Aji-Abami body was broken up. They had to give the dagger a minute to drain the power out of the monster. Whatever they were, they were strong.

Tolic was battered down and an arm was ripped free and tossed to the side. He managed to keep his sword and continued to cut apart the grass strands while the second monster stayed frozen. Dane kept a lookout of everything around him, holding a stolen short sword, wary of more of the jackalope creatures.

“Any day now!” Dane yelled at Tolic. The spirit seemed to be enjoying getting ripped apart with how slow he was moving. A giant grassy hand covered the former warrior’s head and pulled it free. Tolic emerged from the truncated body and floated over to the one with the dagger in it.

“Run over here and pull the dagger out!” Tolic said, gesturing wildly at the captured monster. Dane did smack himself in the face for that oversight. He ran around the slow monster as it continued to rip apart the corpse in a fit of rage. They were strong, but so, so, slow.

The pommel was warm under his fingers as he dragged the blade free. Tolic entered through the small hole the blade had caused. A shadow fell over him and Dane threw himself to the side as a giant, grassy, fist slammed into the ground he had just occupied. He rolled twice and popped to his feet, a weapon in each hand. Tolic waited as the other creature followed Dane.

With its back turned to Tolic it never saw the blow coming. A fist ruptured out of its chest in a spray of chlorophyll, a cluster of thin roots in one hand. Tolic pulled his fist back out of the wound and the creature fell apart into thousands of loose strands of grass that fluttered to the ground.

“See, that wasn’t so hard!” Dane yelled. Tolic grunted and turned around to look at the edge of the hill. It was filling up with more of the grass monsters. A lump formed in Dane’s throat as he looked at the line of plant monsters.

“Spoke too soon,” Tolic deadpanned.